THUNDERCLAN TERRITORY
The day's heat had faded somewhat and the sky was a peaceful orange as the sun was about to disappear and mark the closing of another day. Bladestar was in the front, leading the evening hunting patrol with Steel, Hazelfur, and Shinepelt bringing up the rear.
Suddenly Bladestar stopped. "I think we'll try hunting closer by the RiverClan border this time."
Hazelfur looked with confusion at Bladestar. "Not to question your judgement… But are you sure that's wise? With the tensions being so high, won't they take it as an act of hostility?"
"I understand your concern, Hazelfur," He meowed calmly. "And I'm glad you brought that up. I wanted to check on the border while we were hunting so we could make sure that they're not getting too bold and crossing into our territory."
"I see," Hazelfur nodded his head, "That makes sense."
They trotted on a few more paces when Bladestar raised his tail and motioned them to stop. "Hmm… I think I smell something." He sniffed the air again. The patrol's ears all pricked up alertly as they suddenly heard something: the sound of a large creature crashing through the forest toward them!
"Dog!" Bladestar yowled. "Split up! We'll meet back at camp!"
A large brown and white pitbull emerged from behind some of the trees, running swiftly as he caught sight of the cats.
"Run!"
The four cats charged in all different directions, trying to get as far away from the pitbull as possible.
The dog reached the spot where they all had just been standing a few seconds earlier, and came to a halt, looking back and forth in confusion. Then, giving a deep growl, he decided to chase after Bladestar.
The pitbull's short pause was all that Bladestar needed to get a small head-start, but not for long. The giant dog was swiftly closing the gap between them.
Bladestar felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest. I can't outrun him! I need somewhere to hide!
Seeing a small thorn bush not far to his left, he tried his best to charge as far as possible into a small opening that was near the center. He felt the thorns prick him as they cut into his skin but he pushed in, trying to get as far in as possible.
The dog agitatedly paced around the thorn bushes, snapping as he tried to reach the ThunderClan leader.
I made it! Bladestar glanced back at the viscous looking dog. Though at this rate I'll be here forever!
Bladestar suddenly heard a two-leg whistling and calling out a strange name. The dog whined at the thought of leaving his captive, but reluctantly, took off in the direction of the yowling two-leg.
Why a dog would want to go to a two-leg I'll never know!
After a few seconds, Bladestar poked his head out of the thorn bush. After double checking that the dog was nowhere in sight, he crept out and then started off in the direction of camp. He had only gone a few paces when Steel called to him.
"There you are! I thought I saw you run this way." Steel trotted up to meet him. "Good thing that two-leg called when it did."
"Oh you saw that?" Bladestar glanced at him, "I thought you had gone off in the direction of WindClan."
Steel paused for a second. "Well, I saw the dog take off after you so I circled around. I wanted to make sure you were okay and that you didn't get hurt."
Bladestar smiled. "Well thank you, I'm glad that you worried about me, but next time it might be safer if you went back to camp like you were told. Otherwise, we could've had another cat in trouble."
"I understand." Steel meowed, "Grayleaf seems to think I have trouble following orders too."
Bladestar didn't want to upset Steel but he wanted him to realize the importance of the rules. "You'll get the hang of it," he said simply.
"Hopefully," Steel sighed. "Should we check on the RiverClan border since we're so close anyways?"
Bladestar looked in the direction of the border. "I don't know. I don't want Shinepelt or Hazelfur to think that something bad might've happened to us."
Steel looked down at his paws. "Well… um, I was hoping that I could spend some time alone with you, without all of the others… I wanted to talk about how I was fitting in with the Clan."
Bladestar eyes met Steel's as he looked up. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check the border. We shouldn't be gone too long if we hurry."
Steel smiled happily, "Thanks Bladestar! I knew you would understand."
They both changed direction toward RiverClan, starting at a slow trot.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Steel kept his pace matching Bladestar's. "I-I don't think Grayleaf likes me very much. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
Bladestar couldn't help but grin. "Is that all? Grayleaf has been through a lot, she's just slow to trust cats sometimes. She's probably just got her mind on a lot of things with having an apprentice and all. I wouldn't take it personally."
Steel shook his head slowly. "It's just that I want to fit in so badly…I can't do anything right."
Bladestar nodded his head understandingly, "Every cat feels like that at some point. And I'm sure Grayleaf will come to like you more once she gets to know you better. She's one of the best warriors I know."
"I hope she does." Steel meowed.
They both stopped once they reached the river that bordered RiverClan.
Bladestar started smelling for any RiverClan scent on their side. "Let's see if they've trespassed anywhere along here."
Steel started sniffing in the opposite direction of Bladestar.
After a while, satisfied that he didn't find any of their scent on their side, Bladestar lifted his head, "Everything seems-"He paused looking around. Where did Steel go? "Steel!" He called, "Where are you?"
Bladestar took a pace from the river. "Steel?"
Suddenly Steel appeared from behind one of the rocks. "I'm right here, Bladestar."
"Oh, there you are," Bladestar meowed, relieved, "I was afraid that the dog might have come-." He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
Three rugged looking rogues followed Steel from behind the boulder, snarling at Bladestar.
Bladestar looked at Steel in confusion, "Wait. Steel, do you know these cats?"
Steel gave a chuckle, "Poor gullible, Bladestar. How stupid you've been."
The rogues' eyes gleamed haughtily as they drew themselves in a semi-circle around Bladestar, closing in on him, with the river straight behind him.
"What are you doing with them?" Bladestar asked, his head spinning with confusion. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Steel walked triumphantly up to Bladestar, "My, you are slow, aren't you? They work for me, of course."
