Warriors Fanfiction: Evils of Darkness: Shadows and Light

Chapter 22

Greyshard felt as if she'd never breath again. An icy claw grabbed her throat and her stomach flipped and squirmed.

"N-n-no..." she choked out, feeling her breath catch in her throat.

Her legs trembled and she felt her heart twist, a feeling she had never experienced before.

But then, she'd never had any reason to feel like this.

The unfathomable grief overwhelmed her, as if a dam had broken in her chest, spilling a monstrous wave of water onto her heart.

She gasped and stared at the tiny body barely a fox-length in front of her. Greyshard then looked up to meet the pair of slightly-surprised, but mostly satisfied, water-blue eyes. A grin spread slowly across a white muzzle and blood-soaked teeth bared themselves into a spiteful snarl.

"Well, well, well, you must be his mother. How nice of you to abandon your kits just like that in the middle of a forest. Don't you know that there are vicious Clan cats out here?" the blue-eyed cat asked innocently, sneering all the time, as she met Greyshard's eyes.

"V-v-vic-cous...?" Greyshard sobbed quietly, glancing back down at the crumbled brown-and-white patched tabby body.

Patch lay under the she-cat's claws, pinned down by his chest. His claws were unsheathed in his tiny white paws and his mouth was wide open in a cry of, what looked like, pain, fury and fear. His hazel eyes stared blankly ahead, as if they were simply pieces of dry moss, nothing else. When a beam of sunlight flooded the clearing, his pelt shined a bright white and brown, looking like it was freshly cleaned and glossy, while the blood smeared and seeping from it glistened happily.

"P-P-Patch... n-no...! I-i-it c-can't-t... no..." Greyshard stammered, trying to steady her breath and flatten her shivering fur.

"Patch you say? Brave little rat he was." Scoffed the she-cat, flicking her tail with amusement. "Attacked me without thinking twice, the dumb, human-headed furball."

"Who... who a-are you...?" Greyshard asked, feeling the heart-stopping grief being corroded away with something else.

"Me?" asked the she-cat, as if it was the weirdest question to be asked. "I'm Darkness of Leaf, but I guess you can call me Dark." She smiled and blinked, yawning widely.

How can she dare to act so coolly after she just ki- did th- Patch- I-I... I... Greyshard gulped, closing her eyes tightly, willing it to be a dream.

"The real question - or questions - are: Who are you? And should I consider killing you as well? Afterall, you Clan cats are pure blabbermouths, always running off to snitch on others."

Greyshard looked up suddenly, surprised how genuine and annoyed this 'Dark' sounded. She was shocked into replying, "I-I'm Greyshard."

"Ah, Greyshard... Hmm... Greyshard, Greyshard, Greyshard." Dark repeated, looking deep in thought. "Ah, yes! Greyshard - that moody, snappy one that hates Rockpaw, grew up with her best friend being a dog and can't have kits. Isn't it?"

Greyshard stopped breathing for a second. How would a rogue know something like that? Those were some of her darkest secrets! Well, except for the first one, but, how...? The fur on her spine spiked up and her claws unsheathed themselves instinctively.

Noticing this, Dark twitched her ears and meowed, "I wouldn't advise fighting me. That is - unless you don't want to end up like 'Patch' or that tortoiseshell you found dead by the human farm. You probably will anyway though, so, honestly, I'm fine either way. It's not that I don't like killing cats for a cause - it's just that I absolutely hate it when Drip makes me be so conspicuous about it. Telling me to leave the bodies there for a few days, then throw them into the river. Bleh. Servant work. And just plain stupid." Dark licked her unsheathed paw, lifting it from Patch's body, causing him to limply roll onto his side. She kept her deep blue eyes on Greyshard throughout, smirking and her brown tail-tip twitching.