Deadly

deadly

they haunt the forest . . . day and night
and they don't care who they kill

**Apprentice: Birchpaw**

**Deputy:** Rainwing - speckled blue-gray tom with a white ring around his left eye

**Medicine Cat:** Seedfang - ancient ginger tom with a protruding tooth

**Apprentice: Buzzardtail**

**Warriors:** Tinydawn - small white she-cat with a ginger patch on her forehead

Midgestone - dark gray tom

**Apprentice: Snakepaw**

Shimmerfire - pale tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Troutsplash - gray tabby tom with one blind eye

Berrytoe - muscular white-and-gray she-cat with an extra toe

**Apprentice: Minnowpaw**

Hawkfish - brown tom with a short tail

Wrenfur - light brown she-cat

Miststone - pale gray tom

**Apprentice: Swiftpaw**

Dawnwing - cream she-cat

Owlthroat - large sandy tom with long claws

**Apprentices:** Birchpaw - brown tabby she-cat with a white muzzle

Buzzardtail - mottled silver tom with shredded ears

Snakepaw - black she-cat

Minnowpaw - dark gray tom with lighter ears

Swiftpaw - small lithe dusky brown she-cat, Birchpaw's sister

**Queens:** Flowersnout - tortoiseshell she-cat, expecting Midgestone's kits

Darkstorm - black she-cat with white paws (mother of Owlthroat's kits, Marigoldkit and Stonekit)

**Elders:** Hollyfish - smoky gray tom with loss of hearing

### ShadowClan

**Leader:** Talonstar - broad-shouldered silver tabby she-cat with a long tail

**Deputy:** Birdclaw - dark tabby tom

**Medicine Cat:** Perchsky - small dusky she-cat with heterochromatic gold and blue eyes

**Apprentice: Treepaw (large tabby she-cat)**

**Warriors:** Shadeheart - gray tom

Ivythroat - white she-cat with small tortoiseshell patches

Honeyshine - golden tom with dark gray eyes

Nutwing - brown-and-black she-cat

**Apprentice: Pinepaw (russet tom)**

Brackenwhisker - sandy tom

Frostleaf - greenish-brown she-cat

Tigerface - light brown tabby tom with one shredded ear

**Apprentice: Firepaw (bright ginger she-cat)**

Leopardtail - long-legged spotted golden she-cat with green eyes

Marshfang - tall dark brown tom

**Elders:** Blossomtail - chestnut-colored she-cat with green eyes

Hickoryfall - russet tom and Blossomtail's brother

### WindClan

**Leader:** Rainstar - speckled blue-gray tom with a scar above his eyes

**Deputy:** Stoatskip - bracken-colored tom with one crippled paw

**Apprentice: Dewpaw (tortoiseshell tom)**

**Medicine Cat:** Mistpaw - gray she-cat, has not received her full name

**Warriors:** Stonefire - gray tom

Berrypelt - tawny she-cat with a scarred pelt

Snowflight - white-and-black tom

Mouseclaw - tiny gray she-cat with hearing loss

Daisynose - broad-shouldered tom

**Apprentice: Eaglepaw (brown tabby she-cat)**

Beetleflight - mottled she-cat

Peartoe - light brown tom

Breezefur - dark gray she-cat with spiky fur

**Apprentice: Quickpaw (gray she-cat)**

Palethroat - large tom with a long tail

Duskslip - small lithe tabby she-cat with long legs

**Queens:** Sunpelt - red tabby with wide green eyes (mother to Hazelkit, Stormkit, Gorsekit, and Rabbitkit)

### Cats Outside Clan

Alexis - long-furred ginger tabby she-cat with a white tail tip

Julius - long-furred brown tabby tom with white ears

Orion - brown-and-ginger tom, Alexis and Julius's father

Rye - white she-cat, Julius's mate

## Chapter One: The First Kill (Alexis)

I saw what happened. I saw it. I saw it with my own eyes. They dragged her away when she was kitting, gave her no mercy, and then what? Left her to die. Took away her kits, *our* kits. Now she's gone, forever, and her death must be avenged. I will regret nothing. These cats deserve it. Maybe then will my grief be satisfied.

I seek out my first victim, someone young and naive so I can do whatever I want with it. Maybe one of those so-called "apprentices." First I must catch them alone. And from what Clan? I leap up onto the trees, hopping from one to the other with ease. Perhaps RiverClan should be first. I watched them torture my mother anyways. Hanging on to the branch swaying above the river where the cats come to sunbathe so often, I see this elderly tom totter towards the stream, settling himself on a smooth stone, purring softly. I heard these cats treasure these old fools. So now I can hurt them by killing him.

I jump down, stalking closely. He clearly doesn't see or hear me! The fool! It is easy to grab him, pull him into the currents, and strangle him, feeling no remorse as his struggles become weaker and weaker, and his eyes become blank as he jerks one last time, then falls limp in my paws. I can leave him here. And I will watch, and wait to see what these cats think of this death.

