Betrayal [IMPORTANT]

Scorchpaw padded up next to his brother, father, and uncle, looking up at the leader. Magpiestar was usually so unsure of his words it seemed, but now he could definitely tell there was something that angered him. Personally, Scorchpaw felt that if the ShadowClan leader acted more angry -- and by extension more powerful -- the entire Clan would be much better off.

Sootpaw walked over to in between his mother and father. Magpiestar was clearly furious, he could see it. Hmm, I wonder why, he thought, more interested in a fallen leaf that had landed on his nose than the Clan meeting. Whatever it was, Sootpaw couldn't care less about ShadowClan's stupid problems.

The leader stomped his paw down, a small growl filling his throat before he called out to the clan. "There is a traitor in our clan!" he yowled, amber eyes blazing. "A disgusting crime has been committed right within the walls of our camp. To them, the code means nothing despite all it has given to them. The code has given them a warm nest, fresh-kill to eat, protection from every danger that lurks outside of our ranks. And yet, they toss it into the dirt-place as if it's rules and regulations have no importance or meaning." His voice was harsh and rigid as he continued on.

"The code is there to protect us. Each point has value and reasoning. They have a purpose." His gaze froze on the medicine cat. With a deep sigh, Magpiestar gestured for her to step forward. "It has come to my attention that our medicine cat has been lying for moons about something of utmost importance. Her kits." The words spat out of his mouth as he watched her trembling form. "Honeydrop. Will you keep pretending or will you admit to your discretions?"

"Do you deny the fact that you mated with Flamestrike? Do you deny the fact that in truth, Gingerstripe, Firestone, and the late Sparkpaw are your kits, and not Littlebrook's? Do you deny the fact that you disobeyed the law set in place by your ancestors and predecessors, and continued to hide these truths?" His voice had flattened out, carrying no anger and frustration, just disappointment.

Sootpaw's ears perked. Now this was interesting. Code breaking was a sort of pastime of his.

...He knows. Oh, StarClan, he knows. Honeydrop's heart sank down into her stomach, and her paws were suddenly numb. How had he found out? The scene before her was like that of her nightmares. Magpiestar's eyes were ablaze with fury as he called her out. The epithets he spat out, from "disgusting" to "traitor", visibly made her flinch. There was a strange buzzing in her ears along with her leader's ranting voice. Her pelt was hot under the gaze of her Clanmates- but worse was the look on her kits' faces. Gingerstripe. Firestone. They looked shocked, betrayed- angry. She had never wanted this. It was the crowning misery on top of her unfortunate life- she had been betrayed by the tom she loved most. What would happen to Roaringblaze now? To Littlebrook? To her kits? The medicine cat's agonized amber eyes that were usually so full of compassion filled to the brim with tears. Her vision swam, distorting the faces of cats she knew and loved until they looked like horrifying monsters.

"I... I c-can't d-d-deny it," she choked out, voice miserable. "I f-fell in l-l-love and g-got c-c-carried away. W-we... F-F-Flamestrike and I... We w-wanted our k-k-k-kits to h-have n-n-normal lived, w-without a b-broken, c-c-codebreaking m-mother. L-L-Littlebrook kn-knew, she a-agreed to h-help, b-but don't b-b-blame her. R-Roaringblaze had n-no i-i-idea, d-don't b-b-blame him. D-don't b-b-blame my- my k-kits...." Honeydrop's voice broke desperately. She knew that she was doomed, but if her kits got in trouble for her actions, she would never forgive herself. "P-p-please. It's m-m-my f-fault, only m-mine... I kn-knew it w-was w-wrong, b-but I l-l-l-loved him... And m-my k-k-kits- oh, my b-beautiful k-kits...." A sob escaped her scarred throat, a sound of pure hopelessness. It seemed crying was the only thing she was good at, wasn't it? She was a horrible medicine cat, a horrible mother, and now she would pay. She had known she would never have a happy ending... Wolffang was right. She deserved to die. "I-I'm s-s-s-sorry."

