"The new leader of FogClan, shall be Branchfire." Panicscar declared to the remains of FogClan after long moments of examination.
A small brown she-cat with a ginger tail sat up tall as the clan purred.
"How do you connect with StarClan?" She asked the newly declared leader.
"To receive my nine lives, I need to go to the Fallen Spirit Pond." Branchfire mewed.
Panicscar dipped her head to the gathered clan, and jumped from the down from the branch of a tree.
As the she-cat passed Branchfire, the two cats shared a look of seriousness.
She will make a good leader for FogClan, and will mend what Wildstar had ruined, Panicscar decided.
**********
The bramble walls of MistClan's camp were utterly destroyed.
Curlstar, the leader of MistClan, sat at the edge of the camp barrier, deep in conversation with a ginger tom. The leader's curled tail twitched with frustration. Panicscar immediately recognized Vineclaw, and shock struck her, hollowing out her chest.
She let out a hiss and padded towards the FogClan cat.
"What are you doing here?" She growled as she approached them.
Curlstar shot her a look of impatience, but let Vineclaw speak.
"After you left me to die down in the gorge," He stopped to roll his eyes.
As he continued, Panicscar noticed that his pelt was covered with deep flesh wounds. Dried blood stained his pelt, and gave him the smell of crow-food. Panicscar wrinkled her nose in disgust, her tail tip twitching with annoyance.
"I climbed back up to the jungle and found MistClan." Vineclaw mewed, finishing.
"Did you throw him off of the cliff edge?" Curlstar questioned her from behind.
Panicscar turned around, to be face-to-face with the leader.
"Yes, I did," the she-cat replied with indifference and not a hint of hesitation. She stood tall, unregretful of her actions. He deserves it. Panicscar let out a snort of frustration.
Curlstar flicked his tail as he stood, and as he padded to the Tall rock, the MistClan leader quietly meowed in a joking, soft tone so that Vineclaw couldn't hear, "Well, it's no wonder."
Panicscar watched as the leader padded away to check on the nursery. She could feel furious glares burn into her pelt, and she looked at the bristling Vineclaw, his eyes narrowed and his pupils slits. The scarred grey she-cat merely bared her fangs mockingly.
Vineclaw rolled his eyes and looked away, gazing out to the MistClan camp. He watched the cats share tongues and eat fresh-kill, and comfort each other after the attack. Panicscar saw a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes, and she tilted her head in surprise. This cat is full of surprises. Like the fact that he's alive.
When Vineclaw realized she was staring, his gaze hardened and she forced her eyes to flick away to the camp as well. She sat down, watching the cats share affection and comfort.
Just like DrizzleClan... A small smile grew on her lips.
Wait...
Her eyes stopped upon the purple-pelted Opalstorm and the fiery Scarletpelt, sitting alone and staring at their paws nervously. They barely picked at the prey in front of them.
She scanned the camp, and her lingering suspicion was confirmed. Shardfang was nowhere to be seen.
*********
Scanning the crowd of cats for further investigation, she also found that Opalstorm and Scarletpelt were in a state of distress. Even the easy going and calm Hailstorm seemed worried.
Opalstorm bounded to the nursery to find Curlstar, who was checking on the queens and kits, while Hailstorm alerted the other warriors.
Panicscar stood, all of a sudden alert at the fact of a missing cat, but she then took in the fact that Shardfang wasn't a very popular cat in the clan at all, and she wondered if he'd simply left on his own.
No... he would've at least told Opalstorm and Scarletpelt, and chances are that they probably would've followed him, the scarred gray she-cat realized with a jolt. So was he taken?
Panicscar pushed past Vineclaw and out into the jungle. The ginger tom gave her a glare filled with hatred, but continued watching over MistClan.
Her eyes alert, Panicscar bounded deeper into the undergrowth.
As her fur caught on a thorn branch, a muffled mew sounded from within the bush.
The words were barely distinguishable, but Panicscar could make out the voice of Shardfang.
The scarred she-cat moved aside branches with her paws, hissing as they got in her paw, and made her way into the branch.
The black tabby tom sat against a tree, his paws flailing around weakly.
"Help—" Shardfang was interrupted by a paw that stuck into the bush from outside.
Panicscar eyes widened with surprise as she scented holly. The poisonous berry was dangerous enough to keep a cat asleep for days. The dark paw was covered with cobwebs, and the red berry's juice was soaked in the white mesh.
Shardfang watched helplessly as the cobwebs were thrust between his jaws.
The deep voice of a cat could be heard meowing, "Now, sleep. When you awaken, you'll join your father and mother... in StarClan."
Panicscar stepped from out of the shadows, so that Shardfang could see her.
The poison was already seeping down his throat, and nothing could be done to wake him. His eyes closed, and his breathing deepened.
The tabby tom's eyes flickered open a final time before he slipped away into unconsciousness.
************
Shardfang's eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, he lay there on his side, still drowsy. The tom stared at the bright starlight that glowed around him.
Realizing where he was, the tabby tom leaped to his paws, and as panic pierced his his heart like a thorn, he thought, Oh StarClan, I hope I'm not dead.
"You're not dead," the black cat heard a voice, and jumped out of his fur.
Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw two cats. The first was a vicious looking she-cat with many battle scars along her pitch black pelt, and she had sparkling gray eyes. The next was a tabby tom, who stood tall and proud, with dark brown fur, and most strikingly, silver eyes.
My... parents, Shardfang thought with surprise as he stared at the couple in complete and utter awe.
He shook off his surprise before meowing, "Well, I hope to StarClan that you're right. Am I a medicine cat? Hmm, I don't think so at least."
