Chapter 15
Ripplesky's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You what?" he finally choked out.
"I saw you kill Cherrynose," Mudfoot repeated, flattening his ears to his head. The tom's eyes were filled with sadness and anger. "Why did you kill her? Medicine cats are supposed to be gentle and caring, not heartless killers!"
A loud growl came from Ripplesky's throat. How dare he call me a heartless killer! "It was the right thing to do," the silver tom replied, trying to remain calm. "The impact from the monster crushed both of her back legs, meaning she would never be able to live a normal life. It would have been cruel to keep her alive in such horrible conditions."
Mudfoot narrowed his eyes. "So if Splashflower had been run over like that, you would kill her? What about Waveheart and Minnowpaw? Would you kill them too?" Mudfoot's neck fur was bristling now.
Ripplesky lashed his tail back and forth. "Leave!" he ordered, unsheathing his claws.
The dark tabby snorted. "You don't scare me," he muttered, before backing out of the den.
As the young tom watched him go, his heart began to beat wildly in his chest. What if Mudfoot told Morningstar? He would be exiled for sure. Ripplesky's heart grew heavy as he realized he had no choice but to kill Mudfoot. As he paced back and forth across his den, Ripplesky wondered how he would be able to carry out his plan.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea came crashing down on the silver medicine cat. I can blame ThunderClan for his death! Tensions were so high with the enemy that his Clanmates would have no choice but to believe ThunderClan had killed Mudfoot. The only problem now was figuring out how to lure the dark warrior onto ThunderClan's territory.
After a while of plotting, Ripplesky's stomach growled with hunger. Pushing his thoughts away, he padded out into the clearing and headed towards the prey pile. As he passed Morningstar, his heart beat quickened.
"Are you okay? You look a bit ill," Morningstar meowed, her eyes full of concern.
She doesn't know. "No, I'm fine." Before she could ask any more questions, Ripplesky snatched up a trout and headed for the safety of his den. As he walked, he could sense Mudfoot glaring at him from the opposite end of camp.
Sighing, the silver medicine cat curled up in his nest and began to chew on his fish. As he ate, his mind swirled with everything that had happened the last couple of moons: the fire, Nightsky's death, the Dark Forest...
"How did this happen to me?" he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Mudfoot, I want you to take a border patrol towards Sunningrocks. Take Waveheart, Rainfall and Swanfeather with you," Birchtail ordered, before padding over to Pebblestripe.
As Ripplesky watched the border patrol leave, his heart rate increased. Today's the day, he decided as he slowly followed the patrol out of camp. Suddenly, some pebbles crunched under paw, causing the silver tom to wince. Oh no!
"Did you hear that?" Rainfall questioned, sniffing the air.
"It's probably just the reeds rustling in the wind," Waveheart told her. As the patrol continued towards the river, the warriors made small talk amongst themselves.
"Morningstar says Reedkit and Frogkit are going to be apprenticed later today," Swanfeather commented.
"Thank StarClan! This has been the slowest year for kits ever, so it will be good to have some new apprentices. We certainly need all the warriors we can get, with ThunderClan behaving the way they are. Who do you think their mentors will be?" Rainfall questioned.
Mudfoot's eyes gleamed. "Morningstar promised me Frogkit," he confessed.
"That's wonderful!" Waveheart purred.
Mudfoot opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. The dark tabby then began to sniff at the reeds. "ThunderClan has been trespassing here," he growled.
Swanfeather's gaze darkened. "Those fish-hearts! Haven't they caused enough trouble already?"
Ripplesky smirked. Things were working out better than he had hoped. This will be easy, he thought as he stalked closer to the patrol.
"What should we do?" his father wondered.
Mudfoot flicked his tail. "We should split up."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Rainfall argued, flattening her ears to her head.
The dark brown tabby gave her a stern look. "We'll make too much noise if we travel together. It'll be a lot faster and we'll cover more ground if we split up."
Rainfall hesitated for a few moments, before disappearing into the reeds. Swanfeather and Waveheart followed after her without saying anything.
Now alone, Mudfoot continued to sniff around at the area, hoping to pick up more traces of the ThunderClan cats. Suddenly, Mudfoot began walking in the direction of the stepping stones. Is he going to cross the river? Ripplesky wondered.
Bunching his muscles, Mudfoot leaped onto the first stone. He landed clumsily, and slid into the water. What in the name of StarClan is he doing? As Ripplesky watched, he couldn't figure out what Mudfoot's motives were. Why didn't he just swim across the river? Why was he crossing the river anyways? He's making this way too easy.
Once Mudfoot was out of sight on the opposite bank, Ripplesky cautiously padded up to the waters edge. Taking a deep breath, he leaped onto the first stone. The water lapped at his paws, almost dragging him into the river. Once he had a good grip, the silver tom leaped to the next stone, and then the next. Finally, he was on ThunderClan's land.
As he ventured into the undergrowth where Mudfoot had disappeared, the strong scent of the enemy came crashing down upon him. As he padded deeper into the forest, he spotted Mudfoot marking his territory on a clump of brambles.
"That's not a very smart idea," Ripplesky commented, smirking.
