Warriors: Reign Of Shadows ~Series 2 Book 6~

Chapter 27

Flamefur's POV:

Zeye stood in the centre of the Lightclan clearing, his blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as the clan jeered at him and the sheltered Nutwhisker as his side.

"We need someone we can trust!" Cats were yelling from the crowd.

"Yeah! Nutwhisker can't be trusted! He killed Foxclaw!"

Zeye growled and snapped. "You mouse-brains! Why would Nutwhisker suddenly turn against his clan mate like that? Do you hear how crazy you all sound?"

Flamefur had to admit she was surprised by the speed in which the clan rallied against Nutwhisker. Did they not have any sense at all?

Silvershy was sitting by the edge of camp, her eyes wide. Flamefur narrowed her eyes and padded towards the silver she cat. "What's wrong?" She muttered. "Realised what a mistake you made by getting the clan to hate Nutwhisker?"

"It wasn't me!" Silvershy gasped, staring up at Flamefur. Her emerald green eyes were wide with horror as she glanced back at her clan mates before her. "This is... Unbelievable.."

"What do you mean it wasn't you?" Flamefur growled.

"Someone knocked me out and changed their form to look like me!" Silvershy muttered. "They caused this!"

Flamefur shook her head. What was the Dark Forest up to now? Why were they trying to get the clan to hate Nutwhisker? Why couldn't they just launch a normal attack and stop with all the mind games? Then they'd lose. Flamefur sighed. In order to win, NoName needed Lightclan to be broken up first. And they were succeeding in doing that. It wouldn't be long before the final attack was launched. Maybe Tigerstripe had been right about Lightclan attacking the Dark Forest first, before their enemy got the upper-paw.

Stormstar's voice yowled from his den, barely making it over the shouting clan. "Let the medicine cat stay! We're all going to die either way!"

The clan broke into louder yowls, their gazes all turning up to their leader. "Stormstar do something!" They shouted at the black tom. "Tell us what to do!"

But Stormstar had already stormed back into his den, his black tail whisking out of sight. Flamefur growled. The clan was falling apart.

As the clan was thrown into chaos, Zeye quieted them down again with a harsh snarl. "Shut up and listen!"

"Why would we listen to a rogue like you? You're worse than Nutwhisker!" Tigerstripe muttered from his place in the back of the crowd. Flamefur bit her lip as her amber eyes turned to her brother to see him staring defiantly at the blue-eyed tom at the centre of the crowd. The clan swivelled around to look at Tigerstripe too and the brown tom stood slightly taller at the sudden attention.

Small growls rumbled around the gathered warriors- they had not forgotten how Tigerstripe had turned into such a ruthless deputy not long ago. Now they were torn between Tigerstripe and Zeye. Flamefur was definitely curious to see who chose who. She didn't dare join the debate, hanging back in the shadows of the camp edge with Silvershy. She didn't want to have to betray her brother publicly; she'd never hear the end of it.

From the centre of the clearing- his blue eyes narrowing as he turned to Tigerstripe- Zeye shifted on his paws and hissed. "Sit down and be quiet, Tigerstripe. As far as I'm concerned, you should be thrown out of Lightclan for your wrongdoings." His white tail curled briefly over Nutwhisker's back, a threat clear in his eyes.

Flamefur glanced back at Tigerstripe, sighing to see her brother glare directly back at Zeye, refusing to back down. "Last time I checked, you weren't leader or deputy of this clan." He gave a pointed glance at Autumnpool and the deputy flattened her ears but stayed silent. "I'm more a leader here than you are, rogue scum!"

Flamefur felt like slamming her paw into her own muzzle in disappointment. Had her brother just made a life-threatening mistake?

Zeye growled, and Flamefur saw the cats around him take a few steps back. She narrowed her eyes and craned her neck to see over the cats, gasping in surprise to see Zeye's paws glowing bright blue, his fur slowly melting from his body until all that stood in his place was a blue feline, his body was pure blue energy. The clan let out fearful yowls, darting for cover within the edges of camp and the dens.

Tigerstripe stared at the radiating blue feline in shock, his eyes wide. "What in the name of Starclan?" Flamefur heard him murmur as he took slow steps back. The clearing had emptied in heartbeats, leaving a full view of the two toms facing one another- and Nutwhisker sitting calmly at Zeye's side.

"Unless you want your organs spilling out of your broken jaws," Zeye snarled, "I suggest you sit back down and be a good little warrior as I explain what we are going to do about our current situation. Understood?"

Tigerstripe's gulp echoed loudly around the deathly quiet clearing, the brown tom trembling under Zeye glaring blue gaze.

"Understood?" Zeye hissed, even louder this time.

"Yes!" Tigerstripe shrieked, his ears flattening as he dipped his head.

"Good." Zeye's white fur quickly reappeared and he sat back down, a smug grin plastered on his lips.

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