Okeys, so, it was pointed out to me that this story is extremely similar to Firestar's story/The First Arc. Yes indeed, this is true, and intentional. In fact, the plot of this story is loosely based on the exact same plot of The First Arc, minus the happy-joyful parts :D BUT obviously it has differences, since Icefang is evil and Firestar was good. So if that's bothering you, there's the explanation. :P
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"Oakshadow!" Icefang yowled. She pushed hard against the ground and launched herself towards the edge of the gorge, her heart beating furiously in her chest. Stoneheart was leaning over the edge of the river, but as Icefang approached, he darted away, his expression one of nausea and terror. Her own face a mask of calm, even in the face of whatever horror she might encounter, Icefang skidded to a stop on the top of the bank.
No one else seemed to have noticed Oakshadow's disappearance or her exclamation. Behind her, she could still hear the hisses and shrieks of battling cats. Tentatively, Icefang stepped forward, bracing herself for what she was about to see.
A grunt met her ears as she peered over the edge of the muddy bank.
"Oakshadow!" Icefang breathed in surprise. The tabby tom was clinging desperately to a shrub that was itself holding onto the mud for dear life. Some of the branches looked like they had already broken under his weight, and the deputy was swinging precariously from the thickest of the shrub's limbs.
"Thank StarClan, Icefang! Help me!" he whimpered, struggling to lift himself up. It was no use. There was no purchase for his back legs, and at any moment the plant could give up and loose its hold on the earth.
"Did Stoneheart push you?" Icefang questioned breathlessly, her gaze traveling up and down the bank, searching.
"No, no, nothing like that. I slipped. Can't you pull me up? Im afraid I won't be able to hold on for very much longer." As if on cue, another one of the shrub's roots broke with a loud snap, and Oakshadow was jerked downwards a few more whisker lengths. He released another whimper of fear and tightened his hold on the branch, his tail whipping around in a futile attempt to right himself.
"I can't see a way to get a hold of you," Icefang mewed. Her gaze flickered hesitantly to Oakshadow's wide eyes, and then went back to scouring the banks.
"Just reach-" another root snapped, and Oakshadow yelped in surprise, kicking frantically at the air. He was hanging out almost to the center of the river now, the churning water not three tail lengths below his flailing paws. His fur was slick with spray, the battle wounds still dripping scarlet blood. The drops trickled in tiny rivulets between his pale stripes and plummeted toward the water, carried away towards the horizon in a never ending stream.
Slowly, an idea formed in Icefang's mind. As she watched Oakshadow grip anxiously to the branch, his ribs poking through his brown pelt, his yellow eyes gazing in dismay at the rushing current below him, the ice in her heart crept slowly throughout her body.
"Icefang!" the tom whimpered. The shrub was hanging by only a few roots now, and there was nothing to say it wouldn't let go at any second. There really was nothing she could do. Her legs weren't long enough to reach Oakshadow, at any rate, and there was no way she could climb down to him.
Icefang gazed down at him, her eyes cold. The wind roaring up from the churning water buffeted her fur, dragging the tufts this way and then that, but she hardly noticed the chill.
Oakshadow looked away from the water to implore her again, but his words were swallowed by the wind before they reached her ears. As he stared at her, sudden realization seemed to take hold.
"No!" he screamed. Icefang winced. That was loud enough to overcome the wind. Suddenly startled by the thought, she whipped around to see what was going on behind her. The ThunderClan warriors were winning their battle. She could see another RiverClan cat streaking away towards the mysterious Twoleg bridge. Her Clanmates were following, chasing their enemies away with victorious yowls. The battle would soon be over, her chance gone. With a frown, the white she-cat turned back to the gorge.
"No! Please, StarClan! Please no! Icefang, you can't let me fall! You can't let me die this way!" Oakshadow wailed. The fear in his eyes was blazing now, as he slipped closer and closer to his fate. But Icefang remained calm. If StarClan had been averse to this, they would have spoken by now. They would have quelled the winds, or alerted some other cat of the danger. Maybe they would have struck her down with a lightning bolt or rolled a boulder on top of her. But StarClan had forsaken Oakshadow. All that was left for him now was a watery grave.
"I'm sorry. I am truly sorry," Icefang meowed, leaning a little further over the bank. Her paws sank into the mud, making a squelching sound.
"No you're not," Oakshadow growled. "You're a monster. I always knew it. I saw it the day you came to ThunderClan. You never cared an ounce for anyone, only yourself. I can see how you play them, how you play everyone. Even poor Stonepelt's fallen for your little ruse. I only wish I could live long enough to see you die a traitor's death."
A loud growl ripped from Icefang's throat. She lunged forward and hooked one of the branches of the shrub in her claws, dragging her face close to his.
