Chapter Twenty Two - Hard Truths
Hazelpaw and Daisypaw went down to the second floor just in time to see an unfamiliar tom standing in the entrance way being greeted by Jupinerbush. The brown tabby gave the two she cats an unfriendly look as he padded down the long den before calling out, "Rosethorn! There's here tom who wants to see you. Says he's one of them Clan Guards."
Hazelpaw detected the slight scorn which underlined his tone. Nonetheless, the Guard didn't appear offended, only mild amusement twinkled in his light green eyes. His fur appeared damp and water droplets clung to his whiskers. It was no longer raining, so Hazelpaw assumed he had swum across the flooded valley. He was a well-muscled, sleek, thick furred grey tom and for some reason, Hazelpaw thought she ought to recognise him.
"Oh, deputy! It's about time you came-" Rosethorn rushed up to the grey furred tom enthusiastically, before coming to an abrupt stop. "Who are you? Where is Gorsestep?" She asked, her blue eyes narrowing.
The Guard dipped his head politely to the cream warrior, before introducing himself. "Greetings, my name is Acornfur of the Clan Guard, Pine Forest division. I work under Gorsestep."
"Well where is he?" Asked Rosethorn with an unimpressed sniff. "I do think we're being shoddily treated. You ought to have been here ages ago!"
"Madame, the floods-"
"Yes I know about the floods, and mousedung to them!" Rosethorn said, cutting off the Guard. "We have a poor tom's body simply mouldering away, and we've had no support in the slightest!"
"Madame." spoke the Guard - Acornfur - again firmly, but calmly. Hazelpaw was impressed with how he was keeping his cool. Only his slightly flicking tail tip betrayed any irritation at the difficult cream warrior. "As I was saying, the floods have prevented us from coming thus far, however, they are receding so we'll be able to cross the next morning."
"Gorsestep will be here next sun-up?" Asked Rosethorn.
"Correct, madame, as well as the rest of the Guard." Hazelpaw thought she caught a flicker of annoyance cross over the tom's features for the first time at another mention of the deputy.
"Well, it's not a moment too soon!" Huffed Rosethorn, oblivious to the tom's annoyance. "What if there was another murder? We are in the most terrible danger, I tell you."
Acornfur blinked. "I appreciate your concern," he said evenly. "I assure you that the Guard, including deputy Gorsestep, will be here first thing in the morning. Now, if you'd please excuse me, I must return to my guard mates."
"Of course, goodbye!" Called Rosethorn. As soon as the Guard had left, the cream warrior turned around to face her audience with a dramatic swish of her tail.
As she had been speaking to the Guard, Jupinerbush had been listening close by, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the grey tom. Whitefur and Falconflight had emerged from the warrior's Nest Lay den - together again! Thought Hazelpaw - Eaglepaw and Mudpaw had padded out from the apprentice's Nest Lay den and Sparrowfeather just behind them from the warrior's den. Hazelpaw realised that all of their suspects were present. Even Lilypaw, Beanpaw, Beeflight and Mintpelt had popped their heads out from the prey store den.
"The Clan Guard is on their way!' Announced Rosethorn unnecessarily. "They think the floods will be down enough by the next morning. We shall get to the bottom of this horrible business at last!"
"Rosethorn, you are an insufferable mouse brain." Said Eaglepaw.
"I think what Eaglepaw means," said Falconflight, "is that if you do get to the bottom of this, you might not like what you find."
"Oh, do be quiet all of you!" Snapped Rosethorn, her glaring blue gaze sweeping over the surrounding cats. "I know what you're trying to say, and I don't give a mouse tail! Spiderstreak has been murdered. I know you all hated him - he told me about that fearful argument you had with him, Sparrowfeather, and about you threatening him, Falconflight, and his feather - I haven't seen it, have you Jupinerbush? Spiderstreak had no secrets from me, and I shan't be hiding anything from the Clan Guard when they arrive in the morning."
Jupinerbush gaped, jaw wide open. Whitefur's green eyes narrowed, and she clenched her jaw tight as if trying to prevent words from escaping. Eaglepaw gave a low, angry growl before slashing out at the side of the long den. His unsheathed claws left a long, deep gash across the den wall.
"Don't just stand there Mudpaw," he said furiously, blue eyes glaring. "I don't feel like being in present company any longer."
As the cream tom stormed back into the apprentice's Nest Lay den with Mudpaw, Hazelpaw noticed Sparrowfeather standing stock still near the warrior Nest lay den's entrance. His ears had gone an unusual purple colour and his amber eyes gazed wide at his mate. "But,...Rosethorn," he said, seemingly in shock. "You can't simply…...Think of the family, Rosethorn."
