And so it Begins

[albinisticshadow]

( long, i know )

Cobrafang groaned, stretching out a little more where he lay on the dusty ground. He tried to keep his eyes closed, but there really wasn't a point -- the bright autumn sun was positioned so that its scorching rays fell directly onto his eyelids, and even with them closed the world was far too bright for comfort. Rolling onto his belly, he pressed his face into the ground and covered up his face with his paws to provide added darkness. His muscles really ached from being forced to push rocks around for 'camp security purposes', and he desperately needed some sleep before it became his turn to patrol again.

A somewhat irritating giggle caused Cobrafang's ears to up. ... Wait, what? A giggle? He lifted his head and shook the dirt from his maw, taking but a moment to locate the source of the noise. Flintspire. Should've known. For a moment there, he'd thought the nursery had some new kits. Honestly, he didn't know any other toms who could giggle if they tried.

"Flintspire," he growled after trying unsuccessfully to sleep through the giggles for another minute.

"Yes?" replied the young cat, happily bounding over to him.

"Can't you and your imaginary friend go find somewhere else to play?" Flintspire just stared at him blankly. Cobrafang sighed. "You and Sidge, sorry. Go hunting, maybe?"

Flintspire's ears perked up cheerfully. "Oh, okay!" He turned to go, and Cobrafang's head sunk back to the ground, thinking he was safe. "Uhh, but wait!" Flintspire turned back to him and Cobrafang let out an unappreciative growl. "There's a lotta other patrols out right now, there'll be no good preys left!"

Cobrafang closed his eyes. "Go west then, I don't care, just find somewhere." And with that, Flintspire must have nodded or something, for he heard no reply other than the tom's retreating paws. "Good," he rumbled, muscles relaxing as he began to fall to sleep.

---

"Well, here we are, but I don't smell any prey," Sidge commented dubiously.

"Oh well," Flintspire meowed, "If we can't find anything else, I saw a pinecone on a tree back there. You can eat those, right? Right?" A dark flash in the foliage caught his eye. "Hey, Sid..." he queried, tilting his head curiously, "Who's that behind you?"

---

An unusually warm day (for autumn, at least) coupled with the soft breeze weaving through the forest surrounding RogueClan camp ensured Cobrafang a pleasant nap. He awoke, still drowsy, with a bit of time remaining before his patrol was due to leave. He was just about to drift off again when an acrid smell awoke him. The smell of... fear. Drowsiness disappearing, he cautiously rolled to his paws and surveyed the camp with his eyes and ears. A group of cats was huddled near the far side, murmering to each other and casting nervous glances to the outskirts of camp. Cobrafang hurried over to them. They all turned to him as he approached. "What's going on?" he demanded, concerned.

A blue-ish pelted cat was the first to speak. "We're not sure," she replied, "But - can't you smell that?"

Frowning, Cobrafang scented the air, but the fear-scent of the cats standing near him made it difficult to discern much else. Closing his eyes, he drew in a much deeper breath - and there, beneath all the smells of the forest, was the tellingly metallic stench of cat blood. His eyes snapped open.

"We don't know who it could be," a black tabby spoke up, "None of our cats were assigned to hunt or patrol to the area upwind of here, so we're thinking - probably another Clan's cat. What they're doing so close to our territory, though, we're not-"

"No," interrupted Cobrafang, with a sharp intake of breath. "Get the medicine cat. I- I think I know who it is, I think it's - Flintspire." he yelled, turning so sharply that the almost hit the tabby in the face with his tail. Without waiting for a response, he leapt straight to the top of the camp wall, splaying his feet as he dropped to the ground on the other side to absorb the impact.

---

It was easy to hone in on that sickly smell - almost too easy. As Cobrafang closed in on the clearing the scent originated, every muscle was tense, fearing what he would find. He listened hard, but could only detect the rustling of leaves. Just in case some silent foe were lurking though, he padded forward with caution..

In the middle of the clearing lay Flintspire, surrounded by red, so much red. He wasn't breathing.

( the myserious murderer may be ANYONE'S cat or other manner of beast. i do not care. just get my permission first, so that there aren't like three flintspire murderers running around. or it could be nobody and he fell out of a tree or something, idc, just trying for plot here. also, do it over messages so that not everybody knows... not sure where we can go with this in terms of plot-age, but i just sacrificed alll of flintspire's extraordinary future as an insane kittypet ... so have something interesting in mind, kthx :] )

[seren]

Reeeeespect. Reeeespect. The words echoed over and over again in the small tom's feeble little mind. Shivering, he clung tightly to an uncharacteristically mournful Juniperseed, head hung low beneath her lithe limbs. It was as if something otherworldly was attempting to contact him. Shuddering, he whimpered and tightened his grip around the older red she's paw, knowing that had they been put under any different circumstances, she would've clawed his ears off and torn out his ribcage, displaying his still-beating heart on a wooden spike nearby. Still, there was comfort to be had here.

