Chapter Five
Moonshine pushed through the entrance in time to see Crowpaw, Tansyfur, Eaglestripe, and the rest of the StoneClan cats leaving. She waved her tail to them, before bounding over to the fresh kill pile. Her stomach rumbled as she dragged her mouse to a spot near the warriors den, and she bit into it hungrily.
"Have you eaten at all today, Moonshine?" An amused voice called.
Stormcloud was padding over to her, whiskers twitching. He settled in beside her and took a bite of his own prey, ignoring her meow of protest at his statement.
"No, I haven't, I've been on patrols all day!"
Stormcloud laughed despite her heated glare and flicked his tail over her spine.
"Calm down, I'm teasing. You've worked hard for a new warrior." He began washing his ears lazily, ignoring her snort. "I'm a bit amazed at how well you've handled everything."
Moonshine tilted her head. "So am I, honestly. The attack on StoneClan, Rednose's death, and poor Lakesong….it makes my blood run cold." She shivered and fluffed out her fur despite the warm weather.
"Lakesong dishonored the code and betrayed her clan." A harsh voice sliced through the air like claws and burrowed into her ears. "She deserves pain."
"It's not against the code for a medicine cat to take a mate or have kits, Mistybrooke!" Moonshine was on her feet, tail swishing angrily behind her.
"The code says that a medicine must have an apprentice to do that, and look at how old those kits are! Even you must realize she had them long before Dapplepaw became her apprentice, even before Dapplepaw was born bee-brain!" The silvery blue she-cat hissed. Despite being Moonshine's sister, Mistybrooke harbored hatred for the thick-furred she-cat and anyone she cared about. The reason for that….was too painful to think about.
"Okay, so she did. Why should she deserve this?" Moonshine growled, anger pulsing beneath her pelt.
"StarClan punishes those who break the code, as it should be!" Mistybrooke growled.
"But did Rednose really deserve to die?" Stormcloud's meow broke through the argument. He stepped closer to Mistybrooke, eyes narrowed. "Do you honestly think StarClan had anything to do with Rednose's death? That Caveclan cat,Spiderweb killed him, not our ancestors." The blue she-cat had gone silent, eyes cold.
"Don't be so quick to defend my sister, Stormcloud. You might just end up joining Rednose and our ancestors."
All at once, the fury in Moonshine was replaced by icy thorns, tearing at her from the inside. She turned and bolted off, barely hearing Stormcloud's panicked call, but hearing Mistybrooke's cold, humorless laugh echo all the while.