The full moon floated ominously above, obscured slightly by wisps of tendril-like clouds. Duskowl placed his paws carefully as he walked amongst his Clanmates through the shadowed forest. The flapping of a bat in the branches overhead startled him, but he set his jaw and padded on.
There was a lone thought buzzing at the back of his mind. Nettlesand was half-deaf. He hadn't said anything to Hawkstar, or anyone else for that matter. But how much longer could the secret go on without being discovered, or thrown into the wrong paws? Such an event would cost Nettlesand his life.
Duskowl craned his neck to see over the bodies of those in front of him; up ahead the forest ahead began to clear and become a stretch of grassy field. As he looked, he wondered silently what had become of him.
Just a moon ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to expose Nettlesand.
He lumbered on towards the field, watching as Falconpaw struggled ahead of him to regain his footing after tripping on a lump of upturned soil. And then, suddenly, a memory came screaming back to him.
He was sitting in the center of camp, his Clanmates gathered in a tightly wound circle around him. Ravensplash was at the other end of the circle, a vague uncertainty resting in her amber eyes. Hawkstar stood the center of the circle, a small kit at his paws. Duskowl realized uncomfortably how much the kit's slick, firey ginger pelt resembled that of his leader.
Two seconds following, the kit was a lifeless scrap of fur with a single, bloody clawmark driven across his neck.
Duskowl gasped as he was jerked back into the present. He had watched tiny, newborn kitten die. And who had been the one to kill him? The deputy's eyes drifted to the orange tabby shape of his leader, who walked several pawsteps ahead of him. Hawkstar had been the kit's father, and still he had killed him. Duskowl lifted his head painfully to observe the twinkling stars in the milky sky up above.
StarClan, is this what you wanted?
Although the stars continued to gleam, the air was agonizingly quiet. If StarClan did answer, he did not hear them.
» - - - «
Dozens of cats shuffled into the clearing, where an enormous, powerful oak tree stood with its long, winding branches raised proudly. The floor of the large clearing was made up of soft, flat stones, smoothed by the waters of a pond that had dried up many seasons ago. This was the Place of Washed Stones; the sacred place of meeting for all four Clans.
Duskowl sat at the edge of his Clan, his long fur billowing in the chilly night breeze. He sensed a body settle beside him and glanced over to see Hawkstar, who peered at him through sharp green eyes.
"I want you to ask around about Ravensplash," the Clan leader meowed, curling his tail.
The dark tabby swallowed, supressing the feeling of uneasiness that wove its way through his body when Hawkstar had appeared, "Good idea," he managed.
"Start with IceClan," a growl lined the edges of Hawkstar's words, and his gaze grew fierce. "Be as direct as you need to. And be sure to mention the fact that SplashClan attacked us in their territory when they were the ones we were supposed to be proctecting them from in the first place."
Duskowl gave a curt nod and bounded away, relieved to get away from the stern orange tabby. Several sunrises had come and gone since Ravensplash's disappearance, so he was relatively relieved to see that Hawkstar was concerned.
He approached a fluffy, ash gray she-cat with soft opal eyes he recognized as an IceClan warrior named Flintcreek. She was deep in conversation with another IceClan cat, but when Duskowl grew near they stopped speaking and looked to him with expectant eyes.
"Greetings," Duskowl mewed diplomatically, dipping his head in a sign of respect.
"Duskowl," Flintcreek purred, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
Duskowl kept his voice calm, "I was wondering if you know anything about Ravensplash."
He thought he saw a flicker of panic behind the eyes of the tom that sat beside her. But Flintcreek gave nothing away in the tone of her voice, "What do you mean?" she asked with her head cocked slightly to one side.
"The day my Clan went to lend aid to yours, she went missing. Furthermore, SplashClan attacked our patrols before they could even reach IceClan camp."
Flintcreek's eyes narrowed, "We told you they'd invaded our territory. Of course they were there to attack you."
"It seemed rather convienient."
The gray she-cat sniffed indignantly, "You think we set you up?" she curled her lip in disgust and pushed past him without another word.
Duskowl lowered his large head and sighed.
"You're friends with Ravensplash?"
He glanced back upwards to see the IceClan tom staring at him with huge, olive green eyes. His fur was long and elligant, and he was one of the biggest cats Duskowl had ever seen.
"Not exactly," Duskowl replied awkwardly, "Do you know her?"
The huge tom nodded, "She's in IceClan camp."
"What?" Duskowl opened his eyes wide with shock, "Are you holding her captive?" He lashed his tail and flexed his long claws.
A laugh rumbled in the big tom's throat, "Oh, no no no," he purred, "It's nothing like that. You were right about SplashClan, though. They were a part of the plan."
Duskowl snarled, flashing white teeth. He was beginning to lose his patience. "What plan?"
"I'm Gingerswan, by the way," the tom grinned.
Just as Duskowl was about to hurl himself at the tom, a yowl sounded from high in the oak tree. The gathering was about to commence. He shot a menancing glance at Gingerswan, then hurried away and sprang onto one of the lower branches of the tree.
BreezeClan's leader, Mintstar, stood delicately on a sturdy branch. She waited for the last of the murmuring to die down before speaking, "BreezeClan has been doing fine. Greenleaf has made prey plentiful in the moors, and Beechfur has given birth to a litter of four healthy kits. Their names are Copperkit, Windkit, Honeykit, and Beekit."
Mintstar sat to signal that she was finished, and immediately Hawkstar leapt up to speak.
"Mintstar fails to mention that she has been ordering warriors into LeafClan territory," the she-cat gazed back at Hawkstar defiantly as he described the scene, "We will tolerate it no longer. If BreezeClan continues to try and swindle land from LeafClan, they should expect a full-fledged war.
"On a lighter note, we have a new litter of kits as well. There are two, but their names are still yet to be decided upon."
The great orange tabby sat back down, and Duskowl froze with shock. Why hadn't he said anything about Ravensplash? He supposed the leader didn't want to admit that they'd lost a deputy, but Hawkstar usually wasn't one to hold back at gatherings.
The next two reports went by in a blur. After the SplashClan leader, Rushstar, spoke, Pebblestar said a few words and suddenly the gathering was over, just as quickly as it had begun. Duskowl jumped off of his branch and landed skillfully on the ground.
LeafClan slowly condensed back into one group, with Hawkstar at the head. As the leader scanned the crowd to be sure everyone was present, Duskowl felt sleepiness lingering over him. He stretched his jaws in an enormous yawn, and waited patiently to begin moving.
From every angle came the harmonic chirping of crickets. And floating about in every direction, were beautiful, flickering fireflies.
The momentary peace was disturbed when a cat charged through the crowd to stand before Hawkstar. Duskowl blinked the drowsiness from his eyes, recognizing the brown, slender shape of Pineshade.
"Hawkstar!" the dark-furred tom cried, "Nettlesand is half-deaf!"
a.n. //
another chapter! we are approaching the climax of the story, and there are lots of twists, turns, and revelations ahead! keep showing your support with a vote and a comment! and be on the lookout for when the next chapter is posted. c: