Swiftstar's Prophecy - Unofficial version

Chapter Thirty-five

Phew, good thing they didn't let me stay with her during the night. Swiftpaw thought in relief as her once blood-stained paws touched the grass of the cherry blossom clearing. Her right paw ached slightly as she stepped, and she hopped off of it awkwardly. Ouch, that still hurts even now. But I don't regret what I did to Fallowpaw. 

Once Swiftpaw had injured Fallowpaw's shoulder, Mothnose quickly came to her apprentice's side. Blizzardtail, however, didn't react until Mothnose snapped at the mottled tom. Swiftpaw was blinded with rage and all the adrenaline that pulsed through her body didn't acknowledge the pain in her right paw. Though her mind was somewhere else, Swiftpaw's inner conscious spoke to her. Dear StarClan, what happened during that time? I didn't even feel like myself anymore. 

Swiftpaw couldn't even look at Fallowpaw without Mothnose's growl rumbling from her throat. The apprentice walked without dread, her walk only staggered slightly with her numb paw. Blizzardtail didn't meow a word to her as they made their way back to the camp. Sometimes, Fallowpaw would whimper or moan in pain, but it would be mostly stifled by her lips. Swiftpaw wasn't sure whether or not Fallowpaw was too hurt to say anything, or whether she still had her pride to not show too much pain.

As they entered the camp, Brackenstalk immediately bolted over to her daughter, her green eyes wide in shock. It wasn't even a heartbeat when TideClan noticed Fallowpaw's mutilated shoulder. Swiftpaw hesitated to step into camp, her heart beating uncomfortably, for she knew that something bad would happen. But she stepped into camp, staying near the back of the group.

"What happened, Fallowpaw?" Brackenstalk, then Clovertail, asked. They both supported both sides of their daughter to the medicine cat's den. Swiftpaw felt all eyes on her, now, as the stench of blood reeked off of the calico cat. The first cat to speak was Minnowstream, "Swiftpaw, did you do it?"

She lifted her chin boldly, and her amber eyes hardened. "Yeah, I did. But she was asking for it, offending Echoflower like that." The confidence in her voice thickened, but this only made the tensions between her and the clan worse. Heronflight was the first to growl, "Redstar was right, you are a heartless cat."

It made Swiftpaw freeze cold. Heartless? I'm not heartless at all. I was just...I was just so angry at the moment. I felt all my anger for her finally reach the brim and flow out. I couldn't hold it in anymore. She opened her mouth to speak before Mudstrike yowled from her left, "Look at what she did to Fallowpaw! Only cats with no hearts do that. Swiftpaw could be a murderer!"

"A murderer?"

"How will my kits be safe?"

"SO it was true!" 

Many voices overlapped each other's as the cats spoke, angry, bewildered, and scared. Swiftpaw felt her heart stabbed with claws of negativity. "I'm not a murderer!" she tried to reason before Lichenface screeched, "I bet she'll try to kill my son, too! A hoarder for attention and a jealous piece of crow food!" Her green eyes blazed with fire, and Swiftpaw could see a small Flaxkit hide behind Lichenface's leg. 

Blizzardtail stood in front of Swiftpaw, and his voice rose above the others, "All of you, take the time to listen to Swiftpaw. I'll stand a witness to this act--"

"Yeah! Swiftpaw wouldn't do such a thing without a reason!" Pricklepelt shouldered his way through the cats to Swiftpaw, his yellow eyes wide. His shorter tail was bushed, but he looked calm and sincere. Behind him was Dapplefur, then Sparkclaw, then Dovefeather, then a rebellious Briarkit. Swiftpaw's eyes rested upon her kithood friend, the rebellious, daring Briarkit, almost reaching the height of a new apprentice. Hope eased her beating heart before Redstar's heavy paw prints approached the crowd.