"Oh, family," said the cream warrior scornfully, "mouse dung family." Rosethorn turned towards the staircase with a flick of her tail. She paused. "Oh, and Beeflight? Please sort to evening meal, will you." And then she was gone.
Everyone went their separate ways to different dens in the nest except for Falconflight, who headed outside in the same direction the Clan Guard had left in, Beeflight and Mintpelt, who presumably went out to hunt and collect herbs, and Whitefur. The white warrior walked up to Hazelpaw and her den mates and narrowed her vibrant green eyes at them.
Hazelpaw found herself taking a step back.
Whether or not she's the murderer, she certainly is menacing.
By now, Hazelpaw realised, it was pretty much dusk with dim rays of the sun casting long shadows into the entrance of the nest.
"Almost time for training, apprentices." said Whitefur. "I want you upstairs in your den for the first part of training. Be there in a couple of heart beats; I'll be joining you shortly."
The white warrior turned and went striding off towards the warrior's den. Hazelpaw felt the air thicken around her, or perhaps she just wasn't breathing properly. Her heart raced with panic.
I can't do it! I can't go through a whole training session pretending everything is normal when Whitefur might have murdered Spiderstreak - and want to murder all of us too.
"Take heart, Hazelpaw!" Whispered Daisypaw. The grey she cat felt her friend intertwine her tail with hers and squeeze it fiercely. "She shan't hurt us. Flower and Leaf forever!"
The grey she cat took a deep breath and nodded, squeezing fiercely back.
No matter how frightened I am, I can't let Daisypaw down.
"Lilypaw, Beanpaw, time for lessons!" Called Daisypaw. The cream she cat's voice didn't shake at all. Hazelpaw looked at her with admiration.
Sometimes I think Daisypaw is quite marvellous.
They grey she cat noticed her denmates pop out from the prey store den, looking as worried as Hazelpaw felt.
"Come on!" Encouraged Daisypaw. Lilypaw seemed to steal herself, before wrapping her tail around Beanpaw. Together the four she cats began to march forward, but before they were even halfway across the long den, Beanpaw let out a terrified gasp.
"No! I won't! I don't want to!" She cried with wide green eyes. The black she cat made a frantic dive for the warrior's Nest Lay den. Hazelpaw rushed after her, the other's at her heels, to find Beanpaw curled up tight behind a twoleg object and sobbing.
"Honestly," said Daisypaw with a sigh. Hazelpaw could tell she didn't really mean it, though.
The three she cats were trying to decide what to do with their denmate, when Eaglepaw came bursting in.
"Hello." He said with a frown. Hazelpaw swore she caught a slight glimmer of concern in his blue eyes. "What's all this then, fleaface?"
"Beanpaw's being fluff brained," said Daisypaw, not looking at him. "Go away, Eaglepaw - it's a she cat thing."
"She's not upset about Spiderstreak, is she?" asked Eaglepaw. "You know there wasn't really a murder, don't you? Rosethorn's just being a frog brain. Mind you if some cat did kill Spiderstreak, we ought to thank them."
"Stop it!" Snapped Daisypaw, turning to glare at her brother. "Don't you be a frog brain. You're making yourself sound fearfully guilty."
Eaglepaw glared back at her fiercely, a thunderous look crossing his features. For a heartbeat, Hazelpaw thought the cream tom was going to do something awful, like yowl, or swipe at her like he did the den wall. But instead, he simply opened his mouth and roared with laughter.
"Fleaface!" Eaglepaw howled. "What in Silverpelt - me guilty? You infernal little mouse brain! Why would I kill a foxdung scoundrel like Spiderstreak? He was dirt on my paw. I'd never imagine…...risking execution to bump off Spiderstreak!"
Daisypaw blinked. "But Rosethorn-" she cried, her front quite down for a moment. "She and Spiderstreak-"
"Rosethorn, like I said before, is a mouse brained foxheart who can do whatever she chooses. I've given up a long time ago, and if you had any sense so would you."
The cream tom nonchalantly flicked an ear. "Daisypaw, if I were to bump off all of Rosethorn's frog brained 'tom friends' then I'd be a murder ten times over by now."
Daisypaw gasped. "That isn't true!" Cried the cream she cat, blue eyes wide. Hazelpaw wrapped her tail around her friend and pressed comfortingly against her side.
How awful. Poor Daisypaw!
"Of course it is," said Eaglepaw simply, tilting his head to the side with a smirk. "Don't you know anything?"
A growl rumbled from Daisypaw's throat. "Go away Squeaky, you horrible foxheart!" The cream she cat hissed, blue eyes blazing. "Don't you dare say that to me!"
