Chapter 15 The Horrible Truth

Lightpaw buried his head into Darkpaw's fur; grieving, mourning, and weeping for him. Lightpaw was broken; throughout his whole life, he and Darkpaw have been inseparable, but now, death had been cruel to separate them. As his heart shattered to pieces, Lightpaw felt like his whole world was destroyed. Guilt, shame, and grief overwhelmed him; like a part of Lightpaw had died along with Darkpaw. He had promised his parents that he would protect him, but now, he was gone. Shame had it pity him, for only Lightpaw could only do so much for the situation, but now...what could he do? What could he do without his best friend? How could he live without him? The anguish, sorrow, and grief built inside of Lightpaw; so much so that he lifted his head with his eyes closed and the expression that he was about to scream at Starclan.

"NOOOOOOOOOO." he wailed.

Meanwhile

Whitestar was sitting in his den alone; silently mourning for Darkpaw. He had taken a life of a cat who was part of a prophecy; now, Lightclan was in grave danger. It made sense; a cat with white light glowing on its pelt was going to kill three or more cats in the most horrific way possible and there was a prophecy stating that the light will choose a path of light or dark if the white stone crushes the dark. It was obvious that the white light was Lightpaw, the dark was Darkpaw and the white stone was...him. Whitestone had been Whitestar's warrior name and now, he really screwed up, but there was still hope, but all Whitestar could do was hope that Lightpaw would choose the path of light; the path of forgiveness and love. Suddenly, a cat entered the den.

"I hope you're proud of yourself." a voice growled.

Whitestar turned around and saw Cloudberry sitting there enraged. Whitestar flattened his ears and he looked upset.

"Do you have any idea what Lightpaw's going to do when he finds out that you killed Darkpaw? How do you think he's going to forgive you?" Cloudberry asked enraged.

"Cloudberry, do you think I wanted this? Do you think I wanted to kill a slave apprentice who was Lightpaw's best friend? Do you think I wanted to, I didn't have a choice!" Whitestar snapped.

"There was a lot of choices you could've made Whitestar. You could've just save your son by fighting Moon instead of killing Darkpaw and betraying Tinydawn's trust!" she argued.

"Moon had the killing blow in motion, even if I wanted too, I would've lost my last life!" he hissed.

"Are you seriously worried about loosing your last life?" Cloudberry asked in disbelief.

"I can't let Daisypetal be the next leader." Whitestar meowed.

"So then why did you make her your deputy?!" Cloudberry asked enraged.

"You know why! There were no other cats that had an apprentice, Daisypetal was the only cat that did!" Whitestar yowled.

Before Cloudberry could speak, she and Whitestar heard a shrieking wail come from the punishment den. Both cats flinched; knowing that this meant Lightpaw figured out that Darkpaw was dead. Cloudberry gave last glare at Whitestar.

"Try telling that to Lightpaw." she snarled.

Cloudberry ran out of the den and headed for the punishment den with Tinydawn, Blackfur, Darkheart, Loudtooth, and Doespring behind her. Warriors, apprentices, queens, and the other slaves left their dens slowly and headed for the punishment den.

Back to Lightpaw

Lightpaw sobbed into Darkpaw's fur; wondering why it had to be him instead of himself. Lightpaw was angry, no...he was furious. He wanted to make Daisypetal pay for attacking him, he wanted to make Brightpaw and Wolfpaw pay for starting all of this, but most of all, he wanted to make Moon pay for killing him, but deep down, Lightpaw didn't think it was her. Thinking about it now, Moon didn't seem like the type of cat to get her paws dirty, but rather have someone else do the dirty work. If that was true, then someone else killed Darkpaw. Whoever did it, they were going to pay. Lightpaw had to know; who killed Darkpaw? And why did they do it? However, that didn't mean he wanted to make Moon pay as she was the one responsible for trying to kill Darkpaw. Lightpaw got up and looked at Flowerpaw and Petalpaw in a furious rage.

"Who did it? Tell me! Who killed Darkpaw?! Was it Moon?!" he yowled enraged.

