Chapter 28

"Slain."

4/12/17 - 4/13/17 - 4/14/17

"Snowpaw, can I borrow your… what did Petalpaw call it again?"

Snowpaw looks at the green leaf bag. "She said it was a backpack."

Cloudwind slowly nods in the afternoon sky on early October.

"Right…" He puts on the backpack, and the straps squeeze his shoulders.

"It's a bit tight."

"Why do you need it?"

Cloudwind fixes the straps on. "Hailstone hasn't been feeling too well. And with Duskshade looking after Sweetflower's kits, I decided to look for some catmint to take the weight off of his shoulders."

Nearby, Rosefoot snorts. "Still trying to relive your glory days?"

Cloudwind bristles his fluffy fur to the point where he looks like a sheep.

"I'm doing no such thing. I'm helping out the medicine cats, nothing more."

Rosefoot rolls her eyes, unconvinced. "Sure, sure. Just get lost and find the catmint."

Cloudwind briefly touches Rosefoot's shoulder with his nose and pads outside the camp.

"Oh, Snowy." Rosefoot said. "Driftcloud has something important to tell you."

"Okay, where is he?"

"He just told me and left."

Snowpaw nods and leaves the gorge and into the forest. Snowpaw sees Driftcloud, Thrushwing, Whitefur, Nightpaw and Petalpaw.

"Rosefoot told me you had something to tell me?"

Driftcloud nods. "Darkstar has agreed to a final assessment for you three, and when you complete it you can become warriors this evening."

Snowpaw's eyes widen. "Really?"

"He decided that it would be a waste to hinder your talents by remaining as apprentices." Thrushwing said.

Snowpaw understood that. Just two days ago, Nightpaw managed to catch a rabbit that slipped under Oakstorm's paws using the prey-hunter's lie and wait before pouncing.

While everyone still has lingering doubts over their loyalty, they didn't deny that the two cousins were becoming advanced in their training.

"So what do we have to do?" Nightpaw asks.

"You three are going to work together and find three wood pigeons, and bring them back to the camp. If you can do that, Darkstar will make you warriors."

Snowpaw, Nightpaw and Petalpaw went searching after their mentors left them alone. They stop near the stream and see two familiar cats on the moors.

"Hey, it's Spiderpaw!" Snowpaw said.

Spiderpaw looks over and almost ran to them when Brackenfall stops him. Brackenfall stands in front of Spiderpaw and looks at the three ThunderClan cats.

"Greetings, young ones. Where are your mentors?"

"We're on our final assignment right now." Nightpaw replies.

"Really?" Spiderpaw said, padding from behind the WindClan deputy. "So am I! Me and Brackenfall were looking for a white rabbit that was seen here."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find something with white fur standing out. Right?" Petalpaw nudges Snowpaw.

Brackenfall flicks an ear. "You should probably go on your way. You won't become warriors if you stand around chatting with other cats."

Snowpaw leads Petalpaw and Nightpaw back to the forest.

"Bye, Nightpaw!"

The black she-cat looks at the WindClan apprentice and waves her tail goodbye before catching up with an amused Petalpaw.

"What's up with you and him?"

"Who? Spiderpaw? We're friends…"

Petalpaw snorts unconvincingly. "Sure he is, mate. He totally wasn't trying to jump over the stream to get to you."

Nightpaw shoves Petalpaw with her shoulder. "Don't you even go there!"

Brackenfall glances at Spiderpaw. "You seem awfully friendly with Snowpaw and her cousin."

"We've been through alot together." Spiderpaw's reply was short.

"Hmm. I guess it is difficult to part with friends and...loved ones."

Spiderpaw turns his green eyes on his mentor.

"What are you implying?"

Brackenfall said nothing, but Spiderpaw looks away from the stream and at the moorlands.

"Look. I'm nothing like my father, or my mother. Nightpaw is a friend, and that's all she'll ever be. Okay?"

"... Very well." Brackenfall said. "Just so long as your friends."

"Stop that pigeon!"

With only two wood pigeons, the last pigeon flying away from Nightpaw is no exception. The wood pigeon flew up to a tree branch. Nightpaw and Snowpaw start to feel pain in their leg muscles when they approach the tree, and Petalpaw climbs up with livid energy.

"Petal-?"

"I refuse to be held back again!" Petalpaw calls down. The pale tortoiseshell she-cat balances herself on the branch. The wood pigeon, surprisingly, didn't move, it stares at her with its beady eyes.

Getting cocky, Mister Dinner? Petalpaw thought, licking her lips. Petalpaw lunges forward. The wood pigeon flies off, and Petalpaw's claws slice it's wing into a deep cut. The wood pigeon falls down with Petalpaw falling after it and biting into its body.

Snowpaw runs underneath Petalpaw and feels her body land on her as a soft landing. Petalpaw raises her head spits out the pigeon.

"Victory! Take that you stupid bird!"

The three she-cats enter the camp with the three wood pigeons in their jaws. Driftcloud, Thrushwing and Whitefur nod in approval and look at Darkstar.

