Published on Sunday August 20th, 1:46 pm Central standard time

This is for Magical_Kittenz 's short story contest.
Okay, I have to say that the story seems to stray from the prompt for the contest at first, but it'll fit the prompt later in the story. I did it in the Erin Hunter style with no spaces between paragraphs, because that's how it is in the books.
I'm going to publish this into an actual book after the contest, so look forward to it! I'll mention the name at the end because it's kind of a spoiler lol

"Goldenpaw? Are you listening?"
Startled, Goldenpaw stared up at her mentor, Sunfrost, her fur fluffed up. She had almost forgotten that he had taken her, Ivorypaw, and Thrushpaw out for a hunting lesson. On warm new leaf days like these, Goldenpaw's mind often drifted, the shimmering river mesmerizing her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"No, Sunfrost, sorry." She murmured, staring straight into his eyes. Her mentor sighed
"Well, as I was saying to those of you who were listening," he meowed, shooting Goldenpaw a dirty look. She immediately looked down at her paws.
"We're going to be practicing catching stray mice that wander in from the ThunderClan border. When leaf-bare comes, we'll need all the prey we can get." He meowed. "So, do any of you know how to hunt land prey?"
"Ooh, ooh, I do, I do!" Ivorypaw immediately called, jumping up and down to try and get Sunfrost's attention. "First, you creep up on it like this," She got into a crouch and creeped forward. "And then you pounce!" She leaped, landing directly on top of Thrushpaw. The young apprentice squeaked as they rolled around in a play fight. Eventually pinning him to the ground and placing her paw on Thrushpaw's throat, Ivorypaw let out a yowl of triumph.
"-And catch it like that!" She jumped off of Thrushpaw, and he pushed himself to his feet angrily.
"Well, thank your for that wonderful... example, Ivorypaw. And yes, you are right. Did everyone else see that?"
"How could I not, when I was the one being attacked?" Thrushpaw murmured. Goldenpaw just nodded.
"Alright then. Follow me." Sunfrost meowed, heading towards the cluster of trees marking the border. Three mice were nibbling on a few seed pods strewn around their feet, and Goldenpaw licked her lips. She had never tasted mouse before, so she was eager to catch one and try it out.
"On my signal, pounce." Sunfrost meowed, slowly creeping forward and gesturing for the apprentices to do so as well.
Once the mice were only a few tail lengths away, Sunfrost stopped. After less that an heartbeat, he flicked his tail, and the apprentices pounced. Ivorypaw lunged for the mouse on the right, Goldenpaw for the one in the middle, and Thrushpaw for the one on the left. Ivorypaw managed to catch her's first, killing it quickly with a bite to the neck. Thrushpaw cracked his mouse's spine.
Goldenpaw's mouse, however, managers to dart away before she could catch it.
"Fox dung!" She exclaimed, chasing after her prey. She was not going to go back to camp empty-handed. The cats of RiverClan were counting on her.
After a while of running, Goldenpaw stopped to catch her breath. The mouse had stopped too, and was gazing around warily, looking for any signs of it's predator. Getting back into a hunting position, she slowly crept forward towards the mouse. Just as she was about to pounce, a huge weigh barreled into Goldenpaw's side, pinning her down against the mossy forest floor. She cursed as she was forced to watch her mouse scurry away into the undergrowth, unharmed. She turned to her attacker.
"Ivorypaw, what was that for? I was just about to ca-" Goldenpaw paused, finally fixing her bright green eyes on the cat pinning her down.
They were definitely not Ivorypaw.
The cat's pelt was coated with sticky mud and what Goldenpaw presumed to be otter dung, and she gagged at the scent. They were staring down at her with a huge smile written across their face and eye wide. Goldenpaw gulped.
"W-who are you?" She managed to meow, frozen with fear. What could this cat want from her?
"That doesn't matter," The cat said. It was a she-cat's mew. It sounded familiar, but Goldenpaw couldn't quite place where she had heard it from.
"Now, if you want to get out of the forest alive, do as I say. If not..." The she-cat dug her claws into Goldenpaw's side.  She winced.
"So... do you comply?"
Reluctantly, Goldenpaw nodded. The she-cat smiled.
"Good. Resistance would've gotten you nowhere. Now, I'm going to let you go. If you even try to escape..." The claws came out again.
Goldenpaw's eyes grew wide and she nodded once more.
In one smooth motion, the cat jumped up off of the apprentice. Goldenpaw pushed herself to her feet warily, eyes never leaving the brutal she-cat. She followed the cats gaze through the thick shrubbery to see her gaze fixed on Ivorypaw, Thrushpaw, and Sunfrost.
"Where could she be?" Sunfrost murmured. "Let's split up. Ivorypaw, you search this side of the forest. I'll search by the river with Thrushpaw."
Ivorypaw nodded, and watched as the warrior and apprentice slowly padded away, out of sight. Goldenpaw could see the unease in her friend's green
eyes, her cream pelt bristling.
The she-cat turned towards Goldenpaw.
"You see that apprentice?" She motioned to Ivorypaw.
"Kill her."
Goldenpaw's heart broke in half.
"K..kill her? But she's my friend!"
The mud covered cat just acted casual, flicking a pebble out from underneath one of her razor-sharp claws.
"It's your life, or hers. You choose."
Goldenpaw's heart was torn in two. How could she kill her best friend, the person who had stuck with her to the end?
A voice suddenly started to murmur in her head.
Goldenpaw. In this world, it's kill or be killed. Only the strongest survive, and you must prove that you are stronger. Stronger than all of them.
"Stronger than them..." she murmured. Goldenpaw hated the fact that now there were voices in her head, but she couldn't deny that it was right. She wasn't ready to die... yet.
She reluctantly nodded.
"Alright. I-I'll do it.
The cat nodded, grinning. "Good. Now, go get 'em... apprentice."