"I only want what's best for my Clan," the white warrior hissed, her eyes blazing furiously. How dare he accuse her of treachery! She'd never done anything that wasn't in ThunderClan's best interest. That was all that mattered.
"They won't be fooled forever," Oakshadow jeered, baring his teeth. Icefang could see his paws shaking as he tried to keep his hold on the branch. Whisker-length by whisker-length, his claws were slipping. "One of these days they'll see you for who you really are. A cold-hearted, cowardly little kittypet."
"No!" Icefang screeched, and yanked her paw away.
That was the last push that the shrub needed. With a sucking sound, the remaining roots were dragged out of the bank, one by one, until the entire plant fell away from the cliff edge, bringing Oakshadow with it. His scream was cut off as water swept over his head. Within a matter of moments, the river had swallowed every last leaf of the bush, and Oakshadow had disappeared.
Anger still burning in her veins, Icefang stepped away from the river's edge.
"Icefang! Icefang! We've won! They're running-" Stonepelt's yowl of triumph was cut off as he noticed how Icefang's paws were shaking as she strode away from the river's edge, her jaw clenched.
"What happened?" he asked her, rushing over with a concerned expression. He was bleeding form numerous gashes all over his striped pelt, but all seemed ot have been forgotten in the aftermath of ThunderClan's victory. The rest of the warriors were returning from chasing their enemies back to the border, jeering and congratulating each other on a fight well won, while by the gorge Icefang and Stonepelt were staring at each in horror, neither aware of the jubilation behind them.
"Are you hurt?" Stonepelt whimpered, inching closer. The expression on Icefang's face was so full of shock that he was actually afraid to approach her. If only he knew, Icefang thought to herself. On the inside, she was as calm and collected as she normally was on the outside. Oakshadow's death was all part of her plan, whether she knew it or not, and apparently StarClan had no problem with it either. In fact, as Stonepelt was considering whether Icefang was on the verge of death, the white she-cat was wondering if StarClan was even on her side. Maybe it was her destiny to become leader of ThunderClan, and her starry ancestors were watching over her with pride in their eyes.
All of a sudden, as though the revelation had been knocked into him by an enemy blow, Stonepelt froze in his tracks and blurted out, "Where's Oakshadow?" Within moments of uttering the question, he answered it with an agonized yowl, and dashed past Icefang to stare into the gorge. Icefang's practice with controlling her facial expressions was coming in handy. She looked for all the world like an innocent warrior who had been forced to watch as her beloved deputy fell to his doom in the churning waters of the gorge.
"Did he…?" Stonepelt moaned, staring vacantly down at the river. His tail was twitching feebly as his ribs fluttered with anxious breaths.
"I tried…" Icefang mewed, keeping her voice weak and trembling. She laid her ears flat against her skull and relaxed her whiskers, making them droop as though she was consumed with grief.
"Oh no, no, no, StarClan no! Not again!" Stonepelt wailed, stumbling away from the edge of the river. "Oakshadow is dead!" he yowled.
By now the rest of the patrol knew that something was up. They had gathered in a semicircle around Stonepelt and Icefang, watching anxiously. At Stonepelt's words, a collective gasp rose form the cats. Eaglepaw and Yellowpaw leaned on each other for support, and Ashfoot sunk to the ground, his eyes wide with horror.
"That's two deputies in one season!" Ashfoot meowed hoarsely, shivering as a gust of chilled wind blew down form the moors and brushed against their pelts.
"StarClan has cursed us!" Eaglepaw moaned.
"The fire too!" added Yellowpaw, "And last leaf-bare! Our ancestors have abandoned us!"
"Nonsense!" Stonepelt scolded, though he too looked like he had lost faith in the starry cats who watched over the Clans. "StarClan would never leave us. They can't control everything. For all we knew, they themselves are grieving for our tragedies, unable to stop them. Don't blame them first." After his short speech, the tabby actually seemed comforted by his own words, and they seemed to have at least calmed the apprentices.
"We can't even bring his body back to be buried!" Ashfoot whimpered. Drowning was one of the worst fates for a Clan warrior, feared by every cat in all the Clans, even RiverClan. Carried away by the freezing torrent, it was as though a cat never existed. No fresh grave to commemorate his memory, no last sharing-of-tongues to help his spirit find its way to Silverpelt. Swallowed by the water, never to be seen or heard from again, except in the endless fields of the sky.
"We should head back," Stonepelt meowed, after allowing the cats another moment to think on what had happened. The triumph of the victory against RiverClan was all but forgotten.
