A/N: See, I told you that I would get the next chapter up soon. I might have one more chapter up soon, but after that, probably none until February. Anyway –odd deep speaker voice goes on sort of like the one who always tells you to turn off your cell phones at a play-
NOW IS THE MOMENT OF TRUTH. WILL SQUIRRELTAIL LIVE, OR DIE?
Disclaimer: Um….why would Erin Hunter be writing fan fiction if she's supposed to be working on Warriors and Seekers?
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Chapter 9: Poison
All of ThunderClan was in suspense. Inside the medicine cat's den, their oldest elder was suffering of a disease, not yet known to the clans. All of the camp was silent, except for the sound of faint sobs from Mistpaw in the apprentice den. As Badgerstripe walked out of her den, all of the cats waited anxiously for an update on the elder's health.
Badgerstripe stared at her clan mates with a sad expression, then quickly turned her head away from them and walked right past the worried cats into Hollystar's den.
Sometime later, the leader and medicine cat approached their awaiting clan. Hollystar looked down, and a tear dropped to the ground. Then she started to say, "I am sorry to say that a dear member to our clan, Squirreltail, a knowledgeable elder and loving mother, has died from a sickness unknown. May StarClan take her, and have her live happily among her new clan in Silverpelt."
Applefur and Jaytalon –Squirreltail's kits- let out a few sobs. Many of the clan members gathered around them so they could feel some comfort from their clan. All of the cat's eyes were filled with sympathy and tears.
"May we see her?" Applefur asked Bagderstripe.
"Of course." Badgerstripe answered with the kindest tone she could find.
Applefur and Jaytalon slowly walked into the medicine cat den to see their mother's body.
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Firepaw limped into the apprentice den to see his sisters. He found Mistpaw in her nest with her head down, like she was asleep, but he knew she wasn't because low sobs were coming from the nest. Hazelpaw was sitting next to her sibling and muttering words of comfort. "It wasn't your fault Mistpaw. It was just an old piece of kill. How were you to know it would make her sick?"
"She's right Mistpaw." The two apprentices looked up to see their brother in the entrance to their den.
"Oh Firepaw!" Mistpaw exclaimed. "Is there any news yet? How's Squirreltail?" Firepaw thought about telling his sister a lie, but figured that she would eventually find out anyway.
"Mistpaw, I-I'm so sorry, but-" Firepaw started to say.
"She's dead isn't she?" Mistpaw finished with an angry tone, looking down at the den's dirt floor.
"Yes," Firepaw answered.
"It's all my fault!" Mistpaw sobbed. "My fault she's dead. My fault Jaytalon and Applefur have no mother. My fault she ate the stupid mouse!"
"No it's not!" Hazelpaw and Firepaw said at the same time.
"Mistpaw, I can't stand seeing you like this!" Hazelpaw continued. "What happened to my fun and active sister?" Mistpaw's crying stopped, and she turned to her siblings. Her eyes got narrow and her tone changed to an angry one.
"She killed an elder! That's what happened? You happy now?" Mistpaw answered her sister's question sharply, then stood up and turned to the den's entrance ready to run out, but stopped once her brother started talking.
"What's done is done Mistpaw. I missed your smile this morning. Your high, happy voice! I'm sad that Squirreltail died too, it was just an unfortunate timing. Maybe it wasn't even the mouse! I take food from the bottom of the pile sometimes, and I'm still here!"
Mistpaw turned around to face Firepaw. Her head was low with same. "What else could it have been Firepaw? I'm a killer!" And with that, she ran out of the den, and into the forest.
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Applefur and Jaytalon dragged their mother into the middle of the camp, getting ready to sit vigil. They licked their mother thoroughly, along with Bluefoot and all of the other elders.
Applefur was looking up into the sky, saying a silent prayer to her mother. She longed to see her again, and knew that Jaytalon felt the same way. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the red she-cat saw Squirreltail's light brown pelt shiver for a split second. She stared with wide eyes at her mother's corpse, but then quickly shook her head, to snap herself out of seeing an illusion.
She stood up and started to walk over to Badgerstripe to see if she had come down with something. She was starting to feel a little dizzy anyway. Maybe she could give her something for the shock.
