The scene outside caused Graystar to stop in her tracks as she emerged from her den. Morningrose, walking right behind her, crashed into the leader and stumbled back with a squeaked "sorry!", but Graystar hardly noticed.
Kestrelberry had been cornered by Iriswhisper, Runningstream, and Honeyrose -- the training team must have returned just recently. All three she-cats seemed incredibly angry.
"Snowsong was our friend," Iriswhisper snarled. "How could you kill her?"
"You should have heard the murderer, screaming his head off after forcing her to eat poisoned prey," Honeyrose sneered, her yellow eyes narrowed dangerously. "As if he couldn't even bear what he'd done."
"No!" Kestrelberry yowled pitifully. He tried to take a step back, but he had nowhere to go; the she-cats had him trapped against the camp wall. "I didn't kill her, I swear!"
Runningstream's amber eyes glimmered with repressed fury. She spoke in a quiet voice that was somehow more threatening than if she'd yelled. "The least you could do to redeem yourself would be to own up to what you've done."
Kestrelberry quailed under her gaze, his tail flicking anxiously as he replied in a wretched voice, "but I didn't do it..."
"Liar," Iriswhisper hissed, unsheathing her claws.
"Maybe you don't deserve to be exiled, Kestrelberry," Honeyrose said coldly. "I don't think that gives Snowsong justice. Why do you just get to walk away, safe and sound, when she's dead?"
Graystar panicked. She'd already made her decision who to exile, and Kestrelberry wasn't it! But if she didn't stop them now, it wouldn't just be traitors with blood on their paws.
She made to jump between Kestrelberry and the three vengeful she-cats -- but Whisperdrizzle got there first.
The grey tom stood with his back to Kestrelberry, his blue-green eyes moving steadily from Honeyrose, Iriswhisper, and Runningstream's gazes. "I'd watch what threats you make while Graystar's watching," he quietly warned them.
Runningstream immediately looked over at Graystar, and seeing the leader watching them with an incredulous stare, she swiftly backed away. Her lowered gaze showed Graystar that she felt guilty for being part of such a disloyal scene. The leader quickly disregarded her, turning her attention to Honeyrose and Iriswhisper, who were both still tense and angry.
"Snowsong deserves justice," Honeyrose informed Graystar. "That can only be done through Kestrelberry's death."
"Can we just kill the fox-heart already?" Iriswhisper demanded impatiently, glaring at Kestrelberry. "We're wasting time."
"No!" Graystar cried, stepping in front of her, even though her way to Kestrelberry was still blocked by Whisperdrizzle. "You've got the wrong cat. We spoke with both of them, and Morningrose and I have decided that Kestrelberry did not kill Snowsong."
A low murmur ran around the clearing. Once again, warriors and apprentices alike were being drawn to watch the dramatic scene unfold.
"What do you mean?" Iriswhisper protested. "He was the only one with her at the time! Who else could it be?"
"You're looking at him," Morningrose told her, indicating the cat still standing between them and Kestrelberry with her tail.
"Whisperdrizzle?" Shademask spoke out, clearly confused.
"But he was on guard duty. We all saw his there. How could he have killed Snowsong?" Smokeflash added.
Graystar looked around at her clan and realized that it would take more than a few statements to satisfy their curiosity (and in some cases, thirst for revenge). She gestured grandly with her tail. "Come, listen to what I have to say," she commanded. Four steps and a bound took her to the top of the Highrock, where she turned to look down at the gathered clan.
"Morningrose and I have discussed at length about today's events, and we arrived at the conclusion that Kestrelberry was not the murderer," she announced. "His reactions were genuine, and his answers under questioning did not condemn him." She looked at Kestrelberry as she spoke, and the golden tom seemed relieved, and at the same time, filled with disbelief that he wasn't about to be exiled or killed.
"However," Graystar continued, "I myself have noticed that recently Whisperdrizzle's actions were more than a little suspicious, and Kestrelberry raised concerns that Whisperdrizzle had been following him for a few days now. Whisperdrizzle could have poisoned the squirrel and left it at the top of the pile, knowing Kestrelberry would take it to Snowsong."
There were quiet mutters of dissent from the crowd as warriors exchanged glances. Obviously this was not the same conclusion they'd arrived at.
