Dead Rose

Chapter 6: Waterfall

"Sick cats, come on!" a harsh voice yelled, startling Violet out of her much needed sleep. "If you want to get some fresh air, I advise you get off your lazy hides and follow me!"

"The one day we get to go on a walk, I have a huge headache," Blackpaw hissed as he forced himself to his feet. "I can barely even freaking think straight."

"Stay here if you want then," Violet said mildly.

"If I stay here my headache will be gone the second you get back," Blackpaw hissed, swaying slightly. "That's just the way my luck goes."

"Violet, can you help me up please?" Rust croaked, looking up at her with cloudy eyes.

"Of course," Violet leaned down and pushed herself under him, hoisting him up with a heave that took all her strength. Rust staggered to his paws, and Violet braced herself in case she had to let him lean on her.

"Is she coming?" Blackpaw asked no on in particular, prodding the cat in the corner.

"Don't poke her like that," Violet hissed, feeling a urge of anger at Blackpaws insensitivity. In the corner, Rainheart was stretched out asleep, bones and ribs jutting out of her sides in sharp edges.

"Oh let Rainheart sleep," Rust grumbled. "She looks dead tired."

"Well, soon she's just going to be dead," Blackpaw said scathingly. "She won't eat, she won't move. Makes me wonder why she even holds on to life."

Violet opened her mouth to say something quite rude back to the ignorant apprentice, but stopped when she heard a warriors voice yell again.

"SICK CATS! LET'S GO!" he screamed.

"Come on," Violet sighed, nudging Rust to the exit. "If we don't go now we may not get a chance to go out again in a while."

She pushed her way out into the open, relishing the feel of clean air traveling into her lungs. If we had a medicine cat, he could fix us and then we wouldn't have to breathe our tainted den air anymore. Violet wasn't surprised to see the entire population of the clan pressed up against the far corner of the camp, noses down. They don't want the sickness. Quite personally, I don't blame them. The cat leading the patrol wore a big leaf around his nose and mouth, tied behind his head with soft twigs. His eyes were angry and guarded, and Violet felt a sick urge to cough on him.

"Let's go," the cat nudged old Rust sharply, nearly sending him falling to the ground. The cat with the masks name was Longwhisker, the deputy of the clan. This was the second patrol Longwhisker had done, and Violet dimly wondered what happened to the cat who used to do them. Three other cats in leaf masks stepped up around them, probably to prevent them from making a break for it in the forest. As if we even could. We'd all probably run four steps and then fall over coughing. Longwhisker led the cats out of the camp, Violet gently guiding Rust by letting him lean on her. One day I'll be too sick to help him anymore... what will happen then? They all heaved and wheezed as they walked, resulting in disgusted glares from the warriors. Blackpaw started to cough violently, and stopped to spit out a bloody ball of phlegm that was lodged in the back of his throat.

"Disgusting," a warrior hissed. Blackpaw hissed and spat the leftover blood and spit that was left behind at the warrior.

"HEY!" the cat screamed, jumping back in shock. He immediatly started to roll in the grass to get it off.

"Do you want to go back to the den?" Longwhisker demanded at the sick apprentice.

"No," Blackpaw mumbled. "Sorry."

Violet thought he didn't look sorry in all, in fact, he look positively delighted. He looked at Violet, a weird expression crossing his face.

"What?" Violet mouthed the words to him, hoping the guards didn't see.

"Code four," Blackpaw said out loud. Violet looked at him in disbelief. Code four was a plan they had created a long time ago to get out, which solely relied on infecting the other cats.

"What? What's code four?" a guard snapped.

"It means I have to go pee," Blackpaw said angrily, making a big show of rolling his eyes even though that wasn't what code four was at all.

"Ugh. Go, then," Longwhisker snapped.

"I don't have to go anymore," Blackpaw mumbled after realizing he didn't have to go at all. "False alarm."

"Good freaking grief," a guard snapped. "Stop fooling around so we can just get this over with."

Violet subtly looked over at Rust, hoping he had heard the code four plan. By the slight glimmer in his cloudy eyes, Violet knew he was in. They walked in silence for a little while, not looking at each other. Violet swished the spit around in her mouth, collecting as much as she could. She was just starting to wonder if her mouth could hold any more when Rust suddenly coughed. Thick streams of saliva flew out of his mouth, landing on the guard closest to him.

