Warrior Cats; Smokeskull's Revenge [ 1 ]

Chapter 27

Smokefur felt Adderstrike's apparition disappear and her pelt shook free. She raced up the path and huddled over Snakefang's body. "No, no, no, no..." Smokefur licked at his neck as a monster rushed down the other side of the path.
Her heart sank. "Come on, Snakefang." Smokefur's heartbeat began to quicken. "Don't die on me!" She bent down and grabbed his scruff, shaking violently. "Come on! It's n-not funny.." She sniffled and pulled him onto the other side. Her eyes tearing as they went back onto the other side of the path where they came from.
A few more monsters flashed by, and Smokefur cursed at every one of them for stealing her mate. "I wanted to have kits..." She cried in barely a whisper. "I wanted to have a life with you..." Her words were swept away by the big, lumbering animals on the path.
The sun began to rise, starting from the undergrowth, then lifting into the sky. Smokefur laid in Snakefang's dead paws for the whole night and morning. She cried all night, mourning her mate and her loss. But she was grateful no cat was there to watch.
Chattering came from a group of cats. The dawn border patrol. Smokefur assumed. Now she would have to stop tearing up. To let the rest of her sobbing out, Smokefur yowled painfully.
Quickly, the patrol turned and raced towards her and Snakefang's dead body. Luckily, Sandheart was in the patrol.
"Smokefur?!" She meowed in delight.
They must have been looking for me... Smokefur's lifted head fell back under Snakefang's chin as she started to tear up again.
Sandheart, Halfwind, Patchpaw, and Blackfoot stood horrified over their Clanmate's body. All of their eyes were on Snakefang. Patchpaw was uneasy at first. He flinched and backed away with a hanging head. To Smokefur's surprise, Blackfoot began to cry in disparity.
"W-What happened, Smokefur?" Halfwind tried not to panic, but failed. Her eyes were nothing but painful slits of black.
Smokefur let her eyes close. Earlier she made Snakefang's paw wrap around her. It stood still even now as if trying to protect her. "H-He went on the Th-Thunderpath...and-" She sniffled and cuffed her paw over her ears and let it slide over her eyes.
"A monster hit him?" Sandheart shed a few tears, but she wasn't close with him like Blackfoot and Smokefur. She had no problem saying it.
Snakefang's paw moved down to her waist as she shrugged her shoulders. "Yes-" Smokefur told them as she breathed in heavily and sadly.
"I'm so sorry." Sandheart padded around and helped Smokefur out of Snakefang's grasp. His paw flopped onto the ground like a dead minnow.
Smokefur turned her head away and bent her neck against Sandheart's side. "H-He just went so fast," She lied. "He ran out...I tried to stop him, but he froze in the middle of the path...a monster turned and...and-"
"It's okay, you don't have to explain." Sandheart soothed her sad temper, but could not fix her broken heart.
Halfwind turned to speak with Blackfoot. They would carry him back to camp, the deputy ordered. The warrior didn't argue.
Patchpaw stood off to the side of the patrol. "Snakefang is dead?" He mewed in question.
"Yes, Patchpaw." Sandheart answered softly. "He hunts with StarClan now." She purred lightly.
His dad is with the Dark Forest...what makes you think he will join StarClan? Won't they reject him because of his father in the place of no stars?
They entered camp and cats came out of their dens right away after smelling the death scent. Halfwind rushed into Onestar's den after placing Snakefang at the center of the clearing where Smokefur sat over him for hours. But the leader already came out of her den. No meeting was needed, all cats of MapleClan already came out of their dens.
Silverclaw came out. Her eyes wide with shock. "My baby!" She yowled and skidded to a halt at the end of Snakefang's tail. "What did you do?!" She growled at Smokefur.
The warrior looked up. The fight must have been worse than I thought... Smokefur stared up at the almost-elder that she had attacked a moon ago. "Me?" She echoed in disbelief.
"You foxhearted sapskull!" Silverclaw growled and launched herself at Smokefur. Her claws unsheathed as she shredded at her grey fur.
Unexpected of this attack, Smokefur knew she could not battle an elder. "It wasn't me!" She pushed the harmless cat off of her and licked her shoulder fur down.
"Then who?" The elder loomed over Smokefur as if she were a little kit. "Who killed my son?!" She yowled in her face.
"A monster! On the Thunderpath!" Smokefur laid down on her back underneath the grey-furred feline.
Silverclaw pushed her muzzle against Smokefur's, less than a half a whisker away. "I don't believe you." She whispered. Her foul breath stung in Smokefur's nose.
"Get off of her." Halfwind trotted out of Onestar's den and into the clearing. Her fur was bristling, but no emotion showed in her clouded eyes.
Onestar followed on her tail, but the leader skirted up the Highrock as the deputy stopped at the edge of the clearing. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." She yowled.
Cats began streaming out of their dens. Cherryfeather came out of the warriors' den with Blackfoot at her side. Silverclaw trudged after them, heaps of mud overwhelmed her long, unsheathed claws. Crookedwing took Losteye's side as the elder flanked his friend to the middle of the clearing.
