Day 8
Hello, admin Heather here. This was my first time writing a full chapter for CC. Apologies if there are some mistakes! I tried my best to include every cat!
Anyways... On to the story!
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Honeyrose could not sleep.
Her eyes remained wide open, and her head lay on the edge of her nest. The she-cat exhaled, forcing her eyes shut as she listened to the sounds of the night. She longed to sleep, to escape from her world of worry for just a night. One relaxing sleep would be all she needed.
"Just one night's sleep, please, Starclan," she quietly whispered to the wind.
Her solemn prayer seemed to have been answered, as the she-cat finally felt her consciousness begin to fade away. Honeyrose's breath began to deepen; and then finally-
Snap.
Honeyrose's eyes opened suddenly, scanning the area around her. Dread filled her stomach as she realized she wasn't the only cat awake.
A small voice in her head to her not to, but she left the den anyways, quietly stepping over warrior's tails as she made her way to the exit.
The moon was full that night, shining brightly and providing a lighter area to investigate. Honeyrose was grateful for its light; she liked an enemy she could see.
The sphynx's yellow eyes examined the clearing; hoping to find the source of the noise she had heard. Nothing, it seemed, was in sight.
That's strange, the warrior said, her eyes narrowing. I could've sworn...
Could it have been her imagination? This investigation was probably worthless, if that was true. She'd probably gotten so worked up over nothing.
Honeyrose stood in that spot for a while, her mind racing with thoughts of why she heard that noise. However, no matter how much she tried to convince herself, her gut told her that noise was created by a cat.
I-I...
I have to find the traitors.
That single thought stuck in her mind. She knew, even at the cost of her own life, she was going to find the traitors. Nothing was more important to her at that moment than that.
Honeyrose nodded firmly to no cat in particular. She placed one foot in front of the other, slowly but surely progressing into the forest.
After walking for a bit, she began to hear cats meows. They were quiet and suspicious, but Honeyrose was able to hear them.
She quietly approached the voices, crouching down low to hide herself more. The voices became louder and louder until finally she could hear what they were saying.
"Well," said one of the voices, to another cat whom Honeyrose couldn't recognize. "Tonight will be your trial run. If you successfully kill our... target, then you're officially one of us."
Honeyrose didn't hear this new traitor's words, as they spoke extremely quietly. So she stuck her head in closer, stealthily.
"Okay, so here's the plan. We'll slit their throat like we did to Pinestep. It'll be quick and easy. You," the traitor said, pointing to someone who Honeyrose guessed was the new one, "will have the honour of slitting their throat. I'll keep watch, and the rest of you be prepared to help out with anything."
Honeyrose shuddered silently, her yellow eyes narrowing with hatred towards the cats whom she had once called her clanmates.
She didn't care what happened. All that mattered was that she got revenge for the lives they had taken.
Without thinking, she daringly jumped through the bushes, tackling the nearest warrior. She pinned that warrior to the ground and slashed her claws across their pelt. The warrior suddenly went still.
Honeyrose was a bit confused, and mistakenly relaxed her grip. As soon as she did, the warrior seemingly came back to life and pushed her over.
Honeyrose's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe it. She had been tricked by a trick apprentices knew to avoid.
Honeyrose attempted to release herself from the warrior's grip as she wildly thrashed around on the ground, and it seemed as if the warrior who held her down was struggling.
Honeyrose managed to free herself, knocking over the warrior who had pinned her down.
She panted heavily and immediately glared at the warriors with her striking yellow eyes.
Honeyrose prepared herself for the attack, facing off the traitors.
Wait, she thought, her eyes widening.
"W-why are you a traitor? You were-"
Her meow was cut short.
Honeyrose felt teeth pierce into her neck, sinking into her flesh as if she were a piece of prey.
She let out a loud cry, her neck in immense pain as her final breath left her body forever.
Please avenge me, Graystar, she thought silently as her eyes turned dull.
~~~~~
"Please avenge me, Graystar."
The thought appeared into Graystar's mind as fast as lightning. Graystar jumped out of her nest, her claws unsheathing.
"What? Who's there?" Graystar said groggily, her eyes blinking wildly.
Silence.
Graystar's fur smoothed down as she realized she was alone. She slowly exhaled, her eyes closing in relief.
Please avenge me, Graystar.
Graystar's eyes snapped open again. She looked around for a cat who might have been the owner of the voice, but no cat in her den was close enough.
The sunlight streamed through the entryway of Graystar's den, and Graystar poked her head out of the den.
