Chapter 38 Preparations for a Trial

"TRAITOR!" Feathershine yowled.

She leaped at Lightclaw, only for him to leap and pin Feathershine down. His claws were unsheathed and he barred his teeth, Feathershine was stunned.

"Lightclaw, get off of her!" Whitestar ordered.

Lightclaw glared at Feathershine but said nothing. He got off of her and Crystalheart and Whitestar moved Feathershine away from Lightclaw. Everyone looked at Lightclaw, enraged.

"What have you done, Lightclaw?!" Brightshine asked.

Lightclaw could tell that Brightshine was grieving, after all, she was Snaketooth's apprentice. Her head was down and tears were streaming from her eyes. Wolffang was comforting her, and after a few minutes, Brightshine looked at Lightclaw again.

"He was my mentor!" she yowled, enraged.

"How could you do this, Lightclaw, what were you thinking?!" Crystalheart hissed.

"I was thinking like any warrior would defending himself, Crystalheart." He growled.

"TRAITOR!" Glowfur yowled.

"Enough!" Whitestar yowled.

He got in front of Lightclaw to prevent another fight. Meanwhile, Cloudberry and Doespring were treating Lightclaw's injuries.

"We don't know what happened in that den, Crystalheart." Whitestar begin.

"Are you kidding me, Whitestar?! Look at Lightclaw, he's covered in Snaketooth's blood. Tell him, Icetuft!" Feathershine interrupted.

She and everyone else looked at Icetuft, which made the tom nervous. Lightclaw could tell that he was choosing his words carefully, as he was trying hard not to anger Feathershine.

"Don't say another word, Icetuft." Whitestar meowed.

"Dad, are we going to take Lightclaw to the Star Council?" Brightshine asked.

"No, No…I don't trust them with Lightclaw." Whitestar meowed.

Lightclaw's eyes went wide with surprise. He hadn't considered or thought of the Star Council since the trail. Whitestar was right though, there was no way the Star Council would treat him fairly after that little stunt. That and the fact that one of the members can read minds. Whitestar thought about what to do, then headed towards the highrock and got on top of it.

"Everyone, gather here please. Lightclaw, go to the punishment den." He meowed.

The clan had gathered, while Cloudberry and Doespring escorted him to the den. After a while, both medicine cats joined the crowd.

"Now, as you know, the last time we went to the Star Council, they betrayed our trust, so I want to try having a trial here, where we can decide Lightclaw's fate." Whitestar meowed.

"Hold on, Whitestar, you can't get involved, you're Lightclaw's father. And Daisypetal can't get involved, she's Snaketooth's sister. Cloudberry also can't get involved, she's Lightclaw's aunt." Feathershine pointed out.

"I can't get involved either, dad. Lightclaw's my brother and Snaketooth was my mentor." Brightshine added.

"I can't get involved either, Whitestar, Lightclaw was my apprentice." Foxwhisker meowed.

"Me, mom, and Blightpaw can't get involved either. Lightclaw's my mentor and Snaketooth was my father." Blossompaw meowed.

"I don't think I can get involved, Whitestar. I grew up with Lightclaw and Snaketooth was my friend." Wolffang meowed.

"Well speaking of friends, Whitestar, Frozenpelt can't get involved either, he's Lightclaw's friend." Feathershine meowed.

"That also means that me, Echoshine, and Moonsong can't get involved either. Snaketooth was our friend." Crystalheart pointed out.

"Whitestar, I can't be involved either, I raised Lightclaw." Shinefur meowed.

"I can't get involved, dad. Lightclaw's my half-brother and mentor." Stormeyes meowed.

"I can't be involved either, Whitestar, Snaketooth was my friend and I might feel a little biased against Lightclaw." Glowfur admitted.

"That's nearly half of the clan, Whitestar." Cloudberry pointed out.

"And we can't be involved, Whitestar, we're slaves." Darkheart meowed.

"What about the elders, do they count?" Shimmerwave asked.

"Even if we did, I couldn't get involved, Snaketooth was my nephew, Shimmerwave." Patchtuft meowed.

"And I couldn't either." Archwillow meowed.