I nab some fish on the way back to our little hideout on the edge of the forest. Julius and his mate are there, and they tell me Orion has gone on a little adventure. *To kill more cats,* I think, because that's what my temperamental father would do. Alas, I don't care. He can kill whomever he wants. I will do the same. And I won't regret any of it.

Perhaps this witnessing of torture and death has left me so scarred that I will do anything to emulate and imitate what I saw. Or perhaps I'm just a heartless monster. Whatever the case, I don't care how I act. The way I see it, these cats can't do anything about it, and I can keep killing to my heart's desire. And I will show no remorse, no regret, and I will not stop. I'll keep killing, and killing, and nobody can stop me. Fight me. You won't win.

~\*~
Ah, the savoring of when they see their precious dead and decaying. Quick as a bird, I scamper back, hiding from the tree branches where I balanced precisely to close in on my first kill. Maybe I'll have time to get myself some food. But nope; here they come, led by a small white cat with frantic steps, looking around desperately. Oh, the joy! The joy when she discovers a loved one is dead! It'll break her so much! I can't wait. More cats pad along with her, their eyes looking around, but not with the same level of desperation as the she-cat in front. I can hear her wailing "Dad! Dad!" even though we both know it's no use. He's dead, he won't hear your pitiful little cries.

She runs through, charging through the reeds only to see her poor father, drenched and floating in the river, no sign of what happened to him, and only the first of my kills. I can do more, but for now I bask in the she-cats great sobbing, hearing her scream, "Hollyfish! Hollyfish! StarClan, why?" As the others crowd around her to comfort her, I decide, maybe I can make them pay more. So I wait as they leave, with the she-cat not noticing the others leaving, with a silver tom next to her, murmuring words I can't make out. I can do this.

I leap to a cypress branch that juts out over the river, almost directly above the two cats. Immediately as they turn away from me I leap down and set to work on the she-cat. The tom yowls and tries to pull me off her but I will not let go. The taste of flesh greets me as I sink my teeth into her throat, ripping out whatever I can find. As she struggles for breath as the blood bubbles in and around her wound I prepare to take care of this tom. He is easy prey, and I rip a gash running from his neck to his tail. Then I force him down and prepare to deliver the killing blow by slamming my claws into his chest. That's when another cat slams into me. "Not today, you foxheart!" he growls. He's as old as Hollyfish, and I easily push him off me and dig my claws and teeth deep into his back. The snap of bone, the taste of blood and flesh. Ah, how easily satisfying this is. What I don't see is the other tom scrambling to his paws, gasping in horror at what he sees. The dying tom, the already dead she-cat. How I delight in seeing the shock and grief of these cats! How utterly exciting!

"You-You killed Seedfang! And Tinydawn! How dare you!" His wound is still pouring out blood, and he's dizzy and unbalanced. Maybe if I kill him, they'll be more scared. I bare my teeth and unsheathe my claws. My teeth and claws are dripping blood, and I'm hungry for more. This'll be great. I can kill him, and no one will ever know it was me who delivered the final blow. But if I let him survive . . . I have a better idea.

"Go," I snarl. "Go and tell your petty Clan what you've saw. You'll still die. And I, I will have my revenge." I toss Seedfang's body towards him, a heap of fur and blood. "Take that mangy old tom back to camp. I don't care for skinny cats." I drag back the muscled she-cat and the plump elder. "But I'm taking this. When I'm done, you won't even recognize them." The scared tom picks up the body and heaves himself to his paws, stumbling every few steps. What a relaxing and glorious kill! With luck I'll kill everyone in this Clan, and I can eradicate the next few Clans.

Dragging these two cats is a bit of a challenge, but I manage and drop them at Julius's and Rye's feet. "I brought dinner," I meow. "And I left a cat bleeding to death." My grin becomes wider and wider as they shrug tear into the flesh. What a way to get revenge. Tomorrow . . . where should I go? Haha, I know! I'll torment the cats of the shadows! And so it begins . . .

## Chapter Two: The First Sign (Buzzardtail)

StarClan, what have we done wrong? What have we done to have your wrath set upon us? Three Clanmates dead in one day, and one severely injured. This surely is an omen of the oncoming danger.

You see, when I was still Buzzardpaw, I noticed four cats attacking this heavily pregnant queen, who was in the process of kitting. I was gathering herbs for Seedfang, as he could not walk around as easily. Everyone suggested he retire to the elders', but he snapped that I had to get my full name first. So I saw them, Tinydawn, Troutsplash, Shimmerfire, even Owlpaw's in on it too. I rush forward, abandoning the comfrey I picked up. "Stop!" I roar. "Can't you see she's giving birth?"

Troutsplash bares his teeth. "But she trespassed on RiverClan territory."

"Either way, you have zero right to hurt her. *I'll* take care of her."

Yet she died, for her blood loss made her weaker and she succumbed to the pains of kitting. Her kits have survived, they are Birchpaw and Swiftpaw as of right now. When they heard of the queen's death, the cats who were attacking her cheered and started celebrating. How could they revel in this she-cat's death? How could be happy for the loss of a cat they attacked when she did nothing wrong, and not be even a little bit sad? What monsters we have in RiverClan. Thankfully everyone else had the decency to look somber, or I would've stomped out of there right then.

