Deceiving Badgers

It was a nice day in the clans, it was a windy and cool day. The breeze blew over the tall grass and trees and the flowers bloomed beautifully in the woods. In Windclan territory, two cats were out on a walk and both cats enjoyed the cool breeze as it blew on to their coats. A black she-cat with orange eyes and a dark grey tom with blue eyes walked near the border of Thunderclan and outside of the clan's territory, and enjoyed and appreciated the fact that it was a good and beautiful day. Two butterflies flew by the cats and the pair seemed to be a couple. The two cats looked at each other and remembered when they once felt like that. It had been many moons since they split up, but they used to be mates once. However, if we're being honest, I don't think there was ever any true love to be seen in that couple. The she-cat only wanted to have kits and the tom only did it to get back at another she-cat. Things only got worse when it was revealed that the tom had kits with that same she-cat and the couple's arguments and fights almost cost their son his life and relationship. When the she-cat almost died but recovered, the tom and her agreed to stay as friends and start mending their relationship with their son. Now, both cats realized that they were better off as friends than mates and they liked that. Both cats watched the two butterflies fly away, than continued walking. They kept walking until they were near the border, but stopped when they heard something.

"Did you hear that?" the tom asked.

"Yes, I did." The she-cat whispered.

The tom covered his mouth with his tail as a signal to keep quiet. The she-cat nodded and both cats slowly crept through the grass until they reached the border. On the other side, a large badger was in front of them, but it couldn't see them. As, it was eating elderberries from a shrub. The tom and she-cat watched the badger for a few minutes, not saying a word or moving a muscle, and waited for the badger to finish eating. Once it finished eating, the badger turned around and looked at the tall grass. The tom and she-cat crouched down and backed up a bit slowly. The badger contemplated for a few moments to see if he wanted to cross the border and decided that he would. It walked over to the border and the tom could sense the badger's awful smell getting closer and closer. The tom perked when he felt a tail on his shoulder. It was the she-cat and she looked worried and concerned.

"Crowfeather, should I go get backup?" she asked.

"No Nightcloud, we can take this guy, its just a stupid badger." He meowed boastfully.

Nightcloud wasn't so certain, she knew that badgers were bigger than cats and she knew that it would take more than just two cats to take on a badger, but the badger did look to be younger than an adult badger, so maybe Crowfeather had a point. When the badger was a few feet on the other side of the border, both cats attacked. The badger immediately fought back, causing a big fight to break out. A lot of scratching and biting occurred and both sides bled really bad. The badger, Crowfeather, and Nightcloud took a second to catch their breath, but the badger decided to give up and fled Windclan territory. Crowfeather and Nightcloud yowled in triumph and were about to head back to camp, but out of nowhere, two fully grown badgers attacked and knocked out Crowfeather and Nightcloud cold. The two badgers looked at each other and got out the stick and rope. They tied Crowfeather and Nightcloud's paws tightly to the stick, then picked it up and headed towards the forest. A few hours passed and it was nighttime. Crowfeather started to regain consciousness and slowly opened his eyes. Through his blurry vision, he could see that he was in uncharted woods and that his paws were tied to a long stick and was being carried by two badgers; one in the front and one in the back. Up ahead, there was a campfire with ignited flames and badgers surrounding it. Behind Crowfeather, Nightcloud started to wake up, but when she did, all she could see was Crowfeather's behind and the fire glow. Both cats had their paws tied to the stick and were being carried to a campfire by two badgers. A crowd of badgers surrounded the campfire and glared at the two Windclan warriors. The two badgers placed them on top of the campfire and walked away. The crowd glared sinisterly at them and looked like they wanted to tear the two apart. Crowfeather gulped and could hear whimpering from behind. Crowfeather looked as far as he could.

"Nightcloud, is that you?" he asked.

"Yeah, who could it be?!" she said sarcastically.

"Are you alright?" Crowfeather asked.

"Yeah. A bit sore, but I'm fine." Nightcloud groaned.

Crowfeather looked around, trying to find a way to escape, but too many badgers surrounded them and their paws were tied too tightly on the stick. After a few moments, a badger climbed onto a rock and got everyone's attention. His head was covered with a badger skull, wore old, feathered shaman clothing, and held an ancient stick.

"Badgers, we gather here tonight to witness the execution of our long rivals. For too long, they have invaded our lands and have chased us out, but now the tables have turned." The Shaman announced.

The crowd cheered and Crowfeather and Nightcloud were horrified. Crowfeather was surprised as he could understand the badgers and was horrified by the fact that they would be killed. Nightcloud whimpered in fear.

"You do know I blame you for this, right?" she meowed.

Crowfeather knew she had a point. If they had gone back and got help, than they wouldn't be in this mess. The shaman badger looked at the two cats and pointed at them with the stick.

"Your clans have committed crime after crime, atrocity after atrocity, and now, you two will pay for your crimes." The shaman spoke.

"And you think killing us will make us even?!" Crowfeather hissed.

"SILENCE! Your actions have already determined your guilt. Ignite the flames!" The shaman badger shouted.

The crowd cheered and chanted as two badgers approached the campfire and added more wood to the fire. The fire rose for a bit and it almost touched Crowfeather and Nightcloud's backs. Both cats dodged the flames and Crowfeather looked at the rope.

"Quick, chew on the rope!" he urged.

Both cats begin to chew on the rope. The two badgers started spinning the stick and both cats started rotating. As they did, both cats had to avoid the rising flames while chewing on the rope. The shaman badger watched and chuckled at the idea that the Windclan warriors could actually escape.

"Don't bother trying to escape, I doubt that's possible." The shaman warned.

Crowfeather and Nightcloud ignored him, but Crowfeather knew that the shaman may have a point. Both cats continued to chew the rope, but the rope was very thick and difficult to chew. Both cats started to loose hope and feared that not only would they die, but that the badgers would kill more of their clanmates. Nightcloud silently shed tears.

"Crowfeather, I don't think we'll make it." She meowed.

"Don't say that, Nightcloud, we will." Crowfeather retorted.

"Crowfeather, if we don't make it, I just want you to know, I'm glad we got to settle things when we did." She meowed.

"Yeah…me too." He meowed.

Crowfeather didn't want to admit it, but he knew he was going to die, he just didn't want to admit it. Crowfeather dreaded this, but knew he would see his mother, father, siblings, Feathertail, Leafpool, Breezepelt, and Hollyleaf again. After a while, Crowfeather and Nightcloud gave up and waited for the fire to kill them. However it took a while; they could feel the heat, but it didn't kill them. In the end, too much smoke in their lungs did that. When they choked on the smoke, they died quickly and after a while, their bodies were cooked like roast pork or chicken. The shaman badger led a victory yowl and the crowd of badgers followed as they would have a feast tonight.