MoonClan's ambitious story/(1): The First Four Leaders/2/29

### Chapter 29: Anger at Loss of a MoonClan Warrior

Whitestripe got a rude awakening when a particular cat shook him out of his sleep. Since he slept a little later than the other cats, he still felt groggy.

*"Wake up, you dormouse!"* yowled his mother, shaking him violently. Whitestripe sleepily groaned in response, "Why... are you waking... me up?"

He slowly opened his eyes and saw other cats in the warriors' den all watching him. Even some apprentices, kits, queens and Snowstar were in here.

The sleepy warrior suddenly jolted awake at the volume of cats in here. He had no idea what in StarClan the reason could be, until it all came back smashing him like an avalanche of boulders.

*Stonetooth. Begoniaclaw,* he realized. Then he blinked at everyone not knowing what to say, until Snowstar asked him, "Well, Whitestripe, you're the last one awake."

Whitestripe noticed even the youngest kits, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit were in the warriors' den with their parents, Sandleap and Nightnose, all watching him curiously. Petalkit was here, too, obviously, with her foster parents. He learned from his old mentor a few days ago that Petalkit finally got weaned from her, since she was a whole moon older than her foster siblings, but she still wanted to stay with them for safety. Then he looked back at Snowstar, asking in mock disbelief, "What *happened?"*

"I don't know if you know, but your littermate and Begoniaclaw are gone," Sealbranch answered him with what he already knew. "Do you have any sort of idea what could have happened?" Some other warriors nodded, and he noticed Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Primrosepaw, Rainpaw and all the kits and queens looking sad when Sealbranch mentioned Begoniaclaw. *Well, she* was *a lively soul, indeed.*

Whitestripe bit his lip, remembering what he was thinking about last night. *Should I tell the truth, or should I lie?* He didn't know if lying would get him anywhere, because if they suddenly found both of them in AdderClan, that would be the rudest awakening for everyone, especially Peonyclaw, Blazesky, Nightnose and everyone else who hated Stonetooth, and everyone that loved Begoniaclaw. *But at least it won't incriminate me in any way.*

He noticed Birchpaw was among the crowd, looking worried about something. For a moment, Whitestripe's breath caught. *Did he notice us leaving?* But then he remembered the apprentice was already sleeping, so he calmed down. *I don't think he would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night for no reason.*

He continued thinking about whether he should tell the truth or lie that he didn't know anything. If he told the truth... everyone would definitely be shocked. But he reasoned, *But I guess that at least that saves them from getting the utmost shock from seeing them in AdderClan and passing wrong judgements.* He didn't know if Stonetooth's reasons would be considered good by the rest of the Clan, though. Even he had a hard time accepting her reasoning, because it incriminated a lot of cats, especially Nightnose, Peonyclaw and the three older children of Goldenlily.

Suddenly, he remembered Desertflames. *Oh no. They would most* definitely *not accept it if I mentioned* him. He bit his lip again. *Curse you, Stonetooth, why didn't you explain to me what to tell them before defecting to* AdderClan *of all Clans?! You wouldn't just disappear without a trace, especially having a lot of kin in MoonClan and being Moonstar's granddaughter! Even Begoniaclaw is being missed greatly even with no kin here!*

He looked at Birchpaw again for any sort of clues, but this time he was exchanging worried looks with his littermate, Rainpaw.

*"Uh, let me think,"* was all Whitestripe could say in response to Sealbranch. Then he decided to ask something else. "Better question, why is everyone in here?"

"When we discovered Stonetooth was gone, a lot of warriors, apprentices and even kits and queens came in to see what was happening," Sealbranch explained solemnly.

Snowstar added in the same tone, "Since you were the only cat other than Begoniaclaw that usually talked to her, we think you might know something."

To him, the deputy and leader's tones made explaining the truth seem more trivial than ever. *But it isn't...* He saw Shadowclaw whispering something into Swanpaw's ear and she slightly nodded in response. Spottedpaw and Nutclaw were also exchanging a few words almost silently. *Probably about being glad that their worst enemy Stonetooth is finally gone. If only they knew the truth, that she isn't gone forever...*

"Maybe they're just out on patrol," suggested Robinpaw thoughtfully, which made some cats look at him, including Whitestripe.

"I doubt Stonetooth wouldn't alert Snowstar before she went out," Whitestripe pointed out to him.

"Also, Begoniaclaw is a queen, right?" Thymekit added. "I think, anyway. Why would she go on patrol?"

"Maybe she decided to be a warrior now," Robinpaw continued. "And maybe they forgot."

"Wouldn't that be weird not to tell Snowstar, though?" Soarpaw told her brother.

Snowstar nodded towards Thymekit and Soarpaw. "I would agree. Sadly, we have no idea what happened."

Robinpaw looked a little confused before Quailclaw told him, "Stonetooth still followed Clan rules even if she was an outlaw." The cats who Whitestripe knew hated Stonetooth all winced or grimaced at her name, and they probably did so when he mentioned her for the first time.

"And Begoniaclaw said that she would stay a queen to help out," Quailclaw continued. "So it is very surprising to the Clan about what could have happened to them." He looked a little worried at Whitestripe, similarly to what Birchpaw was doing.

