guess who?

~~~

FROM NOW ON, IT'LL JUST BE ME AND MY SHADOW.

Venom remembered thinking those exact words. She remembered feeling as though she'd be now lonely forever, paired with the grief and agony from the deaths of Scorpion and Coral. The two she'd loved most had left her, and she'd never give another the power to do the same.

The two she'd loved most had left her. That was the biggest takeaway. Scorpion and Coral were gone. One she'd killed, and the other she'd seen die. They were dead. At least, that's what she thought.

Here Scorpion stood in front of her, a small smile painted on his face. "Hey, Venom. You've grown a lot."

Venom's jaws gaped wide open as she stared at Scorpion. "Wha- How-?" She was unable to form words; her brother who she'd believed was dead for years was now standing in front of her. Was she dreaming?

"Venom?" Storm glanced at the black she-cat. "Do you know him?"

Venom ruffled her pelt, attempting to compose herself. "Sure I do. This is my brother." She could feel the shock ripple through the PeaceClan cats, but she ignored them; they weren't important. Right now, she needed answers. "Scorpion, if you'll follow me to my den. Everyone else, please remain away, I need to have a private conversation."

With that, she led Scorpion to the boulder, slipping inside. Her brother followed shortly, meowing, "Neat."

"Thanks." Venom didn't bring him to behind the rock wall, motioning for him to sit by the entrance. When they were all settled, the black she-cat blurted, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Scorpion flicked his tail. "Ah. So we're getting right to that."

Venom nodded fiercely. "Yes! I thought you were dead for years! I've mourned you for all those years!" She could feel anger growing inside her, along with fresh betrayal. Did Scorpion pretend to be dead? Why would he leave her in her grief? "You couldn't have found time to pop up and just, you know, quickly deliver the message that you were still alive?" Her eyes blazed. "And not even that! I saw Father kill you! At least, I thought he did, and-" Venom broke off, the pieces clicking in her mind. "Wait, you mean-"

Scorpion nodded. "Yes. Father and I faked my death."

Venom felt her mind flashing, bringing her to the day of Scorpion's death. She personally had never seen her brother's dead body, since Rattlesnake was covering it the day he'd "killed" Scorpion, then insisted that he bury his son's body by himself. No other cat would be with him. Had he just dragged Scorpion into the forest and pretended to do a burial?

"Why?" the black she-cat breathed.

Scorpion huffed out a sigh. "You remember when I told Leaf about our family secret, then Father killed her?"

Venom nodded. "Yeah?"

"Well, afterwards, Father thought that if I blabbed the secret to one cat, I might give it out to another. So, in other words, I was too much of a threat." Scorpion ducked his head. "He did want to kill me for real, but I suppose even he had enough of a heart not to murder his own son. We had this whole plan set up, where I would fight weakly against Ivy and then he'd step in and "kill" me."

"Wait, so..." Venom paused, shaking out her pelt, mind racing at a thousand miles per hour. She recalled her darkest memories that'd been tucked neatly away in her mind, pulling out the scene where she'd watched Scorpion die. He'd flown through the air as light as a leaf. There's no way that was possible unless he'd purposely pushed himself to do such.

Scorpion nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Why didn't..." Venom cleared her throat, attempting to form a full sentence. "Why now? Why didn't you reveal yourself to me sooner?"

"I don't know," Scorpion replied. "I guess... When you were still in WarClan, I thought if I told you, Father might harm you too. When you left... I actually didn't know anything happened until I found your trail. I followed it, but could never catch up to you. Then I lost your scent about a moon's travel from here. I spent a couple years there, hunting when I was hungry and sleeping when I was tired, but never made any permanent settle. 

"Then about" - He paused, squinting, as though thinking hard - "a couple moons ago, I met this tom named Lion. He told me about this place, so here I am. Seems to have a bit of a hard grudge, though," Scorpion added with a soft chuckle.

The black she-cat nodded slowly, taking in this information, feeling her anger and surprise slowly melt away into excitement. Scorpion was here. He was alive. Her brother was still alive!

Venom blinked up at him with a wide smile. "Well, okay! I can't wait to show you around everywhere and tell you everything I've been up to!"

"Oh?" Scorpion teased. "You've been busy? Doing what, creating a Clan?"

"Oh, shut up," Venom grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Come on, I'll show you everything!" She led her brother outside, where Storm and the patrol were waiting, trying to look like they're busy and not attempting to eavesdrop, failing miserably.

But it was okay. Venom was certain they hadn't heard anything, even if Scorpion was sat by the entrance; it was hard for sound to get in or out of the cave, and the only way they would've heard a single word the siblings exchanged were if they were inside the den too.

Just as the black she-cat was stepping outside, the hunting patrols began to return, laden with prey. Venom gave her brother a cheeky grin. "Prepare to never have to hunt again for the rest of your life."

Scorpion flicked his tail. "You've certainly got a lot of cats under your command."

"Yup," Venom meowed happily. "In my time away from WarClan, I've learned plenty of things that's helped me to this day!"

"And what are they?"

The black she-cat twitched her ears. "Well the most important would be that there's strength in numbers and never give another cat the power to hurt you."

"Haven't you just figured out life's secrets," Scorpion teased.

As Venom gave a purr, she padded towards the center of the camp, beginning the tour. She absolutely couldn't wait to show her brother all that she'd accomplished and see a proud look on his face for her.

Making her way towards Storm, Venom realized two things.

One, now that Scorpion was here, she expected him to fill the void that both he and Coral had given her, to make everything better and sunny. To assist and support her in everything she does, be that cat she oh so desperately needed when something went wrong, the cat she was able to confide in without being judged.

Two, she was now giving Scorpion the power to hurt her, the power she vowed never to give a cat after Coral. But, to be fair, Scorpion already had it, didn't he? And if Venom couldn't trust her brother, who could she trust?

~~~

hi!! thoughts on this chapter? plot twist (maybe)?

let me know your predictions!! one more chapter and an epilogue, and this book will be finished!

oh, and one more thing, thanks so much for 1k views!! i appreciate it very much, along with all of you! you guys are absolutely amazing!

thank you for reading, and have a great day!

~ lily