Shattered Roots #1: The Last Leaf

Chapter 22

Leafpaw woke up to the sound of icy gusts of winds. Standing up in her moss bed, she let out a huge yawn. Her senses had become increasingly wary because of last night's revelation. Every single sound, from a cracking twig to a hooting owl, seemed to make her jump. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake off the feeling of someone watching her. To take her mind off the problem, she took a mouse from the fresh-kill pile.

"Leafpaw! Swiftstrike said he wants to train you!" Morningpaw informed as Leafpaw was about to take her first bite.

She repeated shakily, "Swift-Swiftstrike?"

"You need to meet him at SparkClan's border before sun-high." Morningpaw paused for a few seconds. "Why are you looking at me like that? He'd never hurt you. You trust him, right? Right?"

"Well, er, yeah. Of course."

In an abrupt manner, Morningpaw left without saying another word. She gulped, thinking about why Swiftstrike was training her in the first place. Whatever the reason was, it's probably nothing good.

————

Leafpaw trotted to the location. Swiftstrike was standing on a cliff hanging off of SparkClan's mountain. The apprentice trekked all the way to the top.

"Swiftstrike?" Leafpaw quivered. "You... you wanted to see me?"

Swiftstrike's cold eyes glared down at her. He huffed, "Yes. Doehoof said your digging needs improvement."

A silence fell between the two cats. Leafpaw stood in her spot, not moving at all. Her tail swayed from side to side uncomfortably and her eyes were wide open. Her whiskers twitched with dread.

"What are you waiting for?" Swiftstrike snapped. "Dig a hunting hole!"

Leafpaw crouched to the ground. She caught a whiff of a rabbit. Trembling, she leaped into the air and quickly dug into the soft dirt. Inside the ground, she found a small burrow which contained an adult rabbit inside. She emerged from her hole with her fresh-kill.

Swiftstrike looked at what she had caught with distaste in his eyes. "Not bad. I expected better, but not bad."

Leafpaw placed the rabbit on the ground next to her. She could feel Swiftstrike's cold stare as her knees shook. Her heart thumped so loudly that she could practically hear it ringing in her ears.

"Leafpaw, you are a very interesting cat," Swiftstrike observed.

Leafpaw lifted her head up instantly. "I... I am?"

"And a very clever one too. No normal cat, especially someone as young as you, could have solved Birchpaw's attacks."

"Oh, thank you." Leafpaw tried her hardest to avoid stuttering.

"But that is no surprise – I expected much from you. After all, you are the leader's daughter. I reckon everyone expects you to be as great as Pebblestar and it seems like you have just proven yourself."

Leafpaw didn't answer.

"Too bad the murderer got away too easily, though. He could still be somewhere out there."

"Y-yeah."

A silence fell between the two cats. Tension rose in Leafpaw's throat and her heart was tempted to call Swiftstrike out.

"I miss the old days when our Clan wasn't overrun with kittypets and rogues. Look at where that brought us. FrostClan is better off without those cats with tainted blood, don't you agree?"

Leafpaw didn't answer again.

"You're awfully quiet."

Leafpaw couldn't keep it to herself any longer. She blurted out, "I know what you did!"

Swiftstrike glanced at her direction. "There's no need to tell me. I've learned that from your little talk last night. You are too clever."

Hearing those words, Leafpaw shuddered and instinctively unsheathed her claws. She crouched into an attacking stance. Resisting the urge to lunge herself at the warrior, she bared her teeth.

"Now calm down, you wouldn't want me to return to camp with wounds and scars, right?"

Leafpaw pinned the older warrior to the hard, frosted ground. She cried while digging her claws into her opponent, "I'd-I'd kill you! I'm not afraid of you! I'd even do it twice if I had to!"

"Do it then, rat. Run your claws against my throat and watch the blood pour out until my soul is with LightClan. What will you tell Pebblestar? That you killed an innocent warrior to solve a case that's already been solved?"

Leafpaw started to loosen her nerves. 'He has a point. I'd be exiled for sure and Birchpaw wouldn't get any justice,' she reflected. Her shoulders relaxed as she straightened her posture.

"Ah, so you do have a bit of common sense left. Well done."

"This doesn't change anything. I-I can still tell the whole Clan what happened."

"Oh really? I was hoping we could keep this meeting a secret."

"There's no way I'm doing that!"

Swiftstrike sighed while tilting his head. "That's a shame. If you can't keep your mouth shut then-"

"Then what? You'll maul me to death?"

"No, no, that'd be too easy. You can say goodbye to your friends. Owlpaw and Morningpaw know too much already."

Leafpaw's face paled. She'd give anything to bring justice to the Clan but she never expected anything like this. A growl rumbled in her throat as fury coursed through her mind. She knew she couldn't let Swiftstrike off the loose, yet she didn't want to sacrifice other cats, let alone her own friends.

Leafpaw gave in. "Fine, I won't tell anyone!"

"Good. If you say as much as a whisper of what just happened, you'll regret it until the rest of your days. I'm watching your every step so don't even think about it."

Leafpaw nodded her head in agreement. The tabby tom started to walk away but suddenly stopped. He looked back at Leafpaw and murmured, "And in case you were wondering, none of this was personal. You're a skilled apprentice who's full of potential. At the end of the day, though, you're in my way, and I've got no other choice."

Watching the warrior disappear into the trees, Leafpaw felt a strong sense of dread filling the air. She dipped her head to the ground in defeat. "Great LightClan, what will I do?" she sobbed to herself, tears flooding her eyes.

A/N: This chapter's shorter than usual but hope ya liked it!!

This is pretty much the last act of the story so there's gonna be only a few chapters left and it's finally finished wHOOOOOO (i still have tons of sequels planned tho)

@ Swiftstrike stop being racist smh shut up