Hey guys! Not a lot of reviews with the last chapter! Probably because so many people have given up on the story and haven't bothered to check for updates since I'm always inactive xD
Therefore, there were not so many overwhelming reviews as I only got like, four! So I can actually answer!
REVIEW ANSWERS:
Wyldclaw- Thanks!
Silverlightning97- I'll check them out ;)
Moonbeam141- Haha! Yeah, the song with Scat Cat was awesome. But Winter Break is almost over! And thanks xD
Foreststar of WindClan- Oh.
Yeah! I know I promised another chapter within the next few days of the last one, but I got sidetracked ^^' mainly by the two epic YouTubers in my snazzy new profile picture, Danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil! Dan's on the left, Phil's on the right c: they're so amazing that I have changed my profile pic for a while xD I even ordered their shirt from their merch shop c: but it's being shipped from the UK as they live in London, so it'll be a while before I get it. I have watched all 109 of Dan's videos and I am working on all 184 of Phil's.
*Ahem* Excuse my… rambling.
On with the story!
Twistedfoot lay in her small nest. WindClan cats slept outside beneath the eyes of StarClan. She wished she could sleep in the nursery. The she-cat felt the disapproving gaze of her warrior ancestors boring into her pelt for siding with a Dark Forest cat.
I'm sorry, she silently prayed to them. But this is the path I've been led down. I cannot turn back now when I am so close to gaining what I've wanted my whole life.
Respect.
Twistedfoot shuddered. "Respect" sounded too similar to "Revenge". But it's not revenge! she thought stubbornly. I'm just… asserting my place. My place in the ranking of… well… respect.
Twistedfoot stood. She could not put off this job any longer. "Alright, Phantomstep. Direct me where you will."
Silence. A slight breeze ruffled her fur as an endless mass of stars swirled above. She looked up at them, starting to feel dizzy. As her head began to spin with the idea of those billions of stars, something dark erupted from the skies. It was Phantomstep, dashing through the night to her side.
As the dark warrior turned from a black mist materializing from the stars to a ghostly feline, Twistedfoot bowed her eyes respectfully. This cat was her mentor now, her sole guide. Her life was in his light gray paws.
"Twistedfoot," he said in his always distant, whispering voice, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You of all cats should know," she replied, her tail whisking irritably.
"So you're ready, I imply? Good. Better now than later I suppose." His eyes skimmed the sleeping crowd. Mossflight and Shadefire were on watch that night. They stood outside the camp, eyes focused on what went on out on territory, oblivious to what went on inside of camp.
"So? Get on with it. Who am I to kill?"
Phantomstep turned his lifeless blue eyes to her. They were always distant and full of emotion, but without any spark of life. Phantomstep was dead, that was for sure. "We're starting with an easy one. Somebody you've never liked."
She raised a brow. Then, Phantomstep nodded to a cat. It was a skinny brown tom with wiry fir and stocky legs. He slept beside a snow-white she-cat and another furry, gray tom.
Twistedfoot felt her heart stop. Haretooth? Her mind wandered to the little contact she'd made with this Clanmate. He had never been very agreeable, and was always agitated about something. She thought about how rude he was to her at the fresh-kill pile not too long ago. She then stole a glance at the white she-cat and gray tom. Haretooth's siblings, Rabbitflame and Grassleap. The cats in the trio were all very close. What would happen when she tore them apart?
She turned back to Phantomstep. "I don't know if I can do this."
"You'll do it and you'll like it," he told her as though he was a father forcing a kit to try fresh-kill for the first time. "Go. Either do it now or put it off till later. It's inevitable. You'll never avoid it. It has to happen at some point. Now is best."
Twistedfoot looked at Haretooth again. The shorthaired and wiry brown WindClan warrior slept soundly. His paws twitched as he dreamed. Twistedfoot felt a pang of guilt. Was she really going to kill him?
Murder, she realized. I'm committing murder. It will be on my conscience forever.