~\*~
I'm sorting the herbs for Seedfang as he takes the comfrey poultice for his aching joints.

"Has anyone seen Hollyfish?" asks a frantic voice. I peer outside, and see Tinydawn racing around camp, her paws tapping the ground wildly. Most cats wave her off and mutter a "No." I see the deputy whispering a few words into Fennelstar's ears, and she nods.

"Tinydawn, you'll lead a patrol to search for Hollyfish. Take Buzzardtail, Troutsplash, Wrenfur, and Berrytoe," she announces, then disappears back into her den. I sigh and ask Hollyfish where she wants to go first. She shrugs and replies frantically that all she wants to do is find her father.

"Geez, chill, Tiny. You're so overworked about one dude that's gone missing. Chillax, won't ya?" I try not to yell at him. How is Troutsplash so unconcerned about Hollyfish, an *elder* that's gone missing? Then again, he attacked a rogue queen that was kitting, so I'm not going to ask. Tinydawn flicks her tail in his face and leads us first towards Sunningrocks, where a ThunderClan cat cheerfully waves to us on the rocks. We have agreed to share it, at least for now, because we are too busy licking our wounds from that devastating battle. "Hey guys! Whatcha doing?"

Berrytoe smiles at the black apprentice, who couldn't have been more than six moons. "An elder of ours has gone missing," she begins, her smile souring. "We're trying to find him, Rookpaw." That's how friendly we are—we know each other by name. "Oh, okay," Rookpaw calls back. "Hope you find him!" He turns to a white she-cat next to him and asks. "Is it Hollyfish they're missing?"

"You mousebrain, of course it is!"

"Great StarClan, no need to be so rude, Dovepaw."

"I'm not being rude!"

"Rookpaw, Dovepaw, can you please let the RiverClan patrol pass?" asks Whitepelt. He nods at us. "Continue, please." Then he herds the two apprentices away. We search the stones but so far no sign of the gray tom. Every stone and pebble is overturned in our search for Hollyfish. No bush is spared as we jump in, looking for places the elder might've gotten to. All the while someone has to keep an eye on Tinydawn to make sure she doesn't do anything mousebrained just to find her father. "He wouldn't want you to get hurt," we keep telling her. For whatever reason, she never listens. She just keeps wandering off, sometimes to near dangerous places, like the gorge. Twice she almost fell. Finally we spot gray fur and Tinydawn screams "Dad! Dad!" She bursts through the reeds and there is Hollyfish, lying in the river with no sign of injury on him.

"Hollyfish! Hollyfish! StarClan, why?" The white she-cat has dragged the soaking elder out of the water and onto the ground. We gather around her and murmur our condolences, but nothing seems to work. She's shaking uncontrollably, unable to say anything, unable to communicate verbally. We can only watch as she pours out her grief for her dead father. Berrytoe nudges me and points out a figure moving among the branches. "I think we're being watched," she whispers, but doesn't say anymore. Shrugging, I decide that it's just a loner looking for food. It still unnerves me though. As Tinydawn calms down, the others walk away, but I stay behind to drag Hollyfish back to camp for a proper burial. That figure in the trees has a different plan, and just as the others have disappeared, it leaps down and lands on the she-cat. I try to pull the cat off but to no avail; it has already made its mark on Tinydawn.

The rogue starts on me. I can see the hatred in its eyes, and as I get a closer glimpse I can see that is a she-cat, and a bloodthirsty one as well. *I'm gonna die,* I think. She rips her claws through me and while I'm writhing in pain, her paws are already in the killing blow position. *I'm gonna die. There's no way I'm getting out of this alive.* Her claws are about to strike when a blur jumps onto her, shoving her off. "Not today, you foxheart!" it snarls, and that's when I recognize the voice—it's Seedfang. "Oh no," I murmur. He's no match for that crazy she-cat; she'll tear him apart. Nevertheless, he attempts to grapple before she ultimately pins him down and kills him. I scrabble to my paws and drag myself to shore before stealing a look at the bodies.

"You-You killed Seedfang! And Tinydawn! How dare you!" I feel dizzy. I can't stand still. It'll only be a matter of time before I'm just like Seedfang, dying and forgotten. She seems to be contemplating whether she should kill me or not, but apparently has decided not to. "Go," she snarles. "Go and tell your petty Clan what you've saw. You'll still die. And I, I will have my revenge." She tosses back my mentor's limp figure. "Take that mangy old tom back to camp. I don't care for skinny cats. But I'm taking this. When I'm done, you won't even recognize them."

I immediately snatch up the ginger tom and run back to camp, not daring to look behind me. My vision is dimming and just as I reach the entrance, I collapse, not knowing what's going on or who's talking. All I hear is "Buzzardtail! Buzzardtail!"

The world goes dark.

*tbc*