Warriors were about; doing their every day business. Although, Graystar noticed, they were walking around carefully.
Graystar exited the den, her eyes adjusting to the light that came from the sun. When her eyes finally adjusted, she worriedly searched the camp for missing cats.
"Good morning, Graystar!" Dawnpetal's voice interupted Graystar's search. "Did you sleep well?"
Graystar nodded, not taking the time to actually speak in words. She continued to search the camp with her eyes, as Dawnpetal sat beside her.
"Smallcloud seems to be getting better," Dawnpetal commented. Graystar nodded once again, distratced with the task at hand.
Where is Tinypaw? She said, the small apprentice entering her mind.
The apprentices were sitting near the apprentice's den, all seemingly sad because of the past day's deaths. They'd lost two of their most precious clanmates.
Graystar's heart ached for the apprentices, and she didn't really notice that Dawnpetal was poking her.
"Graystar? Are you alright?"
Graystar blinked, and she finally realized that Dawnpetal had been trying to speak to her.
"Oh! Sorry," she said, her eyes still on the apprentices.
"You need to go check on them. They've suffered quite a bit, and they need some words from their leader."
Dawnpetal's voice floated into Graystar's thoughts, and Graystar knew that was what she needed to do.
"Right. I'll go do that," she said and was about to leave.
"Dawnpetal, do...." She began, but paused. "Have you recieved any strange... signs? From Starclan lately?"
Dawnpetal held Graystar's gaze for a few moments before she stared at the ground.
"I-I'm not quite sure. I've had dreams of the cats that have died, when they were alive but... I-I'm not sure what that means. If I find out anything, I will let you know." Dawnpetal finished up her speech with a long sigh.
"We'll do the best we can in the meantime. We musn't give up," Graystar said, her eyes shining with determination.
Dawnpetal gave a small smile before turning tail and going back into the medicine cat den.
Graystar made her way over to the apprentices, sitting down next to Viperpaw. Viperpaw's eyes met Graystar's for just a moment, then she turned to the other apprentices.
"Hello, Graystar." Dewpaw was the one who spoke up first. Echopaw murmured a quiet greeting as well.
Graystar swallowed the lump in her throat that had threatened to choke her. She wrapped her tail around her forepaws.
"Your mentors have told me you're doing quite good, so I was thinking one of these days I could take you and your mentors on a big hunting patrol. I'd love to see your skills!" Graystar purred warmly.
Dewpaw returned Graystar's smile with one of her own, and Echopaw gave her a nod.
Viperpaw, however, ignored Graystar's words and instead glared at her.
"Are you here because you think one of us helped kill Blackpaw and Redpaw?" She challenged, her eyes locking with Graystar's. "Well, news flash, Graystar. Blackpaw and Redpaw were our friends. And our clanmates." Viperpaw's eyebrow went up, her face clearly expressing anger. "From what I've heard, clanmates are supposed to help each other, not accuse each other."
The leader's eyes widened at the disrespect the apprentice had shown, and stumbled with her words.
"You've just lost two friends. I just thought, maybe if I talked with you, you might-"
"Please leave me alone. I don't want to speak anymore. I've done too much already." Viperpaw shook her head and ran out of camp.
Graystar's mouth remained wide open from the apprentice's outburst. Viperpaw seemed to be more affected then the other apprentices. She must have been close to those two.
"Dewpaw, Echopaw? Do you happen to know where Tinypaw is?" Graystar asked quietly, still a bit shocked.
Dewpaw and Echopaw looked at each other, then to Graystar. Echopaw's expression was a cross between confusion and worry, while Dewpaw's expressed plain worry.
"I haven't seen her..." Dewpaw said, her gaze frantically searching around camp.
Echopaw remained frozen in spot, her eyes focused on something Graystar couldn't detect. She seemed to be in a daze, and Graystar could hear the gears working inside her brain. Graystar knew exactly what she was thinking; it was exactly what she had been worrying about earlier.
"I can ask Morningrose to send a patrol looking for her," Graystar told the she-cat, gently placing her tail on the apprentice's shoulder before standing up and heading over to her deputy.
The deputy had situated herself underneath the high rock, organizing patrols.
Basilwisp was standing a ways off, his head dropped down. Looking around more, Graystar could see Leafsky walking away from him.
Graystar couldn't help but feel bad for the tom. After all, Leafsky had been very angry with him. Basilwisp must have been heartbroken to be the one on the receiving end of that anger.
Graystar walked up to Morningrose who greeted her with a smiling face and a happy attitude.