--

Whatever the warrior had been expecting, it wasn't this. A traitor in the Clan... code-breaker... medicine cat... kits. Every word that came out of Magpiestar's mouth felt like a physical blow. Flamestrike and Littlebrook had lied. His family- his mother was Honeydrop. He wasn't supposed to exist. What?! Gingerstripe felt sick. He stared at the medicine cat in disbelief. The scarred, sorry excuse for a she-cat who had let his father retire, who had let Leopardstar die- she was his mother?! His whole life, that up until now he had thought was wonderful, was built off of a lie. The code that he had built his life off of was broken by his very existence! His green eyes burned into the she-cat's golden pelt as she began to sob, admitting her crimes through miserable tears. Pathetic. That was his mother? That was his mother! The lying, traitorous, kit-like, unbelievable...! Gingerstripe's vision went red. He would not just sit here and listen to the disgusting code-breaker blather on while his life crumbled before his eyes! Without even thinking about what he was doing, the young warrior raced forwards to where his mother sat, his claws unsheathed, and struck her across the face. "HOW DARE YOU?!" he yowled, spittle flying from his mouth. "How dare you lie to us all?!"

Rowantalon turned to Shadowclan's medicine cat dumbly.
"Honeydrop?"
Honeydrop had always been there. She had been there before Rowantalon had been born, and she would be there after he was gone. Right?
Honeydrop was constant. Always there, always ready to help.
"Why?"
Rowantalon had to admit that Firestone and Gingerstripe had certain similarities to their... mother.

Oh Starclan.
What would happen to her now?

Scorchpaw bolted right up to a tall stand, orange eyes wide and blazing with outrage. "You mean to tell me that two of the greatest warriors in the Clan has a medicine cat for a mother?! That does it, you should never trust a she-cat medicine cat! All they'll ever do is betray the Clan and the warrior code! We should exile her! We don't need any code-breakers tainting ShadowClan's good name!"

When the leader spoke again, the stocky warrior could feel his tension grew, even more, anticipating the horrible news he was going to tell. A code breaker in the clan... a traitor? He looked around trying to find out what was going on. Who would turn back to Shadowclan? He couldn't see who would...

Her kits...

The tom glanced back at the leader with shocked eyes when he said that. He looked at the golden dappled she-cat with surprised eyes, still believing that this wasn't related to him at all until his father's name came out from Magpiestar's mouth. After that... every part of his world was destroyed slowly by each word. His father a traitor... Littlebrook not being the mother he always thought she was... he... the son of a code breaker. His mother... all this time... everything was a lie. Everyone lied to him and he felt... betrayed by his family. Firestone dug his claws deeply into the ground with shocked eyes. He couldn't do a thing. What was he going to do anyway? He couldn't change the past or his origins... but that didn't stop him from feeling wounded and betrayed by his own kin...by Flamestrike, the cat that was his mentor and father. How could he? How could she?

His green eyes glanced angrily at the she-cat when she started to talk, confessing her crimes to the clan. She was the mother that gave them birth and then abandoned them because of not being capable of bare her mistake: her sons. He was angry at her for lying them... for hiding the truth from them and all the clan... because of her... he was now the forbidden son of relationship that shouldn't happen. However, even if the anger filled every cell on his body... he couldn't hate her or his father. He just... couldn't. Even if he tried, his heart was focused on the betrayal and how much it hurt to see how everything you believed on was a fake facade of the hard reality... but not on the cats that caused that. Although this was all their fault...

The warrior ran after his brother attacked the sobbing she-cat and stepped between both of them, with eyes full of pain. "Stop it! Brother... is this going to change anything? Attacking her like that? Don't misunderstand me... I'm furious about what she did and how everyone lied to us too! I feel betrayed by all the cats that raised us. But... hurting her like that won't solve anything and you might get punished as well. Is up to the leader the punishment she deserves." He mewed trying to calm down his brother a bit.