Right as she approached the medicine cat den, Applefur saw her apprentice, Mistpaw running out into the forest, and ran after her.
"Mistpaw! Wait! What's wrong?" Applefur stopped her apprentice and saw the tears in her eyes.
"I understand if you don't want to be my mentor anymore." Mistpaw mewed quietly.
"What? What are you talking about?" the mentor asked.
"It-it's my fault your mother's dead." Mistpaw answered. Applefur stared at her confusingly, and Mistpaw explained what had happened.
"It's not your fault Mistpaw!" Applefur stated after hearing the whole story.
"That's what everybody's been telling me, but I know that they're wrong." Mistpaw mewed, annoyed at all of her clan mate's remarks.
"Mistpaw, I'm proud to have a strong, energetic and talented apprentice, no matter what you do!" Applefur exclaimed.
"But I killed your mother!" Mistpaw mewed.
"No you didn't!"
"You don't know that for sure!"
Applefur was silent for a moment, trying to figure out eat else she could say to change Mistpaw's point of view. The she realized something that she hadn't thought of before. Her face lit up, and she explained what she had discovered to her apprentice.
"I do know." Applefur started. "I was on dawn patrol this morning. And when I woke up there was no more fresh kill left to eat. When I got back, there was a large pile of fresh kill! So you see, Mistpaw, even though you took from the bottom of the pile, it was still from the last hunting party!"
"So-so I didn't kill Squirreltail?" Mistpaw asked in disbelief.
"No." Applefur proudly answered. "But then, what did kill her?"
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"She's alive!" Firepaw heard from outside of the apprentice den.
"What?" He asked Hazelpaw. She just looked at him with confusion. They ran out of the apprentice den to see what was going on.
They siblings saw almost all of ThunderClan around Squirreltail's body.
"Do you think?" Firepaw asked Hazelpaw.
"She can't be…..alive? I thought she was declared dead!" Hazelpaw said in astonishment.
The two apprentices ran to see what was happening within the mass of cats huddling around Squirreltail's body.
"What are you all doing in my den?" A voice from within the crowd said. Firepaw recognized it as Squireltail's. "Mistpaw! Where's Mistpaw? She was supposed to get me new moss!"
Hazelpaw and Firepaw exchanged expressions.
"Quick! Get her to my den!" They could hear Badgerstripe say.
Nightfang, Jaytalon, and Tawnypelt started to lift the elder up, but they could not because she struggled so much that they couldn't even lay paw on her.
"I'm fine! Can't you leave me alone? Do you have no respect for your elders?" Squirreltail stubbornly told the cats. "I am perfectly capable of doing it myself thank you!" she added and walked to the medicine cat's den. Sure enough, the elder stumbled along the way, followed by a mob of ThunderClan warriors. "I-I'm ok." She said, recovering from her stumble with a surprised and stunned expression. "They're even worse than the apprentices!" she mumbled under her breath.
Soon after, Squirreltail was safely in Badgerstrape's den, Mistpaw came through the entrance of the camp with Applefur.
"Mistpaw!" Hazelpaw exclaimed running to her sister. Firepaw closely followed. "We were worried sick! How could you do this?" She asked Mistpaw in her motherly voice.
"It's ok Hazelpaw! I'm fine! Applefur convinced me that it wasn't my fault she d-" Mistpaw stopped for the sake of her mentor. "Died" Mistpaw whispered to her siblings.
"But Mistpaw we have great news!" Firepaw exclaimed. "Squirreltail isn't dead!"
"What? How?" Applefur asked with the happiest expression on her face.
"We don't know yet. Badgerstripe still doesn't know how she die- what she had." Firepaw answered.
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"Ok Squirreltail, you have to tell me exactly what happened after you ate the mouse." Badgerstripe said to Squirreltail in her den.
"What's all this questioning about? What happened?" Squirreltail asked in confusion.
"Squirreltail tell me now. No more funny business." The medicine cat stated solemnly.
"I'm not joking, Badgerstripe. Now, what just happened? The last thing I remember, I told Mistpaw to go and get me some fresh moss." The elder asked just as seriously as Badgerstripe.