-~*£*~-

"Goldenpaw! There you are!"
Goldenpaw whipped around, startled at the sudden voice. Ivorypaw was bounding up to her, her eyes full of relief. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Sunfrost was beginning to think a fox had gotten 'ya or something!"
But Goldenpaw just stared at Ivorypaw with guilt.
This is the cat that I agreed to kill? The one cat who could always brighten my day no matter what? Who worries about me more than I worry about myself?
"Um.. Goldenpaw? Are you okay?" Snapping out of her daze, Goldenpaw turned back to Ivorypaw, nodding.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine."
Ivorypaw just shrugged.
"Well, since you're back, let's go meet Thrushpaw and Sunfrost on the other side of the territory. They're looking for you, too, and will be relieved when they see I found you."
Goldenpaw's eyes widened. She couldn't meet up with Sunfrost and Thrushpaw! There was no way that she could get rid of them to kill Ivorypaw without them noticing.
"No, wait!" She called out to her friend, who was already trotting away. She stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Goldenpaw.
"I um... I found something really cool! Yeah, really cool that I'd like to show you! It's over by the river."
Ivorypaw frowned. "Sunfrost told me to meet up with him if I found you."
"Aw, c'mon! It'll only be for a bit."
Ivorypaw hesitated for a moment, before sighing. She nodded.
"Alright, fine, show me whatever it is you found. Just try and be quick, okay?"
"I promise it'll be fast." Goldenpaw meowed, forcing a smile onto her face. Her heart ached. Was she really doing this?
And with that, they set off. The whole time, Goldenpaw was deciding whether or not to do as she had been told. But no matter how many reasons she had against doing it, the image of the she-cat and her claws kept popping back into her head, and she shivered.

She had to do this.

