Spider's Life [Warrior-Cats Fanfiction]

Chapter 22

My fur was bristling at the horrific sight. The cat's fur matched the cat with no-face and a red foam like substance seeping from it's jaws. It was the same cat I saw before. Why was this happening. Why is everyone dying.

I wrinkled my nose at the repulsive stench. This cat has been here for a while. How has no one noticed. How. Why. Thoughts still racing in my mind. I glanced towards the ground of the cat. I could see a twig with red bell shaped berries lying next to the dead elder. She had eaten death berries and fallen to the ground, withering away as she slowly but soundly died. Rainpelt was dead.

I backed away from the den. I need to tell someone this happened. Rainpelt is dead. I saw her dead moons ago, why is this happening now? I should tell Ravenpaw, maybe he'll know what to do. I rushed over towards him, he was sitting next to the fresh kill pile with a thrush and a mouse. I sat down next to him, he turned to me with his face with confusion.

"Hey there Spiderpaw,"Ravenpaw mewed his voice sounding a bit worried", is everything alright, you seem a bit frightened, did Nightstar do something stupid again?" I shook my head. Wait, should I tell him about Rainpelt being dead? I should have known something like this would have happened three moons ago and I did nothing to stop it! What if Ravenpaw had something to do with this? I slightly shrugged, trying my best to keep my surprise from showing. I picked up the mouse and just ate like nothing happened.

"Are you sure you are alright?" He asked, staring at me with those dark forest green eyes.

"Yea I'm fine, nothing's wrong.." I trailed off. I'll just act like nothing happened. I don't want to be convicted to be behind Rainpelt's death. But still, how could something like this happen. Why would anyone want to kill Rainpelt, to me she always seemed happy but... I just don't see why anyone would want to harm her.

"Well, if you're alright then let's go back to the med cat den, Nightstar told me to meet back over there soon for more training. As if he'd actually teach us something useful." Ravenpaw sighed, pecking at the half eaten thrush. I just nodded. Nightstar will be teaching us again, lately because he is now second leader for some reason he hasn't had much time to teach us. Why was he made a "second leader" anyway, I still really don't see why StarClan would allow that. And why do I keep nodding to everything? At times I even feel like I should speak up more, but now I think I should just keep certain things secret.

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We finished eating our prey and padded up the sloop towards the den, or I guess in my case wobbled up. My left leg ached with pain. Sure enough, Nightstar was waiting for us there. His dark blue eye shined in the darkness of the den and with the cold wind from the outside.

"You still seem to have not patched up your eye with anything that will help after all these moons..." I whispered to myself, staring at the young co-leader. It was hard to believe that he was a kind of leader now, it seems like only a while ago he was an apprentice telling me stories and bossing around kits. Things have changed.

"There you two are, I was thinking you two oafs were skipping out on training again," the dark tom sneered, pushing forwards a pile of dried juniper berries.

"Nightdung, we never miss out on training. You just never teach us," Ravenpaw fumed, puffing out his fur and staring at Nightstar with those sharp eyes. Nightstar replied with a hiss. Those two just seem to keep fighting. I really wish we could all just get along, maybe then we'd actually be able to learn something and be able to help the clan.

"Oh shut it will you, anyway, with these juniper berries we can make a ointment to help the pain of aching joints. That is if we have ripe juniper berries and ragwort." Nightstar explained.

"Great, so then we can't do anything with these berries then?" Ravenpaw retorted, poking at the pile of berries with his white paw. I just rolled my eyes. Nightstar is going to make us go out into the snow and hail to get some berries, which won't even be there because its LeafBare.

"Yep. Now, you two should go collect some berries and on the way back try bringing some alder bark and stinging nettles," Nightstar meowed as he stoof up and stared to exit the den," and if you don't know what those look like you two are both failures."

"Right. Like we are blind." I murmured under my breath out of spite. They didn't seem to hear me. Nightstar then left the den. He really should get some actual herbs to help that eye, it seems to be getting really badly infected. I'm surprised he's still alive to be honest. "I guess I'll go collect the herbs then," I meowed to Ravenpaw who was turned towards the mess of herbs everywhere.

"I swear, this cat cannot enter a den without making a mess of things for the heck of it," Ravenpaw hissed. I nodded, yet again even though I'm not sure how he would have seen that with his back turned.

"I'll be back soon," I mewed, limping out of the den. My leg, or rather what remains of it, is starting to hurt again. Maybe that juniper berry ragwort thing will be worth getting. I made my way down the trail from the med cat den. Then, padding towards the wall's of the camp I struggled climbing up but made it out anyhow.

"Wait up! Spiderpaw I'll go with you," a familiar voice called out. I slowly spun around, Frostpebble was walking towards me.

"Oh okay," I meowed back to her. My mother caught up to me and we walked through the forest west in search for the herbs and bark. "We, I are looking for juniper berries, stinging nettles, and alder bark," I shortly explained. She nodded and the search for the berries, herb and bark began.

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"Shame that we weren't able to find the berries and nettles," Frostpebble mumbled with a small bundle of alder bark in her jaws. It was now quite some time after dusk, the moon was high in the air and snow slowly drifting to the ground floating like a feather.

"We weren't going to find any in this weather anyway," I muttered, loosening the grip on the bark. My mother turned to me, her pale brown shiny coat gleamed a light blue-silver hue in the moon light, she was looking at me with those caring pale greenish blue eyes.

"Well we tried, its better than just doing nothing. Sometimes we just have the bare with the facts and try no matter what, because that's what makes us stronger," Frostpebble purred, her eyes smiling. Bare with the facts... I guess I should tell someone about the things I saw three moons ago and about Rainpelt. I nodded. "Ah, we are back at camp now, I'll carry the bark to the med cat den while you can go help yourself to some prey," Frostpebble meowed, scaling down the walls of the camp and rushing towards the med cat den.

"Alright," I mewed, although by then she was already out of earshot. Glancing around from my view from the outside of the camp, which again was basically a hole in the ground with a bunch of rocks, I could see a crowd of cats in the middle of the camp all surrounding a large dark and dark ginger tom. Acecard, that had to be him. I tried walking down the side of the camp, but with the slipping pain from my leg and the ice surrounding the rocks, I slipped and fell down the wall and into the camp with a thud.

I picked myself up, my head aching from the drop, I looked around again. Acecard ran off yowling something I couldn't quite hear. But I could hear it. Nightstar and Bonestar, who without the scars actually look like the same cat, were standing in the middle of the crowd of cats. My head stopped spinning, and I could see that they were both sad.

"Good, we have less trouble without him now, Flaresplash please show the new recruits around camp," Bonestar coldly murmured, her gaze unmoving from where Acecard was last seen running up the walls of the camp. Flaresplash nodded, turning towards four cats I didn't recognize. Each seeming pretty confused, if not more confused than me, although there was one small ginger tom, a dusty brown tabby she-cat, a white she-cat with yellow eyes, and a small grey tabby tom kit. "Everyone back to their everyday quotas," Bonestar meowed, and what from far away had seemed like a crowd was just the new recruits and Flaresplash.

I trekked back towards my den, my head, leg, and paws aching. It seems like Frostpebble has put away the bark and Ravenpaw has everything else in the den. Where was Ravenpaw though? Normally he'd be here asleep by now. I guess there's not much I can do. I could try to look for him, I should try to look for him, but sometimes I guess its best to bail. I curled into my nest, hoping that this episode of chaos would end soon and in the morning things would be explained.