HAHA SHREDTAIL IS EVIL


By the time he reached camp, Shredtail's neck was bleeding profusely and his legs were beginning to scream at him to stop running. He gasped for breath, air rasping in and out of his chest, and stumbled into camp.

Breezestar was already getting to his paws and pushing Mapleshade's pathetic ginger scrap of fur behind him. "Great StarClan, Shredtail, what happened to you?"

As if you care, Shredtail thought to himself. He knew perfectly well that no one in ThunderClan actually cared what happened to him, not outside of the concern they were supposed to have for any Clanmate. Not one of them would have really cared if he died; they would have buried him, but no one would sit vigil for him, and no one would talk about him after his death.

"Mapleshade," he croaked, deliberately making himself sound worse. His throat actually hurt quite badly, and he was already rasping when he breathed, but it wasn't enough.

He could have laughed at the look of alarmed confusion on Breezestar's face. Can't imagine your little protégé as anything less than perfect? Well, start working your brain, because I'm about to show you all the lies she's been telling.

It wouldn't do to explain the exact situation he'd been in, Shredtail knew. If he admitted that he'd spied on Mapleshade, then threatened her until she attacked him, he'd be in just as much trouble. No, he had to come up with something on the fly. Wouldn't be too difficult.

"Daisythorn," the ThunderClan leader called, and Shredtail lowered his head so that no one would see the way he curled his lip in disgust at the name of the moronic grey and white queen. "Gather up the kits and take them back into the nursery, would you?"

"Of course," she meowed quickly, darting forward to fetch Mapleshade's ginger furball and pushing him into the nursery. Shredtail looked over his shoulder at them.

"Breezestar, they'll have to be told eventually," he meowed.

The black tom stared down at him, expression serious as he seemed to ruminate over Shredtail's words. At length he replied, "Perhaps so, but I think it might be best if I'm told first." He leaped down from the Highrock and padded towards the hanging lichen over the mouth of his den, twitching it aside with his tail to open the way for Shredtail.

He entered, snorting inwardly about how formal Breezestar was making it. The tom let kits into his den – it should have been no different for a Clanmate. Of course, Shredtail knew he hardly counted as a Clanmate in the leader's eyes.

Once inside, he sat down and curled his tail around his paws. Breezestar was still outside, calling to someone, and a moment later Blizzardpelt rushed into the den with a clump of cobwebs. He pressed them to Shredtail's throat with one paw, slowing the bleeding. "What in StarClan's name happened to you?" he mewed with what was obviously fake concern. "Does it still hurt? Do you need something for the pain?"

His desperate attempts to look as if he cared quickly annoyed Shredtail, who glared at him. "Leave me alone."

Blizzardpelt pretended to be hurt, taking a few pawsteps back. "Very well. Come see me in my den later so that I can take a better look at your injuries." He backed out of the den and Breezestar came in.

The tom was very large, and Shredtail found himself feeling crowded in the small space, though he knew there should have been plenty of room. Obviously Breezestar was sitting closer than he needed to, in order to make him uncomfortable. It wouldn't surprise him.

He shuffled back slightly, and Breezestar meowed, "Please explain how your injuries are related to Mapleshade." Even though Shredtail was the one who was hurt, Breezestar sounded as if he was ready to accuse him of something.

"She was the one who gave them to me," Shredtail rasped. Thinking fast, he created a lie to explain, "I'd noticed in the moons before her kits were born that she was visiting Sunningrocks a lot. One night, she got up and left camp. I couldn't help but follow her – I was curious." He didn't want to make himself seem like a simpering suck-up by stating that he'd done it for the good of the Clan; that wouldn't seem believable. "When I got there, I saw her nuzzling a tom from RiverClan – Pebblestep. I don't know for sure, but I think she's been meeting him for a while."

Breezestar narrowed his eyes. "Very well, but I don't see what exactly this has to do with your wounds."

"Well, I was out hunting near Sunningrocks today. I heard her coming and realized that Pebblestep was across the river. I hid in the bushes and watched him come to meet her. She –" He paused as if too overwhelmed to continue and looked up at Breezestar. Sell it. Make him believe you. "I know we really haven't gotten along well," he choked, "and this probably seems like I'm just trying to incriminate her. I wish to StarClan that that was the truth. Mapleshade has always been so loyal – I thought."