"Maybe they're playing hide and seek," Birdkit suggested humorously, and her siblings, the other kits, Mountainpaw and Berrypaw all laughed. Sandleap, Redwater, Flipsnow, Quailclaw, Nutclaw and Petuniaheart all smiled, too.

Whitestripe only bit his lip in response, for the third time now. *Technically they're hiding in AdderClan. And if I don't reveal their location now,* they'll *become the seekers in the game hunting* us *down!* he thought worriedly. Begoniaclaw wasn't that good of a warrior from the stories he heard about, especially in the Battle of Moonstar's Death, but Stonetooth... everyone in MoonClan knew her warrior skillset was one of the sharpest in the Mountains, and soon, AdderClan would, too. He kept trying to think of what to do. The truth, or the lie. The truth, or the lie. *The truth... or the lie?*

*"Okay,* I know what happened," he said seriously and loud enough for everyone to pay attention. Everyone else also became serious, and looked at him with an expression probably meaning, *What?* He ignored the fact that they might have thought he was lying before that he didn't know.

"Do you know for *sure?"* Sealbranch asked with clarification.

The warrior sighed. "Stonetooth told me herself." *The big bad truth...* has *to come out now.* He remembered how utterly shocked he was at hearing Stonetooth's departure, but even then, he still tried to forgive her, being littermates and all. He was afraid of how everyone would react, since they didn't even have a fur's worth of respect for her. *Best case scenario, they don't start panicking like crazy and throw the hissiest fit.* Stonetooth told him that she and Begoniaclaw wouldn't spill any serious secrets of MoonClan's, but he didn't know how far that could be true, or if he could even explain that to the rest of his Clan.

Everyone looked even more shocked, and Whitestripe felt like he had to be forced to continue. He felt like silently cursing his littermate again for putting him through this until Birchpaw interrupted with, "Wait, when did she tell you? *Last night?"*

The black and white striped warrior grimly nodded. His parents looked shocked, and so did both his aunts, Petuniaheart and Flipsnow, and so did his *remaining* siblings, Violetrain and Fireclaw. But the other cats who hated Stonetooth also looked shocked.

*"What did she tell you, Whitestripe?"* Peonyclaw demanded furiously.

*Maybe I should start slow, unlike Stonetooth,* he figured rationally. She *could trust me not to hate her forever, even in the afterlife, but how can I trust* them *not to do so?* He decided to explain to them from the beginning, skipping all mundane details, "We finished our hunting patrol late at night, but then she started talking to Begoniaclaw about something. Then Begoniaclaw left camp!"

Everyone's eyes were widening more and more by the moment that it was clear to him what they were thinking. *How is that even possible?*

"Then Stonetooth told me to follow her out of camp, so I did, wondering what they were doing! Then we went to the MoonClan-AdderClan border of Rabbit Residence..." He then explained Stonetooth's thoughts about how she hated the emotional MoonClan, especially Nightnose, and what she thought about how no one respecting her (although he tried to make the words least defamatory as he could).

Most of the cats looked like they were hit with a boulder as they looked utterly shocked and the others looked utterly confused.

*"What?!"* cried Shadowclaw in pure bewilderment. *"Did she want to complain to you about* us *now?! Aren't we your* friends?!"

"I didn't think she'd take to complaining," muttered Spottedpaw, flicking her tail. Swanpaw, Primrosepaw and Rainpaw all exchanged a mix of shocked and perplexed looks.

*"No!"* cried Whitestripe back desperately, but while also trying to be respectful since they were all his friends and Clanmates. *"She just* bottled *her feelings before! But now she decided to spill them to me!"*

The other cats looked confused at Whitestripe trying to defend Stonetooth, but Icemoon spat, *"Does that mean she wasn't so haughty after all?!"* She snorted in disgust and rolled her eyes. "What a stupid she-cat, acting as if her littermate was her property." Shadowclaw, Swanpaw and Mountainpaw looked at Icemoon strangely, probably at the last part she said.

Whitestripe just ignored Icemoon as usual and was about to say something to the others until Nightnose exclaimed in frustration, "Well, does that mean she's going to leave us alone? Thank StarClan, because I felt traumatized for the eight moons I had to mentor her!" Swanpaw nodded sadly in agreement with him and Nutclaw looked empathetically at both of them.

"I would agree, too. I don't know which traits she got," Peonyclaw grumbled angrily, and Whitestripe could only stare at her. Again, he was about to retaliate, but then Birchpaw interrupted him.

"Wait, I have a better question, or statement," he exclaimed, looking skeptically at Whitestripe. "What are you getting at, Whitestripe?"

"I would agree, it's very unlike you to talk about these sorts of things without any solid reason," Quailclaw agreed, looking even more worried at him.

Whitestripe looked at the two brothers back contemplatively, and attempted to repress the forlorn feeling he had when talking to Stonetooth for the last time. *I don't want to show any sadness right now. It would convey...* way *too many things.* "I *will* get to that, don't worry."

Snowstar and Sealbranch exchanged nervous looks as if they knew Whitestripe was going to reveal something utterly bad. Birchpaw was also exchanging these looks with Quailclaw and Rainpaw.