"What do you need, Graystar?" She asked cheerfully. "Want me to organize some patrols?"
Graystar felt a bit happier being around the blonde she-cat, and she let a smile overtake her face.
"I have two things to check on. Number one, did the guards report anything strange last night?"
Morningrose looked confused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Guards...?" She contemplated out loud.
"Oh," she said, staring off into space. "I... Well. I forgot to send out guards last night," she said sheepishly.
"Relax, Morningrose," Graystar said, as Morningrose looked very sorrowful. "It was an accident. Just remember to do it tonight."
Morningrose immediately jumped back into her jubilant mood, looking Graystar right in the eyes and providing her with another Morningrose smile.
"I'll organize that right now. Echolight, Rosepool, and Featherwing? Could you come over here for a second?"
The three cats all stopped what they were doing and approached their deputy.
"What do you need?" Echolight asked, dipping her head.
"You three are going to be in charge of watching the camp tonight. If you spit anything suspicious, report it to Graystar and I." She informed them.
The three cats nodded, then went back to what they had been doing before they had been called over.
"The other thing. Unfortunately, I need a patrol to go find Tinypaw," she said slowly. Morningrose's smile faded once she heard those words, understanding the deeper meaning.
"I'll take..." She started, examining the camp.
"Basilwisp, Icespark, and... Kestrelberry."
The golden furred tom looked a bit surprised; clearly not expecting to be chosen to do something as important as that.
"I'd like to join this patrol too, please."
Tigersplash's mew came from behind Graystar, and she turned and nodded her head gratefully.
"The more the merrier!" Morningrose purred, flicking her tail. "I'll lead it, if that's okay with you Graystar?"
"Of course. Just be careful!"
Morningrose turned tail, as did the rest of the group, and they headed into the forest.
Let's hope they bring back good news... and not a dead body.
Graystar looked around at the cats that still remained.
Iriswhisper and Lightdream sat by the fresh kill pile, sharing a piece of fresh kill. They seemed to be having a good time, sharing fresh-kill as well as stories.
It's good that some of the cats are staying so happy, even after all thats happened. Graystar smiled inwardly at the two cats.
She was about to go join them when two cats appeared out of the forest.
Her heart raced as she saw Snowstrike, and...
Tinypaw!
Graystar padded over to neet them, relief flooding over them. Her heart rate slowed down. The apprentice had only been out with Snowstrike.
"Snowstrike, Tinypaw! Where were you?" Graystar said, scanning them for injuries.
Tinypaw and Snowstrike shared a glance, and it ended up being Tinypaw who started talking.
"Well, Snowstrike told me she wanted to take me out to practice my battle moves. She wanted to give me extra training so I'd be extra prepared in case any traitors try to kill me."
Graystar nodded, smiling. She was very relieved that Tinypaw was okay. However, she was confused. Why was it Snowstrike taking her out, when Tinypaw's mentor was Runningstream?
"Very well. Well, we were worried about you. We didn't want to loose another cat dear to us." Graystar explained her concerns to the apprentice.
"Well, Tinypaw, why don't you go hang out with your fellow apprentices? I have to speak with Graystar for a minute."
Tinypaw waved her tail as a farewell, and then scampered off to join her friends. Graystar's gaze followed after her for a minute, then she turned to the white she-cat.
"You needed to talk to me?" Graystar questioned, and Snowstrike nodded firmly.
"I need a new apprentice." Snowstrike began. "Redpaw's gone, and I want an apprentice to train. I want you to let me train Tinypaw."
Graystar struggled to find the words at first. She wasn't surprised that Snowstrike wanted a new apprentice, but she was more confused why she wanted to take Tinypaw. After all, Tinypaw had Runningstream as her mentor.
"But what about Runningstream? I dont know if she'll give up her apprentice so easily." Graystar countered.
Just then, Smokeflash, who had been listening to the conversation, padded up.
"Graystar, I'm not sure you should give this responsibility to Snowstrike. I think I'd do better. I've missed so much of Blackpaw's training. I'd like to avenge him, in my own way, by training an apprentice right." Smokeflash explained, shooting Snowstrike a glare.
This angered Snowstrike, which wasn't very much of a surprise to Graystar.
"You couldn't learn to teach an apprentice right if StarClan smacked the instructions right into your face," she retorted, her face scrunched up in anger.
Smokeflash didn't reply to this; instead he glared her down, as if he was preparing to attack her.
"Your permission to speak, Graystar?" A new voice entered their conversation.
