Warriors: Rise of the Shadows (Book 1)

Chapter Fifteen

Sweetscent opened her eyes to see moonlight pouring into the den. Her ear twitched with anger that she woke up at the dead of night. Turning her head, she saw Springleap snoring softly beside her. Warmth filled her from nose to tail tip at the sight of the black and white tom.

Suddenly, movement caught her eye and Sweetscent saw Rainshadow and Owltalon leaving the camp. Claws unsheathing, Sweetscent shot out of her nest and followed the pair, eyes wary and narrowed with suspicion. Rainshadow looked over his shoulder as if he'd heard something, making Sweetscent freeze.

Owltalon snorted and shoved him onwards, talking lowly as the two trekked towards the direction of the IceClan border. Sweetscent followed, suspicion rising as the two traitors stop suddenly and sniff the air.

"They're here," Owltalon hissed to Rainshadow, sitting down with her tail flicking over her paws. Sweetscent crouched behind a bush, watching with narrowed eyes as more shapes joined the FireClan cats.

"We managed to slip away before Strikestar could stop us and send us to our nests." A familiar voice made Sweetscent stiffen. It was Hailtooth! "Tumbletiger and Beetlestrike have gotten wary around us, maybe they told Strikestar about our plans?"

A snarl came from Rainshadow and a thump made it clear someone pinned the tom down. "Never question my plans, Hailtooth!" Spat Rockstar and Sweetscent pushed herself to her paws, an idea sparking in her mind.

"Who's there?" Called out a wary voice, and Sweetscent instantly knew it was the IceClan warrior, Fallowhawk. "Show yourselves!"

"Relax, Fallowhawk." Sweetscent meowed coolly, startling Rainshadow and Owltalon. "I've heard about your revolution, and I want to help."

Thistlehare sneered, ambition burning in his eyes. "How can you help us?" He snarled, tail lashing. "How do we know you're not a spy for FireClan?"

Rainshadow tackled the tom with a snarl and pinned him to the ground swiftly, teeth bared and claws sinking into his flesh. "Do not say that about my sister!" He roared, eyes ablaze with rage. "Do you understand?"

"Now, now, now," Sweetscent cringed at the coldness in her voice. "I would never betray my allies, would I?" Rockstar looked pleased, as did the other cats that gathered. The she-cat laughed coldly, trying not to run away. "Don't we have medicine cats to kill?"

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Sweetscent and the others stalked onto DawnClan's territory, the tension thick in the air as they headed for the camp. Much to her surprise and horror, Sweetscent was tasked with the killing of the medicine cat. She responded that she wouldn't fail, but she knew she couldn't if the fate of the Clans depended on it.

Hailtooth went a head to alert the medicine cat about a kit in the forest, a petty excuse but it worked rather well because he and Tumbletiger emerged from the camp heartbeats later.

"Where is this kit, Hailtooth?" The medicine cat asked, worry clear in his mew. "We need to find it fast."

"This way, Tumbletiger." The tom replied and led the older medicine cat into the circle where the attacking cats were. "It was here a moment ago, I swear!" Hailtooth lied, turning to Tumbletiger with false worry and anxiety in his gaze.

"Now!" Yowled Rockstar and Sweetscent leaped out of her tree, tackling the medicine cat with her claws reluctant to unsheathe and sink into his flesh.

"Sweetscent!" Tumbletiger gasped, his eyes wide in shock. "How could you?"

She lowered her mouth to the tom's ear, hissing urgently. "Go along with this, please. Tell Strikestar Hailtooth is a traitor, tell him I need to speak with him alone."

The medicine cat nodded with understanding and, with soft blows to her face, scrambled away and back into the safety of the camp. Sweetscent rose to her paws, watching him go with weight off her chest that the tom now knows about his Clanmates' treachery and that she meant no harm.

Rockstar watched her with a wary eye. "You let him go?" He meowed, more of a question than a statement. Before Sweetscent could respond, the night sky paled with the warning light of dawn.

Rainshadow hissed and meowed quickly, shoving Sweetscent and Owltalon towards the border. "We best go before the Clan realizes we're gone." He meowed to the DuskClan leader and the three ran onto their side of the border, relief coming off Sweetscent in waves.

The three cats hunted just in case their Clan asked questions on why they were gone. Rainshadow was a poor hunter, only catching two mice. Owltalon was better than the tom, catching a squirrel and an old crow that had a broken wing. Sweetscent was the best out of them, catching two voles and a fat squirrel.

Swiftscar was pacing the camp, eyes worried. He perked up as soon as he saw the returning three cats. "There you are!" He was stern but relieved. "The dawn patrol is about to leave, Owltalon, why don't you join them? Rainshadow, go clean out the elders' den with Goldentail. And Sweetscent, Poppystar would like a word with you in her den." The deputy informed them and watched as they scattered.

"Poppystar? You wanted to see me?" Sweetscent called into the dark leader's den. The warrior pushed through the vines and lichen that was growing at the mouth of the cave and padded towards her leader.

Poppystar nodded and flicked her tail, an invite for her to sit down. When she did, the leader rose to her paws and padded towards the young warrior. "StarClan shared a dream with me, Sweetscent." She meowed, tail brushing the moss behind her. "And Strikestar conversed with me that you and a group of cats attacked Tumbletiger."

Sweetscent brislted and she nodded slowly. "Is he here right now?" She asked, nervousness and fear dripping from her shakey voice as she spoke.

"Indeed I am, Sweetscent." A deep growl sounded from the back of the den and out stepped the leader of DawnClan, Strikestar. "Tumbletiger brought it to my attention that Hailtooth was a traitor, he was exiled just before Tumbletiger and I came here."

'So that's what that stench on our territory was.' Sweetscent thought, but didn't dare say it. "You want me to explain why we were on your territory?" She guessed, to which both Poppystar and Strikestar nodded. Taking a breath, she explained everything. "Rockstar and his gang are targetting the medicine cats, StarClan knows who they'll go for next." She concluded, looking to the leaders as they sat in stunned silence.

"You followed Rainshadow and Owltalon to see what they were doing. You were caught, but to conceal your secret, you went along with it and passed on the message to my medicine cat by attacking him." Strikestar meowed, his gaze impressed. "Good cover up." He commented.

"Yes," Poppystar agreed. "I will bring this up at the Gathering, but for now, keep spying on them and pass around the word to the medicine cats that they plan to kill." She meowed to Sweetscent, who nodded in obedience.

"I can't believe the son of a loner would betray the Clan he was raised in." Strikestar murmured, earning shocked glances from Poppystar and Sweetscent. Seeing their expressions, Strikestar sighed and began to explain. "Hailtooth and his siblings are not Clanborn. Their father was a cat named Drift and their mother was a cat named Scarlett." He explained, tail flicking over his paws. "Tigerspeck found them on a patrol and the leader at the time, Hailstar, took them in and they were raised in DawnClan." The tom shifted uncomfortably under the curious stares of the she-cats as he went on. "I was deputy at the time, Strikeclaw was my name and I treated them as if they were my own kits. I never thought Hailtooth, who was named after Hailstar, would turn on us like this."

Sweetscent looked at her leader, who looked broken and shattered at the tom's words. 'What is with her?' The warrior wondered, tail flicking to show her curiousity. 'Do Strikestar and Poppystar have a connection some how?'

"Sweetscent, you are dismissed." Poppystar murmured, her voice low and full of sympathy. "Tell no cat about this conversation."