Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 3, Part 4

"See, I knew it! I knew that Macaco was innocent!" Raio cried, seeing all of the votes. He went over to the she-cat happily, and began to chatter incessantly.

"Look, it's great that he's excited, but it just means that someone else will be murdered tonight," Masaya muttered to Chuva. The other female nodded, watching her sister.

"I don't want my sister to be exiled, but . . . what if it was her? I guess we'll never know," Chuva murmured. The two females separated, and the tribe went on with the rest of their day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Javari woke up in the middle of a dark jungle, immediately tensing up and unsheathing her claws. She recognized this place, although she wasn't proud of it. She knew why she was here.

"Javari," a voice hissed from the trees, a gleeful undertone audible. The fighter lowered herself into a defensive position, a growl growing in her throat. She felt every gust wind, every pawstep her enemy made.

"Don't bother. I left your training for a reason, Inimigo. I don't want to return," she growled. The shadow cat chuckled, and stepped out from the trees.

"I'm not your old mentor, Javari. I'm so much more," they mocked. Javari's eyes widened, as the jaguar leapt for her. The two collided with a crash, and began to fight.

"I don't care who you are, but you won't win! I won't allow it!" Javari roared. She threw the shadow cat off of her, furious. Her hackles raised, as she prowled around her enemy.

"Why are you stalling? You won't beat me. I can't die here," it replied, as it leapt again. They continued their circle of clashing and breaking apart, only serving to make Javari more tired. Eventually, the shadow cat got the upper hand, and raised their paw to make the final blow.

"Javari? Javari, are you okay? Wake up," a voice ordered, barely audible as it blew forward on the breeze. The murderer brought down their paw with an angry cry, but Javari's form had already faded back to the real world.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Javari woke up to see a pair of glowing eyes peering at her from the cover of the shadows, standing outside of the fighter den. She got up to get a closer look, but the jaguar spoke.

"No. Stay there. You can't know who I am, it's too dangerous. For both of us. It's almost dawn, stay awake until then. They can only choose one target each night. If you fall asleep, they'll attack again," the owner of the eyes ordered.

"How do you know so much?" Javari blurted, but obeyed the speaker's command. The glowing eyes lowered, as if the jaguar's head had fallen slightly closer to the ground.

"I'm the shaman's apprentice. They killed my mentor, but they won't get away with it for long," they replied. Then the eyes disappeared into the darkness, leaving Javari alone with her thoughts.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You mean the murderer is taking our tribemates to the Tribe of Darkened Dreams, and killing them there?" Masaya asked, confused. Javari nodded, confirming the statement.

"Yes. I know it sounds hard to believe, but it's what I saw. The shaman's apprentice woke me up, and told me exactly what I just told all of you," she explained. The jaguars muttered amongst themselves, worried.

"So who do you think the murderer is? You saw them, after all. Tell us!" Machupo demanded. Raio, Chuva, Macaco, and Maderas voiced their agreement. Javari looked to Manchado for his opinion.

"It does seem like a good way to choose . . . the rest of us are just guessing. You actually have something to go off of," Manchado agreed her. Javari shook her head, denying it.

"No, really. They appeared as some sort of shadow, I swear! I couldn't even tell their gender," she told them. Rugido's gaze snapped to Preto, who was standing on the edge of the tribe.

"A shadow? A black shadow? There's only one black jaguar here," he growled. Preto's eyes widened, and he backed up a few steps. The rest of the tribe turned to watch, as Rugido padded closer.

"No, it wasn't me! You have to know it wasn't me! Please!" Preto exclaimed. He looked to Nuvem for support, but the old female averted her gaze.

"Both of my cubs are dead. Our shaman is dead. Our warchief is dead. We have no room for error anymore," Rugido declared. He glowered at Preto, who pinned his ears to his head. "Call the vote, now".

Murdered: Javari
Healed: Javari
Accused: Preto
Revealed: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 1