~Warnings: Fighting, blood, insults, murder, death~ “I was just attacked by rouges!” Flowersong glanced at her before racing out. Snowpelt slowly rose to her paws and walked to the exit of the medicine den, looking into camp, where Whitestar stood, breathing heavily, a terrified look on her face and blood staining her pelt. Brightspot rushed forward and started to ask “What happe-” “You!” Whitestar shrieked as Skylight stepped out of the warrior den. Skylight stepped forward as she asked “What?” Whitestar took a step back as Skylight stepped forward and snapped, fear clear in her voice “Thier leader has the same scar on her paw that you have!” Skylight froze, her voice darker as she asked again “What?” Her brothers rushed out, alarm on their faces as they looked between Whitestar and Skylight. Whitestar snapped “And, and the other two had the scars each of you have!” Sunstrike and Stickslip looked to Skylight, Stickslip asking in fear “Did they find us?” And Sunstrike snapping “No one else back there was supposed to know about the clans!” Brightspot looked to Skylight and asked “What’s going on, Skylight?” Skylight took a breath, then lifted her head to address the gathering cats “The rogues that attacked Whitestar are cats from the place me and my brothers came from, and they are very dangerous. At best, they are just rogues who have split from our old group and stumbled onto clan territory, and only attacked because they have been taught that any cat who isn’t their ally is an enemy.” Brightspot asked “And at worst?” Skylight sighed and said “They may be an advance patrol of something much larger, meant to scout out the area and return with information.” Brightspot nodded and paused for a moment, clearly considering. All cats turned to Brightspot, waiting for her decision. But Snowpelt’s eyes drew to Whitestar, who began to creep over to the medicine den, approaching Snowpelt. As she came near, Snowpelt glared at the cat that ruined her life. Whitestar shrunk slightly under her glare, but came closer and quietly said in a small, vulnerable voice “Snowpelt, I-” Snowpelt ignored her, looking back towards the cats in camp as Brightspot lifted her head and said “We are going to find and capture these cats immediately.” Skylight nodded and said “We cannot let them leave the territories before we know why they came here.” ‘You need to go. Make sure those cats won’t have a chance to talk. Otherwise, you’re in trouble. You need to tie up loose ends.’ Snowpelt nodded and went to step out when suddenly Whitestar quietly said “Please, please don’t leave me. I don’t want to be left alone without any family” Her voice was so small, so desperate. ‘Family? She thinks she can even call herself your family anymore, after everything she’s done? How dare she?’ Shadow hissed, and Snowpelt slowly looked back at her with utter disgust and hissed “Family? Starclan, you really are a stupid, self-absorbed fox-heart.” Whitestar flinched and Snowpelt walked out into the main part of camp as Brightspot started ordering “Skylight, Sunstrike, Stickslip, Quailclaw, Cloudfrost, and Crystalnight!” Snowpelt stepped out and made eye contact with Brightspot, who nodded and said “And Snowpelt!” The patrol immediately took off through the woods, weaving through the trees. Snowpelt hung near the back, while Skylight led. Skylight only stopped to hiss “There they are. Owl, Crash, Motor.” Her brothers nodded and when Skylight lifted her paw, they pounced out, Sunstrike going after Crash, and Stickslip after Motor. The rest of the patrol followed, but Snowpelt stayed by the trees, watching as Owl saw Skylight and hissed “You. Traitor.” Skylight simply growled before attacking. Quailclaw and Cloudfrost moved around the area, clearly working together to help cut off exits, while Crystalnight and Brightspot helped Sunstrike and Stickslip respectively. ‘Creep out, but be careful. Choose your moment.’ Snowpelt slowly crept out into the battle, but was careful not to draw too close. Snowpelt watched as the battle was fought, Crash and Motor somehow keeping their opponents mostly at bay, but only because the clan cats weren’t trying to kill, and Skylight and Owl seemed to be pretty evenly matched. Snowpelt slowly moved close enough to hear their conversation as they fought, “You traitor! You got scared and left everything, coward!” Owl snapped. Skylight hissed back “I left to protect what was left of my family after what the leader did. He’s a selfish-” “Don’t you dare disgrace his name. Besides, he passed moons ago.” Owl interrupted. Skylight faltered and asked “What?” Owl took the chance to attack, but Skylight managed to dodge as Owl snapped “His daughter took over, and she's a genius! And she’s coming for the clans once we report back.” Skylight hissed and attacked, snapping “How does she even know about the clans?” Owl smirked and replied “Oh, Sky. You shouldn’t have been sorted into the intelligent.”
