SCAPEGOATS - a warrior cat fanfiction

one

    A young medicine cat — no younger than thirty-five moons and freshly deemed the official medicine cat of ShadowClan, watched as blood spilled from a cat's jaws, their body convulsing and clawed at the dusty ground. They didn't move except the twitching of their tail as they observed the poisoned cat, light amber eyes glittering with sorrow. Deathberries felt out a bite in a half-eaten frog, a few had chunks missing. The medicine cat watched as the cat fell limp about a moment or two of suffering. Just then did he take the ShadowClan feline by the scruff and drag him away from the Medicine Cat hollow. They still smelled fine, however, he knew that they'll soon grow cold and smell like death. His heart ached. This isn't what I signed up for when I agreed to be a medicine cat. He went out of the entrance despite dragging a cat he just poisoned out with him, as he knew that he had nothing to hide.

     Cats they were milling about in the dim camp suddenly ushered themselves out the way as the plump blue-gray tomcat dragged the warrior's body across the clearing. It went silent, and the medicine cat could feel his skin crawl with the sudden soundlessness. However he continued until he reached the tunnel, but he barely took a step through the thorns before a slim calico trotted his way toward him with a level yet smiling expression, but it quickly vanished as it was replaced with a slight frown. "Another gone, Dewhowl?" He meowed, gazing at the she-cat in the tomcat's grip.

    "Unfortunately." The tom replied, his voice muffled by the scruffy fur between his teeth. "The redcough is still lingering."

    "I see." The calico lowered his eyelids, gazing at the bramble-brown molly before he nodded. "Go on then, get her out of camp." He shot glances at the clearing behind him, which was still filled with cats standing awkwardly at the edges. The medicine cat could hear a sentence lingering on their tongue. Before someone pipes up about it.

    Dewhowl made haste, disappearing through the thorn tunnel after a quick blink. He emerged on the other side, surprised as a ray of sunlight danced onto his amber eyes. He squinted, however, he had grown used to sunlight as his hollow was barely covered by a thick canopy and allowed it to blaze onto his pelt. However, the open sky made him queasy at times when he was in doubt, when the stars twinkled into view he felt a thousand StarClan eyes burning into his skin as he tried to snuggle his way into his moss nest.

He rushed through the pine forest as fast as a cat could when they were dragging a dead cat along with them. It took him a while to reach his destination, a clearing that smell odd compared to the rest of the pine forest. The graveyard. He thought as he carefully picked his paw around the gifted flowers cats had plucked from the earth to give to their dead family and friends.
His pelt itched with the thought of having to dig up another pit for the brown tabby, however when he found an open spot his paws furiously began to work, shoving mounts of soil away until he made a deep enough hole. He lost his grip on the tabby while he did, the poisoned she-cat laying on the ground with her eyes staring blankly into the canopies. He tried to avoid their glazed glare, even if he knew they couldn't see any longer. He repeated an apology every step of the way, wishing he could have done more. They were suffering. It was only a matter of time. He grabbed the tabby and dragged them inside when he finished, bowing his head swiftly before he began to throw the soil over the corpse.

He quickly stumbled out of the graveyard as quickly as he could, his pelt finally relaxing when the smell of it disappeared, however, he stopped when a creaking noise met his ears. They twitched, the sound accompanied by leaves shaking. At first, he thought a wind ran through the pines, but he felt nothing on his pelt. His amber eyes scanned the trees around him, but nothing stuck out.

He turned around, staring at the blocked sky. What's happening? He thought, the sound greeting his senses again until he spotted the source. A massive pine tree was breaking through the soil, its roots exposed to the sun as it began toppling towards the blue-gray tabby. His pelt bristled as his paws skid on the earth. He pelted away, his tail streaking behind him as his heart pounded. The whole forest seemed to be coming down now, more trees breaking free from the soil as they crashed down, each closer to the medicine cat than the next.