Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 10, Part 6

As soon as the rest of the clan, including Lockheart himself, voted to exile both, Sharpfang broke into a sprint. Although the members of the clan tried to stop her, she managed to make it out of the camp, and out of sight.

Razorclaw screeched furiously as Sharpfang escaped, and hit a cardboard box aside. She began to pace along the alley, bristling. "I knew it! I knew Sharpfang was the murderer! And she just escaped!"

Steelfire pressed herself up against Razorclaw comfortingly, trying to get the she-cat to calm down. "It's okay, Razorclaw. StarClan will pass their judgement. Now, we must rebuild."

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Sharpfang, exhausted, came to a stop at the CityClan border. She had sprinted the entire way there, knowing that Razorclaw, especially, would be after her. The tabby had a temper. Besides, with her brown fur and fighting skills, she would easily fit into CityClan.

She was found, not by a border patrol, but by one of CityClan's spies, Oilshade. The black tom was accompanied by his apprentice, Tirepaw. The two cats immediately took her prisoner. She could have fought them off easily — she didn't. She wanted to be taken to the camp, anyway.

That was how she had arrived in the middle of the camp, seated in front of the leader, Shardstar. The white tom looked down at her victoriously, from his perch on a window still. His mate, Glasswish, was next to him, silent. She seemed hopeless, as she looked at Sharpfang miserably.

Beneath him was his son, Flashtalon. The young white tom was known for being arrogant. After all, he was raised as the heir of the clan. Not that he was qualified. The only reason he had for being the next leader was his white fur.

Sharpfang became confused, as she spotted a pale she-cat seated next to Flashtalon. That was odd. She hadn't known of another member of Shardstar's family.

"Sharpfang. That is your name, yes?" Shardstar asked. He seemed bored. She couldn't care less. She just wanted to disappear into the clan. Her family was dead, and her friends had kicked her out. For good reason. She was a murderer.

"Yes, Shardstar. I would like to join your clan. A ginger cat, Brickstorm, went crazy, and began killing all of the cats who didn't have any ginger fur. My daughter was the last cat to be killed. It was clear that I was next," she mewed.

Shardstar leapt down, suddenly intrigued. He flicked his tail, and three ginger cats ran up to him, heads bowed. Sharpfang was horrified.

The bigger cat was obviously the father. His pelt was covered in scars, and the tip of one of his ears was completely torn off. His son was only apprentice aged. He was already missing part of his tail.

It was looking at the daughter that broke Sharpfang's heart. The she-cat was the same age as Puddlepaw. She was the same size. And she had scars in almost the same place that Brickstorm had hit Puddlepaw.

"Firepelt. Retrieve Ironstep, Clawface, and Roadstrike for me. Tell them to discuss with their subordinates this new information. Rustpaw, go make Sharpfang a nest in the fighter den," he ordered. The father and son dipped their heads, and rushed away from the leader.

Shardstar then batted the female apprentice away, a scowl on his face. "Get out of my sight, Needlepaw. Why don't you make yourself useful. Retrieve Smokenose, Metalwhisker, and Cementpaw from their hunting patrol." The ginger she-cat slid across the stone ground, a slight whimper escaping her muzzle. Then she stood up, blood leaking from a scratch on her cheek, and darted away.

Sharpfang filled with fury as she looked at the white tom. He had hit that poor apprentice, Needlepaw. Just like Brickstorm. With a cry of rage, she leapt at him, and began to claw and bite.

She bit at his throat, clawed down his stomach with her hindclaws, and slammed his head into the ground with her forelegs. Then, he was dead. Unmoving.

"My father!" Flashtalon yowled. He leapt at her, but was easily dispatched. She just rolled onto her back, and used his momentum to kick him into the wall behind her. He didn't get up.

A brown tom, Fencetooth, led the group of angry fighters toward her. She knew that her life would be over in just a few moments. She looked toward the pale she-cat who had been sitting beside Flashtalon. "Change things. For Puddlepaw," she mewed. Then Fencetooth and the other fighters reached her, and she met her end.

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Moons later, AlleyClan was back to normal. As normal as they could be, anyway. They had chosen a new leader, Steelstar, and they had a new deputy, Chainstripe.

Chainstripe, Flintpelt, Spikepaw, Sparkpaw, Daggertail, and Crashpaw had decided to rejoin the clan. While they had enjoyed being by themselves, they wanted to help rebuild. Plus, with Chainstripe as deputy, they would never face discrimination again.

Steelstar and Razorclaw had resumed mentoring Spikepaw and Crashpaw. Lockheart had been given Boltpaw as his apprentice. Eventually, the three warrior apprentices had gained their warrior names — Spiketuft, Crashblaze, and Boltstorm.

Sparkpaw had continued to learn as much as she could about healing. She had even gone to the CityClan healers, Bloodsplash and Scorchedpaw, to gain the knowledge that Arrowface hadn't been able to pass down to her. She gained a name as well — Sparkwish.

Tensions with CityClan had even lightened. With the takeover of Wirethorn, now Wirestar, the system of slavery had been abolished. In order to rebuild their clan, Wirestar had also allowed four cats from CityClan to join AlleyClan instead.

Slashpaw was the first cat to accept the offer. Despite the abolishment of slavery, some of the cats still held discriminatory views. As it turned out, Boltstorm had been right. Slashpaw did like she-cats. A few moons after Slashpaw became Slashstrike, the two cats became mates.

The other cats to join were all from the five cat family of Firepelt, Bloodsplash, Rustpaw, Needlepaw, and Scorchedpaw. When the offer was opened up, the family had to decide who was going to go where. Firepelt and Bloodsplash wanted to stay together. Although they could no longer be mates if Bloodsplash remained a healer, they didn't want to make any of their children stay in CityClan.

Eventually, Rustpaw decided to stay. He had formed a bond with a she-cat, Tirepaw. Scorchedpaw then decided to stay as well. She would become CityClan's medicine cat. Bloodsplash would be free to return to a warrior life in AlleyClan, along with Firepelt and Needlepaw.

Bloodsplash and Firepelt fit in well, especially with Flintpelt and Chainstripe. They quickly became friends with the other pair of mates. Needlepaw was even apprenticed to Chainstripe, by their request.

Spiketuft and Needlefur bonded as well. They became mates too, and later, had three kits — Scarkit, Blazekit, and Axelkit. The kits had been named in honor of their fallen clanmates.

Boltstorm and Slashstrike didn't want kits. However, they did find two kits on the border. Steelstar and Razorclaw decided that they would take care of them. They named the tom Bonekit, after Lockheart's fallen mate, and the she-kit Puddlekit, after the dead apprentice.

Dieselfoot was the only cat who remained miserable. He had been taken out of StarClan, where he had been united with his mate, and forced to remain in a world without her. So when he passed away, the clan knew that it was what he wanted.

AlleyClan and CityClan would continue to thrive. Their relations would ease, and the battles would end. And despite the clans' mutual hatred of her, it had been brought about by one cat. Sharpfang.

Alright everyone, that's the end of Round 10! As some of you may have noticed, the next round is BanyanClan. This round will actually be run by Talon, as I will be at summer camp. She created it, and I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job running it. Good luck, and have fun!