Rise

Chapter 21

"Who did this?" She snarled.
Limestar approached her in the circle. "Novasong, stay calm. Everybody is shocked and angry, but this is no time to blame everyone."
The tribe deputy, also her father, padded up to stand by his leader. "The guilty cat has already been sentenced to execution." He meowed, trying to sound upset.
"Who was it?" She growled again, kneading her claws into he dirt. She was impatient for an answer. Whoever did this will be sorry!
Stormstripe walked closer to her and laid his tail on her shoulder. "Like I said, he will be executed and is in his prison right now with Fireclaw on guard. Everything will be okay."
Novasong frantically searched the crowd of cats for Frost's warm blue gaze, hoping he would forget their quarrels and comfort her in the time of hardship.
A twisted feeling developed in her stomach when she realized he was not among the cats.
"I will not ask again. Who did this?" She sheathed and unsheathed her claws, wanting to tear apart whoever did this to her mother.
Thunderflight walked slowly towards her. She looked at the expression on everyone's face. They clearly were hesitant to tell her who had done such a terrible thing.
"Nove," he meowed softly, "you need to rest. You've seen so much death in one day you must be exhausted." He began to usher her back into camp, but she stood her ground.
"I will not rest until I know who-who MURDERED my mother." Novasong hissed to her brother.
He flicked his fail back towards the camp and whispered where only she could hear him. "Come on, I'll bring you."
Hesitantly, the she-cat followed him with one last look at her dead mother. Thunderflight led her through camp, past Wolfheart's body, and to the den where prisoners were usually kept.
Fear crept through Novasong's body as she peaked into the dark hole.
Fireclaw nodded as they padded up to him,though she could see the brave warrior gulp as if he was afraid of the monster that lay inside the cave.
"Nove, I'm warning you, you're not going to like what you see-"
"I'm fine." She snapped to Thunderflight, flicking her tail in protest. However she couldn't ignore the loud beating of her heart, and she felt like every cat in the forest could hear it.
She was afraid of who could possibly been inside the den. Was he red? Silver?
"Have you come to kill me yet?" A voice laughed, a voice that was familiar to Novasong somehow, but she didn't know who it belonged to.
"Not yet." Thunderflight growled in response. "But soon."
Swallowing bile in Novasong's throat, she waited as Fireclaw went inside the den to fetch the cat who killed her mother.
He returned a heartbeat later, and Novasong's mouth gaped in shock.
White, matted, and torn fur stepped out into the sunlight. Hardly recognizable, but so painfully familiar.
"No..." She meowed, barely over a whisper.
Everything went black, and she fell to the ground. As her head hit the hard ground, she heard Thunderflight's concerned mew, but didn't respond.
So much horror in just one day. Were her ancestors punishing her? Whatever did she do to deserve this?
As she was fading into unconsciousness, there was only one thing she could think of. 'I will always hate reds. A-and Frost will never see the light of day again!'