Warrior Cats; Smokeskull's Revenge [ 1 ]

Chapter 34

The warriors of ArrowClan did not fully accept her at first. She figured they were just scared of her since she had the longest claws and that she beat Thundercloud at his own fight.
Morningheart was crouched beside Ivythorn. Smokefur supposed they must be mates comparing to how close they were. She saw a few other warriors too. There was a tortoiseshell Tom with blue eyes, and a pure white Tom with an ugly scar over his left eye. To Smokefur, he was quite scary with his bad temper, but to the kits he was a complete charmer.
Over the last moon, she was lonely in ArrowClan. None of the warriors had made an effort to talk to her at all. Thundercloud and his friends tried to pick on her one day. But she yowled and fought so fiercely, they hadn't talked to her since.
Icefang, the white Tom with the scar, was with Thundercloud. They seemed like brothers with their sassy attitudes. They both disliked her, but she knew that Thundercloud hated her almost as much as she hated him. Icefang was one who bragged about everything. He was also best friends with a tortoiseshell named Patchblaze. Patchblaze was a show off, and that's all there was to him.
"ArrowClan cats are so full of themselves," Smokefur mumbled to herself out loud.
Patchblaze glared over his shoulder, but Thundercloud laughed. "Ha! As if you aren't any worse!" He sneered.
"What a rogue." Icefang agreed.
Smokefur never felt so neglected. These cats weren't anything like the other Clans. With a sigh, she wrapped her tail over her laying body and tucked her face into her paws.
But a gentle poke made her look up. "Ignore them,"
"Morningheart?" Smokefur glanced up at the two cats that were hovering over her.
"No," answered a purring white she-cat.
The Tom next to her was purring too. "I'm Briarpaw," he meowed calmly, "and this is my sister, Icepaw."
Icepaw straightened her neck proudly. "They pick on everyone," she mewed with gleaming blue eyes which seemed to not be looking directly at her. "Even us."
Briarpaw rubbed his nose against his sister's neck. "We're the kits of Sorrelstar." He told her.
Smokefur bristled. No cat would ever catch her hanging out with apprentices. "Sorrelstar and who?" She growled.
Icepaw backed up. Smokefur guessed she was frightened because of her delicate fear scent. Briarpaw stepped in front of her. "Patchblaze...we are of Sorrelstar and Patchblaze."
Looking angry, Smokefur growled in her throat again. She was amused at Icepaw's fear of her.
"You know," The white apprentice unexpectedly thrust her muzzle into Smokefur's face. "Growling at other cats is no way to make friends! No wonder every cat hates you!" She lashed her tail in frustration and turned to the clearing.
Briarpaw's eyes widened, but he followed his sister to the apprentices den where they disappeared inside without hesitation or looking back.
Taken aback was what Smokefur was now. Was it true? Was she too mean? Was she the mean one?
The thoughts hadn't stopped blasting across her mind until the moon was high in the sky. Silverpelt started showing itself above the ground. The shadows darkened and the forest was crowding with heavy fog billows. Smokefur wasn't quite used to it yet.
She couldn't stop herself from glancing uncertainly at the edge of the clearing. Thornclaw's dark pelt glimmered in the high moon's light. Smokefur hauled herself up and padded out to meet him.
"Where are you going?" Sorrelstar's voice made her spin around.
Smokefur dipped her head in acknowledgement of the ArrowClan leader's presence. "I saw something out there," She flicked her tail at Thornclaw who was sitting at the edge of her sight.
He was just before the shadows ended. Smokefur figured Sorrelstar couldn't see him, because she looked around out of the entrance and growled disbelievingly. "Okay then," She meowed, dismissing the lie she thought Smokefur was telling. "A moon ago, when you came to my Clan, you spoke of a dream StarClan sent you. They want you to speak with me?"
Smokefur's eyes gleamed with surprise. She looked back at Thornclaw. He nodded, then slowly backed into the darkness. Smokefur watched him fade before turning back to the ArrowClan leader. "I did," She meowed and bowed her head.
"What did they tell you?" Sorrelstar seemed worried. Her heart was pounding loudly, her chest was heaving as if she'd just run a race for her life.
Smokefur sighed. She now didn't know what to say. Without thinking, she felt Thornclaw's presence near. Smokefur felt her eyes close slowly. "One cat is bold, yet another will hold. The Clan will soon mourn, and so will I; be torn." She reopened her eyes and felt her eyes droop at Sorrelstar's reaction.
The leader's jaw almost dropped out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide with worry, but she didn't say anything until a few heartbeats passed. "I just...I don't know-"
"Nothing is wrong with you," Smokefur heard Thornclaw whisper into her ear softly.
"Of course there is nothing wrong with me!" Sorrelstar snapped, "I'm the leader of the greatest Clan in the forest!"
