Kit Pic: Jaggedclaw

Jaggedclaw never planned to kill Poolkit. He gave her a pawful of poppy seeds to knock her out and keep her from feeling the pain, and only scratched her enough that she would look dead. He went back for her the second he knocked Silvermoon unconscious, but the overdose of poppy seeds had killed her. Just to be safe, he added a few more claw marks to her pelt before dragging Silvermoon away, but not before a quick apology to Poolkit's spirit and a wish for her to reach Pastclan safely. A kit will die by a friendly claw.

When Jaggedclaw dragged Silvermoon into camp, everything erupted into chaos. Tangledstar was sleeping in his den, Foxheart and her other two kits were inside the nursery, Fishfoot was on guard, and most of the cats were milling about camp.

Spiritstone instantly ran forward to dress Silvermoon's wounds, but Jaggedclaw hissed at her. Fishfoot padded over and asked Jaggedclaw what had happened, and Jaggedclaw explained to the whole camp how Silvermoon was a traitor and had dragged Poolkit into the woods and killed her. When Mudpelt heard the news, he stumbled backwards and sat alone by the wall of the camp, unable to bear the truth. Tangledstar was woken up, and a guard placed around Silvermoon.

When Silvermoon finally woke up, everything hurt. She had twisted one of her front paws, and the scratch from Jaggedclaw reached from her neck to her hind leg. Her head throbbed where Jaggedclaw had clubbed it. She moaned, then looked up. Fishfoot stood to her left, and a sandy Tom named Dustyhill to her right.

"Fishfoot? Fishfoot! We have to warn the camp! Jaggedclaw... he wants to know the... never mind. He killed Poolkit." Silvermoon gasped. Tears filled her eyes as she realized the truth. Poolkit had died because of her.

"Be silent traitor." Dustyhill hissed. Fishfoot didn't even look at Silvermoon.

"I'm not the traitor, Jaggedclaw is! Where's Tangledstar? Where is Spiritstone? Where is Mudpelt?" Silvermoon asked frantically.

"Tangledstar will be delivering your sentence shortly." Dustyhill said. Silvermoon tried to stand, but she didn't have the strength. Her guards wouldn't have allowed her to go far anyway though.

Tangledstar stepped through the doorway of his den and climbed onto the leader rock. That was where he addressed the clan.

"We have a traitor among us." He said. Silvermoon flinched as he glared at her.

"Silvermoon has stolen and murdered a kit from the nursery. One of my own kits. Jaggedclaw was able to subdue her, but by then it was too late for Poolkit." He continued. The clan whispered to each other.

"As much as I would like to have her executed, Pastclan would never forgive me. The warrior code does not allow the murder of cats without a chance at life. Instead, I sentence Silvermoon to banishment. If you ever set foot in our territory again, you will be killed on sight. I will speak to the other leaders at the next gathering. I am sure they will decide the same punishment, in order to protect their kits." Tangledstar declared. Silvermoon's eyes widened, but she knew it was no use to try to defend herself. It was her word against Jaggedclaw's. Tangledstar had just lost a kit. He would not be merciful.

Silvermoon painfully picked herself up and began limping towards the camp entrance. She caught Mudpelt's eye, but he glanced away. She heard footsteps, and Spiritstone blocked her way.

"Tangledstar, may I at least give Silvermoon cobwebs or poppy seed?" Spiritstone begged.

"She has shown no mercy to Poolkit, so we will not show mercy to her." Tangledstar said.

"But what about all the things she has done for us?" Spiritstone pointed out.

"That is the only reason she is escaping us with her life. Let her pass." Spiritstone sadly stepped out of the way, and Silvermoon continued the painful trip out of camp and out of the territory. It started to rain as she trudged through the woods, making the ground muddy and difficult to walk through.

Silvermoon finally left the territory of Waterclan and found herself in Earthclan territory, at a cliff no less. She walked to the edge and looked down. A river raged far below, and raindrops plummeted into the darkness. Silvermoon wondered how easy it would be to fall off of the cliff like the raindrops. But Tangledstar was sure to come to his senses. He would realize her innocence and bring her back home.

Silvermoon decided she could wait. Instead, she climbed down a narrow pathway and found a dark cave hidden in some rocks. She knew that Earthclan camp was across the river, but she couldn't crawl any further. Instead, she shut her Wes and went to sleep on the hard stony ground.

Stormstone opened his eyes. His nose was burning. Herbpaw pulled a yellow leaf away from his nose and placed it on the ground nearby.

"He lives! Stormstone, can you hear me?" Twistedfoot asked. Twistedfoot was a calico cat with a twisted back leg. It had happened after he became a medicine cat.

"Ouch. Yes, I can hear you." Stoemstone said. He sat up and shook himself.

"That should teach you. Don't go sniffing herbs you don't recognize!" Herbpaw shouted.

"I was just curious. What was that flower?" Stormstone moaned.

"We're not sure. We were going to test it for healing abilities." Herbpaw replied.

"Well, I can tell you right now that it helps the victim meet a cat from Pastclan." Stormstone muttered.

"You met a cat from Pastclan?" Twistedfoot asked. Stormstone nodded.

"Did they tell you a prophecy?" He asked. Stormstone thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Then what Pastclan said was for you alone to hear. I don't want you doing any hunting or patrols today. Stay at camp. We have to make sure that the flower did no lasting damage. Go to your den and rest up." Twistedfoot commanded. Stormstone started to protest, then sighed and stood. He walked out of the medicine den. Outside it had begun to rain. Stormstone scanned the tops of both cliffs, then gasped when he saw a cat up there.

The cat was too far away to see any details, but it seemed to be looking directly at Stormstone. Then the cat began slowly working its way down the cliff. Stormstone blinked and rubbed a paw over his eyes, then looked again. The cat was gone. Stormstone decided maybe it wasn't so bad that he was confined to camp. He could keep an eye out for the mysterious cat.