Halfwind stepped forward. "I'm sorry to all, but I have no chance of becoming your leader anymore. My whiskers seem to be turning grey," -purrs of amusement whispered across the camp.- "And I suppose MapleClan would have a better chance without me if I joined the elders. I will be here for moons to come, but until my vigil, I shall stay amongst the nests of Crookedwing and Losteye."
No wonder she's been acting weird, she's old! Smokefur chuckled to herself as she heard the elders purring loudly.
Onestar nodded as her old deputy stepped back and turned into the crowd. Crookedwing pressed his muzzle against hers. Losteye was looking the other way, blind-sighted. "Well it's about time we got ourselves a she-cat in our den, eh, Crookedwing?" The old tortoiseshell cat meowed loudly with his tail at Halfwind.
Smokefur laughed. She could help herself. Blind cats never knew where they were going, nor who they were talking to. Did he even know it was Halfwind?
"Smokefur," Sandheart trotted up in front of her. She crossed through the cat-crowd and purred as she pushed up against her. "Come on, I need to talk to you privately." Sandheart's eyes were not worried, nor was her tone.
The cream warrior turned and led out into the moor. Her paws clacked against the mud, as well as Smokefur's. She stopped at a sandy point. It was way off the trail to the Thunderpath...where Snakefang died, Smokefur bowed her head. But Sandheart's squeal made her look up.
"What's so great that you have to be so loud?" Smokefur jerked her head back to reality and zoomed away from the thought of her mate's blood spilling across the Thunderpath. She blinked and stares at her friend.
"I'm going to have kits, Smokefur!" Sandheart mewed delightfully.
"Firebreeze's?" It was obvious.
"Yes!" The cream queen purred so loudly it almost made an echo.
Smokefur leaned in. "Have you told him yet?" She asked. No warrior wouldn't want to know he was going to have his own kits.
"Not yet," Sandheart's eyes glowed like rays of sunlight. "But I plan to do it soon, though!"
"Congratulations." Smokefur meowed and touched her friend's chest with her tail affectionately.
Sandheart rubbed her head against her neck, but flicked her tail wearily as they both noticed a rustle behind the marshes. "Do you hear that?" Sandheart asked with narrowing eyes.
"Yes," Smokefur growled at the shaking marsh. Sandheart was really noticeable by the stomach now that she knew. Her ears pinned back when it stopped. A dark shape moved slowly now in the hollow area and slipped out into the open.
Fur ruffled, Smokefur snarled at the huge, long-furred animal. It growled back at her. It was bigger, probably stronger too, she realized as it pounded forward and Smokefur pulled Sandheart back out of the way.
"Watch out!" The cream queen yowled as the animal's un- sheathed paw swiped at her face.
Smokefur knocked off balance and Sandheart leapt onto its neck. She dug her powerful jaws into the animal's scruff and pulled, shaking violently. Smokefur looked up and blinked.
Dazed, Smokefur darted underneath and shot out from under its jaw, slicing her claws at its muzzle and nose. She drew blood and growled, batting her unsheathed paws at his face to pull herself up.
As she did, a cry of shock came from her friend on the animals hind. Sandheart clenched her teeth on his whipping tail before she hit the ground. Smokefur's eyes turned to slit's as it swung its tail back and forth, flingin the queen from side to side.
"Sandheart!" Smokefur hissed from on the huge beasts scruff.
"It's a wolf! It won't stop until it knows we won't either!" Her friend told her in response. Sandheart had her claws ripping into its tail skin, but she was quietly crying for help.
Smokefur growled in her throat and turned to his face again. Her claws dug into his fur to keep hold of the twisting, turning creature called a 'wolf'. "Out!" Smokefur yowled into the sky, as she reared up. Hardly a heartbeat passed before she brought her claws down onto the wolves eyes.
Terror shrieked from the huge gray beast and its tail stuck under its legs and howled into the sky with pain clouding around its scent. The wolf squirmed out of their grasp and Sandheart was flung off as it turned and raced away into ArrowClan territory.
Smokefur mewed in triumph. They beat a fox on their own! The elders will someday tell this story! She turned and walked up to her friend and purred. "Did you see him?"
Sandheart was silent.
Again, Smokefur stepped closer and looked over her friend's shoulder. "Sandheart?" She looked closer over and saw blood running from the queen's neck. Her eyes went to slits.
Sandheart flinched, giving Smokefur hope at last. She quickly clenched her teeth over the queen's scruff and began to pull back home. Her eyes watered as she carried Sandheart through the mud and past the moors.
As she entered MapleClan camp, Smokefur could barely see over the blur of tears. She was too fearful Sandheart might die on her. "Honeywhisker! Cardinalpaw!" Smokefur yowled in a loud beg for help
The medicine cat rushed out of her den and into the clearing where Sandheart's body lay. Her apprentice stayed back, waiting for an order of herbs to rush at him.
"She is with kits!" was Honeywhisker's first words. She mewed them loudly and proud. "Cardinalpaw, bring me borage leaves, comfrey root, cobwebs, and juniper berries! Now!"
