Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 13, Part 3

"Bullheart and Oatstrike have been voted innocent," Sheepwatcher declared. Boarstorm opened his mouth to protest, but the old tom flicked his tail at him to stop him. "The majority decision stands. They will not be exiled."

Boarstorm growled and strode off, closely followed by his new apprentice, Curlypaw. However, many of the other cats were relieved by the outcome. Cherrypool and Almondfall had immediately gone over to Bullheart, and were talking to him in sentences too quick to make out. Honeyshine and Peartail had went to talk to Oatstrike, but the black and white she-cat was less accepting of congratulations than Bullheart was. She just ignored them, and padded into the hay to sulk.

With Rabbitflight, Hayshade, Horsefrost, and Seedpaw all dead, with no clues at all as to who the murderers were, many of the cats were further worried with the lack of an exile. After all, there would be two more deaths tonight, that much was certain. Only the medicine cat apprentice could prevent one.

"I'm telling you, there's only fifteen of us left. Two of us are murderers, and two more die tonight. Any cat would be smart to leave," Barleythorn croaked, seated next to Goatleap. The old she-cat huffed, and swatted her mate with her tail.

"Don't be stupid. If it was such a smart idea, why haven't you left?" she replied, clearly cranky. When Barleythorn didn't respond, she just closed her eyes and settled down for a nap. "That's what I thought."

Peartail padded over and sat down beside her brother. The old tom groaned, and rolled over onto his side to meet her gaze with his own. She looked at him expectantly, so he spoke. "What is it, Peartail? Clan's dying and you have nothing better to do than irritate me?"

Peartail flicked her tail dismissively, then wrapped it around her paws. "Be quiet, you old badger. I was going to tell you to not talk about the death of the clan in front of the small ones." Barleythorn followed her pointed gaze to where Mousepaw was pressed up against the hay bales, practically invisible due to her small size. The apprentice's face was full of despair, and she was quivering. When Barleythorn's eyes met hers, she turned around and ran off, upset.

Barleythorn huffed, and turned so his back was to his sister. "Not my problem. Go away." Peartail frowned disapprovingly, then went after Mousepaw to comfort her.

Bullheart, accompanied by Cherrypool, padded over to his parents. He sat down next to Barleythorn, whose only response was a huff. "She's your sister, father. You could try to be a bit nicer." Barleythorn huffed again.

"Bah! It won't stop cats from dying, will it?" the pessimistic tom declared. Bullheart gave up, and walked away with Cherrypool, leaving Barleythorn with Goatleap.

"He does have a point, you know. We can't do anything to stop these cats from dying," Cherrypool murmured quietly to Bullheart. The ginger tom sighed, and stared down at his paws as they walked.

"Perhaps not. But we can try our best to make it end as soon as possible. The only cat who has been exiled is Ryeblaze, and he wasn't even a murderer," he replied. Their clan was down to fifteen cats, and they were no closer to victory.

Cherrypool nodded, as Bullheart began to climb the stacks of hay in search for mice. She followed him, bounding up the bales. "We just have to hope that it's enough."

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

As soon as night had fallen, and all of the cats were sound asleep in their nests, the two murderers silently stood up and looked at each other. It was time to complete their mission. The larger one flexed their claws, and the two cats crept into the hay.

The two split up at a fork in the tunnels, each with a different target. The deputy and the medicine cat apprentice had to be taken care of for their mission to succeed. But they would soon find their plans interrupted.