The scarred she-cat stepped up, and glancing at Shardfang's father, began, "Barkpelt's at it again, that fox-heart," and her partner continued in a soft tone, "My stupid little brother."
Shardfang asked, "Wait, your brother is doing what?"
Shardfang's father glanced down, and hesitated. He then turned away with a sigh, and his mate meowed gently, "Oh, now's not the time to be mourning, Spiderjaw."
Almost angrily, the large tom turned his head to the side so that his partner could see his watering eyes glistening with guilt, and mewed in a pathetic, cracking voice, "Blackflower, I- he's my little brother, I... if I had just taken care of him better, or helped to raise him better."
"That's just how he grew up, and he chose his own path. He took the same pawsteps made by your parents, and you can't help that, because they were also your parents, so you should know," Blackflower gently reassured the shaking tom.
The scarred she-cat sighed before facing Shardfang to continue, "Barkpelt wants to take over MistClan, like your father's father and their siblings tried to do. Stop him before another... before another massacre takes place. He's already gathered a team of rogues, and he's planning on attacking very soon."
Shardfang narrowed his eyes and asked, "But why capture me?"
Spiderjaw let out a ragged laugh. It wasn't a delightful sound at all. Turning around, the tabby tom replied, "He knows that your siblings are looking for you, and because he knows that they're sure to try and rescue you, and that they would most likely help to save MistClan... well, let's just say that the fish always takes the bait before it's slaughtered."
Shardfang felt a shiver go up his spine, the fur along his back prickling, but Blackflower was unfazed. The scarred she-cat twined her tail together with Spiderjaw's before glancing towards Shardfang and meowing with pride, "Just look at you, all grown up. Goodness, I can't believe how many moons it's been since Grayheart killed me."
Shardfang let out a gasp before speaking, "Oh, Grayheart's dead. He was killed sometime after I was taken into the clan."
Blackflower nodded, and meowed, "I know. It was your sister, Cometeye. Killed him while he was on patrol. Inkfur and Inkpelt were frightened of her afterwards."
Her whiskers twitching with amusement, the scarred she-cat leaned her head against her partner, who jokingly asked, "She sure takes after her mother, doesn't she?"
Blackflower smirked and replied, "Oh, shut up."
Shardfang shifted around awkwardly as his parents began to glow. He asked, "What now?"
Spiderjaw replied, "Looks like we have to go, although I don't think you'll be waking up anytime soon."
The pair started to glimmer with blinding starlight, and Shardfang managed to yowl out before they were gone, "You might want to walk in someone else's dreams! Maybe that annoying gray she-cat!"
Blackflower nodded, and managed a small smile and, "Goodbye," before the couple disappeared into the starry background.
And then Shardfang was alone once again. He stared out into his surroundings, which glowed glamorously, although they started to dull.
With a jolt, Shardfang felt himself falling, and glanced down in time to see a black hole underneath him, which was absorbing all the light around him.
He stared up at the starlight above him, which was slowly being taken over, as he fell, and fell, and fell, into the darkness of nightmarish sleep.
************
Panicscar curled up next to the poisoned tom, letting his scent soothe her. All of a sudden, the meow she had heard before was closer.
"What do you think you are doing down here?" Shadows hid the tom's pelt, but the tom slowly padded out from the darkness.
Panicscar immediately leapt to her paws, unsheathing her claws.
She stood in front of Shardfang defensively, prepared to fight for the unconscious tom.
I'm a medicine cat. I have to do things for the greater good, even if it's for annoying, ungrateful tomcats. Which means one thing right now; keep Shardfang alive.
The tom in front of her let out a low growl, before leaping at her. His claws glinted in the moonlight.
The black tom bared his fangs, as he landed on her back.
"Get off!" Panicscar growled through gritted teeth.
The tom fell limp, and the she-cat wriggled out from underneath him. Panicscar faced the tom.
"Who are you?" She curled her lip back in a vicious snarl.
"I am here to make MistClan powerful!" He declared, and stood in front of Shardfang. "Shardfang wants to be apart of this." He sneered with a glance at the unconscious tom.
Panicscar growled sarcastically, "Oh yeah, I can tell. By the way, does he want to be poisoned before he 'becomes a part' of this little act?"
The large tom paused, then purred with amusement, "How nice it is to have interesting company. I don't think I've heard that much sarcasm from one cat since Blackflower."
The scarred she-cat snarled, "Who's Blackflower?"
"Nobody important. And for your question earlier, I'm Barkpelt. Glad to acquainted with you," the dark pelted tom dipped his muzzle.
Panicscar bared her teeth, and snarled, "You better kneel before me. Anyway, what's up with your desperate little setup?"
Even in the darkness of the forestry surrounding them, the scarred she-cat spotted a smirk on Barkpelt's face.
The large tom replied, "Nothing of your business. You don't even come from this clan."
Before Panicscar could even take a step forward, Barkpelt was already dragging Shardfang away by the scruff.
Panicscar crouched down and growled, "Come back here, you fox-heart!" before springing forward with a boost from her back legs, but before she could get far, two cats appeared from the shadows, and they both grasped a back leg into a jaw, making the scarred she-cat yelp with surprise at the sudden pain.
Flailing, Panicscar yowled, "Who do you think you are?! Let go!" trying to kick at the two cats that she couldn't quite see in the darkness. Her front paws were dragging across the leaf strewn ground as they pulled her out of the thorn bush.
A deep voice grumbled, "Shut your trap," before Panicscar was suddenly flung out into the open space of the MistClan camp.
The she-cat leaped to her paws, and turned around, but couldn't catch another glimpse of the two cats before they plunged back into the jungle forestry. Shardfang had been taken, just like that.