Almost the whole of RiverClan was in the camp, waiting for the arrival of the other clan leaders and deputies. Icewing took Lizardtail and Harelight to intercept their guests at the border. Reedstar had just finished his chub, and joined the conversation between Mothwing and Feather, while throwing suspicion filled glances at Nightstar, who was grooming herself. Applebreeze sat with Sweettooth, Shelldawn, Mistfeather, Frostfur, and Splashpelt while all of the kits in camp played together. Kestrelflight sat calm, but watchfully, near Bayblade who was pacing nervously from one place to another and back.
Willowshine, with the help of Curlfeather, was checking Duskfur and Minnowtail near the elders' den, while trying to read Kestrelflight's expression at the same time. Grayfoot and Mudstripe were sharing tongues at the entrance to the warriors' den, where Gorseclaw, Brackenpelt, Jayclaw, Owlnose, Shimmerpelt, Sneezecloud, Havenpelt, Fogtail, and Mallownose were discussing the outcome of the sudden meeting. Breezeheart and Nightsky were sharing a carp, while Podlight stood on the stream bank watching towards the direction of ShadowClan territory.
"Harelight!" Podlight called, jerking every cat's attention towards him. Harelight was running back to camp, a determined expression in his gaze.
"Every leader and deputy who's not already here is on the way." Harelight announced while crossing the stream. "Flameclaw and Pouncestep are also with them."
"What about Sunbeam?" Bayblade asked anxiously. "Is she also there?"
"I didn't see her." Harelight answered, and Bayblade kept pacing with a solemn expression.
After a few moments of wait, a large group of cats came into sight from the sparse woods at that side of RiverClan territory. Sweettooth could see Icewing and Lizardtail leading more cats to camp, who Sweettooth recognized as the clan leaders and deputies.
Icewing crossed the stream first, using the stepping stones, and the golden ThunderClan leader followed right after her.
"Bayblade!" The muscled tom called. "Are you alright? Were you treated rightfully?"
"Yes, Lionstar." Bayblade replied. "RiverClan sent patrols to check if it was so. Where is Sunbeam."
"Sending patrols to check on another clan's prisoner?" The brown tabby ShadowClan leader leaped straight to shore, skipping a stepping stone. "Can you try any more to act like Firestar, Reedstar? What did he do to deserve that sort of admiration? Save you from drowning?" The tabby paused to see irritated reactions from most cats in the clearing before continuing. "So, what did Whistleclaw report?"
"There's another thing to do before that." Nightstar meowed ominously and waited for Lizardtail, crossing at the end of the party, before resuming. "Rainkit! Remind Sweettooth of the first conversation between you two."
"You told me you scented catmint where no catmint grows," Rainkit trotted over from where the kits sat, to face Sweettooth. "Do you remember where it is?"
"Yes," Sweettooth answered, sure of himself. "It was right next to the heather bush on the way to WindClan territory, close to the marshes."
Nightstar eyed Kestrelflight questioningly and the medicine cat returned a calm nod. "Lead us there." The black she-cat demanded.
"This is my territory, and my warrior, Nightstar." Reedstar reminded the WindClan leader. "You can't order any cat around here. Sweettooth, lead the way, Icewing and everyone who is not RiverClan, follow. Lizardtail, you're in charge of the camp for now."
Reedstar stared at Sweettooth, waiting, but Sweettooth did not want to leave. Sweettooth looked at his kits. Sweettooth did not dare move until Shelldawn passed her tail along his spine, and reassured him the kits were safe.
Sweettooth turned towards the camp stream needed to cross in order to reach the heather bush and led the way.
After crossing by use of the stepping stones, Sweettooth waited at the other side for the entire party to cross and took the time to look at Shelldawn leading the kits inside the nursery.
Sweettooth began leading the large group of cats towards the heather bush, and conversations rose from the cats behind.
"A scent of catmint where no catmint grows?" The ThunderClan deputy meowed to his leader. "Last time I heard of it was when the imposter convinced Berrynose to distract everyone so he could kill Shadowsight. This must be interesting."
"Shadowsight?" Feather asked in a surprised tone. "Is that Shadowkit's warrior name? He came to the tribe with Tawnypelt and Dovewing when I was a to-be."
"It's his medicine cat name." The golden leader answered. "And you must be Feather of Flying Hawk, I've heard about you from Dovewing, Graystripe, and Flipclaw. What are you doing here?"
"I've decided I want to live a clan life." Feather meowed back. "And I'm hoping you would accept me into ThunderClan, Lionstar."
"Any kin of Graystripe is welcome in ThunderClan." Lionstar returned, leading Reedstar to visibly cringe. "Nightstar," The golden leader continued. "What did WarriorClan say? Why isn't Whistleclaw here?"
"Whistleclaw never reached WarriorClan—" Nightstar began but was quickly interrupted by Lionstar.