At that moment, Hazelpaw's ears pricked at the sound of an awful shriek from the second floor, followed by a sickening thud. It rang in Hazelpaw's ears like a head blow in battle. All the cats in the den froze.
A few heart beats of silence followed, then another shout; urgent and desperate.
"HELP!" Roared Falconflight's voice from the long den. "QUICK HELP!"
Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! And poor Daisypaw! According to Eaglepaw, it seems that Rosethorn is even more of a terrible fox heart than we first thought. On the bright side, the Clan Guard coming soon. Hooray for Gorsestep fans, the deputy Guard is on his way! And a little cliffie at the end cuz I know how much you love those ;.) Tune in next Friday to see what in Silver Pelt Falconflight is yelling about – it doesn't sound good….
-Fastbreeze37
PS: Check out my profile for a pic of our one and only loveable rock-headed rogue; Haze!
PPS: This fic has now reached over 2,000 views! Thank you all so much!
QOTD – Who is your least favourite character so far, or a character you love to hate? (Mine is probably Rosethorn, because I didn't like writing her as much, followed closely by bad 'ol Spiderstreak.)
Reviews:
Hissing Mist – Sparrowfeather didn't realise there were snakes at Cardinal Nest until the chap Snakes and Spiders when Beeflight caught one in the prey-store den…and I suppose he just figured they could be taken care of easily enough with some deathberries curtesy of the yellow she cat….rather a bad call on his end but maybe he didn't realise how many there were at first? (The Clan Guard should enforce some health and safety regulations lol – this nest certainly wouldn't be up to standard :.) Suffice to say though, the snakes are all gone now. (Unless of course, the yelling is because some cat did get bitten by a snake just now…I certainly know who you would love to see get bitten by a snake ;.) Anyway, yes our clever Hazel figured it out that the poisoned shrew remains killed the snakes and hopefully if there's more questioning after this new drama development, then we can see more of Daisypaw's expertise shine. Yes Hazelpaw loves Daisypaw for who she is, even if some parts of her personality can get on her poor little nerves a little at times….she'd probably be the most willing to follow Daisypaw in one of her hare-brained schemes right now, just being relieved that her bestie is back to normal. Wow that Falcon impression was quite on point and totally cracked me up lol. Alas he will most likely be in the thick of the drama next chap but hopefully won't be too much of his usual annoying/irritating self. (No promises though ;.) Yeah Haze will probs not come again until the big reveal but it certainly will be fun to see how the warriors react to him, especially a certain Falcon, and how Haze interacts with them himself. Hope you enjoyed!
AwesomeIvystar – Review 1: Thank you so much! I'm glad you think so because that was one of the things I wanted to achieve in this book. And yea the Lily and Beans duo I'm so happy they are so popular! As for Spider and Rose, I very much dislike them too. Same there again in terms of Falcon. I did like writing his scenes kinda battling Spider, but now he's gone to, not quite an antagonist per se, but definitely playing the annoying grown up roll and possible suspect. Speaking of which, that's a good theory with him and does seem to kinda fit. Another interesting point with Sparrow. Best keep it in mind for now? And interesting theory that Sparrow could have been working with someone else like Falcon. (Having two cats involved in the murder and working together is a very interesting angle). But yes there is still doubt about sparrow's intelligence…and poor Daisy seems so certain that her father didn't do it. Nonetheless, they do certainly need better evidence. And Jupiner now continues to seem a bit more sus now as well? Definitely has something to hide which the detective society will have to find out eventually. That is a good theory relating Jupiner to the prologue as the brown tom…but he might be a teensy bit on the older side perhaps? As for Whitefur pos being the kit from prologue, another good theory and interesting point that Spider may have recognised her in that cardinal seen. Review 2: And now your whitefur theory has taken full bloom lol. A good point you make drawing attention back to when Whitefur was following Spider around everywhere strangely – was she waiting for the right time to strike? And true her motive could be revenge if she were the kit in the prologue (or maybe another hidden one the detectives may uncover – anything's possible). Or if jupiner's the brown tom, he did it. (they both did it? Again liking this knew angle of double murderers, very unique but can't confirm or deny whether you are on the right track..) As for your last theory, I like how you touched on Whitefur's and Falcon's weirdly close relations and poss fact falcon knew about spider's dodgy dealings with rogues and that they're working together and that falcon roped whitefur into the clan all to take out the spiderfilfth…and may or may not now be doing a major cover up! (Evil Falcon lol!) Can't say too much now but very fantastic theories all round :.) Hope you enjoyed!