Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 13

     Spottedpaw yawned as she waited to depart on the sunset patrol. Just outside of the healer's den sat Deadeye's three kits, now apprentices, coughing weakly; Dapplepaw was the frailest of them all, and Blackpaw didn't look much better, with his black fur unkempt and his eyes glossy. Sunpaw was hardly in better shape than her siblings, but she at least didn't cough as weakly as they did.

     Ever since they had caught the whitecough—which had since grown into a nasty bout greencough—Deadeye had become more volatile. Spottedpaw couldn't help her increasing feelings of dread when he snapped at warriors and apprentices throughout the days. She recalled her own confrontation with their one-eyed leader only a few moons prior, shivering as she remembered just how menacing he was.

     He shouldn't have made them apprentices, she thought sympathetically. They were too weak then, and now he's pushed them to their limits. Even Frozenleaf, their healer, had spoken out against their apprenticeship. Spottedpaw knew her to follow and respect most of Deadeye's decisions, and witnessing an outburst of defiance from Frozenleaf left her—and most of her campmates uneasy. Ever since the argument, Deadeye had thrown Frozenleaf innumerable scowls and glares.

     "Let all cats old enough to eliminate their own prey gather before the Smoothstone!" Deadeye's scratchy yowl pulled her from her thoughts. There was an unusual edge to his tone, and when she glanced at him she saw just how furious he was. Spottedpaw glanced around uneasily and saw that the gathering cats shared her feelings, many of their eyes glittering with uncertainty.

     "It has come to my attention that we have a traitor in our midst. Someone in this camp has been spreading lies about things that do not exist." Spottedpaw felt a pit form in her stomach as the crowd around her murmured amongst themselves. She searched the throng of cats, desperately looking for her mentor or her friend. Venom dripped from the one-eyed leader's voice with each word he spoke, and made her increasingly uneasy.

     When she spotted the familiar cream pelt of Hawkscar, she stood to move by his side. Her mentor hadn't noticed her yet; he kept his gaze fixed intently on their leader. She halted in her tracks when Deadeye spoke again, his words filling her with sheer dread.

     "Someone in this camp has been pretending that StarClan is more than just silly nursery tales. Even worse, this cat has been claiming that they've received omens in the form of dreams. Such heresy is unacceptable here, as are the guidelines within our code, and the culprit will be reasonably punished for their actions."

     Spottedpaw felt her blood run cold when he spoke. She had no doubt that Deadeye spoke of her, but she couldn't figure out who had told him. The only two cats she had confided in were Hawkscar and Nightpaw—Hawkscar was so adamant that she shouldn't tell anyone that she knew he couldn't have told a soul, and Nightpaw didn't have a malicious hair on her body.

     For a brief moment, her gaze locked with her mentor's. His deep amber eyes were wide with horror, his tail quivering with unease. Before Spottedpaw could rush to him, Deadeye launched himself down from the Smoothstone, his single amber eye raking over the crowd. She froze in her spot when she met his gaze and saw fury spark within it. His lips curled, forming a sneer as he shoved his way through the cats. He halted in front of her, fixing her with a fiery, accusing glare. 

     "Spottedpaw, you've blatantly broken the rules we uphold here in the Gorge. I should have known when I saw you fooling around with those Clan cats, but I simply wanted to believe in you." Spottedpaw had to hold back a cringe when Deadeye faked a sickeningly wounded tone. The surrounding cats gasped in disbelief, many of them reeling back several steps. Outside of the medicine den, Frozenleaf and Shortpaw watched with their eyes wide in disbelief. Snowface and Frostheart shoved their way through the crowd, each giving the apprentice disgusted glances when they emerged.