Hi hi hello everybody, welcome back!
This seems to be the more popular of my two fics so I'll try to write this one more, though of course Metropolis will still be updated.
Thanks everyone for the support, but I want to address a couple things before we get on with the chapter.
Firstly a couple people were complaining about the trigger warnings at the start of each chapter. I will say that due to the nature of the Warriors books themselves, I would be surprised if someone here now was triggered by the violence and blood (though if you are, hey, I don't judge), so the trigger warnings are more for the more major things when they occur (say for instance, I vividly describe someone being torn in two with all their guts spilling out or another topic more people may be uncomfortable with). So there won't be a trigger warning in every chapter, but if something new and more prominent is brought in, then I will warn, and I ask you to respect that so that people can have a comfortable experience reading this.
Secondly can y'all stop putting slurs in the reviews one's already been taken down the other is still there like- sure if you're a part of that minority then uh it would be weird for me to tell you you can't (especially if it's one of the ones I'm not part of), but do keep in mind some people still take offence and if it's not a minority you're a part of or you're using it in a targeted way then it becomes a problem. I will take down and report reviews. You can call me a pussy or a snowflake or whatever you like, I would rather be called it than just allow bigots in the review section. Thank you for your cooperation.
Oh, and to the guest who asked about the meaning of bayer, hopefully that gets explained in this chapter! It's my own definition of the word for this fic especially, so I hope it doesn't cause too much confusion.
Now enjoy!
Stagpaw shot to his paws and looked outside the Apprentices' Den, just in time to see the pale ginger tail of Foxpaw disappear into the undergrowth some way away from the guarded entrance. He knew what they were doing; that was a hidden passage out of camp that he'd not used since…well.
Thistlefleck was on guard at the mouth of camp, their back turned away from them, and Stagpaw reckoned the other apprentices had used that to their advantage to sneak past them and off into the snow-covered forest. Well, if they could do it, so could he.
He pattered silently out into camp, checked for prying eyes, then crept past Thistlefleck and towards the secret exit. Beneath the intricately woven tangle of brambles that made up camp walls, two large rocks concealed a small gap just big enough for an average-sized cat to sneak through. The area was laced with the scents of his friends, and a scrap of grey fur clung to one of the thorns. His eyes hadn't deceived him, they had definitely come this way.
Stagpaw crawled into the space, and in an instant he was hit with memories that he had buried deeply within his mind. Joyful, hushed voices giggling away as they crept out into the darkness, tiny paws making nary a sound. He breathed deeply, and he could smell the scents of a warm summer night, a time where nothing could go wrong, and…
There were tears in his eyes. Stagpaw blinked and wiped them away, moving out of the crawl-space quickly to stave off the rest of the memories.
That's over now, Stagpaw, calm yourself down,
Thistlefleck's dark green eyes were trained focusedly ahead of them, but Stagpaw could tell from the way they were flicking about that they were nervous. Who wouldn't be? There was a bloodthirsty eldritch horror beyond feline comprehension wandering around out there somewhere, and they'd been chosen to guard a camp full of innocent cats from it. He carefully made his way away from the warrior to avoid being spotted, and went as silently as possible so that he didn't give poor Thistlefleck a heart attack.
Stagpaw had thought it was cold in the day, but now without the sun to heat his pelt he realised it was freezing. The snow was beginning to freeze over and again it stung his paws and sent shivers through his body. The air was chilly, and every time he exhaled his breath formed a faint white cloud. The night was eerily quiet; not even an owl gave its signature hoot. Too quiet. Stagpaw didn't like it one bit.
He checked the scents in the air, picked out Smokepaw and Foxpaw's and began to follow them, his pace hurried. They too had clearly been trying to remain stealthy; barely a pawprint was left in the hardening snow. They seemed to be taking a long path, maybe to scout out as much of the territory as possible, maybe to avoid Thistlefleck or anyone close to camp. They twisted and turned, and Stagpaw was forced to concentrate against all his nerves and instincts to try and find them quickly.