"What do you mean?" Breezestar questioned. His expression was drawn, green eyes unreadable.

Shredtail swallowed. "She started telling him secrets. About how we only post one cat as a guard at night in leaf-bare, how there's a small path leading into the dirtplace that most cats don't know about. She was telling him that we don't have as much food as we say we do." He closed his eyes briefly. "I couldn't let her continue doing it. When she started coming back to camp, I confronted her about it. She hardly let me get out a word before she – she attacked me," he stammered. "I swear, I didn't know anything about it before – I didn't want to tell anyone about her meeting the RiverClan tom, I thought she was still loyal, I didn't want her to get in trouble." He lowered his voice. "I just… I never thought she would betray ThunderClan."

Breezestar's gaze, when he risked a glance upwards, was troubled. "So she's been telling ThunderClan secrets to a RiverClan tom," he mused somberly. "Had she simply been meeting him at the river, I might have let her off with a punishment and nothing more. But this is full-blown betrayal. She's putting the lives of every ThunderClan cat at risk." He sighed heavily. "Very well. Shredtail, thank you for telling me this. I didn't think Mapleshade…" he stopped, took a deep breath, and meowed, "Thank you," again before standing up and exiting the den.

Shredtail slid out after him, pelt pricking at the injustice of what Breezestar had said. Let her off with a punishment? Nothing more? For meeting a tom from another Clan? Having half-Clan kits, nothing but a punishment? Is he mad? Thank StarClan that's not the story I went with.

Mapleshade stood in the middle of the camp, breathing raggedly, eyes wild. She looked at Breezestar and opened her mouth as if to speak, then noticed Shredtail behind him. Her mouth shut, and Shredtail watched in dark delight as horror sparked in her amber gaze. He watched the fear turn her stiff and tense.

"You attacked Shredtail," Breezestar meowed almost conversationally.

"Yes," she admitted, "but only because –"

"No," he stopped her. "He's explained things to me. Mapleshade, though it pains me to say this…" Breezestar looked at the ground, and Shredtail took the opportunity to smirk at the long-furred tortoiseshell before him. "For betraying ThunderClan, Mapleshade, you are no longer a part of it. You must take your kits and leave the territory by sundown; if you are found within our borders after that, we must treat you as an enemy warrior and will chase you out if need be. You are exiled from ThunderClan." His voice trembled, and Shredtail sneered inwardly at the black tom's weakness.

He was hugely disappointed that Breezestar hadn't made a big deal out of it. He hadn't called a ceremony, hadn't even spoken very loudly. It was entirely possible that only Shredtail, Breezestar, and Mapleshade had heard the declaration of exile.

Still, it was enough to see her misery without the added humiliation. Shredtail watched, delighted, as Mapleshade trudged into the nursery. When she came out again, kits at her paws mewing in confusion, Daisythorn stuck her head out of the entrance and hissed, showing her teeth. It seemed she, at least, had heard Breezestar's words.

Shredtail looked on in grim pleasure as Mapleshade murmured brokenly to her kits. He strained his ears and was able to make out her faint whisper that they were no longer ThunderClan cats. The tortoiseshell she-cat looked up and caught his gaze, and he was amused to see a mixture of hatred and defeat swimming there. She looked away and nudged her kits towards the camp's entrance.

Eventually, they began to move, and Shredtail watched, eyes mere slits, as she vanished. He could wait no longer. "Breezestar?"

"What is it?" the tom rumbled. He had sat down and was studying the ground at his paws as if it might have some answers for him.

"I'll go after her and make sure she leaves the territory." Shredtail had to force his glee from entering his voice as he spoke.

Breezestar looked up, blinking as if he had only just awakened from deep sleep. "You're hurt."

"I know," Shredtail meowed. "I don't want anyone else to suffer from her claws. I want to be sure she's out of our territory for good." The black tom looked away, shrugging, and Shredtail slipped silently out of the entrance tunnel and into the forest.

He had accomplished the hardest task. Now came the fun part.

Now came the hunt.


HAHA SHREDTAIL'S PERSPECTIVE

HAHA I'VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER

But seriously, this is the big intense part of the story. These are the chapters I planned out when I first decided to write about Mapleshade. I knew this was coming for a long time, and I was just waiting to get to this point. And now here we are: Shredtail's perspective. Probably not doing another chapter from his eyes, but oh was it fun to write his sweet, sweet hate-filled mind.