The camp was oddly quiet as Flamefeather walked sombrely out of the medicine den; perhaps it was because Nightclaw's patrol had already left on their route. But the entire Clan could have been cheering on a newly named warrior and he wouldn't even have noticed. His senses had all but completely gone numb, and more than once he felt as if his body were teetering on the edge of death.
Is this really happening? Am I really going to kill the one cat I can't live without?
The orange tom sat down in the middle of the camp to rest his quivering legs, looking rather out-of-place in the otherwise clear area. His head was swirling with fear, though what he was fearing he wasn't even sure. Was he afraid he wouldn't be able to kill Nightclaw?
Or was he merely afraid of living a life without her?
A high-pitched mew from behind him dissipated his thoughts; it was a voice that never failed to bring joy to his heart, even now. He turned his head to see Dawnkit padding up to him, her beady eyes shining with that innocence of kithood he so admired.
"Good afternoon, Dawnkit," Flamefeather purred, relieved to finally be able to catch half a break from the terrible thoughts haunting him.
"Good afternoon!" Dawnkit replied cheerfully, brushing up against her father's side. "Hey! Do you wanna play mossball with Flowerkit and me? Amberstripe found us a reeeaallly big one this morning!"
Flamefeather sighed. As heartwarming as it was to see Dawnkit in her usual high spirits, he simply could not completely shake the cloud of sorrow that hung over him.
"Ah...Sorry, little honeybee, but...Your father is feeling very tired today...Maybe tomorrow I can play with you and your friends, alright?
"Aww...Okay." Dawnkit plopped down on the ground beside her father, her mottled pelt looking like an extended part of Flamefeather that had rolled around in the mud.
"Hm? I thought you wanted to play mossball with Flowerkit?...Don't let me stop you..."
"Nah...I think I'd rather stay here instead."
Flamefeather smiled as he watched the small kit settle down beside him. He bent down and began to gently groom her fur, causing a soft purr to rise from her throat.
She's such a precious one...But I worry about how she will fare without her mother...I will have to work extra hard to take of her, and make sure she continues to try her best in life.
The two continued to sit together in the camp, Dawnkit eventually drifting off to sleep, leaving Flamefeather alone with his thoughts once more.
Twigfur was right...Lightstar doesn't even have the strength to leave his den anymore...Nightclaw could sieze her leadership as early as tomorrow...
...But today is the perfect opportunity. Nightclaw and I were supposed to meet by the river at sunset...That will be my moment to save BerryClan. As much as I don't want it...I have to do it. For the sake of the Clan.
Flamefeather glanced up at the sky, the grey clouds lumbering along like enormous, fluffy snails. The sun was ominously low in the sky, and Flamefeather knew that sunset would arrive much sooner than he wanted.
He rose to his paws and stretched his legs, causing Dawnkit to rouse from her nap with a yawn.
"...Hm? Where are you going?" she mumbled quietly.
"Your father has...something important he has to do, okay? I'll be back later tonight."
"What is it? Can I come, too? Can I?"
"No, no, you have to stay here...Maybe you can go and play with your friends, or listen to one of the elders' fables...Don't worry, okay? Everything will be alright."
Flamefeather knew that last part wasn't true, but he didn't want to cause Dawnkit any unneeded stress before the events that were to come.
"Oh...Okay, Flamefather. I'll stay here."
Despite his mood, Flamefeather couldn't help but giggle a bit; it happened every time Dawnkit called him 'Flamefather'.
At least I'll still have her...As long as she is with me, so is Nightclaw. And whatever the future may hold for us, we will face it together.
The thoughts cycled through Flamefeather's head as he watched his daughter trot back to the nursery where her friends were likely playing around. He turned and slowly padded towards the camp entrance, as he began to think about how he was going to perform the dreadful task required of him.
But however he chose to do it, he knew it would not be easy.
That much was certain.
Flamefeather didnt think he was capable of killing Nightclaw in a fight; her skills in battle were unparalleled. No, he would have to take a much more subtle approach. And it wasn't long before he saw the opportunity that had basically presented itself to him in the situation.
The mice he promised to catch them...He would poison Nightclaw's with the juice of a deathberry. It wasn't exactly the fastest method, and Flamefeather hated the idea of having to prolong Nightclaw's suffering, even if she were evil. But he saw no other way.
The sky was already beginning to show tints of orange when he arrived at the spot where he and Nightclaw had spent many sunsets together, the two mice he'd hunted earlier continuing to give off a fresh, tantalizing scent.