Graystar hurried to push forward before her claims could be questioned again. "Because of Kestrelberry's accusations, we questioned Whisperdrizzle as well. And unlike Kestrelberry, Whisperdrizzle was unable to give us straight answers." She paused to let that sink in.
More and more cats began looking over at Whisperdrizzle, some still looking confused, some narrowing their eyes in suspicion. Whisperdrizzle was not a well-known personality within the clan, and other than Kestrelberry, no one had thought of any reason to suspect him yet. Perhaps that was the mark of a good traitor, to stay low, keeping the attention away from yourself.
"And that is why Whisperdrizzle is hereby exiled from the clan."
There was a stunned silence following those words, even though it had been obvious what Graystar's final announcement would be; now all eyes turned to Whisperdrizzle, to study his reaction.
Whisperdrizzle, incredibly, managed to stay calm other than a repeated flicking from the white tip of his tail. "No."
"No?" Graystar echoed incredulously. "What do you mean, no?"
"No, I'm not exiled," Whisperdrizzle answered calmly. He gazed around as if to gather support from his clanmates. "Was I the one who delivered Snowsong poisoned prey? Was I the one who stood over her as she writhed, dying from deathberries? No," he continued, "that was Kestrelberry."
"Then why did you just protect him from Honeyrose and Iriswhisper?" Icespark wanted to know. Runningstream shot her a frown, as if she was offended to be forgotten, but then she looked down at her paws as she realized that she didn't want to be remembered for that anyways.
"As opposed to standing by and letting my clanmates become murderers just for revenge?" Whisperdrizzle responded. "Snowsong was loved by all of us. I don't blame anyone for wanting to wanting to bring her justice. But if we kill her killer, we become no better than the traitors."
"You're just talking fast to save your own skin," Tigersplash accused.
Whisperdrizzle had no reply to that; he just looked expectantly up at Graystar.
Time for another announcement. "It's not only Snowsong that was killed," Graystar meowed loudly, speaking to everyone present. "Blackpaw is also dead."
Multiple gasps rose from the crowd. Crowtail looked especially shocked, and Runningstream frowned. Curiously enough, the apprentices were staring around, looking at all of the warrior's reactions.
"What?" Snowstrike meowed, looking more confused than concerned.
"Blackpaw? Dead?" Shademask echoed, stricken.
"But we never saw his body!" Rainsong protested.
"How could anyone kill an apprentice?" wailed Echolight.
Graystar waved her tail for quiet. "He's been missing for the last few days. I myself took a search patrol for him, and found no sign. He must have been killed, and then his body hidden. It's just another way that the traitors are trying to scare us."
"It's working," Featherpath muttered under her breath.
Echoleaf turned to Whisperdrizzle. "So not only did you kill Snowsong, you killed an apprentice, too?" she hissed.
"I never touched Blackpaw or Snowsong," Whisperdrizzle denied.
Graystar lashed her tail. "That's enough. Whisperdrizzle,you have been exiled from the clan. Anyone who sees you on our territory after sunset has the right to kill you."
Whisperdrizzle's eyes widened, but still he did not move from his spot. "Graystar, I'm innocent. I won't leave."
Graystar shook her head and motioned for Morningrose to escort him out by force, but Tigersplash shouldered the deputy out of the way.
"Allow me," he growled, glaring at Whisperdrizzle with claws unsheathed.
Whisperdrizzle took one look at the large, threatening tom and decided he'd had enough. He stepped back as Tigersplash stepped towards him; then when the dark gray dappled warrior made as if to attack, Whisperdrizzle turned tail and sprinted towards the camp entrance, his tail between his legs.
He stopped just before leaving the camp, and his gaze sought out Kestrelberry's. The golden-furred tom still hadn't moved from where he had been surrounded by the she-cats earlier, and his eyes were somber.
Whisperdrizzle opened his mouth as if to say something; another accusation, or maybe an apology, but before he could speak Tigersplash started running after him, and Whisperdrizzle was chased out of camp, quickly disappearing into the trees.
Whisperdrizzle was innocent.
Thank you to everyone who voted last chapter! Day 6 will be coming out soon!