The black and white striped warrior sighed and continued with his story. He told her how he tried to explain to her, and how he was confused what she meant. How he asked her about kinship and all, and why she was acting this way. He also talked about Begoniaclaw and how she wanted to see her kits again. "Then..." he said, taking a deep breath in. "She told me how she and Begoniaclaw wanted to..." *This is inevitable. The truth* has *to come out.* "...leave MoonClan. And join AdderClan."

Now everyone was acting like Birdkit, as they didn't do anything for a second or two, until most of them gasped in unison, a few were grimacing, and the others utterly confused. A few of them started wailing or cursing or muttering under their breath, and most of them exchanged looks. Whitestripe could only sigh in exasperation.

Birdkit herself also looked shocked after a few seconds, and looked around to see what her other fellow Clanmates were doing.

*"What?! But isn't AdderClan evil?!"* Thymekit exclaimed indignantly.

*"I will claw up Stonetooth, too!"* Lilackit exclaimed in the same voice, and Jumpkit and Petalkit furiously agreed.

*"WHAT?! I MUST AGREE WITH THEM!"* Peonyclaw yowled with pure rage in her voice. Her expression looked the same as her voice sounded.

Sealbranch and her littermates, Sandleap and Hailstream looked irately at Whitestripe, and Nightnose and Shadowclaw's mouths looked open. Icemoon looked even more disgusted. Petuniaheart and Blazesky stared at each other totally horrified. Violetrain and Fireclaw also looked horrified and seemed to look ashamed that they even had Stonetooth as a sister. Flameeye, Redwater and Spottedpaw looked like this was expected of Stonetooth. Even Swanpaw's face scrunched up into a vexed look meaning, *Are you kidding me or not?!* Birchpaw and Quailclaw looked like this was worse than what they had thought was the worst. Primrosepaw and Dandelionpaw and their parents looked utmost confused or horrified, too.

"What about Begoniaclaw?" Whitestripe said glumly.

*"I thought Begoniaclaw was nice!"* Petalkit wailed somberly. "I didn't know she *liked* that Clan!"

*"Me either!"* Flowerkit wailed in the same way. "She took care of Petalkit *very* well!"

*"What if they don't like her?!"* Waterkit exclaimed anxiously.

"I know! I knew her from the nursery, too!" Robinpaw said in the same tone.

Birchpaw said something surprising, though. "Oh no, I was sort of predicting this." It looked like he was thinking about something else horrifying, but Whitestripe couldn't think of what it could be. Everyone else looked at him, including Quailclaw who was mimicking his looks before.

*"What?! How did you predict it?!"* wailed Shadowclaw in despair and disbelief.

Birchpaw looked embarrassed for a moment before straightening up and saying, "I-I thought-I was wondering why Stonetooth was talking to Begoniaclaw so much about AdderClan. And Begoniaclaw also seemed to be sad about her kits. Then I wondered if they wanted to go to AdderClan, but I hoped that wasn't true." He looked gloomily at Whitestripe.

Snowstar looked at his son once before looking back at Whitestripe, then sighed with defeat. "If Stonetooth and Begoniaclaw joined AdderClan, then..."

"They promised that they won't tell any *serious* secrets," Whitestripe tried to reassure them.

But Orchidmoon, Berrypaw's mother, replied suspiciously, "How do you know if that's true?"

*"I must agree! How can you trust someone whose heart truly belonged to AdderClan!"* Peonyclaw agreed indignantly.

*"But, I'm her* littermate!" he protested, but Peonyclaw just groaned at him.

*"Why didn't you* stop *her or something?!"* she growled at him very ferociously.

Whitestripe tried to keep his calm expression, but the sadness seemed to be winning the fight, and nearly surfaced. "Don't get me wrong, I was *truly* shocked and appalled at her, too! I tried to ask her why, and this is what she said!" The sadness of losing his sibling was also piercing his heart.

Flipsnow also seemed confused why her niece defected to AdderClan as she asked, "Was it because she thought no one liked her? What about *you?"* She looked sad, too. "Didn't *you* like her?" Whitestripe sadly nodded in response.

"It must have also been because of Begoniaclaw. Maybe she wanted to help Begoniaclaw get accepted back into AdderClan," he continued.

*"After getting exiled?!"* Mountainpaw exclaimed, also in disbelief. *"I thought that warrior Windwing said that she was never welcome back!"*

"I agree with Mountainpaw," Icemoon growled. "I know Stonetooth just wants to kill MoonClan. She tried to kill Swanpaw once!"

*Well, this is another reason why I don't like Icemoon,* Whitestripe thought downtroddenly. "No, she thought that she would have a better chance in AdderClan when it came to her skills!"

"Why-why are you defending her?" Nightnose breathed in shock. *"She-she gave me pain!"*

"She was also acting violent like AdderClan," pointed out Redwater seriously.

"And why did she push Swanpaw in the first place?!" Spottedpaw cried with anguish.

*"Better question, or BEST!"* Peonyclaw interrupted everyone. *"WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL HER?!"*

Whitestripe felt like a tree fell on his face. *WHAT?!* he screamed internally, and he was sure his expression also represented it. Snowstar, Petuniaheart, Blazesky, Flipsnow and Birchpaw also looked utterly confused at Peonyclaw saying this. Even Mountainpaw and Nightnose also looked shocked, despite hating Stonetooth.

