High Speed Winds

Chapter 6

Shardfang heard the sound of bones cracking, and turned to see that the cranky she-cat from earlier had bitten into the FogClan leader's neck, blood dripping from her fur.

The black cat stared at the blood, and memories filled his head as he remembered a bloody, murderous childhood, and staring at the limp, lifeless body of Wildstar, felt a sudden wave of satisfaction.

Snapping back to attention, he saw the she-cat who had killed the leader glaring at him, and he blinked, turning away from the body, the blood, and the fight, which had ended with the death of the FogClan leader.

He paused, and caught a whiff of a strangely familiar scent. A strange scent, but oddly, something he'd smelled before. Shardfang straightened his back and his ears pricked up, his nose sniffing the air to track the source of the smell.

The smell was wafting from the thick forestry outside the camp, and as the black cat stalked closer to the brambles, the scent got even heavier. The brambles ahead reeked of bitterness, and soon, that scent mingled with another.

Fresh blood.

Shardfang's eyes snapped open wide with alarm, and he had the sudden urge to jump back. But he didn't.

He willed for his legs to move towards the scent, which grew even heavier. The sickly scent of blood filled his nostrils, and soon, he could smell rot.

Holy StarClan, that's definitely crow food, the black cat thought as he pawed at his muzzle in disgust. Who in their right mind would bury rotting carcasses here?

Shardfang stepped into the forestry, and sure enough, right at his paws, was the rotting carcass of an anteater, a black, bug infested bite on its neck. A dried pool of blood lay at the creature's neck, and mosquitoes swarmed the area, desperate to drink whatever was left undried of the red liquid.

I should probably do something about this, Shardfang thought, almost gagging as he turned away to join his clan.

But before he could, he caught a whiff of a sharp, bitter scent, and turned around in annoyance to try and find the source.

He found it right away, but not in a good way.

As he turned around to face the shadows of the jungle, something tackled him to the ground, sending him into the damp soil, and before he could yowl out for help, a paw wrapped in cobwebs was shoved into his muzzle, a sharp, bitter smell stabbing at the back of his throat right away.

Almost instantly, black spots dotted his vision, and he began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. The stabbing scent intensified, and soon, Shardfang's vision went almost completely black. His muscles weakened, no longer useful against the cat.

He felt his numb paws twitch before falling to the ground, and his whole body went limp against his will.

Shardfang blinked, trying to regain his sight, but as his body went limp, he also began to feel drowsy. His head dropped to the ground, and he just managed to glance up at the web-wrapped paw.

His attacker's pelt was an oddly familiar shade of dark brown, and the cobwebs around the paw were stained a color Shardfang couldn't make out.

Poison? Shardfang thought through his drowsiness, and his eyes focused on the cobwebs that were pressed against his muzzle.

Just before his vision went completely black and he couldn't hear another sound, he managed to hear a familiar voice meow, "Now, sleep. When you awaken, you'll join your father and mother... in StarClan."