Discraceful Deception [open for all WindClan]

Dragging Lionfur's limp and cold body out of the leader's den and into the dim morning light, Smokepelt made his way to the center of the camp, a trail of dark red blood that dribbled from his side and a trail of smeared blood from the gash in Lionfur's neck followed behind them. Just a few moments ago, he'd fought this traitor of a cat and though Ashstar lost a life, Smokepelt didn't show any mercy and even though another life was lost, he couldn't have let Lionfur get away with his treason.

Letting go of the dead tom, he winced from the pain in his jaw aching but didn't make a sound. Like a thousand bees, his new and old wounds were unbearable and although all he wanted to do was curl up in his nest and tend for his injuries, the grey tom had a clear understanding of what needed to be done, even with Ashstar's minimal use of words. With the clan already starting to stir, he couldn't waste any time and knew that they'd soon be asking questions. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gathering before the Tallrock for a clan meeting!" Smokepelt's usual soft voice boomed as he lept up to the rock.

Willowwhisker left her kits briefly and sat right below the tallrock, looking blankly at Lionfurs limp body. Oh Starclan! Di we just loose another warrior? Starclan help us!"Smokepelt.. What happened?' The deputy had blood on him, but not as much as lionfur.

Mottlepaw as curled up in the apprentice den, his fur bristling against the cold air that lingered inside of the den. His ears perked at the sound of Smokepelt calling out for a Clan meeting. He shifted in his nest, raising his head ever so slightly as he blinked. While the deputy was healing well since that dreadful battle, he was surprised to hear that Smokepelt was calling out instead of Ashstar. What was going on? He pulled himself to his paws before heading out of the den only to come stop just whiskers lengths away from the entrance when a scent hit him - blood. His eyes widen as his breath shorten in fear and horror. Wh-What? His paws froze to the ground for a few seconds as he struggled to catch his breath as panic rose within him but he shook it off and drove the panic down as he lowered his head and pulled himself from the den.

He blinked as the sun blinded him for a few seconds as the scent of blood grew thicker in the air. He quickly located the gray and white tom and...Golden fur flickered in the sunlight as blood stained the neck of the motionless tom...Lionfur? His ears flickered back as he drew himself forward slowly, his mind racing to understand the scene before him. The once proud warrior laid limped and lifeless at the base of the rock as Smokepelt towered over him - a faint glimmer of blood staining the tom's mouth. Had...Had Smokepelt done this to Lionfur? Mottlepaw didn't understand what was going on but...He swallowed his fear as he gaze flickered back and forth between the deputy and the dead warrior. He sat down, left speechless by the scene before him.

      Squirrelpaw woke up for probably the first time in hours. Her head throbbed, but she forced herself to look up. She faintly saw Smokepelt through the haze of falling snow and...Lionfur? Why is my father there? What is happening? Is he dead? She wanted so badly to yowl her questions to the sky, but she could feel the deep scars across her throat and knew she would not be able to ask.

Brindlepaw padded from the apprentice's den, eyes growing wide at the sight of Smokepelt dragging Lionfur's limp form out of Ashstar's den, a trail of dark scarlet following both toms. Hurrying closer at Smokepelt's summons, she settled down in a half crouch a few tail lengths from Lionfur's battered body, looking up at her injured kin with wide, unsettled eyes- how could more blood already of been spilled since the battle with Windclan?

~

Cloudpaw had been dozing in the weak sunlight on the outskirts of camp, but at Smokepelt's booming command, the white tom scrambled to his paws and padded closer to the Tallrock, watching Lionfur's carcass with unblinking, ambivalent eyes. Settling down in a small patch clear of snow close to Twistedpaw, he looked up at the deputy who sat upon the Tallrock with gleaming eyes, his own oddly colored eyes glinting with a calculated interest. "What happened to Lionfur? And where's Ashstar?" Cloudpaw wondered without much interest- if something had happened to Ashstar that resulted in the loss of all her lives, the Clan would of noticed.

Nightheart had been trying to rest as her wounds healed. She had almost reached the point of fainting out of exhaustion and her muscles were forced to endure way more than they should’ve during the battle against RiverClan…or at least that’s what the medicine cat told her after tending to her wounds.