Petalpaw and Flowerpaw looked at each other. Both cats were upset, grieving, and were in sorrow; how were they going to tell Lightpaw that it was his father that killed Darkpaw? He wasn't going to be happy that's for sure, but to feel betrayed by your own father is the worse feeling any cat could feel. However, they couldn't lie to Lightpaw. Flowerpaw and Petalpaw gazed at him; both cats were uncertain on how Lightpaw was going to react, but they didn't know what he was going to do if he found out.

"No, it wasn't Moon." Flowerpaw meowed.

"It...It was Whitestar, Lightpaw; he killed Darkpaw." Petalpaw choked.

Lightpaw was in disbelief; his own father killing Darkpaw? No...No he couldn't believe it. How could his father do this?! Darkpaw was Lightpaw's best friend, there was no way Whitestar would kill him just to separate them. Then again, Lightpaw did notice that his father would watch them from time to time; never disapproving, but rather, he was...cautious. Lightpaw thought that it was because he was protective of his son and that he didn't want him to get hurt, but Lightpaw never imagined this. Thoughts raced through his mind and emotions were mixed. Grief, betrayal, and rage overwhelmed Lightpaw and at one point, he unsheathed his claws. Tears were streaming from his eyes and he was filled with rage, but not before looking at Darkpaw's body again. Now, it was a symbol of guilt, sorrow, and betrayal from Whitestar. Lightpaw was upset, sheathed his claws and sobbed on to Darkpaw's fur. Cloudberry came in and saw the two she-cat slave apprentices mourning for their brother and Lightpaw sobbing on Darkpaw's fur. Cloudberry came over placed her paw on Lightpaw's back.

"He's gone Cloudberry." he sobbed.

"I know sweetie, it's hard." she meowed.

Tears were forming in Cloudberry's eyes as more cats entered the den. Tinydawn, Blackfur, Darkheart, and Loudtooth padded in front of the rest of the clan and approached Lightpaw, Flowerpaw, and Petalpaw. Tinydawn laid her head into her son's fur and was crying. Blackfur laid beside his mate and placed his head on top of hers; grieving for his son. Darkheart sat beside her brother; ears flattened, head down, eyes closed and was crying. Loudtooth sat behind Darkheart with Leaftumble beside her; she grieved for her apprentice as she laid her head on her mate's chest. The rest of the slaves either had their heads down, ears flattened, and their eyes closed, or they had their heads down and started crying. Icetuft, Shinefur, Patchtuft, Poppycloud and Foxwhisker sat a few feet from the others and had their heads down. Ivypaw approached Hawkpaw and laid her head on his chest as tears were forming in his eyes; Blossomsnow and Frozenpelt did the same. Everyone else watched from a distance; including Whitestar and Brightpaw. She walked a few feet towards the crowd.

"Lightpaw, i'm...i'm so sorry." Brightpaw meowed.

He opened his eyes and was enraged. Lightpaw got up and unsheathed his claws; every amount of anger and rage burned in his heart and soul. He yowled, ran up to Brightpaw, leaped at her, and pinned her to the ground. Brightpaw was stunned and was filled with terror. Lightpaw barred bis teeth and raised his paw in the air.

"You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY?! MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" he yowled.

Lightpaw scratched Brightpaw's cheek and she screamed in pain. Cats screeched in horror and terror. Tears formed in Brightpaw's eyes as blood dripped from her cheek.

"Lightpaw, I swear, we didn't know this was going to happen." she pleaded.

Wolfpaw stepped forward; terrified at what he had just seen and was shaking.

"We just wanted to get him in trouble, you know. Get him a minor punishment; we didn't think this was going to happen, honest." he choked.

"But you had to know that these things never end with a happy ending; they never do!" Lightpaw hissed.

"Lightpaw...pl-please..." Brightpaw choked.

"I'll kill you." he growled.

As the killing blow was in motion, Cloudberry and Flowerpaw ran up to them.

"LIGHTPAW STOP!" Cloudberry yowled.