"So you brought us here for nothing?" Lionstar yowled. "And now you're going to try and keep holding Bayblade prisoner aren't you?"
"I've brought you here because we have a new lead on Fluttercloud's death." Nightstar retorted. "Sweettooth! How longer is it?"
"We're here." Sweettooth answered and pointed his tail at the heater bush.
Kestrelflight trotted over to the bush and began sniffing around. After a while, Kestrelflight nodded to Nightstar in confirmation.
"Heathertail, take Rainkit aside. Reedstar," Nightstar heaved a sigh and meowed disrespectfully. "Can we dig near the heather bush where Kestrelflight shows?"
"Yes," Reedstar obliged. "Sweettooth, do the digging."
Sweettooth gave a brisk nod and headed over to Kestrelflight, and began digging where Kestrelflight pointed to.
"Mousewhisker," Lionstar meowed to his deputy. "Go help him."
Mousewhisker joined Sweettooth in digging.
"Why are they digging?" The dark tabby leader questioned.
"The reason why Whistleclaw never reached WarriorClan is because she's fallen ill during her quest." Kestrelflight began a story. "Thankfully, Feather found her on the way here, took care of her, and brought her back. Feather, would you mind telling everyone what Whistleclaw was sick with?"
"Whistleclaw had a headache, a toothache, and a bellyache." Feather answered. Sweettooth looked up to see Icewing moving her eyes quickly from Reedstar to himself and back.
"These were Willowshine's illnesses as well, weren't they?" Kestrelflight questioned Sweettooth but did not wait for a reply. "Barkface once taught me of a case like this. When Barkface's littermate, Shrewclaw, was killed, he was buried near a heather bush. A moon or so later, Hawkheart and Barkface, WindClan's medicine cats at the time, became sick with a headache, a toothache, and a bellyache. It took them some time, but eventually they found out the reason for it was the same heather bush Shrewclaw was buried next to."
Towards the end of Kestrelflight's story, Sweettooth and Mousewhisker reached a weird shape in the ground. Sweettooth and Mousewhisker began uncovering the earth faster.
"The disease only came to those who prepared the heather nectar though," Kestrelflight resumed his story. "Which explains why only Whistleclaw, who still had a bitter taste in her mouth as she left, and Willowshine, who I can only imagine the amounts of heather nectar—"
Kestrelflight was interrupted by Mousewhisker vomiting his last meal onto the ground beside the dug up hole.
Sweettooth looked at the maggot-filled structure of half-rotten bones that vaguely resembled a cat. A few pieces of stinking gray flesh were left on the corpse, but the skull was conserved well.
"I think we found what we were looking for." Nightstar meowed. "Applebreeze, be strong."
Applebreeze stepped forward until she could peer into the hole. At her first glance of the dissolving pile, Applebreeze let out a quiet squeal and turned away. After a few moments of whimpering. Applebreeze took another look at the corpse and examined it's skull. "It's Fluttercloud," The yellow tabby meowed full of sadness. "I'll recognize the shape of his head anywhere." Applebreeze finished and scampered off to where Heathertail led Rainkit earlier.
A surprised gasp came from every cat in the party, leading every gaze to land on Reedstar and Nightstar.
"Reedstar," Nightstar snarled menacingly. "Would you care to explain what the dead body of my warrior is doing on your territory?"
"It's none of my doing!" Reedstar hissed indignantly. "Maybe Bayblade buried him after he killed him, there was ThunderClan scent near here."
"Sweettooth hunted here on the day Fluttercloud was murdered," Nightstar retorted with a snarl. "He would have noticed the uneven ground."
"I'm telling you Nightstar," Reedstar objected. "No warrior of mine—" Reedstar suddenly gasped again, choking, and collapsed. Reedstar lay limp on the ground, almost lifeless.
"Reedstar!" Sweettooth wailed and rushed over to his unmoving leader. With Icewing next to him, staring at Reedstar's body, Sweettooth began examining his leader. Sweettooth put an ear on Reedstar's throat and listened as a sharp grating sound rythemed from it, and realized something was stuck tight. "We need to get him to throw up!" Sweettooth finally exclaimed.
"Flameclaw!" Icewing ordered. "Fetch Willowshine and tell her Reedstar needs to throw up!"
Flameclaw stood uncertain, and looked at his own leader questioningly. After Lionstar sent Flameclaw a nod, the black ThunderClan warrior pelted off back in the direction of the RiverClan camp.
"Yarrow," Sweettooth mumbled angrily, mainly to himself. "I need yarrow but the closest patch is on the other side of the territory."
"Throw up?" Mousewhisker meowed nausiasely. "I don't understand how none of you threw up already."
