~Warnings: Blood, death, murder, depression, manipulation~ Snowpelt dragged the twoleg trash into the old abandoned badger den, then dropped it and asked Shadow “What exactly does this accomplish?” ‘It’s about time we take another one of her lives.’ Shadow said. Annoyance flickered and Snowpelt snapped “I know, it’s been almost an entire moon since the battle, it’s almost leaf-fall. You’ve mentioned this. Now why do you have me collecting all this twoleg stuff?” Shadow snapped slightly, ‘Don’t talk to me like that. I’m only trying to help you, Snowpelt.’ Snowpelt sighed, Shadow was right. She was just being on edge and ornery. Shadow spoke ‘Yes, you are. Which is not helpful. Now, I need you to listen and do as I say so you don’t get hurt while doing this.’ Snowpelt tensed slightly and asked “And why might I get hurt?” Shadow replied, a condescending edge to her voice, ‘Have you not noticed the sharp edges? I have a plan, but you need to set this up right.’ Snowpelt shifted as she looked at the twoleg objects Shadow had her collect the past few day and asked “What exactly am I setting up?” She could hear Shadow sigh, then say ‘We’re making a trap for Whitestar. We need to drive her paranoia further, with something inexplicably made to hurt her.’ Snowpelt paused, something deep tugged at her, saying that might be too far to prey on Whitestar’s fear like that, but it was pushed away. Whitestar deserved this. She had taken everything from Snowpelt. Shadow’s soothing voice whispered ‘Yes, you’re right. She does deserve this. She deserves everything that we bring to her after what she’s done. Don’t fall into useless guilt. Nothing will ever get done that way. You’re strong, stay that way. Follow my instructions closely.’ Snowpelt nodded and stepped forward, beginning to pick stuff up and put it together as Shadow instructed. The trap was terribly simple. Once a cat entered the tunnel, their paws would be caught by the wire, and if they jerked the wire too much, they would send the shiny and sharp piece of twoleg stuff down on them. Technically, there was a way out, but only if you were smart and calm enough to disable the trap. Shadow had said something about that bit, ‘She’s never been very cunning, so she’ll never figure it out. It’s a wonderful addition. Especially when she comes back and sees what could have been her escape in the broken mess.’ When Snowpelt finished, she slowly and carefully ducked out of the burrow. She asked “What now?” Shadow responded ‘Now, we wait for Whitestar to have another of her little walks, and when she comes near here, we’ll call the foxes and she’ll spot the hole as a hiding spot.’ Snowpelt paused. Last time she had used the foxes, Skylight had realized, what if- ‘If Skylight was going to do something, she would have already. She would have with those weird rouges, since she knew them, and likely realized it was you that led them to Whitestar. She won’t do anything. She’s inconsequential.’ Snowpelt slowly nodded, then sighed and said “I should go back to camp, I’ve been out too long.” ‘Alright, just be observant.’ Shadow replied. Annoyance flashed and Snowpelt muttered “I know, you don't need to walk me through everything.” As Snowpelt walked, Shadow said ‘Without me, you'd simply be sulking.’ “Sulking?!” Snowpelt snapped, “I lost everything!” ‘And I’m helping you get revenge and do something about that!’ Shadow snapped back. As Snowpelt’s hackles started to rise and she took a breath to snap back, Shadow said much more calmly ‘Snowpelt, I’m just trying to help you. You can trust me. I haven’t let you down, have I? No. I haven’t. You can trust me. I don’t know why you’re so… grumpy today. What’s wrong? You can talk to me.’ Snowpelt sighed and shook her head, saying “I, I don’t know. I’m just… frustrated.” Shadow hummed and said ‘I see. Well, we can vent a bit of that frustration today, if you just listen to me. I know what to do. You just need to do as I say.’