"Pleh!" he coughed and retched, sending a spray of sickness and blood all over the same guard.

"WHAT THE HELL!" the guard shrieked, at the same time Blackpaw let his go. There was no time to wonder how Blackpaw managed to create another ball of blood and mucus. It landed on the ear of Longwhisker, and started to drool down into his mask. Violet stood rigid, as a course of screams and swearing broke out. She had almost forgotten she had to spit too, and it wasn't until Longwhisker looked up demonically at her. Violet spewed her sickness at his face too, most of it landing on his mask, but some splattering on his neck and ears. The guards violently shoved the cats into a bush, claws out and teeth bared.

"That's it," Longwhisker hissed right into Violets face. "No more walks. No more food. You three have officially lost all your rights."

"You have to give us food," Blackpaw hissed.

"Shut up, you disease ridden runt," Longwhisker growled, before returning to the others. He looked down at Rust, who was collapsed in the back of the bush, wheezing and coughing. Violet was suddenly worried that he might hurt the old cat, but luckily he stepped back.

"You three stay here," Longwhisker snapped, then turned and walked back to the guards to get them to clean him.

"That, was great!" Blackpaw whispered from where he was crowded. "It worked perfectly!"

"Well, we got Longwhisker, that's for sure," Violet murmured. "But now we aren't allowed any more walks. Or food!"

"Then its time for code one," Rust huffed, barely able to get the words out. Violet shot him a look of disbelief, and he shrugged. "We might as well," he said quickly. "It's not like we have very many chances to do it."

"I'm down," Blackpaw said at once, and then to Violets horror, opened his mouth and started wailing and screaming at the top of his lungs. Rust joined in too, mouth open wide as he yelled. Violet saw no point in protesting, so she started screaming too. Code one consisted of everyone screaming at the top of their lungs, in the slim hopes of raising alarm from other clans. The chances were slim to nothing that a different clan cat would investigate, but hey, you never know. Violet hollered and screeched until the guards trampled into bush.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Longwhisker bellowed, beating Blackpaw upside the head with a massive paw.

"Nothing," Violet whispered.

"Sick cats can sure create a big racket," a guard growled. "Who knew."

"Yeah, a racket big enough to alert the entire damn forest," Longwhisker hissed, shoving Blackpaw again as he struggled to get up.

"What do we do with them then?" a guard murmured to Longwhisker. "If we take them home, they'll just think of something else."

"Not to mention they've infected enough of us already," Longwhisker whispered. "No, we're not gonna take them home."

"Good," Blackpaw mumbled.

"Shut up," Longwhisker snapped. "Thanks to you, I'm probably gonna get the sickness now."

"Yeah, and then you'll end up like me," Blackpaw hissed, coughing as he spoke. "And then someone will beat you down and prison you."

"Yeah right, that's cruel," Longwhisker laughed, pathetically unaware of his hypocritical words. "My clan mates wouldn't imprison me. I'm the deputy."

"Yeah, and I used to be a respected senior warrior of Frostclan," Rust put in quietly. "Well, the old Frostclan. What we live in now is not the Frostclan I knew."

"Yeah, well," Longwhisker stuttered, not sure what to say. His eyes glimmered with unease, and Violet knew Rust had made a point.

"He's just trying to get to you," a guard sneered into Longwhiskers ear. "Let's take them all to the river."

"I guess we don't have much of a choice now, do we," Longwhisker whispered, staring at Rust. "They've proved to be a threat."

"Wait- what? What river?" Violet asked in alarm as the guards herded them out of the bush. "You'll find out soon enough," a guard hissed, shoved Violet into Blackpaw. The guards formed around them, into a tight ball that the cats couldn't get out of.

"No, I don't want to go to a river!" Violet cried, desperately trying to shove her way through the guards. "Why are we going down there? Why are we-"

"Violet, stop," Blackpaw sighed. "They're giving us a way out, just accept it."