From the corner of his green eyes, the warrior looked at the wounded medicine cat that was behind him with disappointment, sadness and anger. He could feel how his tears of frustration were asking to come out but he kept them there. He turned his body facing her, stepping back so he could stand by the side of Gingertripe. With his bristling and hissing, he looked at her from above angrily. "I thought you were Flamestrike's friend... I thought we were friends too! I can't believe that you and my father lied to us all this time. What you did... is something I would never forgive so don't waste your time in saying sorry, mother." He hissed, saying the word mother disgusted as he looked away from her amber eyes, like she didn't deserve it.

Lilacfall was silent. While she hadn't really interacted with Honeydrop, the medicine cat had been a constant presence in the Clan. This news... It was shocking. What other things might Honeydrop have lied about? She had to wonder. Still, she remained silent - the verdict wasn't theirs to give. It was Magpiestar's decision. And, quite clearly, he was taking the matter seriously, and addressing it as it deserved - swiftly and directly.

Littlebrook’s eyes widened in shock as Magpiestar revealed what was making him so angry. He knew. He knew Firestone and Gingerstripe weren’t her kits, but worst of all, he knew they were Honeydrops and Flamestrike’s. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she gave her adopted kits a sad look before suddenly Gingerstripe was across the clearing and attacking his real mother. “Gingerstripe!” She called out in shock, her voice stern. “You do not harm a clanmate no matter what. You leave punishment up to the leader.” She told him, her gaze a mixture of grief and seriousness. She couldn’t even bring herself to think about what Magpiestar would do to Honeydrop, so she opted to not think about it. Instead, her attention was brought to a young apprentice who thought it was okay to speak about she-cat, specifically Honeydrop, in a demeaning way. “Scorchpaw!” She in exasperation, cuffing the young tom roughly around the ear. “You will not speak that way about any cat.” She meowed, her normally gentle voice hard and strained. So much was going on and all at once, it was hard to keep her emotions in check. She gave Honeydrop a sympathetic glance as she waited for magpiestar to say more, tail tip twitching anxiously. What would he do?

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Scorchpaw spat in anger as the deputy swiped a paw over his ear. He growled softly and rubbed his now sore ear with a paw, fixing her with a furious glare. However, he remained silent.

At first, Roaringblaze had padded into camp oblivious, jaw cradling a bundles of dock that would have to last them through this leaf-bare. His head was swimming with herbs and mixtures, ideas bouncing around his brain as he thought about his theories he wanted to discuss with Honeydrop. A flicker of warmth went through his chest thinking about the discussions they'd have about possible concoctions they could experiment with when it's green-leaf and herbs are more plentiful. Plus, maybe they could start trading with other medicine cats? He didn't know if their leader would support that but if he argued how important it was for the clan to get herbs that are hard to find in the boggy landscape of Shadowclan territory maybe-

His thoughts shattered by a disastrous scene before him. The first thing that sent his heart pounding with complete, scarily-lost confusion was the expression on their leader's face towards Honeydrop that made her like she had committed murder. The young medicine cat's fur started to rise with alarm at the divided expressions on his clan-mates' faces, some looking plain shocked while others were eager to join their leader in casting a look of pure anger at her.

Then Roaringblaze saw some wounds.

Without another thought, Roaringblaze immediately padded over to where his mentor was, the dock in Roaringblaze's jaws still cradled preciously in his mouth. Anger coursed through his system as seeing some injuries at a clan gathering, which if Magpiestar had been doing the job right as their leader then there wouldn't be any needless wounds to be treated. He was going to make sure that no cat gets hurt no matter what is happening- even if their leader had failed to do so caught up in anger at something his mentor did. First he glanced over his mentor to make sure she was alright without hesitation, not caring if the angry cats got mad at him for checking up on their main medicine cat's well being. It's his job. He wanted to know what was going on, but Starclan could throw him into the Dark Forest before he could let anyone get hurt. He took a deep breath as he stood by Honeydrop to do the next thing he was going to try to do to help calm the situation down, holding in the anger that wanted to unleash at the sight of some wounds that the clan really didn't need to be dealing with right now.

