snakestar

~~~

FURIOUS DIDN'T EVEN begin to describe how livid Snakestar felt. As he gazed around their makeshift camp, observing how lifeless his warriors were, how the fire had faded into hopelessness in their eyes, he found that he wanted nothing more than to sink his claws into Dapplestar's face. 

How dare she? How dare she turn such a wonderful, proud Clan into this? 

As a cold breeze blew past the ShadowClan cats, making them shiver, Snakestar's lips pulled into a snarl, digging his claws angrily into the stone. They should be in their camp, kept warm by pine trees. They'd been so close to victory, and then it'd all gone wrong.

And, as much as he hated Dapplestar, there was only one cat he could put the blame on: Mintberry.

He remembered walking back to camp with her after their first Gathering, speaking to her for the first time in moons, angry at her sudden friendship with Dapplestar. 

"I won't destroy ShadowClan," she'd meowed coldly when he'd confronted her. "Have a little more faith in my loyalty, will you?"

Her words danced through his mind, haunting him. He knew it. He knew her friendship with Dapplestar would cause trouble, but nobody believed him. Snakestar lashed his tail. Now look where they were.

He suddenly realized that if he was ever presented the opportunity to be in the presence of his mangepelt of a sister ever again, he wouldn't hesitate to claw her guts out.

But now, he had to lead. He had a Clan at his every command. He'd worked hard for this.

Picking a boulder, he jumped on top and lashed his tail, letting out a loud yowl. "Let all cats of ShadowClan gather around this boulder for a Clan meeting!"

With less enthusiasm than he would've liked, his Clanmates picked themselves up tiredly and limped over, many of them covered in dried blood and random leaves and spiderwebs to try and cure their wounds. It's clear that they've given up, but Snakestar hadn't - and wouldn't.

"I know the battle hadn't gone as we'd planned," the gray tom meowed, "but we won't give up. ShadowClan won't fall!"

"Just talk peace already!" a voice snapped from the crowd - Birdfrost. The ginger she-cat had always been snappy with Snakestar, and now was no different as her blue eyes blazed. "Enough with this stupid war. Go talk to Dapplestar and get our territory back."

Snakestar lashed his tail angrily at her defiance. "I'd rather stab my eyes out than go crawling to Dapplestar."

Birdfrost hissed. "That can be arranged."

"Woah, woah, enough!" Viperfoot jumped between the two of them just as Birdfrost had slid out her claws and was crouching down, about to leap at Snakestar. "We can't fight each other, that won't solve anything."

"An incompetent leader that lost the territory our ancestors have held for centuries won't solve anything either," Birdfrost spat angrily. 

"Now come on, Birdfrost," Viperfoot meowed, "that's not fair-"

But Snakestar's already snarling in rage. "I lost the territory?" he demanded. "Me? If everyone would recall, it's Mintberry that betrayed us. And, if you all were better combatants, maybe we would've won."

"Snakestar," Viperfoot meowed sharply, but the damage was done. Across their makeshift, barren camp, the cats of ShadowClan bristled their pelts.

But Snakestar still refused to back down. Only a moon ago, he'd been the most loved cat in ShadowClan, the deputy that won them WindClan's land. The switch between that to the foolish, careless leader that lost ShadowClan's territory altogether had been drastic, and he still had yet to accept his new role as the most hated cat. 

"Just trust me." He spoke confidently, addressing the Clan firmly. "We will be back in our pine forest in no time."

It was clear that nobody believed him. Displeased grumbles broke out below him, to which Snakestar's pelt twitched angrily. Why wouldn't they believe him? He had to take back control somehow.

"Whitepaw. Dewpaw." He spoke curtly, suddenly. "Will you step forward, please?"

The two apprentices exchanged confused looks, and Birdfrost's pelt started to rise with anger as she realized what he was doing. Quickly, she darted in front of her apprentice - Dewpaw - blocking him from moving forward with her body before turning around to snarl at Snakestar.

