Chapter 21

Petal

There had been harsh words spoken that day.

There had been accusations of traitors, deserters, and cats who tore their Clan apart, mostly spilling from the very barbed tongue of Lionblaze. Petal would have probably been proud to say half the things he'd said, and quickly answered him with cutting remark after cutting remark, but still hadn't been able to equal his venom. Lionblaze was angry. Very, very angry. And a very, very angry Lionblaze was probably not the best kind of Lionblaze to have.

She didn't really care, though. That's what she told herself, anyway. He could say what he liked, call her what he liked, but it would never break her or hurt her in any way; maybe it wouldn't have, in the past. Now, though - after where she'd been, what she'd experienced in the short space of several sunrises, it might only take a few more sharp, ill-placed words to shatter her heart.

The patrol to find Silver had been sent out, even after the sharp protests of Lionblaze. Bramblestar had told Lionblaze that he was to lead the Clan with Thornclaw as his deputy whilst he was away, and ordered Petal, Whitewing, Brackenfur and Leopardpaw to come with him. She'd thought that Leopardpaw was a strange choice, seeing as he was only an apprentice, but when she'd asked Bramblestar he'd just stared at her and said,

"So are you."

Which she hadn't liked very much. She was Petal, not Petalpaw. She wasn't even sure whether she wanted to be an apprentice any more.

"I've been places, though," she'd protested. "I've seen things, fought cats that Leopardpaw wouldn't be able to handle."

He'd tilted his head, as if considering something, and then stared at her with a frown pressed upon his brow.

"Why are you so adamant that he shouldn't come?" Bramblestar had asked.

At that, she'd flushed and marched away, deciding to avoid answering that question. She'd wondered why he wanted Leopardpaw to come. Maybe as...companionship? She didn't need companionship, she only needed cats to help her, and once she didn't need them any more she was quick to leave them behind. In truth, it was probably because she felt no personal loyalty to any of the cats she'd met on her journey - Snitch, Dimitri and Amarthy had just been cats that she could easily leave behind and never need to see again. The only cats she'd ever felt loyalty towards were Silver and her real siblings; any loyalty she'd ever had towards Thunder, Shell and Snow had worn thin when she'd met her foster brother in Broadhinny. The truth he'd revealed there had made her hate him more than anything else, not feel sorry for him. He'd probably been hoping for the latter from her, but the emotions of pity and sympathy were out of her league. They were weak emotions. And she wasn't weak.

The small patrol had reached the grove of oaks where she and Dimitri had sheltered only days ago. Instinctively, she flexed her shoulder, wincing as she remembered hitting it on the can, and the days she'd had to spend limping around Camp with everyone looking at her swollen shoulder before even glancing at her face. She'd been annoyed and had often been tempted to cuff the cat who'd looked at it, but had decided that wouldn't earn her many friends. Not that she wanted friends, but she needed them so they'd help her find Silver and her siblings.

She padded on, glancing sideways at the grove of oaks and then looking at her companions - she'd never really talked to Whitewing, and the she-cat seemed to be quite gentle and un-opinionated, which made Petal like her. She was reasonably young, and was very sweet in personality, always offering a cheery comment in answer to Petal's sharp, annoyed ones. She was good for the atmosphere, Petal decided; that was why Bramblestar had taken her along, so nothing got to tense. Hopefully she was good at fighting, too, because Petal knew that at some point, claws would need to be unsheathed and things would need to be settled with little diplomatic conversation, which Bramblestar seemed all too fond of at times.

Brackenfur was one of the older, more experienced warriors. He was quiet and strong, and only ever seemed to talk to Bramblestar in a quiet, rather hushed voice. He'd only spoken once, and that was in order to answer Whitewing's question about what some kind of tree was. Something about his steady amber gaze unnerved her, and whenever he made eye contact with Petal she flinched and looked away, staring hard at the ash beneath her paws and scuffing it up with each step that she took.

