Brooksilver - Hey! I remembered that you existed! Yay! I put your name in the scene switches (B...S) I was hesitant to do it before...since B S often stands for...well, you know...But I decided 'Hey, who cares?' and put it in! Thanks for the review!
Steeltalon -Hmmm...oh great! Now I'm torn between Rosefrost and Roseflight! Roseflight was an example given by a friend of mine, and Rosefrost is so good...oh dang it! I dunno now! Oh, thanks for the compliment! I snuck your name in, as I said it isn't a big part - if it was big, I think that I would be kind of...I dunno, not being very original, but I did name someone after you! Yay!
Note to Everyone: Well, I was re-reading some of it...and well...I decided that I'm going to rewrite the summary at the beginning. Its more...'inspired' by a story by Fuyumi Soryo then based off of it, if you ask me - and I'm a big fan of Fuyumi Soryo...I'd know! So yeah. Also, I'm going to be uploading another story onto here soon..I dunno if I'll continue the new story unless I get a lot of requests..so you might want to check it out! Its about if Brambleclaw DID kill Firestar. Not very original I know, but I like Brambleclaw...and I don't like Firestar...so... I wanted to kill Firestar. Shut up!
Rosepaw dropped her mouthful of suspicious herbs, to sniff at the curious clump of grass. It smelled different then usual. Odd. In fact…
As Rosepaw let her sapphire eyes examine the grass more clearly, she realized that it wasn't like the grass that was in ThunderClan's forest at all. For one thing, all of it looked to be the same length – one tail-length high. No more no less…
And the blades were sharper to the point…Rosepaw realized, as she gently touched the tip of one with her tail. The grass was also thicker, and more rounded – not the thin blades that were back at home either. And…as Rosepaw looked around, only this clump of grass had those characteristics. In fact, if Rosepaw didn't know better, she would say that this grass wasn't grass at all – more like giant thorns sticking up from the ground… that were as long as tails…
Rosepaw purred with amusement – Thorntail! She never thought much of his name until now! The grass could share the name of the ThunderClan warrior, the name was so appropriate!
At the thought of Thorntail's name, Rosepaw remembered a conversation she and her favorite ThunderClan tom had together.
"Hey, Thorntail!" Rosepaw had asked the gray cat curiously as he finished up the last of his mouse. He had looked up at her curiously, and flicked his tail for her to go on.
"Can you come with me and help me find some Nightshade? I think there's some by the RiverClan border."
Thorntail looked surprised, and mewed – stuttering, "B-but isn't Nightshade poisonous?"
Rosepaw had shrugged her shoulders, and then explained. "It is, but if you mix some seviper berry juice with some poppy-seed crunchlets with some dead nightshade, it makes an excellent traveling herb." Thorntail purred slightly when she said that. "You know, I never thought about it before now, but nightshade is kind of sensual even though its just a herb…" Thorntail had been looking at her like she had told him that she was in love with the RiverClan leader, and she purred quickly. "Oh…I'm sorry…that was kind of weird to say, huh?" she asked.
Thorntail stared at her funny for another moment, but then shook his head. "No. I just realized that medicine cats look at things differently then regular warriors…huh?"
Rosepaw had dipped her dark ginger head, taking it as a compliment, and they were silent for a few moments before Thorntail went on.
"Rosepaw," he had breathed, "why did you finally begin to talk to me? When I first met you…you seemed want nothing to do with me."
Rosepaw had narrowed her eyes, at that.
"Remember," she murmured. "How you said that before you knew what you were doing, you hugged me by the Owl tree?" he nodded vigorously at that, as if pleased by the memory. "Well, it was kind of like that."
Rosepaw sighed at the memory, and gently poked at one of the strands of the odd grass with a forepaw.
"And before I knew it," Rosepaw said to herself – regretfully, "I was in love with you,"
Rosepaw jerked herself away from her daydreams of Thorntail, and picked up a blade of the odd grass, along with her other suspicious herbs, and raised her eyes to the sky. It was almost sun high.
Time to go back.