There Flintspire lay, limp and lifeless. Never again would he roam the fields of the living; never again would he join his fellow Clancats in ceremonious joy. Unless--and here Whiskerpaw could only shake his head and laugh at such a notion--there was a necromancer among them. Someone who still in that day and age dwelled in the dark arts. Whiskerpaw had always snorted at what he deemed the product of ill and restless minds, but there seemed to be a grain of truth to what the insane often mewled so late at night about. Hope leads one to desperation, and desperation leads to treason.

~~~~~

As his Clanmates held vigil for Flintspire's body and returned to their dens to slumber, Whiskerpaw retreated into the woods. Alone. Alone, for he knew that if the others were to discover his passage and mission they would surely scoff and drag him flailing and hissing back to the medicine cat den to be thoroughly examined. Ticks to the brain? Worms eating away at his precious sanity? The blackened tom thought to the contrary, but they seemed quite intent on labeling him. Usually cheerful and content, Flintspire's bloody murder had hit him the hardest, probably because the two seemed so carefree and naive. Whiskerpaw would never be so naive again. Never. Gone were the days of innocence, in were the days of groaning maturation and malevolence.

Stalking his frame from behind, Juniperseed felt her usual rage spark up as she watched the thick-headed apprentice plough his way through foreign territory like the roughest seas, not even bothering to gingerly stick a paw in first to test it. She had never understood his rashness. Seething, she focused her heat on ensuring that he was safe wherever he was headed. He seemed to not have the faintest of ideas. Finally, she could stand the silence no more.

Gripping him around the back of the neck in one swift motion, she spun him flat to the ground before he could so much as yelp. "What are you doing out here?" she whispered through clamped jaw, teeth gritted in exasperation.

Whiskerpaw feared that she would grind her fangs into powder as he fearfully observed her countenance. "I'm-I'm..." he struggled to regain his confidence. "I'm... going to find out who did this to him." His eyes clouded over in pain, and for a moment he could see the overwhelming sorrow and pity in her own eyes. But she swiftly brushed it off.

Throwing her head back and yowling in a spastic fit, it was all she could do to keep from roaring. "You? You're going to save him? How? Are you going to use your internal moral compass and magically fly all the way over? This is a crazed killer. An experienced fighter, no doubt. And he obviously has no qualms about assassinating the young and stupid. And you, you're just a silly apprentice with grand ambitions of becoming some kind of-some kind of... hero." She spat the last word out with as much venom as she could muster, pleased to see him flinch as the scorpion's tail stung him. "Well, you're no hero. Not yet. You aren't old enough."

Water leaking from his eyes, he allowed them to trail down and form a torrent before him. Wiping the wetness off of his cheeks, he grimaced. "You aren't helping anything. You aren't. If you really cared about Flintspire... If you cared about anyone at all. You're just a selfish-just a selfish--"

"--Just a selfish-just a selfish..." she cruelly mimicked. "Come on, finish your sentence! What am I?"

[albinisticshadow]

A liar. Cobrafang shuddered. A liar, that's what I am. Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts from his mind. It could have easily been any other cat who told Flintspire to hunt in that area, and there was no way he could have known... I am not liar for knowing it wasn't my fault.

The suddenly frigid weather ruffled his coat as he hunched his shoulders against the cold. He glanced out the corner of his eye as one of the few remaining leaves separated from its tree and drifted slowly to the ground. The snows were coming late this year, but they would most certainly be here soon. All the kits would be staring in wonder at the frosty white stuff, poking at it, fascinated with the concept of new. All the warriors would soon be flicking their ears discontentedly at this annual disturbance, this annual increase in workload - all except one. Every year when the snows came, Flintspire would tackle the drifting flakes with the same sense of amazement, refreshed in this revelation of th-

Almost growling at the mental pain, Cobrafang gritted his teeth until his jaw was sore. Somehow, despite all his best efforts, his own mind seemed to be conspiring against him to brand the name 'Flintspire' in places where he had never seen it before. No matter how times he used logic to convince himself he was not to be blamed, that one, simple agument always seem to prevail - But.. I killed him.

Cobrafang let out a painful breath as he decided to check the scene of Flintspire's murder one last time - perhaps there was one clue that he had missed, some subtle hint of liability, that would allow him to track down this cold-blooded killer. As soon as he made the decision, he felt his paws flying in the correct direction as if they had been just waiting for the opportunity to do so.

