I really am still writing this story, even if it's slow. Sorry. I'm sort of starting a new 'chapter' of Icestar's life. Obviously now that she's leader and she's found something she really loves (ShadowClan kits 0.o), her personality is somewhat different. But, all that really means is that she's about to embark on a new kind of evil. :)
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The RiverClan warriors led them down the banks of the river, padding close to the muddy banks. Icestar continued to keep her eye on Eelshadow, sure that he was planning something devious. The way he kept smiling to himself as though remembering some sort of joke made her pelt itch.
Rosepaw and Tawnypaw were taking the situation very seriously. Both apprentices walked with their heads held high, flanking Shadetree. They kept flashing glances sideways at the sorry-looking warrior as though certain that she was about to make a run for it. In reality, neither of Eelshadow's colleagues appeared to be planning any sort of escape. They looked, tired, miserable, and very put upon, as though Eelshadow had forced them to come despite their reluctance to let another Clan know their weakness. For a brief moment, as she scanned their weary faces, Icestar pitied them.
"It's just up here," Eelshadow purred. They crested a short rise and padded through a stretch of forest before Eelshadow paused at the edge of the trees.
"Maybe we shouldn't…" Shadetree opened her mouth to protest, but one piercing glare from Eelshadow silenced her immediately. Icestar watched the exchange with amusement. She wondered what sort of trickery Eelshadow had used in his Clan to gain this sort of respect. No doubt he had already won over most of the warriors, and probably Stoneheart, the deputy. Icestar felt certain that keen Floodstar would not succumb easily to Eelshadow's wiles, but perhaps it was only a matter of time before he had the entire Clan bowing down before him.
"So, where is this poison?" Icestar questioned, not bothering to smooth the mocking tone out of her voice. RiverClan was facing hardships, there could be no doubt considering the state of their pelts and their attitudes, but the river poisoned? That seemed to going too far. Would Eelshadow really go to such great lengths?
As soon as Eelshadow led them out of the trees and down to the banks of a small pool, Icestar realized with shock that he would.
The pool was small, probably just formed by rainwater, but it was linked to the river by trickle that had gouged a furrow in the mud and now tumbled slowly into the river a few tail-lengths away. Across the river and farther upstream, Icestar could see the top of the Owl Tree protruding from the forest.
"What the…?" spat Yellowstripe, backing away. Her ruff stood on end. Eagleclaw and Icestar stood their ground, though the tabby she-cat's eyes widened in surprise.
"When did you discover this?" Icestar meowed coolly, keeping her eyes on Eelshadow. His expression betrayed nothing, as she knew it wouldn't, but still she watched him to catch even the slightest glimmer in his eye that might give him away.
"I found it on patrol yesterday afternoon," Eelshadow meowed, his voice perfectly edged with anxiety. "When I reported it to Floodstar, he told me that ThunderClan should be warned, just in case. That's why I'm here today."
The pool was on the edge of RiverClan territory, but still Icestar felt a prickle of unease. If Eelshadow had been snooping around this close to the forest and none of her warriors had detected it, how did she know he hadn't explored further in. It reminded her painfully of her escapade with Eagleclaw into ShadowClan territory, and the masterful way that they had concealed their pelts. Eelshadow could have easily done the same. He might have been padding around woods all day, for all she knew. With his dark pelt, he could blend easily into the undergrowth. She shivered, and stepped closer to the pool.
The first thing that stood out was the stench. The wind was blowing out of the trees and across towards Fourtrees, so they couldn't smell it from where they had stood in the trees. But, now standing before the source itself, the smell of rot and rancid meat wafted around them in thick, choking clouds.
"And the culprit?" Icestar questioned, keeping her face a straight mask even as her stomach rebelled against the odor.
"Twolegs, we assume," Eelshadow mewed. "No other creature could have done this."
"What…" Rosepaw gasped, her voice tiny and shrill, "What is it?"
A massive black shape lay half in the water, half out. It was bulky and dark black, but shiny as though covered in a sheen of water. The apprentices would not know what it was. Eagleclaw and Yellowstripe could have no idea. But Icestar knew, and Eelshadow knew. And Icestar understood immediately that, above all else, this was a message to her.
"It's a trash bag," she said with a grimace. The other warriors glanced at her in surprise. "Twolegs put unwanted food and other things inside them, and then other Twolegs take them away."
She could tell that Rosepaw did not understand, but Eagleclaw nodded sharply. "I've seen them in the Twolegplace sometimes," she meowed. "Carrying those things."
