Shimmerwing watched the fish flicker in the frozen stream, cursing the trout as it swam, protected by the ice. No matter how many times Shimmerwing tried to break the ice with her paw, it never worked. How was she supposed to feed her Clan if she couldn't break some measly ice? Frustrated, Shimmerwing pulled back. She'd bring another cat and try again. She was not going back to camp tonight without any food. I can't let my Clan down like that.
"Shimmerwing!" Shimmerwing looked over her shoulder to see Quickbreeze, padding towards her. The gray-and-white she-cat lowered her head to Shimmerwing in a deep gesture of respect. Shimmerwing wondered what she was doing here. She had issued the young warrior on a patrol to the WindClan border, so why was she so deep in RiverClan territory? Was she going home?
"Quickbreeze," Shimmerwing greeted the young warrior. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good," Quickbreeze meowed. The feral light in the she-cat's blue eyes made Shimmerwing uneasy, but she brushed it off. Runningflame looks like that all the time. Quickbreeze probably took after him. "Were you trying to fish?"
"Yes, but the river isn't on my side today." Shimmerwing huffed, glaring at the ice. "I've been trying to break this for the longest time."
"Maybe you just need help," Quickbreeze meowed rapidly. Shimmerwing eyed her and nodded.
"Perhaps," Shimmerwing agreed, deciding it would be best to have a cat help her break the ice. "The river is pretty rough, though. You don't mind helping me?"
"Of course not," Quickbreeze meowed. "I'd love to."
"Great." Shimmerwing nodded to the gray-and-white she-cat and turned her attention on the river. Maybe I just need to push a little harder. Using all the might she could muster, Shimmerwing slammed her front paws down on the ice. Hope radiated in her heart when she heard a crack, but when she looked down, she realized it had barely even made a dent in the ice. Although the crack was visible, it hadn't broken apart the ice.
"Making any progress?" Shimmerwing asked, looking at Quickbreeze, who was staring at Shimmerwing. The deputy frowned when she realized that Quickbreeze hadn't even moved from her original spot. "You haven't started?"
"Oh, I just wanted to see how you were going about it," Quickbreeze meowed. "I guess I'll try that." The long-furred she-cat turned towards the riverbank and lifted her paws up, before bringing them down onto the ice with a massive hiss. Quickbreeze jumped back as the ice began to crack underneath her.
"Great job, Quickbreeze!" Shimmerwing praised her. "You managed to crack it! Let's break it more until we have some water to fish from."
"Do you want to try here?" Quickbreeze asked, tilting her head to the side.
Shimmerwing stared at her, frowning. Quickbreeze had just done fine – why was she asking Shimmerwing to continue? "But you got it just fine."
"You could do it better than me," Quickbreeze countered.
Shimmerwing shrugged. "Fine." Padding over to where Quickbreeze had sat, letting the she-cat get up and sit next to her, Shimmerwing settled down. Quickbreeze had managed to break some of the ice, but there were still too many frozen chunks, which would disbar any cat from being able to catch sizable fish. Shimmerwing lifted her massive paws, flexing her muscles and bringing down her entire strength towards the ice. Yes! A groan split through the ice, and chunks began to break apart, leaving the vivid blue waves underneath it visible. Shimmerwing lifted her tail and began to purr.
She turned to Quickbreeze, who was prowling towards her. "We did it, Quickbreeze!" Shimmerwing exclaimed. "Great job!"
The silver-and-white she-cat nodded, continuing to pad towards her. Shimmerwing frowned and stepped back, her muscles tense, her nerves on edge, as she noted the increasingly menacing light Quickbreeze's gaze was taking. "Quickbreeze…?" Shimmerwing asked. Did she even know this cat?
Quickbreeze's claws unsheathed. "Dapplestar has put a reign of terror to this Clan," the she-cat snarled, her voice low and menacing. "You're just as complicit as her in the crimes she's committed. Bringing down Talonstar. Joining Peartuft. Allowing the chaos on the island to happen and declaring herself a god. She's dead today, and so are you, Shimmerwing."