…
Runningstar lunged at the gray ThunderClan cat, and Thorntail rolled onto his back in an instant. As Runningstar landed on him, Thorntail was able to kick him right in the stomach, knocking the WindClan leader off of him.
While Runningstar was still on the ground from Thorntail's fierce kick, Thorntail rolled back onto his stomach, and bounded over towards him.
Runningstar must've fallen pretty badly, because the ground around the fallen leader was stained red. Red with blood.
Thorntail curled his lip in hate. Good! Runningstar deserved to be in pain!
But he wouldn't be much longer, Thorntail promised himself, as he threw his head down and dug his fangs into Runningstar's neck.
From the corner of his eye, Thorntail saw three or four WindClan warrior start to rush towards him, but another group of cats meet them, blocking their path with furious claws – Blackshadow…Duststar…Ravenfeather…Howlingheart… The second wave had arrived! Whatever trap Runningstar had laid for them, they had gotten out of it just fine! And though these warriors weren't completely fresh – their wounds gave that away – they had had a much easier time then the cats in the camp, and were fueled with more fury. And Thorntail knew from experience with at least Ravenfeather – when those cats were furious, someone's eyes were going to be clawed out.
With a firm defense around him, Thorntail dug his fangs deeper into Runningstar's flesh, and he heard a few yowls of triumph behind him – with the leader gone, the battle was won!
But to Thorntail's surprise, he heard on cat – Blackshadow, who already chased away his opposer, cry, "Thorntail stop!"
A few cats murmured agreement, and Runningstar struggled slightly – he probably had died once, that's why he had been quiet for so long – but quickly his struggles stopped once more.
"Thorntail," right in front of him, Thorntail saw his leader, Streamstar glaring at him, her fur bristling. "They surrendered- stop!"
Thorntail ignored the order. This was about more then the battle now – this was for his pride. Thorntail suddenly recalled the memory of how Runningstar had set up an elaborate ambush for him shortly after the Gathering! Thorntail cringed at the memory, but he knew: Runningstar had to die…or…
Thorntail's eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain in his side and was knocked off of the WindClan leader and flat onto his stomach.
Beside him, was Blackshadow, with his amber eyes wide and furious. "Were you trying to kill him?" he snarled, curling his upper lip in distaste. Yeah, that was the goal, but Thorntail didn't say the words out loud.
Instead, Thorntail hissed "Why'd you stop me? This cat sent an ambush to kill me once, murdered countless cats, and he looks funny too!" Thorntail spat the last insult with disgust. Though Blackshadow looked surprise to hear about the ambush – which Thorntail then remembered that he had stupidly kept quiet about, the black tom still didn't seem eager to let the ThunderClan tom
"That's enough!" Streamstar snapped, her blue eyes wild with fury. "We won the battle – we don't need to kill their leader."
Thorntail glared coldly at Streamstar for a moment, before he flashed a glance at Runningstar, who was lying in his own blood silent and still, having lost another life.
"You coward, RunningKIT!" Thorntail taunted – even though Runningstar seemed to be dead. While Thorntail continued his crescendo of insults, he heard Ravenfeather's remark to Foxpaw, "Look at all that blood… that poor cat…" Thorntail ignored her, and continued to mock the dead Runningstar. "Cats don't die from a little loss of blood!"
"You kept holding biting him and biting him…" Blackshadow mewed softly. "Somebody stop this tom…"
As StarClan sent Runningstar back to the forest once more, Thorntail started to rush towards him, to finish what he started, but again he was tackled – this time by Badgerclaw. "Haven't you had enough?!"
Thorntail shook his head violently, but when Badgerclaw let him go, he simply sat on his haunches and started to clean the blood off of his claws.
…
Rosepaw dropped her herbs, horrified at what she saw. The WindClan camp…was littered with scarlet drops of blood…and dead bodies! She recognized the young apprentice Rabbitpaw, in particular, her pale blue eyes staring at nothing, and beside the was a small…kitten! Great StarClan! The attacking patrol had murdered kittens!
And not only was the WindClan camp littered with corpses…but Thorntail, her beloved Thorntail had gone…crazy!