Twistedfoot suddenly felt unable to fulfill the task. She looked at Phantomstep. "I can't. I can't, I…" She started shaking her head defiantly and stepping back. "I just…"
Phantomstep frowned. He pressed his face closer to hers. "Do it, or I'll kill you myself."
Twistedfoot's blue eyes widened in shock. Phantomstep would actually kill her? She trusted him! "Phantomstep! I—"
"Shh! We're still in camp!" he hissed. "Now do as your told, or face the consequences."
Twistedfoot's lip trembled, her eyes welled up, and a lump formed in her throat. Her breaths hitched. She drew in a shaky one, exhaling slowly. She mustn't cry. She wasn't a kit anymore. She didn't sob in the medicine den and look to Featherleaf and Snowfeather for constant support. She was a grown cat, and with that came the responsibility of suppressing her emotions. She wouldn't cause a scene. Not now. Not ever. Not anymore.
"Fine, alright. I'll do it." She quietly walked over to Haretooth. Gently nudging the tom, she whispered for him to wake up. Haretooth blinked.
"Hm?" he mumbled sleepily.
"Haretooth? Hey, I was wondering if we could talk?"
Haretooth opened his eyes. "'Bout what?"
"You know, apologizing for hogging the fresh-kill pile."
"You're forgiven." He rolled back over, snuggling in with his brother and sister to go back to sleep.
"I wanted to actually get to know you, though. I wanted to, I dunno, hunt together. Want to?"
Haretooth opened a pondering eye. "Why?"
"I don't know. I feel restless. You seem like someone who I need to learn more about."
Haretooth blinked, looking at his paws. He thought it over, then nodded, struggling to his feet. "Fine, fine. Make it quick, I'm sleepy."
Twistedfoot swallowed. A pit formed in her stomach from the horrific lie she had just told. "RiverClan border?"
"Sure, whatever." Haretooth began heading for the entrance, and Twistedfoot followed. The two made their way agonizingly slowly. Haretooth sniffed the air.
"I can't imagine why you chose to do this at night. All the rabbits are in their burrows. Brilliant thinking, idiot."
If we were in the city, rats would be abundant at this time of night. Twistedfoot sniffed the air. Her mind wasn't at all on prey as she implied. "Just need to get the timing right," she whispered to herself.
"What was that?" Haretooth asked, nose to the air.
"Oh, nothing," she lied quickly. "Just, trying to remember how to hunt rabbits."
Haretooth huffed. "That disgusting Twolegplace has dampened your hunting sense. You don't know how to track like a real warrior anymore."
Twistedfoot's fur prickled with the thought of a stinging retort. She ignored the urge, and continued sniffing. Suddenly, a scent met her twitching nose. It was musty yet luscious. Rabbit. She turned. "Hey, Haretooth. I found one."
Haretooth lowered his muzzle. He looked slightly frustrated that he hadn't smelled it first. Senses aren't as damp as you thought, are they, Haretooth?
The tom trotted over. He sniffed again, and then grunted. "It's a rabbit, alright."
Twistedfoot nodded, finding it hard to speak. Her voice shook with every word she was speaking. "I have an idea for catching it. I'll hide behind that ridge over there. You chase it to me, and I'll intercept it and give the killing bite. Sound good?"
Haretooth nodded, setting off to follow the scent trail. Twistedfoot crouched behind the ridge. She waited for her prey.
But she would not be intercepting the rabbit.
Twistedfoot waited for the pattering of paws to approach. She peeked over the ridge. There was Haretooth, driving the rabbit in her direction. He kept herding it as it tried to swerve. Twistedfoot ducked behind the ridge again. Her heart was pounding. For a moment, she saw Phantomstep. He grinned, putting a silencing paw to his mouth and making a "shhh" motion with his teeth, though he made not a sound. He vanished into black dust as quickly as he appeared. Twistedfoot closed her eyes. She waited. Then, she heard the warrior come as close as possible. Her eyes opened, and she looked back over the ridge. There was the rabbit, headed straight toward her. Haretooth was a tail-length behind.