An idea emerged in Sweettooth's mind. Sweettooth hurried to the dug up hole where Fluttercloud's dead body lay, and began tearing pieces from the gray oozing flesh in a familiar fashion. Sweettooth did not care for the shocked looks from the cats all around him, as he knew his leader must be saved. After gathering enough medicinal meat from the corpse, Sweettooth turned, and saw Nightstar leaping straight towards him.
Sweettooth managed to sidestep, and Nightstar's fore-paws landed inside the burial hole. Pouncing as hard as he could on the space between Nightstar's shoulders, Sweettooth heard two loud snaps and jumped off of his attacker.
Sweettooth quickly snatched the improvised remedy, and raced towards Reedstar, who was nearly unmoving, and began chewing the rotten flesh as he sat close to his leader.
When Sweettooth finished chewing the medicine, he felt three large bodies land heavily on his back, which forced his mouth to open and spew out his maggot and meat mash all over the elderly leader's muzzle and face.
"What in StarClan's name are you doing?" Lionstar yowled at Sweettooth from on top of him.
"I have to save Reedstar!" Sweettooth yowled back, trying to free himself from the grasps of Lionstar and ShadowClan's leader and deputy. After long moments of writhing and heaving to no avail, Sweettooth realized he cannot escape from his captors hold. "Icewing!" Sweettooth tried to order his clan deputy. "Save Reedstar! Put the mash in his mouth!"
Icewing stared back at Sweettooth in shock. "No," Icewing decided after some moments of wait. "I would not do it Sweettooth. I'm not going to feed a cat to Reedstar. We'll wait until Willowshine comes, everything will be okay."
Sweettooth looked around at the disdainful faces all around him. Kestralflight was tending to Nightstar's injured legs while taking a few fearful glances towards Sweettooth. Feather was helping Mousewhisker with his nausea after vomiting, and the SkyClan cats were sitting together with Pouncestep. The only cat looking more embarrassed than disgusted was Icewing who was now pacing, in wait for Willowshine.
"So you're the one who killed Fluttercloud," Bayblade breathed in Sweettooth direction, and then turned to the ShadowClan leader on top of Sweettooth. "Tigerstar, I know something is wrong with Sunbeam, can any cat tell me what happened to her?" Baybleade finished, sounding very irritated.
"She disappeared one day and we haven't found her since." Tigerstar finally conceded.
"And you didn't think of reporting it?" Lionstar asked angrily. "What if she was carrying Bayblade's kits? We had a right to know."
"Where did she disappear to?" Bayblade demanded.
"Her scent trail led to RiverClan territory." Tigerstar meowed hurriedly, as if to avoid the question.
"RiverClan territory?" Bayblade repeated, and turned to look at Sweettooth. Anger flared in Bayblade's eyes. "You killed her!" Bayblade hissed at Sweettooth and began clawing Sweettooth's face repeatedly, without Sweettooth being able to defend himself beneath the weight of three other warriors.
Sweettooth's face burned with scratches when other cats finally stopped Bayblade, and Icewing freed Sweettooth, and stood in front of him defensively. "Sweettooth might have made a mistake," Icewing tried to defend Sweettooth. "But he's not a killer."
Bayblade was unconvinced and kept writhing, trying to get to Sweettooth. "Bayblade calm down." Pouncestep meowed. "Sweettooth didn't kill Sunbeam. I've talked with him about her disappearance and he was clueless."
Bayblade seemed to finally calm down, and a few moments later Willowshine appeared together with Flameclaw, both carrying yarrow leaves.
"Move away from Reedstar." Willowshine ordered. Willowshine examined Reedstar closely, cringing when the cat meat's smell reached her. "Yarrow leaves won't be enough now." Willowshine announced and shoved the scattered mash into Reedstar's mouth.
"What did you do?" Nightstar yowled, heavily limping towards Willowshine.
"I saved my leader's life." Willowshine answered matter-of-factly. "Like a medicine cat should do."
"Reedstar looks too far gone, Willowshine." Kestrelflight meowed. "He'll definitely lose this life."
"Then I saved the next one." Willowshine sounded irritated at having to reveal Reedstar's soon loss of a life, but Sweettooth knew it didn't matter.
"Reedstar doesn't have another life." Sweettooth meowed, struggling to hide his sadness.
"What are you talking about Sweettooth?" Willowshine began questioning Sweettooth, trying to tell him something through her burning gaze.
"This was Reedstar's last life," Sweettooth explained. "I can feel it."
"You can feel it?" Willowshine meowed, the most worried she's been in a while.
Right when Willowshine finished meowing, Reedstar threw up a lot of vomit mixed with blood and chunks of flesh, and fell limp, now truly dead.
Sweettooth looked at the puddle that formed next to his leader. Between the chunks and splats of fish, cat flesh, and blood, Sweettooth noticed something unusual. In the vomit, lay a green, glabrous leaf, covered in blood, that looked like it was cut to be thinner and curved, like a blade of grass. "There's a leaf in Reedstar's vomit." Sweettooth noted, knowing the peculiarity of the fact.