They were moving at a slower pace than she would have liked. She herself would have been moving much faster, running even, just in the hope that she'd get to Silver faster. As a group, though, as Bramblestar had reminded them before they set off, they had to be considerate of the wishes of other members, and keep pace with the patrol and not charge off ahead. She had a feeling his words were mainly directed at her, so she'd given him her signature glare and toss of the head. When he'd asked all for their agreement, he hadn't seemed very convinced with Petal's growled 'yes', and had to ask her several times before he was satisfied.

"Hey! Dreamer!"

She jerked her head upright, her face gentle for a heartbeat as she rested her gaze on Leopardpaw. Then, quickly, she turned into a glare, but not before Leopardpaw saw it and grinned, nudging her sore shoulder heavily with his. Despite her superior age, he was the same size, if not bigger than her, something that annoyed her a lot, and also sent her stumbling at that point in time.

"So you do have a softer side," he teased, flicking her ear with his tail.

"Oh, ha ha," she snarled, wanting to claw the smug expression off his face. "Now I know it's you, I'd gladly assist in your murder if it were to take place here."

"Fox-dung," Leopardpaw swore. "How come it's so much easier to kill a monster than get nice words from you?"

"So, basically, you're saying it's impossible?" she asked loftily. "Well, you're right. I don't even talk to cats I like nicely."

"Why does your appearance have to be so deceiving?" he meowed.

She stiffened promptly, bristling, and turned to him with a half-angry half-incredulous look on her face. If he just said what I think he said...she trailed off, well, he certainly doesn't want to be alive any more.

"What are you implying?" she asked suspiciously.

He brightened up immediately, letting out a chuckle before saying anything. He shook his head with a sigh, fixing her with his amused green eyes and twitching his right ear. Oh, this is going to be fun.

"What do you think I'm implying?" he answered. "I'm saying your pretty. Gee, you are so clue -" he broke off, narrowly avoiding a swipe that Petal had aimed at him, her claws unsheathed. "Temper, temper. You should be taking examples from Whitewing over there. She's as sweet as can be."

"You are so dead."

"Am I? I don't think I am," he mock-frowned, pretending to look confused.

"You know what I mean," she hissed. "Once I don't need you any more, you'll be hunting in StarClan."

"You need me, do you? Now that's interesting," he smirked. "I wonder what you need me for?"

Petal opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a yowl from Whitewing. The white she-cat looked confused and alarmed, and was prodding at something with her paw, shaking her head over and over again. Bramblestar and Brackenfur caught up, and the golden brown tabby took a step back and exchanged a glance with Bramblestar.

The silver she-cat bounded over, ignoring the nagging pain in her shoulder, and stopped short when she caught a glimpse of what was lying there. It was a cat, livid green eyes staring straight up at the sky. The cat's blue-and-white head had been rolled over to one side, and there was a huge red gash across her throat. Her paws lay splayed upon the ground, limp and lifeless. She hadn't been dead long, clearly, as her body was still warm to the touch and blood was still pooling out of the wound, staining the thick grey ash a vibrant red.

Though sarcastic and threatening to kill Leopardpaw only moments before, her heart leapt into her throat and almost choked her. Only a few days ago, this cat had been up, and bouncing, and cheery, chattering with Trapeze about going into the East Side. Now, Shirley lay dead upon the ashen field outside West Broadhinny, killed in cold blood. No-one had a reason to kill Shirley. She'd never done anything wrong, besides being annoying. But this...despite her threats, she could never kill a cat. Never.

This was bad. But when she looked up, she decided things were worse than just bad. Standing around them in a vicious circle, seemingly melting out of the soot beneath their paws, were the Guardians of the Night. And even worse, looking angry, foreboding, and ready to kill, was the second-in-command; Snitch had arrived, and was not at all pleased with what he saw.

"So you've returned to settle your score, have you, Petal?" Snitch sneered, fixing his eyes on Petal. "I must admit, Dimitri was half-mad and frantic with worry when he came back - so mad, even, that he asked for our help. He was easy to take care of. It's a shame he can't be with us any more, isn't it?"

"He was nothing to me!" Petal snarled, unsheathing her claws. "And you never were, either. I don't have friends, Snitch. I don't need friends."

"Petal, who is this cat?" Bramblestar muttered.

