Blood is red

This took a while to come, but I hope the wait was worth it! And I am SO SORRY about how this chapter ends! But... What can I say? I like to annoy people!

The day after the Gathering, Daypaw was up early. He walked out behind the dawn patrol, but slid away when they weren't looking. He lay down by the Lake, watching the fish swim beneath the surface.

Last night had been a success. He decided. Those apprentices I spoke to seemed to like me, and when Nightpaw's only new friend, that lame medicine cat, realised that she was the evil! He laughed to himself. Am I glad I'm not her! I mean, I may be stronger than her when it comes to fighting, and hunting, and anything else, but… Well, I could never live with the Clan hating me like that!

Mentally, he shook himself. What was he thinking? Nightpaw was evil; she deserved to be shunned.

Lazily, he stood up. He didn't feel like training today… But he had to be able to fight Nightpaw.

He wandered slowly back to camp. The breeze played with the trees, and shadows chased each other around the ground. Leaves leaped to the air when he padded past, and small prey hurried for cover.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek tore through the air, destroying the peacefulness of the forest.

Instinctively, Daypaw started running towards it.

XXXXXXXX

Silentsong had to wake up Nightpaw, because her apprentice had slept in.

The black cat rolled over sleepily. "Just… Just a few more… Just a few more seconds…" She yawned.

Silentsong shook her head, and pulled her out of her nest.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Nightpaw grumbled.

She stretched happily, then with a longing glance at her nest, scrambled out of the apprentices den. The fresh-kill pile was empty, so Nightpaw left the camp with a hungry belly. She followed Silentsong through the forest, listening to a bird call in the trees.

Silentsong stopped suddenly, and Nightpaw almost crashed into her. The silver warrior waved her tail to a tiny, brown mouse nibbling a nut, next to a tree root.

Nightpaw fell into the hunter's crouch. She slowly stepped towards the furry creature, but the wind changed and the mouse smelt her. She pounced, her unsheathed claws just catching it before it ran down it's hole.

Silentsong's eyes were warm, and the mentor and apprentice lay down to shar the catch. It was small for Greenleaf, but enough to fill their bellies. When they had finished, Nightpaw stood up and licked her lips.

"Where are we going now?" She asked.

Silentsong hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to say this without talking. She waved her tail at Nightpaw, then towards the forest. Then she pointed at herself, and nodded at a different part of the forest.

"You want us to split up?" Nightpaw clarified.

Silentsong nodded. She pointed at the remains of the mouse, then drew three lines in the dirt.

"It's a challenge?" Nightpaw said excitedly. "Whoever can catch three pieces of prey first wins? Meet back here when you've caught three?"

Silentsong nodded, and stood up.

"Go!" Shrieked Nightpaw, and sped off into the forest. She ran towards where the forest was thickest, sniffing the air for prey as she went.

She caught a sparrow, then a vole. Both of them were buried beneath a huge, old tree.

As she was searching for a final piece of prey, she caught the smell of cat. Not wanting to be interrupted, she made to turn away, when another smell hit her nose.

Fox.

Nightpaw ran forward, when a yowl of utter agony echoed through the forest. She ran faster, panic giving her energy.

Featherwing was lying down, sticky blood pouring down her leg. The relief in her eyes quickly changed to fear when she realised the cat come to save her was Nightpaw.

The fox didn't like seeing Nightpaw there, but bit Featherwing's leg again, it's sharp fangs tearing through skin easily.

Nightpaw couldn't remember seeing so much blood from one cat before, and her paws felt stuck to the ground.

Suddenly, Daypaw burst through the trees. His eyes widened when he saw Featherwing, then narrowed angrily when he saw Nightpaw just standing there, not helping.

With a snarl that would scare away ShadowClan, he leapt at the fox. His claws made wounds that would never heal; his teeth mad marks the fox would never forget. Whenever the fox turned it's snapping jaws towards him he would dart out the way, only to return a few moment later with a sharp attack.

