To guest reviewer Mistleaf:
It was unexpected? Good. That means I'm doing something right. Picklefrost?! Ha! That's the funniest thing I've read! Keep it up! ~ Kyubi
Chapter 12
"Bloody Feathers."
3/19/17 - 3/20/17
"No, Owlpaw! That was a sloppy scratch!"
"Owlpaw! I thought I told you to catch a lizard!"
"Owlpaw, you just ran into that tree! Honestly, what kind of ShadowClan cat are you?!"
The light brown tom's head pounds against his skull, voices of criticism from Patchflower, ringing in his ears. Owlpaw crouches behind the elder's den as if he was hiding.
Pawsteps immediately made Owlpaw tense with apprehension, Harewhisker looks in the corner he was hiding in. The light brown she-cat looks relieved to see him.
"Owlpaw, I thought you were a rat sneaking out here."
Owlpaw's fear scent made Harewhisker sympathetic. "Come inside. You can stay with us."
"What if Patchflower catches me slacking off?"
Harewhisker sneers. "I don't care what that frog brained fool thinks. We'll just tell her that you were cleaning our nests."
"You wanted to speak with us, Heatherstar?"
Swiftpaw twitches his tail from excitement as Rabbitstep watches Heatherstar closely. The light brown tabby she cat nodded.
"Rabbitstep, RiverClan doesn't appreciate our act of generosity. We've been picking up scents of RiverClan in our territory, and Longfoot's patrol came back with half eaten frogs.
"I want Swiftpaw and another apprentice to spy on RiverClan and see what Olivestar is trying to do."
"Really?!" Swiftpaw squeaks with surprise. The long haired black tom suddenly becomes the center of Heatherstar's stare, and meekly looks at the ground.
Rabbitstep coughs to get her attention.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to send Swiftpaw? I mean, suppose he gets caught by a warrior?"
Heatherstar's eyes gleam in the dark.
"We must maintain our resources now, or Olivestar will get bolder and push her territory out into ours. Swiftpaw can pick who he wants to go with him.
"You are dismissed."
Rabbitstep and Swiftpaw pad from Heatherstar's den and approach the fresh kill pile. "You don't have to do it." Rabbitstep told his apprentice. "I can try to convince Heatherstar to pick the older apprentices…"
Swiftpaw shook his head. "No way. I can totally handle it."
That, and I refuse to let Dewpaw and his sister have all the credit.
Owlpaw places the broken twigs in the pile near the entrance of the den. Waspsting sighs and stretches his legs.
"That feels better." He purrs. "Thank you, Owlpaw."
"Owlpaw, Owlpaw, Owlpaw!"
The light brown tom looks at the entrance to see Swiftpaw bursting into the den.
"Swiftpaw, don't barge in here like a mad dog!" Harewhisker snaps. Swiftpaw mutters apologetically and drags Owlpaw outside.
"Heatherstar wants us to spy on RiverClan!"
Owlpaw's green eyes widen. "She said my name?"
"Well… no. But she said I can take another apprentice with me."
"... Won't we get caught?"
Swiftpaw rolls his eyes. "We won't. We just need to be in and out, simple as that. Are you in?"
Owlpaw isn't so sure about this. His uncertainty about the situation is obvious to his brother, who rolls his eyes again.
"Think about it. She could've asked for Dewpaw and Poolpaw to do this job, but she picked-."
"You."
Swiftpaw flicks his tail. "And I'm picking you. If we complete this, Patchflower wouldn't have anything to complain about you! You'll be treated like a true ShadowClan cat."
Owlpaw's fear slowly melts away, as he imagines the smug Dewpaw scowling and Patchflower's shocked expression.
"Okay. I'll go with you."
Swiftpaw and Owlpaw left their camp and cross the Greenleaf Twolegplace. Nearing a small stream, Swiftpaw stops.
"Let's roll in the water."
Owlpaw looks at his brother. "Why?!"
"So we'll smell like RiverClan cats." Swiftpaw replies as if Owlpaw was asking a stupid question. "They're noses are so full of the fish stench, they won't know the difference."
Swiftpaw falls on his back in the stream and rolls around, covering himself in mud. Owlpaw grimaced as he slowly crouches down in the stream, feeling the mud between his paws. He rolls around and coats himself in mud, and quickly gets up.
"This is disgusting…" he moans.
Swiftpaw and Owlpaw enter the small water stream, and seek refuge inside the reeds growing near the shore of RiverClan's camp. Owlpaw looks in between the reeds.