He dropped the bundle he was carrying in his mouth, and the leaf unfurled to reveal several bright red berries, still clinging to their branch.
Flamefeather rolled one of the berries on top of the larger mouse. He firmly pressed down, and watched as the juices spilled out of the berry, seeping into the mouse's fur.
It wasn't until then that Flamefeather realized his plan was rather short-sighted.
I'm such a mouse brain...She'll smell the deathberry juices long before she even takes a bite...Now what?
Flamefeather was stumped for a while, but he soon realized yet another opportunity that the situation itself presented.
The berries that I was supposed to gather...I'll use some juice from those to cover the scent. I'll tell her it's a little...flavour experiment I came up with. If Twigfur was right, Nightclaw shouldn't be suspicious at all...
He picked up the remaining deathberries in the leaf and tossed them into the river. He then dipped his paw through its wavy surface to eliminate the remaining traces of juice.
As Flamefeather sat by the river's edge, the cool water flowing through the gaps between his pads, a sudden flashback materialized in his vision, as if it had happened only yesterday...
He had been crouched on the riverbank, waiting patiently for an unlucky fish to pass by, when Nightclaw had snuck up from behind and surprised him, causing Flamefeather to leap almost a foxlength in the air before splashing into the water...
"Heh...I almost drowned that day," Flamefeather muttered out loud, withdrawing his paw from the river. "But Nightclaw's a good swimmer, and she pulled me out with no trouble at all..."
The memory continued to linger as Flamefeather set off to retrieve Nightclaw's favourite berries. He'd gathered them for her many times before, and he knew all the best places in the forest to find them.
He soon arrived at the cluster of bushes near the clearing where the apprentices trained, their branches bearing numerous clusters of the small, dark-blue berries.
He searched around the bushes and found a cluster of especially plump-looking berries, and tore the branch off with his teeth.
There's enough berries here for the both of us...I can add the juice to both mice and make it look less suspicious.
But before he could return to the clearing, he was suddenly met with another vivid flashback, stopping him in his tracks...
Flamefeather had been walking back to camp while carrying a cluster of his own favourite berries, when Nightclaw and Dawnkit had come running out of the bushes on another of their exercises. Nightclaw was too slow to stop and collided headfirst into him, crushing the berries and splashing both their pelts with juice...
"We looked like we'd stained ourselves with blood in a fight," Flamefeather mumbled through the branch in his teeth. "And Dawnkit was laughing her tail off..."
It was a while before Flamefeather returned his attention to the present time. The sun was just about to brush the surface of the horizon, and he had to make it back before Nightclaw saw the mice and discovered his plan.
But as he jogged through the forest, the memories of several other times spent with Nightclaw were swirling around in his mind, and his heart felt heavy as the moment he had been fearing grew closer with each pawstep.
This is it...After tonight, there will be no more memories to make...No more patrols together, no more sharing fresh-kill...no more sunsets by the river...
Never in my life did I think it would end like this.
His stomach felt as if he had swallowed a rock. The weight of his task was beginning to swallow him, weakening every muscle in his body. He did his best to ignore the feeling, but despite his efforts, he could not stop the stray tears that began to flow; he had to brush them away to avoid soiling the berries he was carrying.
Before he knew it, he had arrived back at the bushes surrounding the meeting spot; a place Flamefeather would never see the same way again. Taking a step forward, he pushed his head through the gap that served as the usual entrance.
I hope I'm not too late for-
His thoughts suddenly cut off as his gaze met the clearing. His heart began to race frantically, and the bundle of berries fell from his mouth, the looser ones breaking off and scattering across the ground.
No...No! How did she-I told her not to...Oh, StarClan, this can't be happening!
He rushed over to the center of the clearing, hoping that he wasn't too late...but after one close look, he knew there was nothing that he could do.
The larger of the two mice had been torn into, visibly missing chunks of flesh from its body. And right next to it, a small, black-and-orange body, her limbs stiff as icicles, her expression eternally frozen with fear and agony...
Dawnkit was dead.
What...what is happening? Why is StarClan doing this to me? They're taking Nightclaw away from me, and now they've taken Dawnkit too?...What have I done to deserve all this?
Why...? Why must I bear this pain?
Flamefeather's thoughts and senses were stifled in grief, unable to comprehend anything but the horrible fate of his daughter. Time seemed to stand still, suspended in place with her lifeless body that had been full of energy mere moments ago. He hadn't even noticed when the bushes behind him began to rustle...
"...Flamefeather?"
