It was at that moment, as Frostpaw stared with eyes as wide as moons at Fallowclaw, that she realized that the Plague did not cause death. It caused insanity.
Suddenly it made sense how the former deputy had tried to bite her a few moons ago when she was trying to look at her. She had most certainly been affected by the Plague. And now she stood before the Clans of the forest, her jaw spilling over with saliva, and her eyes gaping maws of madness.
Every eye in the clearing was trained on her now as she swung her head back and forth like a wild beast, surveying the crowd. Frostpaw heard whispers, murmurings in the dark from the confused cats around her.
"I thought she was dead."
"What's wrong with her?"
"I'm scared."
These same thoughts were bouncing around in her own head. Then, for reasons she would never understand, Falconstar leapt off the Great Rock, despite the other Clan leaders' protests, and approached the maddened she-cat, who focused on him with spinning eyes.
"Fallowclaw!" he cried, coming dangerously close. "I thought for sure you were dead." Fallowclaw slowly slid her wet tongue across her teeth. "Where have you been all this time? You look awful! Let's take you back home and get you fixed up."
Frostpaw felt her blood pressure rising as her leader put his tail on Fallowclaw's scruffy shoulder. She knew all too well what was coming.
"No, step away!" she heard Shadefur screech just before Fallowclaw snapped. She gave a deep-throated, angry growl and chomped on Falconstar's tail, causing him to yowl in pain. Red blood spurted from her mouth as she bit harder, a hysteric grin on her face.
Meanwhile the Clans were thrown back into chaos as cats everywhere scrambled to leave the clearing. Frostpaw managed to make out Shadefur bravely tackle Fallowclaw down. Falconstar gasped with relief as he was freed and stumbled away, his broken tail staining the grass red and black. Icy terror overcame Frostpaw as she watched Fallowclaw struggle with her mentor. The crowd became too thick for a moment to see, and when she was able to peek at the scene again, she saw Fallowclaw lunging at another cat, her jagged teeth yellow and bloody. Shadefur was nowhere to be seen.
Frostpaw, wild with fear, tried to push her way forward, only to be knocked roughly to the ground by a tom cat in his frantic escape. As she cowered in the dark grass, waiting for the desperate paws to stop stepping over her, she heard the terrifying sounds of slaughter, pain, and fear. Shrieks of unbearable pain as cats were ripped apart, cries of grief as some unfortunate souls witnessed their loved ones torn mercilessly, and the everlasting roar of pounding paws echoed throughout the clearing.
Her body was trembling uncontrollably. Someone tramped over her tail, and she cried out, adding to the horrifying chorus that refused to die down. All she could think of was if Shadefur was bitten. Because he couldn't have been. He was destined to find the cure to bring an end to this hysteria.
"He wasn't bitten, he wasn't bitten, he wasn't bitten," she whispered to herself over and over again. Then, during a break in the rush of the crowd, she looked up at the sky and said it louder. StarClan help us.
She wasn't sure how long she had lain there, seemingly alone, until she heard a voice ask "Frostpaw, are you alive?" No one was running by anymore. She slowly lifted her head, her neck stiff, and saw Buzzardwing looking down at her with terrified eyes. Feeling lost for words, Frostpaw merely nodded.
"Good, now get up. Quickly," he commanded, his voice shaky yet firm. She rose as he ordered, and as she did so she felt energy surge back into her. She realized how lucky she had been not to encounter Fallowclaw in that time. But then she heard a spasmodic rhythm of paw steps, and heavy, labored breathing, and she knew what she would see before she turned around. Her luck had run out. Fallowclaw approached them now, her fur tangled and blood soaked, and some entrails hanging from her red mouth. All around her were the bodies of cats, some torn apart, their insides showing, and others more fortunate, with only a few ghastly wounds. The worst part that was that many of them were still writhing in agony. It was horrifying how much damage a single insane cat had caused.
Frostpaw gurgled slightly, her breath caught in her throat. Innocent apprentices, elders, mates, strong toms, and able she-cats alike were all slaughtered on this one black night. The image of it had burned itself forever in her mind as Buzzardwing grabbed her by the scruff and hauled her away as fast as he could. She wasn't sure if Fallowclaw tried to follow them or not, but when they were halfway back to camp, Buzzardwing was too exhausted to continue at his break-neck sprint. He dropped her and collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.
"I should have moved myself," Frostpaw managed to say.
"No, Frostpaw," Buzzardwing replied after a moment, sitting up. "It was understandable."
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Frostpaw added, "Thank you." She owed her life to him. Buzzardwing merely nodded, and continued forward, this time much slower, but still fast enough to be considered as running. Frostpaw followed behind, forcing herself to keep in pace with him. Her paws felt heavy, and she couldn't help but imagine them weighed down with sticky red blood. She shut herself out of her mind after that and focused only on the trees whipping past her.
At long last, they made it back to camp. Those who had not gone to the Gathering were forming around those who had, wondering what was going on. Many of the witnesses seemed dazed and scared, but unharmed. She saw that several, however, had been scratched, and even bitten in a few cases. Her eyes shook as they settled on a pair of bite marks on a shoulder. She saw red and black blood, and quickly looked away.
"Frostpaw!" came a familiar cry. Salty tears trickled down her face when she saw her mother approaching her.