Twistedfoot leapt into the air. A triumphant look appeared on Haretooth's face. But she missed the rabbit completely. Twistedfoot was flying at the tom, teeth bared, claws unsheathed. His face turned to a look of horror, and Twistedfoot knocked him to the ground.
"Twistedfoot? What are you doing! Get off!" Haretooth thrashed in her grip. But Twistedfoot would not let up. Her blue eyes bore into his green ones.
"This is for everything you've done," she hissed into his face. Haretooth's mouth gaped in terror. Twistedfoot threateningly raised her crippled paw. The claws on it were unsheathed. They glinted in the moonlight. The two cats were on a higher part of the border, and a view of the whole lake was visible. The white moonlight on the still water was slowly getting replaced by purple, pink, orange and yellow hues of sunrise.
"Twistedfoot, don't do this!" Haretooth plead. "I'm sorry!" He battered her belly with his back legs, scraping it viciously and inflicting small cuts.
Twistedfoot growled. "I have to do this. You… You wouldn't understand." She closed her eyes, then brought her claws down on his neck, sinking them in. She heard him shriek and start to gurgle. Then a wet, sticky feeling erupted all over her paw. She opened her eyes. Haretooth's neck had been cut open, and blood was seeping out. Twistedfoot's eyes went wide as moons, her ears flattened, and her mouth opened a tiny bit in a horrified expression. It had just now dawned on her that she was killing Haretooth.
The tom's claws scraped the ground as though trying to get a grasp of life. "Help me.." he whispered to nobody. Then, his furious gaze, like flames of green fire, met hers. "You're a disgrace," he spat. "You'll be punished. They'll all know."
"Quiet, stop, stop!" Twistedfoot found herself crouched on the ground, paws over her ears and eyes squinting shut to block out his pain. She couldn't bear his suffering. It didn't feel right. How did Phantomstep do this so easily? "Stop! Stop!" she screeched for little reason.
Haretooth obeyed gladly. He didn't want to speak, because speaking was painful. Speaking made the blood flow. His breath came in raspy gasps. Soon, he drew in a final, shaky breath, and lay still.
Twistedfoot slowly removed her paws from her head, opening her eyes. She stared at the bloody body, starting to feel sick. She backed away from the still-bleeding corpse, eyes unblinking and hyperventilating. Had she, Twistedfoot, really done this? Was this her fate? To be a killer?
Black dust rose from the red substance, condensing until it became a form. "Well done. Well done indeed." He looked at the body, then back at her. "How do you feel?"
Twistedfoot didn't answer at first. "Scared," she said hesitantly.
"Ah, yes. The usual first reaction. Don't worry, it will pass as you get used to it. Blood doesn't seem so choking after a few kills, and bodies aren't so sickening. It just takes getting used to." Phantomstep shoved the dead form of Haretooth, flopping him over onto his back. "A rather sloppy kill, I must say. Your claws cut his throat so jaggedly. Just makes it more painful for the victim."
Twistedfoot didn't want to hear it. "Stop talking to me!" she sobbed. "Just help me!" She took a staggering step toward him, begging for comfort.
Phantomstep stepped away, a wary and confused look in his blue eyes. "Pull yourself together. Soon, doing this will be like killing a shrew."
Twistedfoot crumpled to the ground. Did she feel triumphant? Was respect gained from taking Haretooth's life? She didn't know. "I feel so lost."
"All you need to think about now is making sure nobody knows you did it. Take yourself and the body to the lake and wash away the blood. Then roll both yourself and the body in an onion patch to get your scent off of him and his scent off of you. Then, both of you soak in the lake again. If you both smell like onion, the Clan will be suspicious."
Twistedfoot felt ready to puke at the idea of dragging the dead tom. But she found herself faced with a different problem. "What about Mossflight and Shadefire? Didn't they see me leave?"
