NEW CHAPTER TIIIIIIMMMMEEE!
WhenCowsFly: LOLZ! And so is your comment! PSYCHO RAGE ACTIVATEDZZZZ!
Jayfeather luva: You she'll see... Hehehehe!
Raeda2001: Thanks! :) I'm very happy that you said that! I love all of the support that I get from you guys! And LOLZ! Greyleaf thanks you for the cookies! :P You will find out why very soon...sooner than you may think...
splinterclaw: Thank you! And you shall see...this is a very popular question, but one that I meant for it to be...
brookiebear5892: LOLZ! Yeah, it was kinda crazy. O.O Though, I do admit, Fernfoot's reveal felt a little bit oddly placed when I was writing it, but I'm glad you think that the twist was nice! :)
PokemonThatEatsCats2: "Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children," (unknown coffee mug) or your friends! :P
NO WAY: MWAHAHAHAHA! SHE HAZ FOOLED EVERYBODIEZZZZ!
ZionCat2500: Yes! It is she! 'Wha?' is correct, and funny! ;P
Nightfrost-of-Shadowclan: GASPING IS FUNNNZZZ! WEEEEEEEEEEE!
now...CHAPTER TIME!
Chapter 35: Goldenfur
With a roar of fury, Goldenfur put two and two together. He whirled upon Fernfoot and pummeled her to the ground, sending a cloud of dirt up around them.
"What. Did. You. Do!" He growled, eyes aflame and teeth bared menacingly.
The brown she-cat just laughed.
"Shut it!" He hissed, digging his unsheathed claws into her shoulders.
"Why should I," the dark green-eyed cat spat, not struggling in the least. She looked comfortable and at home, except for her curled lip and loathing burning behind her eyes.
The Thunderclan tom snarled. "Well, then. If you won't shut your fox-dung pile of a mouth, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"
Fernfoot snickered, her eyes closing, and sighed out a long breath. "Wow," she mewed sarcastically, "you really are a pathetic pile of muscle! Where's that brain of yours? Oh, I know, you left it behing on that stretch of Shadowclan territory. The one where your mother was killed by—oh, what was his name again?—" She harshly cooed, "Ravenclaw?"
"RRRAHHH!" Goldenfur yowled, delivering a bloody blow to her head. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT THAT!" As she gathered her bearings, the bright-pelted cat regained his cool and demanded, "Why did you do this? Tell Greyleaf to kill me?"
"Oh, bother," she immediately replied, her voice smooth, "You cats really are as dumb as a dead fox."
"That's not an answer!" He bellowed.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine then, since your just dying to know." She smirked at her own joke. Goldenfur was not amused. "Ever since we were kits, I loved Blackfur. We used to be so close, he and I, but then Greyleaf," she spat out the name with scorn, "Came between us. All Blackfur would ever talk about was how much he loved her, how pretty she was, how she was 'the perfect she-cat in every way'—what a load of badger droppings!" Goldenfur growled and tightened his claws, but Fernfoot ignored this and continued on her rant. "I was fine and living with it until I found out she was just using him to hide her own scandalous activities! It was then that I decided something had to be done! I had to take matters into my own paws!"
Goldenfur furrowed his brow. "What did you do?" He asked forcefully, digging his claws deeper into her fur and enticing a slight yip of alarm.
She quickly got over the pain and milkily replied, "Well, let's just say that certain herbs—as well as causing emotional instability—can be mixed with an elevated heartbeat to have a," she paused, "dramatic affect."
The golden tom gasped. "You put Greyleaf into her coma!"
The tabby she-cat sneered. "And I was one of the many cats voting to have her 'pass on to Starclan,'" She widened her eyes and heightened her voice so that it sounded like an innocent, worried friend, before returning to her harsh scald. "We were going to, you know, until her snake-tongued excuse for a mate showed up."
"Greyleaf—Greyleaf has another mate," he gasped again, taken aback by her words.
If she heard him, she was ignoring him.
"But I was inclined to let her live, thanks to you," Fernfoot hissed.
"Me!?"
"You let Blackfur die! You murdered him!" She yowled, writhing and spitting in his face. "Something had to be done! So I blackmailed Greyleaf into killing you! And she was going to do it too!" The Thunderclan she-cat stopped moving, glared straight into Goldenfur's eyes, and calmly growled, "The only way to have it done right is to do it yourself."
A sudden kick to the abdomen launched Goldefur off of her, and before he could even breathe, she was on him. Scratching, clawing, biting, and screeching, she wasn't even trying to use her battle moves. This was pure rage. Pure fury.
As soon as he got a good grip on the forest floor, Goldenfur threw Fernfoot of of him and launched himself at her. He was trying his best to contain the rampaging ferocity within him, but the overpowering emotion slipped through the cracks of his wall and intensified the power of his strikes. Within three or four successful hits, Fernfoot was flung across the clearing to skid sideways to a halt in the dirt.