Flamefeather choked as he heard the too-familiar voice. Slowly, he looked up and turned around to face the cat that had been at the root of this entire ordeal.
Nightclaw stood at the edge of the clearing, her jaw hanging open with shock as her eyes darted back and forth between Flamefeather and Dawnkit.
"Wh-What...Did you...?" she stammered, taking a step backwards.
Flamefeather didn't respond. What was he going to tell her? That the poison had been meant for her instead of Dawnkit? She'd surely kill him if he said that. And even though he hadn't intended it, Flamefeather was indeed responsible for killing Dawnkit.
His mind whirled around like a leaf in the wind, searching for answers, but to no avail. There was nothing that he could say to escape the situation.
"You had better explain to me what's happening right this instant, Flamefeather! Or would you rather explain yourself to Lightstar?!" she yelled, her claws unsheathing.
But Flamefeather didn't have an explanation. He could barely even think over the sound of the blood rushing through his ears.
In the midst of all the pressure, there was but one thing to do that he could think of. And if he didn't act now, he and all of BerryClan would come to an end.
With no other way out, he would take advantage of the situation, one last time.
And he would fulfill his end of the prophecy, ending things once and for all.
In the blink of an eye, he tensed his muscles and struck to kill, knowing there would be no room for error.
Just as he had hoped, Nightclaw was caught completely off guard, barely even having the time to let out a scream. His fangs had found their mark, and he wasted no time in delivering the final wound. Her limbs flailed wildly as she struggled desperately, scratching Flamefeather's flank and ear several times, but he firmly maintained his hold as the blood ran over his tongue, its flavour making him want to vomit.
It wasn't long before Nightclaw's body fell limp, the sounds of her breathing beginning to fade. But as Flamefeather heard the last sounds of her life slipping away, he felt his own bodily strength began to falter, as if it were disappearing alongside Nightclaw.
And as she let out her last breath, Flamefeather released his grip, and collapsed on the ground beside her.
His heart was beating so fast that he thought it would burst. He tried to catch his breath, but the reality of what he had just done wouldn't let him. He'd lost both of his kin in one day...and he was responsible for all of it.
He'd saved the Clan. But he didn't feel like a hero.
Have I...really done the right thing? Maybe there was a chance that we could've...worked things out...?
What's the point in wondering. I'll never know now.
He hadn't kept track of how long he had stayed there, trying to recollect the broken pieces of his spirit; but the sunlight had nearly faded when the sound of pawsteps roused him off the ground.
"Flamefeather? Is that you?"
He watched as the bushes parted to reveal Twigfur, carrying a small bundle of juniper berries in her mouth-which immediately dropped when she saw what lay in front of her.
"So...it's done then..." she muttered quietly, a hint of sorrow in her voice. "But what happened to your daughter? Is she dead too?"
"Don't remind me," Flamefeather snapped. "All I will say is that things didn't go according to plan."
"Well...Regardless of what happened, you've done well, Flamefeather."
"Have I? Have I really!?" he growled through clenched teeth. "My mate and daughter are both gone, and it's all because of me! I literally would have given my life to protect them, and yet their blood is on my paws!"
Flamefeather didn't bother holding back his grief anymore, allowing the tears to run freely down his cheeks.
"I...I've lost everything..."
"You're losing sight of what's important, Flamefeather. You did what you had to do to protect BerryClan," she meowed soothingly. "I'm very sorry about Dawnkit, though..."
"But...What do I do now?" he sobbed, turning back to face the gruesome sight of Nightclaw's body, which by now was surrounded with blood. "I feel so alone..."
"I can only imagine," Twigfur sighed, her expression shifting behind Flamefeather. "You don't deserve all this pain...But, fortunately, I can help you with that."
Flamefeather was just about to ask what she had meant, but was cut off as he felt a sudden force knocking him over on his side, accompanied by a searing pain ripping through his flank. Completely unprepared to defend himself, and weakened from the recent events, he barely even managed a struggle before claws sliced through his neck, severing his windpipe and filling his throat with blood.
His senses were flickering as he was tossed on the ground beside Nightclaw's body, Twigfur standing over him with a wicked glint in her eye.
"Ha, ha...You cats are so easy to manipulate," she snarled, licking the blood off her paws with a malicious smirk. "I never could have gotten past Nightclaw, but you did a fine job getting rid of her. And now, with the two of you out of the way, and Lightstar on his last legs, nothing will stop BerryClan from falling under my control!"
Her words were the last thing Flamefeather heard before he lost his grip on his life, the welcoming faces of his family appearing to greet him in StarClan.