The Rising Storm

Chapter 7: Times Change

        Stormpaw walked through the forest, he looked at his surrounding noting how nothing seemed to have changed. Stormpaw frowned, what was he to do now? If he said something strange then everyone in his clan would end up worrying about him and he didn't want that... He frowned and looked at his clan territory, a small thought echoing in the back of his mind, maybe I can stop Honeypaw from getting hurt... Blinking he looked up thoughtully and murmured to himself "maybe I could warn her..." He frowned wondering how well Honeypaw would react to a warning like that, he just growled in his frustration and lashed his tail. Shaking his head he growled to himself to calm down then scented the air, although he found himself wondering which scent he was checking for. 

        Picking up the sharp scent of mouse, Stormpaw went into his hunters crouch. He slowly moved towards the mouse's scent when he spotted it nibling on a small seed. Stormpaw bunched his muscles as he leaped at the mouse, he landed on the mouse perfectly before instantly killing it. Smiling with pride he carried his prey over to a fern bush where he always burried his prey and quickly burried it before moving on. As he hunted he slowly began to notice the forest becoming quiet, he looked around starting to feel uneasy. He slowly began walking back to his fresh kill, a sense of danger starting to settle, just as he reached his prey he heard a loud screech from somewhere nearby. Instinctively Stormpaw left his fresh kill and raced toward the sound. Leaping through some ferns he burst into a clearing, he suddenly felt cold and stiff with fear, he was staring into the eyes of a grey tabby who had eyes as cold as ice. Stormpaw gulped, there was something different about this cat, he almost seemed other worldly. His mind flashed back to the moor and the scent of blood seemed to envelop him. His eyes instantly opened and he blinked, the blood smelled almost too fresh, he slowly looked over to what laid behind the tom. Horrified he realized it was Honeypaw, still alive yet she was dying, he was about to take a step towards her when suddenly he was pinned to the ground, he gasped realizing this tom had him pinned. Stormpaw started struggling but with no hope, this tom seemed impossibly strong, so strong that even the strongest warrior would never escape. He flinched when the toms breath, which smelled like blood, began sinking into his mouth and nose, he barely stopped himself from gagging. His body seemed to run cold when the tom spoke, it was cold and cruel.

        "It appears I have gone after the wrong one, you smell way more like her." The toms claws start to slide out, Stormpaw swallowed nervously as he felt the sharp tips start to pierce his skin. He started clawing at the tom in an attempt to escape. He suddenly felt fear begin to take over as all his attempts were futile, he closed his eye shut. In a small instant he felt calm, is this what it is like before one dies? He waited for a few heartbeats, waiting for death to take over, when it did not happen he opened his eyes and realized the tom was no longer on top of him. He stood up stiffly, for some reason his whole body felt sore, as though he took a major beating in the one moment of feeling calm. Looking over to Honeypaw he noticed she was shaking, he ran over to her, feeling concered. When he reached her he saw fear in her eyes as well as a small hint of death, he frowned.

        "Honeypaw, it's alright..." He tried to smile reassuringly, he smile faded however when Honeypaw looked up to him, she seemed to recoil at the sight of him. When she spoke she shrieked with fear.

        "Stay away from me! You monster stay away!" Honeypaw looked at him as though he was someone else, she began trying to drag herself away, tears streaming from her eyes. "Stay away, go away!" 

        Stormpaw frowned, feeling somewhat helpless and concerned, he tried to meow reassuringly. "Honeypaw calm down, its me Stormpaw, don't move you will only make you injuries worse." He frowned when Honeypaw just looked at him with bitterness, she spat at him, terror still in her eyes.

        "I know who you are, I know its you Stormpaw but I never would have guessed how much of a monster you are, just leave me here, I would rather die then be helped by you!"

        Suddenly feeling confused he frowned, why is Honeypaw so scared of me? He looked down at himself and froze, his fur was completely covered in blood, feeling confused he looked around the clearing and gasped when he saw the lifeless body of the tom. Suddenly feeling shaky he whispered "d-did I do that?" As he took a step towards the lifeless body he suddenly felt like his head was being split in half, he collapsed to the ground moaning in pain. Opening his eyes he tried to focus on the dead tom, for it was the only thing that he could concentrate on. He could feel himself beginning to grow dizzy, his vision starting to become blurry and unclear. What is happening to me... he thought groggily, he started to wonder if it was just him but the tom in front of him seemed to grow smaller then seem to melt in with the earth. Feeling his eyelids start to shut he fell into a confusing and wrestless sleep. Every once in a while he thought he was awake but realized that he was still locked away in the world of sleep.

        When Stormpaw awoke he recognized the scent of his clanmates, although this time it was different. Sitting up he realized he was not in any of the dens and he was not laying on a nest, confusion started to grow, whats happening? He started walking out of the small area he was in, he frowned in confusion as he though to himself, this is where we keep prisoners, why am I here? He kept walking forward, a little zoned out from confusion and shock of what happened, he practically stumbled when he heard a cat hiss at him, he looked at one of the warriors in confusion. "Ripplestorm? What is going on?" He was suddenly able to focus again and noticed all his clanmates were staring at him in horror, disbelief and hatred, he noticed Honeypaws body in the clearing, he knew she was dead. Looking at Ripplestorm he mewed "Why are you treating me like a prisoner?"

        Ripplestorm growled and shoved her face into his "that is because you are, you broke the clan code and killed your own sister!"

        Stormpaw looked at her in shock "No I didn't kill her, I would never!"

        Ripplestorm hissed "then why did Flamepaw find you alone with Honeypaw covered in blood and Honeypaw screaming that you are a monster."

        Stormpaw stood frozen, he looked completely stunned, how could they possibly think that I would want to hurt my own sister, i'm not a monster! Shaking his head he looked at Ripplestorm, knowing it would be useless to argue against the clan if they all thought the same thing, miserably he mewed, "what will happen to me now?"

        Ripplestorm just sniffed "if your lucky you'll be banished forever, but if it is up to us we will have you killed for Honeypaws sake." Ripplestorms eyes were dead serious, Stormpaw swallowed nervously, he knew how popular Honeypaw was and how much the clan loved her. He could believe they would want to kill the traitor who killed their beloved clanmate.

        "When?" He murmured, barely loud enough to be heard.

        Ripplestorm just looked at him with cold eyes "tomorrow morning, if you try to run away we will track you down and kill you for sure."

     Stormpaw nodded weakly then went back to the where he slept, too sad to see the disappointed looks on his clanmates faces. He curled up in a ball miserably, will I really die tomorrow... Suddenly feeling the most misery he had ever before in his entire life he squeezed his eyes shut. 

        When he awoke he was still in the camp, he could hear the snoring of his clanmates and he looked into the sky. Judging from the looks he could tell is must be midnight, he frowned, wondering what might happen to him in the coming morning. Sighing he began putting his head back down when he recognized a scent, looking back up he found himself looking into the eyes of the pure black tom. Stormpaw laid frozen, what is he doing here!