"What's inside it?" Icestar demanded of Eelshadow, slowly turning to face him,
There it was. That glint in the depths of his eyes, the twitch of lips, the quiver in his whiskers. A rush of cold cleared her mind in an instant. Her sight sharpened. She unsheathed her claws and clenched them against the mud, her muscles tensing.
"Snakes," he purred, in a voice that was so quiet surely only she could hear it. The other warriors were backing away wrinkling their noses, cringing away to escape the smell.
"We'll wait in the trees," Eagleclaw growled, and led the ThunderClan warriors away. The RiverClan warriors followed, trembling.
"Snakes," Icestar breathed, her eyes narrowing.
It seemed that Eelshadow had now forsaken his mournful façade. He danced around the edge of the pool, his tail lashing, and approached the black shape. Icestar followed him reluctantly. She may have been raised a kittypet, but approaching the strange object still made her pelt prickle and her whiskers quiver. Eelshadow seemed to have no such inhibitions. He padded straight for the Twoleg thing and poked it with his nose, pushing away at the top part.
"How has it poisoned the river?" Icestar meowed, eyeing the trickle of muddy water that flowed past.
"I can't be sure," he mewed with a shrug. "Perhaps the snakes' venom leaked into the pool, or maybe it's just the essence of their rotting flesh." A grin touched the edge of his muzzle. "Either way, the fish are dying and kits and elders are getting sick from drinking the water. It will pass soon, to be sure, but for now RiverClan is barely getting by."
He succeeded in pushing apart the opening of the bag, and even with her stone cold heart Icestar couldn't help but emit a gasp of shock and revulsion.
Inside the bag lay a tangle of long, scaly bodies - perhaps six or seven snakes. They were mostly dark brown or black colored, but one snaked stood out garishly from the rest of the gruesome pile. It was white. As white as fresh snow, or as white as Icestar's pelt. She bit back a wail and stumbled backwards, her paws sliding in the mud.
Eelshadow was waiting patiently by the bag, his wide, staring eyes fixed on her face.
"Frightening, isn't it?" he purred. Without another word, Eelshadow bounded back around the pool, sweeping past her in a rush. She followed a moment later, casting one last glance at the plastic trash bag with its horrifying contents, and most of all, the single white snake among all the dark ones, curled like a rat's tail atop the pile, its mouth hanging open, its eyes glazed and sightless.
"That's so creepy," Icestar heared Tawnypaw muttering as she and Eelshadow returned to the trees. They had not seen the snakes, but Shadetree and Murkypool had described the sight to them while they waited. Both Yellowstripe and Eagleclaw were staring at Icestar expectantly, but she said nothing to them as she padded closer.
"You should return to your territory," she said to Eelshadow, her voice smooth. She deeply regretted her foolish display of emotion earlier. No doubt it had been Eelshadow's design all along to frighten her, and she had satisfied him. The irritation was making her ears burn.
"Of course, Icestar," he purred, his voice dripping with something akin to sarcasm.
"Immediately," she added icily, not deigning to meet his sly gaze. "Eagleclaw," she meowed, turning to the tabby she-cat, "Please lead the way back to camp. I'd like to have some time to think on my own."
Eagleclaw dipped her head and ushered the ThunderClan warriors away, but not before casting a worried glance at Icestar. As soon as they had melted into the undergrowth, Icestar turned to watch the RiverClan warriors leave. She waited until they were nearly out of sight, padding down the riverbank towards Stepping Stones, until a sudden anger overcame her, and she leapt after them. The other two warriors had already crossed the river and disappeared into he reeds by the time she reached them, but Eelshadow remained on the ThunderClan side as though he had predicted that she would follow.
"Wait!" she called, trying to keep her voice low so that the warriors on the other side of the river wouldn't hear. She slipped down the bank toward Eelshadow, panting.
"Icestar," he purred, nodding to her again and cocking his head. "Is there something you forgot? You did say that we were to return to our territory immediately."
Icestar ignored the mocking tone of his voice and stepped close, until their noses were practically touching.
"I don't know what you think you're doing," she growled, narrowing her eyes, "but it's wrong to play with your Clan's well-being like this. If you have some sort of bone to pick with me, then by all means let us settle it in a fair fight. Don't jeopardize the lives of kits and elders just to make some sort of sick point."
Eelshadow held her gaze for barely a moment before his expression dissolved into one of wounded reproach.
"What do you take me for?" he drawled, leaning away from her as though struck. "Are you suggesting I planted that Twoleg bag? Why in the name of StarClan would I do that?" He gave a woeful shake of his head, as though Icestar was the mousebrain and he was the sane one.
