Red Maple

chapter 11: a raven

THE SUN DRAGGED slowly across the sky. Redriver's belly was still full from the mole; besides, he was too tense to eat. His claws were blunt after his long day of walking, so he sharpened them on a stone. A hawk swooped overhead and Redriver imagined it feasting on Ravenwing's body after he finished with him. He would bleed a river of blood, every drop spilled for his mate and kits...

At last, the sky faded and the shadows between the rocks grew thicker. Redriver fluffed up his fur against the chill and crouched on top of a boulder, watching for any sign of movement at the foot of the hill. Suddenly, a darker shadow flitted across the grass. Ravenwing finally had arrived. Alone and early.

Redriver unsheathed his claws and let them scratch against the stone. It's been a while since he had killed a cat. He stayed very still, hardly breathing, as Ravenwing climbed the slope toward him. Redriver tensed his hindquarters, ready to leap down onto the medicine cat, but then he paused. If he attacked him out here, he might be seen by the other medicine cats. And where was the satisfaction in a simple ambush? He should follow Ravenwing down to the Moonstone and tackle him there, at the source of his precious omens.

Redriver pictured the long, stifling tunnel from his many visits. His pelt prickled at the thought of entering that darkness again but then scared wails of his kits and the heat of Mapleshade's previous fever reminded him and he slid soundlessly off the boulder just a heartbeat before Ravenwing padded past. Redriver could hear him panting heavily after the climb. Redriver waited until he vanished into the gaping maw of Mothermouth before slipping out and trotting after him.

The hole swallowed Redriver up at once, thick black shadows pressing around him until there was no glimpse of moonlight when he looked back at the entrance. Redriver padded over the stone floor, trying to keep his steps as light as possible. But Ravenwing must have heard something because he stopped, invisible in the dark ahead of him, and called out.

"Who's there?"
Redriver froze, convinced that his heart was thudding loud enough for the medicine cat to hear. But after a moment Ravenwing carried on, his pawsteps the softest whisper in the silence. Faint grey light appeared ahead, silhouetting the medicine cat's ears. The Moonstone! Redriver realized he had dropped into a hunting crouch and was stalking forward one step at a time, his tail flattened behind him. He reached for the opening to the cave and finally gained sight of the Moonstone glittering in the silvery light.

Ravenwing knelt in front of it, his head bowed.

With a hiss, Redriver sprang forward, his long claws extended.

He landed on the small tom, pinning him onto the cold stone. His blue eyes were bright in the moonlight.

"You!" Ravenwing choked. "You killed Bloomheart! What are you doing here?"

Redriver let his claws sink into the fur around Ravenwing's throat. "Taking revenge for my mate and my kits," he snarled. "If I could kill you three times over, I would." He knew he had nothing to say to the medicine cat. All he knew was that he needed to die. He simply did not deserve to live happily within a Clan when his kits couldn't. Like he couldn't. He bit down on Ravenwing's neck and blood gushed out all over Redriver's muzzle and chest-fur. The small black cat choked on red liquid before going limp. A pool of red forming around his throat.

There was a sound of pawsteps approaching down the tunnel. Redriver let Ravenwing fall to the floor and slipped behind the crystal.

"Great StarClan!" he heard the WindClan medicine cat, Larkwing, hiss. "Ravenwing! What happened?"

There was a grunt from his companion – peeking around the edge of the Moonstone, Redriver saw Sloefur, the ShadowClan medicine cat, sniff at Ravenwing's unmoving body. "He's dead," Sloefur announced in horror. He looked around and Redriver ducked behind the crystal.

"We can't leave him here," meowed Larkwing." Come on, help me get him back to the surface."

Redriver listened to the sound of them dragging Ravenwing up the tunnel. He waited until the rays of the moon had slid past the hole in the roof and the cave was plunged into darkness. Redriver's heart pounded, but he reminded himself that he shouldn't be afraid. The only dangerous things in the shadows were him. He wondered in the medicine cats would continue with their gathering, but they didn't come back into the cave. Redriver figured that they had returned to their Clans to deliver the terrible news.

When the tiny patch of sky above the hole turned white with the dawn, Redriver stretched his cold, stiff legs and padded back up the tunnel. Outside Mothermouth stood a heap of small stones that had not been there before. A tuft of black fur poked through a gap in the pile. Redriver sniffed and recognised Ravenwing's scent. Rather than carry him all the way back to the forest, his fellow medicine cats had decided to bury him here, marking his final nest with a careful mountain of rocks.

Redriver curled his lip. He didn't deserve such a memorial.

He struck down at the pile of rocks, knocking them to the ground. His claws caught on the rocks and his pads stung but he kept flailing until the heap was destroyed and Ravenwing's body was exposed to the grey dawn. Redriver looked up and caught sight of a hawk circling overhead. Here's your next piece of fresh kill, he thought in satisfaction.

The hawk swooped down, and Redriver bounded away from the scattered stones. He bounded down the hillside without looking back.

He reached a hedge at the edge of a stretch of thick soft grass and crawled under the branches. Suddenly, he was too tired to walk another step. Ignoring the rumbling in his belly, he closed his eyes.

In his dreams, he saw blurs of three more cats. One was a large brown tom with amber eyes, a golden speckled she-cat with the same coloured eyes and lastly, he recognised Appledusk, the pale brown tom with green eyes from RiverClan. Redriver's ears picked up the sound of his kits wailing and Mapleshade's terrified expression as she curled up beside her mother, Acornleaf.

Redriver shook himself and sat up. Ravenwing had died – did that mean that both Redriver and Mapleshade didn't get their revenge? Of course, not, there are many cats still alive to blame.

An image drifted into his mind of the golden speckled she-cat sitting amongst the ferns at the Gatherings. Frecklewish! According to that ThunderClan apprentice, she was the one who had urged her Clanmates to kick out Acornleaf, the helpless old elder.

Frecklewish needed to pay for what she did, just as Ravenwing had done. But this time, he'd do so with Mapleshade by his side.

Redriver stood up, shaking on exhausted paws. This would be harder to achieve because Frecklewish only left ThunderClan to go to Gatherings when she would be surrounded by her Clanmates. And even inside the border, she was rarely alone. Redriver needed to find a way to attack her within the territory, the safest place for a warrior to be. Thinking hard, he started to pad along the bottom of the hedge. A tendril of ivy caught at his foot and almost tripped him.

Hissing, Redriver snatched his paw away. The ivy lay on the ground, quivering like a glossy green snake.

He grinned maniacally. Snakerocks. He pictured the nest of adders that Mapleshade had said been blocked with stones. Perhaps there was something deadly inside ThunderClan borders after all!