snakestrike

~~~

SNAKESTRIKE SLEPT THE WHOLE DAY, only waking up when the sun was setting. He yawned, stretched, and padded out of the warriors den, feeling his stomach tumble with hunger. 

This is the best part about being a warrior, Snakestrike decided as he sauntered over to the fresh-kill pile to grab a frog. I don't need to do chores before I'm allowed to eat.

His gaze scanned the camp, looking for a friend. He spotted Frozenpaw, and his paws itched to join her, though the desire soon stopped when he spotted Viperfoot sitting next to her. Snakestrike still couldn't get over the argument him and Viperfoot had. 

How can he not see what a cold hearted cat she is? Snakestrike thought angrily. Clearfrost's horrible. 

Shaking out his pelt, looking for a new meal partner, the gray tom found Foxstorm. Awkwardly, he padded over to his former mentor, nodding at the empty spot next to the ginger tom. "Hi, can I sit here?"

Foxstorm looked a bit shocked, but nodded all the same. "Sure. Are you and Viperfoot arguing or something?"

Snakestrike had taken a bite of the frog when Foxstorm spoke, so he hurriedly swallowed his mouthful to answer the ginger warrior. He really didn't want to tell Foxstorm they were arguing, because question may arise to what they were arguing about. So, he lied. "No, not really. I just thought that I should get to know my other Clanmates better, since I'm always with Viperfoot."

To Snakestrike's surprise, Foxstorm accepted his answer easily. "Ah, I thought this might happen. Took longer than I predicted, though."

Snakestrike tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Leaders and followers, remember?" Foxstorm meowed, angling his ears in Viperfoot's direction. "You two may both be warriors, but you're clearly not on the same levels. It's time you associated yourself with the... higher class, Snakestrike."

Snakestrike nodded slowly. "I see." 

"It'll lead you to a brighter future," Foxstorm promised. "I can see you as ShadowClan's leader one day, whereas Viperfoot will only end up in the elders den. I mean, there's nothing wrong with just living a normal warrior's life, but you want more than that, don't you?"

"I do," Snakestrike agreed. He'd never really thought about it, but now that Foxstorm brought it up, he did want to become leader someday.

As leader, every cat would have to respect him. Nobody could just toss him aside like Clearfrost's done, and pay him little to no attention. And even Mintpaw, despite her dislike for him and future status, would have to listen to whatever he says, because at the end of the day, the leader's word is law.

"Good." Foxstorm seemed pleased.

Snakestrike shifted, not sure what else to say, and changed the conversation topic. "How's Brooklight?"

"Oh, she's doing okay," Foxstorm replied. "I think Waspstrike's death has shaken her a little, but at least he wasn't killed violently by a cat, right? The whole monster situation could've been easily avoided if he was more careful."

Speaking of Waspstrike. "Are we holding vigil?" Snakestrike knew it was the respectful thing to do, but he didn't really want to stay up two nights in a row.

"Ivorystar's made it optional," Foxstorm explained, "she wants us to get rest in case of attacks. But everything's ready for the vigil, Clearfrost prepped it with mint before leaving for her half-moon meeting."

Snakestrike glanced up at the sky, seeing the darkness of night brewing over the golden sunset. That's right. Night was coming, meaning moonhigh. Ivorystar needs to choose a deputy before then, according to the Warrior Code - maybe she's already picked one, and he missed it while he was sleeping.

"Have you accepted your role as deputy yet?" Snakestrike asked, only half-joking. Everyone knew Foxstorm was the most obvious choice to replace Waspstrike.

The ginger tom ruffled his pelt. "She hasn't picked one yet, I think she's still in shock and working over the grief." He looked over to the leaders den. "Ivorystar hasn't come out of her den all day."

"She's got to pick one before moonhigh, though," Snakestrike pointed out, "it's in the Warrior Code. And it'll be you, I'm sure of it."

Foxstorm gave Snakestrike a confident smile. "Thanks."

The rest of the meal was spent with small talk, and eventually, Foxstorm parted ways to go share tongues with Brooklight. Snakestrike wasn't really sure what to do with his time - as Frozenpaw was still talking with Viperfoot - so he found himself back in the warriors den, searching for more sleep.

It was Clearfrost's voice that eventually woke him up.

Snakestrike wasn't used to Clearfrost being the first thing he heard when he opened his eyes, much less being the thing that rouses him. The ragdoll was almost always silent, keeping to herself in a cold manner. She wasn't tonight, though.

"Choose a deputy, Ivorystar." Her voice was snappy, louder and more agitated than Snakestrike had ever heard it.

"I can't right now, I don't know," came Ivorystar's retort. "It's too soon after Waspstrike."

"It's not too soon, it's almost moonhigh." Clearfrost sounded worried. "Pick someone!"

There were many things wrong with what Snakestrike was hearing. Clearfrost showing emotion - any emotion - was rare, plus, wasn't she supposed to be at the Moonstone? What were they doing back so early?

Yawning, he dragged himself out of his nest. It seemed everyone in ShadowClan was already outside, watching the argument between the two sisters. He quickly found Frozenpaw, who was finally separated from Viperfoot, and padded over. "What's going on? Why isn't Clearfrost at the Moonstone?"

"The half-moon meeting ended early," Frozenpaw informed him. "When the medicine cats went to go share tongues, StarClan didn't greet them. Nobody except Mintberry got a dream, and hers was only a couple seconds long."

Snakestrike jerked back. "Mintberry?"

"Oh, yeah, Clearfrost made her a full medicine cat tonight," Frozenpaw mewed. 

"Isn't medicine cat training supposed to last longer?" Snakestrike pointed out, a little bitterly. Of course Mintberry couldn't let me have the spotlight for too long, he thought. First where she jumped farther than I did, now this.

Frozenpaw shrugged. "I guess she was ready. But anyway, Clearfrost came back, obviously worried over the whole no contact with StarClan thing, and got completely freaked out when Ivorystar told her she hadn't picked a deputy yet. Clearfrost was worried StarClan's upset that they broke a code or something, and if Ivorystar doesn't choose a deputy in the next few minutes, a code will definitely be broken."

Snakestrike turned his attention back to the sisters, where Featherflight was attempting to approach them. "Both of you, calm down," the gray she-cat mewed sharply. "Ivorystar, follow your heart and pick the cat you think is best, and Clearfrost, stop giving your sister unnecessary pressure. She's stressed as it is."

It was like watching a mother lecture her kits for not sharing a mouse.

For the first time tonight, Clearfrost and Ivorystar seemed to come to an agreement that they wanted their mother to butt out, and both cats shot Featherflight glares, to which Featherflight quickly backed off and returned into the crowd.

"I mean, come on, the choice isn't hard," Clearfrost meowed, continuing to grill her sister. "Just pick Foxstorm, we all know you're going to in the end! Or Dawnfoot, Nightstorm, Briarlight if you want someone a bit older - just say a name, Ivorystar!" She was shooting anxious looks at the sky, where the half-moon was steadily making its way to the middle.

"Fine," Ivorystar snapped. "Fine, I will now choose my deputy." She jumped onto the Clanrock, scanning the crowd below her. "I choose..."

Snakestrike glanced sideways, giving Foxstorm a smile as he watched Brooklight give her mate an eager nudge. Distracted, he almost missed the name Ivorystar called.

"Snakestrike."