~Warnings: Death (Not Whitestar), blood, murder, paranoia, slow death, surprisingly hard chapter to write emotionally, not sorry~ Snowpelt pressed herself low to the ground, her eyes trained on the mouse among the bright fallen leaves of mid leaf-fall, a slight chill in the wind that blew towards her. She was careful not to step on the leaves as she approached the mouse. She readied herself to pounce, when a grating voice rang out “I, I don’t know who it could be. It could be someone from another clan, the leaders all hate me and I don’t understand why!” The mouse scampered away and Snowpelt sighed. ‘That’s Whitestar. Follow.’ Shadow ordered. Snowpelt took a breath, then followed the sound carefully. Sure enough, there was Whitestar walking through the forest, near the Shadowclan border. She wasn’t alone. She walked alongside Sunstrike, talking to him, “It could be anyone, maybe they want me dead, and that’s why I found that trap!” Snowpelt paused. Oh, she was telling Sunstrike about it. Shadow commented ‘The cat’s an idiot, it’s fine. Nothing is going to happen from this.’ Snowpelt nodded slightly, but kept watching as Sunstrike said “Yeah. We can’t just let this go. We need to find the cat that did this, or someone important to the cat, and show them that they can’t mess with you.” Whitestar slowly nodded, and Snowpelt couldn’t help but notice how shaken she looked. Her paranoia was becoming more and more obvious by the day. Snowpelt had heard cats whispering about it. Everyone was doubting her leadership, and there had been more than a couple moments where Whitestar snapped at someone in the middle of camp. Snowpelt had heard that Whitestar had insulted all the other clans at the last gathering. Snowpelt hoped she would continue her streak of not going to gatherings at the next one tomorrow night. Usually she just tried to sneak out when Whitestar announced who would be going. She did not want to deal with other cats, no matter what Shadow said about them being a good time to make possible allies. She didn’t want allies. She wanted to be alone. She never wanted to attend another gathering without Stormcloud, and she never would. Snowpelt’s mind was drawn back to the cats she followed as Whitestar said “Anyone could be sending spies, some cat who could make something like that. And what about the foxes..?” Sunstrike looked at her curiously and asked “Foxes?” Whitestar nodded and said “Yes, yes, there’s foxes in the forest that no one can find, but they always seem to be finding me. I always hear this strange whistle right before too! Some cat might be doing it!” Sunstrike looked at her and said “Uh, that’s… weird. Like, really weird. Are you sure that’s what’s happening?” Whitestar glared and snapped “Of course I do! I know it! Some cat is after me, and they’re using the foxes!” Sunstrike paused, then said “That sounds kind of crazy, are-” “I’m NOT crazy!” Whitestar snapped, making Sunstrike jump slightly. Whitestar started ranting “I’m tired of hearing people talk about me and look at me like I’m crazy! I’m not crazy! I’m not paranoid! Some cat is managing to kill me over and over again! I know it! The tree, the rocks, the foxes, the rouges-” “The rouges?” Sunstrike said, “That was their action. Not some cat from the clans. They were sent to cause chaos, and they did just that. They’re cruel for the sake of being cruel, and cruelty is how you live with them.” Whitestar paused, then huffed and said “Whatever, but still! I-” She suddenly fell silent, as all of their ears pricked up to hear the sound of some cat nearby. Whitestar whispered “What is that? Who is that?” fear in her voice. Sunstrike narrowed his eyes and whispered “Let’s go check it out.” And began walking, Whitestar following, Snowpelt following from much farther away. After a bit, Sunstrike left Snowpelt’s sight, and a heartbeat later, Snowpelt heard an unfamiliar yelp. Snowpelt slowly followed until she could see what was going on. She froze. Sunstrike was pinning a small grey cat down, an apprentice of maybe eight or nine moons. The small apprentice looked utterly terrified, blue eyes scared and shining as she looked up at Sunstrike, who looked down at her coldly. Whitestar slowly crept closer, her paranoia and fear thinly-veiled. Whitestar asked cautiously “Who are you?” The apprentice squeaked “Willpaw! From Shadowclan!” Whitestar tensed and asked “Shadowclan?! What are you doing across the border?! Are you a spy?!” Willpaw squeaked as Sunstrike’s claws slowly extended. What was he doing?! Snowpelt started to step forward, but Shadow snapped ‘No. Don’t. Stepping in will only make things worse for you. You shouldn’t do anything.’ But- ‘But nothing. Let Whitestar bring her own downfall. It’s not worth it. Just watch and let what happens happen.’ Snowpelt slowly brought her paw back, feeling frozen as she watched. Willpaw said “No! No! I’m, I’m not a spy! I, I, I, I-”
