Tangletuft's Mistake; (complete)

Chapter twenty three

"Shouldn't we tell Graystar or Grasspelt that we got into a fight?" Snowblaze asked as the two cats neared camp, hearing the buzz of energy from their Clanmates before they left for sleep.

Tangletuft shrugged "It wasn't really a fight. More like a snobby ThunderClan warrior getting in our fur."

"But should we tell Graystar?" Snowblaze repeated himself before the entrance of camp lay just ahead. The two squeezed through the entrance as the sun was barely in view.

Tangletuft watched as Rustlestep padded into the nursery to sleep with his new family, Sageclaw was talking in a group with Crowflight, Redpaw, Splotchpaw and Smallfoot. Sageclaw stared at Crowflight the entire time, her eyes twinkling. Beside the cats was Berrypaw and Dapplepaw. The two seemed excluded from the other conversation and their glum faces supported her theory.

"I don't think we need to." Tangletuft replied, padding up to Dapplepaw and Berrypaw, earning herself a glare from Sageclaw's group of cats who were talking.

"Hey," Dapplepaw's eyes glowed in amusement "You were with Snowblaze eh? How's that going?"

"We just got yelled at by ThunderClan that's all." Tangletuft replied, fake scowling.

"ThunderClan?" Berrypaw nosed in "Don't you think you should tell Graystar this?"

"That's what I said." Snowblaze also nosed in.

"Yeah you really should." Dapplepaw meowed, nodding her head towards Tallrock.

"I really don't think it's a big deal but okay." Tangletuft replied before padding in the opposite direction towards the leader's den.

"But what's lightning?" Tangletuft heard a cat murmur and she asserted herself into the den.

Rabbitfoot, Grasspelt and Graystar sat in the den huddled in a circle. Immediately they noticed Tangletuft then silenced and faced the new warrior.

"What is it Tangletuft?" Graystar asked, looking dazed.

"Uhh I- er Snowblaze and I were marking the border and ThunderClan got really... uhh... angry at us." She explained, not knowing the right words to use.

"So?" Grasspelt murmured, her voice slowly getting louder "They do that all the time."

Tangletuft shrugged, pausing before asking "Why were you talking about lightning?" She changed the subject.
The three cats froze, their muscles rippled under their pelts.

"Well," Rabbitfoot started "A storm is supposed to come."

"So you don't know what lightning is? Because how I remember it you were asking what lightning is." Tangletuft asked before suddenly the prophecy crossed her mind Me, She thought They're talking about me.

The three cats just turned around and huddled once more, whispering frequent things to each other before they turned back around, facing Tangletuft as if she was their leader.

"It's a... well um..." Graystar stammered, his head tilting as he looked for words.

"A prophecy?" Tangletuft asked innocently, and reluctantly the three cats slowly nodded.

"It's about me." Tangletuft went on, knowing exactly what they said before they said it "It's this 'Like lightning, a cat will strike through the forest but as lightning seems powerful it disappears when the storm ends.' It's about me. I know that because Dewblaze told me. He got the prophecy and gave it to his apprentice," She stared at Rabbitfoot who was shrinking in his own fur "And then they thought it was about his apprentice. And then many moons later, I was born and you knew it was about me instantly didn't you?" She asked, earning a nod from the three cats.

Tangletuft froze, suddenly her life flashed before her eyes, the time she'd opened her eyes, playing with her littermates, time almost freezing while talking to her brother, getting in trouble by Graystar, Darkwing desperately wanting her to be her apprentice, Snowblaze and Smoketail being smug with her, her becoming an apprentice, the cough starting, Rabbitfoot asking her many times to become a medicine cat, Sageclaw getting taken by RiverClan, getting Sageclaw back, becoming a warrior, the ThunderClan small skirmish and the flashback all ended with her standing in the den, noticing the three huddled cats.

"The whole Clan knew but me!" She exclaimed, tears forming around her large eyes instantly "Everyone in the Clan knew about my prophecy didn't they? Snowblaze, Smoketail, Breezefoot, Sageclaw, Willowflight, Sunstripe..." She gasped, a thought entering her head "That's why Sunstripe was so distant from his kits! He knew I was the prophecy cat and he... he was scared of me! Oh StarClan!" She paused continuing her thought before "They all knew! Even Redpaw, Dapplepaw, Splotchpaw and Berrypaw! How could I be so stupid." She paused, adding to her thoughts "That's why Darkwing asked to be my mentor when I was a kit. She wanted to be part of my life! That's why Rabbitfoot wanted me to be his apprentice! That's why Snowblaze noticed me when Sageclaw was gone. Thats why Snowblaze is even nice to me! That's why RiverClan took Sageclaw! They knew I was the prophecy cat and they wanted to cause me pain! That's why Mossyfoot hates me and that's why Sparkpaw even started talking to me at the gathering! That's why Horsefoot jumped at me at the border earlier." She paused, staring down the three cats and talking with a slight anger to her voice "It all makes sense now. Every cat knew but me. They all tried keeping it from me but all the cats in all the Clans can't keep one foolish secret. A mistake has got to happen sometime! A cat will mess up and Tangletuft will hear it. Tangletuft's mistake isn't it called?" She began scowling, the tears beginning to fall gracefully down her furry face. "I just can't believe I was so stupid! Stupid that I thought I was normal. That I couldn't do anything special. That I didn't have that stupid cough." She paused, the thoughts just adding on like a full fresh-kill pile "That's why I have a cough isn't it? It's the prophecy's fault!"

"Now Tangletuft, you can't blame a sick-" Rabbitfoot started calmly but Tangletuft cut him off.

"You are a liar!" She exploded, her voice probably ringing across camp but she continued "You are a liar! You told every cat in the whole forest not to tell me I was the little prophecy cat! You made them keep your little secret didn't you? What did you have to do? Get them herbs or make us give them our prey? Hmm. What did you do to make them shut their mouths?"

"I- I... I fetched them extra herbs from our territory..." His head drooped, ashamed for what he'd done.

"You're sick! I can't believe you'd do that! Why didn't you just tell me? It's not like I would've reacted like... like this!" Tangletuft had so many words to say and they just all fell out like a waterfall... or like her tears.

"You didn't need to know." Grasspelt stated.

Tangletuft became enraged, her claws unsheathed into the mossy floor before she erupted in scowls, yowls and hisses "I can't believe how stupid you all are! I can't believe how stupid I am! I trusted all of you! And you lied to my face my whole life! Every cat I loved knew about the prophecy and they never told me. Not once have I ever been given a hint about the prophecy."

She suddenly remembered Redpaw by the lake, telling her about the lightning "Redpaw told me!" She gasped, feeling overwhelmed "He told me! We were talking about the lightning and I pushed him down! He was telling me about the prophecy and I didn't listen! Oh StarClan forgive me!"

She wanted to say more, she wanted to scream at them for the rest of her life. But she didn't, she curled into a ball and began whimpering, her face soaked in tears.

"Tangletuft? Are you okay?" Rabbitfoot began and Tangletuft slowly rose her head, her green eyes red with tears and anger.

"You are a monster." She hissed, pulling herself up and spinning on her heels. She ran out of the den, not knowing what lay for her next.

•••

Ayyyyy! Everyone knew hahahHHhhHahahahahaha I laugh
So much drama man haha