The Rogue Traitor #2 - Chosen Outcast

Chapter Five

Birdpaw didn't have a peaceful sleep at all that night, she was tossing and turning, which caused a slight pain in her damaged leg. She barely got any sleep and when she was awake, she was flinching at shadows and wincing at movement, thinking that it was her Clanmates coming to get revenge on what she had done. It was towards the morning that she eventually got to sleep, and even then, she was still having nightmares.

Birdpaw was in her nest, curled up in the springy moss when a sharp paw poked her in the head. The apprentice jumped up and saw Dewpaw standing over her, tall. His normally kind eyes were flaring with anger and his teeth were curled into a snarl.

"I thought I could trust you," he growled, "I thought we were friends. I thought you cherished the moments we spent together. But clearly, I was wrong, I was blind, I didn't see the other side of you. I didn't see that you didn't care about me. I didn't see that you didn't care about anyone in our Clan. I honestly thought ..." The cream apprentice broke off and shook his head. "I can't trust you, and I never will again." Birdpaw felt like she was breaking into millions of pieces as she watched the older apprentice walk away. She wanted to call out to him, tell him he could trust her, tell him she wanted to be his friend. But she couldn't speak, it was like her body knew he was right.

Dewpaw disappeared into the mist and out stepped Flowerstem, her tail swishing violently. "I was wrong about you," she snarled, "were we not friends? I thought I could trust you, trust you with the secret about me and Whiskerstar. Yet you go and lead a murder to us, a murder who took a life from my mate. The whole Clan is in danger because of you, the kits, apprentices, warriors, elders, everyone! How will I trust you? Can I trust you not to hurt me and my kits? It is all your fault. We are done." And with that, the normally calm medicine cat spun around and walked away into the mist. Birdpaw felt tears pouring down her face but a voice in her head made her wonder if they were right.

Whiskerstar stepped out from the mist and the apprentice wanted to run away, knowing that he was going to blame her as well. But her paws stayed stuck to the ground. The grey tabby tom stalked up to her and slashed his claws across her face.

"You," he spat, "are a murder. You took a life from me, a life that I needed, another life that I will not be able to spend leading my Clan or with my mate and kits. You are nothing better than Maplestar, who you might as well be friends with, who I am sure you are. You probably planned all of this, all behind our backs, when we trusted you, when we thought you could be trusted. I was your mentor, your leader, yet you go and defy me, go, and take a life from me. I don't know what I was thinking when I took you on as my apprentice." He spun around and the mist moved forward, towards the apprentice. It snaked around her body, icy cold, lifting her up into the air, before dropping her to the ground.

Birdpaw jolted awake, the movement sending a pinprick of pain through her leg, but she barely felt it. Her breath was fast, and her heart was beating rapidly. The words from the dream repeated in her head and no matter how hard she tried, she could not stop their whispering.

"I can't trust you and I never will."

"The whole Clan is in danger because of you."

"You are a murder."

"You are no better than Maplestar."

"It is all your fault."

Birdpaw licked one of her black paws and wiped it over her face, wiping away tears and sweat. But then it struck her, what if that dream was not a dream? What if it was a vision of the future? What if that was going to happen? What happened if three of the cats she loved turned against her? Do they hate her? The apprentice tried to take a deep breath to push away the worrying thoughts, but it did not work, and a more worrying question popped up in her head.

What if they were right?