Warriors; Claw's Carnage

Chapter 5

Claw let out a sigh when he blinked his eyes open as the morning sun blinked in his den.

It's been four moons since Vole died, and now... everything felt wrong. There was a silent loneliness in the den now, without her fur, or her scent.
"Hey, kid."
Claw looked up to see Sharp, his father's second in command.

"Gore wants everyone up for a meeting of the group." Sharp mewed as he narrowed his eyes.
Claw tilted his head. He's heard of his dad organizing meetings, but his mom—...Vole never allowed him to go. "Alright, I'm coming."
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He took a deep breath as he stepped into the crowd of cats as they all looked up to Gore as he stood on top of a huge boulder.
"Everyone," Gore started. "Today, the plan is getting closer to being set in motion. Those... savages have chased us out of their territories for far too long!"
"They're cruel!" One cat yowled.
"Horrible!"
"I bet they don't even care for their kits!"

Gore let out a toothy grin. "We are fierce, and noble, unlike them. With every moon, we become closer and closer to reaching our goal. We will show them that the rouges will not be threatened. We've feared them for so long, so now it's time they feared us. They will know better than to challenge us, or even try to law a claw on us, and that is because of our nobility!"
"Rouges! Rouges! Rouges!" chanted the group.

Claw widened his eyes in horror. Sure, Clans were scary, but they don't deserve to be wiped out!
"But- they're only protecting wh-what's theirs! That's not their fault!" Claw yowled.

The chanting stopped.

Every cat turned to look at him with narrowed, judgmental eyes.

Claw let out a breath. Did he say something wrong...?

Gore let out a low hiss. "Meeting dismissed. Everyone, go back to training, I'll speak with my son.." Cats let out low murmurs before leaving the clearing and heading off, leaving Gore and Claw alone.

"Walk with me, Claw..." Gore hissed.
Claw's ears flattened. He may of been six moons now, but, that doesn't mean he should be in trouble!... Right?

His tail drooped as he followed Gore out of the tunnel.
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They padded down towards a small ditch, where some cats would usually train for what Gore called an "upcoming battle".
For the way Gore said it, it made Claw feel uneasy.

He walked down there side by side with Gore, he had grown a bit since he reached his sixth moon, he was now at least up to Gore's elbow.

When they finally reached down, Gore glared down at his kit. "You know better than to interrupt me, you ungrateful piece of scrap!"
Claw winced, flattening his ears, getting ready in case if Gore hit him again. He would always hit Claw whenever he was angry at Claw, or whenever he was in a bad mood.

"I'm sorry," Claw mewed pathetically. "I-.. It just doesn't feel right! T-they're cats too! Sure, they may be a mean, but surely they don't need to be destroyed!"

Gore's eyes suddenly softened. "Claw," he mewed in a silky tone. "I'm only telling you this, so you don't get hurt. I don't want your idiotic beliefs to be your demise."
"They're not—!" Claw tried to protest with a huff but was cut off by Gore.
"These Clan cats, they treat us like absolute foxdung. We have to fight for survival because of their ignorance. We are doing justice by getting rid of them. We'll be having them get a taste of their own medicine. How it feels to be weak. They'll finally be taught a lesson. Now let's get back to the camp and—" He started standing up and turning away, but Claw narrowed his eyes as he got the bravery to say:

"But you're wrong."

Claw stiffened when Gore turned his head back to him, his death-like gaze piercing Claw to not move.
"Oh?"

Claw took a step back, suddenly nervous. "I-I didn't mean—!"
Before he could think of a apology, he suddenly felt his head get pinned down by Gore's giant paw.
"Let this be a lesson, Claw... on thinking saying that again."

Claw's eyes went in horror as Gore gripped Claw's right ear in his teeth.
The next few moments was a scream of agony.

Claw felt blood dripping over his scarred eye, yowling in pain. Shaking, he touched his ear, only to feel a V-shaped tear in it. He looked at his paw to see it covered in warm, red, blood.

Gore snarled, hissing. "Stop whining! I could've teared your whole ear off if I wanted to. Have you learned your lesson now?"
Even through the sons, Claw croaked. "Yes fathe-.... Yes, Gore."