*"What-what are you EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!"* Whitestripe exclaimed, utterly distressed by what she said. *How could she even- why is she- how could-* His thoughts were all over the place. Most of the cats who hated Stonetooth didn't look distressed by what she said, but neither did most of the other cats.

"If she's in AdderClan now, we *do* have the liberty to kill her since she isn't our Clanmate anymore," Nutclaw pointed out seriously and the three older children of Goldenlily nodded in agreement with him.

Whitestripe stared at Nutclaw, not knowing what to say in response, since that was technically true. *And here, I thought that I always followed the warrior code, and so did Stonetooth.*

"What about Begoniaclaw?" Birdkit asked somberly.

"If Begoniaclaw is a warrior, then perhaps," replied Sandleap in the same way. Petalkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit all looked shocked at this revelation, and Birdkit copied their expression a few seconds later, too.

"That's terrible!" Jumpkit exclaimed fretfully. Lilackit and Thymekit seemed to feel the same.

"Well, *why do you want me to kill her BEFORE SHE LEFT!"* Whitestripe yowled at his mother, feeling boiling rage again. Like when he got mad at all his friends eight and a half moons ago. When he got mad at Stonetooth and Icemoon for fighting. When he figured out Birchpaw didn't know much about external Clan affairs.

*"SO THAT SHE WOULDN'T JOIN ADDERCLAN! WHY DID SHE JOIN ADDERCLAN ANYWAY?! YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE* SOMETHING!" she yowled back. The four younger kits shrank back against their mother (or foster mother), Sandleap, at Peonyclaw's voice, who raised an eyebrow at her.

Whitestripe wasn't even sure what he could say that wouldn't incriminate *himself* and begin to make himself seem like a horrible cat for defending his littermate to them. *Do I just say that she could have possibly overpowered me since we're equally strong and skilled?* he wondered about that gloomily. *Sure, Stonetooth probably wouldn't expect me to attack her, but then again, she knows I'm a pretty angry cat, even if it's mostly through verbal language. She would have definitely kept her guard up while we were talking in case I got too outraged.*

Then Whitestripe realized he didn't even get to the part about Desertflames yet. *Will saying this justify Stonetooth's departure, or ruin her image?* he wondered with an immense worry now. But he decided that the truth could possibly come out later, especially if she were having kits. *And it* could *make* some *sense to them.*

"Maybe because she met a tom in AdderClan named Desertflames?" Whitestripe tried to suggest confidently, but he realized there was nothing to be confident about. He didn't even know if the others knew who Desertflames was. *Was he a warrior in the Battle of Moonstar's Death?*

Everyone stared at him in shock, completely silent, before Peonyclaw exploded, *"WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"* The cats who hated Stonetooth were even more wide-eyed.

*"I KNEW STONETOOTH WAS A HYPOCRITE!"* Icemoon yowled in abhorrence, too. *"SHE SAID SHE NEVER WANTED TO MATE!"*

*"I NEVER KNEW STONETOOTH HAD THIS MANY LAYERS!"* Nightnose added woefully. *"WHAT KIND OF CAT HAVE I BEEN MENTORING?! A CAT WHO WOULD USE THE SKILLS I TAUGHT HER AGAINST US!"*

Whitestripe groaned. He was just a little bit tempted to say that Nutclaw, Violetrain and Forestcreek helped out with the training more, but he decided not to mention that, since that would be a petty thing to say now.

Sandleap, Shadowclaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw and the older kits, Thymekit, Lilackit, Jumpkit, looked even more vexed at this information. Blazesky, Flipsnow, Violetrain, Fireclaw, Rainpaw, Berrypaw, Primrosepaw, Dandelionpaw, Petalkit, Birdkit, Waterkit and Flowerkit all were extremely shocked. Since the queens usually taught their kits about the warrior code when they first started remembering things, even Sandleap's kits knew that having a mate outside of the Clan was against the code.

*"Wait, so did she actually* mate *with Desertflames?"* Nutclaw asked with disbelief.

"I am wondering, too, since like Icemoon said, Stonetooth wasn't the type to mate," added Quailclaw forlornly.

Some of the senior warriors such as Orchidmoon, Forestcreek, Petuniaheart, Maplestripe and Littleclaw looked like they were unable to comprehend that this was true. Redwater and Flameeye exchanged looks, the former looking a little uncomfortable and the latter looking absolutely perplexed. Birchpaw also looked frightened, and seemed like he got even more worried about something as he looked at Peonyclaw and Icemoon.

The black and white striped warrior could only shrug in misery and look down at his moss bed. He thought the answer should be pretty obvious to everyone. *Even I couldn't believe it, too...*

Now it seemed like even the leader and deputy had a hard time keeping their formalities as they looked a little tense. "So, are you saying another reason is because of whoever Desertflames is?" Snowstar asked solemnly, but with a bit of puzzlement.

*So that means that Desertflames was probably not in the Battle of Moonstar's Death, since Snowstar doesn't seem to know at all, and perhaps was born sometime between Fireclaw and Shadowclaw,* Whitestripe figured. *Makes sense, probably, since mates are usually similarly aged.* He doubted that the age helped anything, however, since all that mattered was that Desertflames was AdderClan-born and bred.

Whitestripe sighed. "Yes, I guess." He had no idea what to think or say anymore about Stonetooth, because the entire situation was just getting too stressful for him. "So I guess she wanted to join her mate, instead of breaking the warrior code."