The apprentice snapped and reacted quickly. He darted into the medicine den and came out two heartbeats later with all of the herbs Honeywhisker had asked for. Cardinalpaw dropped them by her side and gazed down to watch how it's done.
Firebreeze came out of his den with wide eyes. "Sandheart?" He growled when he saw Smokefur and started after her.
Smokefur backed up as he yowled in dismay. "Are you serious right now?" She hissed and smacked his face with her unsheathed paw and knocked him off balance. "All cats who think I killed her join Firebreeze for a 'everyone-don't-trust-Smokefur' group!"
Another snarl washed over her as Silverclaw stepped back from Sandheart to be pressed beside Firebreeze's flank. It wasn't her fault every cat died when she was around!
"You attacked me when you became a traitor-fleeing back to CloudClan. You killed my son, Snakefang, after moonhigh so no one would catch you." Silverclaw spat with narrowed eyes as if expecting everyone to believe her. She lied, "Now you killed Sandheart, your own denmate! Who's next?" Silverclaw thrust her muzzle into the grey cat's face.
Smokefur gasped at the lies. Has this greying cat lost her mind? "If I did kill anyone-which I didn't-my first choice would be you!" She launched herself at the elder and grasped her teeth onto her shoulder.
In surprise, Silverclaw yowled in pain and unsheathed her claws to slash at Smokefur's face. She swiped her paws over Smokefur's ears and ripped it open, splattering blood over her fur.
Smokefur whipped around and kicked out her hind legs as she reared up and gripped down square on the elder's shoulders. She bit down on her scruff and shook raggedly as the cat squirmed underneath her. Silverclaw twisted and matched her face to face. She flipped over and didn't notice at first that her underbelly had been exposed. Quickly, Smokefur slashed at the pink space and drew blood right away. Her claws ripped through the skin as she growled in fury.
"Enough!" Honeywhisker busted through the pelting storm of cats. She obviously knew none of them would ever dare to attack a medicine cat.
Silverclaw bowed her head, but Smokefur lifted her chin high, feeling the pleasure of winning.
"Smokefur," Onestar padded forward, startling Smokefur from behind. "You are truly gifted with your power of strength, but you must learn to be obedient to your Clan and save your strength for when we need it."
Before she could reply, she leader jumped up to the Highrock. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." She addressed formally.
All the MapleClan cats looked up at her. Everyone had already exited their dens. Smokefur looked up at Onestar, her mind racing for an excuse for her not to be angry.
"As you know, our most loyal warrior, Smokefur, has been tossed between both CloudClan, and MapleClan." Onestar mewed and looked down awkwardly, "So, I offer this warrior her chance to choose."
Gasps burst out from around the crowd.
Smokefur was confused. Why had the leader asked this now? Couldn't it be dealt with at the next meeting? The grey she-cat came forward and looked back at the crowd. "I vow my life to this Clan. I couldn't be any more proud to be a MapleClan cat. If I had to choose, no doubt my answer will always be MapleClan."
The leader dipped her head in happy respect for her choosing. "Sandheart and Snakefang's vigil will be after the gathering. Speaking of, I would like all my senior warriors to meet me in my den to discuss who will be going tonight." She wrapped it up and turned to slip back into her den.
The gathering! Smokefur had completely forgotten, but she also haven't forgotten Sandheart would not be able to go with her...
"I'm so sorry for your loss." A voice made her turn.
"Cardinalpaw," Smokefur blinked in surprise, "Er...its okay. Im not worried about her anymore..." But her kits, I am. She finished in her head.
The medicine cat apprentice nodded. "Come," Cardinalpaw looked worried as he led to the medicine den. "We need to speak privately."
She followed. "What's the matter?" Smokefur tilted her head to the side and followed him into Honeywhsiker's den.
"Honeywhisker told me she has had an omen sent to her last night by StarClan," Cardinalpaw started, sighing, "She told me this would happen..." He added to himself, but Smokefur heard. The apprentice paused for a few heartbeats. "StarClan has made it possible for us to deliver Sandheart's kits." He mewed.
Smokefur's eyes widened. "Really? Where are they?" She sniffed and scented the faint scent of her friend.
"With no queens in the nursery," Cardinalpaw continued, "You are the closest thing we have." His breath quickened. Smokefur could almost hear his sides heaving. "Smokefur, would you like kits of your own?"
"I do!" She bounced to her paws with shining. "I'll move to the nursery. I'll raise the kits as my own!"
Cardinalpaw purred, "You must have small amounts of borage leaves each day to increase your amount of milk." He advised and glanced over his shoulder back at the medicine cats' nests. "They are resting."
At the thought of having her own kits, Smokefur felt joy fizz in her paws. "Can I go and see them?" She meowed happily, flicking her tail back and forth impatiently.
"Of course," The medicine cat apprentice purred some more and led the way into his den.
Two kits wrapped in cozy layers of moss laid in the den. They smelled like Honeywhsiker's foul breath, but it was faded, and she didn't care.
One was a beautiful cream colour with dazzling blue eyes, just like her mother. The other was a tabby-like red with darker stripes and green eyes that dazzled like Smokefur's. She purred.
"I love them."