Smokefur tilted her head to the side. Her heart ached for answers. "I didn't-"
She stopped as Thornclaw whispered again, "The smallest and weakest, you mean!"
"Shut up!" Sorrelstar yowled and pushed Smokefur over.
She fell onto her side and rolled over quickly. She got up and reared, ready for the leader to attack again. But Sorrelstar stayed put. Smokefur backed up slowly. "Listen, I'll just go to my nest. It's okay, I'll be fine...so will you."
Sorrelstar opened her eyes. They were tiny slits of yellow. She glanced up at Smokefur. Her scent was fuelled with rage. "You're not going anywhere." She hissed, "Because I'm going to tell you a secret. But first, you have to come with me."
Backing up again, Smokefur was scared now. Would the leader try at her again? "Okay," She meowed uneasily.
The leader lifted her muzzle and sniffed the air. "This way." She led, darting through the dark trees, to a tall rock-like cave. It looked much like her den, but the inside looked bigger and the way in was smaller. "Well? Go ahead." Sorrelstar flicked her tail at the inside-entrance of the cave.
Smokefur smelled in with an open mouth. The faint taste-scent was inside and she was uncertain whether she wanted to go in or not.
"Get in, kittypet!" Sorrelstar sounded angry. Smokefur had never seen any cat-especially a leader-so upset and agile. So, she slunk inside and glanced around the cave. It was dark, all except a small outlet from a break in the hill that let moonlight dapple over the floor. Sorrelstar came in after her. "This is my private cave,"
Gazing at the exit, Smokefur felt heavy air crowd on her shoulders. "A private cave? Why would a leader need one of those?" She mewed and squinted into the darkest corner. There appeared to be a large nest there.
"You will never get out," rasped a feline in the nest. The scent was somewhat familiar to Smokefur. "She won't let you...she never will..."
Smokefur narrowed her eyes at the cat in the shadowed nest. "Tigerfrost? Is that you?" Then, a sharp pain hooked into her back. The grey warrior healed onto her side and pushed herself up. The cat who was on her was Sorrelstar! "What are you doing?!" She yowled, confused.
"This is my death cave." Sorrelstar hissed with an evil smile, "All cats who interfere with prophecies and my life come here to die painfully!"
The grey she-cat backed up, horrified. "It's not a prophecy! It's just a...a...uh..." Smokefur looked back at the cat in the nest. Surely it was Tigerfrost? She knew she had to help him-but help herself too?
"Run!" yowled Tigerfrost.
Smokefur turned to him. "I couldn't leave you!" She raced up to him but saw he was badly injured. His ribs were wrapped with cobwebs and one of his front paws were crushed like they'd been rolled over by a monster.
The former MapleClan warrior yowled at her to go, again. Smokefur finally came to terms with herself; he wouldn't be able to even walk away anyways. She turned, but Sorrelstar hissed in her face. She was closer to Smokefur than she'd thought!
"You stupid kittypet!" The crazy leader threw her head back in an evil howl. "I'd never let you run, and my mate, Tigerfrost, has already told you that!" Sorrelstar slashed her claws down on Smokefur's face.
A splash of blood dribbled down from a new scar over one of her eyes. Smokefur felt completely outraged. "You're not a leader, you're a coward!" She pushed up, rearing with all her might, and fell on her back onto Sorrelstar's chest. The leader cried out in pain, but Smokefur dismissed her yowling and flipped herself over. She used her back legs to claw at Sorrelstar's underbelly.
The white leader's yowl rang out once again, but in horror. Splattering up was blood, and Smokefur finished the cold-blooded murderer with a quick but painful death blow to the neck. Her jaws clenched onto Sorrelstar's neck and she shook hard until the leader no longer budged.
Her chest heaving, Smokefur lifted her head proudly. "But if Sorrelstar was a leader, wouldn't she have had nine lives?" She whispered to herself.
"Sorrelstar was once just a warrior like you," coughed Tigerfrost, "She was called Cloudfur until her accident. The leader at the time, Hawkstar, renamed her Sorrelfur because of her bitter selfishness. However, Cloudfur hated the name. She despised Hawkstar as well, so she took his deputy's life and his before the moonhigh of his deputy." The former CloudClan warrior gulped, his eyes fluttering to a close. "And while you plotted your attack against CloudClan, I was being tortured by this...this..."
"Fox-hearted coward," Smokefur finished bitterly. She had only met the leader a moon ago, but now she saw what the innocent Sorrelstar had to offer; pain. All cats were suffering by that leader's paw and no cat had the courage to stop her. "And that's why she wanted me? Because I am strong?"
Tigerfrost's eyes closed now, his chest barely rising or falling. "Yes, Smokefur." He meowed at last after a pause in breaths. "You are strong. Very, very strong."