"Quickbreeze, what in all of the hells do you think you're doing?" Shimmerwing demanded, feeling the tip of her tail brush the stream, with how far she had backed up. Horror pulsed through her blood at Quickbreeze's words. "What kind of nonsense is that? I am your Clan deputy, and Dapplestar is your leader! Whatever you think about her is wrong. Dapplestar is going to unite the Clans! Pull back, and I'll grant you mercy. Attack me, and I can't promise that you'll get off so lightly."
"I'll take that chance," Quickbreeze snarled. "Say hi to the Dark Forest for me, because that's where you're going! I will save RiverClan by putting an end to you!" With a vicious roar, Quickbreeze threw herself on Shimmerwing, her paws spread out. Taking the opportunity, Shimmerwing quickly snapped her jaws at Quickbreeze's front paws, catching it in her teeth and wrenching it as far as she could go. Quickbreeze grunted, pulling the paw out of Shimmerwing's grip, and turning to attack her stomach. Shimmerwing backed up, slicing her claws across Quickbreeze's ears.
Quickbreeze curled her lip, snarling as she unleashed a flurry of furious blows on Shimmerwing's head. Blood trickled down the wounds the gray-and-white cat had inflicted, but Shimmerwing was nowhere near to giving up. Dodging out of the way before the young warrior could impose another blow, Shimmerwing leaped on Quickbreeze's back and scored her claws down her spine.
"How dare you turn traitor on your Clan?" Shimmerwing demanded as she clawed out tufts of fur from the young warrior's back.
"I'm saving my Clan!" Quickbreeze howled, rearing up on her back legs and shaking Shimmerwing off. Shimmerwing landed on the ground with a thud, and Quickbreeze turned around again, ready to go on the offense once more.
"Shimmerwing!" A voice split the air, and both Shimmerwing and Quickbreeze turned to see who it was, distracted from their battle momentarily. Minnowflight was bounding over the rise, her green eyes wide. "What's going on here?"
"Minnowflight!" Shimmerwing exclaimed. "Help me take Quickbreeze to camp! She's a prisoner now." Shimmerwing felt her blue eyes blaze with fury.
"Prisoner…?" Minnowflight asked. Quickbreeze turned, ready to make a run for it, but Shimmerwing lunged forward and grabbed her scruff in her jaws, pinning her down. Oh, no you don't!
"Don't move unless you want me to kill you," Shimmerwing hissed in Quickbreeze's ear. Quickbreeze grunted, and Shimmerwing turned to face Minnowflight, keeping her grip on Quickbreeze so the she-cat had no means of escape. "She tried to kill me."
Minnowflight's green eyes widened in horror. Saying nothing else, Minnowflight grasped Quickbreeze's scruff and began to drag her away, towards camp. Shimmerwing followed Minnowflight, feeling the scarlet blood drip from her pelt and onto the snowy ground. Her mind was reeling. Why had Quickbreeze attacked her? Why had she turned on her Clan? What was that about Dapplestar dying? And most of all...
Is Dapplestar okay?
As Shimmerwing and Minnowflight, with Quickbreeze as their prisoner, walked towards camp, Shimmerwing could make out Thistleflame and Rushfire standing guard. The two toms twitched their ears, their eyes wide with shock as they bounded over to the two she-cats.
"What's going on?" Thistleflame demanded, his blue eyes wide with horror.
"Quickbreeze has turned on RiverClan," Shimmerwing told Thistleflame, her tail lashing back and forth as she remembered Quickbreeze's treacherous words. "She is now our prisoner."
Thistleflame looked down at Quickbreeze. "Turned on her Clan?" he asked Shimmerwing, his eyes taking stock of Quickbreeze's wounds. "It looks like she was the one who was hurt."
"She attacked me," Shimmerwing growled at the blue-gray tom. "She wanted to kill me."
"Why?" Rushfire asked, staring at Quickbreeze. Quickbreeze looked up to meet Rushfire's gaze, but Minnowflight pinned her down, glaring at her forcefully.
"She betrayed RiverClan!" Shimmerwing hissed, flattening her ears at the two toms' nonchalance. "Let me through! She must face Dapplestar."
"Dapplestar is no more." Thistleflame's voice was harsh.
Shimmerwing's paws froze to the ground at the cruelly delivered words. "W-what…?" Dapplestar is… no more…?
"She's dead," Rushfire repeated. "Runningflame and Rippleheart are imprisoned. They are traitors to RiverClan, and so are you, Shimmerwing."