Graystar looked towards the voice and found it to be Iriswhisper's.
"If you are both such great mentors, then why did both of your apprentices end up dead?" Iriswhisper said, without waiting for Graystar's permission.
Snowstrike's jaw clenched up, and she seemed like she was about to explode in anger.
"If you ask me, Graystar," Iriswhisper continued, "neither of them deserve it."
Snowstrike let out an extremely long hiss, her tail thrashing wildly.
Smokeflash was not reacting to Iriswhisper as much as Snowstrike was; instead, he was watching Snowstrike's expression.
"Tinypaw!" Snowstrike yelled. "Get Runningstream. We're going to go hunting."
Snowstrike's tail flicked wildly as she practically ran over to the apprentice. Runningstream confusedly followed Tinypaw and Snowstrike into the forest.
Iriswhisper's gaze lingered on the area she had left from, then she shook her head. She was about to leave, but before she did, Graystar heard her murmur something under her breath.
"You'd better make sure you keep an eye on all of your apprentices."
Iriswhisper's tail lashed once, then she walked into the warriors den.
Graystar blinked, the scene replaying over and over in her head. Snowstrike's anger, her newfound closeness with Tinypaw, and Iriswhisper's words.
She didn't have much time to react to the situation when another cat poked her on the shoulder.
It was Leafsky.
The she-cat's fur was ruffled, and she looked very tired.
"Graystar, I'd like to request that I don't ever be put in patrols with... Basilwisp." Leafsky said plainly. "We're going through some rough times right now. Thank you." She walked off before Graystar could reply, leaving the leader even more confused.
Graystar stood up from where she was sitting, and headed immediately into the medicine cat den.
Smallcloud was doing sime stretching excerises with his leg, while Rosepool lay in one of the nests, eyes wide open.
Dawnpetal was near the back, organizing herbs. She turned around a waved her tail in greeting to Graystar.
"Hello again, Graystar!" She purred, and finished up what she was doing. She then padded over to Featherpath, who seemed greatful of the medicine cats presence.
"Hello, Dawnpetal. Featherpath, Smallcloud." She dipped her head to each cat in turn.
"Is everything alright, Featherpath?" She said, sitting down next the she-cat.
"I-I...." She said, stuttering. "I-I thought I h-heard a cat scream last night."
She whimpered and buried her nose on the edge of the nest. Graystar looked at Dawnpetal, feeling worried for the warrior.
"Featherpath's been having a particulary hard time these past days. Even rougher than a lot of the others." Dawnpetal explained, her tail resting on the she-cats shoulder.
Graystar nodded, feeling sympathetic for the warrior. She'd been struggling to remain happy, too, because of all that had happened.
"Is it okay if Featherpath is excused from her warrior duties today? She isn't feeling to good. I'm going to give her some poppy seeds and let her relax today." Dawnpetal asked, while petting Featherpath gently with her tail.
"Of course," Graystar agreed, looking down at Featherpath. "Just make sure she gets lots of rest." Dawnpetal nodded without looking up.
"Graystar, my leg's almost better. Dawnpetal's letting me start doing warrior tasks tomorrow!" Smallcloud meowed excitedly to his leader.
"Just make sure you don't do anything to hurt it again," Graystar said warmly.
Smallcloud nodded, and gave Graystar a powerful smile. Graystar's visit to the medicine cat den had not only helped Dawnpetal, it also helped lift her spirits.
If only that peace could have lasted longer.
"Graystar! Graystar!"
Smokefern's voice echoed through the camp, filled with dismay and worry.
Smokefern was panted when he reached Graystar, and it took him a little bit to regain his breath.
"Honeyrose has been killed!"
Graystar's eyes widened, and her heart race was racing once again.
Just as I was beginning to feel peace....
Graystar snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the task at hand.
The patrol who had gone out to find Tinypaw had finally returned, and they were carrying Honeyrose's dead body.
Morningrose slowly walked up to her leader, her ears dropping. Morningrose looked up at her leader for a moment before returning her gaze to the ground.
"We didn't find Tinypaw, but we found Honeyrose," she said, her voice cracking.
Graystar dipped her head in respect for Honeyrose. She was an amazing warrior, and she was going to be missed.
Please avenge me, Graystar.
That's it! That was Honeyrose! She wants me to avenge her!
The realization struck her like a rock to the head.
I've got to avenge her!
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Who killed Honeyrose? Comment your vote down below! The cat with the most votes will be exiled in the next chapter.
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