Shattered Ivy

Chapter 9

Ivy stared in horror at the body. It was hard to tell if it was even a cat. The flesh already had flies , Ivy guessed it must have been laying here a while.
A white she-cat, Cashmere, whose name Ivy had learned recently, was crouching next to the body whimpering, her eyes swollen with grief.
Turtle gasped and made a muffled whimpering noise.
   Ivy jumped slightly as Stormspeaker padded forward, a scowl crossed her face. "Those fox-dung faces!" Tears swelled near her eyes. "Reed was a good spy. And Allo." She glanced around but no body was in sight. Cashmere looked too. "Where's Allo?"
   Ivy remembered Bloom telling her about her crush on Allo. She sighed and hoped he was ok.
   Stormspeaker beckoned to Frisco and Cobbler and the three cats gently carried Reed into the camp. If a branch snagged his fur they would stop, groom him, and carry on.
   Ivy felt tears stream down her face.
Why would the Bloodbones do this? What benefit would they achieve...?
   As she entered behind Stormspeaker, she spotted Fang staring in horror at Reed's body.
   Fang slumped to the ground and whimpered in grief. Ivy padded towards him and wrapped her paws around him.
They sat in silence while Stormspeaker, Frisco and Cobbler laid Reed on the ground, his red tabby pelt drenched in bright red blood.
Turtle and Mech crept over to Fang and Ivy. Clustered together they grieved. Ivy didn't know Reed but it was terrible to see her new friends suffering.
Stormspeaker stood up and beckoned to the least affected cats, mostly some older cats who were used to handling grief. Cobbler and a tom with grey and white patches came forward to her.
She lifted her head addressing the Rebellion. "Cobbler, Tangle and I will go to the Bloodbones immediately and demand an explanation. I'm afraid they are asking for a war. Frisco, help prepare a vigil for Reed. Keep Lealea's kittens away from the Reed's body until you get a chance to clean it up. Hazel you can help him."
   She nodded to the brown tabby she-cat. "We'll be back." Her voice cracked with emotion as she lashed her tail heading towards the entrance.
   Ivy hurried after her. "Umm Stormspeaker? Is it ok if me and Turtle can come with you?"
   She thought for a moment thinking of a way to explain herself. Stormspeaker raised an eyebrow at her. "Me and my sister never knew Reed and we want to help. We want to make sure that Allo is ok."
   Turtle stared at Ivy from her place beside Mech in objection but she thought better of it.
   She sighed and padded over to Ivy.
   Stormspeaker nodded slightly. "Stay out of sight though. I don't care what you do just don't make matters worse." And with that she trailed on eagerly.
   As Stormspeaker took the lead, with Cobbler and Tangle behind her, Turtle and Ivy fell in behind.
    "We're going on an adventure." Ivy whispered.
   Turtle shrugged. "I'm done with adventures. I want mother."
   Ivy walked close to her sister's side comfortingly. "I miss her too. The Rebellion might help to get her back but ...we'll have to go to war."
Ivy paused surprised when Cobbler slowed down and walks beside them. "We may have to go to war but there's no need spreading rumors. Especially when we're in Bloodbone territory. " he smiled amused.
The golden she-cat dipped her head in respect. "I understand."
After that they tread in silence. Birds chattered cheerfully but Ivy wished they would shut up.
Today is too depressing. How can everything go on happily?
The chirping grew louder as more birds started to wake up. Ivy growled under her breath.
"Dumb birds." Turtle muttered.
Cobbler let out a rasp purr.
Soon, they reached the disturbing border, the blood seeming more in amount.
Is...is that Reed's blood ..or Allo's?
Stormspeaker stood tall and glared into the trees.
Just in time,a patrol suddenly burst from behind the bone pile, Jaw in the front.
The brown and black tom looked amused. "Hi. You must really love us since your always coming to our border to see us."
   Stormspeaker hissed furiously. "You fox-heart! You killed one of our companions for no reason!"
   Jaw sat and groomed himself. "You wanted him back. I gave him to you."
   "Why the hell would we want him dead?!?"
   Ivy shuffled her paws suddenly remembering Stormspeaker had asked they keep out of sight. She backed up behind Cobbler along with Turtle, waiting for a good moment to rush behind a nearby tree.
   "Should've been more specific." He meowed sounding innocent.
   "What about Allo?" The dark she-cat hissed softly. "Did you kill him too?"
   Jaw lifted his paw to his head as if thinking. "I don't recall it but I kill lots of cats so I can't be sure."
   Tangle suddenly lunged but Stormspeaker blocked him, shoving him back. "Control yourself. Revenge will come in time." Ivy barely caught the last part.
   Jaw chuckled, obviously amused. "Well well. Someone's angry. If you cared about your rebel friends you shouldn't have sent them to our border."
   Stormspeaker curled her claws aggressively. "You'll regret this."
   "No. it was fair. You wanted them back but I also wanted to keep them. Now Reed's dead. We don't have to argue anymore." He meowed, not caring about the cats' wellbeing.
   "Your a monster!" Stormspeaker screeched angrily and turned away but Jaw's next words made her pause.
   "You always were a feisty kitten. Always fighting for what's right." Jaw yawned bored.
She lifted her head high. "My mother taught me well. Better than you ever could."
Ivy suppressed a gasp.
Is Jaw Stormspeaker's father?
She bumped Turtle with her head, seeking the right moment to steer her behind the tree.
"Stormcaller was a fool. Leading the tribe cats away when the city was built. Such a coward." Jaw sneered.
"The city became dangerous." Stormspeaker hissed. My sisters died!"
   Jaw rolled his eyes. "Too bad. Are we really going to argue now or are you going to get off our territory?"
   Stormspeaker turned and stalked off back to camp. Ivy quickly followed , not wanting to be near the bones for another second.
It felt like a long walk but they eventually came to the large tree and entered through the narrow tunnel.
Stormspeaker immediately jumps onto the tree bark and climbs onto her perch. She yowls for cats to gather.
Ivy picks up a mouse from the prey pile and goes to sit beside Fang, who was already staring up at their rebel leader.
"Want to share?" She asked nervously.
Fang nodded looking pleased. "Sure. Thanks." He bent down and took a bite.
   Ivy looked at him affectionately and turned to see Bloom padding towards them. "Is Allo ok?" She asked sadly.
   Ivy licked her friend's ear. "I don't know. But Stormspeaker will figure it out."
   As if on cue, Stormspeaker began to speak. "Our rebel mate, Reed was found dead as you all know. This nonsense has gone to far. We're going to attack.  But not now for it is too soon. In a moon's time of training the younger cats, I'm sure we'll be ready. "
   Frisco yowled in approval. Others soon joined him, some driven angry by grief.
   Ivy joined in along with her friends. Soon, the yowling drew to an end as Stormspeaker leaped from the tree to the ground.
   "Training begins tomorrow. " she meowed before going to her den in the tree.
   Ivy decided to go to sleep early so she would be ready for tomorrow.
   She meowed good night to her friends before passing over to her den to sleep. The golden she-cat curled up in her nest, Bloom right behind her.
   Ivy smiled. " Night Bloom."
   Bloom shivered as a cool wind rushed in the den. She snuggled closer to Ivy. "Night." Her voice was muffled. Ivy blinked surprised then laid her head down on her paws, smiling.
   She closed her eyes and awoke to see the Dark Forest around her. Ivy frowned and looked up to see Scarletrose once again standing over her.
   She opened her jaws and spoke in a menacing tone. "Tonight. Your training begins."