Chapter Ten
Snare limped painfully to a small, trickling stream, crouching so that her ragged figure was close to the ground, as if somehow it could shelter her from the horrors of reality. A thick fog hung in the air, plastering her pelt awkwardly to her bony outline. She shivered, but not from the cold. Strange, sad memories were had been aroused in her mind, memories that had long ago been forgotten. Memories that she had hidden to protect herself. She stooped lower to lap the clear, rushing water, hoping it would clear her mind, but it only dragged her deeper into her painful past.
"Shimmer!" The call echoed in the small kit's ears as she lowered herself to the ground, using the overhanging fog like a cloak. Shimmer could scent her playmate as he neared, his gray coat masking him perfectly on the rocky slope. "I'm coming for you!" He mewed loudly, trying to intimidate her, but only causing a slight giggle to emerge from her throat. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun with Wind, the small kit who was looking for her now.
She tucked her tail underneath her, wiggling her haunches as she scented a cat approaching. A sudden and loud cry pierced the air. It rang with pain and horror, stopping as suddenly as it had begun.
Shimmer's eyes widened. She tensed, waiting several moments in a silence that seemed louder than a roaring waterfall.
She finally built up the courage to move, whether it would be towards or away from the sound, she didn't know. She advanced through the jagged rocks carefully, her paw steps echoing clearly off of the rocky outcropping. A thick, nauseating stench clawed down her throat. This scent was new to her, and she followed it, a foreboding curiosity grasping her mind, seeming to drag her forward, into the unknown.
A choking gasp escaped her as she stood, rigid with fear, at the sight that lay at her paws. Wind lay sprawled out before her. Some of his limbs bent at unnatural angles and his flesh shredded painfully. This was the scent. Blood.
His eyes stared sightlessly ahead, a terror contorted his expression and face so that he was almost beyond recognition. She padded forward, to young to comprehend death.
"Wind?" She mewed, "Are-are you okay?" She touched her nose to his pelt, it was cold, it was sticky with blood, as was the ground around him.
"Shimmer?" She spun around at the sound of the voice. A large, brown tom stood there, Flood. His face was etched with an expression so serious it made Shimmer's heart sink down to her paws. "Shimmer, what have you done?" He looked over her with a look of deep disbelief and sadness. Shimmer didn't understand what was happening. She ran over and buried her face in his fur, wanting comfort and understanding. Something bad had happened, and she didn't know how to fix it.
He pulled away from her, surprised. Fear glistened in his eyes. He yowled loudly and two more toms ran over to meet him, materializing from the fog eerily. One of them was Wind's father. He looked at her, but at seeing wind he ran over with a yowl of despair. Shimmer looked up at them, her large eyes wide with confusion and hurt.
Snare remembered that day vividly, and what followed broke her heart.
Shimmer was led to the leader of the Tribe of Rushing Water. Her silvery fur damp with water and blood. He looked down at her, his face a mask of heavy disappointment.
"Let all cats gather to hear a proclamation." He yowled. The cats gathered around, their faces confused as they scented blood."Good cats of my clan. It grieves my heart to tell you all that this kit, Light That Shimmers on Water, has killed, Wind That Blows Over Rocks." Gasps and cries of desperation arose in the air. "Shimmer is as much a murderer as her father before her." His words were dripping with disgust. Shimmer flinched at the word murderer. She had never heard it before, but she could tell it was even lower than crowfood.
Wind's father came in, dragging Wind's mangled body. His eyes were glistening with sorrow and hatred. And as he looked up at Shimmer, she could tell that the hatred was directed towards her. "She is no longer deserving of her name!" He yowled, anger strengthening his voice. The leader blinked slowly, thinking it over. He finally meowed,"The Tribe of Rushing Water is a forgiving and loyal clan. So we will be merciful to you." His look traveled around the room and ended on Shimmer. "You will not be put to death, as your mother and father were." Her throat tightened painfully at the thought of her parents. "You, Shimmer, are banished. And that shall be the last time you are called by that name. You will now be known as Snare. You are as deadly as a trap to all cats." He stared coldly down at her. "Go."
Snare sat, her expression tinted with sorrow at these memories. She could barely remember Wind. She didn't understand how the clan would accuse her of being guilty of murder. She didn't kill him. He was her , she hated that word. She would never murder. She straightened, even though it hurt both emotionally and physically. She would not be a killer. She would not.
That was the longest chapter I've written yet! Yay me! I hope you liked this chapter. Was it believable. Do I need to fix something? Please inform me what you thought!
Thanks!