CHAPTER 28 – Cheaters Never Win
Brightpaw felt her muscles tense. Her posture was rigid and still under her white and ginger fur. She was lethal and strong. Her blue eyes scanned the undergrowth smartly, and her mouth was open, tasting the air for any scents. Her ears flicked, searching for new sounds.
There, she noted, her eyes snapping onto the silhouette that appeared over the rise.
It had brown fur and soft eyes, like Leafstorm. And its ears were constantly listening, just like Brightpaw's.
She held her breath and crept forward, slow and silent, her eyes trained on her target. The creature up ahead was completely unaware, too busy with its own agenda.
She almost smiled at how easy it was. Almost.
Taking the life of another living creature should never be easy.
Her claws dug into the dirt and her muscles bunched as she crouched, ready to spring. Her teeth dug into the soft flesh on the neck as she delivered the killing blow. She felt the body go limp in her jaws as she released it, a satisfying thump hitting the forest floor.
"You'll remember it forever," Hawkstar meowed, staring down at the young cat by his side. Together they sat at the lake's edge, staring out at all the territory surrounding them.
"Remember what?" Brightkit asked, staring up at him with curious eyes. She maybe four moons old by now, hardened by ShadowClan's tough training.
Hawkstar's amber eyes glinted coldly as he turned his head in the direction of ThunderClan territory. "The feeling of weightlessness as their body loses its last breath of life. You remember every detail of death. It's impossible to escape."
Brightkit glanced at her own reflection in the water. Her young, fluffy face stared right back at her. "Why can't you escape it?"
The ShadowClan leader shook his head, "When you take a life it's also like you gain a life. You take their life and it suddenly becomes a part of yours. We're all connected, Brightpaw. Everybody's souls are entwined."
Red splotches clouded her vision as Brightpaw sunk her claws deeper into the flesh. She yanked out clumps of brown fur with her claws as she repeatedly cried, "This is all your fault!" Her mind was filled with the threatening images of Hawkstar and Lionstar, her father, Ashclaw, and her mother, Willowleaf. Darkstripe. Whitepaw. Featherpaw.
A few tears escaped her eyes as she sobbed, sliding silently down her face.
"StarClan, Brightpaw, what's wrong with you today?" a voice broke her from her thoughts.
Rainpaw appeared from the corner of her vision, looking at her with concerned eyes. Brightpaw took a step back in shock, beneath her lay a slaughtered rabbit, completely torn apart by her claws.
"Um . . . sorry . . ." she sniffed, glancing apprehensively at her best friend's face.
The gray tabby looked at her with worry, "What's bothering you? You seem to have a lot on your mind . . ." he trailed off and glanced at the slaughtered prey.
Brightpaw glanced away, "It's nothing," she promised. "I just haven't been getting that much sleep lately." It wasn't a lie. Ever since Dovefeather's death she hadn't slept well. Plus, with Smokekit's nightmares and her mother's death, how was she supposed to?
"There you two are. I've been waiting for you down at the lake. Rainpaw, isn't today your hunting competition with Sandpaw?" Brackenpelt asked, bounding towards them from the thicket. It took Brightpaw a second to take in her mentor. The past moon had been a blur when it came to training, and she missed him.
The ThunderClan deputy did a double take when he saw the torn pieces of the rabbit at his apprentice's feet. "Brightpaw, did you—?"
"It was an accident," Rainpaw cut in, stepping in front of his friend. "I was nervous and just got . . . distracted."
"Oh," Brackenpelt mewed, his brow still furrowed with confusion. "Well, we should probably get going," he advised. "Just leave that prey alone—I don't think the Clan will need it." He shot both apprentices one more curious look before beginning to walk in the direction he came from.
Rainpaw nodded awkwardly and shot Brightpaw a look before following. The she-cat cast an apologetic glance at the rabbit before hurrying after them.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled lowly, keeping an eye ahead of her at her mentor.
Rainpaw glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "It's fine, Brightpaw," he promised.
"The rules are simple: stay inside ThunderClan borders, play fair, and you have until sundown," Brackenpelt instructed. He paced down the line of apprentices, glancing at the four of them in turn. "The competition will serve as a final assessment for our older apprentices and a practice for the others. When the sun touches the lake we'll meet back here," he explained.
Brightpaw looked down the line. Sandpaw and Rainpaw were glaring hard at each other, a hidden anger behind both their eyes. Tigerpaw just stared evenly across the lake, looking somewhat bored. He had shrugged off his apprentice duties to look after his sister, but since he was already ten moons old there wasn't much more he needed to learn anyways.