Everyone still looked skeptical, especially Snowstar and Sealbranch.

*"JUST THE FACT THAT SHE WAS EVEN A TAD BIT FRIENDLY WITH AN ADDERCLAN CAT SHOWS HER TRUE LOYALTIES!"* Peonyclaw yowled at her son, as if she would explode any moment like intense lightning from the sky.

Whitestripe said nothing because he didn't think he could ever convince his Clanmates that Stonetooth probably didn't have evil underlying reasons. Then he wondered if he could even trust her, since she withheld the fact of Desertflames from him. He figured she might have definitely told Begoniaclaw about her mate, since they were going to AdderClan together. But that made it worse for him, since her AdderClan friend, Begoniaclaw, knew more about her than her own littermate.

"Wasn't Begoniaclaw an AdderClan cat before?" Lilackit asked sadly.

"Yes, but she was much nicer than a *MoonClan*-born cat, which is *Stonetooth!"* wailed Shadowclaw with distress.

"And she saved Petalkit, too..." Icemoon sighed in sorrow. Swanpaw nodded miserably, too.

*"IF STONETOOTH HAS A MATE IN ADDERCLAN, THEN THAT IS AN AUTOMATIC REASON FOR DEATH!"* Peonyclaw continued with her rant.

Whitestripe narrowed his eyes at her again. He knew that Peonyclaw (along with Nightnose) was mostly the reason for her leaving. The mother and mentor were two of the most important things to a cat. The mother when the cat is a kit, and the mentor when they are an apprentice. The two relationships are supposed to persist through warriorhood for this reason in a good way, even when the warrior becomes a leader or a queen themselves. Whitestripe knew the leader and deputy became the two most important things to warriors, since those two were the ones they were supposed to look up to and follow the command of, so warriors also needed to have good relationships with them. But if those three relationships were spoiled... He sighed. Snowstar did not seem to like her very much either, because he didn't hesitate to give her punishments, which he didn't do with any other cat, and was perfectly okay with Nightnose skipping training (not for *too* long, of course, but at least for moderate periods of time). And Snowstar wasn't going to be the leader forever, like Moonstar. He remembered as a kit wondering how long Moonstar was going to live, but he was shocked when she died. Whitestripe thought if someone who hated Stonetooth even just a bit became deputy and even leader, they would not have hesitated to do something about her, if she didn't leave MoonClan.

"Well, if Whitestripe had done that, then we wouldn't have to deal with her in the future," Nightnose muttered.

Whitestripe glared at the black tom warrior so furiously that he got a bit frightened. *Hmph, this must have been another reason for hating Nightnose,* the black and white striped warrior thought, remembering what Stonetooth said about her mentor before she departed MoonClan, and before they became warriors. *He easily gets scared of death stares.* He thought Nightnose still meant well towards him, but he was getting tired of everyone being hardcore anti-Stonetooth, especially since he was still conflicted between his littermate and MoonClan, and still feeling hurt from her betrayal.

He was so annoyed at everyone that he growled, *"SO WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL HER! WHAT WILL THAT DO!"* He remembered Stonetooth saying that she was going to get Begoniaclaw accepted by trying to bribe them with her *own* skills. So he decided to add, *"WHAT ABOUT BEGONIACLAW! WHAT WOULD SHE HAVE DONE WITHOUT STONETOOTH?! SHE STILL NEEDED HER TO BRIBE ADDERCLAN TO GO BACK TO HER KITS!"* He wondered if they succeeded, however. He shuddered at any mere idea that they might have not. He felt like his heart would squeeze so much he died if that were to happen.

Almost of MoonClan looked like they didn't think about that last part. Peonyclaw still looked suspicious of Whitestripe, however.

*"AND BESIDES,"* he continued, getting even more angry, *"DON'T YOU THINK I MUST HAVE BEEN FEELING HORRIFIED WHEN SHE TOLD ME EVERYTHING?! I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO HER!"*

The three older children of Goldenlily looked a little surprised at his statement, for whatever reason Whitestripe didn't care about anymore. Peonyclaw got even more suspicious of him, however.

*"Did you actually still care about her?!"* Nightnose wailed in agony.

*"What about Swanpaw?!"* Shadowclaw cried in the same tone.

Whitestripe frowned and looked at Swanpaw. He knew where it all started. He couldn't blame her, obviously, but he wondered why she trusted Stonetooth, Stonepaw at the time, enough to leave camp with her, if she was known to be a bit rowdy. He even remembered the incident with Swankit's friends before she did that, and Stonepaw was clearly being hostile to them. And Stonepaw probably didn't know that Swankit could have been snatched by a hawk. *She probably thought that she would just have been stuck there until someone found her.* He highly doubted Nightnose had even gotten to that part yet, since hawks were high-level prey, and also perhaps since he was not *that* great of a mentor. Whitestripe looked at Primrosepaw, Thymekit and Birdkit and wondered if Spottedpaw and all the kits born after her were told *everything* that happened in that incident.

*"I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE SHE DIDN'T KNOW THAT HAWKS EXISTED!"* the forlorn littermate cried. He didn't want to say anything that would be insensitive of what happened to Swanpaw, but at the same time, he felt like Stonetooth wasn't given much chances to apologize and be forgiven for that.