She and Flowerpaw pulled him off of Brightpaw as Lightpaw struggled to attack her again. Brightpaw got up and backed away from her brother; terrified of seeing the rage and anger in Lightpaw's eyes. He wasn't hesitating to kill and he sure as hell wasn't going to show mercy. As Cloudberry and Flowerpaw struggled to hold Lightpaw back, he was close to breaking free.

"I'll kill you Brightpaw! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU'RE NO SISTER OF MINE!" Lightpaw yowled.

Tears formed and streamed from Brightpaw's eyes; her heart shattered into pieces when she heard those words.

"I...I'm sorry Lightpaw. I'm...i'm so sorry." Brightpaw sniffed.

She cried and ran out of the den. Wolfpaw gave one last sad gaze at Lightpaw before following Brightpaw. Cats stared at Lightpaw in complete shock and horror. No cat had ever seen him so murderous, angry, or furious in their lives. Lightpaw was kind, gentle, and was willing to help to any cat; even if you were a slave, but they've never seen this. Whitestar stared at his son; horrified at what he had just seen. His son was becoming the cat he feared, but it only got worse when Daisypetal approached Lightpaw.

"How dare you attack your sister like that Lightpaw, she said she was sorry." she growled.

Lightpaw broke free from Cloudberry and Flowerpaw's grasp and touched nose to nose with Daisypetal.

"Stay out of this Daisypetal or do you want your throat to be slashed?" he hissed.

Daisypetal was appalled by this, so was everyone else. Feeling as though another fight was about to occur, Whitestar stepped in between them.

"That's enough you two. There's no need for more bloodshed." he meowed.

Whitestar stared at his son and saw the anger and rage that was burning in his eyes to his soul. Whitestar feared this would happen, but he never thought of this. Lightpaw unsheathed his claws and barred his teeth.

"You...YOU MURDERER! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" he screeched.

Lightpaw leaped on to his father with a paw on his throat and another in the air; almost ready for the killing blow. Whitestar couldn't believe that his own son was going to kill him. He stared at him; terrified and unable to do anything.

"He was just an apprentice! He didn't do anything to you! You didn't have to kill him!" Lightpaw yowled.

"Son...pl-pl-please...let me explain." Whitestar choked.

"Lightpaw stop!" Cloudberry yowled.

She and Flowerpaw pulled him off of Whitestar. After a few moments of struggling, Lightpaw managed to calm down and stopped, so Cloudberry and Flowerpaw let go of him. Whitestar got up and backed away a few feet.

"Lightpaw listen to me, killing your father isn't going to bring Darkpaw back." Cloudberry reasoned.

"You don't think I know that. At least I don't have to deal with a weak leader." he sneered.

Whitestar's ears flattened when his son said that; pain throbbed his heart and hurt was filled in his eyes. Cats were horrified that Lightpaw said that. Whitestar wasn't a weak leader, he just follows the code plus, he was in a tight situation. Whitestar was defeated; there was no way Lightpaw would forgive him. Even if Whitestar tried to explain to his son about how Moon tried to kill him, in grief he would never understand. Whitestar held back tears and looked at his son with a hurtful gaze.

"I...I'm sorry son. I really am." he meowed.

Whitestar turned around and headed out of the den. The pro-slave cats followed him while everyone else stay behind. Lightpaw walked back towards Darkpaw's body and sat down. He looked to see Tinydawn's head laying on Blackfur's chest; both cats weeping for their son. Lightpaw felt guilty; he promised Blackfur that he would protect Darkpaw, but he had failed and now, Darkpaw was dead. Lightpaw went up to them and buried his head between them on their chests.

"I'm so sorry Blackfur and Tinydawn. I tried to protect him, I really did, but Moon somehow manage to..." he cried.

"No sweetie it's not your fault." Tinydawn comforted.

"You tried Lightpaw that's all it matters. You kept your promise, you protected Darkpaw." Blackfur reassured.

"Tried" isn't good enough." Lightpaw weep.