Rosepaw was about to just leave the camp, and wait outside of it for her mentor and Shadenight – and avoid seeing Thorntail act out again, when Rosepaw felt a shiver crawl down her spine, when she saw that Thorntail was looking at her with as much scorn in his eyes as there was when he had been looking at Runningstar. Was he mad at her?
Rosepaw didn't get to dwell on that thought long, because at that very moment, she heard Blueherb slide down the edge of the hollow, and felt their fur-tips touch, as Shadenight padded towards them as well.
"Any luck?" Blueherb asked, ignoring the corpses as if she saw them every day.
"None," Shadenight answered before Rosepaw got a chance too. "I searched all over too. But I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Except a bunch of bees attacked me…but I don't think that counts, does it?"
Blueherb shook her head no, and the blue-gray she-cat lowered her sapphire eyes to her paws. "Maybe there is no cure…" her voice was a faint mew, and Rosepaw decided that it was a good time to speak.
"I found something…" Rosepaw murmured softly, and instantly Shadenight's and Blueherb's ears pricked curiously, and Rosepaw took it as a cue to go on. She then explained the flame-colored cat – though she didn't mention any of her dreams, and the odd looking grass. She mentioned the funny herbs too, but the other two medicine cats didn't look as interested at that then they did about the funny grass.
"A StarClan warrior actually showed you what the cure was?" Shadenight gasped, her big, overly-beautiful eyes were as round as full moons as she looked at Rosepaw in awe.
"Well…" drawled Rosepaw carefully. "It might've been a loner or something – or maybe a WindClan cat that wasn't in camp. I'm not sure if it was a StarClan cat."
"Rosepaw," Blueherb mewed thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure it was a StarClan warrior. Even if there was no cat, that grass sounds…"
"Ideal." Shadenight finished for her mentor, and Blueherb gave her apprentice a curt nod before going on. "Rosepaw, before we leave for camp, I'd like you to-" Blueherb was cut off abruptly by a furious yowl from Streamstar.
The ThunderClan leader's tail was lashing with pure rage, and she was facing Robinwing, who looked just as furious as Streamstar.
"Streamstar, you have to believe me!" Robinwing begged her name-sake robin-egg-blue eyes wide with horror. "I would never betray ThunderClan!"
"Then what was it that…that…that that piece of…fox-dung said?!" Streamstar yowled, flicking her tail disgustingly at Runningstar, who flattened his ears at the insult.
"Exactly," Robinwing nodded vigorously. "He is a piece of fox-dung Streamstar! Wait…no…he's the flies that eat the fox-dung! You'd believe him over me?"
Rosepaw blinked curiously. What were they arguing about? And why was it so important that Streamstar embarrass the whole of ThunderClan by arguing with her deputy in front of other Clans? However…as Rosepaw looked at the ShadowClan and RiverClan cats, they didn't seem to be looking down at Streamstar for this argument at all. If anything, their eyes were filled with admiration.
Rosepaw's mother was silent for a moment, as if deep in thought, but finally she growled, "I saw you attack Spottedlight," several cats at that – some not even in ThunderClan yowled: "Traitor!"
"You saw me fight Spottedlight!" Robinwing corrected, ignoring the jeers from the cats around her, to Rosepaw it seemed that the full of the deputy's attention was on her leader, and nothing and no one else. "Spottedlight is the traitor, Streamstar! She attacked me, and I defended myself! She's betrayed us to WindClan before; she must've done it again!"
"What Spottedlight did before is not the here and now, is it, Robinwing?" Streamstar growled, curling her upper lip in rage. "The here…and now, is that you, my own deputy, the mother of my nieces, and my best friend, are a traitor to the Clan!" Streamstar was yowling with fury at the end of the last sentence, and several other warriors made voice to their agreement.
From the conversation, Rosepaw quickly pieced together that Robinwing had betrayed something to WindClan, and had…at least fought with Spottedlight – her own daughter. However, Rosepaw didn't know who to believe – her mother, who was blinded by the silly prophecy that probably didn't exist, or Robinwing, who Rosepaw remembered wasn't in Fourtrees the whole time the other night. Then again…neither was Spottedlight.
