Chapter 6

Shadepaw's POV:

Three sunrises later, Shadepaw was snapped awake by an outraged yowl from his mother. He let out a tired grumble, his heart pounding from the shock of being woken up. Around him, the other apprentices stumbled to their paws with small mews of confusion. "What's going on?" Shadepaw wondered, licking his dry lips.

"I dunno." Stormpaw meowed, bounding out of the den. "Let's find out!" The others followed the grey dappled tom's lead into the main clearing. They came upon NoName and a group of her Enforcers surrounding two prisoners. Shadepaw recognised them as Redleaf and Curledtail.

Creeping to Dime's side, Shadepaw whispered to his father. "What's wrong?"

The dark furred tom turned to Shadepaw and muttered back. "The she cat's expecting kits. We're deciding if we should kill them or not."

Shadepaw shivered, glancing past the swaying tails to see the two cats. They were both terrified, staring up at the Enforcers with frightened mews. NoName glared angrily at them, her gaze showing no signs of sympathy.

"My mate spared your life and this is how you repay his kindness?" The red she cat snarled, sinking her claws into the ground.  "You're both ungrateful, piles of fox-dung. You don't deserve my pity!"

"Do we kill them?" Strike's eager whisper sounded from beside NoName. His sister let out a faint growl of conformation, and Tyler and Strike advanced on the two prisoners.

"No please!" Redleaf wailed. "You can't kill innocent kits! Let us live!" She begged as the two toms circled them.

"We don't follow Starclan's love for all kits. If the kits are unwanted, they will be killed." NoName hissed back, her whiskers twitching.

Curledtail drew his lips back in a snarl, standing taller than his mate with a defiant glare at the bigger toms that drew nearer. "Leave Redleaf and our kits alone!"

Tyler came to a stop before Curledtail, glancing at his brother for assistance. Strike's red eyes burned with bloodlust, a wild grin on his lips. Shadepaw let out a faint whimper at the sight.

Dime drew Shadepaw closer with his tail. "Hush, you need to see this. You must not feel sympathy for them, they broke the rules."

Shadepaw didn't voice his thoughts, but he wasn't at all happy with what his father stated. He understood that it was the Dark Forest's way, but he didn't like it. He tried to pull away from Dime, but his father held him firmly against him. "Watch it." He ordered, his voice suddenly harsh. "If you are to follow in your mother's pawsteps, you must be exposed to this sort of justice."

Shadepaw flattened his ears, staring at the two prisoners as they were herded tighter together, Tyler and Strike throwing verbal attacks on them before moving into the kill. When he saw Strike's forepaw lift from the ground, Shadepaw sprung from Dime's grip and darted in front of his uncles. "No!"

Tyler immediately stepped back, his eyes wide. Strike didn't move, his face hardening with anger. "Shadepaw, move!" The red and black tom demanded.

"No! I won't let you kill them!" Shadepaw hissed, glancing briefly at his mother to see a look of disappointment and fury on her face. "Let Redleaf have her kits. We can train them to be ruthless warriors of the Dark Forest. If they rebel, they'll be killed."

Silence met his words. The Enforcers all stared at him, all with mixed emotions. Strike looked like he'd just been sentenced to death, his face a look of horror as he felt his victims' deaths slipping from his paws. Tyler seemed mildly surprised. Dime was angry, his green eyes burning a hole into Shadepaw. Flare was discretely hiding behind her wings, sighing to herself. Tigerstripe looked ready to murder Shadepaw on the spot. Zephyr was holding back laughter.

And NoName was staring at her son, disappointment clear on her face. The red she cat slowly meowed. "Alright, your argument seems fair. I'll let them both live until the kits are three moons of age, we will then decide again what will happen."

________________________________

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top