The warm, soft greenleaf wind, tinged with the scent of heather and grass, whistled through an opening in a burrow nestled in the walls of a moorland hollow. Two cats sat in the center of the den, a ginger-and-white tabby tom with his head bowed, and a large gray-and-white tom, sitting in front of him with his head raised. Between the two cats laid a dead hare. The speckled tom watched the cat in front of him bow, and then finally he cleared his throat.

"Lift your head, Swiftheart," the tom ordered, his blue gaze never leaving the pelt of the ginger-and-white tabby tom, who prostrated in front of him.

"As you wish, Cloudstar," Swiftheart meowed, lifting his head from the ground and meeting his leader's level stare. "You summoned me. I hope it is okay that I brought some fresh-kill for us to share."

"That's quite all right," Cloudstar meowed, his admiring gaze sweeping over the hare that laid limp in front of his white paws. Before taking a bite, he turned his gaze back to Swiftheart. "You have been my deputy for a few moons now, and I think we have some things to discuss."

Alarm prickled in Swiftheart's stomach, and for a moment, a frown threatened to fall upon his face. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked, stopping the frown from crossing his face. He had to keep his level expression – that was what he was known for, after all, maintaining a strict composure even in the wildest of storms.

"No," Cloudstar replied, shaking his head. "I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. After my fallout with my first deputy, I thought I'd never trust again. But then, I appointed you, and I feel like I finally have a cat I can confide in. Thank you, Swiftheart, for reminding me how to trust once more."

"You're welcome," Swiftheart replied, the fur on his shoulders pricking at the genuine warmth in Cloudstar's voice. "It is but my job to serve you, Cloudstar."

"Oh, don't be so modest," Cloudstar said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked down back towards the hare that laid between them. "Now, let us eat." He tore one of the hare's hind legs off and pushed it towards Swiftheart. Swiftheart gazed at the hind leg as Cloudstar pulled another piece for himself.

"To us," Cloudstar meowed.

"To us," Swiftheart echoed. His eyes were trained coldly on his leader as the gray-and-white cat took a bite into the hare's flesh. The WindClan leader chewed slowly, his eyes drifting towards the entrance of his den. Swiftheart shifted his paws nervously, wondering if he had successfully completed his job. His worries subsided when Cloudstar began to cough.

"Cloudstar?" Swiftheart asked, feigning alarm. Cloudstar doubled over, breaking into a coughing fit. Blood fell from his mouth as spasms rippled through his body. The color started to leave his face, and he collapsed into a heap on the ground, still jerking. Swiftheart hovered over his dying leader.

"Y-y-you did this," Cloudstar croaked out between his gagging, his blue eyes bulging. "I-it was you…"

"Well, I wasn't going to wait for you to lose all your lives, now was I." Swiftheart leaned into the gray-and-white tom's body, watching him with callous amber eyes. "That would be quite the biggest burden, you see."

"C-curse you…" Cloudstar gasped. "Y-you traitor. You beast. You… you viper!"

"Viper, am I?" Swiftheart echoed. "Then so be it. I will be Swiftstar, the viper of WindClan." His amber eyes narrowed. "You're weak, Cloudstar. Your approach was getting us nowhere in the world we live in. I may be the son of a rogue, but there is a reason you appointed me deputy. I will make WindClan a prosperous Clan, one that will be spoken of for generations to come."

Cloudstar's mouth was open, clearly trying to speak, but nothing was coming out. The gray-and-white cat writhed, crimson foam bubbling from his mouth. A devious chuckle left Swiftheart's lips as he circled his dying leader. "Yes, they will look upon me. Perhaps they will not like how I run things. But this was necessary, Cloudstar, even though it pains me. Surely you smelled the poison in the rabbit? How could you not? You are a fool. If you were stronger, I wouldn't have had to do this." Swiftheart shoved his muzzle into Cloudstar's. "But I had to."

How is this bastard still alive? The poison is so potent it should have taken all his lives by now, Swiftheart thought with irritation as his leader's spasming body movements continued to jerk around the den. Why not pass the time? "Oh, how peculiar," hummed the ginger-and-white tabby. "These hills are but four fox-lengths long, and the path to the moorland is lined with plum and cherry trees, growing side by side."

Just as Cloudstar took his final, agonizing last breath, Swiftheart muttered the last verse. "Oh, how peculiar these hills are." When the gray-and-white tom finally stopped moving, Swiftheart looked over his body. The tom no longer rose, and the fight for his life had stopped. He stuck all the way through the end, the ginger-and-white tabby thought to himself.

The warmth of the greenleaf wind had sharply diminished, turning it into a frigid chill. Had it watched what Swiftheart had done to his leader? Swiftheart took a moment to examine the surroundings around him, the walls of the tree he was sitting in aged and dented. This den was now his. Cloudstar's warriors were now his own. He commanded WindClan now. He glanced back at Cloudstar's body, frowning. Surely his own warriors would frown upon him killing his own Clan leader. Swiftheart could justify his reasons, but he knew it wouldn't look that well. I'll just have to make it look like the rabbit was sick.

Carefully, Swiftheart removed all poisonous residue from the rabbit and dug a hole in the floor of the den. He would hide it when he had time, but he couldn't ignore his paws, giddy with excitement that he was to be the new Clan leader. Swiftheart allowed an expression of grief to fall over his face, and once he had the expression memorized, he padded out of the leader's den, his tail trailing to the ground and his head bowed low. He could already feel the confused expressions from the WindClan warriors as they went about their daily activities, and their light pawsteps thudded across the ground as they padded over to Swiftheart.

"Swiftheart?" asked Petalspring, the mate of Swiftheart. Swiftheart looked up, meeting his mate's pale blue eyes. "What's wrong?"

More cats gathered around Petalspring. Swiftheart spotted his sometimes friend, sometimes enemy, Rabbitfur, among the crowd. Rabbitfur's green eyes were narrowed. Hawkfeather and Oakcloud, two more of Swiftheart's friends, glanced at their deputy with confusion written all over their faces. Just as nearly the entire Clan gathered, Swiftheart lifted his head.

"Cloudstar is dead," the ginger-and-white tabby announced.

Cries of outrage and disbelief ravaged the crowd of cats. Petalspring's blue eyes widened with horror, and Hawkfeather gasped in disbelief. Rabbitfur unsheathed his claws, and Oakcloud's tail lashed from side to side. More of the cats joined in their caterwauling, and Swiftheart lifted his tail for silence.

"I went into his den earlier and found his body," Swiftheart went on. "It seems as if he had eaten a sick hare, for I saw the remains of it on the ground and on his mouth." It's not exactly a lie. "He must have fallen ill on the spot and died. I can only hope he did not suffer for too long."

The WindClan cats hung their heads in grief for their dead leader. Swiftheart's amber gaze scanned the crowd, his eyes narrowing into slits. I sure hope none of you have any qualms about my leadership. He waited for a cat to raise their concerns, and when no cat spoke, he went on. "It is a tragedy that our beloved leader lost his last life today. But I swear to you all that his death will not be in vain, for I will bring a united WindClan in his wake."

There was silence from the WindClan cats, and Swiftheart felt his ears start to flatten. Petalspring finally called out from the crowd, "Swiftstar! Swiftstar! Swiftstar!" Her blue eyes were shining as the chant was taken up from the rest of the crowd. Swiftheart felt a grin plaster itself on his face. He had the support of his Clanmates.

Yes, Swiftheart thought to himself. I am Swiftstar, the leader of WindClan.