Aspenwhisper's War

Part 8

       A/N: Warning! This chapter may contain triggering elements (death, family loss, murder, and betrayal). Please be careful and feel free to send me a message for a summary of the chapter if you don't feel comfortable reading it.

       The next few moons were tense and busy. Cloverstar had kept her promise and patrols were increased, Aspenpaw taking part in many himself. After successfully aiding SkyClan in driving out the rogues, things were less tense, but only for a bit. Soon, ThunderClan began showing up to Gatherings less and less, with reports of border skirmishes becoming more and more frequent. The entire forest seemed like it was tearing itself apart, with Rosestar flat out refusing to show up to Gatherings and making her deputy, Kestrelfeather, go in her place.

       That day, things seemed more tense than normal, as ThunderClan seemed to be lying suspiciously low. Because of that, Cloverstar had gathered Shadecreek and Aspenpaw to accompany her to the ThunderClan border to re-mark the scent line, and check for any disturbance. 

       The three cats padded along the Thunderpath, renewing markers where needed, and checking for any scents that didn't belong. So far, there was nothing, so Cloverstar ordered Shadecreek to take Aspenpaw further down the border to look for prey. 

       "Might as well take advantage of the warm day while we can." She said, flicking her tail. "I'll finish marking the border."

       Aspenpaw followed his father down the border, sighing in relief as the Thunderpath veered away from them, leaving them in the calm of the forest. 

       "I'll never get tired of how beautiful this place is." Aspenpaw said softly, turning o look at his father, who had paused, tensing up, his ears and nose twitching. 

       Immediately, Aspenpaw went on the defensive, his fur prickling. "What is it?" He asked. "Dad, what's wrong??" Before Shadecreek could answer, a screech of pure agony and fear split the peaceful air. It was a cry for help, and a desperate one.

       "Cloverstar!" Side by side, the two tom-cats pelted toward the screeching, which was so full of pain and desperation that it split Aspenpaw's ears, cutting deep into his very state of being. 

       When they reached where Cloverstar was, Aspenpaw let out a loud cry of shock and horror, unable to fully process what he was seeing. 

       Cloverstar was lying on the ground, pinned there by a pure white she-cat with dark green eyes that glittered with madness and such unfiltered malice it filled Aspenpaw with dread. 

       Cloverstar lay still at the moment, but the moment she began breathing again, regaining one of the nine lives StarClan had given her, the she-cat laughed evilly, digging her claws deeper into the leader's fur, adding to the bloody scratches and bites that marred her once-beautiful pelt. 

       "Take a good look, Cloverstar." The she-cat hissed, her teeth bared. "I'm going to be the last thing you ever see." Just before she leaned in to give the killing bite, she paused. "Oh, by the way, Rosestar sends her regards. Just thought you should know." Then, she bit down.

       Cloverstar let out a heart-wrenching cry, the pain filling her amber eyes so intense that what she was feeling made her voice deteriorate into desperate gasps and gurgles as she struggled to breathe, the light of her ninth and final life leaving her gaze, and she fell limp. 

       The she-cat climbed off the now dead leader, licking the blood off her whiskers, smirking at the two toms. "Enjoy the show, boys?" She asked, chuckling, the mad gleam in her eyes and the blood around her mouth making her look even more deranged than she already was. "I'm hoping you did, because I do take pride in my work." She kicked the dead cat with pride. "The name's Snowskip, just thought you'd wanna know, because, you know, Rosestar told me to be polite if I ran into any witnesses. Oh, by the way, you ain't getting away from me alive. I can't have anyone running back to camp giving me away."

       "You killed our leader." Shadecreek snarled, his hackles raising as he unsheathed his claws. "You'll pay for that with your life." 

       Those words caused Snowskip to laugh again, the sound cold and mirthless. "You really think you could kill me?" She spat, getting into an attack stance. "Go on then, handsome. Give it a shot. And make sure your little apprentice there knows how to hide, because after you die, he's next."

       The moment Aspenpaw was threatened, Shadecreek let out a roar of fury and leaped at the murderer, pinning her down to the ground, teeth buried in the back of her neck, clawing at her back and sides relentlessly. 

       Aspenpaw immediately climbed the nearest tree, claws digging into the bark, muscles bunched and ready to pounce if his father needed help. 

       He watched with fascinated horror as his father viciously fought the mad warrior, showing no mercy as he bit and clawed at her, scoring red lines all over her white pelt, staining her fur with blood. However, Shadecreek was receiving similar treatment, a fair number of blows being inflicted on him, blood running down his pelt.

       Aspenpaw stared in horror as Shadecreek was thrown off Snowskip, landing heavily a few tail-lengths away. "Get up!" He called to his father as the white warrior approached, claws unsheathed. "Dad! Get up! Please!" 

       "Yes, Dad." Snowskip sneered as she got closer. "Get up. Fight!" She slashed her claws across the warrior's pelt, snarling. "Don't you dare be as weak as your leader and give up after a few little wounds. I was just starting to have fun with you." 

       As the insane she-cat lifted her paw to strike again, Shadecreek rolled over as quick as a flash of lightning, and grabbed his attacker, sinking his claws into her and flinging her away. The she-cat sailed through the air and hit a tree, sliding to the ground in a heap.

       "I am many things." Shadecreek growled menacingly, limping to the dazed she cat. "Weak is one thing I am not." He towered over her as she struggled to her paws, gasping for air. Her eye was terribly clawed and bleeding, as well as countless other wounds littering her body. "Go back to your wretched Clan now, and we'll leave you in peace. But, if you ever show your face here again, you will die. You will die a death so agonizing, you'll be screaming for mercy."

       "Y-yes." Snowskip stuttered, slowly backing away, a limp hampering her step. "As you wish. You're so kind, so merciful." The fear in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a dark, gleaming bloodlust. "Pity that'll be what kills you." In a flash, she lashed out, grabbing Shadecreek by the throat in her jaws, and dragging him to the ground, slashing open his stomach in countless places, blood pouring from his body as the warrior went limp, his cry of pain not even leaving him as the life left his eyes.

       "NO!!!!!!!" Aspenpaw screeched, launching himself from the tree, landing squarely on the back of his father's killer. "I'll kill you!" He yowled. "You fox-hearted maggot! I'll rip your throat out!" He clawed at the she-cat, grief and pure rage blinding him.

       Snowskip threw the young cat off with a single heave of her body. Aspenpaw hit a tree, gasping as the wind was knocked from him. Struggling for breath, he saw Snowskip approach him through his swimming vision. "You're lucky you can put up a fight, apprentice." She hissed. "You fight just like your daddy. You'll see him again, where you're going." She lifted her head as a yowl sounded, and the scent of ShadowClan cats approached. "Also lucky for you, your little friends are here to save you, so you get to live for a little longer, but just a bit." Before leaving, Snowskip scored her claws down Aspenpaw's side, opening deep scratches that immediately began flowing with blood.

       Before losing consciousness, Aspenpaw coughed, looking at his father's dead body, just a tail-length away from him, and he dragged himself over, hissing in pain, curling up beside the cold warrior, letting a sob of grief leave him as his vision turned black.