The RiverClan deputy, Silversnow, watches the cats performing their duties as a brown tabby approaches her.
"I see her! Olivestar!" Owlpaw exclaims quietly. Swiftpaw hisses at him to be silent.
"I know, keep quiet!"
Owlpaw looks at Olivestar's mouth moving as she speaks to Silversnow.
What could she be saying?
Owlpaw sees a new face padding toward Silversnow with a thick, black pelt.
B-Beechpaw!
"Beechpaw?" Swiftpaw whispers, searching for the black apprentice. Owlpaw didn't realize he said his name out loud. Swiftpaw sees Beechpaw and snorts.
"Oh, there's mister perfect."
Owlpaw glances at Swiftpaw as he continues to talk.
"The deputy's kit and RiverClan's top apprentice. I can't wait to see him in battle one day…" Swiftpaw claws slide out. Owlpaw feels his fur spike.
"Beechpaw isn't so different from us."
"How so? He's the deputy's son!"
"... Exactly. That's a lot of pressure to handle."
Swiftpaw frowns. "Don't tell me what Dewpaw said is true…"
"I'm not favoring cats from other Clans! I'm saying that we're not so different as we make each other out to be!"
Owlpaw couldn't imagine Swiftpaw attacking Beechpaw if a battle against RiverClan did break out. Who would he choose to save?
Swiftpaw's my brother, of course I would fight to protect him. But Beechpaw is part of the prophecy, like me.
Owlpaw breaks from his dread to see Swiftpaw staring at him funny.
"What?!" He sputters.
Swiftpaw continues to stare at him. "You sound like Kestrelwing, you know."
Swiftpaw looks at the camp again. Beechpaw's amber eyes stare at them with shock, fear and anger. Swiftpaw bristles his fur with alarm, and Owlpaw looks utterly mortified.
"Leave!" Beechpaw hisses at them. No, at Owlpaw. Swiftpaw was too on edge to notice the difference. "Get out, before Olivestar sees you two!"
Swiftpaw tugs Owlpaw's ear with his teeth. "Come on!"
The black tom races toward the Twolegplace. Owlpaw hesitates, looking at Beechpaw with remorse. "I…"
Beechpaw shakes his head. "Just go, now!"
Owlpaw swallows and ran away. He follows Swiftpaw's scent trail and hears hissing and yowling. Picking up the pace, Owlpaw sees Swiftpaw on the Twoleg bridge, being wrestled to the ground by a big, ginger and white tom while a pale grey one glared at the ShadowClan apprentice.
"No, get off of him!" Owlpaw yowls, running toward the ginger and white tom.
"There's more?!" The pale grey tom growls. "That's it, I'm telling Olivestar. Keep him there, Heavystorm!"
The RiverClan tom races by as Owlpaw pushes Heavystorm off of Swiftpaw.
"Don't hurt my brother!" Owlpaw begs him. Heavystorm sneers.
"Your brother is about to be put to sleep, permanently."
Heavystorm raises his paw. In one fluid movement, Owlpaw lunges himself on the big tom and knocks him off the bridge. Heavystorm quickly grabs Owlpaw's back leg and drags him in.
Swiftpaw's cries fell deaf to his ears as Owlpaw is dragged into the lake by Heavystorm. Owlpaw unsheathes his claws and rakes them on Heavystorm's face and chest before reaching for air.
Owlpaw frantically swims on to shore as Swiftpaw helps him up.
"Please tell me you're okay." He said.
Owlpaw looks over his shoulder and sees the water become red, and Heavystorm pulls himself out of the lake with blood dripping from his face.
"Heavystorm!"
The two ShadowClan apprentices stiffen and see Silversnow and Olivestar running to Heavystorm. The big tom rests his head on the ground and closes his eyes.
No, no, no! Don't you dare close your eyes!
Swiftpaw pushes Owlpaw. "We have to go - like, now!"
Owlpaw quickly follows Swiftpaw off of the Greenleaf Twolegplace.
"You ShadowClan scum!"
Owlpaw's fur pricks at the fury detected in Olivestar's voice.
Beechpaw nibbles his trout when he hears cats talking frantically. He sees Olivestar carrying an unconscious Heavystorm over her back.
"Make way! Let Sootdust come through!" Silversnow orders the crowd. The RiverClan medicine cat comes out from her den with bundles of herbs and settles beside Heavystorm.
