Traitor // A Warriors Mafia Minigame

Round One, Scene Four

"You have voted for Mallowpelt to be exiled." Dovestar tried to keep her voice clear of emotion, but it quavered as she stated the result of the vote. Immediately, the warriors turned on the mottled black and white tom, whose ears flattened with outrage. He shrank away at the tide of hostile warriors, knowing he couldn't face them all at once.

"Fine, I'll leave," he spat. "But I'll warn you, the killings will still continue, because I'm not the guilty one."

A tuft of fur caught on a briar as the tom ran out of the camp, the last of him the Clan would ever see.

***

The traitor prowled in the middle of the night, waiting to take their next victim. "Mallowpelt was a worthy scapegoat," they meowed to themselves. "But watching him get exiled isn't enough to scare me into stopping my killing spree."

They stopped outside the warriors' den, pricking their ears. Clouds covered the moon, as if StarClan knew what was going to happen next.

A lone cat emerged from the den. Before he could react, the killer lashed out a paw at his throat, claws unsheathed.

"Well, well, Hailcloud. What brilliant timing," the killer purred. "Congratulations on being my next victim!"

Hailcloud tried to say something, but it came out as a horrible, tortured sound. It grew fainter and fainter as Hailcloud's life ebbed away. Then it stopped altogether.

The killer snarled maliciously, a grin plastered on their face. "Soon, every last one of these cats will be my victims... I can't wait..."

***

The next morning, the Clan gathered around Hailcloud's body to grieve.

Dovestar raised her head. "Hailcloud was an honorable warrior. StarClan, please take him into your ranks with pride." Dovestar's claws curled into the ground, and her voice lowered to a growl. "An honorable warrior... That is not true for one of you." Her cold blue eyes whipped across the circle of warriors, cutting into each one.

"Dovestar..." Drizzleleaf's meow faltered as she tried to calm her leader down.

Sagesong sighed. "We must still find out who the traitor really is." She glanced at the camp entrance. "... I guess Mallowpelt was telling the truth, then." The cats muttered unhappily as they realized that they had chosen to exile an innocent cat.

"But we have no clues on who they might be!" Rosewind meowed uncertainly. "We can't exile yet another innocent cat."

"Plus, with Dovestar so... aggressive..." Gorsebreeze whispered, "we should probably leave her be."

No vote was held that day.