She appeared not to hear him, and Snitch paid no attention to him either. The thin, pale brown tabby tom's eyes were flickering over every member of the party, and then narrowed when he saw Leopardpaw, who was standing rather protectively by Petal's side and appeared to be facing off with a member of the Guardians of the Night.

"Oh. I see," he meowed dryly.

She glared at him, confused, and followed his gaze towards Leopardpaw. She looked from one to the other, and then at Snitch's face, and realised what he was thinking.

"It's not like that," she spat. "I don't need to answer to you with everything I choose to do. And I don't need to waste my time with you. I have things to do, and they don't involve cornering a group of five cats with fifty."

Snitch answered her glare with his own, tilting his head in a calculating way and staring at her for a long time, his hooked, unsheathed claws creating lines through the ash as he flexed them over and over again. He stepped forwards, almost hesitantly, and took in the sight before him; he then flicked his tail and marched towards them.

"Stoner! O'Rourke! Come on over here!"

The two identical grey toms shoved through their crowd, their muzzles just as squashed as ever and their amber eyes blazing. Instinctively, Petal stepped aside to let them past, as did Leopardpaw and the ThunderClan warriors. She felt like shrinking back into the shadows as Stoner and O'Rourke passed, their foul, putrid-smelling breath raising the hairs on her pelt. They picked up Shirley together and walked away, swinging her between them with little respect for the dead she-cat. Snitch now stood in the middle of them, his hard gaze still upon Petal, and seemingly not fazed by the muscular cats that stood behind him.

"Why is she dead?" Petal asked, her voice trembling with anger.

He raised an eyebrow, as if surprised.

"Her loyalties somehow lay with you, Petal," he answered. "As soon as she saw you approaching, she tried to bounce over you to warn you and tell you to turn back. Not only could we not have caught you, but we have no room for traitors in the Guardians of the Night."

The tabby she-cat saw Bramblestar stiffen at the mention of traitors, and he seemed a whole lot more angry than he originally had when they'd been caught. Maybe this was the time when the diplomat in Bramblestar disappeared completely and he became ruthless and battle-hungry, ready to fight any cat that came his way.

Snitch suddenly spun round on his heel to look at Brackenfur and Bramblestar. Snitch may be quite large, but both toms were larger, and if they'd wanted to they could have easily pinned him between the two of them. But there was some kind of power around Snitch, some sense of supremacy, that made any cat, no matter if Snitch were a stranger to them, wary of the tom. He wasn't to be judged lightly, that was for sure.

"Who are you?" Bramblestar asked calmly, still managing to maintain the façade of a confident leader.

"I might ask you the same question," Snitch replied.

"You might," the darker brown tom meowed.

Snitch narrowed his eyes, as he always did when he was judging someone. It was as thought it made him see better, although it only made his eyes smaller; so maybe it was just a habit.

"You're a leader, aren't you?" he stated.

"So are you," Bramblestar said cryptically.

"Second-in-command, actually, but yes, you're close. You know, I like how you think. I could offer you a position in the Guardians of the Night, if you'd like to take it. You look strong, and so does ol' silent over there," Snitch jerked his head in Brackenfur's direction, who raised his eyebrows at his name.

"'Ol' silent' and I are already part of our own group, thank you very much," Bramblestar said coldly.

"Ah, I see," Snitch responded. "And would that group be interested in fighting against that East Side?"

"Only if you let us go," the ThunderClan leader replied promptly.

"You're good with your words," the pale brown tom observed. "We will let you go, on one condition."

"What would that condition be?" Bramblestar asked.

"We keep Petal."

Petal thought he was seriously considering it when he stared at her for some time and frowned thoughtfully. His gaze drifted around the ashen field, rested on every cat present once or twice and then up at the sky, before settling back upon Snitch.

"If I said yes, how do I know you would keep your word? If I said yes, how do I know you'd let me pass through your territory? If I said yes, how would I continue on in my journey with the guilt of leaving someone behind? If I said yes, how could I ever live with myself again if I gave away my daughter to some strange vagabond I met upon the way, so that I could continue on safe and sound? How would I justify that to my mate? How would I justify that to Petal's siblings? And most importantly, how could I ever justify that to myself?" his words became more and more heated as he went on, and Snitch's expression grew from being satisfied to being astounded.

