Brokenstar's Bitterness

Prologue

"Lie still, Brokentail. You have lost a life. You're going to be fine,"  Yellowfang told the blind prisoner, who tried to fight and get his fame once again, but is now horribly wounded. Her voice was surprisingly soft, like a dove's feather.
"What do you mean?" hissed Brokentail, his voice weak from blood loss. "If I have another life left, why do my wounds still hurt?" 
Yellowfang came up even closer to the former ShadowClan leader. "StarClan has healed the wound that killed you," she explained, "the others need the skill of a medicine cat."
Brokentail curled his lip in a snarl, "Then what are you waiting for, you scrawny old pest? Get on with it! Give me something for this pain."
"All right, I will." Yellowfang's voice suddenly turned icy-cold. She rolled three bright red berries in front of the wounded Brokentail. "Here. Eat these berries and the pain will go away for good." 
She stood watching him, with a blank expression as he was chewing the berries.
"You and my Clan exiled me and I came here," she hissed, "I was their prisoner, just like you. But ThunderClan treated me well, and at last they trusted me enough to be their medicine cat. You could have earned their trust too! But now – will anyone trust you ever again?"
Brokentail let out a contemptuous hiss. "Do you think I care?"
Yellowfang crouched even closer to the blind tom, her eyes gleaming.
"I know you care for nothing, Brokentail. Not your Clan, nor your honor, nor your own kin."
Brokentail let out a snarl. "I have no kin."
Yellowfang sat next to him, and moved her tail closer to the blind warrior. "Wrong. Your kin has been closer to you than you ever dreamed. I am your mother, Brokentail."
Brokentail let out a mrrow of laughter. "Spiders have spun webs in your brain old one! Medicine cats can't have kits!"
Yellowfang looked at her son with sadness in her eyes. "That's why I had to give you up. All those moons, watching you grow into a fine warrior," her voice dropped to a snarl. "and then you murdered Raggedstar. Your own father. You killed the kits of our Clan, and made me take the blame. You would have destroyed our Clan completely.  But now, it is time to put an end to all of this treachery."
Brokentail stood up, unsheathing his claws. "An end? What do you mean you old–" he tried to raise his paws, but his legs gave away and he fell heavily onto his side. His voice rose to a thin shriek as he spoke again. "What have you done? l can't feel my paws. Can't breathe..."
Yellowfang's eyes were mere slits as she gazed at him. "I fed you deathberries, Brokentail. Now no cat will ever be hurt by you. Ever... again."
Suddenly, a spasm of great agony shook Brokentail like lightning. His body started twitching rapidly, and his claws were raking the cold ground. He was foaming at the mouth and he coughed up blood. His chest heaved as he fought for air, his blind orange eyes wide with fear and pain.
Trying to push through the sheer agony, Brokentail couldn't keep his eyes open, forcing them shut while the pain kept ravaging his body. The last thing Brokentail could hear was a kit's soft, tiny voice. "You could have been someone great."
His paws scrabbled in the dust and his body convulsed until he went completely still.