"What do you mean, a way out?" A hunt of hysteria entered Violets voice, and she then got a terrible suspicion. She thrashed and kicked against the guards, but her terrible weakness was no match for four strong warriors.

"Would you rather die slowly from this disease, Violet?" Blackpaw snapped, eyes filling with tears. "Would you?!"

"I'd rather live!" Violet cried, still shoving against the cats. "This isn't the way it's supposed to be! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

"If you keep making this difficult, then so will we," Longwhisker hissed, stopping to a violent halt. "You can go last."

"HELP! SOMEONE, ANYONE!" Violet was growing very desperate. "HELP US!" then she thought of something, and she turned to the peaceful Blackpaw. "Blackpaw, is this really what you want?" she begged.

"I've wanted to die for a long time, Violet. You know that," Blackpaw whispered.

"We're here," Longwhisker suddenly grunted. Violet stopped yelling and looked forward, blood draining from her veins. They were standing above a cliff, far below a river splashed and churned.

"Oh my god," Violet felt bile rising in her throat. "You can't do this- you can't-"

"HELP!" Rust yelled. "HELP US!"

"You go first, because you pissed me off before," a guard growled, giving Rust a huge heave with his body weight.

"OH MY GOD NO!" Violet screeched as Rust tumbled over the edge of the cliff. She was sobbing as she looked down, and Rust hit the water with a crash.

"You next, you filthy kit," Longwhisker grabbed Blackpaw and heaved him over too. Violet screamed again, not before catching the look in Blackpaws eye. I'm sorry, he seemed to say.

"How was that?" a guard growled in Violets ear. "You just watched your best friends die. How did that feel?"

"They might not be dead," Violet whispered, looking down at the white rapids. "They're probably swimming to shore right now."

"Rust can barely walk, let alone swim," the guard whispered. "And do you really think Blackpaw will be able to breathe in such conditions? We all know his lungs are the worst."

"How could you do this," Violet whispered. "How could you be so cruel?"

"When you have the power, dead Violet, you'd find you're capable of many things," the guards voice slithered like a snake. "And if you really think those two are alive, then you're the stupidest cat I've ever met."

"Just push her off," Longwhisker called. "We need to get out of here."

"Are they alive?" Violet asked herself quietly, anger suddenly boiling beneath her pelt. "I guess there's only one way to find out!" and with that, she grabbed the unexpected guard by the scruff of his neck and jumped, taking him with her.

...

Blackpaw hit the water with such force it knocked the wind of him, paralyzing his entire body. After he finally pieced together that he was alive, Blackpaw gave up. I get sick for moons on end. I get pushed off a cliff into a river. What the fuck does it take to die in this world? Blackpaw was woken out of his dismal thoughts as his body hit a rock underwater, rattling his brains. Blackpaw briefly considered letting himself drown, but as his brain started to scream for air, Blackpaw found himself kicking towards the surface against his will. He broke through just as his eyesight was starting to fade, and he gasped for air. Water clogged his already half closed throat, and Blackpaw found himself choking and thrashing. His body slammed against another rock, and he was suddenly under the impression he was going to drown. He managed to stay upright in the water for a few moments, then he was surprised to find that the water evened out. In seconds, in went from deadly rapids to a smooth, even river. It flowed nicely, lifting Blackpaw so he didn't have to swim. Huh, he thought happily, thankful for the break from all that kicking. If it was like this the whole time that would have been nice. He looked forward, wondering when there would be more rapids. Huh, he thought as he slowly treaded the water. That's weird. It's smooth water ... but then it just cuts off. He treaded a little more, stretching his neck higher so he could see more. The trees are gone too... they just vanish... all I can see is the water cutting off and some distant fore-OH MY GOD. The realization hit Blackpaw harder than the rapids. He tried to turn around, but the water splashed in his mouth and made him choke. He kicked as hard as he could anyway, but he was no match for the heavy current. God dammit I want to die, but not like that! He thought desperately. If I fall down that I'm probably gonna hit my head and bleed everywhere and I just don't want to-

AHHHHHHHH

Blackpaw fell over the waterfall kicking and screaming, dimly aware of the rocks jeering out the bottom like sharp mountains. He shut his eyes, preparing for death.

But death did not come.