While Rosepaw was weighing on who to believe, Thorntail stepped forward, and for a moment, Rosepaw thought that he was going to go insane and try to kill another cat, like he had Runningstar, but instead the gray cat was icily calm.
"Streamstar," he meowed, and the silver she-cat jerked her head towards him. Robinwing's eyes were cold as she looked at him, as if she expected the warrior to hurl some more evidence or accusations against her, but instead he meowed, "I know Spottedlight is lying. I saw her try to kill Scornpaw, after he came close to killing a WindClan cat."
Streamstar looked startled, and her eyes glowed with confusion. "You did?" she gasped.
"No I didn't," Spottedlight's voice was a faint mew as she trotted over to stand beside Streamstar. "I-I…I don't want to call any cat a liar…but I didn't hurt Scornpaw...maybe Thorntail made a mistake?" Streamstar's ice-blue eyes shifted unsurely from Robinwing, to Thorntail, to Spottedlight, and after a moment the ThunderClan leader meowed, "Thorntail, do you have any proof of what Spottedlight did?"
"Yes!" Thorntail purred – though his hackles were rising in fury. "Scornpaw was the one who was attacked! He can tell you exactly what she did! Scornpaw?" he meowed, turning his head towards the mass of the attacking patrol. "Scornpaw, come out and tell Streamstar what happened."
Rosepaw turned her head, and expected the tan tabby apprentice to step out from the mass of cats, but not a soul stirred.
"Scornpaw?" Thorntail repeated.
B…S
Thorntail let his eyes scan the mass of RiverClan and ThunderClan warriors twice, before he realized that Scornpaw wasn't coming forward. What happened?
To his surprise, when a cat did come to him, it was Ravenfeather the ShadowClan she-cat's eyes narrowed into slits, and Thorntail turned to her curiously. "Thorntail," she meowed quietly, "Was Scornpaw the small tan tabby that you helped fight that giant WindClan cat?"
Thorntail nodded vigorously as he remembered Big-giant, though he wondered for a moment why Ravenfeather's voice was so grave. When she continued, he knew why.
She hesitated for a moment, before finally speaking, "I saw him… three or four WindClan cats surrounded him…and I tried to get to him in time to help…but…oh, Thorntail…I'm so sorry."
Thorntail's eyes widened. Scornpaw was…dead? Thorntail felt like a badger had just dug his heart out. "But…why would they gang up on an apprentice?" he asked, though once he spoke he knew the answer. He flicked his sapphire eyes to Spottedlight, who had her eyes glazed with grief as he heard about the apprentice – she was such an actress! "You traitor!" he spat at Spottedlight, rage replacing his sadness. "You knew that Scornpaw would squeal, so you ordered his death!"
Spottedlight looked embarrassed, but finally meowed, "Thorntail, how in the name of StarClan could I do that? I'm a ThunderClan cat, WindClan warriors wouldn't listen to me."
That made sense…but…"They would if Runningstar ordered them too!" Thorntail yowled, glaring with disgust at the WindClan leader. "Spottedlight…and Runningstar…they must have made some sort of plan…" he ripped his glare away from Runningstar, and rested it on Spottedlight – and he knew then that looks couldn't kill, otherwise Spottedlight would've burst into flames by then. "You traitor!" Thorntail repeated in a furious screech, and he was tempted to rip her open right then and there, but held himself back. If he did that, it would just make things even more disastrous for his Clan.
Spottedlight looked hurt, but Thorntail could tell she was just an outstanding actress. She wasn't hurt at all – inside she was probably purring her pretty little head off that she had got away with so much! "Thorntail…" she rasped…as if the word hurt her. "I…I don't know how you could say such…a…thing about me…its hard enough knowing that my mother fr-framed me the last time…but…to have it happen again…"
Yowls of outrage surrounded Thorntail, and Robinwing's eyes widened in surprise. Spottedlight wasn't just framing her mother for this betrayal; she was clearing her name by throwing everything she did in the past at the ThunderClan deputy!
"What?" Streamstar gasped, to Robinwing, she growled, "You betrayed your Clan, and then blamed it on your own daughter?"
Robinwing was silent for a moment, probably from the shock. Finally, she stuttered out, "No! I would never do that!"