Phantomstep huffed. "Don't worry about them. I got 'em to chase me before you left camp. They're still looking for me at the ThunderClan border. I can keep them on the run for a little longer, so hurry up!" With that, he vanished.
Twistedfoot swallowed, then grabbed Haretooth by his scruff. She gagged at the taste of his dead flesh. The she-cat felt tears in her eyes, then dragged him to the lake. It felt like moons to drag the limp form, and she finally dunked him the water. She jumped in herself, scrubbing off the blood. She scrubbed him off as well until the only sign of his killing was the laceration to his throat and chest, which no longer bled. She dragged him out of the water, and then rolled him in the onion patch on the RiverClan border.
She pushed him out, and rolled where he had been. She quickly wished that she had gone first, as rolling where the dead cat had rolled felt horribly revolting. She pulled out of it, and then sniffed her fur. There was no sign of the tom on her pelt. She sniffed him. There was none of her scent. Good.
Twistedfoot dragged him once more to the lake to rub off the onion smell. She did the same to herself. Finally, she smelled only of herself, and he smelled faintly of anything, as his scent was vanishing with his death as well as the thorough washing.
She sat in the rising sunlight and waited for both of them to dry off. Once their pelts were no longer spiked with water, she dragged him to a new spot. She could not leave him beside the ridge, as she needed that spot for future ambushes. If the other WindClan cats found him there, they'd grow suspicious of the area. So, she hauled him to the horseplace fence, which marked the border between RiverClan and WindClan. She started walking away, then felt a twinge of guilt. Haretooth's mouth hung open, his legs were splayed in all directions, and his eyes were wide. Though she wished to finally leave the dead cat, she couldn't bear to leave him in such a state.
Twistedfoot gently repositioned his legs to look straighter and neater. She closed his eyes and mouth. She stepped away. It looked like Haretooth was sleeping. Seeing him like this made her feel a little better. He's just sleeping, she thought wistfully. Sleeping forever.
She started licking herself off for good measure, since she'd once again been tampering with the body. The she-cat then made her way back to camp. The walk was dreary, and her head hung. As she peered at the entrance, she saw that the twins were still not on guard. Phantomstep must still have the run. She ran around to the back of camp. Squeezing through the gorse wall, she was careful not to make noise. Though, gorse thorns grazed her pelt.
Twistedfoot sat down in her sleeping spot, licking at her thorn cuts. Once they stopped stinging, she curled up.
The Clan was silent, still as the lake. The stars shone above as the sun peeked over the distant hills and its light got cast dimly upon the lake. But through this still and quiet, there was to be found a small, muffled sound of tears. Tears from a young, crippled she-cat whose life was slowly tearing apart.
…
Well.
That was certainly deep.
Yeah! So. Story is getting bloodier. I've got plans. Cool plans I guess.
The ending to this chapter was largely inspired by the music theme at the end of BlazeTheFireDragon's animated project "The Rise of Scourge – Episode 3" which I happened to be watching for the fifth time while writing the last few paragraphs of this.
*I started crying at that scene the first time I watched it*
If this ever got animated, that theme would totally be playing. I think… it might be playing at a later point in the story xD I believe it's called "Dead Island Theme" according to the episode credits. Seriously, want deep story ideas? Listen to it.
Easy to say that I started feeling a little closer to Harefoot toward the end of this. I suppose his character grew a little bit. And I'm slowly trying to get Twistedfoot's character less and less perfect, as when I was reading previous chapters, she seemed like a Mary-Sue. So, y'know. Logic.
In other news, check out my profile pic which totally doesn't have the two YouTubers that I keep mentioning! Yeah!
I proofread this chapter really quickly, so if I missed an error, don't kill me ^^'
Anyhoo, I don't know how many people are reading anymore, but hey! I'm determined to finish this one! Honestly I'm not sure how many chapters are left xD I have a basic plotline, but I'm making up most of the events as I go. Sometimes I'll be writing and just say, "hey. Why not." Then make the characters do something totally unplanned.
My writing style.
Well, thanks for reading!
See y'all next chappie!
