Remember Me

Chapter XVII

"I can't do it."

Despite my soft voice, the cafeteria goes dead silent in response to those four words. Even Scarletstar opens her eyes and stares at me in shock.

I lift myself off of the clan leader and sit down next to her. She stays on the ground, still watching me.

"What do you mean, you can't do it?" Pearlstar asks. She doesn't sound reprimanding, though; simply curious.

"As in, I can't do it," I answer. "I won't."

This gets an angry response from the people around me. With my head down, I shout, "Will you at least let me explain?!"

The crowd quiets down, eager to hear why I suddenly don't want Scarletstar gone.

"First of all, I know she's done plenty of bad things," I begin. "Horrible things, in fact. But... I noticed things during our fight. Little things, but they made a huge difference in my mind. She isn't the same. Doesn't anyone else notice how she's acting differently?"

A few people mutter in agreement and some only just realize the differences.

"So you do see it," I say. "And I think I know why she's different."

In a lightning-fast motion, I get up and charge at the warrior that was manipulating Scarletstar, jabbing him in between his shoulder blades with my elbow. Caught off-guard and in pain, I manage to knock him down. As he fights back, other warriors get the idea and help pin him down.

"I realized it when I remembered a little something that happened to Nicholas not long ago," I continue explaining. "Someone was making him tell me to go to battle rather than stay behind to protect him. The same thing is happening here, but on a whole other level. As a leader, Scarletstar received power. I assume she didn't take that power well, making her go insane. Gave her the whole, glowing eyes and creepy voice thing, am I right?"

I turn to Scarletstar who is now sitting up but looking at the ground. She gives a slight nod, and begins explaining in my place. I'm surprised by the change in her voice. It's slightly higher pitched and softer.

"I remember when I became a leader," she says. "I was never very strong before, so I knew it was dangerous to do. At first the power was manageable, but I didn't last long. It's like I was taken over by it... I could hardly control myself anymore."

The leader then points at the warrior being held to the floor. "Poisonclaw started taking advantage of my power. He was able to convince me to do things I'd never do. I only remember bits and pieces, but I know he made me attack people. He had me start wars. Before I knew it, our clan was broken and filled with hate."

Scarletstar surprises me even further when she begins to tear up, her voice cracking. "In one battle, a couple of years ago, I remember him coming back injured. That's when he had me begin targeting Silentshadow. I guess she was the one who injured him. It started as a plan to get to her directly, so I didn't worry too much because she could defend herself easily. But when he realized this, he had me go after her friends who couldn't fight."

She looks up at me with silent tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I couldn't fight the thing controlling me for long enough to stay away, Silentshadow! I tried, but it was too powerful!"

I can only gaze at her in shock. This is a whole new side of the BurningClan leader, and I have no idea how to respond.

"But then," Scarletstar continues, "he had me try to start a war between our clans. after the first battle, I saw my chance! I managed to push myself to go into each battle. After that I couldn't keep myself from fighting you, but the plan served its purpose. I kept losing lives until the power was weak enough for me to gain most of my control again. Of course, Poisonclaw started threatening me. If I didn't do what he said, he'd kill me and take over the clan, continuing the war for who knows how much longer to kill you and your friends."