[seren]

"I--I--I don't know!" Whiskerpaw stuttered, jaw clamping. He could feel a hole in his chest spreading like mushrooms and littering his hindsight, swelling to the point of rupturing. Wincing, he averted his gaze from Juniperseed's mortal frame and turned back to the wide expanse of pines before them.

Sighing, Juniperseed rolled her eyes and eyed the billows that escaped her mouth. She could see herself breathing, the surest sign that she was still alive. Alive. What did it all mean, anyway? Bones feeling hollow and brittle, she whipped against the cold and swatted the foolish apprentice on the ear, causing him to howl in pain at the sting of her sharpened eagle-like talons.

"What was that for?"

"Never-mind that now. Come along. We should return. Maybe see Flintspire one last time before they move him." Lumps rose to her throat, and she choked but tried to contain herself. No one was allowed to see the all-mighty lioness crumble like mortar under water's wrath. She must carry the burden of her birth with her for the rest of her life. Why should she get to live while countless perished by her side? She was nothing but bad luck; it was all her fault. Steady mind guides the irrational bleeding hurt that guides the paws forward. Propel. Propel!

Whiskerpaw knew that he shouldn't argue with her. She was probably right, anyhow, and he was not looking forward to her incessant nagging and gloating. Stifling his groans, he raced to join her, and together they braved the morgue.

Scenting the air, Juniperseed was a bit startled to find Cobrafang nearby. It shouldn't have surprised her so; they had always bonded. Still, she wondered if there was some ulterior motive to his visit.

[Kala]

There was Flintspire, laying right there lifeless before RudyFaith's eyes which were glazed over with horror and a deep sorrow that can not be discribed with words. This tom laying there, the once happy go-lucky tom, dead. She could not believe it and part of her wouldn't for the rest of her days, but there was no sense fighting the saddness deep within her stomach. Flintspire, along with all of those kits born that night, was like a sibling to her, even if she snapped at him every now and then. Twitching her nose ever so softly, her turn her gaze to her feet refusing to move when others wanted to say their good-byes to the tom. Shivering slightly, the white she-cat gave a small soundless sob wondering why Starclan was ripping her family away from her. Why they were so harsh with their judgment towards her clan, her family, and her heart strings.


Swallowing her broken heart and pride, she leant over Flintspire's lifeless body and drew her pink tongue across the tom's shoulder before inhaling his scent deeply. Both eyes began to burn with those sinful salty tears which caused her to jerk her head away from Flintspire and stand to her feet. "good-bye," she whispered as she slowly backed away with both ears pinned to her skull and a tail that hung with no effort what so ever. RudyFaith then wondered over to the Great Oak tree before sitting amoung it's roots with a distanced gaze in her red eyes. Life was the hardest mission she had yet to complete.


FernShadow was sitting amoung the shadows watching her clan say their good-byes to the fallen warrior. She never knew the tom all that well, but he was always one cat she could count on to make someone smile at any given moment. Sighing, she wondered how CobraFang was handling this lost. The only idea that made her think CobraFang was taking this so hard was the expression he held. He was deep in thought about something and it started when he found the body of Flintspire. She wanted to know what had happen and desired deeply to speak to her dear friend, but figured he needed some space.

Sighing she tired to push the butterfly feeling she got whenever she thought of CobraFang for it was not the time to think about such foolish desires such as those. Right now she needed a way to cheer up her friend or at least the clan. Shifting a bit, she exhaled heavily dropping her shoulders just a bit. "Oh my," she muttered before getting onto her paws only to notice CobraFang dart out of camp in a bit of a hurry which caused both ears to stand up straight with puzzlement. Both green eyes scanned the camp until she saw Juniperseed with the same rather lost expression. Blinking one or twice, she turn and slowly made her way towards the entrance of camp unsure if she should follow her friend or hunt about for the clan. 'Curse my shy-ness,' she spat bitterly within her mind. 'Curse it to DeathClan.'

[albinisticshadow]

Wrinkling up his nose, Cobrafang tried to avoid the rotten-flesh stench. But it was pervaisive, its razor talons reaching up through his nose to get at his brain, heart and lungs, stabbing, tearing. He supposed it was still very, very faint - Flintspire's death was recent, after all, and it was cold out - but to him at least, it seemed stonewall, unavoidable, like a gigantic craggy cliff.
