Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 13, Part 2

Almondfall was voted innocent, but Ryeblaze was voted guilty. The young tom felt betrayed. It had been so close. And some of the cats that had voted for him he had felt close to. At least his sister, Oatstrike, had remained loyal to him, but that wasn't enough.

Almondfall padded up to him, ears pinned to the back of his head. "I'm sorry you were exiled. Maybe after this you can come back?" the tabby tom suggested. Ryeblaze pushed past him, and began to head for the entrance to the barn.

"Save it," he muttered. Then he sprinted out of the barn. When Oatstrike went to go see where he had gone, he was nowhere to be found.

For the rest of the day, Oatstrike sulked angrily in the corner of the barn, glaring at some of the cats who had voted her brother guilty. Honeyshine, her mother, tried to talk to her, but wasn't able to get through. Peartail tried as well. Nothing worked. Eventually, they just left the she-cat alone.

In the mean time, Bullheart pulled Cherrypool and Almondfall aside. They were the only two cats he felt he could trust. Not even his brother, Boarstorm, seemed trustworthy. He had to voice his concerns.

"Cherrypool, Almondfall, I've been thinking recently. Maybe — well, what if Chickenfoot and —". Almondfall shook his head, terrified, and hushed Bullheart to get him to stop talking.

"Don't mention him. You'll get us all killed," the tabby tom hissed. Cherrypool nodded, agreeing with Almondfall.

"It'll be hard enough to avoid being murdered. We can worry about him after all of this has been resolved. Trust me, Bullheart," she mewed quietly. The ginger tom sighed, and licked the top of her head. He would drop it, for now, since Cherrypool had asked him to. But it would resurface eventually.

While this conversation had been going on, Seedpaw had been secretly watching the conversation. He smiled to himself. Horsefrost would be proud of him. He had discovered dissidents!

The small, grey and white tom carefully crept back to his father, taking great care to ensure that Bullheart, Almondfall, and Cherrypool didn't notice him. And they didn't. He immediately nudged his father, and pulled the tom aside.

"Bullheart, Almondfall, and Cherrypool were talking about Chickenfoot and the other three," Seedpaw hissed. Horsefrost's gaze swept coldly over to the trio, and he motioned to his son with his tail.

"Come, Seedpaw. We'll take care of the problem tonight. For now, let's keep this between us. I'll decide if this information needs to be shared," he commanded. The father and son walked off. Little did they know that Boarstorm was among the hay. Having heard the entire conversation, the ginger tom narrowed his eyes at the retreating figures. Then, he crept back into the shadows.

That night, when all of the cats had gone to sleep, Horsefrost and Seedpaw got up from their nests. Horsefrost flicked his tail at his son, and the two wound their way through the hay toward the trio's nests. But before they reached the nests, the two murderers rounded a corner.

There was a moment of shock in the murderers' eyes, before they leapt without warning. Seedpaw felt a pair of jaws clamp down on his back, as he was thrown against the hay bales that filled the barn. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was the other murderer biting down on the back of Horsefrost's neck.

In the morning, Peartail woke up from her sleep. She stretched, yawned, then entered the hay tunnels to make her way over to the nests of Honeyshine and Oatstrike. But as soon as she rounded a corner, she encountered a terrible, bloody sight.

Horsefrost and Seedpaw were dead. Droplets of blood splattered the barn floor, but that wasn't what had caused their deaths. Horsefrost had shards of bone protruding from the back of his neck, while Seedpaw's body was collapsed at the base of the hay bales. A small amount of blood stained the fur around their wounds. Peartail screeched.

In almost no time at all, Honeyshine and Oatstrike had come running. They were closely followed by the rest of the clan. Wheatflower pushed her way through the gathered cats, until she reached her mate and kit.

"Horsefrost! Seedpaw!" she wailed. Curlypaw and Mousepaw crept between the other cats, until they unwittingly saw the scene before them.

"Seedpaw?" Mousepaw mewed quietly. She nudged her brother, but he didn't get up. She began to hyperventilate, leaning on Curlypaw for support.

Plumsong nudged the two apprentices behind him, trying to stop them from being traumatized. "Don't look, either of you. You don't want to see it." Curlypaw tried to push past the ginger tom, but it didn't work.

"I want to see my brother!" the tom cried. Plumsong just shook his head, and blocked the two siblings. Meanwhile, the older cats were discussing the murders.

"They got our leader! This clan is falling apart!" Honeyshine declared. Many of the cats nodded in agreement. However, none voiced their thoughts about leaving. They knew it wouldn't turn out well.

"It's not surprising. I knew this would happen again," Barleythorn drawled. Woollytuft glared at him.

"Show some sympathy, Barleythorn. Wheatflower's mate just died," she mewed. The disapproval in her voice was clear. Sheepwatcher just sniffed the bodies.

"They both smell like our clan. It's the same murderers," he confirmed. Peartail moaned, hardly able to take the news.

"We have no idea who these cats are! What are we supposed to do?!" the elder yowled. Her weak emotional state was blatantly obvious to the rest of the clan, but none of the cats could blame her. The reaction was reasonable for the circumstances.

"I think that one of them is Bullheart," Boarstorm growled, stepping forward. His amber eyes stared into his brother's, seeming merciless and vengeful. "Last night, Seedpaw heard Bullheart, Cherrypool, and Almondfall voicing their dissent. He told Horsefrost. I bet the two were on their way to confront Bullheart when they were attacked!"

Bullheart gaped at his brother. He couldn't believe it. His own brother . . . trying to get him kicked out or killed? And he knew about the dissent? "Shame on you, Boarstorm! We're family! And you let your apprentice spy on my mate, my best friend, and I? What did you think was going to happen when you learned this? I wasn't supposed to wake up this morning, was I? And you knew? It's says a lot when a pair of murderers is doing more for me than my own brother!" Cherrypool comfortingly pressed against him. She glared at Boarstorm, as though warning him to stay away.

"While we're accusing cats, it might have been Oatstrike. She was angry at Horsefrost. After all, he was our leader, and forced her brother to leave the clan," Goatleap pointed out. Oatstrike bristled.

"Fine. Accuse me. I don't care. Let's just vote and get this over with," the black and white she-cat spat. No one protested the suggestion. They began to vote.

Murdered: Seedpaw, Horsefrost
Healed: Oatstrike
Accused: Bullheart, Oatstrike
Revealed: Horsefrost (Deceased)
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2