Gorsepelt's Insanity

Chapter 9

Gorsepelt lashed her tail as the rest of the MoorClan patrol came through the bushes. She licked the blood off her muzzle, They came a little too late. Shadestar, Sunfeather and Applefoot came through the bushes. Sunfeather gasped.

"My kit!" Sunfeather wailed. The tortishell looked at Gorsepelt, disgust and horror in her eyes. "You monster!"

Bumblekit lay at Gorsepelt's paws. Just moments before, the tiny dappled kit had squealed in agony as Gorsepelt ripped out her throat. She could only imagine Shadestar's and Sunfeather's grief after seeing their own daughter murdered so young.

Shadestar snarled, his eyes filled with pain. "You have done worse than any cat has done before Gorsepelt." He looked down at Bumblekit. "You haven't just committed murder on a kit, you killed my kit!"

"Big deal!" Gorsepelt hissed, her voice cracking from exhaustion. "We all meet the same fate in the end, it doesn't matter who lives, we all are just bound to die!"

"She's insane," Applefoot muttered. There was a look of betrayal in his eyes.

Shadestar unsheathed his claws, taking a step forward. "I should just kill you right now."

"Do it!" Gorsepelt laughed. "I've got nothing to loose!"

There was a tense moment as the big black and white tom looked prepared to to spring, but instead a black blur knocked Gorsepelt over.

She hissed and rolled over, sprawling the tom to the side. Gorsepelt recognized him instantly. Blackfrost!

"You fox-hearted worm!" Blackfrost hissed as Gorsepelt tried to snap at his neck. "You don't deserve to live another minute!"

She shrieked as Blackfrost sliced off part of her ear. In return, she bit down hard on his tail, enjoying the crunch of bone.

The black tom howled and jumped away. His thorn-sharp claws tore at Gorsepelt's brown pelt, leaving deep gashes. She backed away, blood streaming down her flanks. "Ha! Greencough will take your life in the end! Call that a brave death!"

She swiped her claws at Blackfrost's neck. Eyes wide, he yelped and jumped back. Her claws missed and Gorsepelt howled as she felt claws dig into her neck.

Staggering, she backed away. Bloodloss made her vision hazy.

Sunfeather stood over by Blackfrost, who lay whimpering in the soil. Blood encrusted the fur around her claws. Gorsepelt lunged at her, but the tortishell queen snarled and swiped Gorsepelt away. "That's for killing my kit you rat-heart!"

"I..." Gorsepelt took in a sucking breath of air. "Will make you...all...pay"

Vision starting to darken, Gorsepelt staggered away slowly. She felt the hot, angry gazes of cats behind her. But nobody followed.

Gorsepelt looked down at her fur. It was red and sticky from all of her blood. She let out a moan, "This wasn't my fault. MoorClan betrayed me and turned me into this."

She was dimly aware of the SeaClan border she had just crossed. The root of some marsh plant caught one of her paws and made her trip. Gorsepelt blinked and looked up at the sun. It was sun-high, and she could see buzzards circling in the sky above her. Here's your next meal Gorsepelt blinked, closing her eyes.

"Is it dead?" Gorsepelt smelled fish, and a paw jabbed her hard in the rib.

"I don't think so Hootheart. Wherever she came from, she got in a nasty fight." Gorsepelt felt energy shoot through her limbs. SeaClan!

Jerking open her eyes, Gorsepelt glared up at a startled looking, grey and white tom. "Oh StarClan!" he shrieked, clumsy on his paws from being startled.

"They betrayed me! Everyone betrayed me!" Gorsepelt screamed, preparing to kill the SeaClan warrior. "You betrayed me, I'll avenge myself with your life!"

"No!" Gorsepelt felt her claws tear through flesh and blood splattered over her paws.

It was the black she-cat from SeaClan. She lay in a puddle of blood. Gorsepelt narrowed her eyes, She got in the way. Her belly was still swollen, she must have given birth to kits not to long ago.

The grey and white tom gasped. "Rippleshade!" He glared at Gorsepelt, angry, venom laced words followed. "You killed my mate! Now our kits are motherless!"

"Get used to-" Gorsepelt prepared to claw at the tom, but her blow was weak. Gorsepelt hissed in frustration, swaying on her paws. She had lost too much blood to put up a fight.

Hootheart snarled and landed a hard blow to Gorsepelt's head. Her vision went black and she dimly was aware of crumbling to the ground. A weight heavier than the moon pushed her into sleep, a deeper sleep than she had ever known before. Gorsepelt let the darkness swallow her.

Silence.