Chapter 37 Snaketooth's Death
A few days passed, Lightclaw was eating a mouse and was waiting for Blossompaw to come back from the dawn patrol. Lightclaw was halfway done with his mouse, then suddenly, Blightpaw, Blossompaw, Crystalheart, Moonsong, Icetuft, and Snaketooth returned to camp. Lightclaw was alarmed and for a good reason, Blossompaw had a nasty scratch on her left eye, but everyone else was fine.
"Blossompaw!" Lightclaw meowed, shocked.
Blossompaw looked like she was on the verge of tears, she ran past Lightclaw and headed towards Cloudberry's den.
"Blossompaw, what happened?" Lightclaw meowed, concerned.
Blightpaw tried to follow Blossompaw, but stopped when she realized the Blossompaw wanted to be alone. She looked at Lightclaw.
"Blightpaw, what happened?" he asked.
"I…I don't know, I just saw dad pinning Blossompaw, than she got up and ran back crying." She explained.
Lightclaw was enraged and headed towards Cloudberry's den. He peaked inside and saw Cloudberry tending to Blossompaw's eye. Lightclaw entered the den and sat in front of Blossompaw.
"Blossompaw, what happened? Blightpaw told me you got into a fight with Snaketooth?" he asked.
"Yeah, I found Thorn on our territory again, standing over a dead rabbit. I warned him to get off our territory, but than dad showed up, so I pinned Thorn down and dad was impressed. Than Thorn kicked me off and ran away, and I didn't give chase. Moonsong and Crystalheart chased after Thorn, and then, dad approached me and was enraged. That's when he clawed my eye." Blossompaw meowed.
Cloudberry was horrified, but Lightclaw was enraged. He stormed out of Cloudberry's den and saw Snaketooth, Feathershine, and Icetuft talking. All three cats looked at Lightclaw, but Snaketooth gave him a death glare. Lightclaw returned it with a glare of his own. He was about to approach Snaketooth, but Daisypetal called for Snaketooth, so he headed towards Whitestar's den. Cloudberry left her den, sat next to Lightclaw, and watched Snaketooth.
"I'm not surprised Snaketooth hit Blossompaw. There were rumors that Viperfang was abusive to Poppycloud, Snaketooth, Icetuft, and Daisypetal." She meowed.
"Viperfang?" Lightclaw asked, confused.
"Poppycloud's mate and Snaketooth, Daisypetal, and Icetuft's father." Cloudberry explained.
Lightclaw nodded and looked at Icetuft, Daisypetal, and Feathershine. It made sense now, it explained why Snaketooth, Icetuft, and Daisypetal were the way they were. The nerve of Snaketooth and Feathershine to call out Lightclaw for hitting Blossompaw when for all he knew, they could've been hitting Blossompaw and Blightpaw all along. Lightclaw shook his head and headed back to the medicine cat den to comfort Blossompaw.
That Night
It was nighttime and Lightclaw was asleep. All was quiet and peaceful, all be it, the crickets chirped their night song and fireflies danced in forest. Suddenly, two cats stood outside of the punishment den, their shadows filled the moonlit den. Lightclaw slowly started to wake up, having some sort of feeling that something was wrong.
"LIGHTCLAW!" a voice yelled.
Now, Lightclaw was fully awake and turned around. Standing at the entrance, was Icetuft and Snaketooth, and Icetuft was holding something in his mouth.
"Lightclaw, it seems that your rhetoric has made my daughter soft." Snaketooth growled.
"And, what did you expect?" he asked, annoyed.
"Blossompaw was supposed to be a my little girl, but ever since you became her mentor, we've been fighting like spatting foxes. So…" Snaketooth meowed.
Icetuft dropped whatever was in his mouth, it rolled all the way to the middle of the den, and started to moan. It was a cat, a young apprentice, and barely enough moonlight revealed a dark brown she-cat. It was Mudpaw, Blossompaw's slave, Flowershine's apprenctice, Deerpaw, Duskstorm, Nightcloud, and Shadowstripe's sister, Mistyheart's adopted sister, and Nettlespring and Dustfoot's kit. Lightclaw was shocked, Mudpaw looked beat up and he wasn't sure if she was going to make it or not. He looked at Icetuft and the white tom looked upset, scared, and didn't dare look at Lightclaw or Snaketooth. Snaketooth placed an unsheathed paw on Mudpaw's throat.
"Here's the deal Lightclaw, either stop telling Blossompaw your anti-slave rhetoric or I kill this useless slave." Snaketooth threatened.
Lightclaw looked at Mudpaw, she looked horribly beaten, there were scratches all over her and she was bleeding bad. Lightclaw looked at Snaketooth's paws and could see the blood on them. It all made sense now and Lightclaw couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" Snaketooth asked, confused.
"I just find it so funny that you chastise me for hitting Blossompaw when she was a kit, yet you hit Blossompaw for having different opinions and you've beaten Mudpaw for no good reason." Lightclaw meowed.
"Careful Lightclaw, you're walking a very thin line here." Snaketooth warned.
"Snaketooth, what is he talking about? You told me that loner scratched Blossompaw!" Icetuft meowed, shocked.
"Tell me, Snaketooth, do you get off by hurting cats? How many have you hurt, Snaketooth; Blightpaw? Feathershine?" Lightclaw growled.
"ENOUGH! Mudpaw and Deerpaw are two worthless slave apprentices. I can't believe you defend them, Lightclaw, I should've killed you when I had the chance." Snaketooth yowled.
Lightclaw knew exactly what he was talking about, the trial, Snaketooth knocking him out, Darkpaw's death. Memories flooded back to Lightclaw, this was all Whitestar, Brightshine, Wolffang, Moon, Daisypetal, and Snaketooth's fault that Darkpaw was dead, it was their fault that all of this happened and now, Lightclaw had a chance to finally get revenge. He wouldn't dare let Snaketooth's words get to him and smiled.
