Bitter Betrayal

The warm breeze that had started to blow in recent days had disappeared in the night, carried away just like Mountainkit had been. Her leg and paw ached painfully with each step, a physical ailment that mirrored the one in her heart. Within the same moon both kits were gone. One at the paws of an Asylum cat, the other at the talons of a hawk. She doubted she would ever see the young kits again, and as difficult as it was to think about, she hoped that it had at least been swift. The sun was just starting to rise when she padded out of camp along the hunting patrol she had been assigned to. As she glanced around, she noted the three Asylum cats along with Dawnhawk, who she hadn't seen much of recently. Sighing to herself, she followed the group further away from camp into the frost-covered forest.

~~~

She had caught a squirrel and a small mouse so far, burying both together before turning to attempt to find something else. The wind shifted slightly and she scented Dawnhawk nearby, and as she turned to face him she was a bit surprised to find him staring back at her. How long had he been watching her? Why wasn't he hunting? Tail flicking slightly, she looked back at him steadily. "Dawnhawk." She mewed, ears perked. Before she could even gauge his reaction, the sound of multiple sets of paws sprinting towards her made her spin, and she hissed at the sharp pain that came from her hind leg. She never even got to see her attackers before she was pinned, chin pressed painfully into the ground with her legs sprawled under her. The scent of asylum cats was overwhelming, and in that moment she realized what had happened. As Dawnhawk approached she glared at him, tail lashing angrily. It was the only thing she could move freely and by StarClan she would make her anger known. In a low voice, partly because of the rage she felt in that moment and partly because of the way her throat was pushed painfully against the ground, she growled. "Dawn...hawk.... wh's mean o'ths?"

The words. The whispers. The warnings. Everything seemed so obvious and so clear... and yet he couldn't bring himself to feel completely settled with his decision to go after Blossomstep. She had been kind to him... once. It was more than he could say for Smokefeather or Beechface. Still... he knew they, Smokefeather and Blossomstep, had talked a lot before the incident with Featherkit. What was to say that Smokefeather wouldn't break her silence to the older she-cat? Who was to say with confidence that Blossomstep wouldn't just figure it out? Dawnhawk had to do something. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he'd rather be paranoid than found out.

He trailed after the older she-cat's scent, his heart threatening to explode out of his chest. Once he spotted her, he gave the nightstrikers a nod. They were upon her just as quickly as they had been upon Bloodstrike. His claws pierced the earth and he tried to hide his insecurities and uncertainties under an angry face.

"The leader of Skyclan's orders were very clear, Blossomstep. You conspiring to overthrow the authority of the Asylum cannot be tolerated if we are to have peace." He nodded at the thickly built Nightstriker pinning her head down to press her hard enough to prevent her from speaking. She had to be silenced... No one could know.

No one...