COLD ANGER- Squirrelflight & Leafpool AU

Chapter 1

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Hollyleaf stood in the middle of the uproar, feeling strangely calm; she knew she needed to wait only a few heartbeats more. At last Firestar raised his tail for silence. "Very well, Hollyleaf," he mewed when the noise had died down. "Say what you have to. And StarClan grant you don't regret it." Now the clearing was so quiet that Hollyleaf could hear a mouse scuttering among the dead leaves under the Great Oak. "You think you know me," she began again. "And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of ThunderClan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie! We are not the kits of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight." "What?" Brambleclaw shot to his paws from where he sat with the other deputies among the roots of the Great Oak. His amber eyes flamed. "Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?" Squirrelflight stood up. The flare of panic in her eyes faded and was replaced with—what? Regret? Guilt? Or the sorrow of a mother who was about to lose her kits forever...?

"I'm sorry, Brambleclaw, but it's true. I'm not their mother, and you are not their father." The Clan deputy stared at her. "Then who is?" Squirrelflight turned her sad green gaze on the cat she had always claimed as her daughter. "Tell them, Hollyleaf. I kept the secret for seasons; I'm not going to reveal it now." "Coward!" Hollyleaf flashed at her. Her gaze swept around the clearing, seeing the eyes of every single cat trained on her. "I'm not afraid of the truth! Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather—yes, Crowfeather of WindClan—is our father." Yowls of shock greeted her words, but Hollyleaf shouted over them. "These cats were so ashamed of us that they gave us away and lied to every single one of you to hide the fact that they had broken the warrior code. It's all her fault." She whipped her tail around to point at Leafpool. "How can the Clans survive when there are cowards and liars at the very heart of them?" The screeches and gasps of horror grew so loud that Hollyleaf couldn't make herself heard anymore. But there was no need. She had said what she had come to say. Her legs trembled as if she had run all the way across the territory, and she had to sit down. Inside she felt a curious peace, as if she had lanced a festering sore and was watching the poison drain away.

Crowfeather's voice rose above the rest in a furious yowl. "It's not true!" He had sprung to his paws, his dark gray fur bristling. Beside him, Nightcloud and Breezepelt looked bewildered and angry. "She's the one who's lying!" Then Leafpool stood up. The crowd of cats fell silent, their eyes turned toward her. "It's true, Crowfeather," she meowed. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time." Her amber eyes were seared with grief. Pity stirred in Hollyleaf, but she choked it down. I hate her! She lied and betrayed us all! "You mean nothing to me, Leafpool." Crowfeather's voice was cold. "That moon has passed. My loyalty is only to WindClan, and I have no kits other than Breezepelt." He glanced to where Nightcloud and Breezepelt stood beside him; the black she-cat had her ears flattened to her head, while Breezepelt's teeth were bared in a snarl. Leafpool bowed her head down with grief as she couldn't argue with crowfeather.

Squirrelflight wandered up to Leafpool, she felt grief build up inside her, but most of all she felt anger, anger for the kits she had raised for her sister, anger at the cat her sister had loved and anger for her so called mate, the one who never cared at all. She raised her eyes to meet Hollyleaf who was glaring at her.  She stood there staring at her for a moment until she brought up enough of her voice to speak. "You all never cared about us! You just cared about yourselves and that--that code!" She hissed. Now all eyes were on her with shock. Squirrelflight nudged her sister and she looked up at her. "They don't care about us leafpool, and maybe they never did" Squirrelflight mewed softly. Leafpool stared at her for a moment until she finally spoke sadness and anger glistening in her amber eyes. "You're right, they don't care about us"