"I didn't suggest it," she spat, "you did. And don't go thinking I'm some foolish kit that you can win over like the rest of your pathetic Clanmates. I may not understand what drives you, but I don't fall so easily under your paws."
"Whatever do you mean?" he whimpered, taking a step back and curling his tail between his legs.
"There were no Twoleg pawprints around the pool," Icestar pointed out coolly. "If indeed it was discovered only yesterday, than their prints would still be there, in the mud."
Eelshadow blinked. For just a single, fleeting moment, Icestar's conviction wavered. Had he really just found the bag there? Could the white snake, a shocking oddity dumped in the Twoleg garbage, really be a message from StarClan? The innocence in his eyes was almost, almost, convincing.
But then, of course, he smiled, and Icestar knew.
"You're worse than me," Icestar breathed with a shiver, backing away.
Immediately, Eelshadow's face was full of passion. His position transformed from one of cowardly submission to grace and purpose. He rose to his full height, drew his chin up, and waved his tail high above his flanks.
"Don't you understand, Icestar?" he meowed, his voice suddenly bright and wild with emotion. "Don't you see?"
"What?" she hissed, feeling as though she had lost control of the situation and wishing she could put aside her dignity and turn to run away. But instead she held her ground and stared at him, a spark of fear flickering in her chest. She had once thought she understood the gleam in this strange cat's eyes, but now she wondered if it was something more, something entirely beyond her ken; something feral and not entirely sound.
"We are the same! We're the same! You and I! And together…" Here his breath seemed to catch in his throat, as if he was overcome by emotion. "Together, we can be the best."
His words nearly knocked Icestar off her feet. It was not the way he spoke them, as though being together was the most desirable thing, and he would like nothing more than be her other half. It was not the way his eyes shimmered with ardor, or the way his tail was curling and uncurling out of enthusiasm. It was the very words themselves that pushed the breath from her lungs and made her eyes widen.
Not so very long ago, she thought to herself, shocked, that was my ultimate dream. My greatest ambition. My drive. My heart's desire. To overcome my past and rise above it all, to become better than everyone, everything else. To be the best. What had changed? How had Icestar changed?
The question was suddenly burning in her chest, and a strange sensation came over Icestar. She looked up and met Eelshadow's expectant gaze through a haze, as though a thick mist had descended and she was caught in its midst. Her body swayed, her heart pounded, and for a moment, blackness pulsed at the edges of her visions. I'm I going to faint? She thought briefly. Then a familiar voice echoed through the fog.
"Beware, Icestar." A myriad of different tones wavered in the air, but Icestar recognized the clamor as the words of Frostfire, the orange tabby StarClan warrior who had met her a few times before, more often than not while she was in the company of Eelshadow. She turned to look at the black tom for a moment, and saw that he seemed to be oblivious of her distraction, for now.
"Beware of what?" Icestar whispered back, peering into gloom that was settling down around her.
"Beware the movement in the shadows. Beware the one who waits in darkness and strikes without warning. Beware the one among many who does not fit."
"The snakes!" Icestar gasped, feeling cold. "Why? Were the snakes a message?" she called, her eyes straining. But, as always, it was too late. The fog was lifting. Just as Icestar's vision returned to normal, a few faint words echoed back to her as the presence of the StarClan warrior faded away: "Do not forget, Icestar. Ice and fire."
"Enigmatic, as always," Icestar growled to the disappearing voice.
"What?" Eelshadow mewed. He was frozen, his passionate expression wavering. "Who are you talking to?"
"Nobody," Icestar growled, turning her attention back to him. The intervention of Frostfire and his vague prophecies had given her anger some time to cool, but Icestar still regarded Eelshadow with suspicion.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Icestar meowed, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws.
"Willing to hear me out?" Eelshadow joked. He turned and flicked his tail playfully across her ear. Icestar ignored it, though her heart stammered at the touch, which only served to infuriate her further.
"If it isn't some mousebrained scheme like those snakes, then yes," the white she-cat answered. She was now convinced that the snakes were Eelshadow's doing, since Frostfire hadn't confirmed that StarClan sent them, and all signs pointed to the RiverClan tom. However, there was undoubtedly some further significance to the event, since Frostfire had taken time to warn her about something that 'waited in the darkness and struck without warning', which was without a doubt the snakes.
"Well, I have a plan concerning our Clans," Eelshadow meowed. He sat down as well, mirroring her, but remained silent for a long moment.
Icestar was not in a hurry to hear him speak. She was distracted by the glint of the sun on his dark fur.
The prophecy warned of the snakes, she thought to herself. But not of Eelshadow himself. After all, perhaps we are similar.