Her many scoring wounds bled profusely, and her eyes were glazed over with pain. One more swipe would end it all. Goldenfur readied his paw, seething with loathing and wrath.
Even facing death, Fernfoot snickered weakly and snarled, "Go on! Kill me! Kill me, just like you killed him! Like you almost killed Nightpaw! Do it! DO IT!"
Goldenfur wanted to—really wanted to. Every inch of him screamed to slam the paw down and end this game that she had created. Every problem Greyleaf had had was because of her! Because of her, Greyleaf would never have a normal life!
But, deep down inside, Goldenfur felt a tug at his heart. He just...he couldn't do it. He'd sworn to never attack someone out of anger again. He had to keep that promise, no matter what the scoundrel had done.
But that promise said nothing about ruining the rest of her life.
Goldenfur lowered the paw and leaned closer to her face.
"What are you doing," she hissed, eyes wide and filled with a tinge of—was that fear?
The tom-cat didn't answer, just took her head in his paw and maneuvered it so that he could do exactly what he wanted—Fernfoot was powerless to stop him.
She closed her eyes as he lifted a paw and brought it down.
The full moon shined down as a slashing sound filled the air, then another, and another, and another.
Goldenfur let go of her head and let it thump to the ground. He turned his back on and walked away from the treacherous she-cat that had caused him so much pain, but just before he crossed through the bushes, he looked back with a sneer to see her form lying there.
Whiskerless.
Chapter 35: Pinestar
Every breath without Greyleaf hurt, but Pinestar rested just the slightest bit easier knowing that he had done his best to help her. The time apart from her had not been unbearable, however, thanks to Cedarheart.
The comassionate young she-cat had stuck by his side from the beginning to the end. She had been the first to cheer when Pinestar had been given back authority over Shadowclan, and she was quick to defend him if anyone insulted his name. The calico was funny, too, and she kept Pinestar entertained with many a joke.
But the dark brown tom was not blind. It was clear to him that she harbored more than just a respectful affection for him, but he didn't know how he should respond. It wasn't as if he could walk up to the faithful she-cat and say, "Hey, Cedarheart, I don't feel the same way about you because I've already got a mate in Thunderclan." No, that would be disastrous. He cast a quick glance to where she ran at his side, imagined the look of utter betrayal on her face, and instantly regretted even thinking about the idea. He could never tell her, it would only end badly.
She caught his eye and smiled warmly at at him. He returned the guesture in kind before looking ahead to cross the twoleg bridge.
As usual, they were the last ones to arrive at the gathering, if you didn't count the absent Thunderclan, of course.
The meeting was a dull one—as usual for the leaders—and Pinestar spun a false tale of his 'horrific' expirence with Greencough. The cats below gasped and cheered, but the black-striped tom didn't much care. He was far too occupied with thoughts of Greyleaf and Thunderclan.
As if summoned by his mind, a streak of grey flew past in his peripheral vision, and the leader's eyes shot towards it. The lone dash flew across the expanse of Windclan territory and past the Horseplace. Pinestar thought that it was heading towards the gathering until the shape took a sudden turn to the left, towards the mountains.
He shot up from his sitting position to see the grey splotch dissapear over a rise, and four new streaks arrived from Windclan territory to pursue it.
No, he thought, heart dropping into his stomach, she can't go there! It's not safe!
Forgetting everything—the gathering, the clans, the leaders, his image—Pinestar bolted down the tree and sprinted through the crowd, leaving behind confused and gasping cats as he raced after the five dashes.
Within minutes, his path led him out of clan territory and into the mountainous expanse. He followed the scent of the five cats farther and farther away, never slowing his pace. He didn't even stop, panting, for breath until the steep slope of a high cliff stood in his way.
A spotted grey form scrabbled up the last rock and over the edge just as Pinestar got there. He quickly began his climb.
Strained voices drifted down to him.
"No! Don't do it!" "Why are you doing this, mom!" "What in the name of Starclan is going on!" "Stop!"
Things seemed to be escalating. Something was very, very wrong. Pinestar pushed himself even harder to climb the slope, swiftly jumping from rock to rock to find pawholds.
He finally pulled himself over the edge to see a corpse-like Greyleaf standing at the brink of the cliff, a sheer drop below.
"No!" She screeched, her eyes bloodshot, "I have to do this! I made the wrong choice! I ruined everyone's lives! I deserve to die!"
Before he could call out, she backed up and stepped over the edge.
Aaaahhh...the good feeling one gets after writing a fun chapter... I love it! I might write another tomorrow, but I might need lots of reviews to, say, get my mind gears turning... LOLZ! I feel like I'm bribing you guys!
Question Of The Day: Did you think that those where what Fernfoot's motives were? Did you expect them to be such? And did you think Greyleaf was going to commit suicide?
ANSWER IN YOUR REVIEWZZZZZZZ! HAPPY CAT DANCE TIME! :3 :3 :3 :3