"Cedartail!" she returned, choking. Her mother embraced her, and the emotion of what had just occurred came spilling out of her. She cried and cried, feeling like a kit again but not caring, until Cedartail pulled back and gazed at her with eyes shiny with tears.
"I heard what happened, and I was so worried! I'm so glad you're safe, dear." Frostpaw smiled, and allowed herself a few moments to relax in her mother's compassion. Then her shaky smile was replaced with a frown as she remembered that Pinepaw had gone to the Gathering too. Guilt hit her like a ton of stones. For all she knew he lay bleeding back at Fourtrees while she was safe and sound.
"Where's my brother?" she inquired.
"He's here in the warrior's den, don't worry. A little dazed, but fine." Frostpaw let out a sigh of relief. Then she nuzzled her mother and started to turn away, waving her tail and letting her know that she wanted to wander around. She thought about checking on her brother, but she figured that he would rather be left alone. She gazed around the camp, observing that Falconstar was nowhere to be seen. She wondered briefly what would happen now that ThunderClan was without both a leader and a deputy, assuming Falconstar had been killed. Then with one glance at the medicine cat den, the wave of guilt came rushing back in full power, shutting out all other thoughts.
Shadefur! She hadn't seen him at all. She rushed back to her mother, but she hadn't seen him either. So before anyone could stop her, she bolted out of the camp, headed for Fourtrees. Fear drove her to sprint. It was the very last place she wanted to go to at that moment, but she had to face it. Her heart pounding in her chest, she begged repeatedly in her mind that she would not find him back at Fourtrees. She didn't care that Fallowclaw was still alive and seeking blood.
When Frostpaw arrived back at Fourtrees, she was out of breath. The stench of blood filled the air. The sight of the mangled bodies was even more sickening now that she faced it alone. The buzzing of hungry flies was almost deafening. She felt slight reassurance when she noted that Fallowclaw wasn't there, but then again she could still turn up at any second.
Feeling sick and horrified, Frostpaw carefully stepped over the corpses. Her vision blurred as she tried very hard not to look at anyone too closely. Then, just as she felt as though she might faint, she spotted him. She was partly relieved because her search was over, but she was mostly overcome with terror because this was not the place where she wanted to find him.
Shadefur was strewn across the ground, his fur matted with dirt and covered in scratches. Frostpaw moved silently towards him, hoping for some kind of recognition in his blank eyes.
"F-Frostpaw?" he murmured, stirring. The movement caused blood to flow from a particularly deep wound. Frostpaw found herself wishing she had brought some herbs with her, anything to help ease his pain. Instead she placed her paw gently on his flank, forcing him back down.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I shouldn't have left you here." Shadefur shook his head sadly.
"D-don't apologize," he returned with some difficulty. Then he sighed softly, looked her over with an exhausted expression, and added, "Look." He raised a forepaw that he had been covering earlier. Frostpaw shook when she saw the dreaded bite marks.
"No!" she cried, feeling herself fall apart again. "You can't go insane. I won't let you." Shadefur merely lowered the paw and grimaced in pain.
"What about the prophecy? There's no way I'll be quiet about it now. StarClan showed you too, I know that," she rambled. She just had to get this out of her. "You knew of the Plague all along. You knew that you must be the one find the cure. And now what? You and everyone else will go insane just like Fallowclaw, and the cure will never be found. The Clans will fall apart, an-"
She stopped when she saw that Shadefur was trying to speak. She expected him to be upset about her throwing the prophecy in his face, but instead he just said, "I just wanted to protect you, Frostpaw." She bit her lip. "Now when I die, who will be the next Thundering Cat of Medicine?"
And then she knew why StarClan told her too. "M-me," she stuttered.
Shadefur smiled slightly. "I entrust the task to you, then."
"But, I had always thought that you would go. I'm not ready; I haven't learned everything from you yet. I'm still an apprentice!"
"You know enough," Shadefur told her. "You will not need knowledge of every herb to embark on such a journey, Frostpaw. You only need the courage to do so." She nodded, knowing that this meant that everything was suddenly up to her now.
Then she noticed a change in her mentor's eyes; a slight flash of what drove Fallowclaw to murder countless lives. Shadefur began trembling. "It won't be long before I go mad. I would ask you to take my life before I lose myself, but that would be cruel of me considering how much you've suffered already. Now please, just leave."
But Frostpaw suddenly had an idea. It was sick, but she resolved that it was for the best. She couldn't let him go insane. Without a word, she dashed off into the forest. It wasn't long before she found what she was looking for. A bush glistening with scarlet berries. Deathberries. She picked off a few, and cupped them in her paw. There was no way she was going to put them in her mouth, but then she thought of what she was about to do with them, and it made her stomach churn.
Frostpaw made her way back to her mentor, careful not to squish the berries. She opened her paw and let them fall next to him. Shadefur's eyes flickered with understanding. "I'll eat them when I'm ready," he said simply, but she saw gratitude show on his face. She had saved him from a life of hysteric slaughter.
"Goodbye," she mewed softly, feeling chocked up once more. She would never see him again.
"Goodbye, Frostpaw," he replied. "And good luck." She turned away, her eyes moist, and started to pad away. But where was she supposed to go? She made it to the forest and glanced back, hoping to see him watching her, but instead she saw that he was lying rigid with red juice staining his muzzle. The deathberries were gone.