"You're just like your father, Snaketooth, you're just like Viperfang." Lightclaw meowed.
Snaketooth got off of Mudpaw and unsheathed his claws.
"Snaketooth." Icetuft meowed, alarmed.
"What happened Snaketooth, did Viperfang hit you so hard that you decided to hit your mate and kits? I don't know what Poppycloud went through, but do you want to know what she told me, before she died?" Lightclaw asked.
Snaketooth growled and was enraged.
"Snaketooth, don't listen to him, he's just getting under your skin." Icetuft warned.
"She told me that she was disappointed in you, you and Daisypetal." Lightclaw meowed.
Enraged, Snaketooth yowled and attacked Lightclaw. Lightclaw scratched Snaketooth's shoulder and Snaketooth bit Lightclaw's shoulder. Both cats continued fighting and Icetuft was horrified. He picked up Mudpaw and dragged her out of the punishment den. Lightclaw fought as hard as he could with Snaketooth, both cats were suffering from scratches, bites, and were bleeding bad. Lightclaw wouldn't dare let Snaketooth win, after everything he had done, after everything Lightclaw suffered because of him, Lightclaw would be the one walking out of the den tonight.
Meanwhile
Icetuft ran back to camp with Mudpaw and placed her down in the middle of the camp.
"WHITESTAR! DAISYPETAL! CLOUDBERRY!" Icetuft yowled.
Cats started to wake up and sluggishly leave their dens and started to gather around Icetuft. Whitestar and Daisypetal were fully awake and rushed over to Icetuft.
"What's wrong, Icetuft?" Whitestar asked, worried.
"Lightclaw…Snaketooth…they're both fighting." He meowed, panting.
"What?!" Shinefur meowed, shocked.
Whitestar quickly rushed to the punishment den with Cloudberry, Daisypetal, and Shinefur behind him. When they got to the den, Whitestar was the first to enter and came across a horrifying sight. Inside, Lightclaw was covered in blood, matted fur, and scratches and was standing over Snaketooth's beaten and bloody body. Shinefur, Daisypetal, and Cloudberry entered the den and was shocked by the sight.
"SNAKETOOTH!" Daisypetal screamed.
Daisypetal and Cloudberry rushed over to him and Cloudberry was the first to examine him.
"This is bad, we need to get him to my den, now! Daisypetal, help me." She ordered.
She and Daisypetal managed to grab Snaketooth at both ends, and carried him out of the punishment den. Shinefur ran to Lightclaw, as Lightclaw sat down, panting from the fight.
"Oh Lightclaw, this looks bad." She meowed, horrified.
Daisypetal and Cloudberry carried Snaketooth back to camp and as they did, cats were horrified by what they saw.
"SNAKETOOTH!" Feathershine cried.
She, Blossompaw, and Blightpaw ran to the crowd and were horrified to find Snaketooth like this.
"How bad is it, Daisypetal?" Feathershine asked.
Daisypetal looked unsure, she and Cloudberry carried Snaketooth into Cloudberry's den. After that, Daisypetal left the den. Lightclaw, Shinefur, and Whitestar entered the camp and cats were horrified by the sight of Lightclaw.
"Doespring, I need your help!" Cloudberry shouted.
Doespring was busy tending to Mudpaw's injuries, her mentor and her family were a few feet back and were worried. Doespring was worried, it was a part of the slave law for the slave medicine cat to heal a warrior before a slave, and in this case, Snaketooth and Lightclaw were terribly injured, but so was Mudpaw.
"It's alright, Doespring, go help Snaketooth, I'll be fine." Lightclaw meowed.
"Lightclaw!" Whitestar meowed, shocked.
"Dad, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Doespring, go help Snaketooth." He insisted.
Doespring nodded and looked at Mudpaw, her bleeding had stopped and her wounds were patched up, Doespring was confident of leaving her alone. She looked at Mudpaw's family.
"You may see her now." Doespring meowed.
She rushed over to Cloudberry's den and Mudpaw's family gathered around her. Flowershine, Dustfoot and Nettlespring leaned over and were comforting Mudpaw, while her siblings and the other slaves talked amongst themselves. The other warriors gathered outside of Cloudberry's den, some commenting on how beaten up Lightclaw, Mudpaw, and Snaketooth and others were worried about Snaketooth. Crystalheart, Glowfur, Moonsong, and Echoshine looked at Lightclaw and glared at him. Lightclaw flicked his ear as a response, while Whitestar and Shinefur sat by him, protectively. Feathershine paced back and forth, clearly distressed and worried about her mate, while Blossompaw and Blightpaw were comforting each other. After a few moments, Cloudberry came out of her den; blood was on her paws and she looked sad.
"I'm sorry, Feathershine, but Snaketooth didn't make it." She meowed.
Feathershine wailed, Blossompaw, Daisypetal, Icetuft, Brightshine, and Blightpaw started to cry, and the rest of the warriors were in shock or in disbelief. Lightclaw, on the other hand, was quietly satisfied. During the fight, Lightclaw made sure to make Snaketooth suffer, he also made sure to hits the spots where he would bleed profusely, but he made sure to not hit the throat. As far as he was concerned, Snaketooth was dead, he could never hurt anyone again, and Darkpaw would be avenged. Lightclaw had to admit, this felt good, he didn't care about the pain he was in, he didn't care about the cats he had hurt, he couldn't help but enjoy the scene that was unfolding. He was enjoying it so much that he had to make a quick smile. When everyone started to look at Lightclaw, all they saw was a cold and uncaring look.