"Squirreltail, y-you died. For an hour at least. That's why, Squirreltail, it is vital you tell me what happened after ate that mouse, because you couldn't have died from anything else." Squirreltail stayed silent for several minutes, and Badgerstripe was patient with her. She needed some time to take in what she had just learned.
"I-I told Mistpaw to get me the moss. Then, I started feeling a little dizzy. I thought it was just old age, so I lay down, closed my eyes, and opened them with the rest of the clan staring back at me." Squirreltail said, struggling to remember.
"Did the mouse taste funny to you at all?" Badgerstripe asked. She thought that she might know what it is that killed her now.
Squirreltail smacked her lips, trying to remember her lunch's taste. "As a matter of fact, it tasted….odd. I thought it was me, or the food mixing in with a foul stench in the air. Also, I think it was a little bit damp, if that helps you at all." She added.
"Thank you for telling me that. It does help. I think that mouse was poisoned."
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"Will all cats old enough to catch their own prey please gather under the highledge for a clan meeting!" Hollystar's voice rang out into the camp.
One by one, the Thunderclan cats began gathering under the highledge. Firepaw came up with his sisters, and soon spotted his mother –who had just recently taken her place back in the warrior's den- with their father at the front of the crowd.
"Cats of Thunderclan." Hollystar began. "Badgerstripe has just discovered the reason of Squirreltail's temporary death. Her prey that had been given to her, was poisoned." Many gasps could be heard from the crowd. "It cannot be blamed on anyone in the clan," Hollystar looked mainly at Mistpaw. "We have the twolegs to blame for this."
"But our ancestors made the great journey to this lake so we could be free from troubling over twolegs!" Tawnypelt said.
"I know, Tawnypelt, it is unfortunate that the silent truce is now broken, but now we must be extra careful about what we eat. Sniff out your food before eating it to make sure it is not poisoned. I will send out patrols immediately. Leopardspots, you will gather a patrol to go to the ShadowClan border. Tawnypelt, go take a party to WindClan border, and Jaytalon, you take a group up to abandoned twoleg place. You must tell me immediately when you return if you find anything wrong.
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"Firepaw, Mistpaw, Hazelpaw, you come with me," Leopardspots called the three apprentices. They quickly walked to their father, mother, and Applefur.
The patrol walked out of camp and headed towards the river –near halfbridge- at ShadowClan border. Firepaw now knew the way there from his recent training session.
"Leoparspots," Rosepelt mewed. "Something smells funny. I think it will lead us to what we are looking for."
"Which way is it?" Leoparspots asked.
"That way." She pointed her tail to a clearing near the river, and the patrol followed.
As they got closer, all of the cats began to smell the stench. It permeated the air so no other sent could break through. The three apprentices gagged, but only until the saw where the unpleasant fragrance was coming from.
A pile of black rats lay just a fox length away from the river.
Suddenly, they heard a voice coming from the other side of the river. Firepaw recognized it as Smokeclaw's.
"Quick! Get away from the clearing back into the forest and hide. I want to see what their business is here, so close to the border. "Leopardspots ordered, and the ThunderClanners followed." Firepaw quickly hid behind a large tree that covered him completely. It had a small hole all the way through it, so he could see what was going on, without being seen himself.
He saw Smokeclaw's grey pelt, along with Blackpaw's white one. Firepaw couldn't hear anything, but he could see Smokeclaw push a rat in front of his apprentice. Blackpaw looked uncertain and confused. His mentor seemed to be explaining something to him, but the apprentice only looked at the rat, like he was making the most important decision of his lifetime. After a long pause, Blackpaw picked up the rat, and cautiously threw it over to ThunderClan territory.
At first, Firepaw was confused with what he had seen, but he soon understood.
"Firepaw!" Mistpaw whispered in his ear. "What happened?"
"It's not the twolegs, Mistpaw! Shadowclan is putting poisoned rats onto our territory!"
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A/N: Wow… the beginning of that chapter was really sappy…..wow…anyway…how was it? At first I thought of ending the chapter sooner, right when Badgerstripe figures out it was poisoning, but I thought that it would make the chapter too short. Tell me what you think please!