What would he say to them when he found them? He'd have to convince them to come home, but Smokepaw was stubborn at the best of times. Maybe he'd have to threaten to tell on them or something…he'd feel guilty but it was most definitely for the best. Better them get put on camp care duty for a quarter-moon or something than dead, he supposed.
Time drew on as he wound through the forest after them, and his anxieties began to grow. What if they had gotten into trouble already? What if he was being too slow? What if he lost them? What if-
"Are you sure it's gonna be this way?"
Stagpaw exhaled a huge sigh of relief as he picked up on Foxpaw's voice, and he felt the hammering of his heart die down slightly as he picked up his pace to meet them.
"Well they've got to be somewhere, let's just go further in. The patrol said they had been quite far out, like next to the Hallowlands. We can go there."
"And you're sure you're allowed to be doing that?"
Both cats jumped as Stagpaw emerged out from the bushes, putting on his best authoritative voice. He did his best to frown disappointedly too.
"Stagpaw!" Foxpaw exclaimed, her fur fluffed out, "What are you doing here?"
"Coming after you two to stop you doing something stupid!" he replied, lashing his tail in exasperation, "Don't you know we're on lockdown? There are spiritslayers about for StarClan's sake!"
"And what of it?" Smokepaw snapped back defensively, "We aren't exactly gonna launch into battle against them, we're not that stupid. How did you even know what we were doing?"
Stagpaw rolled his eyes, "I overheard you talking in the den, mousebrain, and just because you're not launching into battle against them doesn't make it not dangerous. What if they smell you and follow you back to camp? Then the whole of EskerClan is in danger!"
"Well, I-" Smokepaw began, but without a valid response his voice trailed off, "...hmph…"
Foxpaw shuffled her paws nervously, "Stagpaw is right, Smokepaw, we can't hunt after them like this, we'll just get hurt and endanger others."
"But-"
"If you come now, I won't tell you off," Stagpaw tested, waiting for a response.
The grey tom paused, mulling it over with a scowl on his face, before sighing loudly and dramatically and responding, "UGH fine, but you're such a spoilsport, Stagpaw…"
"Well I just don't want you dying, is all." he responded, "Now let's hurry up and get back to camp before…"
A chill swept through his fur, different from the cold that already seeped into him, and a pit of dread suddenly sank like a stone in his stomach. The feeling was strange, but he'd felt it before, like a looming sense of impending doom, and suddenly he realised why it was familiar. His fur bristled, and Foxpaw tilted her head. Even Smokepaw seemed taken aback by his newly-formed anxiety.
"Stagpaw?" she asked, approaching him gingerly, "What's wrong?"
He turned to her to reply and felt his throat go dry, "Something…something bad…" he managed to choke out.
"Something bad?" Smokepaw asked, "What are you on about? Spit it out already."
He opened his mouth, glanced up and felt his heart stop.
Behind the other two apprentices loomed a massive creature that Stagpaw had never wanted to see again. Its fur was vantablack, its four eyes a deep crimson, and its bloodstained teeth dripped from its mouth like stalactites. Legs like a spider's arched from out its back and it was drawing steadily closer with silent pawsteps. The breath clogged in Stagpaw's throat and he felt his eyes widen in sheer horror.
There it was.
The spiritslayer.
"Stagpaw…what're you…"
Foxpaw slowly turned around to see what he was looking at and screamed.
The spiritslayer lunged.
"RUN!" Smokepaw howled, grabbing Foxpaw by the scruff and hauling her away as the spiritslayer's jaws closed where she had been barely a heartbeat ago. That snapped her into action, and both apprentices knocked into Stagpaw to snap him back to reality as it began to approach again.
He turned and sprinted faster than he'd ever ran in his entire life as the spiritslayer howled and began to give chase. Adrenaline kicked in and he felt his muscles work overtime to carry him away from the massive deadly creature behind them. Tears fell away from his eyes as he did so, and he ran blindly alongside the other apprentices into the forest.
"Where do we go?!" Foxpaw yelped, her breath coming fast and unsteady, "We can't lure it back to camp!"