"All of you please calm down," Roaringblaze asked. "Listen, I don't know what's going on but if I see another wound Starclan forbid what I do." His yellow eyes flashed with barely contained anger. "We are just entering the season of Leaf-bare- the last thing I want to do is treat wounds due to you all fighting with yourselves! I understand that there's clearly something bad going on right now, but please don't make me have to use herbs that are supposed to be saved for Leaf-bare." He faced their leader. "Please Magpiestar, I know something bad has happened while I was gone but for the clan's sake please let the fighting stop."

Snakeblaze watched the entire scene in amazement before shaking his head. He had to calm this clan down. He stood up. "Keep your pelts on, you foxes!" he yowled. He wasn't going to take this... this violence, this unnecessary violence. He shot looks at the ShadowClan cats. "Honeydrop may have broken the code, but that's no excuse to waste a use of claws to spite her!" he hissed. These cats probably think he's defending her. He thinks what she did was wrong, but he didn't want any bloodshed. "We all know what Honeydrop did was wrong, very wrong. But should another cat draw the tiniest droplet of blood, I'll punish that cat myself should Magpiestar not!" he hissed even louder.

Rowantalon wheeled around, his hazel eyes blazing as Scorchpaw -his son- shout out. He lifted a paw but found Littlebrook had already gotten to it. He shot her a grateful look before turning back to Scorchpaw.
Rowantalon loomed over the little tom with a frown. He looked sorry for himself, but certainly not apologetic.
"Never trust a she-cat medicine cat?" He repeated, his lip lifting ever so slightly. "What about Littlebrook, our great deputy? Should we not trust her, because she could betray us all? What about the great Nightstar, leader before Thrushstripe?"
The red-brown tom sighed, an expression of contempt and disappointment clear on his face.
"Now is not the time for this." He mewed. "But I will
be speaking to you later."



"Stop!"
A small black-and-white she-cat emerged from the crowd, her amber eyes shining like beacons. "Just stop!"
Willowheart turned to Gingerstripe, swelling angrily like a mother hen chiding its chick. "Gingerstripe." She hissed, her tail lashing. "I expected better of you. Surely a warrior would be able to compose himself in front of others. And attacking your own mother?" She paused. "That's right, Honeydrop, medicine cat of Shadowclan, is your mother. Throw a fit like an apprentice, why don't you? And Honeydrop!"
She rounded on the medicine cat, her amber eyes reproachful. "You knew perfectly well- perfectly well that this would destroy not only your life but Flamestrike's and your sons!
'But I think I love him!" Willowheart spat mockingly. "Really? I think you're naive and an idiot. I think you were so caught up in your own personal sob-story that you ran off with the first tom who was nice to you. Frankly, I think Magpiestar will exile you."

Rowantalon started forward. "Willowheart-" Willowheart whirled around and whacked Rowantalon hard on the nose with one paw. "That's enough out of you!" She spat, her chest heaving, before turning back to the golden medicine cat.
"You made your nest." She mewed harshly. "Now lie on it."

"And as for you!" She turned her back once more on the small family, her temper rising once more. "You all make Shadowclan look weak! What do you think you're doing, exploding like this? Where's the order? Where's the civility? Are we rouges, with no self-control? For the love of Starclan, you're warriors! Now act like it."

The small warrior sat down heavily, having shouted herself into silence. She had nothing more to say, so she took glaring around as if daring others to speak.

Scorchpaw flinched at his father's disappointed expression and words towards him. Now he regretted ever saying anything at all. He was just trying to fit in with the angry warriors around him, but he supposed he was still too young and inexperienced to have a say in anything as important as this. "Sorry, Rowantalon..." he muttered with a deep bow of his head, just shy of touching his nose to the ground.