Streamstar looked doubtful, and with dread, Thorntail overheard some of the mews around him.
"Remember when Spottedlight was growing up?" Shrewtail asked Bearmoon. "Robinwing was always jealous of her because Spottedlight was more beautiful then she was,"
"And Howlingheart clearly loved his pretty daughter," Thorntail knew he emphasized the word 'pretty' because even Robinwing's other kit, Scarface admitted when she alive that she wasn't exactly the prettiest cat that StarClan had sent to the forest. "Over Robinwing," Bearmoon finished, and Thorntail's ears suddenly picked up Lightheart's meow to the ThunderClan warrior Smokefang, "Remember when they found out Spottedlight was the traitor? Robinwing was the one who yowled the loudest for her daughter's death…" Smokefang rumbled an agreement, and then mused, "I can't believe Spottedlight's been punished for her mother's wrongs all this time…"
"I'm disgusted!" Robinwing growled her lips curled back into a snarl, as she spoke to Spottedlight. "That something as disgusting as you was spawned from my and Howlingheart's love! I never…never thought in my entire life, that I would give birth to my worst enemy! A traitor!" Robinwing looked around curiously, and finally she caught the eye of her mate, Howlingheart. "Howlingheart!" she cooed. "You know I would never betray the Clan!" though Robinwing's voice was confident, it was clear that she was afraid – Thorntail could smell her fear scent clearly – and her eyes were desperate now. The battle patrol was closing in on her, so to speak, and Howlingheart was a way to escape.
Thorntail looked at Robinwing's mate expecting him to rush to her defense, but to Thorntail's surprise he hesitated for a moment before sighing, "…You always…hated Spottedlight…and…you weren't at Fourtrees last night…"
Robinwing stiffened beside Thorntail, and Thorntail could only imagine the hurt she felt. He couldn't imagine Rosepaw, or even old Shadepaw from RiverClan siding with another cat when his neck was on the line…
"Howlingheart…" Robinwing gasped. "I had to go make some dirt, I swear by StarClan! I wasn't gone long enough to go and tell WindClan anything…Furyheart…Furyheart can defend me! I told her where I was going…"
Robinwing was interrupted by a small murmur from Duststar, "Furyheart's dead."
"Funny," Streamstar growled. "Every cat that could vouch for you is dead. Did you purposely choose them, so we would believe your word about them without question?"
"No!" Robinwing's voice was a desperate mew now. "And…Thorntail saw Spottedlight attack Scornpaw!" she rested her blue eyes on Thorntail, and asked softly, "Thorntail…you saw that…right?"
Thorntail dipped his head – he was not going to sell out Robinwing. He had his loyalty.
"Oh, great!" to Thorntail's distain, he heard Shrewtail sigh – quite loudly – "Her only defense is RiverClan carrion?"
The insult was met by a few hisses of fury from the RiverClan warriors, but it dug into the hearts of the ThunderClan cats. Would Thorntail always be judged by his RiverClan heritage? And even after fighting side by side with RiverClan cats against WindClan, they still couldn't even acknowledge that one or two of the RiverClan warriors were kind of nice? Okay, the second one was pushing it…but he had been in ThunderClan for such a long time now! RiverClan…and all its secrets…were behind him. What happened in RiverClan – stays, and stayed in RiverClan.
"What did Robinwing offer you, Thorntail?" Shrewtail sneered, trotting towards him. "Deputyship when she became Clan-leader?"
"He always was ambitious…" Thorntail heard Duststar mumble just loud enough for him to hear.
Thorntail dug his claws into the earth. Spottedlight had planned it so well! He wondered for a moment why she didn't have him killed – but then he remembered the cats who rushed towards him when he was attacking Runningstar. They weren't coming just to defend their leader! They had been ordered to kill Thorntail, but failed because of Wave Two that came in the nick of time… a shiver crawled down Thorntail's spine, as he realized how close he was to death.
"You," Thorntail hissed, flicking his tail at Runningstar. "Can you swear by StarClan that Spottedlight did not help WindClan in any way?"
