the beginning of the end

~~~

THE SCENT OF RAIN lay in the air thickly as a group of cats padded through the woods, paw steps light. In the lead was a black she-cat, with amber eyes as sharp as claws that scanned the nearby trees as they traveled. Despite her small size, it's clear that she's the leader; every now and then, the cats in the patrol would glance almost nervously toward her.

In fact, a few felines in the back had their heads ducked together, whispering and looking the black she-cat's way more frequently than others. Finally, after countless nudges, a pale ginger she-cat was chosen as the one to approach their leader, and so she picked up her pace and bounded to the black she-cat's side.

"Venom?"

Despite hearing her Clanmate's call, Venom didn't slow her pace. "What is it, Rose?"

Rose looked nervous when she answered. "Well, it seems like a storm's coming-"

"My nose isn't that poor," Venom meowed, eyes pinned forwards. "I can smell the rain."

"Oh-" The ginger she-cat's pelt fluffed with embarrassment. "Of course you can. I'm not saying you can't. I'm just saying that-"

"Spirits, calm down. I was only pulling your tail, I know you'd never say something like that." Venom glanced over at Rose for the first time, flicking her tail in a friendly manner at the latter's ears. "You're too easy to mess with."

The black she-cat's words are lighthearted, so there must be something in Venom's amber eyes that made Rose back away a little uneasily, despite the fact that the ginger she-cat did so with a small smile on her face. "Right. Sorry."

Venom waved her apology off with a twitch of her pelt. It seemed like she wasn't angry, that everything's okay, when the black she-cat suddenly stopped and turned around to address the entire patrol. "Is anyone else tired? Would anyone else other than Rose like a break?"

The pale ginger she-cat's ears stood up in embarrassment. "No, Venom, I don't need-"

"Because you're always welcome to it," Venom continued, ignoring her. "You can stop and sit down at any time while the rest of us continue forward to defend our Clan's honor."

She lifted her chin, as though waiting for someone to tap out, but no cat did; instead, several of them cast ashamed looks to the ground.

Venom twitched her pelt. "Very well." She faced forward and as the patrol started up again, she meowed in a low voice to Rose, "Anything else you need?"

Rose shook her head immediately. "No, I'm sorry, Venom. I love PeaceClan, I promise I'm willing to defend its honor. I wasn't trying to suggest that I wouldn't."

"I know." The black she-cat gave Rose what could be interpreted as a forgiving look, but again made the latter's pelt twitch with unease. "I know you would, you're one of my most loyal warriors. What made you think I'd view you as anything else?"

The pale ginger she-cat opened her mouth and closed it as she tried forming a sentence. "Nothing. I'm sorry."

"Then stop apologizing. Otherwise you'll seem weak, and therefore PeaceClan will seem weak." Venom then glanced over her shoulder at the patrol and raised her voice, not bothering to wait for Rose's response. "Hawk and Dove's nest are up front. Do we all remember the plan?"

She didn't receive a verbal answer, but all of her warriors nodded their heads and swished their tails in acknowledgment, looking very eager to prove themselves after the scolding.

Before long, a yew bush came into sight, and as they neared it, Venom twitched her ears, signaling for her patrol to fan out around the den, blocking off all means of escape. Once everyone's in position, she padded to the entrance. "Hawk. Dove." Her voice carried clearly into the bush, and a moment later, a gray tom and white she-cat scrambled out.

The white she-cat flinched at the sight of PeaceClan's warriors while her mate stood strong and lifted his muzzle. However, when he spoke, his quivering voice gave away his fear. "Greetings, Venom. What can we do for you?"

The black she-cat glanced around. Spirits, she loved this. Loved how the eyes of her prepared Clanmates were trained on her with full trust, ready to spring at her order. Loved how scared the two cats in front of her looked, knowing they may die in a matter of seconds.

"Don't play dumb with me, Hawk, we both know you're smarter than that." Her voice was quiet but held a taunting undertone. "Where's the prey? I asked for three mice and a thrush, and all I see in front of me are two cats that're about to become crowfood."

"Give us some more time," Hawk meowed pleadingly. "It's hard to catch so much prey during leafbare, especially since we're not allowed to hunt on certain parts of the forest-"

"PeaceClan's territory," Venom interrupted harshly. "You're not allowed to hunt on PeaceClan's territory. You're lucky we let you stay here at all."

Dove finally seemed to have gained some courage and spoke up, eyes blazing with anger. "We've lived here our whole lives!" she shrilled, white pelt bristled. "You've got no right-"

"She says we haven't got the right." The black she-cat laughed, a cold, ungenuine sound that sent chills down others' spines. "She says we haven't got the right." Venom looked around at her Clanmates. "What do you all think?"

Around the circle, she can spot her warriors lashing their tails angrily, glaring at Hawk and Dove; beside her, Rose pulled her lips back into a snarl. Good. They're agitated.

Venom twitched her ears. "We've tolerated your presence on our land for too long."

Hawk's eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. "Venom," he meowed desperately, "please-"

But his plea was cut off by the black she-cat's low, icy voice.

"Kill them."

