Disclaimer: I only own the characters and plot. The Idea of warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.
Horror rose up in my chest, and I backed away, ears swung flat against my head.
"I-is this a joke?" I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and every part of my body screamed silently at the two apprentices before me, begging them in desperation.
Don't turn away! Stay with me! But the voices were silent, and my own remained still, choked in my throat. Waterpaw turned away, beckoning to Olivepaw, who cast a final, sorrowful look towards me, and padded away, not bothering to look back. A sob rose in my chest, and I sunk to the ground in despair, not caring if cats stared at me, curling up into a tiny ball and digging my claws into the ground, trying to distract myself. Suddenly, everything snapped into place in a single moment of clarity.
Whitepaw is a danger to us all… Ashstar. Sadness replaced by fury, I snarled into the fur of my tail, claws plunged into the dirt, pelt bristling along my back. I pictured myself, lunging towards the leader and sinking my teeth into his pelt, the blood flowing over my claws, teeth scraping against solidity as bone shattered beneath my jaws… The fury washed over me, and I could almost feel the warm texture of blood on my paws, red clouding my vision and snapping my senses into hyperawareness. Letting out a manic laugh, unaware of what I was doing, I lunged forwards, feeling something twitch beneath my claws, and sunk my teeth into warm flesh. Pain lanced through me, and I bolted upright, wrenched back into reality. The horrific taste of my own blood tinged my mouth as I dropped my tail in disgust, trying to block out the pain and horror that consumed my mind.
What are you doing?! I sobbed to myself, a tremor passing over my body. Y-you're not dangerous! Fear washed over me as I realised the uncertainty in my own voice. My eyes widened, and I stared at my paws, ears swung backwards, heart fluttering out of rhythm inside my chest.
Am I dangerous? The question had to harsh of a reality to it, and I shook my head vigorously, eyes clamped shut, attempting to block out the voice of my own mind.
"Strikeclan will start!" I looked up, daring to open an eye, to see Shadestar perched on the rock, her wiry frame highlighted by the light of the moon. "Prey is good in our territory, and we have two new warriors; Flickergaze and russetflame!" Glancing over to the side, I saw two toms with fiery ginger pelts, sitting proudly, close together, evidently brothers. A thought sparked to life in my mind, and I wondered that, if I were Stormpaw's brother, not his sister, we would get along like that. I shook the idea away almost as rapidly as it had appeared.
You can never be close to Stormpaw… He just wants power… A sigh rising in my throat, I angled my gaze back up at the great rock, where Streamstar had taken her place, and was surveying the crowd as if they were an interesting prey item, waiting to be worked out.
"Reedclan is also faring well, although we have seen twolegs on our territory, it is to be expected, and we are no weaker that we would usually be." The silver she-cat snarled the words as if they were a challenge, a look of steely warning to her harsh gaze, before stepping down and gesturing for Fleetstar to take her place. The skittish tom stood at the edge of the rock, perched tensely, eyes flickering wildly side to side.
"We have scented Strikeclan scent on our territory." He announced, and cries of outrage erupted into the clearing as cats whirled on each other, hissing and yowling. I ducked down in fear as two cats on either side of me rounded on one another, fur spiked up and eyes flaming with genuine rage, claws and teeth flashing in the moonlight. Clamping my paws over my ears, I locked my eyes shut, trying to blank out the noise, only daring to remove my paws as a deafening yowl split the noise in two.
"SILENCE!" Ashstar, tail lashing, eyes burning with cold fire, stood on the great rock, claws hooked into the stone. "We are breaking the sacred truce! Starclan will be angry!" As if to make a point, he tilted his head towards the sky and pointed at the obscured surface of the moon with an extended paw. "The clouds cover the moon already!" Unimpressed, Shadestar took a menacing step towards Ashstar, a look of what seemed to be amusement upon her features.
"What would you know about Starclan, Ashstar?" she sneered, gaze filled with silent laughter. "After all, it was your bloodline that produced that defective kit." At that sentence, the she-cat swung her gaze around and trained it directly on me, the destructive fury that raged inside of their depths seeming to bore into my soul. Tearing my gaze away, I found all the other cats in the clearing staring at me too, disdain, mocking and cold cruelty clouding their Technicolor irises, and I bowed my head, forced down by the pressure and guilt of hundreds of accusing stares.
"No." I glanced upwards to see the grey tom staring down, a frightening, cold sense of calm to his posture that sent the fur prickling along my spine. "That piece of filth is not my kit." Shock plunged through me, and I jerked my head up fully, fear clouding my gaze. "It never was, and never will be. Whitepaw is not my kin." The leader swept a challenging glare over the other leaders, and snarled in a low voice.
"This gathering is over." With that, He bounded down from the rock and walked out, tail held high, an aura of smug authority echoing around him. The clearing was silent as he left, and remained so as the rest of Forestclan followed him, upholding the prideful stance, me the only one defying it, scampering out, tail lowered, head down, forcing the sob in my chest down.
The rest of the journey back was also carried out in silence; the only noise I could hear being the echo of my own breathing and the pounding of my heart in my ears. I had always known Ashstar never acknowledged me as his kit, but to hear it out loud felt like someone had torn my chest open and removed my heart. Shuddering, I diverted my gaze to the ground and walked onwards, trying to block out the world, drowning every thought out before it reached my mind.
The camp entrance loomed before me, and I drew in a deep breath, bracing myself for Stormpaw's taunting, but it never came. Instead, a cat, Sunnygaze, amber eyes wild with fear, came bounding out of the entrance, golden fur stood on end as she caught her breath, chest heaving, choking out the words.
"Harewing is missing."
A/N: Haha! A cliffhanger! Ahem… yeah that chapter was awful… I could literally find only enough subject matter to write about 500 words, but somehow I managed to drag everything on long enough to make 1000! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Oh, and by the way, Alleykat29 said in a review that they had found a song that really fitted Whitepaw, so I was wondering if any more of you knew songs that would fit the characters in any of my fanfictions! If you do, I'd love to know what they are, so just PM me or send it in a review! This applies to all my fanfictions too!
Storm signing out!