Well, I left you hanging, so here you go!
Almost automatically, Crowfeather lunged forward and grasped the falling Ringkit by his small tail, causing Ringkit to cry out in fear and pain. Crowfeather's paws scrabbled against the rocks at the edge of the gorge, so Echobreeze leapt forward to help him. Shaking, she pulled on Crowfeather's tail to bring them both back to safety.
Ringkit cried and ran back to Dawnlight, who picked him up again. He never looked happier to be picked up.
Willowshine sniffed the kit all over. "Just shock," she whispered, looking around, "though I don't know what Tribe cats may use instead of poppy seeds."
Echobreeze looked up into Crowfeather's face…her grandfather's face.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why…did you save him? When…you killed my brother."
Crowfeather shook his head. "Not now," he murmured.
After the events of the day, the cats finally fell asleep, just leaving Crowfeather and Echobreeze awake.
"You killed my brother," Echobreeze meowed shakily. "Why did you save Ringkit?"
Crowfeather's eyes were pained. "I never meant to kill Silverkit." When Echobreeze looked surprised, he meowed, "Oh, yes, I know his name was Silverkit. I remember the announcement of Lionblaze and Hazeltail's four kits. Silverkit, Snowkit, Dapplekit, and Echokit." He fixed Echobreeze with his amber gaze. "But you know what? That's it. That's all I remember."
Echobreeze's breath caught in her throat. "What?"
"I have no idea what happened. But suddenly, it was two moons later, and Breezepelt…he was telling me how I killed Lionblaze's kit." Crowfeather swallowed. "I don't care that Lionblaze is my son. Nightcloud and Breezepelt are my true family. But it was just the idea…why would I kill a kit? Why?" Crowfeather looked genuinely distressed. "I don't know what happened in those two moons. Everything was just a blur. It was like I was seeing everything through a dream, not comprehending what I was doing. It was like something…was controlling my mind."
Echobreeze listened to Crowfeather's chilling tale with a coldness setting over her heart. What had happened to him? It was like what happened with Mousewhisker…and Snaketail...and now the rest of ShadowClan.
"Is it a sickness?" Echobreeze hissed, clawing the ground. "What is making this happen?"
Crowfeather shook his head wearily. "I don't know, Echobreeze. All I know is that I never meant to hurt your brother." He gazed at her. "Do you forgive me?"
Echobreeze never thought she would be saying the words that she said to Crowfeather. "Yes, Crowfeather," she meowed softly to her grandfather. "I forgive you."
Echobreeze woke up the next morning with new vigor. Her heart felt considerably lighter, and she realized that it was no longer weighed down by the hatred that she had felt for Crowfeather, and his murdering of her foster brother.
Breezepelt stood over her and smirked at her, and Echobreeze realized she was the last to wake up.
"So, you finally awaken," he drawled. "We were thinking of leaving you behind."
"Well, it's a good thing I woke up when I did," Echobreeze meowed cheerfully to a startled Breezepelt. She flicked his shoulder with her tail. "I'm going to go hunt. And maybe you should start thinking of possibly pulling your weight around here. I've noticed you haven't hunted at all, and all you're doing is taunting us and the kits. Maybe we're not so much the useless ones." She sauntered off in a flouncy manner, leaving Breezepelt to gape at her.
Echobreeze caught a mouse and gobbled it down ferociously. Licking her chops, she went back to the makeshift camp, and saw that the cats were all getting ready, Tawnypelt picking up a petrified Ringkit, Squirrelflight getting Ashkit, and Willowshine picking up Nightkit. Echobreeze headed for Spottedkit, until suddenly Breezepelt swooped in and picked up Spottedkit in his jaws. Echobreeze looked at him, her eyes wide, and Breezepelt's ears flattened in embarrassment. "You know, just…getting something to do," he meowed gruffly, taking away Spottedkit, who was swinging around so much that her face was screwed up in an effort not to be sick.
Dovewing and Ivyvine stared after Breezepelt, their eyes bulging out of their heads.
"What are you, some kind of magical StarClan cat?" Ivyvine asked, still goggling at the sight of Breezepelt holding Spottedkit helpfully.
Echobreeze shrugged mysteriously.
The cats leapt the gorge that Ringkit had nearly killed himself in easily, and they continued up the rocky mountain, often switching kit-shift so that the others could get a break. The going got pretty tough, with many vertical cliffs and high boulders to jump on, and they hadn't made it nearly to where Squirrelflight and Tawnypelt said was the halfway point before they were too exhausted to move on.
Their new makeshift camp was made between two gorges, because it was the only flat part they could find. Echobreeze hoped dearly that none of them were restless sleepers tonight.
Echobreeze laid down near Crowfeather, almost jokingly trying to delve into his dreams, like Jayfeather could. Nothing happened, so she rolled over, almost disappointed, to look out at the mountains.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Echobreeze was standing in the middle of ThunderClan camp as a battle raged on.
WindClan and ThunderClan were fighting everywhere, but it all seemed, fuzzy, foggy, hazy to Echobreeze. She couldn't really comprehend what was going on, but she felt lean, powerful, and thirsting for blood…a specific cat's blood in particular.
Snarling savagely at Whitewing, who was protecting the nursery, Echobreeze opened her jaws to taste the air. Yes…there was the scent. It was faint, but Echobreeze could still detect it.
Echobreeze followed the scent, slashing at Foxpelt on the way. Almost there…
It became tangled with herbs, and Echobreeze dimly realized that this must be the medicine cats' den. The thought of medicine cats pained her deeply, though, so she pushed it away and leapt inside the den, yowling fearlessly.
There. There she was.
Echobreeze started forward at the little unconscious kit, and the only thought running through her mind was the thought of the kit's warm blood soaking her jaws, trickling down her throat, staining her fur…
"Go away!"
Echobreeze snarled as another kit stood in the way of the one she wanted.
"Get away from her!" the little silver kit squeaked. "I won't let you hurt her!"
"She must die, foolish kit," Echobreeze caterwauled, and the small part of Echobreeze that was still herself to hear that she didn't sound like herself. She sounded like another cat…so familiar, but yet so horrifying…
"No!" the silver kit yowled. "You can't! She's…she's special, and StarClan's got something in plan for her, you can't interfere with it!"
"Then you both must die!" Echobreeze yowled, and lunged at the kit and pressed its neck to the ground. She felt its struggles grow weaker and weaker…
She ripped out its throat.
The little kit's eyes glazed over, it's jaws forever suspended in that look of shock and terror. Echobreeze enjoyed the blood, felt the purity of the innocent kit's blood washing through her, cleaner than the river…
Echobreeze turned toward the little unconscious kit.
Do it, hissed a voice in her head. Kill her.
Kill Echokit.
…Holy crap. That was terrifying. You have to review, if you don't, I'll go bury my head in a pillow and cry because writing that will give me nightmares.
