No Safe Haven

A light mew of amusement from just beneath the reeds accompanied by the eerie silence that the night brought surrounded the dark brown tabby. She’d been waiting until just after dusk, knowing the tendencies of that Star-forsaken leader. His nightwalks, she supposed, gave him time to think. Think about the injustice he’d brought to his Clan, the utter shame and betrayal of his actions. She hoped with pure malice that the guilt was ripping at him, tearing his heart and mind to shreds as she watched him slowly stalk around the frozen territory. It wasn’t her place to deal with the ShadowClan side of the situation, but she would be sure to make him pay… Like the criminal he was.

The tabby leader would pay for his atrocities, and Vixenstar knew for a fact that living with the guilt would be worse than what she had in store for him ten-fold, but nevertheless she was prepared to do what it took to bring the Clans back to their former state… They would learn to respect the code, or die as traitors.

Taking note of how close he was straying to the border, the fluffy, star-speckled she-cat stalked closer and closer to him, careful not to give away her own position. How out of his mind he must be… He was heading directly towards Fourtrees, which would lead him to ShadowClan by moonhigh if he kept up the pace he was going. With an inward sigh, she drew herself to full height and bunched up her muscles, preparing to lung. He would not get away with what he had done.

As soon as a single paw had crossed over the territorial boundary, Vixenstar leapt to her paws and he was on the ground in an instant. Her narrowed gaze showed that she wasn’t here to mess around. A deep growl erupted from somewhere deep within her chest, filling the territory around them with the sounds of her anger. ”How could you be so foolish!” Clouded amber eyes looked down on him as she kept her paws pressed forcefully into his shoulders, drawing blood when her unsheathed claws sunk past his fur.

Closer and closer, closer and closer. Almost as if they were guided by some unknown power, the wandering tom's treacherous paws carried him right to his fate.

Torrentstar did not even know how far behind RiverClan camp was. The disgraced leader had been lost in thought; thought so deep, so dark, so hopeless that even a multitude of stars scattered across a clear leaf-bare sky could not illuminate the path before him. Regrets, heavier than the vines in ThunderClan territory and thicker than the mud of ShadowClan territory, had him in their hold. Not for the first time, he looked back on how he had come this far. If only he had not left Flurryshine behind at the lake... If only he had not been so harsh on Dacepaw... If only... As he walked, he listed his faults; a practice that had grown familiar to him, now that everything else was lost. He had tried time and time again to direct his thoughts to happier times, but those were dreams for a happier cat, for a cat that did not have the blood of innocent kits on his paws.

By the time he had stepped over the border, it was too late. He registered the fact quietly in his mind, but what happened next gave him no time to react. The large tabby found his back sudddenly pressed into the rocky soil, muzzle thrust up toward the sky. His jaws gaped as he found himself gazing into clouded amber eyes. For a moment, the old temper within him reared its head. Fury flashed across his features, twisting his lips into a snarl. He pressed clawed hind legs to his attacker's belly, all prepared to kick them off.

"Who are you?" However, the snarl froze in the back of his throat. For he saw them. Stars. A whole universe of them; twinkling in those eyes, those whiskers, adorning the tips of her ears. They cascaded down thick fur, spewing unto him with her every breath. In an instant, he knew. The unwelcome visitor before him was no mortal, but one of the ancestors. They had finally come to finish the job they had started. As soon as he understood, the fight died out of him like a faltering moth. The strength seeped out his body, leaving him limp, defenseless.

"So you've come." He rasped hoarsely. "End it."

The she-cat's first instinct was to snap his neck then and there, to end the moons of horrid pain and suffering he'd put his Clan through in an instant. But something made her stop; her claws remained unsheathed and ready to do what she'd come for, but she had something she needed to say first. To clarify what exactly he'd done to deserve such a fate. "The forest has been plagued by the sins of you and your kind for moons; before you were ever born. There was once a time where cats of the Clans respected the Code and the peace that it brought them. How absolutely shameful that the one tom who is supposed to guide his Clan in the way of the Code can't abide by it himself!" The starred she-cat spat into the current leader's face, ears pinned to the back of her head. Her feathery tail swished back and forth, whiskers twitching with agitation as she spoke.

"I have watched over RiverClan for many moons, and I am disgusted with what you have let it come to- you and your predecessor. Breeding kits of sin with a lack of respect for the very Code that keeps our Clans together!" Anger blazed behind her amber eyes, the stars swirling within their depths brightening with each word. It was evident where she was going with this, and she was itching to finally get it done- the Clans would finally see what the true product of their blatant disregard. "Your ignorance is what brought you here. You are a traitor who has defied everything he was taught since kit-hood, and it's time that you see the consequences of what you've done." Without a second to spare between her words and what came next, she opened her jaw to expose the sharp, shining rows of teeth within. Within moments, Torrentstar was stripped of all eight lives gifted to him by the power of the stars, and Vixenstar turned to face the figure that had been waiting, watching her in complete silence.

Lavenderbreeze followed the starry leader, trailing behind a few fox-lengths, stalking the traitor to his Clan and to the starry warriors that reigned above. She flicked her plumy tail as Vixenstar leaped, bowling Torrentstar over right as he stepped over the Clan boundary, and Lavenderbreeze sat and watched the exchange between the leaders. With surprise, Torrentstar admitted defeat and resigned to death.
Now, I didn't expect this.

However, Vixenstar wasn't about to let him go without a proper tongue-lashing. Spitting, she laid bare the things he'd done to deserve his punishment, and when she had expended the list of reasons why, she bared her teeth and sunk them into Torrentstar's throat.
Lavenderbreeze flicked her tail once more, meeting Vixenstar's gaze as the starry leader turned to her. She stood and approached Vixenstar and the still-warm body of Torrentstar, ready for further instruction.

Vixenstar nodded as Lavenderbreeze turned her attention back to the former RiverClan leader, not letting her thoughts dwell on the felled tom behind her. Keeping her gaze locked on the starry warrior, she got straight to the point- why, exactly, she was here for such an event. "Your job is simple: Secure the border, at any and all costs. Run off anyone who dares get close to the scent-lines, eradicate any who fight back. The death of Torrentstar should send a message loud and clear enough to the cats of the Clans, but it will be your job to handle the stragglers who can't get it through their thick skulls that the time for change is now." Turning around to look at the mangled body of the blood-soaked RiverClanner, she pondered on what might be most effective. Taking a step forward, she positioned the tom's body so that it seemed like he was in a gentle sleep, but making sure that his wounds were clear to see. His body lay just on the border, close enough that if one wasn't careful, they'd step right over it. When she was finished, she turned to look at Lavenderbreeze once again. "Do you understand the task I've given you?" Looking to the she-cat, she waited for an answer- knowing full well what her response would be.

Lavenderbreeze watched as Vixenstar carefully arranged Torrentstar's body to her liking, and listened carefully to the starry leader's words. At the final question, she nodded once and flicked her tail, responding,
"I understand completely, Vixenstar. Anyone trying to break the code will be apprehended and sent running back home."