Heronfeather was in the Medicine Den, his aged eyes scanning the plants in front of him. He glanced at Petalpaw beside him, whose green eyes were also focused on the selection. Sandstep, Turtleheart, Skylight, Puddlestep, and Amberpaw were resting in the Medicine Den, their wounds covered with cobwebs and herbs. Eventually the small she-cat began pulling the wilted leaves towards her, Heronfeather watching every move. As she went to grab one he slapped her paw away with his tail, making her glare at him. “That one’s good enough.” “Good enough?” She snorted, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “Yes.” The old Medicine Cat turned around, his bones creaking. There was no amusement in his voice. “Good enough.” Petalpaw’s ears flattened as she watching him settle down in his nest, his spotted back towards her. She got to her paws and took a tentative step towards him, opening her mouth to say something. “Heronfeather..” “Keep on sorting those herbs, Petalpaw.” His voice sounded tired. Ragged. Weary. Sad. Broken. Old. Then, a screech broke through the camp, making Petalpaw jump and whip around, the fur on her shoulders standing up. Heronfeather closed his eyes, a cold running through him and chilling his blood. It was time. —————————— Vineripple burst into camp with a screech, all of ShadowClan behind her. It was exactly as she’d hoped. It was about two hours past sunhigh, and camp was nearly deserted. The Nursery and Elders Den were unguarded, and there was only five warriors in camp, plus two apprentices. And, five out of those seven were injured and recovering in the Medicine Den. Behind her, a ShadowClan cat let out a whoop of excitement as they stampeded in. Bouncetail jumped in surprise from where he was battle training with Sparkpaw-Vineripple guessed the young tom didn’t want to leave his sister, Amberpaw, while she was injured. At first Creekfrost’s son snarled, bounding towards the cats. But his eyes quickly widened as he realized just how many of them there were. Two ShadowClan she-cat’s quickly pinned him down, and Sparkpaw didn’t even put up a fight, his light orange paws trembling as he crouched against the ground in submission. Vineripple grinned viciously, turning around to look at the Medicine Den. She’d check on her kits soon, but not now. Now, she padded to the Medicine Den, a swarm of cats behind her. Sandstep, Skylight, and Amberpaw hissed, struggling to their paws despite their injuries. With a quick flick of her tail, three large ShadowClanians(?) leapt forward, pushing them back with only a few quick jabs. “Now now, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” She purred silkily, her tail swinging back and forth behind her. Lifting her head, her heart caught in her throat as she met Heronfeather’s gaze. He looked at her as if he almost didn’t recognize her. Almost. Because deep down, beneath the monster she had become, he saw an apprentice. An apprentice who’s mom abused her, and yet she still faced the world with a grin and a challenging look in her eye. An apprentice who was judged, but didn’t try to change their minds. An apprentice who cried in secret, but always put on a brave face. An apprentice who was brave and smart and arrogant and carefree and wild and oddly charming... What had she become? Vineripple stalked forward, her eyes cold. “Heronfeather. Will you or will you not support me in making ThunderClan a better Clan? A stronger Clan?” The Medicine Cat closed his eyes to hold back his tears. He didn’t feel his heart breaking, because it was already in pieces. But now, the shards ached. At first the old tom couldn’t speak because of the lump in his throat. As he opened his eyes he looked away, steeling himself for what he had to do. “I support ThunderClan, Vineripple. I support ThunderClan and only ThunderClan. ...I thought you knew that already.” Heronfeather couldn’t look up, because he knew the look on Vineripple’s face would twist and turn his gut until he wished she would hurry up and kill him. But then her eyes hardened, though Heronfeather could still make out the pain in their fiery depths. “So be it.” She spat, whipping around and leaving him, Petalpaw, and the others behind. Heronfeather finally lifted his gaze just in time to see her tail slip out of the den. He didn’t know how he had handled this much pain before. —————————— “Brindlefoot, Ravensoar, Mossleap.” Vineripple beckoned the she-cats over, her voice crisp. “Put all the prisoners we have so far in the Medicine Den. The entrance is only big enough for one cat to enter or exit at a time, so if anyone tries to escape they’ll be three of you and only one of them.” She smirked. “I think you’ll be able to handle it.”
