Sage-eye's Story

Chapter 15-Taken Away

-A Quarter Moon After Chapter 14-

Ravenpaw's paws cracked the twigs in the ground as he walked through the pine trees. The muddy ground beneath his feet . Tonight, he was hunting in the southern, marshy lands of Marshclan territory with his mentor Rustwood. She was strict, but she taught well. He had sine learned to swim in ice streams and had mastered all basic battle skills, for he learned fast. 

He knew how to hunt birds and land creatures by now, but he had not yet learned to hunt by night. At night, one had to rely on their senses other then their vision. It was somewhat dangerous to of it by the Lakeclan border,  but nothing has happened yet. So it was safe his father had told him,

"Do not step on sticks!" chasitised Rustwood. Her orange eyes radiated in the night, staring into his amber ones. "Feel the ground before you step in it. Use your instincts. Pay closer attention."

Ravenpaw nodded and was more cautious, as he was now aware of his mistakes. He too a sniff in the air and caught a small scent of a mouse. Looking to Rustwood for permission, her eyes told him yes. Ravenpaw silently stalked the mouse, being extra careful to avoid making any noise. Lakeclan scents also drew closer as followed the mouse scent, for it was in the direction of the border.

Ravenpaw  was very close to the mouse when it noticed him. But Ravenpaw intercepted it before it got away, and it gave a scream of death. He turned around and saw Rustwood's eyes move up and down, a sign of an approving nod. 

Then they both heard a noise on the other side of the border and a fresh smell of Lakeclan entered their noses. Rustwood And Ravenpaw unsheathed their claws and arched their back in preparation. The Lakeclan Mender, the black she-cat Starktail, stepped out into their view, her blue eyes brilliant against the blackened air.

"What do you want, Starktail?" challenged Rustwood. Ravenpaw kept himself ready just in case this was another one of Lakeclan's tricks.

"All I want is an escort to the Valleyclan border. It's Mender business." Starktail replied.

"Then why not meet them at your half-moon meeting tonight?" Rustwood tensily said.

"Like I said, it's Mender business." Starktail harshly spoke.

Ravenpaw began looking around for any danger, and he noticed that her tail was flicking rapidly in seemingly random ways. Then the truth dawned upon him. She's giving directions to whomever she is with! This IS a trap! We should have ran the moment we saw her! 

"Rustwood," he yowled, "We have to get ou-." He never finished his sentence. A great weight came upon him in that instant. He felt his face smash into a tree. He closed his amber eyes on instinct. Ravenpaw felt splinters in cuts all over his head. He felt his hearing fade. Oh ancestors, not again, not again!

Ravenpaw tried to run away, but he stumbled over his own paws.  The great weight then pressed down on him. He squirmed but couldn't away. He saw that Rustwood was subdued by another cat that he couldn't see, He could barely hear what Starktail was saying to her.

"...And as to what I'm really doing, you will never know." the Mender was saying.

Ravenpaw's world then slowed down in an instant. He heard a snap at the moment Rustwood's head went limp, her jaw gaped open, and the glow in her eyes went dim. He felt himself wail out in anguish. He saw Starktail swing her paw at his face. Then he saw nothing more.

Ravenpaw saw Moon's saddened ice blue eyes when he opened his. He wondered who she was for a moment before his memory flooded back to him. He ran into Moon's warm embrace, and he felt her tail run down his golden brown back. The day sunlight warmed him as they sat there.

"They killed her for no good reason!" Ravenpaw sobbed to her. "Lakelclan taking me away is normal enough for them. But just to kill her for the fun of it? And for a Mender to do it? They are supposed to give life, not take it away!"

"Yes, that is how it should be." Moon agreed. "Yet another clan that has evils within it."

Ravenpaw grieved for some time before he could pull himself together. "I have heard stories about how Starktail was a warrior told to be a Mender." he told to Moon. "Maybe she is just a dark-hearted warrior in her heart, and does not feel like a Mender. Perhaps it is not the clan that need to be taken care of- but just her."

"Perhaps so. But you must escape the Lakeclan camp soon before they use you as leverage against your father." Brightwing warned him. 

"I will," promised Ravenpaw, "But answer me this: Should I exterminate Starktail? You have always said kill only if you are threatened and be loyal to my clan. If I kill her, it will be for my own safety, and for my clan's as well."

"That is true. But think of your future and your father." Moon advised him. "You will only cement your legacy as a young killer. I think that your father would be glad to see you, but mad at you for killing. He wants Marshclan to be the better cats. And Starktail is just one of many threats In Lakeclan."

"I know!" Ravenpaw said, fustrated. "But she is the only threat of them willing to kill! Menders take an oath to never kill unless they are about to be killed. She broke her promise to her ancestors. She will go to The-Realm-Of-Enternal-Banishment no matter how she dies. I might as well send her there before she causes anymore harm."

Moon's eyes had a heavy look on her face. "It pains me to say this, but it is your choice. Our role here in The-Realm-Of-Enternal Peace is to advise, not to take action. Whatever you choose, we support you here."

"Then I choose to kill her." declared Ravenpaw, but a look of vengeance in his eyes.

Ravenpaw then awoke to someone prodding at his face. He jerked back when he saw that it was Darktail. "Good morning. Welcome back to the waking world." she greeted.

Ravenpaw raced past her, out of what he presumed to be an old badger den, out into the open world. He was out a large island, surrounded by a lake. I'm in the Lakeclan cam!

The ice-cold lake stretched on for as far as he could see. But soon it would covered in ice. The pale gray sky blocked the sun and the world was a dim gray. Snow was blowing down, which had covered the island, making it white. The only way the land that he could see was a small strip that connected the island to the main clan territory.

And it is heavily guarded too. It is too far to swim across the lake, and far too cold. So this is from where I must escape. I would have to do that kill Darktail at the same time. Soon it shall happen. I just need time to think.