In what seemed like a few heartbeats, they had reached the stream. Ivorypaw was looking around curiously.
"What were you planning on showing me?" She asked.
Goldenpaw felt frozen. She couldn't move. She couldn't kill this cat. She couldn't.
"I-I..." She trembled where she stood, her secret threatening to devour her until there was nothing left.
Ivorypaw padded over to her friend worriedly. "Goldenpaw? Are you alright?"
That's when she snapped.
"It was a lie! It was all a lie!" She wailed.
Ivorypaw looked startled.
"What are you talking about? What was a lie?"
"Everything! The interesting thing by the river! I brought you here..." Goldenpaw swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
"I brought you here to kill you."
Ivorypaw's eyes went wide as she slowly backed away from the fellow apprentice.
"I-I-I don't understand! Why would you kill me?"
Before Goldenpaw could answer, there was rustling in the undergrowth, and an all too familiar voice rang out.
"Because I told her to."
Both apprentices spun around, startled. The mud covered she-cat pushed her way into the clearing, and a growl rumbled in Goldenpaw's throat.
"And I should've known she wouldn't be able to do the job." The cat hissed angrily. She unsheathed her claws, circling the two apprentices.
"You know, I was never planning on keeping you, Goldenpaw, alive anyway."
Goldenpaw's eyes widened. "But we had a deal! If I killed her, than you would spare me!" The mud covered cat just grinned.
"Tsk, tsk. Such silly things, promises. They can oh so easily be broken..." In less than a heartbeat, Goldenpaw was pinned down under the she-cat's weight, her claws digging into her stomach. She yowled out in agony as they sunk deeper and deeper into her soft belly fur...
As the world began to grow blurry, Ivorypaw jumped on top of her attacker.
"Get away from Goldenpaw!" Ivorypaw screamed, shredding the cat's back. Her release on Goldenpaw grew weaker, and she pushed herself up from under Ivorypaw' grip.
"My my, feisty little ones, aren't you? I'll have to do something about that."
A horrible grin spread across the she-cat's face, and just as she was about to pounce, a blur of pale ginger barreled into her side, knocking her to the ground.
"Sunfrost! What are you doing here?" Ivorypaw yelled, watching Goldenpaw's mentor as he tustled with the cat.
"It's almost sundown! Thrushpaw and I waited at the camp entrance for what seemed like moons. We eventually left towards the river, and when I heard your cries, I sent him back to camp for help." Suddenly, the she-cat flipped Sunfrost over, pinning him down.
"Gotcha! There's no escape now." The cat growled. "I'll make sure you regret trying to come to these pitiful apprentice's rescue."
She lifted her claw threateningly, about deal the killing blow...
"I'm afraid the Dark Forest has to wait a few more moons before they get to have me. Unfortunately for you, your time's run out." The she-cat looked startled for a moment, her paw still held in the air.
"What do you mea-"
In less than an instant, Sunfrost thrust his legs out with such force, the she-cat went flying across the clearing, landing on the shore of the river. Her head slammed down hard against a sharp rock at the waters edge, and blood poured from her mouth, staining the water a deep crimson. Her eyes went wide, before clouding over.
And just like that, she was gone.
Ivorypaw padded cautiously over to the she-cat's body, now floating in the stream. She pulled it ashore and pressed her ear to it's heart. She shook her head.
"No heartbeat. She's dead."
Sunfrost made his way over to the body, sniffing at the mud that was plastered all over the dead she-cat's fur.
"Let's see who you are, shall we?" He murmured to himself, gently rubbing the mud and dung from her pelt. Only when he had gotten the mud off of her head, he stopped. A gasp escaped from his lips, and he backed away from the body.
"No... it... it can't be."
Curiously, Goldenpaw walked over to where Sunfrost was standing. Surely it had just been a passing rouge that had threatened her?
But then she saw it.
Those bright yellow eyes.
That glossy brown fur.
...
Briarpatch.
...
Her mother.
Goldenpaw stared down at the body in horror. Why would her mother try and kill her and Ivorypaw?

But then she remembered.

Last Gathering, the Clans had been attacked by a newly re-formed BloodClan. They defeated the vicious rouges in the end, but lost many cats: including her father. Ivorypaw and been next to him when he was killed. The tom had cried out for help and pleaded to the apprentice to distract his attacker so that he could escape, but Ivorypaw couldn't move, as if her paws were stuck to the ground, her eyes widening with horror as she watched her clanmate be ripped to pieces.
Thornpelt was his name. The name still stung whenever she thought about it. She had been devastated when she found out her father had died.
But it was her mother who was really affected.
Of course, Briarpath had blamed Ivorypaw for everything, because she hadn't even tried to save her mate. Her mother drifted farther and farther away from her clan, and daughter, until she spent most of her time down in the dirt place tunnel, murmuring to herself. This must've been a way that she thought she could avenge Thornpelt's death, by killing the one cat who witnessed it happen.
Ivorypaw.
Goldenpaw's legs collapsed from underneath her, and her breathing grew heavy.
She knew why Briarpatch had tried to kill Ivorypaw.. but why would she try and kill her own daughter? Did she really hate her that much?
Amidst all of the pain and confusion, there was only one thing that Goldenpaw was sure of.

Her mother was dead.

And she had helped kill her.

~END~

Welp, hope you enjoy! :D
I spent a long time on this. Were you surprised at the twist? Hopefully lol. The name of the book'll be Blood Red River.

-Pikatoot