Turning, her eyes raked over the crowd that was sniffing around ThunderClan camp. “This first part was easy, but do not be fooled.” Her voice rang out strong and clear over the clearing. She was a natural leader. “More patrols will begin to enter camp as the sun lowers, and they /will/ put up more of a fight. However, there’s still more of us than them.” She paused, going over the plan in her head one last time. “ShadowClan scent is already all over their camp, so once they get close enough they’ll know we’re here. Longleg, Spiderfall, Toadskip, and Bravewing. You’re the fastest runners in this Clan, and you’ll be waiting just a little ways outside the entrance, where the smell is just starting. If any cats try to run, catch them. We can’t have them telling anyone else and starting an organized fight against us. Bluetooth (hehehehheheh) and Stonebite, you two sit on either side of the entrance inside camp where anyone coming in wouldn’t be able to see you. As soon as cats come in, attack and make sure you block the entrance so they can’t get back out. Duskheart, go wait in the dirt place.” The yellow-eyed tom wrinkled his nose and Vineripple laughed. “I know I know, but there’s a secret entrance there. If anyone tries to come in-or out-you’ll be there waiting.” Then, she turned back to the rest of the cats, smirking triumphantly. The rest of us will be sitting and resting in plain sight. When cats come in, we’ll attack and put them in the Medicine Den. Once that gets full, we’ll put more in the Apprentice Den. Oh, and you guys-“ She turned back to where Brindlefoot, Ravensoar, and Mossleap guarded the Medicine Den. “Make sure to listen in. We don’t want them planning anything.” She smirked. “Now, who’s ready to conquer ThunderClan!?” Cheers went up in front of her and she grinned savagely, her eyes glinting. “Good to hear. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some kits to visit.” —————————— “Mama! You’re back!” Foxkit cheered, his kit eyes still squeezed shut as Vineripple settled down in her old nest. Her kits stumbled over to her, purring and laughing with joy and rubbing their heads against her pelt. Their giggles made her heart swell so much she thought it might burst. The queen licked them all in turn, her eyes shining with love as she held them close, her tail wrapped protectively around their tiny bodies. They immediately began to suckle, and it hit Vineripple just how young they still were. Only Crushkit’s eyes were open, and they weren’t even eating real food yet. She felt her eyes mist and she nuzzled them all again, a few making tears their way down her face. “Of course I came back.” She laughed, wiping her tears on her shoulder. “I couldn’t leave you guys.” “But daddy said that-that Nightshade was our mom now..” Poisonkit mewed, looking up at the general area where Vineripple’s face was. The tabby she-cat bristled, clenching her teeth. But, she wouldn’t let her kits see that she was angry. “He’s wrong, Poisonkit.” She murmured, licking her daughter’s head. “I love your father very much, but sometimes he makes mistakes.” Her voice became harder. Colder. “Nightshade will never, /ever/, be your mother.” Her time softened again as she nuzzled her kits. “Do you understand( my F L O W E R)?” Poisonkit nodded, shifting on her paws. “Yeah, I wasn’t so sure about her... She didn’t tell stories the same way you do. She didn’t act it out and she wasn’t loud and exciting like you.” Vineripple chuckled, her eyes sparkling. “I’m sure she didn’t.” Foxkit stuck out his tongue. “I /hated/ her! She didn’t play battle with me like you do. She went /easy/ on me.” The queen bit her lip to hold back a laugh. Little did the tom know, she went easy on him, too. If she didn’t she’d kill him. Now it was Crushkit’s turn to speak up. “Mama, what’s going on out there?” “Mama’s starting a revolution, Crushkit.” She licked her son’s head, eyes shining with love. “And the world’s never going to be the same again. It’s going to be /better/. ..For you.” Crushkit stared at her with wide eyes before smiling and burying his face in her chest with a loud purr. She chuckled and nuzzled the top of his head. “You have your father’s eyes, Crushkit. They’re beautiful.” He pulled back, beaming up at her with his green eyes, exactly like those of his father. “Thanks, mama-“ His purr was cut short as Firefly burst into the den, her eyes wide. “Vineripple, I’m so sorry! We just realized.” The queen was immediately stiff, her ears perked and mind running through all the possibilities of what had gone wrong. “Just realized /what/, Firefly?” “Sheepstep’s nowhere to be found.” Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/383248637/ Next Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/413751430/