Everyone was a bit surprised at his volume, but most of them seemed to think that was normal with him anyways. Swanpaw just bit her lip in response, but that was it.

*"I AM PRETTY SURE SHE THOUGHT SWANPAW WAS STUPID FOR BEING MUTE!"* Icemoon yowled at the top of her lungs. *"WHICH IS WHY SHE DECIDED TO KILL HER ONCE AND FOR ALL!"*

Whitestripe was biting his lip harder than Swanpaw now. He felt like it was too much now. *"NO! I THINK SHE JUST WANTED ATTENTION!"*

*"NEGATIVE ATTENTION?!"* Icemoon responded furiously. *"WHAT SHE-DUNG!"*

*"I MEANT, MAYBE SHE WAS JEALOUS OF THE ATTENTION SWANPAW AS A KIT WAS GETTING OR SOMETHING!"* Whitestripe cried, nearly leaking his dismal feeling in his voice. *Stonetooth, you would probably be clawing me out ferociously right now if you caught me revealing your weaknesses,* he thought glumly. *But you didn't even tell me what to say to them that could palliate their fury even just a teensy bit!*

*"BAH! DEFINITELY PRETENDING TO BE HAUGHTY, I SEE!"* Icemoon growled in reply and flicked her tail in disgust. Her three living siblings looked like they all agreed fully, even Petalkit, who wasn't even supposed to know what went down with Stonetooth. Nightnose just looked like he was exhausted from Stonetooth and Peonyclaw glowered at Whitestripe even more.

The two sons of Snowstar, Quailclaw and Birchpaw, were exchanging extremely worried looks now. Whitestripe was secretly glad these two were calmer and more understanding than seemingly everyone else in the Clan, but he knew that they would be a lot more worried what would happen to MoonClan now than whatever happened to Stonetooth. Then Birchpaw looked at Peonyclaw even more anxiously, probably because she was his mentor. Berrypaw was just staring at her paws for most of this time, probably because she had nothing to contribute and didn't want to be part of any drama, much like Quailclaw and Birchpaw.

*"YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HER! MAYBE BEGONIACLAW WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT, THEN!"* Peonyclaw yowled in a way that meant she totally agreed with Icemoon. Whitestripe was nearly reaching the end of his rope, and the anger in him was nearly about to boil over at her words. Additionally, he felt that she was being inconsiderate of Begoniaclaw, since she wanted to see her kits.

All the kits looked like they thought that would have been good for Begoniaclaw to stay, but Flipsnow, Applefall and Redwater were probably remembering Begoniaclaw's kits, too. The other cats seemed to have mixed feelings about what Peonyclaw said about Begoniaclaw, but it seemed like they nearly reached a consensus of what Whitestripe should have done with his littermate.

*"I KNOW SHE WAS EVIL! NOTHING YOU SAY WILL EVER JUSTIFY SWANPAW BEING PUSHED IN!"* Icemoon hissed at the top of her voice.

*"I'M NOT JUSTIFYING IT! I'M JUST SAYING PERHAPS STONETOOTH DIDN'T KNOW THE CONSEQUENCES!"* Whitestripe wailed, not knowing what else to say that could put Stonetooth out of the guilty light for once.

*"OH YEAH?! IS PUSHING A MUTE KIT INTO A DITCH EVEN SOMETHING A* NORMAL *CAT WOULD DO, EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE CONSEQUENCES?!"* Peonyclaw yowled in response at the top of her voice, too.

Swanpaw looked a little uncomfortable about them discussing that incident, but she seemed to keep her cool about it and was just looking strangely at Whitestripe, probably at why he was defending Stonetooth. That made him even more hot and uncomfortable, since he didn't want to be stared at strangely by *any* of his friends. Everyone was looking a bit worried at this hot argument between the mother, son and the cat that was obsessed him too much, but hated Stonetooth even more than she liked him. Blazesky looked like he was hoping nothing worse would happen, but he seemed powerless to stop his mate and son. He probably wasn't exposed to this much verbal violence, and probably neither did most of the other cats, since it was *MoonClan,* a *normally* peaceful Clan.

*"NOT TO MENTION, SHE WAS ACTING EXTREMELY UNCOOPERATIVE IN TRAINING! SHE WANTED EVERYTHING TO GO HER WAY AND FOR ME TO LOSE ALL THE TIME!"* Nightnose wailed somberly, as if that was more traumatizing for him than Goldenlily and Mousekit dying and Birdkit having a condition. Whitestripe had no idea if that was true, or if anything else was true, either, anymore. Other cats looked only a bit shocked at this revelation, but that was probably because it was expected of her anyways. Of course, Nutclaw, Swanpaw and Spottedpaw looked at him empathetically.

*What?* the forlorn littermate thought. He had no idea if that was true, but then he remembered Stonetooth was usually pissed off at Nightnose after training and vice versa, ever since the two littermates became apprentices. *No wonder he was trying to escape.* But he still didn't know if that was a good reason for trying to skip training, as that caused even more issues with Stonetooth.

*"ALSO, REMEMBER WHEN YOU BECAME APPRENTICES, SHE STOLE A MOUSE FROM BIRCHPAW AND BLAMED IT ON YOU! THEN SHE TRIED TO CLAW US UP WHEN WE CALLED HER CROWFOOD!"* Mountainpaw cried in agony, too.

