Chapter 21 A Old Friend
It was nighttime; the stars twinkled, the moon was full, and the crickets sang their nightly song. Lightclaw was outside of the camp entrance; sitting silently as this was his night vigil. He looked up at the stars; his mother and Darkpaw were watching over him and knew they were proud. Lightclaw flattened his ears and looked down; this day should've been the day Darkpaw got his full name. He would've been a slave still, but at least he would be alive. Tears formed in Lightclaw's eyes; he was alone on his night vigil and he felt lonely. Suddenly, Lightclaw sniffed the air.
"Badger…" he thought.
Lightclaw contemplated on what to do, either alert the clan or fight the badger alone. He had been told to never fight a badger alone, it was better to fight in a group. Lightclaw followed the scent trail to a bush where a badger was eating berries. Not thinking clearly and blinded by the training to chase out intruders, Lightclaw screeched and attacked the badger. He scratched his eye, but not too deep that it would cause it to bleed. The badger snarls and gets into a battle stance with Lightclaw getting ready to attack again. Suddenly, he saw the badger's eyes and realized that he recognized those eyes and that scent.
"Doug?" Lightclaw whispered.
"Lightkit? No No No wait, what's your warrior name?" he asked.
"Wait, how do you know so much about the clans?" Lightclaw asked.
"Well, my great great-grandma was friends with the clans, long before I was born. The rest is well, you know, history. So, what's your warrior name?" Doug asked joyfully.
"Oh, it's Lightclaw." He meowed.
"Lightclaw, it suits you well, especially after what you did to my eye." Doug smiled.
"Heh heh, sorry I scratched your eye, I thought you were an…" Lightclaw apologized.
"An intruder. Yeah, I get that a lot. I know I shouldn't be here, but I thought if I could come here at night, then maybe I could eat these elderberries without causing trouble, you know? Anyway, where's Darkkit? Oh no no no wait, what's his warrior name?" Doug asked excited.
What was Lightclaw going to tell him, tell him that his best friend is dead? Lightclaw flinched; unable to tell someone or how to tell someone that a friend or loved one is dead.
"Darkpaw's dead." Lightclaw meowed flinching.
"What?! But how?!" Doug asked horrified.
"My father, that's how." Lightclaw snarled.
"What happened?" Doug asked upset.
Lightclaw had to tell the whole story. How Darkpaw had been accused by his sister and her friend for stealing a rabbit, how he had to endure a trial to see if he was guilty or not, how Moon had told Daisypetal to kill Darkpaw, how Lightclaw fought Moon, how he was knocked out by Snaketooth, woke up to find Darkpaw dead, and how he learned that his father was the one that killed him.
"So, Darkpaw died when he was an apprentice." Doug guessed tearfully.
"Yeah, he never got his full name." Lightclaw meowed sadly.
To answer some of Doug's questions, Lightclaw told him about the history of Lightclan, the slave law, and the origin of how it all started. Each time Lightclaw got into Darkpaw's death or slavery, Doug's ears were down, he closed his eyes, and a tear stroked his cheek. When he finished, Doug opened his eyes enraged and got into a battle stance.
"Where's your father?! I'm gonna rip him to shreds!" he growled.
"What?" Lightclaw asked surprised.
"Anybody that hurts my friends or kills them, I rip them to shreds! Now, where's your dad, I'm gonna kill him." Doug growled.
Lightclaw was shocked. He'd never seen Doug get this angry, but then again, it had been moons since he last saw him. Suddenly, an idea went into Lightclaw's head. It was sneaky, ruthless, and heartless, but it could work. Lightclaw had wondered how he would kill his father and make it look like natural causes, but now he had a chance, but deep down, it was wrong. Doug was his friend and it felt wrong to use him for something terrible, but if Lightclaw wanted to avoid having Doug attack the clan, he needed to act quickly.
"No, let me kill my father." Lightclaw meowed.
"What?" Doug asked confused.
"Let me kill my father. If I'm going to be leader, I have to be deputy first." Lightclaw explained.
"But isn't there a part of the warrior code that says, "A cat can only be deputy if it has mentored at least one apprentice"? Judging by your age and that you're alone, it looks like to me that you never had an apprentice. I mean surely you could kill your father and the deputy right now, right? It's happened before." Doug said guessing.
"There are two problems with that, Doug. 1. If I do that, then Daisypetal will become Daisystar and more cats will suffer because of her. She's not like my father, she's worse. And 2. I have a motive for why I want my father and the deputy dead. If the clan found out that I killed them, I'll be exiled or worse, killed. I can't do it now, Doug, I need things to calm down before I can do it. I thought this through and I realize that the only way the slaves will be free, is that I have to be leader." Lightclaw explained.
"Okay, but…I wanna help. They killed our friend, Lightclaw, I'll feel powerless if I don't do something." Doug said upset.
"Okay, I'll cut you a deal. When I become deputy, I'll lure my father into the woods and then I'll let you beat him up, but let me kill him and then when I become leader, I'll give a nice plump rabbit for you to eat, deal?" Lightclaw asked.
"A rabbit?" Doug asked surprised.
"Yeah, unless you want something else." Lightclaw offered.
"No, It's just, I never had a rabbit before. Okay, we got a deal." Doug said.
"Good. So, are you almost done with those berries?" Lightclaw asked.
"Yeah, I was just at the last batch before you attacked me." Doug explained.
"Okay, finish up here, then you might want to leave. I don't want the clan to see us talking, got it?" Lightclaw ordered.
"Okay, bye Lightclaw. Oh by the way, when should we meet again?" Doug asked.
"When I become deputy and I'm alone, I'll approach you, got it?" Lightclaw answered.
"Got it, bye Lightclaw." Doug said.
He went back to eating the berries and Lightclaw headed back to camp. He did a quick sweep around the camp and checked the dens to see if foxes or other badgers had gotten in there. Thankfully, nothing happened and Lightclaw did this quietly. He exited the camp and sat down; his plan was in motion, now all he had to do was wait.