Snowpelt took a slow breath. ‘Shadow is right. Shadow is always right.’ Yeah. Yeah, Shadow was always right. She should listen to Shadow. She jumped slightly as she found herself at the camp entrance, her head suddenly clearing, the fuzziness disappearing. Leaftuft looked at her and said “Hi Snow-” Snowpelt walked past her. She felt tired. She tried to ignore the guilt bubbling up at ignoring her former apprentice. She had barely talked to her since she lost everything. Snowpelt went into the camp, flinching at the sounds of Meadowleaf’s new kits in the nursery. She hadn’t even noticed Meadowleaf was pregnant until they were born a few days ago. Now she hated to be in camp, since their mewls seemed to reach her ears no matter what she did. She didn’t even know how many there were, or their names, or what they looked like. She couldn’t bear it. She couldn’t even look at them. It hurt too much. Far too much. It just reminded her of the family she lost. Stormcloud. Silverkit. Nightkit. Dandelionkit. They were all gone. Dead, in a place Snowpelt couldn’t reach them, especially since there hadn’t been any prophecies and barely any contact with Starclan since Snowpelt had been born. ‘And their death is her fault’ Shadow whispered, drawing Snowpelt’s eyes to amber ones that looked back at her. Whitestar. It was all her fault. ‘Yes. Focus on her. Focus on your anger. Now, go to the den and wait for her to leave camp.’ Snowpelt tore her gaze away from Whitestar and walked to the warrior den, curling up in her nest, watching the camp through half closed eyes as Brownbriar approached Whitestar and they talked as they went to the leader’s den. Brownbriar eventually left, and a long while later, she watched Whitestar leave the leader's den. ‘Wait for a few heartbeats, then follow.’ Snowpelt waited for a bit, then climbed to her paws and left camp. She followed Whiteblaze’s scent for a while until they neared the area and she climbed up into the trees and followed up there. Whitestar stopped mere fox-lengths from the trap, a hint of confusion on her face. Shadow said ‘Call the foxes before she recognizes your scent, they’ll distract her and mask your scent.’ Snowpelt took a deep breath, then let out a long and high whistle. Whitestar's head raised, fear filling her face as the sounds of heavy pawsteps grew close. Snowpelt watched from the tree as Whitestar looked around wildly, until her eyes landed on the hole where the trap lay. ‘Perfect. As soon as she goes in, call off the foxes.’ Snowpelt nodded, watching as the foxes came through the trees. Whitestar made a sound of terror and dashed towards the hole, a fox’s jaws barely missing her tail as Whitestar dove into the trap. Immediately, Snowpelt whistled, and the foxes left as she heard Whitestar say in confused terror, “What is this?” Snowpelt leapt to another, closer tree. Not even two heartbeats later, Snowpelt heard the click of the trap going off, then a yowl of terror that was cut off suddenly. Silence filled the clearing, the foxes and noise having quieted the normal animals and sounds of the forest, leaving Snowpelt to listen to only her own heartbeat and breathing. The silence seemed to last too long. Had the trap done too much damage? Did she accidentally take more lives than she planned? Before Snowpelt’s thoughts could spiral, a sharp gasp sounded and Snowpelt let out a slow breath. Whitestar was alive again. Shadow whispered ‘You should get moving.’ Snowpelt nodded and leapt to another tree, but paused when Whitestar slowly came out of the hole, talking “What, what was that?! That, thats not natural. Could, could another cat have made it?” Snowpelt slipped into the shadows of the tree. Whitestar was really losing it, talking to no one like this. That last question though… ‘Her paranoia is a good thing, she'll act irrationally’ Snowpelt nodded. Shadow was right. Whitestar started pacing and continued talking, blood staining her pelt, “Why would a cat even make that? Yes, they clearly assembled twoleg trash like that, but that, that also means they planned this. Is some cat after me? Am I in danger?! What do I do Shiningcre-” Shadow's voice filled Snowpelt’s mind, drowning our Whitestar ‘That's enough. Get moving before someone gets suspicious, now.’ Snowpelt’s paws immediately moved, leaping through the trees. What- ‘She's losing it, it's not helpful to listen to the ravings of a cat like that. Trust me.’ Snowpelt nodded, relaxing as she climbed to the ground and walked towards camp, feeling tired and off-kilter. But Shadow was right, Shadow was always right. ~First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1066586971/ ~Previous~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1243254791/ ~Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1273829234/