~~~

"KILL HIM!" Light's voice bounced off the walls of WarClan's nursery as the pale ginger she-kit leaped onto the back of her brother, Bumble. "Kill the badger!"

Her last littermate, Flame, charged forward with a look of pure joy in his blue eyes as he batted playfully at Bumble as well. "Get away from WarClan!"

Bumble fluffed his fur. Despite being the smallest of his three littermates, he still attempted to play the role of a badger to the best of his ability. "I'm going to eat all of you!"

As their play fight continued, happy purrs from the game rang up into the air and - across the den - Venom watched from her mother's nest in bitter jealousy. Watching them, she was harshly reminded of how she and her own littermate, Hemlock, weren't nearly as close as Light, Bumble, and Flame were. Whereas other kits played with their siblings, Hemlock hardly says more than a word to her per day.

The black she-kit laid her head on her paws, bored and miserable. Where is Hemlock, anyway? Almost instantly, she wanted to scratch herself for asking such a stupid question. Hemlock's probably getting attention from Crow and Rattlesnake. When is he not?

Venom had never received much attention from her parents. She'd learned that pretty quickly; it wasn't like her parents were trying to hide the fact they preferred her brother over her. Crow often brought Hemlock prey, cooing over him, but never her. Rattlesnake, an unaffectionate and distant father for the most part, would come check up on Hemlock once in a while, but never her. It was like her parents had picked Hemlock as their favorite kit as soon as the litter was born.

Needless to say, her and Hemlock were about as close as a fox and a badger. It wasn't like Venom despised her brother - she'd tried play fighting with him once, and had gotten shooed away by Crow instantly, saying that Hemlock needed to rest.

Venom had never tried again.

Sighing, the black she-kit found her eyes drifting to the nursery's exit, trying to find something that may interest her, and her eyes caught onto a familiar brown pelt. Scorpion! Her heart lifted almost instantly when she spotted her older brother.

Venom jumped to her paws and scrambled outside the nursery, eager to greet her favorite cat in the world. Scorpion was the only one who'd play with her, who'd give her any sort of attention.

Her means to approach him was stopped when she spotted a brown-and-white she-cat trot up to him. Leaf. Even from far away, Venom could see her brother's eyes light up as Leaf neared him, and felt a teasing purr rise in her throat.

It was incredibly obvious to everyone in WarClan that Scorpion and Leaf liked each other. Scorpion had been padding after the brown-and-white she-cat since they were kits, and his attempts didn't slow after they became apprentices. With their promotion to warriors approaching rapidly, Venom felt certain her brother would ask Leaf to be his mate as soon as they completed their training.

But, as she watched the two interact, she felt her pelt prick with confusion. Something seemed off. Leaf looked... mad at Scorpion. Her ears were pressed to her head, and she was hissing angrily at the brown tom. The latter looked very apologetic, but Leaf wasn't interested in what he had to say; she spun around sharply and raced out of the camp into the forest.

Venom's ears twitched, puzzled. She watched as Scorpion cast a sad look after Leaf but didn't chase. Wanting to cheer up her brother with the only way she knew how, she bounded forward and headbutted his hind legs.

When her older brother's warm green gaze turned down to her, the black she-kit put on the brightest smile she could manage. "Want to play?"

~~~

baboom, chapter 1's done! thoughts on any of the characters introduced? i'd love to hear what you think of venom, especially!! any guesses on how she got the way she was? what do you think happened?

also, i know this is probably super confusing right now. to clear up some confusion (hopefully) the bit at the top is present time, and the bottom half is flashback. flashback is when venom's still a kit and present time is her as an adult. hopefully any questions you have will be cleared up as you read!

if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

constructive criticism is appreciated! thanks!

~ lily