Chapter 7

What a jerk! Ripplepaw thought angrily, his tail lashing back and forth. Sighing, he began to climb down the street slope. Since Nightsky had abandoned him, he would have to figure out how to cross the Thunderpath himself.

Right as he was about to race out onto the black path, Willowpaw's voice sounded. "Wait!" she cried out, before climbing down the slope after him. When she reached his side, the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice asked, "Is everything all right?"

Ripplepaw flattened his ears to his head. "Not really, but why do you care?"

Willowpaw flinched, before letting out a sigh. "You just look like you need a friend, is all." After glancing over her shoulder, she turned back towards him. Lowering her voice she asked, "Do you think you could meet me at Fourtrees tomorrow night?"

He stared at her as if she had grown an extra head. "Why?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"I want to talk to you, alone." Willowpaw glanced over her shoulder once again. When she spotted her mentor at the top of the rise, she let out an annoyed hiss.

"Come on, Willowpaw!" Honeyleaf called out.

Willowpaw nodded. "Just a second!" she told Honeyleaf. "Just think about it, okay?" Before Ripplepaw could say anything, the ShadowClan she-cat turned and followed after her mentor.

Sighing, Ripplepaw turned back towards the Thunderpath. He waited until there was a large gap between monsters, before racing out onto the hard stone path. His sore paw pad stung as he ran, but he couldn't stop to tend to it. When he reached the other side, he sat down on the ground and began to lick at his wound.

His mind then wandered to Willowpaw. What could she possibly want to talk to me about? He wondered. Perhaps she overheard what Nightsky said? The fur along his spine began to bristle at that thought. He couldn't allow the other Clans to know StarClan had rejected him! If they found out, the other Clans would know RiverClan was weak. I don't want to be the reason my Clan falls apart, Ripplepaw thought. As he sat there, he felt tears well up in his eyes.

What if cats die because of me? The horrible nightmare he had experienced all those moons appeared in his mind. Pushing the thought away, he gathered himself and began the long walk home. Every so often, he glanced over at the barn off in the distance. It would be so easy to just run away, he realized. Shaking his head, he continued home. Despite everything he was going through, he couldn't abandon RiverClan. He loved his family too much to hurt them, and he knew if he disappeared they would be heartbroken.


By the time he arrived back at camp, the sun was setting in the distance. His entire body was so sore, and his stomach was growling with hunger. As he made his way over to the fresh-kill pile, Splashflower padded up to him.

"You look exhausted," his mother commented, giving him a lick on the ear.

"I am," he replied, before picking up a trout. As he padded over the far end of the clearing, his mother followed after him. She gently placed a paw on his forehead, while looking concerned.

"I think you're overworking yourself. Maybe you should take a break from your duties?" Splashflower whispered.

"Nightsky would never let me take a break," he growled as he swallowed a bite of his fish. "She won't even let me quit training as her apprentice!" Sitting up, he kicked his fish, sending it flying across the clearing.

His mother stared at him in shock. "Do you want to talk about it?" she whispered, glancing towards the camp entrance. When he nodded, the two cats scurried out of camp. They walked in silence, until Splashflower reached the Twoleg bridge. Crouching down in a clump of ferns she meowed, "Tell me what's going on."

Ripplepaw shuffled his paws on the ground. Should I tell her what happened at the Moonstone? He wondered. Before he could even think about what he was doing, the words began to flow freely from his mouth. "I hate Nightsky so much! She's the worst mentor in the history of the Clans, and I can't stand it anymore. This entire time, she's done nothing but treat me like I'm her slave. Not to mention, she won't even let me quit this stupid position, not even after being rejected by StarClan. That's right, I was rejected by StarClan, meaning they don't even see me as a proper medicine cat! But does she care? No. She forced me to lie to all the other cats at the Moonstone, and she's going to force me to lie for the rest of my life." Ripplepaw's entire body was shaking as he finished up.

In one swift movement, Splashflower pulled him closer to her. "My poor kitten," she whispered gently, giving him a lick on top of the head. "My poor, poor, kitten." Pulling back, she looked him in the eye. "Do you want me to talk to Morningstar about this?"

Ripplepaw growled. "That won't do anything. She forced me into this stupid position too!"

Splashflower let out a sigh. "I wish there was something I could do. Oh, if only I were leader of RiverClan. I'd make you into a warriors apprentice before Nightsky could blink!" The fur along his mother's spine began to bristle as she muttered, "I really thought Nightsky was different, but I suppose the rumors were right."

He blinked at her. "What rumors?"

His mother hesitated for a moment, as if she weren't sure she should tell him. Finally she said, "Nightsky has always been a bit infamous among our Clan. She always seemed to be slacking off, or doing things she wasn't supposed to be doing. Her reputation didn't get any better after Amberdawn died. Morningstar blamed their mother's death on Nightsky, which only caused the rift between the two to grow bigger."

"How did Amberdawn die?" he wondered. Maybe I can use this information to get back at her!

"She died from a wound received in battle," his mother explained.

"Do you think Nightsky could have saved her?" Ripplepaw asked, growing excited. I can't wait to use this to my advantage, he thought.

Splashflower slowly nodded her head. "If I'm going to be honest with you, I do think she could have done more. I don't think she understood how serious treating Amberdawn was, until the last moment. If she had acted sooner, perhaps Sootpelt wouldn't be alone in the elders den." Before Ripplepaw could ask any more questions, Splashflower stood up. "We should head back to camp now. It's getting dark, and I don't want to run into any foxes or badgers."