Mudfoot's head shot up, his eyes wide with fear. When he recognized Ripplesky, he immediately relaxed. "Oh, it's just you. What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same thing. With tensions so high right now, I don't think it's a good idea to just wander into the heart of ThunderClan's territory and start taking it as your own." Ripplesky's blue eyes gleamed as he watched Mudfoot.
The dark warrior puffed out his chest. The tabby tom then opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it in frustration. Slowly, Ripplesky stalked closer to Mudfoot. As he corned his Clanmate, a surge of energy pulsed through his body. The young medicine cat had never felt anything like it, not even while killing Nightsky. He felt invincible, as if he could do anything and not be harmed.
"What are you doing?" Mudfoot gulped, noticing the wild look in the medicine cat's eyes.
"I wish it didn't have to come to this," Ripplesky meowed, ignoring the question, "but I can't let you live, not after you saw me kill Cherrynose. It's far too risky and I'm afraid I can't trust you."
Mudfoot's breathing quickened. "I-I was just kidding about Cherrynose. I didn't see anything," he choked out. The warrior desperately looked for an escape route, but Ripplesky had him cornered up against a gigantic oak.
"It's too late for that," Ripplesky hissed, unsheathing his claws. Before Mudfoot could react, he lashed out at the tabby warrior's throat.
Mudfoot let out a shriek as blood came gushing out of the wound. Narrowing his eyes, he clawed at Ripplesky's face, trying to blind the medicine cat. Ripplesky hissed in pain as Mudfoot's claw ripped the skin beside his left eye, but he continued the attack. He could not let Mudfoot get away! His entire body pulsed with fury as he fought against his Clanmate. Suddenly, a red haze seemed to come over Ripplesky, sending him away from reality.
When the fury subsided, Ripplesky blinked his eyes open. What happened? hewondered, his entire body shaking. Suddenly, he let out a yowl of horror. Blood was splattered everywhere: on the undergrowth, on the trees, and most importantly all over him. Slowly, he looked down to see Mudfoot's dead body completely covered in blood. A sharp branch was impaled in the tom's throat, sending blood out in waves. D-Did I do that? Ripplesky thought in horror. But I don't remember doing that. W-What's going on?
Slowly, he began to back away from the body. He had been so consumed by rage that he couldn't even remember what he had done! I really am a monster, he thought, his throat tightening. Tears welled up in his eyes as he headed back towards the river. Not even bothering to leap the stepping stones, Ripplesky clumsily splashed into the water and did his best to swim across.
As he climbed out on shore, tears were falling down the sides of his face. He hadn't planned on killing Mudfoot like that. It was a death he couldn't even wish on Nightsky. "Help," he rasped, collapsing to the ground.
After what felt like an entire moon, a patrol made up of Shellnose, Brambletail and Morningstar padded up. Morningstar immediately rushed to the medicine cat's side, her amber eyes wide with horror. "Ripplesky, what happened to you?" she cried out.
"Mudfoot," Ripplesky cried out, unable to meet his leader's gaze. "H-He..."
"He's what?" Morningstar demanded. "Tell me!"
"Dead." The air filled with silence as the patrol stared at Ripplesky in shock.
"Y-You're joking, right?" Brambletail whispered. She was Mudfoot's sister, so Ripplesky wasn't surprised when she took the news the hardest.
"ThunderClan killed him," Ripplesky whispered, slowly standing to his paws. "I was out collecting herbs, when I heard shrieks coming from across the river. I had a bad feeling in my stomach, so I went to investigate. An entire patrol had ganged up on Mudfoot. I-I tried to save him, but..." he trailed off as he tried to think of a ThunderClan cat, "but Redheart attacked me. I only barely made it out alive."
Morningstar frowned. "We've got to put an end to this!" She growled, before slipping into the river. Brambletail and Shellnose followed after her. Ripplesky hesitated for a few moments, before reluctantly following after them.
When they reached ThunderClan territory, Morningstar followed the scent of blood that lead her straight to Mudfoot. Gathered around him was a large patrol of ThunderClan warriors, with Redheart at the lead.
"Murderers!" the RiverClan leader hissed, her pelt bristling.
Redheart looked up, his eyes wide. "You think we did this?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes.
"Who else could have done this? Your paws are covered in blood! Not to mention, this is your territory," Brambletail spat, unsheathing her claws.
Duskfur stepped forward. "We didn't kill him!" the ThunderClan tom insisted.
"Why should we believe you after all the trouble you've caused?" Shellnose demanded. "You've done nothing but terrorize the forest for seasons, and we're sick of it. You're going to pay for this, mark my words!" Glaring at the patrol, Shellnose grabbed Mudfoot's dead body by the scruff and began hauling it towards the river.
Morningstar and Brambletail slipped into place behind him, each supporting the body on their shoulders. As Ripplesky followed after them, his stomach churned. He could tell this was going to be the start of a long and hostile battle no cat would ever forget. Even more lives would be lost, and it would be all his fault.
I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few weeks. I had a bit of a writer's block, and I've been busy. My seventeenth birthday was last Friday (the 29th) so I was out celebrating. I also apologize that this chapter was short. I was going to continue on with the apprentice ceremony, but I decided to hold it off until the next chapter. Hopefully the next update will come quicker. I have that chapter planned out, so I shouldn't have trouble writing it. Thank you for all the support and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
As always, thanks for reading!