"Take it to the Falls!" Smokepaw shouted back, more calm than the siblings but still clearly terrified. He'd always had the more logical brain in panicky situations, "We can try and lose it there, or lure it over the edge somehow if we're lucky!"
At once the three snapped into a different direction, mentally pinning their location further north to where a few waterfalls dropped down great heights to somewhere beyond their territory. Stagpaw risked a glance back to check how far they were from it and wished he hadn't. The spiritslayer was hot on their heels, spit drooling from its mouth and its front two spider legs arced over its shoulders towards them like a praying mantis' scythes. This thing was not giving up.
They raced on into the night, skimming closely past trees and undergrowth, and Stagpaw was sure his pawpads were bleeding from dashing carelessly over rocks. It didn't matter. Not when death was practically breathing on their tails.
He breathed faster and faster, running further and further until every part of his body ached and hurt. He couldn't die now, he didn't want to! This wasn't supposed to be happening, he was supposed to still be asleep! It wasn't fair!
Finally, finally, they reached the Falls.
"Come on, we can figure something out this way, I'm sure!" Smokepaw howled, darting around various rocks and small streams converging by the waterfall.
"How are we gonna play this?" Stagpaw asked, judging how far away the spiritslayer was again. The answer still remained not very much.
"It's a massive thing, hopefully it slips over or falls in the water or something and goes over the edge!" Smokepaw replied.
"We're working on hopefully?!" Foxpaw yelped in response, eyes widening even further.
"Well unless you've got a better plan, yeah!"
The ground here became slippery, and Stagpaw struggled to keep himself steady as his paws glided across frozen puddles. He looked up to see the great cliffs of waterfalls, some hanging frozen off the edge and others still relentlessly thundering down. The largest one, some distance in front of them, was still flowing. That was going to be their best bet if they wanted to somehow kill the spiritslayer.
He cried out as suddenly his right foreleg slipped beneath him, and he skidded uncomfortably to the ground, bashing his chin hard. Panic shot through him as he unsheathed his claws to try and get a grip, desperately pushing himself to stand up again as he felt the looming dread of the spiritslayer edging closer.
"Stagpaw, get up!" Smokepaw yelled, unhelpfully.
"I'm trying!" he sobbed back, his breathing speeding up.
He fought to regain control and eventually stood back up and shot off.
A snarl came from behind him. There was a rush of hot breath and then.
He screamed.
Wide jaws full of teeth clamped shut on his tail-
He couldn't stop it-
-cutting it clean in two.
-the magic bubbling in his throat.
He howled and for a second the spiritslayer stopped, confused. He didn't waste any time, thundering on and on to catch up with his denmates to escape the monster.
"Your tail!" Foxpaw gasped.
He didn't respond. He could barely choke out breaths in the panic, the unending terror and the agony muffled by adrenaline as he shot onwards. Past his sister, his friend.
The spiritslayer howled and gave chase again.
Finally they came up to the largest waterfall. The stream running off it was just too wide to jump, deep and fast-flowing, and the sight of it only deepened his terror. Blood was trailing from him, spattering the ground as he ran. He could hear Foxpaw crying, Smokepaw's ragged breathing and the growling and snarling and snapping of the beast after them.
What in the Hallowlands are we going to do?
Then he saw it; a single, weather-worn bare tree clinging weakly onto a rock just beside the river.
"O-Over there!" he called, his voice breaking with fear, hoping that they would get his message.
"Oh thank StarClan!" Smokepaw gasped, "We can knock it down and use it as a bridge!"
"Then what!?" Foxpaw yelped.
"I don't know, okay?!" Smokepaw snapped, his fear bringing frustration, "Maybe if StarClan is watching and they're feeling merciful enough the spiritslayer will just magically fall off!"
Foxpaw whimpered, but didn't respond.
Stagpaw reached it first. Adrenaline powering his muscles, he rammed shoulder-first into the tree and it groaned. Wincing as his shoulder throbbed in pain, he staggered back as his denmates skidded to a halt beside him, gasping for air.