"They haven't taken their Warriors Assessment yet," Birdfrost growled. "They can't become warriors yet. You can't break tradition like this."

Snakestar swept his tail coldly. "Look around, we're up in the Highstones. Do you truly expect them to be able to pass their Warriors Assessment here? It's unfair to them."

"They wouldn't have to pass their Warriors Assessment here if our leader hadn't foolishly lost our territory."

Birdfrost spat back her words without a pause, and the gray tom hissed, as though she'd clawed his face. His amber-green eyes glowed dangerously, and from the corner of his eye, he spotted Viperfoot taking a step forward, ready to intervene again if necessary.

"Birdfrost," Snakestar meowed slowly, lowly. "If you're unhappy with the way this Clan is run, you're more than welcome to leave."

His words hung in the cold, frigid air tensely and Birdfrost stared at him as though she couldn't believe her ears. She wouldn't leave. Of course she wouldn't.

"Alright, then? Good." Snakestar nodded at the two apprentices. "Whitepaw, Dewpaw-"

"StarClan will be angry," Birdfrost interrupted. Despite having quieted, there's still a spark of defiance in her eyes, one that would likely never dim. "They're already angry that you haven't chosen a deputy. That's why we ended up here-"

"Haven't you been paying attention, you useless piece of foxdung?" Snakestar hissed, the words slipping out before he could stop them. Around him, the cats of ShadowClan gasped at his unprofessionalism; a leader should always be able to keep their cool, and right now, theirs was doing the exact opposite. "StarClan is gone. No more. The medicine cats lost contact with them-"

"The medicine cats lost contact because StarClan's upset," Birdfrost insisted. "They're upset, and they'll come back once we've pleased them-"

"Pleasing them won't do anything!" Snakestar lashed his tail. He'd seldom thought about the prophecy, but it was now that he realized the prophecy controlled his life. If cats found out about it, they'd all be fighting to gain control of him, Viperfoot, and Mintberry. And he had StarClan to thank for that. "It's better that StarClan's gone. Now if anyone else has any issues with the way I, your leader, run the Clan, then you're welcome to go."

The entire Clan had gone quiet now, processing Snakestar's words with pure disbelief. Taking a deep breath, the gray tom twitched his pelt, gesturing to the two apprentices. "Whitepaw, Dewpaw."

The two padded forward almost numbly, and this time, Birdfrost let them past.

The ceremony was quick. Whitepaw became Whitefoot, and Dewpaw Dewfrost. But Snakestar wasn't done yet. He called up Berrylight's kits, Blazekit, Violetkit, and Lionkit to apprentice them. It was a bit early, but they're of age, and other than leaning into her mate and shutting her eyes, Berrylight didn't say anything.

Snakestar gave Lionpaw to Briarlight, Violetpaw to Eaglestorm, and Blazepaw...

He looked deep into this cat's eyes when he did this, feeling the words come out from his mouth with much more gentleness and care than he's spoken anything else for the past few weeks. "Blazepaw, your mentor will be Frozenlight."

Frozenlight's eyes widened with surprise, and around her, many cats puffed out a breath. She'd just been made a warrior herself, and was nowhere near the age ready to be a mentor. Even Viperfoot would've been a more qualified choice, and Snakestar could see a flash of pain in his brother's eyes, but he didn't care. He kept his gaze pinned solely on Frozenlight.

The white she-cat took a deep breath. It seemed she'd realized that protesting wouldn't do any good. Pushing herself to her paws, she padded over, tapping noses lightly with Blazepaw.

"Okay," she whispered. "I'll try my best."

Snakestar wasn't sure if that was meant for anyone's ears, so he didn't respond. Instead, he looked at his cats. And even with the joyous ceremony he'd brought them, their attitudes remained stupidly sullen, a look of downcast and despair in their eyes without a hope in the world.

~~~

hi!! i haven't worked on this series in FOREVER at the time of writing this chapter, so i feel like snakestar might be a little bit out of character. i'm not sure though, please let me know what you think!

as always, thanks for reading, and have an amazing day!

~ lily