Warrior: Second Strike: Claws Strike: Book 2

Chapter 3

[Tinypaw's POV]

I scented something strange as we were walking. I really hoped that Witheredpaw and Maplepaw didn't scent it. I realized what it was quickly as we walked. It was Darkfeather. What is he doing here? He's going to get caught! I thought and hurried to think of an idea to get Witheredpaw and Maplepaw away from him. An idea quickly came to my head.

"I scent a squirrel somewhere. I'm going to catch it so it looks like we did something productive. You to can go ahead and go back to camp. I won't be long. I promise!" I smiled to them both trying to convince them. It must have worked since they both nodded.

"Alright, just get back soon. I'm sure Cheetahpelt is already mad that we are alone without a warrior." Maplepaw chuckled softly looking back at me.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble..." Witheredpaw said looking at the ground.

"Hey, don't worry. I can work my charm on both of them. I won't let any of us get in trouble. Anyways, I have an advantage on Nightscare since I'm part of the reason he's in the clan." I smirked flicking my tail in the air.

"Alright, please don't take long." Maplepaw said looking at me. "If you don't get back by sundown then I'll come look for you." He purred and nudged my cheek. I smiled thankful for my brother.

"Thank you, Witheredpaw, if he yells at you, tell him I made you come with me." I smiled. The black tom nodded and walked next to Maplepaw as they went back to camp.

Now to go and find Darkfeather before he is found by a patrol. I thought and headed toward his scent stepping lightly on the ground not wanting to make too much noise. I kept going until I saw his dark grey fur and his green eyes looking at me.

"Hello Tinypaw." He purred toward me. I smiled and came up next to him.

"Hello Darkfeather. What are you doing here? Couldn't you wait till I at least went to sleep? You can be found here." I told him slightly worried. The clan couldn't find out about him or I would be in major trouble.

"Don't worry, I'm safe. I checked the perimeter before I came here. There was no one close except you, Maplepaw, and Witheredpaw." He said softly nudging my cheek trying to get me to be happy.

"Alright, I just don't want you to be caught. Now why are you here?" I asked him again since he didn't answer me the first time.

"Look, we need to get someone out of the way that can harm you being the leader. You still want to be leader, right?" Darkfeather paused for a moment then continued. "Well, Aquaclaw is in the way. Bloodtear has already done the work that if you killed him then you will be the leader of DepthClan and have others listen to you. I heard that he wants to go hunting with you later. The sooner we get him off the block then the sooner you will be leader." He explained looking truthful. I flicked my tail. Could I really kill my mate? I loved Aquaclaw. I didn't want him to be hurt.

"Well I do want to be leader, but I don't know if I can kill him. What if they find out I killed him? Wouldn't I be in more trouble?" I asked him even more worried then before now. I couldn't get in trouble or it would demote my chances.

"I got that all figured out. You lead him somewhere close to SmallClan's territory or even better yet, EverClan's territory or close to the territory where no clan lives. You can say a group of rouges came and ambushed you while you were hunting. I would be there to spread my scent just to convince them. If I have to, I can kill him for you. It would be better since you wouldn't have his fur and blood on your claws." Darkfeather said getting up and circling around me. I thought about it for a moment.

If I were to kill Aquaclaw then I would loose my mate but I would be a leader and cats would listen to me. If I didn't kill him, I would still have my mate, but I wouldn't be leader. It was a tough choice. I wanted to be leader so bad since I was a little kit since no one ever listened to me.

"Fine, I'll be the one to kill him though. We can start some strife between the clans while we are at it just to get me to a warrior sooner. Meet me at the SmallClan border. We can blame it on SmallClan. Try and get a cat that has some of their scent on them from the Dark Forest so it's more believable." I told him feeling bad. I was actually going to kill him. I couldn't believe that.

"That's my little apprentice! Alright, now here. I caught this before you came. Now it looks like you got the squirrel. Stay safe. I'll see you later. Don't say a word to anyone in your clan. Especially not Witheredpaw or Maplepaw." He told me as he tossed over a dead squirrel. I nodded and licked his cheek.

"I won't say a word. I promise you that. Now you better get going so no one finds you. Thanks again. I'll do it tonight. We will blame this on SmallClan just so we can get more deaths." I told him purring softly. I still liked Darkfeather a lot but I liked Aquaclaw more.

I'm sorry Aquaclaw. This has to be done. Please forgive me. I don't want to do this. I'm being made to do it. I thought softly looking to were Darkfeather had disappeared and grabbed the squirrel and started my trek back toward the camp. I just hoped that I could pull this off without getting caught.

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Now we are starting to get some drama going. I can't wait to write more! I don't want to say much but I hope you liked the longer chapter and don't forget to leave a vote a or a comment!