Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 7, Part 4

Cedarblaze started to shake his head and back away at the vote. His mate was dead, along with his young kits. Brackentail, his best friend, was angry at him for voting him guilty. Berryleaf was an independent tom, and didn't need him anymore. The clan was all he had left.

"No, please. This is it. I'll have nothing left. Please," he begged. Robinclaw stepped forward with pity, but unsheathed her claws.

"Go quietly, Cedarblaze. Please, keep your pride," she told him. The brown tom stood still, then finally sat down, a determined look in his eyes.

"No. I have nothing left. Promise me you'll bury me next to Heathershine," he replied, sounding different. There was an odd look on his face. Berryleaf stepped forward to ask him what was wrong, when the tom made a mad dash for one of the trees embedded in the camp wall. He fought through the brambles, tearing at his pelt, as he climbed it. Then, with one last pained wail, he leapt.

Cedarblaze plummeted head first towards the ground in the camp. He didn't try to right himself. He slammed into the ground with a loud crack, then, nothing. His head was at an awkward angle, and his eyes were glazed over.

"Cedarblaze, no!" Berryleaf yowled. He ran to his father, to try to get him to stand up. But Cedarblaze was dead. He had joined his mate and kits in StarClan.

Brackentail shook his head, eyes wide. He buried his face in Sedgeheart's fur, letting out a loud sob.

"I did this," he mumbled, "if I hadn't held a grudge, I —" Sedgeheart shook her head, trying to comfort him.

"No, Brackentail. It wasn't your fault. Now, we have to say goodbye to Oakpaw. He — he is being exiled," she told him. Brackentail looked over at Oakpaw, who was currently sobbing, surrounded by Blossompaw, Bluepaw, and Willowpaw.

The ginger tom padded towards his son, followed by his mate. Oakpaw looked up at his parents, heartbroken.

"Where am I supposed to go? I — I've never left clan boundaries," he asked, beginning to hyperventilate. Sedgeheart pulled him close to her, as Brackentail thought of a solution.

"Oakpaw, please, don't worry. What I want you to do is to go to StreamClan. They will take you in, especially since you're so young. If this ends well, we'll come get you. Explain the situation to Creekstar. She'll give you refuge," he ordered his son. The brown tabby tom gulped, but nodded. Brackentail lightly touched his nose to Oakpaw's head, then stepped back.

Oakpaw finished his goodbyes, then padded towards the StreamClan border with his head hung. His family and friends watched him go, sadly staring at his slowly disappearing forming.

"Can — can we just sit vigil for the dead cats now?" Berryleaf asked, heartbroken. His entire family was dead, along with his best friend. He just — he didn't have the will to kill himself like his father.

"I think that's a good idea," Sedgeheart agreed quietly. The cats split up to sit by their various family members.

Berryleaf had the hardest time. He had four loved ones he had to sit near. Eventually, he just sat in the middle of all of the bodies with his head hanging.

In the morning, Brackentail left his vigil by Cedarblaze to go rest. He was followed by the rest of the cats who had sat vigil. They all settled into their nests and fell asleep.

The five cats who hadn't sat vigil went out to patrol and hunt. They didn't even bother organizing things. There weren't enough of them for that.

As Brackentail slept, one of the murderers approached him. They felt guilty, but knew that they had to do this. If they didn't, their partner would, and it would be much more gruesome. They just felt bad for her partner's target.

Hesitantly, they scrunched their face up, and leaned towards the back of his neck. Then, they gave him the death bite. They felt the bone break beneath their teeth. Brackentail convulsed once, then stopped moving.

They stepped away from the ginger tom's body. Then, they returned to their previous activity.

Meanwhile, the other murderer had crept into the apprentice den. Their tail twitched with excitement, as they drew closer to Willowpaw. They couldn't wait to kill the she-cat. They hoped she would suffer.

With glee on their face, they began to tear into the she-cat's pelt. Bluepaw and Blossompaw were on the patrol, and all of the other cats were asleep on the other side of camp, so there was nothing to worry about. Willowpaw's cries of pain continued, until they eventually stopped and returned to their previous location.

However, they didn't account for the medicine cat den, which was right next to the apprentices' den. The medicine cat apprentice heard the cries, and quickly dashed into the apprentices' den once they were sure that the murderer had left. They quickly began to treat Willowpaw's wounds. They were bad. The murderer had slashed and torn at her pelt so much, that not a speck of white was visible on it. The medicine cat apprentice was surprised that she hadn't died from blood loss yet.

They applied a poultice, then wrapped the wounds in cobwebs and bindweed to keep pressure on it. Then, they left, making sure that Willowpaw would survive. It would be a hard road to recovery, but they were sure that the apprentice could do it.

When the patrol returned, Bluepaw and Blossompaw headed into the apprentices' den to wake Willowpaw up. Bluepaw lay down beside her, sides heaving with relief that she had been healed. Blossompaw let out a cry of alarm, and ran out of the den.

"Willowpaw was attacked! I think the medicine cat apprentice healed her, but the murderers struck again! We have to check the warriors' den!" she told Sedgeheart urgently. Her mother nodded in agreement, and padded into the den.

After a few moments, a wail was heard. Blossompaw rushed into the den after her mother, and let out another cry.

The warriors were waking up now. That is, all of them except Brackentail. Her father was dead, her brother was exiled, and her best friend was severely injured.

Sedgeheart and Blossompaw were pushed out of the den by Shadeflight. Badgerpath, Feathersong, and Ivywing rushed into the apprentices' den to see Willowpaw, as Sedgeheart and Blossompaw grieved in the center of camp.

Robinclaw and Bluepaw tried to comfort them, but knew that it wouldn't do much good. The two she-cats had to grieve. All they could do was support them.

Batwhisker and Berryleaf carried the body of Brackentail out of the den, and set him down in the center of camp. Sedgeheart and Blossompaw sat by his side faithfully.

"We need to make accusations again," Robinclaw declared, having pulled aside Shadeflight, Batwhisker, Berryleaf, and Bluepaw. She flicked her tail towards the apprentices' den, where Willowpaw's family sat, watching her for any sign of waking up. "We need to stop these murderers before something like that happens again".

"One of them could have been Feathersong. She would want to kill cats painlessly, which one of the murderers is doing. Plus, no one in her family has died yet. Surely that is suspicious," Bluepaw pointed out. The others nodded in agreement.

"I think it could be you, Bluepaw," Berryleaf mewed, nervous. Bluepaw looked at him with shock, and he averted his gaze. "You could have killed Pebblefang to avoid being suspected. Plus, it would make sense for you to only be killing small cats, like the kits, since you're small as well. We can't disregard you as a suspect just because you're an apprentice".

"So, that's it then? Now we vote?" Batwhisker asked, tail twitching. Shadeflight nodded.

"Yes, Batwhisker, now we vote".

Murdered: Brackentail, Willowpaw
Healed: Willowpaw
Accused: Feathersong, Bluepaw
Revealed: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2