They started back towards the forest, silent and somber. Eaglepaw and Yellowpaw trudged at the front of the patrol, their tails between their legs. Ashfoot walked alone behind them, his eyes wide and staring at the ground. Stonepelt padded quietly at Icefang's side, occasionally shooting worried glances in her direction, still concerned about her health.
Finally, as they reached the top of the ravine, Stonepelt's tail touched her shoulder softly. "Icefang, are you sure you're all right? You're not hurt?"
"I'm fine, I promise," she meowed, her cold heart almost touched by his warmth. "I'm just…numb. I can't believe his gone." For extra measure, she added, "Perhaps StarClan has forsaken us. Two good cats dead in one season, and both of them deputy! It's unheard of, even in a time of chaos."
"It is unusual, and tragic, but we can't blame StarClan. Our warrior ancestors, however powerful, can't protect us from everything. What happened to Oakshadow, and to Tanglethorn, was an accident. Nothing could have been done to prevent it, by StarClan…or by you. I know you were there when Tanglethorn died, and Oakshadow too…"
For one moment, a cold stab of fear entered Icefang's heart. Was Stonepelt about to expose her for who she really was? He couldn't know about her involvement with both deaths, could he? He wasn't there, he didn't see. What would he do? Would he hate her? It doesn't matter, Icefang told herself, but somewhere deep within her icy spirit, maybe it did matter.
"I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong. That'd be hard, for any cat. I was just a kit when my mother died, and besides her no one I've been close to has been taken from me right before my eyes." Stonepelt's blue gaze searched her face carefully.
"Thank you, but no, really, I'm okay. Sad, but okay. I'll make it through this, just like before." Icefang flashed him a small smile, which seemed to placate the tabby tom.
They reached camp at sundown. Eaglepaw and Yellowpaw stood aside by the tunnel mouth, allowing Stonepelt to pass through before them since he was the most senior warrior in the group. Icefang followed closely at his heels, and Ashfoot and the apprentices behind.
The camp was eerily quiet when they entered, as if the Clan already knew of the tragic news coming for them. No one was about, aside from Specklefoot, who had taken her kits out of the nursery for some air, but even they seemed subdued. The queen let out a shrill cry of greeting as soon as the patrol came into view, and jumped to her feet to pad over.
"Thank StarClan you've finally returned! Thrushwing and I were beginning to get worried." Her eyes roved eagerly over the bedraggled group, and when she noticed Oakshadow's absence, a dark cloud passed over her face.
"Oakshadow," was all she said, and then her entire frame sagged toward the ground. Ashfoot rushed forward to support her before she fell over.
"StarClan, why?" moaned the queen, her whiskers trembling.
At that moment, Cinderstar appeared from the medicine clearing, Sparrowpaw trailing behind him. She looked tired and shaken, with blood spattering her paws. That would explain the emptiness. Brightpool and Tansyleaf were both in the medicine den, so most cats were either in there with them or asleep in their dens.
"What's going on?" Cinderstar growled, his gaze flickering swiftly over the scene. His long tail lashed in agitation.
"We won," Stonepelt explained. Cinderstar wasn't fooled. He had taken in the somber expression of all the cats, and wasn't about to be led astray by a few heartening words.
"What's happened?" questioned the leader again, striding forward. Sparrowpaw followed meekly behind him, but Icefang didn't recognize the look of utter despair that suddenly consumed the tortoiseshell's face.
"Oakshadow fell," Stonepelt mewed quietly. His eyes were trained on the dust, his whiskers drooping.
Cinderstar actually staggered backward as though a sudden gust of wind had shoved him. The breath wooshed audibly out of his lungs at his son's words, and he echoed the same words that seemed to be traveling on every cat's lips, "Oh no. StarClan! No."
Icefang felt a moment of pity. These cats thought that by murmuring the one single word, all their troubles would go away. That StarClan would come down and make everything better. No, no, no, they all said no. No what? No, please, make it stop? No, make the pain go away? She snorted. No wasn't going to cut it. No didn't win battles. No didn't save lives.
"No!" Cinderstar wailed, and crumpled suddenly to the ground, his body wracked by heaving whimpers. Icefang had never seen him so consumed by emotion. It sent an electric thrill of horror through her paws. Leaders couldn't be seen like that.
"No!" came another scream. This time it was from Thrushwing, who had emerged from the nursery and gathered the reason for the solemnity at once. "No!"
"No!" came a trembling whimper form Sparrowpaw, cowering against the hard earth. The despair still hadn't left her face, though Icefang knew no reason why the medicine cat apprentice should be so terrified by Oakshadow's death.
"No! No! No!" the cries echoed around the clearing, from every tongue, filling the air. Icefang snarled under her breath, her eyes narrowing. No didn't change anything at all.
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