All the cats' eyes turned towards the WindClan leader, who after a moment's pause meowed, "If she's our friend, then we certainly don't need enemies. She killed our deputy, Steeltalon."
"Liar!" Thorntail snarled, but Ravenfeather, who was still beside him mewed quietly, "Thorntail, I saw it. She did kill Steeltalon."
"I saw it too," Shrewtail purred. "She dug her fangs into his neck and that was all she wrote,"
Thorntail wondered for a moment if he was wrong, and had been mistaken…but Scornpaw's fight with Spottedlight told him otherwise. "You…you…" he stared at Runningstar. "You sacrificed your own deputy?! What do you get? How could you let your own deputy die, for the sake of an elaborate…defense for a ThunderClan cat?"
Runningstar blinked curiously. "If I could turn back time, I would rip out her throat before she took the life of the most loyal deputy a leader ever had. But I can't."
"B-but I saw her fight Scornpaw!" Thorntail insisted.
"Thorntail, there was a lot of fighting going on," Streamstar meowed fairly. "You must've been mistaken when you saw her fight Scornpaw."
"I know what I saw," snapped Thorntail coldly.
"Thorntail, I know for a fact that Spottedlight hasn't betrayed us," Streamstar meowed quietly – and almost knocking Thorntail off his paws from the shock. She knew for a fact? How?
She hesitated for a moment, as if she didn't want to share a secret with all the cats of four Clans watching and judging her, but finally, she beckoned Rosepaw over with her tail.
Thorntail purred. Rosepaw! Finally, StarClan was on his side. There was no way in the world that Rosepaw, his beloved Rosepaw, would turn her back on him and the Clan deputy! Rosepaw had standards!
Rosepaw hesitated for a moment, before slowly stalking over to the group of cats. Streamstar stared at her knowingly with her ice-blue eyes, and after a quick lick on Rosepaw's forehead as a greeting, Streamstar meowed, "Rosepaw, tell us what StarClan showed you."
Thorntail blinked in surprise. Rosepaw? StarClan? Hadn't Rosepaw said that StarClan didn't speak with her? Did she lie? Or…
Rosepaw looked reluctant to share what she saw, but finally, she meowed, "StarClan showed me that Spottedlight would bring glory to ThunderClan."
Robinwing looked at Rosepaw like she had said that Spottedlight was a rock, Thorntail felt like a rock - useless, and ripples of surprise came from the surrounding cats.
Spottedlight however, just looked at the ground, and shuffled her paws modestly. "They…they really said that?" she gasped, with her mock-surprise.
Rosepaw glanced at Spottedlight. "Well…" she drawled, "I don't know. I might've been mistaken…I don't have that much experience with reading signs,"
"Rosepaw," Spottedlight purred. "You're an excellent medicine cat, you shouldn't doubt yourself. I'm just…surprised that StarClan…"
"Spottedlight's right, Rosepaw." The RiverClan medicine cat, Blueherb trotted towards Rosepaw, and gave her a quick lick on her forehead, similar to what Shadenight had done. "You're a great medicine cat. Rosepaw, tell them what else StarClan showed you."
"Um…they…they…Uh…showed me a cure for the Blood…" Rosepaw rasped, and yowls of jubilation broke out around them, and Thorntail flattened his ears. StarClan didn't speak to Rosepaw…that's why she was so hesitant…but she must've seen a sign at some point…so what did it mean? And if it was true about Spottedlight…why would StarClan choose a traitor?
Did Spottedlight somehow fix a sign for Rosepaw to read? If so…how would she know how Rosepaw would read it?
Then it hit Thorntail. Spottedlight had trained as a medicine cat before becoming a warrior! She must've somehow staged whatever sign Rosepaw had received, using some of her own experience! Great StarClan! Spottedlight was maybe the most dangerous cat in the forest! She was definitely beautiful – a bat of her eyelashes would probably have any tom under her control, Streamstar seemed to love her niece more then she loved her daughter – and if Robinwing was exiled or killed…which was probably going to happen soon, Spottedlight would be made deputy. And if anything ever started to go the wrong way for her – maybe the Clan starting to doubt her, or hate her…or wasn't going along with her orders – which would probably be bloodthirsty and ruthless – she could make a fake sign from StarClan again, have Rosepaw read it, and everyone would follow her orders blindly! And nobody would suspect her of being the murderous cat she was! She was an astounding actress, and as she looked at the ground and shuffled her paws modestly, Thorntail almost thought that Spottedlight was the shy cat with low self-esteem she was pretending to be!
