Falling Shadows

Prologue

Violetfall crouched at her leader’s paws, looking up at her in adoration. The black she-cat let out a purr as Nettlestar began to gently knead her pelt. “There’s something I need you to do for me.” She meowed quietly. Violetfall’s eyes widened in surprise and her purring stopped abruptly. “Yes, Nettlestar?” She mewed.

“Do you remember the mission I gave you?”

Her body stiffened with fear. “The, um, mission? Yes.” Nettlestar let out a purr of her own. “Why isn’t it complete?” She asked, tipping her head. Her amber eyes shone in the gloominess of the den, and Violetfall shivered.

“I’m trying, I really am. This one happens to be a little harder than usual.” She attempted to hide the anxiety in her voice but she knew she was failing miserably.

Nettlestar dug her claws deeper into Violetfall’s pelt and she winced. Her voice was silky as she murmured to the dark she-cat. “Tsk, tsk. That’s not true, is it? We both know you are not as incompetent as you’ve been acting lately. Your utter failure at this mission is a choice, correct?”

She began to shake. “N-no, that’s not true.”

Suddenly, Nettlestar’s claws pierced Violetfall’s flesh, and she felt a trickle of blood begin to run down her back. “Liar! You’re a liar! Don’t you dare lie to me, Violetfall!” She screamed. Violetfall flattened her ears guiltily as Nettlestar swept on. “You owe me everything you have; Your place in our Clan, your life!”

Violetfall was surprised at the fury in her leader’s voice. Nettlestar noticed the fear in her dark green eyes, and attempted to regain her composure. “I’m sorry,” She mewed as she removed her claws from the dark she-cat’s pelt. Though her voice was calm, her body still shook with rage.

She felt almost sick with guilt. It was her fault, not Nettlestar’s. She was the one who’d betrayed her clan, her leader. “No, don’t be! I’m so sorry, Nettlestar. I- I’ll complete the mission. Just, please, forgive me!” She cried out, anxious to be back in the good favor of her leader.

Nettlestar didn’t speak, merely flicked her tail to dismiss her. Violetfall sprang to her paws and shook her pelt. Quietly, she dipped her head towards her leader, before turning around and stalking towards the opening of the cold, dreary den. Outside, it began to drizzle.

“Wait!”

Violetfall stiffened in surprise. Slowly, she turned towards Nettlestar’s voice. “Yes?”

Nettlestar sat in the middle of her den, her fluffy tail curled neatly around her paws and her amber eyes narrowed. “I want him dead, by whatever means.”

Violetfall lowered her head, ears flat. She nodded once, before turning and slipping out of the den silently. “I love you!” Nettlestar called after her, her voice soft and gentle.

“I love you too,” she croaked, “I love you so much.”

As soon as she had snuck out of camp, she let out a hiss of annoyance. Her pelt was damp from the light rain, and mud began to clump up the tufts of her in between her paw pads. She knew she had to do this though- how could she deny Nettlestar anything?

The cold wind began to pick up speed, and its noise drifted through her ears, as if it were whispering a warning. Don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go

She lifted her eyes pleadingly to Silverpelt. “I have to!” The whispering of the breeze didn’t stop. It wailed silently at her, begging her to go back go back.

She hunched her shoulders and trudged on, her paws sinking into the mud of the marshes. She kept her ears flattened in hopes of blocking out the wind. Before she knew it, the sappy smell of pines diminished and she was walking in ThunderClan territory.

She was confident enough in her own skills to not be fearful. Nevertheless, she made sure each paw step she took was silent, and she lurked within the shadows. What a perfect, perfect night for there to be no moon.

Her stomach began to twist with uneasiness as she crept deeper into ThunderClan territory. Nettlestar means so much more, Nettlestar means so much more. She willed her jittery nerves to calm down, but her heart wouldn’t stop fluttering. She didn’t want to kill him!

A noise up ahead caught her attention, and a familiar scent hung in the air. A ThunderClan tom, oblivious to the fact that someone was watching him, and tonight he was going to die.

This wasn’t the first night she’d stalked him, oh no. This had been happening for nearly a moon; It’d been nearly a moon since Nettlestar had given her the order to kill the ThunderClan deputy, since she’d grown so fond of Ashspeckle. And now she was going to kill him.

She tried to inhale his scent, to remember it forever. His head poked through the thickly intertwined leaves of a glossy holly bush. Her paws trembled and she willed her body to still.

He pulled himself out of the bush gracefully, his nose twitching slightly. Was he hunting?.. or had he scented her…. Violetfall didn’t have time to worry. She pulled herself forward lightly, praying that she wouldn’t step on a twig or particularly crunchy leaf.

She stopped right before she could make the leap. Ashspeckle seemed to have found prey. He looked like he was tracking something of his own. Suddenly, his voice rang out, “Hazelwhisker! Are you there?”

Violetfall kept her gaze fixed on the ThunderClan tom. She let herself grow cold all over. This wretched cat meant nothing to her. She let her mind drift to Nettlestar, who was waiting for her back in the ShadowClan camp. Calmness spread throughout her body like a ripple on the surface of the lake. Without any hesitation, she sprang, claws extended.

They pierced the thick fur of Ashspeckle. He let out a shocked yowl and began to struggle. She felt absolutely nothing as her claws dug into his neck and ripped. Blood poured from his neck and he stumbled. She jumped off his body seconds before it hit the ground, staining the ground around it crimson.

The ShadowClan cat sniffed. Thankfully, the overwhelming stench of blood and death hid her own scent. Violetfall lifted a paw and gingerly began to lick at the sticky liquid coating her fur. She expected to feel something, anything. Guilt, pain, fear, anxiety. Instead there was nothing. He ended up being just another kill.

She turned, ready to head back to her own Clan. Who knew, Nettlestar might need her. She’d clean herself off though- she’d give her clanmates a heart attack trudging back into the camp with her paws covered in blood. Violetfall slipped into the shadows, eager to get away from the corpse. Meanwhile, the rain began to pour just a little bit harder, and the wind screamed in the distance as if lamenting the death of the ThunderClan deputy.