"We've got to…got to push it," Smokepaw stated, swaying on his paws. Stagpaw could tell he was exhausted. It would be a miracle if he didn't pass out soon. He wasn't sure if StarClan was watching them right now, but he prayed for all their safeties.
The siblings nodded and all reared up onto their back legs, leaning on the tree and pushing with all their might. It began to sway, roots and rocks crackling at the base, and he sobbed and called, "Harder!"
He turned his head to check how long they had. Though his shout had slowed the spiritslayer down, it hadn't given them long and now they were immobile until they got this damn tree down. It was still bounding towards them.
His heart beating he rammed against the tree again and again, shaking out of fear and praying desperately to whatever forces were around them.
And finally, with a groan and a mighty snap, the tree fell.
It hit the river with a large splash, spraying them all with icy water, but it lodged in place, serving as a miracle bridge. Smokepaw cried out in sheer relief and bounded onto it, serving as the testing cross. He lodged his claws in at the slipperiness but didn't go down.
"Come on!" he called back. Stagpaw nodded to Foxpaw, allowing her to go up next. She blinked gratefully and scampered up, shaking and swaying but keeping her balance as she began to cross.
Slower than Smokepaw.
Stagpaw glanced between her and the approaching spiritslayer with growing anxiety. He didn't want her to slip, but at the same time, if she didn't get a move on soon…
Well, he wouldn't get a chance to cross.
Noticing this, Smokepaw tried to encourage her across, "Come on, Foxpaw, you've got to go a little faster!"
"If I go any faster I'm going to slip!" she replied, "The spray is making it wetter, I'm not sure if it will hang on!"
Stagpaw shuffled his paws. He needed to get on right now. He turned to face the spiritslayer. It was just across from him now, eyeing him up. He watched as it growled and began to stalk towards him, almost as if it knew he had him cornered and he couldn't go anywhere. It was having fun. It was taking its time now. The sight of its eyes paralysed him in fear.
This was it.
The end.
His end.
"Get on, Stagpaw, we can't waste anymore time!" Foxpaw howled, snapping him back to reality. He turned quickly and scrambled up, realising quickly that Foxpaw was right. The wood was just getting wetter. Soon, one of them was going to slip. His sister still hadn't reached the other side yet.
He paused again as the final option came to him, the one option he hadn't wanted to take. It would mean exposing his secret and shaming him in the Clan's eyes, but if he refused to do it any longer he would die. Foxpaw and Smokepaw would die. And it would be his fault, because he was a coward, a selfish coward.
Just like he was all those moons ago.
Making his decision, he took a deep breath and turned around, planting himself in the tree and narrowing his eyes in determination. The spiritslayer was running now, preparing to jump at him he imagined. He felt the magic grow in his throat again, rolling off his tongue and firmly he shouted.
"That's enough! Stand down!"
And the spiritslayer stopped.
Smokepaw and Foxpaw gasped, and he briefly heard his sister hopping off the edge of the bridge. He began to back up, slowly, very cautiously.
"Follow me." he instructed, keeping his voice as level and imperative as possible, "Do not attack."
The spiritslayer agreed, unwillingly. He watched as its great paws followed him onto the log bridge, its extra spider legs lodging into the sides for support. It seemed too big to be on it, like it would overbalance at any moment. Backing up further and taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart, he told it to do just that with a tremor in his voice.
"Fall. Go into the water. Leave us alone."
Its eyes widened, but it could do nothing to stop itself from tipping over and falling into the current. Stagpaw watched with an awful feeling in his stomach as it snarled and shrieked, splashing in the raging cold waters before disappearing over the edge of the second waterfall in the stream with a last howl that echoed throughout the cliffs below.
He stared, empty of feeling, for a long second before hunching and throwing up into the waters below.
"...you're a bayer." Smokepaw said, his voice flat with disbelief.
Stagpaw glanced over, but couldn't meet his eyes.
"Wow, Stagpaw, that's so cool!" Foxpaw exclaimed, not matching the tone, "You just saved our lives!"