“She’s nervous.” Sunstrike said darkly, a strange light in his eyes as he said, “She’s likely lying to us.” Willpaw frantically shook her head, struggling to try and get out from under Sunstrike. Whitestar started pacing, looking frantic and panicked as she said “Shadowclan, they never liked me, Barkstar always glares at me, they hate me, of course they would send a spy, maybe they’re the ones responsible for all this.” Sunstrike nodded and said “It’d make sense, they’re so close to us, and you said that trap was near here.” Snowpelt wanted to scream that it wasn’t Shadowclan, but her body wouldn’t move, her voice wouldn’t sound. She was stuck, simply a viewer of this scene. Whitestar, not looking over at Sunstrike or Willpaw, nodded, saying “Yes, yes. It’s Shadowclan doing all this, and they send this apprentice as a spy to see where I am. It was Shadowclan that I scented in that trap, of course it was. Maybe they’re working with someone on the inside as well, I can’t trust anyone.” Sunstrike’s voice was deadly cold as he asked “What should we do with this spy?” Both their voices seemed weird, strange lights in their eyes. It was unnerving and terrifying to watch. Something seemed deeply wrong with the both of them… almost like some other cat was there. Whitestar slowly lifted her head and stared at Sunstrike and the terrified Willpaw. Willpaw’s voice was choked with fear as she begged “Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me! I shouldn’t have crossed the border! I’m sorry! I’m so sor-” “Shut up.” Sunstrike hissed. Snowpelt watched in frozen horror as Sunstrike’s claws suddenly drew blood from Willpaw’s neck, cutting off the small cat’s pleading, cutting off the voice as blood spilled onto Sunstrike’s paw. This was no small injury. Even if Willpaw was rushed to a Medicine cat right now, she wouldn’t survive. The blood poured from her throat too quickly. Whitestar suddenly yelped as she looked at the dying apprentice in terror, and cried “I didn’t say kill her! What have you done?!” Sunstrike blinked and suddenly pulled away, saying “I, I, I didn’t mean too…” Whitestar started backing up as she asked “What do we do now?! She’s going to die! You’ve killed her!” Sunstrike backed away from the shuddering body. After a moment, he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and said “If Shadowclan is behind all this, then it's a message. We have, we have to show them we're powerful.” He continued talking, but Snowpelt tuned it out as her eyes met Willpaw's dying ones. Willpaw’s eyes begged for help, for comfort, for anything. But Snowpelt couldn’t do anything but look back at the small apprentice and try to offer comfort with nothing but her eyes. Willpaw let out a strangled sob, then fully gave up on moving. Snowpelt watched as the life faded from her eyes and the small cat died. ‘This is Whitestar’s fault. Another death you need to make her pay for.’ Shadow whispered before Snowpelt could even begin to think, ‘You know I’m right, Snowpelt. I always am. Whitestar deserves to pay for this, and you will make sure she does. You will avenge that kit. Hold onto your anger. Let it fuel you.’ Snowpelt slowly nodded, letting her attention drift back to Sunstrike and Whitestar. Whitestar was panicking, talking, but it was impossible to understand what she was saying. Sunstrike looked at Willpaw’s body, then spoke “We need to move the body. Closer to the border.” He grabbed Willpaw and started carrying her away, leaving Whitestar alone. Snowpelt looked at Whitestar. Should she kill her now? ‘No. Let her wallow in her panic, let her fear grow. Patience. Patience. For now, go back to camp. No need to be associated with all of this.’ Snowpelt nodded and slipped away, gathering the prey she caught and heading back to camp. Whitestar deserved all that was coming to her. All of it. ~First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1066586971/ ~Previous~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1263995886/ ~Next~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1277809815 Well, this was a chapter. I can't wait to see the consequences! I wonder if there will be consequences for their actions! :3
