Warriors: War of the Clans - Darkness

Chapter 16

Tiger groaned as she blinked her eyes open. A gray and white she was standing in the corner, sorting herbs. The strange she-cat looked back at her. "Good, Tiger. You're awake."

Tiger jumped at the sound of her name. "How do you know my name?"

The she-cat flicked her ear. "I was there at your birth. Of course I know your name." She picked up some herbs and dropped them in front of Tiger. "I'm Julie."

Tiger glanced around. "How long was I out?"

"Couple hours." Julie nudged the herbs towards her, and Tiger lapped them up, wincing at the bitter taste but swallowing them nonetheless. "Hurry up. Dark wants to interview you." Tiger gulped at the thought, but got to her paws.

"I don't know the way,'' Tiger told her. Julie shrugged, putting the last of the herbs away.

"I'll show you." She motioned her to follow, and Tiger obeyed, following the she-cat out into the forest, to the center of Dreaded Night.

<|...............|>

Tiger stood, trembling, in front of the three leaders. Dark smiled slightly at her fear, but began to ask her questions.

"Where is he?"

Tiger flicked her tail tip. "W-where is who?"

"You know who," Fang snarled. Tiger flinched.

"Now, may I ask again, where is he?"

"I-I don't know who you're talking about," She mumbled.

Fang hissed and leaped off the leader's rock. "Where is who? That red-furred apprentice!" He stepped forward, a grin seeping over his face. "Fox."

Tiger sucked in her breath. "I-I don't know." She decided to tell them the truth. It wouldn't help them much anyways. "All I know is what you know. I know that he arrived into my tunnel, stayed a while, then left. My guess where he went is as good as yours." She was much more confident when telling the truth.

But Fang didn't believe her. He unsheathed his claws and stepped forward. "He would at least tell you something, wouldn't he?"

Tiger stepped backwards, heart thumping in her chest. Please believe me! She thought desperately. "I swear, that's all I know!" Her eyes darted back and forth, hoping there was some way out of this. They don't believe me, so they're going to rip me to shreds! Her eyes widened as Fang came closer.

"Fang! Don't!" Tiger's eyes became as wide as the moon. It was the she-cat on top of the rock, next to Dark.

"Dagger?" Fang whipped around, staring at the she-cat. "Why should I stop? She can't be telling the truth!"

Dagger now had the attention of the entire clearing. Her eyes flitted back and forth, and she gulped slightly. But she felt determined. "She is telling the truth."

To Tiger's surprise, Fang believed her. He stalked back over to the leader's rock and leaped up on it, settling down next to Dark. He glared at Tiger with his deep brown eyes. "How do you know?" He snapped.

"Fang." Dark flicked his ear and glared at Fang. The first captain growled and looked away. "Dagger knows when cats are lying. I thought we had already established this." He ignored his mate, and looked at Tiger. "When did this tom leave?"

Tiger looked at her paws. "A-about one moon ago." (A/N: YES WE ARE TIME TRAVELING. I PROMISE AFTER THIS SECTION WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TIME PERIOD.)

Dark narrowed his eyes. He looked thoughtful. "Thank you for the information. Now, Fang," He meowed to his captain, "Do what you want. She is a deserter, after all."

Tiger's milky eyes widened. "W-WHAT?!"

Fang's deep grin returned, and he leaped down off of the boulder. "With pleasure." He gripped Tiger's scruff and dragged her into the forest, her struggling as best she could. "Let's make this last a while, eh?"

Dagger could hear her echoing screams from the camp.

And she tried not to look when Fang brought the mangled body of his daughter back to camp.

<|............|> (A/N: OKAY WE'RE BACK TO THE SAME TIME PERIOD)

Cage flicked his ear as he padded to a training session. It was between him, Jay, and an apprentice tom named Wisp. When he entered the clearing, he saw that the new cat, Acorn, was also there. Okay then, he thought. Time to see who is the best.

Note was also there, as the duelist master. "Okay," Note yowled. "We're going to switch off partners for the duration of this training session. First up, it's Jay verses Acorn and Cage verses Wisp. Understood?" The four nodded. "Okay then. Fight!"

Cage whipped around and leaped at Wisp. He was a new apprentice, so Cage felt confident that he could beat him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Jay was easily beating Acorn. He gritted his teeth and slashed at Wisp, flinging him across the clearing. He landed with a cry of pain, and struggled to get to his paws. But Cage leaped after him and dug his claws into his shoulder, dragging him across the ground. Wisp screeched with pain, and howled, "No! NO! I give in! I give in!" Cage threw him across the clearing again, and Wisp lied there, whimpering with pain.

"Very good." Note purred. Cage glanced over to Jay and saw that she was grooming her pelt, as if she had been done for some time. "Now, SWITCH! Cage is with Acorn and Jay is with Wisp!" The siblings changed places and faced their opponents. Cage glared at Acorn, while the tan tom blinked at him with confident eyes. Cage growled, itching to put that tom back in his place. "Fight!"

Cage leaped at Acorn with a snarl. But the tan tom quickly flashed out of his way and effortlessly slashed his side. Cage went tumbling to the ground, but got to his paws easily and dashed at Acorn again. But once again, the tom darted out of the way and slashed his ears. Blood trickled down his face, making him angrier. "I'll get you!" He snarled, pouncing in Acorn. But the tom dashed out of the way just in time, and made Cage fall on his face. As he struggled to get to his paws, Acorn flashed in and held him down. The tom leaned down and bit Cage's shoulder hard.

"Ow!" Cage screeched. He tried to get up, but the tom kept biting him in the same place. After a few more seconds, Cage heard Note yowl, "Cage, you're out! And Jay has beaten Wisp!" Acorn let Cage up, and Cage, humiliated and defeated, stalked away from the tom. "Cage, you're with Jay, and Wisp, you're with Acorn! One last one!" Cage limped over to Jay, who didn't have a scratch on her. "Now fight!"

Jay leaped first, dashing at her brother and slashing his side. Cage yowled and whipped around, still winded from Acorn's fight. He caught a glimpse of the battle between Acorn and Wisp and saw that Wisp was beating Acorn. What?! Why can't I beat him?! Distracted, he didn't notice Jay coming for him until too late. She hit his ears and his wounded shoulder, making him crumple to the ground. She leaped on top of him and held him down.

"Cage and Acorn are beaten! I'm going to count up the wins for each cat." Jay released Cage, who struggled to his paws and stared intently at Note. "Cage has one win, Wisp has one as well, Acorn has two, while Jay has three! Jay wins!" Note nodded to Jay, who puffed out her chest, blue eyes gleaming. Her eyes met Acorn's for a moment, then immediately broke contact.

Cage slinked through the trees, away from the clearing, fury burning in his heart. What was the secret to beating Acorn? Every other cat seemed to be able to do it, but not him. The image of Jay meeting Acorn's gaze flashed in his mind for a second. Did that have something to do with it? Cage shook his head to clear it. That couldn't have meant anything.

He stalked back to his den, mind still racing on how to kill the tan tom.