Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 6, Part 5

Clever was the first to let out a snarl. He stepped threateningly towards Sense, but Courage pushed him back. Intuition sliced at Courage, growling.

"Don't touch my mate," she threatened. Her tail lashed, as Courage drew back, shocked as blood poured down his shoulder from the strike.

"You are the murderer," Sense replied, realization dawning on her face. Then, her gaze hardened, and she leapt at Intuition. "My sister died because of you! You killed her!" She bowled Intuition over, as Observant pushed the cubs back into the den.

Clever went to strike Sense angrily, but Courage pushed him away again.

"Don't touch me! I have to save my mate!" he growled. Courage continued to push Clever back, unwilling to let his brother get involved.

"She's a murderer, Clever!" he spat. Clever slashed his claws across his brother's chest, and bared his fangs at him.

"Well, that makes two of us," he retorted. Fury filled Courage's eyes, and the King leapt at his brother. There was clearly no contest on who would win. Courage was King for a reason. He had fought to get in that position.

However, the fight between Sense and Intuition was not going as well. Intuition was close to killing Sense, having pinned the lioness to the ground in an effort to rip her throat out. But out of nowhere, Reliable leapt into the fight, knocking Intuition off and pinning her to the ground. Sense turned the lioness' head towards the fight between Courage and Clever, just as Courage ripped into his brother's throat.

Intuition let out a cry of despair, and went limp on the ground. She didn't even struggle, as Sense cleanly sliced her claws across Intuition's neck.

"Mama, Papa!" Playful wailed, slipping between Observant's legs to shove his nose into Intuition's fur. Adventurous looked at the remaining adults accusingly, as he and Exuberant followed their brother.

"You killed them. You killed our parents. You could have let them go, could have let them take us. But you didn't. You're not as good as you want us to believe," he spat. Exuberant went over to comfort Playful, as Courage stepped forward.

"Adventurous, they were murderers. We had to," he replied. Adventurous shook his head, ears pinned to his head, and backed away.

"No. No you didn't. As soon as we're old enough, me, Exuberant, and Playful are going to leave. Then, one day, we will take over our own pride. Adventurouspride. A pride that will stand for the good lions, unlike you," he declared. Then he joined his brothers by Intuition, and nothing more was said.

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

After the bodies had been taken care of, the first thing Courage had done was go out to look for Persistence. He found his mate in the shelter of a large rock, solemnly standing over a freshly-dug grave. Practical had died, whether from sickness, injury, or old age. Persistence had never found out. The two returned to the Pride, but not alone.

Courage had also discovered two brothers, Impartial and Capable, on the return trip home. He had offered them the two positions of power that his brothers had previously filled. They had gratefully accepted.

Sense had grown close to Impartial during the early times of his arrival, and soon, they had become mates. During that time, Capable consistently pursued Reliable, although she was unaware most of the time. Eventually, they also became mates, although it took much longer than Sense and Impartial.

Eventually, the day came where Adventurous, Exuberant, and Playful decided to leave the Pride. Inventive and Adaptable pleaded with them to not go, but the three brothers refused to listen. Their parents had been killed - in their eyes, the entire Pride, Inventive and Adaptable excluded, was made up of murderers.

The three brothers left the Pride without any special ceremony. One morning, they were just gone. They would, one day, gain control of a small Pride. It would be renamed Adventurouspride, and the brothers would gain a new family.

Inventive trained to become a healer, following in the footsteps of Diligence. Healers from other Prides came to teach her, and her skills would save members of the Pride many times over.

Adaptable became a great hunter, one of the best in Couragepride's history. Along with the next generation of cubs, she would usher in a new wave of hunters that would keep the Pride prosperous.

Observant's life didn't really change. Most of her family was dead, with the exception of Sense. As she got older, she helped her daughter raise cubs of her own. She would tell stories to these cubs, although one she would leave out.

None of the lions ever talked about the events during Clever and Intuition's murder spree. And so, the two lions were forgotten, and everything went back to the way things had been before.