However, the lack of rest wasn’t caused by the occasional pain of her injuries and resting muscles, not even because of the cold that was only slowing down her healing process, but because of the million thoughts that roamed her head and the nightmares that haunted her when she managed to finally sleep at all. Squirrelpaw’s mauled throat that had turned her mute, Deerpaw’s awful injury that threatened to make her life as a warrior harder than it should be, Lionfur’s intentional maiming of an apprentice after breaking the code by deliberately killing and eating prey on RiverClan’s territory…

Her eyes were forced open by the deputy’s voice. With a deep sigh she forced her muscles to move even if she really couldn’t help but wish that she could stay in her nest until the next moon, standing up and padding out from the warrior’s den. It was then when it hit her…

The intense tiredness that clung to her body appeared to be chased away by the metallic scent of blood that reached her nose, causing her to raise her ears and look around camp until her eyes fell on a cat in the middle of camp…her mate.

“No…”

Without even looking at any of the gathering cats, she rushed towards the lifeless body of Lionfur, tears filling her eyes as she buried her face on his golden fur “No…oh dear StarClan, please no…” She would be lying if she said she hadn’t been confused and hurt by Lionfur’s actions before, but he was still her mate and the father of their kits, and in her blissful ignorance of what had happened inside the leader’s den not long ago she still had clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, Lionfur’s actions had an actual reason behind them, a justification that would free him from all guilt “Lionfur…you can’t be…please…not you too…”.

Yeah, a good part of her knew this wasn’t true, but in her hurt and confused state she had found herself stuck in a state of denial, mostly triggered by the fear of losing yet another cat she loved. She had lost so much…too much…and losing Lionfur now was a terrible blow Why StarClan…why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to deserve this?!

Thistlefall was lured from his sleep at the familiar sound of Smokepelt's call. The young warrior flicked his cool blue eyes open, blinking away the sleep, and got to his paws. He pushed through the den, and the second he laid eyes on the sight before him he let his jaw drop in disbelief. Great StarClan! He thought, and quickly wiped the dumbfounded look off his face.

He made it over to Willowwhisker, and sat down beside her. The tom felt as if he couldn’t get his eyes off the blood-coated Lionfur, did Smokepelt kill him? No, he wouldn’t kill his own clan mate, would he? He thought once more, glancing up at his father, who was also covered in a great amount of blood.

<<>>

Hazepaw awoke to the sound of frantic murmurs of shock. Curious, the young she-cat got to her paws and squeezed herself out of the apprentices den. She couldn’t believe what she saw. Smokepelt, her new mate, looming over a dead Lionfur. The apprentice wanted to call out to him what had happened, yet she found her words catching in her throat. She didn’t really like blood, and seeing an uncalled for amount of it this early morning was plenty to get her awake with surprise.

Swiftheart woke up to his father's call. He shook his head to clear the sleepiness from his mind as he padded out and made his way to sit under Tallrock. His eyes widened as he saw the limp and bloodied body of Lionfur, but he kept quiet. His green gaze moved from Lionfur and to his father and he noticed he did have blood on him and his wounds from the fight had reopened. What happened? Is Ashstar alright? He thought as his gaze moved to the trail of blood coming from her den.

Sandybreeze was jolted awake from her peaceful sleep when she heard Smokepelt's call. She quietly and carefully got up out of her nest, trying not to wake her kits, and padded out to sit under Tallrock. She held in a gasp as her eyes took in the broken and lifeless body of Lionfur. Oh StarClan.. What did WindClan do to deserve so much heartbreak? She silently asked StarClan, her worried gaze resting on his kits and mate. She couldn't bear to see their broken and confused looks anymore, so she turned her eyes back on her father.

Redkit, suddenly aware of the absence of her mother's warmth, rose from their nest and left her two littermates sleeping soundly. The small, little bundle of ginger fur bounced after her mother, Sandybreeze, who had seated herself in the clearing. The smell of blood and fear-scent made Redkit pause just outside the entrance of the nursery. She gazed in bewilderment for a few moments at the cold, lifeless body of Lionfur before racing to her mother's side. When she reached Sandybreeze, Redkit crouched low to the ground, ears flattened against her head. She pressed against her mother's pelt for warmth and protection. Her wide blue eyes glanced up at Sandybreeze, full of confusion, fear, and silent questions.

Willowwhisker, seeping into Thistlfalls fur, started to silently cry, from the inside her mind was buzzing but she couldn't choke out words. Windclan had just lost another warrior. In the middle of leaf-bare."What will we do? We won't last through the winter. We can't keep losing warriors like this." Yes, lionfur did bad things, but death should have been the punishment. The worst that should have been done was getting exiled. Windclan will truly need a miracle to last through leaf-bare.

Waiting for the clan's murmurs and conversations to die down, Smokepelt took a deep breath, preparing himself for their reactions to what he was able to say. Looking down to the middle-ish part of camp, the tom wished he didn't have to look at Lionfur's body for his usual guilt was starting to set it.

