Warriors - Ebonyshade's Morality [WIP]

Chapter 2

           Flesh ripped and bones cracked between her jaws. She tasted blood on her tongue.

          "Great job,"  meowed her mother, stepping out of the underbrush from behind Ebony.

          Ebony looked over her shoulder at her and purred at her. The mouse between her teeth twitched once, before falling limp. She had now lived for almost three moons, so her mother had said. The moon. She looked up at the night sky. The stars glittered above, all surrounding the moon. It was full and round. She closed her eyes. They had been training in the dark, in order to better her night hunting. Birch went back and forth between checking on her and Moss. If anything went wrong, they were to screech loudly.

          "Are you ready to head back?" asked Birch, nodding towards an elm tree where she had buried Ebony's catches, in order to keep other animals from getting at them.

          Ebony nodded and sighed, her breath a visible cloud in the chilly air. She began to turn to leave when Birch placed her tail in front of Ebony's muzzle. She glanced at her mother, puzzled. Her ears were pricked and straight forward and she looked very tense.

           "We need to go. Now," whispered her mother, very quietly. She bent down to pick Ebony up by the scruff of her neck.

          "What are you doing here?" hissed a cat from the bushes behind them.

          Ebony looked at the direction it came from. Her neck fur rose. A set of yellow eyes smoldered brightly in the darkness, but she couldn't make out the shape of the cat. They burned with a deep, intense feeling. Hatred. And so much of it.

           Birch wrapped her tail protectively around the she-kitten and turned to face the cat.

           "What do you want?" hissed Birch, narrowing daggers at him.

          "Don't worry, nothing to do with you."

           The cat stepped out of the bushes. It was a tom. He was average sized, but toned muscles rippled beneath his thick black pelt. He pushed his scarred muzzle closer to Birch's, causing her to flinch slightly.

          "What are you doing on Snakeclan territory?" he snarled.

          Ebony growled at him defensively. She didn't know who this cat was, or why he was so close to their den, but she didn't want him there. He looked down at her, amber eyes burning. She stared back at him for a moment. He bared his teeth. She cringed and couldn't stop thinking of those teeth sinking into her small body. He could kill her easily. Her heart fluttered frantically in her chest and she felt like it would break her ribcage, as easily as his teeth. She stopped growling and looked away, frightened for her safety.

           He just chuckled and continued to examine her. She inched closer to Birch.

          "So, this is the black kitten?" he snickered. "Let me guess, the other one already died. Well, that's a shame. He would've made such a good warrior."

          "Moss is fine. Way better off than he would've been in your clan."

          "Mom, who is he?" she mewed, looking up at her mother, who was glaring at the tom.

          "I'm a clan cat. And your father," he said, eyeing her. His eyes displayed an odd emotion in them. 

          Pity? Disappointment? No, that wasn't right...

          "I don't have a father."

          "Everyone has a father. Unfortunately, I'm yours."

          "Unfortunately?" she echoed.

          His whiskers twitched with the same emotion as before. "Unfortunate. Being unlucky. Unlucky to be the father of you scraps."

          Disgust was the feeling he displayed. Disgusted by her?

           She flattened her ears and pressed into her mother's sweet scented fur. Would they have to fight him? Hopefully not. He was scary.

           Birch snarled at him. "Get lost, Scorcheyes. You aren't wanted here."

           Scorcheyes bared his fangs at her, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. "Is that a threat?"

           Ebony looked down and saw Birch's claws slid out of their folds and into the earth. Were they really going to fight? She crouched low to the ground as her mother stepped towards Scorcheyes.

           "Get out of Snakeclan territory, this is your final warning," growled Scorcheyes.

           Birch screeched and threw herself at the tom, slicing her claws across his shoulder. Fresh red blood oozed from the damaged flesh. Ebony looked away from the wound, sickened. She watched as the cats grappled with each other, fur flying. She watched as her mother was thrown to the ground with a sickening thud. She winced. Scorcheyes advanced on her mother, blood gleaming on his teeth and his pelt. He was injured as well and was weakened, but much less than Birch, who was struggling to get to her paws, unaware of the danger about to sink into her neck.

            "Look out, Mom!" she squeaked loudly.

            Birch glanced at Ebony and pushed to her paws, jumping away as Scorcheyes' teeth snapped shut a whisker away from their target location. Ebony kneaded the ground worriedly, her head aching because of the stress. Her paws were wet with sweat, so she wiped them on the grass. Her heart pounded steadily. She had to help. Her body shook with anticipation.

           She staggered to her paws. They tingled as if infested with thorns, but she began to trot towards the fight, growing faster and closer with each bound. She yowled and flung herself onto Scorcheyes' back as he pinned Birch to the ground. She bit into his nape as hard as she could, only drawing a bit of blood. His muscles were hard and tense. He glared back at her and Birch kicked him hard in the stomach. He snarled and rolled over, crushing Ebony beneath him. Her air was squashed out of her lungs and black fur blocked and filled her airways. Black dots danced around the edges of her vision, but quickly retreated as the weight was lifted. She lay on the floor for a moment, recovering, before standing again. A sharp, horrible pain shot through her side and she collapsed on the ground. It burned so badly. It hurt so much! She let out a tiny whimper and lay on the ground, chest heaving. Something was wrong with her. She couldn't move. Something sharp and hot like fire was lodged in her back. Crimson blood dripped from her side, beginning to create a small puddle on the ground. She trembled, lying in her own blood. 

          She wanted so badly to get up. 

          To help. 

          To kill. 

          To kill Scorcheyes.