Through the pain, Cobrafang began to slowly sniff around the area. Just when he thought he'd no longer be able to take the smell -- there. Attached to a vertical twig at the base of a nearby tree was a tuft of fur that smelled alien to that of any RogueClan cat. That's it! Instantly, Cobrafang's pain disappeared. Foremost on the wave of the new, invading emotions was a kind of wild joy. Joy that they had a clue - that he could track down Flintspire's murderer - that he could shatter that cat's skull, make them pay - that he'd-

But what about Fernshadow... his mind whispered with an air of the utmost caution. Cobrafang growed, and the beautiful thought of tearing apart Flintspire's murderer flitted away, like an escaped moth, to the skies. By the time Cobrafang had gotten his thoughts away from Fernshadow, the thought-moth was fluttering far out of reach. He glared angrily at the night-sky where his imaginary moth mocked him.

Cobrafang inhaled haltingly, squaring his shoulders and standing taller. No. Maybe if he had been a little younger he would have gone, run off to find the perpetrator by himself, torn apart the beast's throat and watched his own guilt shredded on the floor next to the murderer's body.

But he had to be strong, and had others to think about. He would report this to the Clan, and if his leader (who's leader, btw?) asked him to, he would spend his best efforts toward brining justice to the killer. If not... well then, so be it.

Cobrafang marched determinedly back the the camp. As he walked, his decision did not become any easier; nor did it become any more difficult.

[Kala]

FernShadow turned away from CobraFang's trail and began to follow that of a rabbit hoping it would side tract her worries, at least for a little bit. When she was younger, she would have stalked off after CobraFang demaining him to answer her questions until she felt content with the information she had gained. Ah she did this once when he almost went back to BloodClan and what a foolish thing that was now she she looked at it. She was so close to being killed at the paws of her dear friend and she did not even notice. "Who knows what he would do with the death of a clanmate," she muttered dragging herself through the forest until both green eyes caught sight of the rabbit.

Licking her lips, she slowly lowered herself close to the ground making sure her body kept to the shadows. One foot after another, she almost soundless made her way towards the rabbit. The tip of her tail curled with delight as she leapt forward coming down onto the helpless brown rabbit. The sicking sound of a neck snapping echoed faintly which only bought the image of Flintspire's broken body to her mind. Wincing, FernShadow removed her teeth from the rabbit's body and looked down at it with pity. Sighing, she bit down onto it once more before padded off towards camp in an uncaring matter. Both ears were bearly standing up if you could call it that. Yes, you could say that the poor she-cat worried far to much, but it was just her.

After awhile, camp came into sight which brought a bit of delight to her, but how could it when Flintspire's body was still there. Sighing through her nostrils, she stopped right on top of the hill looking down upon the hidden entrance covered in the half leafed bushes and trees. If you didn't know better, you figured thorn bushes where there, not a camp full of cats. 'Wonder if any queens would be giving birth before the snow comes,' she thought to herself figuring thinking of kittens would make her feel better about the events at paw, but it only brought CobraFang to her mind once more. Feeling the blood pound in her eyes, she quickly started towards camp rather embrassed about those thoughts. 'I'm so stupid,' she thought to herself.

ooc//poor FernShadow xD rofl

[albinisticshadow]

(sorry for not responding sooner, but i have finals D: )

Briefly scanning the camp as he rushed toward the leader's den, Cobrafang was disappointed that he could not spot Fernshadow. But he'd have to look for her after he told ____Star (really who's the leader? D: ), as the Clan desperately needed to get someone on the murderer's trail before it went cold.

"Hello?" He called, pausing just outside the den.

(if whoever plays the leader isn't here, then maybe another warrior can just walk up to him or something.)

[Kala]

ooc//Seren is RougeClan's leader now. BillowStar! *plays music*

okay I'm done xD

bic//FernShadow quickly slipped into camp and dropped the rabbit into the pile and it was then that she noticed she really did not need to go hunting after all of that. Sighing heavily, she rolled her eyes a bit before inhaling deeply. CobraFang's scent quickly rushed into her mouth tickling the roof top, but it was soon covered by the smell of fellow clan mates and strong fear scents. 'Wonderful,' she thought before starting her way towards a patch of free ground under a group of bushes.