Chapter 69: Petty Revenge
Darkstripe had to thank Blackfoot. That time to rest did wonders for his stress. Unfortunately, these stresses had a habit of piling up just as quickly as he could lose them. This day, Tigerstar was guiding them out to Riverclan. He wanted cats he more easily controlled present in Riverclan. Thus, Darkstripe was brought in in the opener group. He even had the superficial role as "head advisor." In truth, the role only served to belittle Leopardstar's position. As head advisor, his position was considered equal to or greater than hers, not that it mattered. Tigerstar's only real council was himself. He'd never follow another cat's word now that he was in power.
The Riverclan camp felt utterly foreign to Darkstripe. The loose sandy soil clung to his muddy paws irritating them with a soft grinding when his toes flexed. If this wasn't a sign that Shadowclan and Riverclan were never meant to mix, he didn't know what was. Tigerstar, ever the tyrant, went about enforcing his rule with little to no input from Leopardstar. Darkstripe saw how she fidgeted and quietly followed the monstrous cat, never voicing her opinion. Leopardstar looked like she was a mix of emotions and conflictions. Darkstripe wondered if she had the skillset to lead. Her clan looked unhappy with her decision, but somehow it looked like this hadn't been the first poor decision on her part.
In Tigerstar's new regime, he set his eyes on revenge, not the constructive one that forwards an end goal, but the one that is outright petty and malicious. Darkstripe saw how Tigerstar looked at Mistyfoot and Stonefur. There was a horrible hunger. Tigerstar wanted them under his control by torturing them until they would willingly comply. Tigerstar made his announcement.
"Today marks a great day for Tigerclan. We've become one unified clan, but with our unity we must look within our own ranks for treachery. As we all know, halfclan cats are born of treachery. It is in their blood to betray. I know of four here who fit that description. We must imprison them and dig that born in treacherous instinct out of them. Stormfur, Mistyfoot, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw will be confined until we can teach them the heresy of their parents."
It took everything Darkstripe had to keep his cool. His brother's kits were in danger, but maybe from the shadows he could save them. Darkstripe glanced out at the rest of the Riverclan cats. Leopardstar looked on uncomfortably, but she said nothing. She was already just a figurehead with no voice. A small hatred was fostered in himself for the Riverclan leader. She currently represented nothing of what made a good leader.
The four were forced out into an old badger hole with a wall of thick branches resting on top. It was so wrong in Darkstripe's mind, but he knew he could sneak them some food and possibly spring them if he was careful. He was the one Tigerstar let have the most free rein, and he'd abuse that as much as possible. Darkstripe stuck around just long enough to hear Tigerstar talk about collecting bones into one pile as a position of authority. He'd already ordered some elders to dig up some of the scraps from eaten fresh kill to start the pile. Darkstripe slipped out of camp. He was surprisingly skilled at just casually disappearing.
Darkstripe crept towards Fourtrees to try and spot a Thunderclan patrol. There was already a lot moving, so he couldn't afford not to report. Thankfully, he spotted a patrol tracing the Riverclan border with Dustpelt in tow. This was perfect. Darkstripe made his presence known, padding confidently up to the border. Two of the three cats arched and bristled hissing at his appearance.
"Traitor! We ought to skin you right now!"
Darkstripe was unperturbed. He responded in a clear and commanding tone.
"I need to speak to Dustpelt."
"Why? So you can try to turn him traitor too?!"
Darkstripe presented himself again as unbothered.
"This doesn't concern you. If you want to complain about it, take it up with Firestar."
Something in the way Darkstripe spoke seemed to have pierced the other patrol members' skulls. Darkstripe hadn't called Firestar kittypet or insulted their leader at all. It was suspicious in a good way.
"Fine. We'll be keeping you in eyesight for it though."
Darkstripe just nodded, accepting the wariness. His gaze switched to focus on Dustpelt. He stared, waiting for the rest of the patrol to back off. Finally, he let himself relax a bit.
"You have no idea how wrong it feels to see your clanmates so hostile at you." Darkstripe joked.
Dustpelt just shook his head semi amused. "What brings you here? Usually, you'd go for something more covert."
Darkstripe let out a sigh. "Things are changing too quickly. Tigerstar already got in contact with Bloodclan. I made sure it would end poorly for him, but the Riverclan situation is escalating. Somehow he figured out Mistyfoot and Stonefur were related to Bluestar, so he decided to punish all the halfclan cats by forcing them into a sealed badger hole. He means to starve them to weakness. I know the truth. This is just some petty revenge at Bluestar. The thing that worries me is that Greystripe's kits are in the crossfire. If Stonefur and Mistyfoot are anything like Bluestar, Tigerstar will execute them for 'treason.' I can't keep them safe. Firestar need to raid soon."
A flurry of thoughts flew through Dustpelt's mind after that information dump. He made sure to commit it all to memory before responding.
"If you had to guess, how long will Tigerstar hold them before he decides to kill them?"
Darkstripe was familiar with Tigerstar's impatient nature. He'd get bored of trying to convert them rather quickly.
"I think you have at most three sunrises, but Tigerstar might try to make an example of one by sundown tomorrow. I think I could bail one out if they are the example, but I need them to cooperate with me to make it work."
Darkstripe turned back towards Riverclan throwing one last bit of caution to his former apprentice.
"Remember. This didn't come from me. I need plausible deniability for when you decide to raid. Attack me like I'm an enemy if I'm in your sight. I won't hold it against you."
Darkstripe made his way over to the prisoner hole. He wouldn't be able to smuggle them food in the daylight, but he might be able to have a private word with them. Darkstripe spotted the Shadowclan Tigerstar faithful guarding the hole.
"I'm taking over guard duty for now. Tigerstar wants to ascertain how willing they are to convert."
The guard nodded and padded off. Darkstripe waited a few heartbeats for the guard to be out of earshot before hunkering down by the hole.
"Listen. Things are only going to get worse if you don't work with me. Tigerstar's going to get bored of waiting for you to become weak enough to follow his command. I imagine he's going to try and execute one of you as a demonstration. I want to take advantage of that."
"You filthy cat! Why should we listen to you?" Spat a masculine voice.
"Because I'm trying to save you. I'm going to try to get Tigerstar to let me be the executioner. If we can fake the example's death, we can get you over to Thunderclan. A raid should soon follow. Hopefully they'll be able to spring the rest of you in the raid."
Silence was the response from the hole before a feminine voice replied. "What's your plan?"
The tension in Darkstripe's shoulders lessened since they seemed willing.
"I need one of you to appear aggressive. That'll make them the target of Tigerstar's example. I'll strike the example in the neck with a sheathed paw I got preemptively bleeding. It'll fake a neck wound. The example will play dead, and I'll drag them to the river. They should be able to make their own way to Thunderclan from there. The most important thing is to not give me away. The example will have to lay low until Tigerstar is gone. I can't give the clans an edge if Tigerstar catches and kills me."
Again, the silence reined. In hushed whispers Darkstripe couldn't make out, the two warriors decided who'd put their life in Darkstripe's paws. Finally, a masculine voice responded. "I'll be the example. Don't let us die."
"I wouldn't dream of it."