Dead? Shimmerwing felt the breath leave her body, and for a moment, the world stopped. "She has nine lives," Shimmerwing told Rushfire.
"Not anymore. All the lives were taken from her by a brave warrior." Rushfire lifted his head. The pale tom's eyes burned with the same fire Quickbreeze had. Shimmerwing glanced at Quickbreeze, seeing her gaze light up.
"You're with her," Shimmerwing realized. "You conspired with her."
"To save our Clan," Thistleflame hissed, unsheathing his thorn-sharp claws. "If we let Dapplestar live, she'd have burned it to the ground."
"Dapplestar is not dead!" Shimmerwing howled, raising her voice so the RiverClan cats in the camp could hear her. "Damn it, Dapplestar is not dead! You don't have a body to show me! You have no proof!"
"Stop her!" Rushfire snarled.
"Rushfire!" Minnowflight barked at her brother. "What are you doing?"
"Dapplestar is not dead!" Shimmerwing howled at the tom, fury turning her vision red. "This is treason! You have sworn oaths! You are making a terrible mistake!"
"Right now, Mistsong and Blossomwing are assuming control of RiverClan," Rushfire growled at her. "They are imprisoning the warriors who followed Dapplestar blindly so they cannot take control. There, they will create a new regime for RiverClan. You can be with us, or not. You can choose the right side this time. We don't have to kill you."
"Do you realize what you've done?" Shimmerwing hollered at the young warrior. "I will never be with you! How dare you assume I would turn on my leader? I have sworn an oath! Dapplestar is alive!"
"Mistsong killed her," Thistleflame hissed. "She is dead."
"This… this isn't happening." Fury was choking in Shimmerwing's throat, and it was getting harder to breathe. But she could spit all the words from her mouth with the rage she was feeling. "This is some kind of joke."
"Are you with us, or not?" Thistleflame demanded, bushing up his tail.
"No!" Shimmerwing barked. "If what you say is true, you should take deathberries immediately! You are both to be imprisoned in RiverClan's camp, now!"
"No, Shimmerwing." Thistleflame shook his head, a grin emerging on his face. "You will be."
"I don't know where you think this is going," Shimmerwing hissed, feeling her muscles tense, "but you'll be dead come moonhigh."
"Will I?" Thistleflame shoved his nose into Shimmerwing's face. "By moonhigh, there will be a new RiverClan. With you – and Dapplestar – dead, Starlingfern will receive a signal for the new leader. When the new leader arrives, it will be a cat that rules RiverClan with a fair paw, not the way Dapplestar or you do."
Shimmerwing curled her lip, unable to believe what she was hearing. "You'll regret this. By the gods, you'll regret this day."
"Rushfire, get her!" Thistleflame snapped at the pale tom.
Rushfire nodded, jumping forward.
"Oh, no you don't!" Minnowflight lunged in front of Rushfire, but the pale brown tom delivered a hefty, staggering blow to her face, sending Minnowflight flying on the ground. Shimmerwing bounded over to the gray she-cat, slapping her face with the paw, but she showed no sign of rousing. No! Minnowflight!
"Rushfire!" Shimmerwing howled. "Minnowflight is your sister! How dare you?"
Rushfire swung his head to stare at Shimmerwing, fury blazing in his eyes. Shimmerwing wasn't sure if she could detect a hint of sorrow behind the fire in his gaze, but, even if it was there, it would do nothing to ease Shimmerwing's fury. "It doesn't matter."
Thistleflame and Rushfire started to corner Shimmerwing. Shimmerwing stepped back until she was faced with nothing but brambles. Rushfire licked his lips, and Thistleflame's ears were flattened. Shimmerwing braced her shoulders. She knew she could take care of these two cats on her own. But that didn't mean she would come out unharmed.
"You'll never get away with this," Shimmerwing snarled at the two toms. "This will be what will kill you. You are a traitor to your Clan, and a shame to your family."
"On the ground!" Thistleflame cuffed Shimmerwing around her ear forcefully, and Shimmerwing felt her head spinning from the force of the blow. Huh… that's strange… it's like that time… It felt just like the time she had nearly drowned in the river. The thump made Shimmerwing's world blur around her, and she found herself hitting the ground, the consciousness ebbing out of her.