Warriors: 9 Lives of TERROR

Chapter two- Stronger then one, stronger then ten, stronger than THEM!

Splashstar sat on high-ledge, glaring down at ThunderClan. They all knew by now Hopelight was dead. "Hopelight has been murdered," he snarled, grief rolling off in waves from his pelt. "We will rip the culprit to shreds if we find them." Go ahead and try. Your so-called culprit can smack you down with one paw. Splashstar closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed. He re-opened them, anger gone. "Life must go on. We will sit vigil for Hopelight, but the moon has risen, and I must name a new deputy," he sighed, then titled his head up towards the sky. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirit of Hopelight may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ThunderClan is Stormlight," he declared. There was a moment of silence, then cats began to cheer.

"Stormlight! Stormlight!" Frostheart unsheathed his claws, letting them sink into the ground. That should be me! Splashstar, I found Hopelight's body for you! He shrugged. Oh well. I liked you, Stormlight. Such a shame, half-brother. I'll have to kill you, though. You are the assassin's next victim. He heard Sageweed chuckle in his head.

They prepared Hopelight for the vigil, grooming her fur and positioning her like she was sleeping. Silverpaw, a silver tabby she-cat with clear blue eyes, and Quickpaw, a ginger she-cat with amber eyes, had their noses pressed in their mother's cold fur. They let out occasional whimpers, but were otherwise still. Frostheart was off to the side at a respectful distance, head lowered in "sadness." I do have to say, Frostheart. You impressed me today. A rare compliment from his Dark Forest mentor. Frostheart watched as Splashstar shared some final words with Wishfeather, then walked over and joined his daughters by Hopelight's body. A broken leader is a weak one. You might be able to become leader sooner then we thought. 

That's good, Frostheart thought back at her. That's very good.

Mistfeather trotted over to him, sitting down beside him. Frostheart wrapped his tail around her. Say, Sageweed, think I should ask her to be my mate?

I'm not a love expert, Sageweed replied dryly. But I think you should wait awhile longer. 

You don't like me being with her, do you? 

I have to admit I feel it distracts you. I wasn't going to tell you this until later, but, you do need kin that you are sure you can trust. You'd be able to influence your kits to follow in your paw steps. As long as they are the ones leader, you can walk in their dreams, and ThunderClan is yours forever. 

That makes sense. So should I wait longer, until we get closer? 

Yes, Sageweed replied. Positively.

*****

Frostheart sat up and yawned. Mistfeather's tail was draped over his back, and he nudged it away softly. He slipped outside, while the rest of the Clan was just waking up. Quickpaw and Silverpaw stirred slightly- they had sat vigil for their mother the whole night, along with Splashstar. The only other cats awake were Mousetuft, Stormlight, and Coldrose- a skinny she-cat with pale blue eyes, silver and light brown patches on her pelt, and one gray paw. She was grooming her pelt, but looked up as he passed, expression unreadable. He felt his stomach flip. Does she know? 

Of course not. You know how Coldrose is. 

Wow, didn't know you were awake. Sageweed snorted. 

I'm dead, stupid. I don't sleep. 

Well, sorry. 

I honestly think Coldrose could make a good recruit.

A good what?

Oh, never mind, didn't mean to say that to you.  Wishfeather slipped quietly from the medicine cat's den. She disappeared inside the elder's den to rouse the elders, then padded softly out of the den with them trailing behind her. Willowlight, a gray she-cat with black ears and tail, and Pineshadow, a speckled white, black, and gray she-cat. A sweet scent wafted over him, and he looked over to see Mistfeather had awoken. He brushed his tail along her silver spine, then trotted closer to watch as the elder's picked up Hopelight's body to carry her out of camp. 

One down, who knows how many to go. I'll kill as many as it takes. He glanced at Splashstar. When I kill you, it won't be sneaky. I'll make sure you can see my face when I rip all the nine lives from your body.