Nightpaw just stood there, numb with shock. She couldn't take her eyes away from the blood on her mother's leg.

Daypaw bit its ear, tearing off a lump of fur. The fox yelped in pain, then turned and fled. Daypaw hissed at it as it went, which made it run faster. Then he turned to Featherwing, and checked she was okay. She would be able to make it back to camp, but probably have to stay in the medicine cat den for a couple of days.

When Daypaw was sure she was fine, he unsheathed his claws, and looked at Nightpaw with fury in his eyes.

"You wanted her to die!" He snarled, preparing to leap at her. "You just stood there and made me fight the fox off alone!"

Cold anger bit at Nightpaw. She didn't want Featherwing to die; she hadn't moved because fear had frozen her to the spot.

"Aren't you happy I let you fight the fox all by yourself, big warrior!" She taunted. "It means more attention, and I know you'll love that!"

Featherwing watched her two kits arguing. Had the time come for their legendary battle? She wondered.

Daypaw growled, then pounced on Nightpaw. He was big, strong and muscled, even more so compared to Nightpaw's thin and wiry look.

He slammed Nightpaw to the ground and unsheathed his claws, but before he could wound her she wriggled out and tried to bite his fluffy tail. He wacked it out the way, and bit Nightpaw's ear. She hissed and backed away, eying up her opponent.

No. Decided Featherwing. It's not fierce enough.

A blood-coloured haze covered Nightpaw's vision. She forgot who she was, who Daypaw was, and why she was fighting him. She let instincts take over, and clawed at Daypaw's thick pelt. Her brother hissed, and shoved his tail into her face, blinding her long enough to bite her leg. She growled, bit down on his tail, then knocked Daypaw to the ground with a strong blow. She landed on top of him, her teeth intending to slice through his fur, and his skin.

Through the bushes, a patrol of ThunderClan cats ran forward. Seeing Nightpaw on top of Daypaw, claws unsheathed, they tore at the black apprentice's fur, dragging her off her brother.

"Daypaw?" Asked Thinstar, panting slightly. "What happened?"

"She wanted Featherwing to die!" Hissed Daypaw, blood trickling from his wounds. "Then, when I saved her, she tried to kill me!"

Without checking with Nightpaw to see whether Daypaw was telling the truth, Thinstar yowled:

"ThunderClan! Back to camp for a Clan meeting!"

XXXXXXX

He ran in the lead, with Daypaw right beside him. Spottedheart stayed with Featherwing, helping her back to camp. The rest of the patrol stayed with Nightpaw, making sure that she wasn't going to try to attack any-cat again. But she wasn't going to. The red had disappeared.

The rest of the patrol was made up of Goldenclaw, Firepool, Badgerpaw and, surprisingly, Silentsong. Nightpaw's mentor didn't look at her, and only stared at the ground.

When they arrived at camp, Thinstar yowled the words to begin a Clan meeting, though it was unnecessary; ThunderClan was already waiting eagerly to hear the news.

"Featherwing, would you like to tell us what happened?" Thinstar asked, then sat down to listen.

"Thank-you, Thinstar," Featherwing said nervously. "I was walking through the forest, hoping to catch some prey, but mostly just wanting to- I just wanted to catch some prey," She looked towards a cat in the crowd, but Nightpaw couldn't see who. "A fox burst out on me, and bit my leg. I couldn't run away, but then another cat came out to save me. As soon as I realised it was Nightpaw, I knew I was going to die. The fox bit me again, and Nightpaw did nothing.

"Then Daypaw burst out of the bushes," Her eyes widened with wonder. "He fought the fox alone, and saved my life."

The Clan cats mewed among themselves, though they were all saying the same thing: This is even more proof, if it were needed. Daypaw is good; Nightpaw is evil.

"We can't have a cat who would willingly let another die in ThunderClan!" Thinstar declared. "Nightpaw, from this day forth you are not a Clan cat; ThunderClan or otherwise! Nightpaw, I exile you from the Clans!"