"You might wanna remind the kittypet where the borders lie," Sandpaw muttered, tossing Brightpaw a smug glance.
Brackenpelt's tail twitched at her words. "That's enough," he meowed sternly, his gaze sharp. "Don't talk to her that way."
The ginger apprentice's ears flattened from embarrassment as she mumbled something under her breath and stepped back a little. Brightpaw felt a small smile find its way to her face when her eyes met Brackenpelt's.
"The apprentice who brings the most prey back is the winner," the deputy restated, his eyes back on the line of apprentices. "Now, if you're ready, let's begin."
Brightpaw hung back behind the other three apprentices, watching each of them go off in difference directions. Tigerpaw immediately headed north for the abandoned Twoleg nest, Rainpaw went towards the WindClan border, and Sandpaw decided to try her luck first at the ancient oak tree that was nearby.
The ginger and white apprentice devised her own plan to hunt near Rainpaw so that she could keep an eye on his progress. She could see him far in front of her down by the stream that separated the border. Without the cover of trees, he was easy to spot, so Brightpaw hung back in the woods where she could stay hidden.
Her own ears flicked as she picked up the sound of scampering paws. Mouse, her mind instantly flashed. It was hard for her to think about the competition after she'd just demolished that poor rabbit a few minutes ago. Thank StarClan that Rainpaw had been a good enough friend and taken the blame for her.
Another set of paw steps caught her attention, this time the weight much heavier. It had to be a cat. Brightpaw slid down into her hunter's crouch, laying low and finding herself a spot behind one of the trees.
Through the brush she saw Sandpaw appear, the ginger she-cat's nose in the air, following Rainpaw's scent. In her jaws she held three mice, and though they were small, they would still count as three pieces of prey. And Rainpaw only has one water vole so far, Brightpaw frowned.
Sandpaw set her catch down at the roots of one of the ash trees, quickly covering it in some dirt. Her mouth was moving as if she was talking to herself, and Brightpaw moved closer, her ears pricked, straining to hear the she-cat's words.
"—won't take more than a second to pop down and distract him for his prey," the ginger she-cat was muttering under her breath. She took one last glance around, her gaze lingering in Brightpaw's direction for a heartbeat before she hurried towards the stream.
The other apprentice let out a sigh of relief. "Thank StarClan," she whispered, relaxing a little. She peeked out from her hiding place, watching as Sandpaw was scampering towards where she last spotted Rainpaw.
Cheater, Brightpaw frowned. Maybe I should . . . no. This is Rainpaw's fight. Her eyes strayed to the mice she knew were buried just a few mouse-lengths away. But he needs to win.
Giving herself a quick nod, the young apprentice hurried forward, keeping one eye in the direction where Sandpaw went as she began digging. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered to herself. It only took a few heartbeats before she uncovered the prey. She took one last nervous glance around before scooping it up in her jaws and hurrying in the opposite direction, not wanting to be found when Sandpaw returned.
Thanks for the favor earlier, Rainpaw. But now we're even.
She decided she'd be safest near the heart of the territory, since the others had all headed for the borders. With a soft thump the mice landed at her paws. The young she-cat took a quick glance around before starting to dig.
It took her a while to dig a hole deep enough but finally she was satisfied and quickly pushed in the stolen prey before covering it back up with dirt.
"Well," she murmured. "At least the game's staying fair—"
A loud snap interrupted her words.
Brightpaw dropped down low to the ground, her heart thumping loudly. Did Sandpaw somehow see her? Had she been followed?
Gliding forward she carefully parted the branches of the thorn bush to get a better view. Up ahead in the clearing wasn't Sandpaw, but Sparrowfeather. The tawny medicine cat looked extremely nervous, looking over her shoulder every few seconds.
"What are you up to?" Brightpaw muttered, peering closer.
She didn't have to wait to find out. Sparrowfeather started heading towards the bush where the apprentice was hiding. Brightpaw held her breath and shut her eyes, bracing herself to be found.
StarClan she's gonna ask so many questions, the she-cat mentally groaned.
But the questioning never came. After a few seconds of silence, she opened her eyes and cautiously glanced around. Nothing. The clearing was empty.
"What?" she murmured, standing straight up. She went to crawl through the bush, but halfway through she stumbled as the ground disappeared beneath her paws. With a squeal of surprise, she tumbled downwards as she was swallowed into the ground.
She was back in the tunnels.
Don't know how I feel about this chapter :) thank you for all your kind words! I'll reply to reviews next chapter if you want?
qotd ; what personalities would you like for Sootwhisker's kits
-Stormyyy