Skylight growled back “My name is Skylight.” Owl rolled her eyes as she dodged an attack and said “That’s so dumb. Wait, maybe that’s why the cat we talked to said she didn’t know you.” Skylight dodged a blow and asked “Who did you talk to?” Owl smiled and said “Now, it wouldn’t be fair to just give it all away.” Owl paused, then hissed “But I’m going to kill her when I see her.” Snowpelt tensed slightly as she listened. ‘No one is paying attention to their conversation, and Skylight already knows. Let it continue for now.’ Shadow whispered as Snowpelt hovered nearby. Skylight glared at Owl and snapped “Not telling me won’t do anything for you.” Owl smiled back and said “It entertains me, and our goal here is to cause some chaos, Sky. You have a traitor in your little clan, one who asked for the death of your leader.” Skylight narrowed her eyes and hissed “And how did that go for you?” Owl snapped “Your traitor neglected to tell us that your leader can come back to life!” Skylight smiled and said “Welcome to the clans.” Owl hissed, and attacked Skylight with a new fury. Then, Owl looked past Skylight and made eye contact with Snowpelt. Immediately, Owl snapped “You.” And shoved Skylight aside to pounce on Snowpelt. There wasn’t a moment to react as Snowpelt was tackled to the ground, hitting it hard, as Owl collided into her. Caught by surprise, Snowpelt was quickly put on her back and pinned down as Owl hissed “I told you I’d end you if you betrayed me.” Snowpelt tried to kick off Owl as her jaws neared Snowpelt’s throat. Oh, Starclan, was this where it would all end? At the paws of a strange cat from somewhere far away? She never even got her reven- A white blur suddenly came out of nowhere and Owl was tackled off of Snowpelt, and before she could even register, there was a yowl and blood, followed by shocked silence. Snowpelt looked over. Whitestar stood over Owl’s newly dead body, blood on the paw next to Owl’s slashed throat. Whitestar looked back at Snowpelt, a strange look in her amber eyes. She looked scared, but in a way that seemed almost crazed, paranoid. There was none of the confidence or arrogance Snowpelt had seen in her sister’s eyes almost their entire lives. ‘She’s losing it.’ Shadow whispered. Snowpelt couldn’t tear her eyes away from Whitestar, the cat who was bad at fighting and had certainly never killed, had blood on her paws. Why had she done that? A yowl of anger sounded from Crash and attacked Sunstrike and Crystalnight even more fiercely, and Motor did the same thing, Quailclaw and Cloudfrost having to step in to help out. Skylight and Snowpelt were still frozen, staring at Whitestar. Skylight spoke first “What, why, we, we weren’t going to kill them.” A strange vacant look drifted across Whitestar’s face, as if she was listening to something. Then it disappeared and she snapped “She was going to kill Snowpelt! And they took one of my lives!” Whitestar stepped away from Owl’s lifeless body, her fur fluffed up and her eyes darting between Snowpelt and Skylight. Skylight stepped forward, making Whitestar back up, and asked “What are you even doing here?” Whitestar looked at Snowpelt and said “I didn’t want to lose the only family I have!” Snowpelt stared at Whitestar in utter shock and speechlessness. What. When did she ever give Whitestar the impression she even tolerated her? Skylight looked over at Snowpelt in confusion, and Snowpelt returned the look. ‘She’s losing it. This is a good thing, she’s becoming paranoid, which will make revenge easier.’ Shadow said. Whitestar seemed on edge as she looked between Skylight and Snowpelt. That strange listening look came across her face again, then Whitestar looked around and said “I, I don’t think capture is an option anymore.” Skylight sighed and said “No. It is not.” Then announced, “They’ll fight till someone’s dead! Make sure it’s not you!” But the tide was clearly already turning, and without the clan cats hesitating to kill, the battle ended quickly. Brightspot walked over and asked “Whitestar? What are you doing here?” Whitestar snapped “I should be involved in the battle! They attacked me!” Brightspot blinked, then sighed and said “Well, you’re still hurt. Let’s get back to camp everyone! Quailclaw, Sunstrike, and Crystalnight, you three take care of the bodies.” Sunstrike nodded and set to that and Brightspot said “The rest of you-” Whitestar snapped “I’m supposed to be the one giving orders, deputy.” Brightspot looked back at Whitestar, paused, then said “Go ahead then.” Whitestar paused, looked like she was listening, then ordered “Everyone but those taking care of the bodies, go back to camp, um, stay in a group, in case there’s more of them.” Snowpelt rolled her eyes and immediately went to head back to camp before anyone else, completely ignoring Whitestar. Whitestar was absolutely losing it. ~Previous~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1235995843/ ~Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1263995886