"B-but I thought you wanted to join the Clan?" Bladestar meowed in shocked disbelief.
"Why would I ever want to join your ridiculous Clan? So I could take orders from you? Really now, don't be absurd, Bladestar."
Bladestar's eye's darted back and forth as realization hit him and he looked for any way to escape. "But why would you do this? Betray us? We took you in!"
"I'm glad you asked." Steel meowed coldly, "Let me tell you a story. A long time ago, there was a ThunderClan she-cat and RiverClan-tom who fell madly in love. Your stupid Code wouldn't allow them to be mates, so they met in secret… That is, until they were found out about. Then, both of the Clan leaders decided they couldn't have Warriors who weren't willing to die for your precious Warrior Code. So, they banished them in the dead of winter, even though they knew that the she-cat was pregnant." Steel pointed a paw to his chest, "She was pregnant with me. That cat was my Mother."
Bladestar stared back into Steel's cold eyes as he meowed. "That was a long time ago. I had nothing to do with it and would never have done anything that cruel!"
Steel took another step forward and yowled, "You would've done the exact same thing, all for the sake of your precious Code!"
He took a deep breath and composed himself. "Now, when they had that one lonely kit, they raised me till I was old enough to fend for myself then left. I never saw them again. They had told me many stories of how they were banished and what the Clans did to them and how it had been my fault. I guess I was too big of a reminder of what had happened to them. But all of that is of little consequence now. I am going to make things right." He repeated again, "I will make things right."
"Killing me won't fix anything, Steel. It wasn't me who sent your parents away."
Steel then gave a wicked grin. "Of course, I know that, Bladestar. So this is what I had decided to do; First thing I did was I met one of your she-cat warriors in the woods while she was hunting – I hadn't even realized that she was Deputy at the time. I had preferred to join RiverClan, but being as ThunderClan is famous for taking in poor struggling cats, and since your deputy was so easily won over by my charms, I decided on your Clan. Now, something you also did not know, is that she is pregnant with my kits."
Bladestar gaped with shock.
"I knew you'd be surprised." Steel said mockingly. "Anyway, with you dead, position as leader will fall to her, and obviously, we both know a queen expecting kits is in no condition to lead a Clan. So I will persuade her to appoint me leader instead, being as the choice will now be hers. See? It was all quite simple really. Well, except for finding the perfect time to kill you. I've had my cats waiting around here for quite some time. Thankfully they won't need to wait any longer."
Knowing that this would be his only chance of escape, Bladestar turned around and plunged himself into the ice cold water.
"Get him." Steel yowled, his teeth bared.
The three rogues savagely took off after him into the water. Bladestar barely had time to go a few tail lengths before he was tackled roughly, splashing madly in the water.
Steel yowled from the shore where he stood watching the whole scene. "Don't let him get away! Kill him!" Steel watched Bladestar as he would kick out desperately, trying to get free from the rogues' grips before going completely limp twice, losing two of his lives.
Bladestar felt his vision grow dim. I have only one more life! There's nothing I can do now… I'm going to die. I'm sorry ThunderClan that I let Steel into our camp. I can only hope that somehow some-cat will be strong enough to defeat him. I'm so sorry… I wish I could go back and fix things and be a better leader to you all.
Suddenly a cat whose pelt was lit with the light of stars drew towards him. Is that you Dewdrop? Bladestar blinked feebly.
"Yes, Bladestar, it's me. It's time for you to let go now and come join us in StarClan."
"B-but what about my Clan, they need me!"
Dewdrop smiled, "You have been a noble leader, Bladestar. Now it is time for them to learn to get along without you."
The last thing Bladestar felt was his captor's paws pinning him into the ground, the water gurgling overhead as he gasped for his last breaths and then, went completely limp as he breathed his last.
"I think he's dead." The largest of the three rogues meowed, looking back at Steel.
Steel gave an exasperated sigh, "Well of course he's dead, you oafs! Now drag him up out of the water and leave him half emerged on the bank. ThunderClan will probably assume that he drowned. There will be no scent thanks to the water. You three had better get back to our camp and tell the others I'll be ready for them soon. I've got to head back to camp before anything begins to look suspicious."
Steel looked back at Bladestar's dead body and then started off. He hid behind a tree quickly though as he heard an excited meow from the other side of the river.
"Can I leave my first scent marker?"
It was a RiverClan patrol, one of them – a young apprentice – was walking excitedly beside his mentor and was peppering him with questions. As they emerged behind some trees, the apprentice quickly sighted the still form of Bladestar on the other side of the river. "What's that over there?" He turned, asking his mentor who was staring blankly at Bladestar's dead body.
The mentor glanced over at the other cats in the patrol. "I'm afraid it looks like a body. We'll have to swim over and investigate." She nodded to her apprentice. "Stay here."
The young apprentice looked on in solemn silence as the RiverClan warriors stepped out from the other side and dragged Bladestar completely on shore. "It's the ThunderClan leader!" One of them exclaimed.
Suddenly there was a rustle from the trees and Shinepelt, Hazelfur, Ashnose, and Velvetfoot emerged and stared at the RiverClan warriors, their eyes going from shock to rage. "What are you doing on our-" Velvetfoot stopped short as she spotted Bladestar's still form.
"You murders!" She yowled at them, "You killed Bladestar."
Steel decided it was better for him to make an appearance before they scented his presence. "Bladestar!" he cried charging from his cover. He turned to the RiverClan warriors and spat, "What have you done to him?"
Author note/ So Steel is a horrific cat! Did any of you guess that Steel was bad? I think One-Eye was a little suspicious about Steel's character ;) Hope you all liked the chapter!