Chapter Thirteen
“I know you’ve heard that one of our own has gone rogue,” Mewled Smokestar as he sat upon the tip of the High Rock. Gathered all around in front of him, the entirety of Shadowclan looked upon their leader with questionable and confused looks. Tails twitching, ears constantly ticking back and forth, noses twitching every now and then; every cat gathered was nervous. Every single one of them, save for those that already knew the truth, were starting to get twitchy. Smokestar could see the questions already lingering in their gaze: gone rogue? Who is it and why? What should we do? Should we go after them? What does it mean for the future of Shadowclan?
Flicking his gaze towards Pinebolt, who sat in between Sagepaw and Creampaw with Graypaw directly behind them within the center of the gathering; the clan leader of Smokestar had to close his eyes and steel himself for what’s to come. He knew what he was about to say, was going to hit every cat like a monster slamming into your body. “His name is Bloodpaw, and he ran away from a hunt after a confrontation with another apprentice.” There were loud gasps of astonishment and sudden whispering amongst themselves.
He could just picture the face of Pinebolt trying to keep his face smooth. But what about the others? How would they react about the one cat they seem to love, suddenly disappearing without a word and no explanation? “He almost attacked his own mentor and comrades when they confronted him.” The lies that were being spoken tasted bitter. Tasted like ash. Smokestar wanted to throw himself off the High Rock, to actually spill the beans on what was truly going on. However, the silhouette of a she-cat whose eyes glimmered like silver diamonds manifested itself in his mind.
“Promise me.” Smokestar could hear her words as though she was standing right behind him. Cracking his eyes open, the dark silver tom felt his tail flick hard as though it knew what he was going to say.
“This goes against the warrior code that had been placed by those that came before us. For him to commit such an act, isn’t rewarded with kindness for someone like him. This was an act of cowardice and attempted violence against those that have cared and loved him dearly. Especially towards a mentor that had taken an act of kindness.
He is not to return to Shadowclan by any means. Bloodpaw is now forbidden-” As he had continued speaking, Smokestar had to keep himself from flinching as an uproar from the gathered cats.
“We should hunt him down!” “Exile isn’t enough to clear up what he did!!” “He turned his back on Starclan and his own clan!!” Cracking his eyes open, Smokestar took a peek towards Pinebolt, and noticed how quiet he was. The dark silver tom knew he wanted to speak his own mind, but the look from his clan leader made that impossible. Casting his gaze towards those that had actually considered Bloodpaw their closest friend, Smokestar noticed several things: Creampaw and Graypaw were heavily devastated. Was it because of the lie he was spouting? Did they find his words true enough? Creampaw herself looked as though she was going to break down in the middle of everything.
Sagepaw, however, was expressionless. He was definitely motionless and hadn’t bothered to input anything since that return from hunting. “ENOUGH!” He suddenly roared as the noise from everyone was starting to get out of hand. Once the noise died down after a long moment, even the birds that had been chirping that morning had quieted. A dark silhouette against the sunlight as he stood up like a shadow, Smokestar looked down upon his clan with glazed eyes.
“No one is going after Bloodpaw. No…one. His name shall not be uttered from the lips. It shall be forbidden to speak about him amongst yourselves. Doing so will be punished severely and stripped of their rank. Any further discussion, and I will exile you from the clan. UNDERSTOOD?!” There was no argument from any cat. Although, Creampaw and Graypaw looked like they were going to go against him in that possible second. He could see how Graypaw grimaced with his lips curled back a bit. Creampaw looked as though she was about to have a stroke.
Heart racing and beating so hard in his chest, it was severely painful to swallow or make a sound. Without any word from him, Smokestar climbed down from the High Rock to signal that the meeting was done. ‘I’m sorry, Bloodpaw.’