…
"A cure?" Streamstar echoed Rosepaw's words. "Where?"
Duststar nodded eagerly, his tail curling with delight, and Ravenfeather looked like she was about to fall off of her paws if Rosepaw didn't tell them.
"Wait, Rosepaw," Blueherb stopped Rosepaw from speaking. "StarClan sent you this sign. So they probably want you to do – at least the collecting, yourself. You can heal your Clan, Rosepaw, and when you figure out how you can show Shadenight and I – and Shadedhope too…" Shadedhope was the ShadowClan medicine cat.
Rosepaw blinked doubtfully. StarClan probably – if it was a sign – wanted Rosepaw to show the other medicine cats where the heck the darned cure was, and not do it herself! The ThunderClan she-cat thought for a flash that maybe Blueherb doubted her skills as a medicine cat (which made sense) and wanted to make sure the cure wasn't poison before she cured her Clan.
"That makes sense," Ravenfeather admitted, dipping her head, and Duststar grunted an agreement.
"Well," the RiverClan leader purred. "I believe it would be time to leave, correct?" a couple of cats purred an agreement, but oddly enough, a small WindClan apprentice – a brown tabby, mewed, "You're just going to leave us here?"
Streamstar wasted no time in answering. "Yes we are."
The apprentice's pale blue eyes showed her shock at the ThunderClan leader's cold tone, but she mewed desperately: "But we're injured…and…" Streamstar cut the WindClan she-cat off abruptly. "That's what warriors do. They fight, and get injured. Your medicine cat, Heartfur can treat you."
The apprentice, who Rosepaw suddenly recognized as Moorpaw was silent for a moment, before mewing, "Heartfur is dead."
Beside her, Rosepaw felt Blueherb stiffen with shock, and Rosepaw couldn't help but gape! Heartfur was Dead? "But she was such a young cat!" Rosepaw burst out.
Rosepaw, over the murmurs of surprise that was rippling through the camp, heard Shrewtail yowl, "Who in the name of StarClan would be sadistic enough to kill a medicine cat?"
Ravenfeather, beside Duststar stiffened, and that was all everyone needed. Ravenfeather had killed Heartfur, the WindClan medicine cat. WindClan's only medicine cat. A few cats glared at her, and even Foxpaw hurled an insult at his Clanmate. But Ravenfeather rushed to defend herself. "I didn't realize who she was when I killed her! She leapt at me out of nowhere- you want me to just lie down and let her claw my ears off?"
That silenced all the cats instantly. Even though Rosepaw disliked Runningstar, she always liked Heartfur and her company! And now she was dead…and even though Rosepaw wanted her Clan to leave a dent in WindClan…she didn't want them to destroy them! Without a medicine cat, WindClan, in the raggedy state they were in would die in a quarter moon.
"StarClan passed judgment on you." Streamstar mewed, her voice like ice as she spoke to Moorpaw. "They punished you by calling Heartfur to their ranks. Her death is on your head," she added to Runningstar, who shrunk back.
"Duststar," Blueherb meowed. "We can spare Shadenight for now, I'm sure, if you'd like her to help WindClan." Rosepaw looked at Shadenight, but for some reason…her ice blue eyes were glazed with sadness as she looked at…Thorntail? Thorntail had by now trotted back into the mass of cats, defeated, but Shadenight's gaze was on him like honey on a bee's hive.
Duststar hesitated for a moment, as if unsure if he should let his medicine cat heal his enemy. Finally, his conscious gave in, and he conceded.
"Well, if that's all…maybe we should go back to our camps…" he meowed.Streamstar blinked in amazement at the RiverClan leader, "But, Duststar, don't you think that we should get a reward for sparing this Clan's miserable existence?" around them, one or two cats purred with agreement, but Runningstar simply dug his claws into the earth, as Duststar dipped his head in agreement.