He looked between father and daughter, as if trying to find similarity between to the two, and slowly calmed himself down, allowing a faint, satisfied expression to settle back upon his face, although inside, his thoughts were a turmoil of questions.

"Well, I suppose that complicates things a little," Snitch said hesitantly, turning around to look at the two apprentice-age cats. "I think we'll all head off to the prison, don't you?"

His words were greeted by a rumble of agreement from all the surrounding Guardians of the Night, although some looked a bit disappointed that there would be no battle or bloodshed.

"I'm not moving," Whitewing said softly.

Snitch spun around and rounded on her, turning his back on Petal and Leopardpaw.

"What did you say?" he asked, his tone dangerously calm.

"I'm not moving," she repeated firmly. "I don't take orders from anyone except my Clan leader. Last time I checked, uh...Snitch, you weren't my Clan leader."

Whilst Whitewing mouthed a 'thank you' to Petal, Snitch stared at the white she-cat with his mouth hanging open. How does she know my name? I haven't mentioned it, and neither has anyone else!

"Have we met before?" he asked.

Whitewing glanced at him thoughtfully.

"I don't believe we have," she said. "But let me tell you a little about me. About us. Bramblestar," she flicked her tail towards the brown tabby tom, "is the leader of our Clan. Brackenfur," she gestured to the other tom, "is a senior and experienced warrior. Leopardpaw, who is standing behind you next to Petal, is an apprentice. I am the medicine cat; my duty is to heal those that are injured, and to speak with those that walk amongst the stars. I have been given the gift of sight - I can see what is to come and what has been. You are Snitch. You are the second-in-command of the Guardians of the Night. You answer to..." she trailed off and pretended to close her eyes, but instead lidded them until they were almost shut and tilted her chin, looking at Petal for the answer, "...yes, that's right. He's known as the Betrayer. You and he are close friends, aren't you? I think you call him Krypt. These cats around you are the cats who are in the Guardians of the Night. They listen to you, but on the occasion when they are graced with the presence of this Krypt, they only listen to him because he rules with an iron paw."

"Petal told you that," he accused her.

"No," Whitewing fixed him with her steady, green eyes. "StarClan told me that. StarClan knows the truth about every cat, and can see into their hearts. I know your darkest secret, the one that you protect with your life, but I shall not utter it unless you refuse to let us go."

Leopardpaw and Petal shared a glance - Bramblestar had made the right choice taking Whitewing with them. She may not look like much, but she was resourceful, and knew which trick to play and when. By now, Snitch was trembling, in either fear or anger. The look he gave to Whitewing was full of fear, and something else...was that respect? Then, he turned around and stared hard into Petal's eyes.

"Let them go," he said, his voice soft yet still holding a commanding, dangerous tone.

"But, sir -" Stoner, or O'Rourke, broke in.

"I said, let them go!" he growled, rounding on the two toms, who both nodded submissively.

Slowly, the crowd of cats parted, allowing a space for the ThunderClan cats to get through. Petal shivered in relief, stepping forward, feeling freedom in her paws once again. But as she passed Snitch, his whispered threat sent a shiver down her spine.

"No matter how hard or how far you run, one day, I will find you."

I have some apologising to do. Sorry to all my readers! The first two weeks were pure laziness, and then my laptop broke, and it's still being fixed, so I had to find time to get on an iPhone so I could write this. I'd actually started it before my computer broke, so I had to restart it again. I'm actually happier with this chapter than the original one. I tried to make it longer, but I just don't have any time, because I'm going on holiday. This will be the last chapter for a week or so. Hopefully I'll have my computer back soon. And look, Coqui, I managed to write it in the small space of time I had!

So, both Snitch and Petal are kinda messed up inside. Snitch has an obsession with keeping his enemies in check. He does not like to be crossed or undermined.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll see you soon...hopefully. Remember to review and I'll give you a super awesome mind-reading Whitewing plushie. You know you want one!

So,

Review.

~Queen Of The Pens