Whitestripe yowled in reply, *"MAYBE SHE HAD PERSONAL ISSUES, LIKE SHE WAS TOO FRUSTRATED AT SOMETHING, MAYBE! LIKE-"*

*"SHUT UP, WHITESTRIPE!"* Peonyclaw interrupted him rudely. *"WHAT WOULD SHE BE FRUSTRATED AT?!"*

*"NOW YOU SHUT UP, PEONYCLAW!"* Whitestripe retaliated at the top of his voice, too. Now everyone looked anxious when they heard his furious words, especially the kits. Nightnose, Violetrain, Fireclaw, Shadowclaw, Icemoon, Rainpaw, Swanpaw, Mountainpaw, Spottedpaw, Dandelionpaw, Robinpaw, Soarpaw, Thymekit, Lilackit and Jumpkit all looked exceptionally frightened at him and tried to back away from him, as if they all thought he had lost his whiskers. The younger four kits looked extremely confused but they didn't seem to be scared, which was pretty surprising for someone of their age, as even the older three kits got scared, but Whitestripe figured they had simply no idea what was going on anymore. Quailclaw, Birchpaw and Primrosepaw were all exchanging looks with each other that looked like they were expecting a major catastrophe to happen at this very moment. Applefall, Sealbranch, Hailstream and Nutclaw were also exchanging these looks. All the older warriors, especially his father, Blazesky, and even the quieter ones like Flameeye, Redwater and Berrypaw were looking very anxious, too. Only Peonyclaw kept her angry expression and she definitely looked like she would explode with lightning and claw up the entirety of AdderClan right now.

*"YOU ARE TELLING ME TO SHUT UP?!"* she screamed at what Whitestripe thought might have exceeded the top of her voice. She took one dangerous step towards him, while everyone was backing away now, in case a claw fest occurred. Some of the cats seemed like they were about to say something to stop them, but Peonyclaw and Whitestripe only kept interrupting.

*"YES! YOU WERE HER MOTHER! I AM PRETTY SURE IT ALL BEGAN BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE HER FEEL THAT WAY WHEN WE WERE KITS!"* Whitestripe yowled back at the top of his voice. He didn't care anymore if others got offended. He just felt that finally, Stonetooth's issues should be put in the open for everyone to judge, as he thought it was the only way left that he could defend his littermate.

*"BLAMING ME FOR HER BEHAVIOR NOW?! YOU THINK I SECRETLY STARTED ALL THIS?!"*

*"YES, BUT INDIRECTLY! YOU WERE ACTING PRETTY STRANGE AROUND HER! YOU MUST BE KEEPING SOMETHING! SUCH AS WHEN YOU DIDN'T EVEN HINT TO BIRCHPAW ABOUT ANY EXTERNAL CLAN AFFAIRS!"*

Some cats looked at Birchpaw who looked a little embarrassed when he said that, but he still looked worried.

*"THAT WAS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"* Peonyclaw yowled into his face. The verbal war had officially begun.

*"YOU ARE DEFINITELY PROVING WHAT I'M SAYING! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE HER FEEL FRUSTRATED! REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE KITS, WE ONLY TALKED TO YOU AND EACH OTHER?! AND I ONLY TALKED TO MOUNTAINPAW OCCASIONALLY, BUT SHE NEVER DID! AND SHE LIKED ME WAY MORE THAN SHE DID YOU, SHE WAS WILLING TO CROSS YOU ALONG WITH BLAZESKY! YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO LOSE HER TRUST SOMEHOW!"*

*"YOU PROBABLY TALKED TO HER MORE, I'M PRETTY SURE! AND I ONLY TAUGHT MY KITS HOW TO BE FRIENDLY TO ALLIES, AND FEROCIOUS TO ENEMIES! I NEVER GAVE ANY NEGATIVE EXAMPLES! YOU ARE BEING VERY DISRESPECTFUL OF YOUR CLANMATES LIKE STONETOOTH WAS, NOW, TOO!"*

*"SO WHY DID SHE HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE IN ADDERCLAN THEN?!"* A few cats winced at that, including Whitestripe and Peonyclaw themselves. *"SHE WAS NEVER GIVEN THE PROPER LOVE NEEDED! MAYBE YOU WERE BEING TOO HARSH ON HER AS A KIT! MAYBE SHE THOUGHT OTHER KITS WERE HER ENEMIES SINCE THEY HAD MORE FRIENDS THAN HER, SO JEALOUSY TOOK OVER!"*

*"DID STONETOOTH TELL YOU ALL OF THIS?! DID SHE PUT WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH TO SHOUT TO ALL OF US?!"*

*"SHE ONLY NEEDED TO TELL ME A FEW THINGS! AND ONLY AFTER SOME TIME DID I THINK ABOUT IT! I AM PRETTY SURE THIS IS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE FOR IT! NEARLY EVERYONE ELSE HATED STONETOOTH TOO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT ANY REASONS FOR HER BEHAVIOR, BUT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WASN'T BLINDED BY HATRED!"*

*"DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I DID EVERYTHING WRONG TO STONETOOTH?!"*