"As most of you can see, Lionfur is dead," the deputy started, swallowing his nervousness. Now was not the time to be nervous, he needed to show the clan that he was able to handle situations like this. "This tom, a traitor and a foxheart, took a life from our leader without thinking twice. I acted upon my own free will and took his life before he was able to injure anyone else," trying to ignore the shocked gasped and hisses from his clan-mates, Smokepelt continued even though his jaw was on fire. "Though a father, son, and friend... he decided to go against the Code, his leader's wishes, and above all... deceived his clan. Lionfur planned take all of Ashstar's lives and then mine. If he succeeded, he would've taken control of WindClan, leading us into a time of despair. I know this loss will be difficult for some, but just know that this evil force of the DarkForest is gone and now, we may live in peace, to some extent," Smokepelt finished. Oh, that's right, he'd forgotten something.

Clearing his throat, the grey and white tom looked towards the leader's den. "I assure you that Ashstar will be alright, even with a life lost. Please, do not try to comfort her, for right now... she needs to be left alone to process all that's happened," he added, staying where he was and scanning the crowd. All that had been going on must have been taking a toll on his mother and he assumed that everyone was wondering how the leader was. Unfortunately, although she needed support, being flocked by the whole clan wasn't going to help. Flicking his tail back and forth, Smokepelt waited for an outburst of some sort, knowing that they most likely had questions for him, questions that demanded answers.

Spiderfur hadn't moved from the patch of ground where the warriors slept. Blood and fear were here again. The little warrior only got to her paws when she saw her half-sister collapse in front of Lionfur. 'I should have recognized this in him. I should have trained him better!' she hissed to herself. It was her fault. Still, she pressed her nose into Nightheart's neck fur in an attempt to comfort her.

This last event made her realize something. There was no one left in Windclan she truly felt close with. Despite her best efforts to force the thought down, she remembered that her father probably wouldn't live much longer. Spiderfur had lost most of her friendly feelings toward Smokepelt, her cousin, as it was replaced with fear and uncertainty. Carnage seemed to follow him nowadays, and now the death of her apprentice was one of the latest examples. But what could she do? She was far weaker than the rest of her Clanmates. She wouldn't dare speak out.

Brindlepaw's eyes widened at Smokepelt's story- Lionfur had taken one of Ashstar's lives? Disbelief coursed through the young she-cat making her head spin, although she kept her jaws firmly sealed throughout the rest of her grandfather's public address. Eyeing the cooling corpse of Lionfur blankly, she watched as Smokepelt looked down from the rock and at the milling group of cats below, a brief flash of pride filling her at how well he was handling the entire situation. "I can't believe what's happening to Windclan; we're tearing our self apart at the seams, and by this rate we'll turn in a band of rogues before New-Leaf!" Brindlepaw reflected bitterly at all the madness that had occurred over the past few moons, gazing at Nightheart's grieving form with immense sorrow. Nervously, the young apprentice scooted closer to the grieving she-cat, her tongue tied as she struggled to come up with some sort of condolences for Nightheart's loss.

~

Cloudpaw's eyes remained unblinking as he absorbed Smokepelt's account of what happened to Lionfur and Ashstar, only acknowledging the unsettling events with a dissatisfied sniff; if Lionfur did take one of Ashstar's lives, then it was justified that he met his fate at Smokepelt's fangs. Rising to his paws, Cloudpaw padded over to where Thistlefall and Willowwhisker were huddled together and brushed up against his parents gratefully- he couldn't imagine what it would feel like to see one of his parents cause so much pain and suffering to their birth clan. "Don't worry," Cloudpaw mewed softly, gazing up at both of his parents with his wide, mismatched eyes that reflected nothing but Thistlefall and Willowwhisker's faces, "I'll make sure we survive this Leaf-Bare, and countless others." he softly promised his parents, recalling Willowwhisker's desperate words from earlier.

Duskstorm padded into camp just in time to hear Smokepelt's words. He gasped at the deputy's words and walked over to Spiderfur hearing her his. "It's okay it's not your fault." he comforted.

Beetlepaw acknowledged Smokepelt's words, but with a swift look, he demanded more. How could they leave Ashdtar to the will of fate? He needed to tend to her i juries more than ever after she had lost a life... but without Cindercloud, he felt empty. He rose up from his place.

"Smokepelt, I demand you give me permission to ask for help from the ThunderClan medicine cats. Since Cinderpelt is no longer here to train me, I need help caring for our leader." he said. Even if there was tensio between the clans, medicine cats were above those miserable concepts.