"That means that the only cats left are Shimmerwave, Glimmerpelt, Blizzardpelt, and Ivypool." Shinefur meowed.

"Ivypool can't get involved, she's Lightclaw's friend!" Brightshine yowled.

"I can keep a fair, open mind, Brightshine." Ivypool retorted.

"Hah! I doubt that." Crystalheart mockingly, doubted.

"And you don't think I will, Crystalheart." Ivypool growled.

She was touching noses with Crystalheart, both cats glared and bared their fangs at each other. Other cats murmured and whispered among each other.

"This why we have the Star Council, Whitestar, to deal with situations like these, why don't we just let the Star Council deal with this?" Feathershine yowled, annoyed.

"Are you kidding me, Feathershine? I wouldn't even trust them to treat me fairly. Lets just go along with the trial, Whitestar, Ivypool promises to be fair." Shinefur meowed.

Whitestar thought about this. Throughout history, if a cat got in trouble, they always took them to the Star Council for a trial, but now, Lightclan no longer trusted the Star Council and half the clan was close to the deceased or the accused. After a few minutes of thinking, Whitestar decided that it was best if Shimmerwave, Glimmerpelt, Blizzardpelt, and Ivypool did the trial.

"Alright, I will allow Ivypool to be involved in the trial, if she promises to keep a fair, open mind during the trial and put all personal beliefs aside." Whitestar meowed.

"Yes, I promise, Whitestar." Ivypool meowed.

"Good, you may use my den to conduct the trial." Whitestar meowed.

Ivypool and Blizzardpelt nodded and they, along with Shimmerwave and Glimmerpelt, went into Whitestar's den to get ready. Whitestar joined Cloudberry and Shinefur. They, along with the rest of the clan, were waiting for one of their names to be called to testify against the accused, testify for the victim or the accused, or ask the witnesses questions. Meanwhile, Flowershine and some of the other slaves left the camp and headed towards the punishment den. Flowershine was the first to enter and saw Lightclaw laying on his nest and licking his wounds. Lightclaw stopped licking and looked at Flowershine.

"Oh, hey Flowershine." Lightclaw greeted.

"Hey Lightclaw, I heard about what you did to Snaketooth. Nice job." She meowed.

"Yeah, you sure gave my old master a good beating that's for sure." Loudtooth meowed.

She approached Lightclaw with herbs, with Doespring behind her, carrying herbs as well. Lightclaw had forgotten that Snaketooth was Loudtooth's master. Nettlespring, Dustfoot, Deerpaw, Leaftumble, Petalflower, and Tinydawn entered the den and sat down. Loudtooth and Doespring were applying herbs on Lightclaw, the burning pain from the wounds had little to no effect on Lightclaw. Flowershine looked at him, grateful.

"Thank you, Lightclaw. Really, for what you did for Mudpaw, I owe you my life." She meowed.

"Yes, thank you, Lightclaw, you saved our daughter's life." Dustfoot meowed, grateful.

"Thank you, Lightclaw. Really, thank you, I'll never forget this." Nettlespring meowed, grateful.

"It was the least I could do, Dustfoot, Nettlespring, any other brave cat would do the same." Lightclaw meowed.

He got sad for a bit, as old wounds opened for him. Lightclaw looked at Tinydawn, she was thinking the same thing. Lightclaw remembered how he failed to protect Darkpaw and that Tinydawn and Blackfur were living without their son and Flowershine and Petalflower were living without their brother. Lightclaw felt guilt at the fact that he failed to protect Darkpaw, but managed to save Mudpaw. It wasn't fair, but there was nothing Lightclaw could do. Loudtooth stopped applying herbs.

"So Lightclaw, how does it feel?" she asked, smirking.

"It felt…nice, Loudtooth." He meowed.

He remembered the fight, Lightclaw was covered in scratches and he and Snaketooth were fighting each other with all they had, until Lightclaw was on top of Snaketooth. One paw was raised, claws unsheathed, and the killing blow in motion. Lightclaw will never forget the look of horror in Snaketooth's eyes and the enjoyment Lightclaw felt from it. He wondered if Snaketooth had felt the same thing when Snaketooth would ever abuse Loudtooth or the other slaves. One thing's for certain though, one cat down, five more to go.