Shadowfire trotted past, the camp was so cluttered and was full of unrecognisable cats. The black and orange tom sighed, everyone had been starving since the arrival of Appleshard and her 'Crystalclan', there were too many mouths to feed. He glanced back at the fresh kill pile. 1 sparrow and two grass snakes. Not nearly enough to feed two whole clans.
Appleshard was sat upon the tall rock. She seemed like a good leader, maybe a tiny bit harsh. He shook his head. Appleshard was the perfect leader, better than Cactusstar.
The black, spike-furred tom was sat beside her. Shadowfire could tell an argument was about to occur. The anger was bubbling inside of Cactusstar and he would lash out at any moment. "Your 'clan' needs to start hunting for themselves instead of lounging around like rocks and pebbles. My clan is starving." He lashed out and Appleshard's facial expression immediately changed from calm to being hurt. The brown molly let out a small gasp. "You never said that you wanted my clan to hunt. We're still weak. Don't you care?" Cactusstar flinched and the final words. "I- I do care."
"It's all my fault though. I should have made my clan hunt even in their awful conditions. I should have been prepared to send out patrols for them to help you. I should have been ready to hunt." It was clear that she was hurt and offended by what she said. Shadowfire was surprised by her reaction, she had seemed to ready to attack and it was clear she could easily kill. It was shocking to see her so distraught. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just pointing out that-" He was cut off. "You should just force me to leave. Go on, do it." Her voice cracked as she spoke, making it sound likes tears were about to pour out of her eyes like waterfalls.
"Appleshard. I'm not going to make you and your clan leave. That would be cruel and dispicable." Her face almost immediately lit up as he said this. "Oh thank you Cactusstar! You're the best. I don't know what I would do without you and your kindness. I'll immediately go hunting to take some pressure off your back." With that, she leapt from the tall rock and across the stoney floor. "Sunsplash. Go with her." Cactusstar spat at her. The slender molly nodded her head and sadly padded after Appleshard.
Shadowfire had to follow. What is Sunsplash was killed? He didn't fully trust Appleshard yet. She was kind and could be emotional quite quickly, but she had been attacked by Sunsplash and said she wouldn't kill her, yet. He slowly crawled across the floor, stalking after them. If he had been pure black like his father, he would have looked like a 3D shadow.
"You're useless all 6 clans in the forest. You can't even catch a snake, and you live in the territory that contains the most. And look at you!" Shadowfire could hear Appleshard's words. "Cactusstar blames my cats for eating most of the prey up. But what about you! How many birds and snakes do you eat, huh?" Appleshard snarled the words. She had been so upset, then cheerful and now, now she was flat out bullying Sunsplash. "Not only that but you tried to kill me! That's not very welcoming, is it?" That was the final straw. Shadowfire leapt out from behind the rock and aimed to pin Appleshard down. The molly stepped out of the way just in time for him to miss. "Leave my mother alone!" He snarled and unsheathed his claws, ready to attack again. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! You only caught part of what was happening." Appleshard looked shocked. "She was going to attack me, and hurt me. She started insulting me for being the leader of a clan Cherryshard made." Shadowfire's jaw dropped, he didn't know what to believe. His mother wouldn't do that, would she? "I'm sorry you had to discover that side your mother." Appleshard gave a weak smile then stalked away.
"That lying-" Sunsplash was about to yoel but she bit back the words. She sat down on her haunches and stared down at her paws. "I should hunt then get back to Cactusstar." She collapsed down onto the hard rock and stared out at the raging river. It still hadn't stopped overflowing. The sticks and stones that surrounded it were the only things stopping it from flooding the camp. Shadowfire noticed Appleshard investigating the sticks. She looked upwards then ran away, out of view.
