Warrior Cats: Cleardawn's Silence #Wattys2016 [Book ONE]

Chapter 26

My lip was drawn back in a fierce snarl, my eyes narrowed, tail flicking, back arched, and ears flat.

I wasn't even pleased to know that my mother was still alive. I was angry. And betrayed.

The mother I always looked up to is now a cold-hearted fleabag.

"You made us think this whole time you were dead, when really you were taking down our Clan one by one. You're shameful. Greedy. You're a foxheart. You're some old pile of foxdung rotting in the darkness. How could you watch your own kits suffer? How? Why do you have to be filled with such... Such hate?" Duststorm sneered, his teeth bared. His voice was shaky with a mixture of betrayal and grief. I didn't blame him. Not at all.

We were all in shock here.

All of us stared at Snowfall with such ferocity, that it seemed to have frightened her.

"I'm sorry!" She repeated, her ears flat with dread. "I never wanted to hurt you. Never." She explained, and we all seemed to forget about Flamestar right then.

"Well, you did." I spat, my eyes watering from all the emotions that were weighted on my shoulders. "You hurt us more then ever. Pretending to be dead? Did you even see how we reacted when we saw your bod-" I trailed off as I remembered the clear image of the white rotting cat, and I stared at her in disgust. "Who was that cat?" I whispered bitterly.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Featherflight and Duststorm's eyes slowly started to widen at the realization that the rotten body that we all predicted was Snowfall, was actually not.

I could tell that Snowfall was starting to shuffle her paws nervously, taking a large gulp that rang through my ears noticeably.

"I-," she paused, desperately gazing anywhere other then us.

I hissed. "You know what? Just say it, alright? Just say it. Stop trying to act innocent. Stop trying to be sad. Just stop trying and just say it!"

Snowfall seemed to have been taken aback by my harsh words, but I did not regret what I had said. I have put all my energy and time in trying to figure out who the true killer is and now I realized all the work and time put into the investigation was all for nothing. She was alive this whole time. She abandoned us. Nothing is worse then that.

As I watched her with an intense expression, I noticed that her face seemed to have hardened, and she looked more bitter then I had ever seen.

"I don't know who the body was." Snowfall insisted coldly, her eyes narrowed slightly.

As I realized she was for sure ticked off, I took the blame for it, but said nothing.

"Of course you do. You set us up." Featherflight squeaked, and her high pitched squeaking made me break from my thoughts.

I focused on trying to make my face as intense and angry as possible, baring my teeth and flattening my ears tighter against my head and bristling my fur.

Snowfall, ignoring us, started to turn.

As I felt my face automatically change to a progressing fear of her possibly getting away, I started to quickly pad forward, however I was stopped by the sudden abrupt halt from Snowfall.

She turned back towards me, lifting her head slightly with her eyes still narrowed slits.

I watched her carefully, making sure she wouldn't dash into the woods like Sydney had done.

I slowly stalked forward, one paw step at a time, acting as if she was a robin pecking at seeds, and if I made one mistaken, it would take flight.

Snowfall watched me intently, her tail slowly lifting, and I expected the worse.

We all know knew she always had a back up plan, and we dreaded what would bestow upon us.

All of a sudden, rustling shook through out all the bushes around us, and we all stiffened in fear.

Cats started to emerge from the leaves, their teeth bared, claws outstretched, tails lashing... Eyes deceitful... Possessive.

"You dare mock my actions?" Snowfall sneered, padding towards us. "You dare to do so, hm?"

I noticed Featherflight breathing heavily while Duststorm's eyes widen in fright.

I was doing both.

There were so many... And some I recognized from other Clans...

Missing Foot and Sydney were among the group.

Snowfall slowly moved her head towards Sydney, giving her a slight nod to approach her.

The white she-cat stepped forward automatically, standing by her side.

As I searched each of the cats faces, I couldn't help but feel the fear that they could possibly be possessed.

"We are here for Sandpatch." They echoed together suddenly.

A wave of shock made me stumble back. Why would they want Sandpatch out of all the cats in the forest?

"Why?" Duststorm asked in surprise.

They didn't answer.

As I focused my attention towards the slight similarities between Snowfall and Sydney, my stomach started to twist.

"Why did you use a kittypet to set us up?" I asked, not meaning to change the subject.

Every cat ignored me, except for the two she-cats standing in the front.

They stared at me with such power and anger, and it made me take a step back.

"She was my replacement. She was the cat who killed Redeye. She was the cat who pretended to be me. She was me." Snowfall explained flatly.

"What do you mean she is you? You aren't related." I implied.

Snowfall chuckled. "You really don't know everything, do you?"

I shook my head nervously.

Sydney sighed amusedly. "Can't you see she chose me to take down Flamestar? The cat he least expected?"

Shock overwhelmed me so strongly, that I could feel the throbbing rumble through my head.

"How could you do this to your own brother? Why not choose Dog Bone instead?" I asked angrily.

Sydney stared at me, and I could see the slightest bit of compassion in her dark blue eyes.

"Flamestar... He's not brother." Sydney announced. "He's my father."

"Then that makes it even worse!" I spat. "Why do this to your father? Why did he lie to me?"

"He lied to you because he was scared of me. He didn't want you hurt." Sydney explained.

"He sees me as a traitor."

"But why?" Duststorm intruded confusedly.

Sydney switched her gaze from me to my brother. "Because I killed my mother. The one he loved most." She turned back towards me and gave me a deceptive smile.

"He exiled me from the Clan, demanding to the former leader, Cornstar, that I am an ambitious killer. That is why I want revenge on him, as well as Sandpatch. Snowfall and I have our similarities, and we had toms in our life who threatened us. Flamestar feared the worst for his Clan, and he suffered a long, dreadful mourning for Cleardusk." She meowed the last name with such hate, that it overwhelmed me.

As she stared at me, I soon realized the frightening, grieving truth.

I am the memory of Cleardusk that Flamestar loves.

(Hey Batcats.
Sorry for not updating Friday and for updating later at night.
I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it wasn't too confusing...
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~Cleo)