*"WELL, NO, BUT YOU MUST HAVE STARTED HER ON THE PATH OF HATRED!* OTHER *PEOPLE"*—he looked in the direction of Nightnose—*"MUST HAVE FUELED IT! ESPECIALLY NIGHTNOSE! BECAUSE HE APPARENTLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT STONETOOTH WAS GOING THROUGH, AND INSTEAD VERY BITTERLY DEALT WITH HER!"*

*"ARE YOU GOING TO BLAME EVERYONE IN MOONCLAN NOW?!"*

*"NO! I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU OR HE DID IT ON PURPOSE! BUT I AM SAYING THAT FURTHER ESCALATED STONETOOTH'S INTERNAL ISSUES WITH EVERYONE! SHE FELT LIKE SHE HAD NO LOVE LEFT! I MEAN, SHE EVEN GOT HURT WHEN I WANTED TO CHANGE MY NAME TO WHITESTRIPE! NEARLY EVERYONE IN THE CLAN GOT USED TO IT, BUT SHE WAS SOMEHOW STILL STUCK ON THAT FOR THIS ENTIRE HALF-MOON! HOW COULD SHE STILL BE HURT BY MY NAME?! EASY, SHE THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONLY THING SHE WAS USED TO, AND SEEING IT CHANGED MADE HER FEEL ALIENATED!"*

*"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW ALL OF THIS IS TRUE?! HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW SHE ISN'T LYING TO YOU! DID SHE TELL YOU ABOUT DESERTFLAMES BEFORE?!"*

Whitestripe's face fell. *"ONLY BEFORE SHE LEFT ADDERCLAN! SHE THOUGHT SHE COULDN'T TRUST ME WITH THIS INFORMATION BECAUSE SHE KNEW I WOULD NEARLY BE SHOCKED TO DEATH! AND I KNOW IT MUST BE TRUE BECAUSE WHAT ARE THE OTHER REASONS?!"*

*"BEING A HIDDEN MONSTER?!"*

The forlorn littermate got so angry at her that his physical self-control finally boiled over, too, and he pounced on her. Everyone gasped, and finally Snowstar, Blazesky, Flipsnow and Sealbranch tried to do something.

*"WHITESTRIPE! STOP! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PEACEFUL!"* Sealbranch yelped in fear of what could happen next, and the former three tried to run to stop the fight.

*"OH YEAH! I WAS JUST GOING TO SLASH YOU UP, TOO!"* Peonyclaw yowled at her son, completely ignoring Sealbranch and she tried to swipe his forehead, too.

All of the elders and the cats younger than Snowstar and Forestcreek looked too frightened to move, however, except for Flipsnow and Orchidmoon and including Watereye, Daisyfoot, Petuniaheart, Maplestripe and Rosepetal, even though most of them were supposed to be senior warriors. Even Blazesky froze when his mate also opened fire on their son. Even Littleclaw and Lilypool froze, ironically. Orchidmoon came to the rescue and the remaining cats tried to break up the fight using physical force, since the mother and son were clearly too angry at each other to listen to any reason.

Orchidmoon and Flipsnow tried to pull Peonyclaw away from Whitestripe, and Snowstar, having been the mediator nine moons ago when Moonstar died, along with Forestcreek tried to pull on Whitestripe. All four managed to stop the fight before things could get ugly, but the mother and son were still furious at each other, especially Whitestripe at Peonyclaw, since he had no idea why she would not even be a tad bit receptive of her own daughter.

Then he groaned at everyone at the top of his voice and growled, *"I'M GOING ON PATROL BY MYSELF! I'LL COME BACK WHEN EVERYTHING IS RIGHT!"* Then he stormed out of the den which he felt trapped in for the entire time he was awake, especially with the amount of cats in here. He never liked crowded spaces like the nursery usually was, as it made him feel claustrophobic. Then he decided to go to Rabbit Residence, the place where he saw his littermate for the last time. He thought he might need some solace from her leaving, even if it was just the place he last saw her.

Everyone watched him leave, most still frightened and Peonyclaw still fuming. Finally she yowled to everyone else, *"I'M GOING ON PATROL BY MYSELF, TOO! BIRCHPAW, YOU CAN STAY BEHIND!"* Birchpaw looked a little startled, but he said or did nothing else in reply. Then Peonyclaw also left the den and went in the opposite direction of Whitestripe, to the forest that led to the cliff which Primrosepaw and Birdkit left camp from before.

While walking, Whitestripe thought miserably, *Stonetooth, I wish you wouldn't have put me in this situation. I wish you would have just forgiven Peonyclaw, Nightnose, Icemoon and Swanpaw. And Peonyclaw, Nightnose, Icemoon and Swanpaw, I wish you would have done the same. I wish you would have done it so I wouldn't have to be the exhausted, depressed middlecat in between. I hope you will forgive each other eventually, though. That way, MoonClan would finally be healed. That way... I wouldn't feel so empty anymore.*

**This is a chapter subpage of MoonClan's ambitious story (1): The First Four Leaders.**

*← Previous Chapter: Chapter 28: A Final GoodbyeNext Chapter: Chapter 30: Peaceful Aftermath →*

*← Previous Part: Part 1: Little Birchkit's LifeNext Part: Part 3: Birchcreek's Selflessness →*