"Nice, very nice. You three earned your names."

Darkstar calls a meeting, and every cat is present. Nightpaw sees her brothers, Fishleap and Morningfire, with Acornfall. Fishleap and Morningfire were made warriors five days ago, leaving her, Snowpaw and Petalpaw as the only apprentices in the den.

Mistpool and Hawkfeather sit close to each other. Pineheart quickly veers away from the two mates and sits down near Sweetflower and Spottedberry.

"I, Darkstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in return."

"Snowpaw, Nightpaw, and Petalpaw. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Snowpaw says softly.

"I do." Nightpaw said.

"You betcha!" Petalpaw said, smiling, earning a few snickers in response.

Darkstar rolls his bicolor eyes. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names."

"Snowpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Snowpelt. StarClan honors your compassion and intuition, and we welcome you as a full member of ThunderClan."

Snowpelt licks Darkstar's shoulder and sits back down.

"Nightpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Nightsong. StarClan honors your strength and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full member of ThunderClan."

Nightsong licks Darkstar's shoulder and sits next to Snowpelt.

"Petalpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Petalbreeze. StarClan honors your… cunning and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full member of ThunderClan."

Petalbreeze licks Darkstar's shoulder and sits with her cousins.

"Snowpelt! Nightsong! Petalbreeze! Snowpelt! Nightsong! Petalbreeze!"

Rosefoot cheers until she notices something wrong. She looks at Goldflame, who is next to Whitefur.

"Where's Cloudwind? It shouldn't take so long to get catmint."

Whitefur overhears her and stands up. "I'll find him."

"You don't have to." Rosefoot said. "I'll drag him back. He's probably reminiscing about his glory days again."

Whitefur shakes his head. "It's not a problem at all." Whitefur gives Goldflame an affectionate lick on her ear before padding out the camp.

Goldflame smiles at Rosefoot. "Isn't he a gentle-tom?"

"Yes, yes. Keep the mushy stuff to yourself."

Snowpelt, Nightsong and Petalbreeze sit in silence in the darkness, all throughout midnight and close to dawn. Petalbreeze only made noise when she scrapes her paws on the ground out of nervousness. She never had to stay in one place before.

Nightsong's nose twitches at a strange smell, but ignores it. The strange smell insists on pestering her nose. Nightsong only then realizes something is familiar with the smell, metallic.

"I smell blood." She whispers to Snowpelt and Petalbreeze.

"Seriously?" Petalbreeze wrinkles her nose. "Your nose is better than mine."

"It's not far. I smell it just outside the thorn barrier." Snowpelt said.

Nightsong stands up and signals for them to stay. She cautiously steps out of the gorge and looks into the dawnlight forest. She notices two white fur bodies lying near the bushes. They were torn up so badly that Nightsong couldn't recognize them.

"Oh, StarClan no…"

Snowpelt follows her out and pauses. "No!" She screams. "Why?! I don't-!"

Nightsong silences her with a touch of her tail.

"Snowpelt… Just grab a body and bring it back."

Darkstar and the ThunderClan cats woke up to see Petalbreeze the only new warrior remaining.

"Petalbreeze, where are Nightsong and Snowpelt?!" Darkstar demands.

"They smelt blood and…" Petalbreeze trails off and gaps in shock. Nightsong and Snowpelt were carrying the two, white cats and drop them on the ground.

Darkstar's eyes widen and stalks forward. "No…"

Rosefoot suddenly stops in place and becomes distraught.

"No! Cloudwind, no!"

Rosefoot tries to break through the crowd until Windstorm stops her. Goldflame looks at the second white cat and almost immediately went into denial when she sees the black tips on the ears.

"No, Whitefur…" She whispers.

Cloudwind's side was ripped open like a vicious bite, and his leg is ripped off where the blood dries around the missing limb. The backpack is torn apart, and off his back.

Whitefur's injuries weren't as gruesome as Cloudwind's. He had teeth marks deeply embedded into his back and half of his tail was missing.

Petalbreeze gently touches Whitefur's cheek. "See you later, Whitefur. I hope you're in a better place now."

Rosefoot breaks free and pads to Cloudwind and touches his flank. She wails and crouches over her father's body and shakes her head as Windstorm tries to pull her away, comforting her with words.

Snowpelt, Petalbreeze, Featherwing and Berryheart watch Rosefoot's breakdown in shock. They have never seen their mother so broken, and become riddled with sorrow.

Cloudwind always played with them as kits, and told them stories about him and their long deceased grandmother, Petalsong. He was a trusted medicine cat and grandfather, they couldn't believe he was gone. Cloudwind made mistakes in his life, but he always tried to make it right and live up to Petalsong's promise to the bitter end when reconciling with their daughter.

Darkstar stares at Cloudwind's body with stiff fury and horror. Nightsong knew her great-uncle lost his sister, Whisperclaw, her grandmother, to a psychopathic killer named Ringo before she and her littermates were born, along with her grandfather, Tigerflame.

