Chapter 6

I woke up and left the warrior den. Everything seemed hushed. I heard faint talking from inside Wingstar's den; I suspected she was talking to Flurrytail. Something seemed off. What had happened?

"Hi Silkshade," Tallblaze said.

"Hey," I greeted. "What's up with everyone?"

"You're coming with me," he told me. "Shorty needs some support right now."

Doesn't answer my question. "Okay, let's go," I agreed.

He led me to the medicine den, which surprised me a bit but also explained a little bit. So it involved Deathfire and happened overnight. I suspected I knew at least the culprit. Lightstar.

"Hi Deathfire!" I exclaimed. "How are ya doing?" No response.

"Shorty's a little quiet today," Tallblaze told me.

"Okay. What happened?" I asked. "I'm assuming something to do with Lightstar."

"I don't know exactly, but from what I can piece together, Lightstar killed Puddlekit," Tallblaze answered. I was not expecting that. "And as for Shorty, she is definitely a bit shaken, but she'll be fine in time."

"That's good at least," I said, trying to figure things out myself. Lightstar killed Puddlekit? How? Could she roam the Clans?

"It's my fault," Deathfire murmured. I quickly turned to her. "I've been rebelling against Lightstar so she brought Puddlekit to the Dark Forest. I tried to fight her and save Puddlekit, but I couldn't win. And so she killed her. As punishment. Because I was too mouse-brained to realize that eventually she'd find a way to hurt me. I can't fight her anymore, she'll keep hurting cats I care about." She paused, whimpering softly. "She owns me."

We all sat in silence for a moment, not knowing how to respond. There really was nothing she could do except obey. Lightstar couldn't force her to actually take over the Clans though, could she? No because then Deathfire could just let herself lose and die. Still, this wasn't good.

"It's not your fault," Tallblaze told her after a while. "Lightstar's the one who is forcing you into training in the Dark Forest and the one who killed Puddlekit. You can't control other cats, or at least not without a lot of threats as Lightstar has shown. But there is no way this is your fault."

"Cats keep dying because of me!" Deathfire exclaimed. "I'm so useless! I just keep causing problem after problem and it's always after standing up against someone! I spy on Flurrytail, proving myself against her, and Limppaw gets killed protecting me. I stand up for my family and friends against Lightstar and Duskpelt dies protecting me. I stand up against Lightstar and refuse to train so what does she do? Kill Puddlekit. A kit! Maybe I should just let cats walk all over me because maybe then no one else would get hurt."

"Shorty, in all honesty, that's a terrible idea. That will just cause a lot more trouble for you in the long run," Tallblaze told her. "Cats will use that to their advantage and we'll still get in the way."

"Besides, a bunch of cats have died because of me. You weren't even born yet the first time it happened," I told her. "You're not the only one. Cats die for other cats, as unfair as it may be. We can't control what happens. We can't control the terrible cats that cause these things. What we can do is not beat ourselves up over it. Believe me, it never helps. Doesn't bring them back, doesn't bring their murderer to justice, nothing. It's not your fault and you shouldn't think that way."

"Fine," Deathfire muttered. I doubted she'd actually listen that much, but probably wouldn't go through with her stupid plan at least.

"Silkshade, we have some things we need to be doing," Silentstorm stated. "I'll get the apprentices and wait for you by the entrance."

I sighed. Another day of mentorship. "I'll see you later," I told them both. I left and headed to the entrance. It was a moment before Silentstorm arrived with our apprentices.

"Today we're going hunting. Let's go," Silentstorm said.

We left the camp and headed out into the forest. The two apprentices whispered among themselves, probably about me, and I ignored them. If they had nothing better to do with their time, fine by me. I've proved skilled to them time and time again yet they still saw me as beneath them. And you know what? It wasn't worth my time.

I caught scent of a vole. It was close too. I got into position and got ready to pounce. I leapt at it, quickly delivering the killing blow. Maybe if they weren't so busy gossiping they'd do better. Then I caught a sentence of what they were saying.

"Flurrytail said that she thinks Deathfire killed Puddlekit. Wingstar agrees too," Darkpaw whispered. "Even the leader doesn't trust her! Must be something there."

"Yeah, and I heard she won't even talk about what went on," Meadowpaw whispered back. "That's kind of suspicious."

"So if you saw someone you cared about die, you'd be completely fine and want to talk all about it?" I asked. "I've watched cats die and it really hits hard. Now imagine a kit, a helpless kit, that is like a daughter to you being murderer in front of you. She's acting off and with reason."

"This hasn't been the first odd death surrounding her," Darkpaw argued.

"There's been a lot of deaths that I've witnessed, but that doesn't mean I caused them," I stated.

"We understand you care about her, but maybe that's blinding you a bit," Meadowpaw told me. I could say the same about you.

"I've known Deathfire since she was born, she'd never kill a cat," I responded.

"I hope you remember those words when she kills you," Darkpaw muttered. Meadowpaw laughed.

"How is this humorous?" Silentstorm asked, intervening. "Both of you, get to work hunting. Prey isn't going to catch itself."

"Okay," Darkpaw agreed grudgingly.

I clawed the dirt, full of anger. Deathfire isn't a bad cat yet everyone thinks she is and Flurrytail is a bad cat but everyone thinks she isn't. How does the world work that way?

"You okay?" Silentstorm asked.

"Everything is wrong," I answered. "And something tells me everything is going to get a lot worse. Quickly."

"I'd like to say I disagree, but you have a point," Silentstorm responded. "Flurrytail is in a position of power, Deathfire is at the risk of exile despite her innocence, and then this murder. Things are definitely worsening. But we shouldn't waste time worrying. Let's make sure the apprentices are actually doing as instructed."

"I'll follow in a minute," I told her.

I sighed, gripping the dirt with my claws. Deathfire was innocent and we'll prove it. We'll help free her from Lightstar. Flurrytail will be revealed as who she truly is in time. We'll do it somehow. We had to. But the thing is, we don't have to. Things can get much worse. On that grim note, I went to go meet back up with Silentstorm and the apprentices.

StarClan, if you actually give a fox-dung about us, do something.

Author's Note: And then StarClan did nothing. Silkshade really be losing all faith in StarClan, like I wonder why. Hmm... Not like they could've solved the problems if they actually tried. Not like they have done nothing but make everything worse. Anyway, leave a review if you'd like! Thanks for reading! I hope to see you all next week!

-Rowan W.