Warriors: Sounds of the Forest

Chapter Thirty-Three: Blackheart

I strained my ears as I waited for it to sound again, possibly more clearly though. 

And it did...

"Blackheart!" the voice hissed again, from just behind me.

Spinning around to face the cat who owned the voice I froze in shock when I saw who it was.

His forest green eyes seamed to glow darkly in the moonlight, and his fur ragged as if he has not bothered to groom in a long time. 

He stepped towards me, his paws staggering as though he was wounded though I could not tell if he was in the darkness that concealed him.  

But still, I knew who he was.

'...Tigerfang?' I asked with my tail slowly.

The toms eyes became slits as he sneered his reply in a long drawl that I had never heard him speak with before. 

"So you've still bothered to remember my name? After the last time we spoke I thought you'd toss it aside as you did with my heart!"

My heart sank as I realized how much he had changed even just since the last gathering. 

'I never wanted to leave! You pushed me away when you did the same to my our kits!'

"Our kits?" he snarled dramatically "OUR kits? No Blackheart, they where your kits! Yours and Whitestars!"

I closed my eyes and felt the sharp sting of static as it burned off of his black-striped pelt.  

Opening them I replied 'Leave our territory Tigerfang... I will not have this argument with you again!'

His darkened eyes gleamed as he hissed "Coward! You only fear my powers, that is why you will not fight!"  

Tigerfang then crouched down his paws glowing dimly with electricity, the same as he had used to fill my kits with playful joy by warming the gorges stones that had been cooled in the shade. 

"I've been trained now Blackheart, I could kill you in one swipe of my paw if I want."

'But-' I managed to twitch with my tail 'a warrior does not need to kill to win the battle!' 

"I am above the code!" he snapped. Then more slowly he added "Badgersoul told me the true reason you killed him!"

'what?'

"You taunted him over and over until he fell for you, and then, you drove him mad by not letting him have you! You made it look like he was a murderer and killed him when you had the chance!" Tigerfang paused, looking down at his paws as their glow grew brighter; reflecting in his eyes, they made them turn a shade of Yellow-green. then he chuckled quietly "And I can't believe I almost fell for the same trick! But no... Instead of you killing me I will be the one to watch you die, but not at my claws. No... I am to powerful to kill you as swiftly as you did Badgersoul."

Branches rustled behind the Tom as Nettleblossom appeared with several voles dangling from her jaws. 

As quickly as she appeared Tigerfangs paws became normal as he murmured only loud enough for me to hear "Your lucky your Kittypet friend came when she did. The next time I see you you can expect that I will not give you the chance to harm more cats."  

And with that he disappeared, a breeze of wind following carrying his scent being the only way to know that he had returned to Moonclan territory.

I just stood there for a moment, trying to take in what had just happened.

Tigerfang, one of the new elemental cats... Had just not only vowed to kill me but had also joined the side of Badgersoul, the one who had vowed to get revenge on me at what ever cost.

"...Blackheart?" Nettleblossom asked as though she had been repeating my name for some time. "What was Tigerfang doing?"

'...Nothing...' I managed to say with my tail, though I knew the betrail I felt was showing brightly in my eyes. 'let's just return to camp... I'm sure their missing us.'

Nettleblossom met my gaze with understanding and walked over as she rested her tail on my shoulder, leading me through the forest as we gathered our prey then went to the Thunderclan camp.

-----

"Where have you two been!" Echostream hissed as she saw us entering the camp, the moon well above us.

"Night hunting." Nettleblossom replied calmly "sorry we worried you, but we did have your permission." 

I would have backed my friend up but all I could do was think about what Tigerfang had said when he attacked me.

"I gave you permission to go out hunting at sunhigh, you've been out all day and most of the night."

I decided to 'speak' up then 'we bumped into Tigerfang' I said 'he held us up for a little while, tried to talk me into joining Moonclan again.'  

Though I knew that it wasn't the entire truth, I felt it was enough to get us out of trouble.

"Very well, you may as well put that on the pile and head to your den." Echostream sighed as she turned and walked towards Amberstars den, probably to let her know that we were back. 

Nettleblossom and I swapped a glance before carrying our catches to the fresh kill pile.  

I hadn't noticed how tired I was and how badly my paws ached until I entered the den, all the other warriors had already fallen asleep so as hard as it felt, I had to quietly maneuver through their sleeping bodies with Nettlebloosom at my back.

The moment we reached our nests and had lain down, my eyes closed and I was about to fall asleep but the sound of rustling fur woke me slightly.  

Lifting my head I unexpectedly met the burning amber gaze of Leafstorm, his eyes filled wig a hatred so stormy that it was clearly visible though we were across the room from each other. 

But still I met those eyes bravely, knowing that I had both the clan leader and my friend Nettleblossom at my sides.  

Even if Leafstorm had Tigerfangs new-found power on his.