Other cats, among them Willowshine, Kestrelflight, Nightstar, and Lionstar, scanned the puddle for the leaf. "It's a sign from StarClan." Willowshine breathed quietly.
"It most definitely is." Kestrelflight agreed, and turned to look at Lionstar.
"What's so special about a leaf?" Lionstar asked. "Even I can recognize it's just a laurel leaf, Jayfeather uses it all of the time for herb bundles."
Bayblade's expression grew horrified at the golden leader's words, and Willowshine was quick to correct Lionstar. "Only ThunderClan medicine cats call it laurel, Lionstar."
"What do you mean?" Lionstar noticed the expression on his warrior's face and reflected it on his own.
"Other clans call it bay leaf." Kestrelflight's answer sent shivers down Lionstar's spine.
"And it is shaped like a blade!" Nightstar meowed loudly and triumphantly. "StarClan has spoken! Fluttercloud's blood is on Bayblade!"
The group of cats all turned to look at Bayblade, all except Sweettooth, who was grooming his dead leader's neck fur, hackled from the black tom's final moments.
"No," Lionstar's submissive mew betrayed much confusion.
"Lionstar, you must believe me." Bayblade calmly tried to defend himself. "I didn't do it."
"I'm sorry Bayblade," Lionstar breathed sadly. "By StarClan's wish, you are to be exiled." Lionstar quickly looked at the crowd around him before continuing. "Let's go aside, for a talk—" Lionstar took another glance to see suspicion in the gathered cats' gazes. "That will explain to him the meaning of his exile." The muscled tom added.
"You go do that." Icewing meowed as she looked at Reedstar, her blue eyes full of regret and anguish. "When he returns," Icewing raised her voice and addressed the entire group. "I want all of you off of my territory. If my warriors find you in RiverClan land, more than one fox-length away from the lake, don't expect to leave with both of your ears. Willowshine, bring Brackenpelt and Gorseclaw, and start preparing Reedstar's vigil."
"We're sorry for your loss, Icewing." The SkyClan leader meowed as Willowshine trotted with her head down back to camp. "Come Blossomheart, We're leaving."
"We'll be going too, Icewing," Tigerstar rounded up his clanmates with his tail. "May Reedstar have a peaceful rest."
At that moment, Lionstar returned without Bayblade. "Bayblade left towards the Horseplace." The golden tom announced. "He did not tell me where he left to. I'm sorry for my kin's actions." Lionstar added quickly and dryly, and began his way back to ThunderClan territory, his clanmates, old and new, trailing behind.
"I expect Willowshine will come back with three fresh heather strands from the next half-moon gathering." Icewing demanded after him.
"Exile isn't enough for the distress Applebreeze went through." Nightstar muttered under her breath, and then changed her tone to a less irritated one. "Good luck on your leadership, Icewing." Nightstar left and limped towards the same direction Heathertail, Rainkit, and Applebreeze went to, Kestrelflight at her tail.
"I'm sorry Sweettooth," Icewing meowed. "It might have been better to give Reedstar your remedy, I didn't know it was his last life." Icewing paused to look at Reedstar's body, and at her surroundings. "Let's clear up, put the earth back in the hole, I'll deal with the vomit."
Sweettooth nodded and began refilling the hole, dread rumbling his belly. When Sweettooth finished covering the hole, he saw Brackenpelt and Gorseclaw hurrying to join him and Icewing.
"Reedstar!" Brackenpelt noticed the dead leader. "What happened to him?"
"He choked on a sign from StarClan," Icewing answered. "It must have been his time."
"Been his time?" Brackenpelt refused to believe the elder RiverClan leader was dead. "Doesn't he have more lives left?"
"No, with his age came many sicknesses." Sweettooth answered. "I'll carry him back to camp, help me get him on my shoulders."
Sweettooth's mother and father silently agreed and carried Reedstar to lay on Sweettooth's back.
As Sweettooth carried Reedstar back to camp, he thought about the last few moons. The tensions they berthed will now finally fade away, and Sweettooth could raise his kits in peace.
Author's Note:
And I think that's it. That's as far as Sweettooth's story goes. I guess you can say it was a bitter-sweet ending (well it wasn't really).
Anyways, I'm planning on writing a follow-up arc, following Tigerpaw, Rainkit, and Maplekit, and I think that arc would be closer to a Warriors' arc than whatever this was. If this one was called "Sweet Dreams" you can probably guess what comes after it. In addition, I'm thinking about writing bonus scenes for this one which will give the POV of some other characters like Willowshine or Fluttercloud during some scenes.
I hope you enjoyed reading my first ever fic, even if it had some weird or calm or simply bad moments.
- Asi.