Olivestar looks at her cats with furious blue eyes.
"Cats of RiverClan!" She exclaims. "Heavystorm is gravely injured, but I am confident that he will recover."
Beechpaw thought back to Owlpaw and that black tom who was with him.
No way. Owlpaw doesn't look like the type of cat to do this sort of thing.
Owlpaw shakes terribly as Swiftpaw told Heatherstar what happened inside of her den. She looks horrified and guilt ridden.
"Rabbitstep was right…" she whispers. Heatherstar sighs.
"Nonetheless, you two did wonderfully well with your job."
Owlpaw notices his paws were red with blood. He remembers the anger in Heavystorm's eyes fading as quickly as his claws hit his face.
"But I killed a cat!" Owlpaw wails miserably. Heatherstar blinks at the light brown tom sympathetically.
"Owlpaw, if what Swiftpaw said is true then it's Heavystorm's fault for threatening you."
"Of course it is!" Swiftpaw says confidently. "He dragged him into the lake with the intention of drowning him!"
Heatherstar raises her paw to silence Swiftpaw. She looks at Owlpaw.
"You can see Kestrelwing to treat your injuries."
Owlpaw gets up and pads out of her den. Heatherstar looks at Swiftpaw with serious eyes.
"Either way RiverClan won't see this as self defense. If Heavystorm dies, Olivestar will use this as a declaration of war."
"Heavystorm attacked me and Owlpaw!"
"I understand." Heatherstar says. "I'm letting you know of what might come in the future. Owlpaw is already under so much pressure, I didn't want to push him over the edge."
"He's gonna find out eventually."
"I know. But for now, we need to keep quiet about this. I will tell Rabbitstep, but nobody should know about Owlpaw's involvement with it. Understand?"
Swiftpaw nods reluctantly.
The afternoon becomes nighttime. Beechpaw and his Clanmates wait for Heavystorm's condition to get better, but Sootdust still hasn't come out.
Applefoot remains silent and stone faced through the whole ordeal with Bearpaw comforting his mentor. Beechpaw knows that Heavystorm is her mate, so she is worrying over the big tom the most.
Sootdust appears from the den, and Olivestar pads to her. "Well?"
The mottled grey she-cat closes her eyes and shakes her head. Beechpaw's mouth hangs open with shock.
"No!" Applefoot cried, falling on her stomach. "He can't be-!"
Bearpaw nuzzles Applefoot's shoulder. "He's in StarClan now."
"I just told him he was going to be a father!" Applefoot sobs. "He looked so happy, and now he's gone!"
RiverClan falls silent as they mourn the loss of Heavystorm, and Willowfall and Silversnow comfort the yellow she cat. Berrystripe even left her four Moon old she-cats to comfort Applefoot.
Olivestar turns to look at her Clan.
"We have lost Heavystorm. He was a brave, strong warrior who would have remained a warrior for many moons. He will be missed.
"As Dewcloud told me, two ShadowClan apprentices were trespassing with the intent of spying. I have only seen a light brown apprentice with blood on his paws run into the trees. He is the one who killed Heavystorm!"
Beechpaw hears his Clanmates spit with hate.
"ShadowClan are killers!"
"They're no better than Crowstar!"
"We must make them pay!"
"Oh, we'll make them pay, RiverClan." Olivestar vows. "ShadowClan will rue the day they took our warrior from us. We will not be pushed around by those cold hearted cowards!"
"RiverClan! RiverClan! RiverClan! RiverClan!"
Beechpaw feels his blood run cold. He didn't want to believe it. Owlpaw is so timid, so frightened of his own shadow. He just couldn't.
I shouldn't have let them go. I should have brought Owlpaw and his denmate to Olivestar, maybe Heavystorm would have been alive.
Beechpaw frowns and grits his teeth.
I just defend RiverClan. My Clan comes first, and I hope to StarClan you don't cross paths with me, Owlpaw.
Things just keep getting bad for Owlpaw. And now Beechpaw blames himself for letting him go, now he feels that he has to fight ShadowClan to make up for Heavystorm's death.
Even if it was Heavystorm's fault.
Will they overcome this misunderstanding?
Question!:
Even though their father was born in ThunderClan, these two brothers are technically half-WindClan on their father's side and half-ThunderClan on their mother's side.
Who are these two cats? Get the answer right and you get a hug from my Primarina, Serenity. ^^ ~ Kyubi