"You're a bayer." Smokepaw said again, his voice rising in volume.
"I am," he nodded, an uncomfortable sensation rushing through him. He got down from the log and sat down, needing the moment to calm himself and steady his thoughts.
"You didn't tell us." the grey tom took a step closer.
Foxpaw tilted her head, confusion in her eyes, "Well, he's only just found out, hasn't he?"
"Do you think someone who didn't think they were a bayer could just tell a spiritslayer to "stop" with that much confidence?"
"I…"
Stagpaw looked to the ground as Smokepaw approached.
"You knew exactly what you were and you didn't tell us. Didn't tell the Clan. Even though we're lacking any bayers, and you could have prevented all this the second it happened." his tone had turned accusing, angry.
"Don't be too harsh on him, Smokepaw, I'm sure he just wasn't sure or nervous!" Foxpaw prompted, coming to stand beside him, "Besides, he just saved our lives! We should be thanking him! And he's injured, we should just focus on getting back to camp!"
"He may have saved our lives, but he SURE AS HELL DIDN'T SAVE LARCHKIT OR AMBERVOX'S!"
Stagpaw flinched at the names, but the memories had already swarmed him. He knew this would have happened if he'd told someone.
"I bet that was when you knew, wasn't it?" Smokepaw snapped, leaning down and forcing him to look at him, "I'm right, aren't it? TELL ME I'M RIGHT!"
Stagpaw gasped and looked away, "You're right."
The grey tom sniffed and began to pace, "And you managed to save your own life, but not your rescuer's and certainly not my brother's."
He didn't respond.
"And you've been keeping this a secret because you didn't want everyone to know that you failed. That you're selfish."
No, that's not right!
He managed to find his voice and choke out, "N-No, that's not true."
Smokepaw turned, "Then why is it?"
"I…I can't go down there," he whispered, "I can't see another one of those creatures."
His yellow eyes flared with a rage stronger than Stagpaw had ever seen. Then, slowly, he turned and bounded back across the tree bridge, beginning to sprint back to camp.
Stagpaw staggered to his feet, "N-No, Smokepaw, please!" he cried out.
But the apprentice was gone.
Groaning, he sank to the ground. Foxpaw, who had been watching the confrontation go by with a lost expression, slowly padded over and sat next to him, pressing against him comfortingly.
"If…it's any help, Stagpaw, I…I don't blame you, for anything."
He looked over at her. She was smiling, albeit sadly.
He tried to smile back, "Thanks…"
"We don't have to tell them."
"Smokepaw probably already has."
"We can say he's lying."
Stagpaw considered it for a long moment, then he sighed, "No…he's probably right. I need to accept some punishment for what I've done."
"No you don't, I…"
He looked at her evenly and she sighed.
"Damnit, I don't wanna lose you...not this soon after mamma"
"I'm sorry, I…" he stared at the ground, "I should've told you."
"It's okay, I forgive you."
There was a long moment of silence before Foxpaw stood up again, "Well, I'm going to hate this, but we've got to get back, especially so your tail doesn't get infected."
"Oh, right…yeah."
He turned to see what was left of his tail. The spiritslayer had taken a good chunk off, now all that was left was a bloody, fluffy stump. It was disgusting to look at, and his sense of balance was probably gone, but there was worse to be mourning.
He got to his paws, and together he and his sister set slowly back off to camp.
So to explain the rankings, basically:
A clawtooth is just a normal warrior. One without any magical powers or anything, who fights and hunts with claw and tooth. Clawtooth.
A mage is a cat with any type of magical abilities. They can be anything, but are all classed into one group, except for:
Bayers, a specific type of mage with the ability to control anything attacking them with their voice, especially spiritslayers. They're used to keep the territories safe from spiritslayers that have emerged from the Hallowlands, basically. but not much research has been done into their other abilites, so who knows if that's all they're capable of? ;)
I hope this clears it up to anyone confused, and hope you enjoyed the chapter!
See you next time!