Warrior Cats: Forest of Blood

~Chapter Four~

I am really excited to write this book and get it done, so there may be some random fillers to move the book along. Don't mind them.

   Snowberry grew weary. Who knew how many kits she was carrying, she had only been pregnant with them for only a little more than a quarter moon! These kits were heavy, she didn't understand how other queens made it look so easy.

   But Snowberry wasn't ready to give up warrior duties so easily. She was determined to serve her Clan as long as she was able. Thistlestorm disagreed and thought she should already resign from a warriors' duty. Silly, she thought. That's just because he's a stubborn tom. He thinks once I'm bearing kits, I'm incapable of anything. Snowberry scoffed at the thought and headed back to the warrior's den. 

   Honestly, Snowberry hadn't even been outside that long. She was just walking around, bringing up completely random conversations with other cats. She saw Flowerstorm walk out with Rocktuft. His fur was ragged and his eyes were tired. The muscular tom looked weary, it was the first time Snowberry had ever seen him like this. Rocktuft was leaning on Flowerstorm's shoulder, struggling to lift each paw from the thick blanket of snow. He gasped in pain every time he put his paw down. The greencough must've really gotten a hold of Rocktuft, Snowberry thought grimly. Flowerstorm was just trying to give him fresh air, but even that seemed painful.

   All of a sudden, Snowberry was filled with energy. She didn't seem so tired after all. She shrugged off the weird feeling and decided to go out for a walk by the river. The water always calmed her. She walked out the entrance to see that Thistlestorm was guarding it. He flattened his ears at the thought of Snowberry going out by herself. Snowberry stuck her tongue out at him and kept going.

   Once she reached the river, she had completely forgotten that on the other side wasn't RainClan, but NightClan. She hated the idea of calling them NightClan, they shouldn't qualify as a Clan at all! Sighing, she pushed the thought away and laid down to sunbathe in the little sun there was. The sky was mostly cloudy, a peek of blue here and there. Enough for Snowberry to calm down.

   "You call yourself a mentor, Tiger?" A voice boomed.

   "Torch is young! Once he's older I'll push him harder!" Another voice replied harshly. Snowberry rolled onto her stomach, her ears perked up. She was covered from any cats' line of sight, the snow definitely covered her up. She watched a black tom with darker markings come out (definitely Sal-inja) and a broad-shouldered light brown tabby tom beside him. Snowberry came to the conclusion that the tabby was named Tiger. He had three grueling scars over his right eye.

   "We can't afford to play soft, Tiger!" Sal-inja growled, "We're going to attack soon, and Torch and Needle are going to need to know every move there is to take down these Clans!"

   Snowberry widened her eyes. NightClan was planning to attack again?

   Tiger curled his lip, "We tore Torch and Needle and Soot from their family, from their former Clan that we destroyed, and started training them hard straight away! Soot left us, leaving her sister and brother in despair! Then she came back and left again, leaving them even more torn inside. We can give them a break!"

   Snowberry's thoughts went silent. Her...brother and sister? She...she had a family? Torch and Needle were her siblings?! Destroyed Clan?... She had so many questions she had to push them aside and keep listening.

   "If they are true warriors," Sal-inja snarled, "Then they shouldn't care what we do to them!"

   Tiger shook his head, "I thought I made the right choice by abandoning my twolegs. I thought you and Haunting offered promise and hospitality, but I was wrong, especially now that you're leader. Haunting was much nicer to his cats than you were. You aren't just evil, you're cold-hearted evil. I'm leaving NightClan, you'll have to assign Torch a new and better mentor than I."

   Sal-inja hissed, "Fool!" He brought his unsheathed claws up across Tiger's face, marking three scratches over his unscarred eye.

    Tiger dropped his head and wailed in agony as his sight was blinded with blood, "At least let me say bye to my apprentice!"

   "Traitors don't get second chances!" Sal-inja growled and leaped at Tiger. He sunk his claws into Tiger's neck and started tearing out flesh. Tiger kicked helplessly, but it was no use. Sal-inja brought his head down and clamped his jaws against Tiger's neck and jerked up. Tiger yowled as his upper spine tore from his body and went limp.

   Snowberry stood up and staggered. Her vision went blurry. That wasn't murder, that was literally ripping someone from existence. Would Tiger go to the Dark Forest for being a part of NightClan? Or StarClan for realizing joining NightClan was wrong? Tiger's blood seeped into the river, turning it red. Her hearing shut off, and next was her sight. She fell to the ground and sank into darkness.

   "Snowberry? Snowberry!" A voice urged. Snowberry felt a faint prodding in her side.

   "Snowberry, you awake! What happened?" Once Snowberry's vision became clear, she saw Thistlestorm and Yang towering over her.

   "Tiger," Snowberry stood up weakly, "Sal-inja killed one of his own warriors because he refused to drive his apprentice too hard." She beckoned her tail to the other side of the river, "Look."

   Tiger was laying in a pool of his own blood. It was so much blood, Snowberry was astonished that his whole body wasn't covered in it. A white, hard, long figure protruded from Tiger's throat, Snowberry realized it was his neck. His neck bones had been detached from his skull and ripped from his body. Snowberry forced back bile at the sight. It was a horrible way to die, even if you did horrible things.

   Thistlestorm was gaping at the sight, "Sal-inja...can do that?"

   "That's just one of them," Yang rasped, "Imagine fighting a whole Clan that is close in that strength."

   "If one Clan is like that," Thistlestorm stumbled around, "Then how are we supposed to defeat them?"