Reedstar's Selfishness (Zombie Warrior Cats)

Chapter 30 - Mudpaw's P.O.V.

As a sudden screech rose through the treetops, I immediately got to my paws. I blinked my eyes open, my vision blurry. The sun was just making its way above the horizon. Glancing around the clearing, I spotted Squirreltail hunched over Redfur, whimpering. I scrambled over to her, my heart beating fast. 

"What's wrong?" Every cat gasped, moving toward her. Around her, gasps erupted when they realized why she had screamed. Poppyheart met eyes with me, her gaze flooded with confusion and shock.

I squeezed through the cats surrounding Squirreltail's quivering body. "Great StarClan..." I whispered, looking away. Redfur's red body lay in his blood soaked nest, his eyes still wide open, staring off into the distance. Dark, thick blood had dried at the edges of the slit in his neck. Some still dripped from his mouth and into the puddle of his blood below him.

Poppyheart tried to nudge the she-cat away from the last of her kin, but she refused to budge. A growl crept up Squirreltail's throat so the medicine cat backed away.

"Who did this?" Murmurs surrounded the scene. "What a great way to be welcomed." I heard Heatherleg mutter behind me. "Who would have done such a thing? I bet it was one of your cats!" Lilypatch snapped, turning tail to stare at the baffled leaders. They each exchanged sorrowful glances. 

I cleared my throat in an attempt to shut them up, but no one seemed to hear me. Bramblestar, Blackstar, and Mistystar shoved their way past Lilypatch and narrowed their eyes at the toms stiff body. Fur pricked up along their spine, they ordered Thornclaw and Rowanclaw to take him out to be buried. Squirreltail hissed at the two toms as they approached her. "I can do it by myself! Your Clans cannot be trusted! I knew this was a bad idea to stay here..." She glared at Lilypatch and suddenly the LightClan she-cat's rage faded to guilt. She looked to her paws as Squirreltail grabbed her brother by the scruff and began dragging him away.

Bramblestar nodded to the two toms. Thornclaw and Rowanclaw continued to follow the she-cat. I shook my head. 

"What in StarClan's name is going on here?" Blackstar snapped, glancing over his broad shoulders at the two leaders. Bramblestar and Mistystar exchanged glances and shrugged. "I let these newcomers in and already we have a tragedy!" The huge white tom muttered. 

"Lilypatch," Mistystar called to the grey deputy. The deputy looked over at them. "has there ever been a murderer in any of your Clans?" She asked with her head tipped to the side. Lilypatch padded over to the three leaders, gathered among the blood stain left from Redfur's neck. 

Lilypatch stopped in front of them and shook her head, replying with a grim look, "Any killer we had, we exiled or was killed. We only ever had a few killers. Our Clans were well behaved,"

The three leaders nodded and muttered things to themselves. They looked unconvinced.

"We need to stop talking and find that killer! Redfur could just be the first on their list. We could all be in danger!" Lighteningice growled with the four kits safely behind her fluffy tail. Each of them cowered into her stomach.

I nodded to the queen. "She is right. We have no time to waste." The remaining cats of our Clans gave each other sympathetic looks and then everyone froze as the sound of growling and splashing came from outside of the islands barriers. My pelt bristled up as terror washed over me.

Squirrelflight burst through the entrance with the two warriors at her heels, her eyes huge and filled with trauma. "The screams attracted more flesh-eaters! There's too many! We need as much help as we can get!" She pleaded. 

I gulped and rushed out of the clearing and over the huge fallen tree. I halted at the edge of the tree-bridge and hesitated jumping down.

Flesh-eaters from all around were stumbling into the water, wading their way through the marsh and climbing onto the smaller island. "What do we do?!" Heatherleg whimpered behind me. The light grey she-cat - Mint something - was attacking two flesh-eaters at once. Nightcloud and Lionblaze were pushing several flesh-eaters back into the water, only to be met by more as they climbed up.

I grabbed a stick on the ground and quickly used my teeth to sharpen it to a point. I held the stick at the center firmly in my jaws and ran at a flesh-eater that Mint was trying to kill. I stabbed it in the temple and immediately it dropped to the ground. Putting my paw to its soft skull, I pulled the stick free and turned to the she-cat.

Mint's eyes widened and her gaze shot over to me. She gasped and dipped her head, "Oh thank you, thank you!" I dipped my head to her and charged full-force at a flesh-eater as it came up onto the island. It dropped dead as soon as the stick impacted its brain. I smiled at how easy this was becoming. Redfur was right; the longer the infected roam, the more they rot...

I shook my head. I had to focus! One mistake and it's all over. I reminded myself, forcing myself to be as serious and careful as possible. The feeling of eyes staring into my back made me go harder. Pressure made me work harder and faster, I had only then realized it. Around me, Lilypatch was doing the same thing as I was. Heatherleg was fighting beside Nightcloud while Lionblaze was pushing them back. Squirreltail and Squirrelflight worked together to beat two flesh-eaters. The three leaders also had come out and were doing their best to kill as many as they could.

Flesh-eater after flesh-eater, they slowly stopped coming. Slowly and surely, the battling cats were victorious. I gulped for air and sat down, dropping the stained stick. Dead flesh-eaters lay on the blood stained grass and were floating in the marsh, blood clouding around their heads. "Mudpaw..." Squirreltail muttered, limping toward me. I looked up, my eyes heavy. Panting, I dipped my head to her. 

"That was awesome!" Boulderpaw gasped, rushing toward me. I nodded and let out a few wheezy coughs. I didn't feel like answering. "What a great idea!" Tigerheart growled to Crowfeather, nudging him in the shoulder. The sleek tom nodded, his eyes narrowed and staring blankly at me.

"Everyone, start pulling the infected out of the water before they pollute the lake!" Mistystar warned. Cats hurried to the marsh and started to pull them from the water. 

Tigerheart and Boulderpaw turned to face me again as I added, "We need to add something to the stick to do more damage... Like a sharp rock. It would be so much easier to kill with." The three leaders came toward me, Mistystar's eyes bright and the other two were grave. They nodded, "Good idea." Bramblestar murmured. His eyes were hard and serious. 

"Actually," Blackstar started, "his idea is brilliant. These cats may be new, but I can tell StarClan brought you to us for a reason." I gave my chest a few embarrassed licks and shrugged.

Boulderpaw nodded, looking up at the three leaders and then back at me in awe. 

"Good fighting. For a 'paw, you sure are intelligent." Lionblaze praised me. I dipped my head in thanks and straightened my posture. Suddenly many cats were surrounding me. 

If Reedstar was here... He'd of killed me by now... After all, this 'great idea' was from the most selfish leader of them all. But he doesn't matter anymore. He's dead and gone.

Lilypatch came toward me, a smirk across her distraught face, as the cats padded away. "You're secret's safe with me," She whispered in my ear. Winking to me, she padded off.