"Since our Clan's are recovering from the Blood…we want you to promise us peace for the next two moons." Streamstar meowed to the WindClan leader, and Runningstar looked taken back. Finally the WindClan leader sputtered out, "Us give you peace? We're the ones who have suffered."
"Two moons of peace," Streamstar repeated. Runningstar hesitated for a moment, but behind him, Thorntail let out a hiss of fury, and most likely remembering the tom's fangs in his throat he dipped his head.
"Also," Streamstar mewed. "Since we are recovering, not all of ShadowClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan warriors will be able to hunt. So, in order to catch more prey in a shorter amount of time…during those two moons of peace, you must give RiverClan, ThunderClan, and ShadowClan hunting rights to your territory."
Ravenfeather purred in agreement, but Rosepaw was baffled. They certainly didn't need WindClan territory…then she realized that it was not as much for the prey, then it was to bring more shame on WindClan.
"That's outrageous!" Runningstar hissed, his hackles rising. "Your territory has always supported you just fine!"
"You really feel that way?" Streamstar asked, and Runningstar nodded, so Streamstar shrugged. "Well, okay. You can keep your territory – as StarClan cats. I say we commence the battle, and finish you pesky WindClan cats off once and for all!"
Several cats yowled in agreement, and Runningstar flattened his ears against his head, accepting WindClan's fate.
"And," Streamstar continued. "If you ever put any more Scarlet Flowers in any of our territories – ShadowClan, RiverClan, or ThunderClan, rest assured that you will not escape with your miserable lives. Any of you," she added, looking at Moorpaw coldly.
"Streamstar," Rosepaw murmured softly. "The uh…'cure' that StarClan…maybe showed me, is in WindClan territory."
Her mother dipped her head in understanding, and meowed, "And what's more, the medicine cats can also use your territory to collect herbs. Any herbs," she added briskly.
Runningstar nodded, and all the representatives of their Clans looked very pleased with themselves about their prize.
"That settled, I think we can return." Duststar purred, to Streamstar he meowed, "I thank ThunderClan for their assistance. It was an honor to fight alongside you…and you too, Ravenfeather," he added to the ShadowClan she-cat.
Ravenfeather and Streamstar murmured agreements, and Ravenfeather then meowed a brisk good bye, and gathered up Foxpaw, before leaving for her own territory.
Duststar mewed a good bye, before he signaled for his Clan, and RiverClan – with a few cats holding Furyheart on their shoulders, padded from the camp.
"I guess we should do that too," Streamstar sighed. "Smokefang, Featherfrost – find Scornpaw and carry his body back to camp. We will sit vigil for him," as her warriors started sniffing at corpses suspiciously looking for their fallen Clanmate, Streamstar turned to Robinwing. "We will return to camp and pass judgment on you. And then, rest assured," she announced to the rest of the Clan, "We will choose a new deputy!"
Rosepaw blinked in surprise. So in other words, Robinwing was guilty, and Streamstar didn't want to hear any more! Was she going to exile Robinwing? No…if she was doing that, she wouldn't bother taking her back to the Clan…
And Rosepaw wanted to tell Streamstar that she doubted her StarClan sign – in fact she had, but Streamstar stood firmly on her belief. As ThunderClan filtered from WindClan, Streamstar's gaze rested proudly on Spottedlight – who was now surrounded by ThunderClan cats murmuring apologies about how they treated her when they thought she was the traitor. Streamstar's wish had come true. Spottedlight was popular now. Spottedlight would be a popular deputy…
Rosepaw turned her gaze to Thorntail, who was also, surprisingly, surrounded by ThunderClan cats. They all seemed to still believe that Robinwing was a traitor, but from their amazed mews, they were astounded that Thorntail could take away three of Runningstar's lives in one battle! So there were two heroes that came out in the battle.
One, Spottedlight, who had most likely betrayed her Clan.
Two, Thorntail, who went nuts.
And as Rosepaw looked at Robinwing, who was silently padding along, she couldn't help but wonder…what would be the deputy's fate?