Shadowstripe's Treachery

Chapter 7

((Cat above is Badgerclaw))

The next few weeks were very long, and leaf bare had settled in on IceClan territory, leaving fresh blankets of snow that covered the whole forest. The shortage of prey had started to show in all of the IceClan warriors. Everyone seemed to look a lot smaller, even Badgerclaw.

Shadowpaw didn't feel too affected by the harsh cold; he almost liked it. He puffed out his short, tabby fur and padded over to the meager fresh kill pile. Reluctantly, he picked out the most plump and juicy looking piece of prey to give to the elders. "They don't deserve this..." he grumbled, picking up the mouse, "all they do is complain. Elders are just extra mouths to feed; they do nothing for the clan except whine."

He shuffled over to the elder's den and sat the mouse down in front of Scarface and Juniperheart. Scarface grunted his thanks and Juniperheart narrowed her eyes, "Wasn't there anything better in that fresh kill pile than this?"

Shadowpaw's fur bristled, "No. This was the best piece of prey. The warriors worked really hard to find it." He growled.

"Well they should've worked harder." Juniperheart sighed and began to dig into the mouse.

Scarface just rolled his eyes, and then started to cough loudly.

"Don't you think you should get that cough of yours checked out, Scarface?" Juniperheart asked.

Scarface shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine." He stated hoarsely.

"Well I'm not! It's getting on my nerves, you coughing every night." She mewed, her voice filled with concern.

Shadowpaw marched out of their den, she is so ungrateful, annoying, and just plain selfish! He narrowed his dark amber eyes, I hate that cat.

Badgerclaw came out of the warriors den and stretched, "Hey Shadowpaw," he yawned, "have you finished cleaning out the elders den?"

Shadowpaw stiffened, was I supposed to do that? "Uh yeah. I just did." He lied. I'll let Littlepaw do it...

Badgerclaw seemed surprised, and then looked pleased. "Well that's good. Now we will have extra time to go hunting."

Yes! Something productive! He smiled, "Awesome."

"Now go get your sister and then we'll go," he mewed gruffly.

His words immediately put a damper on his good mood, "My... sister?!"

"Uh, yeah. You know, Larkpaw? Your only sibling?" He rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Yes I know." He grumbled, and then turned away to go look for her. He could hear Badgerclaw chuckling in the background which made him even angrier.

Larkpaw wasn't too far away, and Shadowpaw could see that she was flirting with Cinderstorm again. The light grey tom didn't even seem to hear Larkpaw as she rambled on, and just looked ahead with a dull, grief-filled stare. I'll be doing Cinderstorm a favor, taking her hunting with me.

"Hey Larkpaw!" Shadowpaw called, his voice scratchy from a soar throat that he had gotten a few days ago, "You should probably do something more productive with your time instead of boring Cinderstorm to death." He teased.

He could see his sister stiffen, and her fur bristled in embarrassment as she whipped her head around. "Why do you suddenly care what I'm doing, runt?" She snapped.

Shadowpaw flinched at the word, runt. He couldn't stand to be known as the smaller sibling, and a low growl formed in the back of his throat as he unsheathed his claws, "Call me runt one more time and I'll-"