Darkstar lost his sister, now he has to bury his brother. The jet black tom bends down and touches Cloudwind's fluffy pelt.

"Rest in peace, little brother." He whispers hoarsely. "At least you get to be with Petalsong and Whisperclaw again."

Lightstripe nods in agreement. Darkstar tries to fight the cry forcing its way up his throat, Lightstripe presses his pelt against his. Every cat starts to grow concerned about their leader's state of mind.

Littlefalcon looks at the crowd. "Do not worry. Darkstar will recovery, but until he does I will be in charge. First we'll prepare a burial for Cloudwind and Whitefur, afterwards we will continue with our work, but with changes that I want to stick.

"Everyone will be on guard. These injuries aren't caused by a cat, so I want you to keep safe and report anything strange to me and don't go on your own. I want elders and queens to have a warrior with them when they go out, and apprentices will stick with their mentors. Are we clear?"

Everyone nods in agreement, while some look at Darkstar with concern and sympathy.

Snowpelt sees the backpack torn to pieces, and something clicked in her mind. She looks at Cloudwind's injuries. Littlefalcon is right about them not being made by a cat, but they also look like…

Snowpelt's fur bushes up with horror.

No… They couldn't have!

"Nightsong!" She hisses to the black she-cat. She leads Nightsong away from prying ears.

"I think they followed us back to the lake!"

"Who…?" Nightsong's green eyes widen. "The wolves? You actually believe that Alpha and her pack tracked us here?"

"They aren't dogs. The foxes aren't big and the badgers don't usually eat cats, the wolves are the only creatures to do this!"

Spiderpaw starts to feel concerned. The senior warriors told Brackenfall that Creekstar stepped out to stretch his legs and hunt. That was yesterday evening.

Now in the morning, everyone is beginning to panic when their leader doesn't return. Brackenfall already left with a few cats to go to the Horseplace Creekstar was hunting in.

Ten minutes later, Brackenfall returns with a dead Creekstar on his back. The mottled grey tom's body is injured almost beyond recognition.

"I don't understand… He had two lives left." Spiderpaw heard Brackenfall tell Hazelheart.

The dark yellow she-cat only shrugs as she was also shocked by the death of Creekstar. Brackenfall and Hazelheart left for Moonpool and return to WindClan in fifteen minutes.

"Brackenstar! Brackenstar! Brackenstar!"

The cheers were halfhearted. Brackenstar nods in understanding and calls a Clan meeting.

"The loss of Creekstar is a terrible tragedy. He will always be missed by WindClan and the cats who grew up with him. But now, I will choose my deputy."

"Grassclaw will be the deputy of WindClan."

The dark grey tom stands up as if he is expecting the promotion. Spiderpaw doesn't like the look on his face when his name was called. Grassclaw isn't exactly a cat you can easily get along with.

"And as my first act as leader, I want to make a young apprentice a warrior. Spiderpaw, please step forward."

Spiderpaw feels the stares on his pelt as he pads toward Brackenstar. He can hear Cheetahpaw cursing behind him…

"I, Brackenstar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you a warrior in return."

"Spiderpaw. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." He said.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Spiderpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Spiderdusk. StarClan honors your determination and Independence, and we welcome you as a full member of WindClan."

Spiderdusk licks Brackenstar's shoulder.

"Spiderdusk! Spiderdusk! Spiderdusk!"

Although he suspects it is forced, Spiderdusk accepts it nonetheless. Seeing Cheetahpaw's furious face is priceless, too. Softpaw looked ready to explode into a puff ball with pride.

I only wish Duskcloud was here, too.

Brackenstar can see it on his former apprentice's face. He wishes he could tell Spiderdusk that he saw Duskcloud before she gave him the life of patience, but he held his tongue.

"Please watch over my son. You're the only father he ever knew."

Those were Duskcloud's words before she melted into the crowd of StarClan cats. Brackenstar intends on keeping his word to the fallen black queen.

Far beyond the WindClan territory and in the dense woods. Zephyr licks his jaws to taste the blood of that white cat with frustration. It was a male, both of them.

He wanted it to be that white female that humiliated him. He was demoted to Phi after failing to apprehend the white female. Rust may be okay with watching over Prideful's pups, but Zephyr hates pups.

It's better than replacing Omega's spot.

After all this time, and abuse, Fenris still lived. Alpha drags him down to the lake and makes him sleep in a bramble den, and he still lives. Nobody in the pack understands why the half-dog hasn't died yet.

He hears paw steps and sees Prideful.

"Where were you? Hunting?"

"I was hungry."

"That's what we have the Kappa and Lambda for, moron." Prideful snaps. Zephyr mimics his reply as he follows the beta. Alpha frowns when she sees Zephyr slink away, and looks at Prideful.

"Well?"

"Aside from Zephyr, everything is running smoothly."

Alpha nods approvingly.

"What is our next move?"

Alpha smiles. "I think Zephyr did it for us. Let those cats know of our existence, and we pick them off one by one."