There's A Murderer In Our Midst. [OPEN TO ALL OF SHADOWCLAN]

The warrior listened to every word of his fellow clanmates as his claws dug deeper into the mud and snow. He gave Rowantalon an angry glare but said nothing. Honeydrop was not their mother like he assumed, but there was still a thing that was true: his brother murdered Honeydrop and he didn't say anything about it to him. He felt betrayed.

However... when his former foster mother spoke, the tom couldn't contain his fury toward the deputy. She dared to punish Gingerstripe while she never received punishment for lying the whole clan about his true origins. She was a hypocrite and the warrior despised her, even if she looked pretty sad about the whole situation.

Gingerstripe... was going to be exiled.

The flame dappled tom watched silently the tom he used to call "brother" walk to both of his daughters to say goodbye. The tears of anger, betrayal and frustration filled his green eyes when the orange tabby came to him, calling his name. Firestone glanced at his emerald, frowning and giving him a painful expression. The tom was destroyed... Gingerstripe was not only his only brother but also his best friend. And he broke the promise they made a while ago.

"From now on, let's promise we'll stick together forever, brother. Let's be honest with each other and protect the rest of our family, okay? If we are going through a hard time like this again, we will be there."

"I promise, Firestone. In front of StarClan...I will never let anything tear us apart. I will always be there for you."

Gingerstripe was to supposed to tell him everything about what was going in his life. The truth was the thing that kept their brotherly relationship pure, strong and honest. But that bond was broken now. Letting the tears ran down through his cheeks, the Shadowclan warrior frowned and stepped back when he approached him. "We... you promised it to me. That... that you will be honest with me. But you kept the truth about Honeydrop's death away from me. You lied to me just like Flamestrike, Littlebrook and Honeydrop did!" His broken, quiet voice increased its volume as he talked and the feelings controlled him. He lashed his tail violently as his ears lowered. "I.. I... I won't leave the clan for a cat that betrayed me. Shadowclan is the only thing I have now because now I see that I never have the trustworthy and beloved brother that I thought I had." He cried, gazing away from his green eyes. He couldn't look any more or he would collapse. Saying those words... were the most painful thing he had ever done. Gingerstripe was everything to him... but he wasn't the cat he thought he was. He was just like his parents, a lier.

Tansyheart held back a wail at Littlebrook's words. Exile. That meant she would never see her father again, and if she did, she would be breaking the Warrior Code. She didn't know how she should feel... betrayed? Should she be angry at Littlebrook and Nettlesting? Should she be angry at Gingerstripe, or should she mourn him? A bitter taste rose in her mouth as she thought about what her father had done. He had murdered a Medicine Cat, for StarClan's sake! But at the same time, he was her father, who had always been there, her whole life. This whole thing was a mess

As Gingerstripe touched his nose to hers, she felt a strong urge to turn her head away. Her initial feeling of betrayal was returning, and she wanted nothing more than to run as far from him as she could. However, she couldn't help but remember Honeydrop's words when she had spoken to her at the Moonstone.

"Make sure that you don't push him away- he needs you right now. He's going through a hard time," Honeydrop had said. And she had responded, "I'll always be there for my dad. He can count on me... You can count on me."

So instead of pulling away, she gazed straight ahead and didn't waver until he moved on to touch his nose to Sparklight's. She wanted to tell him that she still loved him, that she would always be there for him, even though he had betrayed her, but at the same time, Tansyheart wanted to scream at him and run away. In any case, it was too late to say anything now. Her father was as good as dead. She lowered her head and stared at the ground, tears welling up in her eyes as she listened to his pitiful final goodbyes.