Chapter 6
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the branch for a Clan meeting!" Birdstar yowled. Hailpaw padded over to the tree slowly. Quickclaw was sat on a large root and was motioning to Hailpaw to join him.
"I have called this meeting to acknowledge that Hailpaw will not be training as a warrior anymore, but a medicine cat apprentice." No cats were surprised; they had all heard the news by now. The sun was dipping into the forest, leaving shadows casted among the camp. Dogpaw looked over at him and nodded reassuringly.
"Hailpaw, step forward." Birdstar mewed, her blazing amber eyes pinning him. Hailpaw stepped forward silently meeting her eyes, she looked unnerved. "Do you agree to cease training as a warrior and start training as a medicine cat?"
Hailpaw nodded.
"Quickclaw, do you wish to take on Hailpaw as your apprentice?" Birdstar turned to the medicine cat.
"Of course." He answered. To any other cat it would have sounded normal. But Hailpaw could detect the sarcasm in his voice; he knew Hailpaw would not be training as a medicine cat, rather being trained strange techniques and styles that would somehow reveal his destiny. It sounded mousebrained to the young cat.
"Then I present to you, Hailpaw, the future medicine cat of ShadowClan!" Birdstar yowled. The Clan yowled in acceptance and Dogpaw bounded over to Hailpaw.
"I'm happy for you brother!" She mewed. Hailpaw nodded at her.
"Ready to start training Hailpaw?" Quickclaw asked. Hailpaw nodded. "Tell Birdstar we're out collecting herbs. I need to show Hailpaw the ropes." Quickclaw mewed to Dogpaw, before setting off to the exit of camp, with Hailpaw padding close behind him.
"Now, Fishpaw, what is your ailment?" Rainpaw inquired, sorting through his herbs.
"A-a thorn stuck in my p-paw." The young she-cat stammered. Rainpaw turned and nodded understandingly.
"Well I've got just the right herbs for your paw. First I'll pull it out. Hold out your paw for me please." He mewed. Fishpaw held out a shaking paw to him and he gently tugged at the thorn. It came out easily and a burst of blood dribbled out of the wound. Rainpaw resisted the urge to lap it up.
"Now that didn't hurt, did it?" He asked, searching her face for an expression.
"N-no. Thank you" She mumbled, not looking him in the eye. She turned to leave, but Rainpaw stopped her.
"Wait." He meowed. She stopped quickly and jerked her head around. "I have a herb that can help you. It completely takes the pain away and heals your paw faster. But it is very rare, so I only give it to deserving cats." He explained to the small cat. Her ears perked up at this.
"Uh, t-thank you!" She squeaked. He turned to his herb store and picked up a normal leaf. There was nothing strange about it. It was wrapped in a small parcel. He pushed the parcel towards her, and she quickly ate it, wincing at the fowl taste.
"Now remember Fishpaw. This herb is very special. It must remain our little secret I gave it to you. You won't tell anyone, right?" He mewed, she nodded frantically and practically dashed out of the medicine cat's den. Rainpaw stared at the remains of the so-called herb, bits of leaf and the unmistakeable glint of deathberry.
Hours later…
The evening sun was blazing as Rainpaw walked out of the medicine cat's den, observing the camp. There was no cat in sight. Each one of them was in their dens. It seemed a terrible illness had befallen a lot of warriors, very unfortunate. He heard a hammering of paw and looked behind him as he saw a flurry of cream fur, and then Voleclaw was upon him.
"Rainpaw!" She snapped, "What did you do?!"
"So you've finally realised the source of this illness then?" He asked, his voice pleasant. Voleclaw snarled at him. "I put deathberries in the fresh-kill pile if you must know."
"What?!" Voleclaw gasped, "Rainpaw! This is unacceptable! You have killed most of your own Clan!" She yowled.
"Why should I have let them live? They feared me, rightly so. But they shunned me, and they should have known not to shun the wrath of the dark forest." He growled.
"You killed Fishpaw. You gave her and a lot of other cats in this Clan deathberries, you killed them. Give me one good reason why I should not kill you!"
"Because you aren't able to." Rainpaw mewed, then slid out from underneath her grip. She whirled towards him but he was too fast. He leapt at her and bit down into her neck, as he pressed on her struggling got slower and slower, until it was none existent. She fell with a slump to the floor and Rainpaw licked his lips as he tasted her blood on his tongue.
He heard a cat softly walking towards him and he turned around, expecting to fight. But it was Greymask.
"Rainpaw. What in StarClan's name have you done?!" He growled, losing his calm demeanour at last. Rainpaw purred in satisfaction.
"Obviously I killed everyone. It was easy. Though, they really should have seen it coming." He mewed. Greymask snarled.
"Why though?! You have endangered your own future! Now you cannot stay in the Clan, you must leave to Fell's base if you wish to live through this." The medicine cat mewed.
"I was planning to do that. I even thought of changing my own name. I will become a rogue, and I shall kill every single Clan cat."
"Your ambition is vast. Yet we will see what your actual abilities can hold. Now go." Greymask was back to his calm expression, and dismissed Greypaw with a tail flick. As Rainpaw ran through the evening light, he felt a surge of satisfaction. One down, thee to go.