Nodding, he trotted after his mother. The entire walk home, his mind buzzed with the information he had been given. When they reached camp, he raced straight for the medicine cats den. Inside, Nightsky was shaking the dust from her nest.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, her eyes filled with worry.

Oh, so you finally care about me? You faker! "Out." Padding over to his nest, Ripplepaw took a seat.

"Next time be sure to come back earlier," Nightsky told him.

Ripplepaw's ear twitched. "You know what would be bad?" he asked, grinning slightly.

"What?"

"It would be absolutely terrible if we lost one of our Clanmates due to battle wounds, wouldn't it?" Nightsky stiffened, which caused Ripplepaw's grin to grow wider. "It would be even worse if they died from completely treatable wounds, kind of like Amberdawn did."

"How do you know about that?" Nightsky growled, her fur bristling.

"I have my ways," Ripplepaw meowed, standing to his paws.

"Well, don't bring it up any more. Is that understood?" the medicine cat demanded, her amber eyes blazing with fury.

"Why don't you want to talk about it? Are you afraid to admit you're a terrible medicine cat who couldn't even save her own mother's life?" Before Ripplepaw could say anymore, Nightsky lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of the young tom, who sat there gasping for breathing. Looking up, he saw that Nightsky was about to leap on him again. Fast as a fish, Ripplepaw rolled out of the way, before leaping onto her back. The two medicine cats wrestled on the ground for a few moments, shrieking and yowling. Suddenly, Ripplepaw was thrown off.

The silver tom quickly raced for the den entrance, where he glanced back at Nightsky. A trickle of blood ran down from her shoulder, and her eye was swollen shut. "Get out of here," she groaned, before turning and limping towards the back of the den.

Sighing, Ripplepaw padded out of the den. When he reached the far end of the camp, he sat down to lick his wounds. Nightsky had given him a nasty bite on the tail, and his shoulder stung from a scratch she had inflicted.

Suddenly, a mouse was thrown down in front of him. Looking up, Ripplepaw saw that Nightsky was standing there. The black she-cat had a pained expression on her face, and she was flicking her tail back and forth. "I'm sorry," she meowed bluntly, not meeting his gaze. "I hope this mouse could make up for it."

Ripplepaw licked his lips, before leaning down to take a bite. As he bit into the mouse, a strange flavor filled his mouse. He quickly spit the mouse out, before gazing down at it. To his surprise, several scarlet berries were stuffed into the mouse's stomach. Before Nightsky could say anything, the silver apprentice leaped to his paws and raced for the river. Ripplepaw began to frantically gulp down river water, hoping to wash all traces of deathberry from his mouth.

As he drank, he could hear the reeds behind him rustling. Spinning around, Ripplepaw unsheathed his claws. "You tried to poison me!" he cried out, his entire body shaking.

"It's for the good of the Clan," Nightsky muttered, her amber eyes dull. "You're a monster, Ripplepaw. I'm just trying to save the Clan before it's too late."

"I'm the monster? You're the one who just tried to poison an apprentice!" Ripplepaw's blue eyes blazed with fury as he pushed past Nightsky. "I'm telling Morningstar," he threatened.

"Tell her. She won't believe you!" Nightsky hissed.

Rolling his eyes, Ripplepaw made his way back to camp. Once he arrived, he marched straight in the direction of his leader's den. Without warning, Ripplepaw pushed his way into the den and began shaking Morningstar awake.

"What's going on?" Morningstar grumbled, slowly sitting up. "Is ThunderClan attacking?"

"Nightsky tried to poison me," Ripplepaw cried out.

"What?" the leader gasped, leaping to her paws.

"Nightsky tried to poison me," he repeated. "If you don't do something about her, she's going to kill me. Please help me!" Ripplepaw lashed his tail back and forth as he stared at his leader. Say something all ready! He thought irritably, digging his claws into the ground.

Finally, Morningstar let out a sigh. "I'm sure it was a misunderstanding," she meowed, curling up in her nest.

Ripplepaw's neck fur began to bristle. "A misunderstanding? I think I know deathberries when I see them! Besides, Nightsky even admitted to it! She said I was a monster, and that my death would be best for RiverClan. How can you allow her to get away with something like this?" He stared at his leader, hoping she would do something.

To his annoyance, Nightsky padded into the den. "I did try to poison him," she confessed, "but I did it for the good of the Clan. Morningstar, you have no idea what this cat is capable of. I thought by taking him in as my apprentice, he could be saved. However, it's clear that nothing I do can save him." Turning to look at Ripplepaw she growled, "You walk a dark path."

Morningstar's eyes widened as she stared at her sister. The dark tortoiseshell then looked back at Ripplepaw. "I need some time to think," she whispered.

A growl rose up in his throat. "Fine." He then turned and padded towards the entrance. There, he paused and looked back at Nightsky. The black she-cat had a blank expression on her face, which angered him. She tried to murder me, and she isn't even remorseful! Huffing, he stormed out of the den and into the clearing.


Nightsky is truly terrible, isn't she? Morningstar isn't doing herself a favor, either. So far, she's done nothing but prove she's a weak leader. Do you think things will be different this time around, or do you think Morningstar will make another major mistake? I'll try to update as soon as possible. Thank you for all of the reviews! I can't wait to see what you all have to say about this chapter.