Chapter 52: To Kill; To Die

As Darkstripe recovered, he pondered what skill he would have to teach to equate the value of a dog killer. He kept up his duties, but the pending deal weighed heavily on his mind. He couldn't afford to miss it, but what could he possibly exchange for the technique? Finally, he got an idea, but it would take some assistance to train.

Cinderpelt found herself with Darkstripe after he asked her an odd favor.

"I need you to help me learn to play dead."

"What?"

"I mean, I need your medicine cat skills to feign death as accurately as possible. I should look dead under scrutiny. I can already kind of do it but having a medicine cat do the usual checks for life could help me perfect the skill. It's for a project I'm working on."

Despite Darkstripe's oddness, she knew he was taking the request seriously. Was he planning to run from the clan, or was it something else?

"Fine. I'll humor you. I doubt you can fool a medicine cat though."

Darkstripe immediately collapsed into an awkward pose. He looked like he just randomly had a heart attack. Cinderpelt circled him assessing his acting.

"I can see you breathing, and your eyes are moving."

Darkstripe slowed his breathing and took silent short breaths to keep his lings from inflating. It now appeared he was not breathing. When Cinderpelt dropped beside his maw, he stopped breathing until she moved.

"I'm impressed. I couldn't tell you were breathing, but your muscles tensed when I got close and your eyes gave you away again."

Seeing was a difficult thing to not do. He had to deliberately starve his sense of sight to make it unresponsive to Cinderpelt's actions. With no sight, it was a lot easier to keep his calm while Cinderpelt kept testing him.

"You aren't stiff enough. If you died in battle, you'll either be completely stiff or you'll be completely relaxed."

Darkstripe kept himself stiff as she shoved at him again. It must have been to her liking because she began muttering to herself.

"He really does seem dead. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was."

She ran him through some more tests involving stimulus and testing his perception in the fake death state before she was satisfied.

"Congrats. You can play dead. I don't know why you needed to learn it, but I can say you mastered it."

Darkstripe could feel his inner pride burn. The skill would be handy for a trickster. It was the only thing he could think of to match a situational instant kill. Both were situational survival skills and could spare a life.

Cinderpelt was just amused by Darkstripe's antics. She thought what he just learned would be useless. Maybe it could be used for teaching purposes. Skills in investigation were marginally lacking in the camp recently. It could be a game.

Darkstripe had already padded off. He was banking on the skill to be good enough to satisfy Tiny. It was far more difficult than it appeared. Darkstripe's natural actor skills were what made creating the skill possible. He was ready.

After another full moon, Darkstripe was finally healed. His first order of business was his deal with Tiny. Those dogs had been a constant in his mind. Even if he never had to use the instant kill, it would be worth knowing. He set off back to Blood Clan with his usual tribute.

Bone/Big saw Thunder approaching. Scourge had already had a target dog scouted out for when Thunder returned to demonstrate. Truthfully, Tiny would accept any skill Thunder traded to even out kidnapping one of the apprentices. Thunder didn't need to know that. Thunder laid down the rabbit he brought.

"I'm here to accept Tiny's deal if he finds the skill I can teach valuable."

Big led him back. Tiny was sure whatever skill Thunder brought; it would be worth sharing with him.

"I see you are back Thunder. What do you have for exchange?"

Darkstripe looked at him with cold determination. It was a make it or break it deal he was risking.

"I have an unusual skill I can teach you. It is how to properly feign death. It is so accurate; a medicine cat will think you are dead."

Feigning death? It certainly was an odd skill. He'd killed many cats who played dead to escape him. How would Thunder's compare?

"Give me a demonstration before I decide."

Thunder stood as if battling an imaginary warrior before he let out a pained yelp and collapsed. His body was unmoving. As Big investigated, the cat did not react. He shoved him and scratched him a bit and made a couple loud noises. Thunder did not react.

"I can't tell."

Thunder let them investigate a bit more to leave them in suspense.

"Did he kill poison himself to die here?"

Thunder had sat motionless for a while until their attention was drawn away. Silently he stood and circled behind Big.

"Gotcha."

Big whirled and slammed Thunder into the ground on instinct.

"Ow. As you can see, it's quite realistic."

Something in Tiny swelled up. He hadn't seen anything spook Big ever. It was an amusement he hadn't felt before. He couldn't stop himself. He let out a chuckle. It was the closest thing to a laugh he ever had since founding Blood Clan.

"Alright. You've proven its usefulness. I deem it worthy."

Darkstripe spent the better part of two weeks teaching Tiny and Big how to play dead. They got semi-skilled at it, but they never were able to stop ear twitches. It was too instinctive to them. It would have to do.

It was Tiny's turn to teach. He led Darkstripe to a small patrol he made just for the demonstration.

"What I am about to teach you is incredibly dangerous. It will only work on a dog once and requires the prefect moment. It cannot be practiced since it is so situational."

Soon the patrol found a large but old dog controlling an alley. It was a pest set for extermination. Tiny guided Thunder behind a dumpster to watch as two of the patrol guided the dog closer. They pulled it forward until the dog was right beside the dumpster. Tiny moved stealthily along side the dig until he was in line with its eye. Suddenly he threw himself onto the dog gripping its face. His right paw lanced through the dog's eye up to his knee. The dog stiffened and spasmed slightly. On the opposite side of the dog, the two patrol cats leapt up and gripped the dog's side to roll it away from where Tiny was hanging. It fell and was still. Tiny freed his paw with a gross sucking sound. That leg was covered in blood and grey matter. He set to grooming that leg.

"This is the instant kill. It only works on big dogs because we can fit into their eyes. You are vulnerable while doing it, so if there is a pack, only hit the alpha. The rest will flee at such a display."

Darkstripe committed the scene to memory. He could not afford to forget it. If those dogs got loose, it might be their only hope. Even with Tiny's warning, he could practice lancing his paw into holes to prepare himself for the eventuality that he'd need it.