Rising Sun- A Warrior Cats Fanfiction ✔️

Chapter 16

If Sunpaw were to say havoc broke out, it would be an understatement.

Most of ThunderClan leapt to their paws, hissing angrily.

"How dare you accuse us of murder, just moons after you attack us?" A furious ThunderClan she-cat wailed, causing some of the ShadowClan warriors to spit insults back.

"Calm down, ThunderClan. Please, remember the truce." Bumblestar mewed, a pleading note in his voice.
Wary cats glanced up at their leader, then sat back down again, looking at their paws, ashamed.

"ThunderClan do not like being wrongly accused of anything. However, I assure you that I will personally see to whether any of my cats know of this." He dipped his head.

"I suppose we should end the gathering now." Eveningstar mewed, with a nod from two of the other leaders.

Flashstar, however, stood, gaze traveling across the crowd, until suddenly, his eyes found a pelt he'd been looking for.

He stared right at Sunpaw when he said, "One more thing. A golden tuft of fur was found underneath Flamestar's claws." He glared down at Sunpaw, then suddenly leapt off his branch.

"The color of this cat's fur!"

Sunpaw's eyes widened. His sister shuffled away from him nervously.

"Wha..." He began, but then broke off as the gaze of Flashstar pinned him to the spot. He sat, wide-eyed, as the leader's claws unsheathed, rage shining from his eyes.

Fear radiated from the ShadowClan leader, it's stench wafting from him.

He stared right into deep amber pools, fighting the urge to look away. The amount of hatred in them was shocking him- it was as if he'd actually killed him.

Bumblestar's eyes narrowed as he glanced from Flashstar to Sunpaw. "What are you saying?" He mewed, gaze now just fixed on Sunpaw, a haunted look in his eyes.

"I'm saying that this cat here must have killed Flamestar!"

If there was a problem before, now there was a catastrophe. Heatherpaw's fur bristled as she leapt up, eyes wide.

"What? Sunpaw would never do something like that!" She yowled, gaze furiously burning into Flashstar's pelt. He faced her, bared his teeth at her, then continued to accuse Sunpaw.

The golden tom could barely move- other than the shivers he tried to suppress.

The image of Crumb appeared fresh in his mind, and he remembered when he'd torn the tom open. The guilt came back to him in a sudden blast, and it was all he could do not to let out a wail of terror.

"Of course it's him! No other cat has this golden colour in their pelt, let alone that he looks like he has the strength to take down a leader. He has the build of a-"

"That's quite enough." Bumblestar shouldered Flashstar gently away from Sunpaw, then bent down to his apprentice. "You didn't do it, right?" He murmured, only loud enough for him to hear.

Sunpaw shook his head straight away, forcing his fur flat. "No, I didn't." He mewed, voice cracking mid-sentence.

He couldn't get the terror in Crumb's eyes as he shook the thin branch out of his head, couldn't block out she screech of fear as he fought to balance though he knew he couldn't.

"He didn't do it, Flashstar. And even if he did, that would be ThunderClan's job to tell him that it was wrong, not yours."

Sunpaw felt a sudden strong urge to face the leader himself. "Flashstar?"

He  padded two steps forward, before looking straight at the leader. "I didn't do it." He mewed, a soft plead in his voice hidden under a tone of self-defense and a hint of a snarl.

Flashstar just glared at him. "Well, if you didn't do it, who did?" He growled, and Sunpaw shut his mouth. "Exactly. Now, stop lying. It's getting you nowhere."

Sunpaw didn't break his gaze when the leader tried to stare him down. He simply met it, and refused to break off, no matter how intimidated and small he felt.

Nobody dared to break the tension in the air. Not even Bumblestar intervened. He simply waited. Sunpaw could feel his eyes on him- and every other cat's gazes.

Sunpaw's stare turned into a glare. He put all his heart into it- every doubt he'd once had, every rumour spread about him, every time he had to remind Hazelshade that he wasn't his father... All that poured into one gaze.

Flashstar looked away. Sunpaw allowed a small smirk to grow on his face, then took a step back. "I'm guessing that we'll discuss this at the next gathering?" He mewed, and with Bumblestar's nod, turned around and literally padded off back to camp alone, with no instructions.

~

"Sunpaw! There you are! Thank goodness!" Silverleaf was the first cat to approach him when he walked into camp. In fact, she was the only one to greet him.

"Where's Bumblestar?" She mewed, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"I was accused of killing Flamestar because they found golden fur beneath his claws. I didn't though, so I came back." He mewed, a hint of triumph in his voice.

Silverleaf just shook her head. "You'll have time for tales later."

Sunpaw suddenly noticed claw marks raking down her slender body, and a clump of blood under a claw. "What happened?" He mewed carefully, gaze darting about.

He half-expected a patrol of twoleg monsters to jump through the bushes. But Silverleaf's mew was worse than even that.

"Goldensun has taken over ThunderClan with a group of rogues, and he's looking for you, Sunpaw. He has patrols out searching for you. And..." She paused, gaze trained on her paws. "They... They killed Foxtail and Sootface."