Darkstar and Goldenstar's past, Part 11

Darkshade was crying again... for the billionth time while Goldenshade sat nearby, "I SHOULD'VE BEEN DEPUTY!" Darkshade sobbed. Goldenshade's ears fell back, "Uhhh-hhhhuumm.... M-maybe you'll be deputy in another life...?" Goldenshade stammered.

Darkshade cried even harder, "THAT'LL TAKE MOONS! JUST LET ME DIE ALREADY-" She sobbed, grabbing a rock, Goldenshade lunged at her sister, wrestling her for the rock. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Goldenshade hissed, "I WORKED HARD FOR THAT POSITION!" Darkshade sobbed, "I-" she began, then got cut off.

"WELL, YOU DO NOT GET TO DIE!" Goldenshade hissed, just then, Tidestar and Ashflower arrived, "...What is going on here?" Ashflower said, baffled at why Darkshade was crying, reaching for a rock. As for Tidestar? Silence.

"...Darkshade.." He said sharply, "You need a therapist." Darkshade's pupils dilated, "Excuse me?" She hissed, Ashflower stepped forward, "Are you okay?"

Darkshade got up without answering, her face a dark burgundy red color instead of pitch black, then walked off. "She was throwing a tantrum." Goldenshade said, her tail flicked as she spoke. Tidestar sighed, "What now?" He sighed, deeply annoyed. "For you not... never mind," Goldenshade rose to her paws, then followed her sister.

...A quarter moon later...

Darkshade slipped into the leader's den, asking Ashflower if she wanted to hunt. Ashflower agreed to it and followed her out of camp, Goldenshade followed since she felt something off about her sister. Later, to Goldenshade's absolute horror, there stood Darkshade... looming over Ashflower's raked limp body, claws flexing, blood on her claws.

Goldenshade stood frozen, tail puffed like a bottlebrush as Darkshade licked blood off of her claws, "Sh-Shade...?" She stammered, voice trembling. Darkshade glared at her little sister, "Yes, oh golden sister who TREMBLES AT MY CLAWS?" She smiled sweetly, but her gaze was sharp.

"I-is that blood?!" Goldenshade exclaimed, the thought made her tremble all the more. Darkshade fully looked at her, glaring her dead in the eye, blood red eyes piercing Goldenshade's soul.

"No... it's strawberry jam." she smirked darkly. "But I love how your first guess was blo- OF COURSE IT'S BLOOD, YOU MOUSE-BRAIN!" she hissed, cuffing her little sister across the ear, but doing her no other harm.

"...But her blood is quite salty." Darkshade purred, sounding almost sweet, Goldenshade gagged, "WHAT THE ABSOLUTE STARCLAN, DARKSHADE?!" Goldenshade yowled, Darkshade smirked, licking her paw slowly just to watch her sister almost vomit.

Darkshade frowned, "...Don't tell Tidestar about this." She said. Goldenshade blinked, "O-okay..." Darkshade let out a sigh of relief, "Thank StarClan." She muttered, then stalked off. Goldenshade was left there, realizing her conscious was right. Goldenshade was torn between telling Tidestar snd risking her sister getting punished, or stay silent.

Goldenshade chose silence as she always did when it came to her sister. Goldenshade returned to camp, mind spiraling uncontrollably.

...That night...

Darkshade met up with Lightwave, Lightwave was already waiting at Iris Wood for her. Her eyes shone like rubies as they landed on him... they did some pretty suspicious things for all we know.

The next day, Darkshade slipped back into camp, smelling faintly of SnowClan and pine, Goldenshade noticed something different but couldn't put her tongue on it, "Shade.. where were you last night?" Goldenshade asked. Darkshade's pupils shrank, then dilated, "Uhhhuumm.. looking for herbs... I didn't find any.." Darkshade muttered. "Shade... you do know that Heatherbloom was not awake at moonhigh last night... right?" She deadpanned.

Darkshade turned away, "...Uhh... Redlight told me to go get moss.." she said, shuffling her paws. Goldenshade blinked, "...You look different.." Goldenshade said, staring directly at her sister's side. Darkshade was overly fluffy, but if you looked close enough, you could see changes. Darkshade started to walk away to avoid further interrogation.

...That night...

Tidestar called a clan meeting, "All cats who are old enough to swim and catch their own prey, gather beneath the great rock!" He yowled, cats started to arrive in the clearing. Quietsong, smug as ever, sashayed into the clearing. Goldenshade noticed that she had changed so much over a moon.

Quietsong sat uncomfortably close to Tidestar, "As we have not known sooner, we have noticed that Ashflower has not returned.... and then Hawkpaw and Sagewhisker found her.... dead." He sighed. Goldenshade bit her tongue so hard that her tongue bled, she desperately wanted to scream, to reveal what her sister has been hiding for so long. 'But what if she harms me as well?'

The mere thought of it made her fur bristle slightly, Tidestar spoke again, "But, I hope that in the eyes of StarClan, I hope my choice of a new deputy is approved. The new deputy shall be Quietsong." He said. The clearing fell silent, Quietsong just became a warrior and didn't even have an apprentice. Tidestar broke a part of the code.

Tidestar blinked, then called off the meeting silently, hoping off the highrock and disappearing into his den. The cats just left the clearing to tend to their duties. Later, Goldenshade went to the leader's den to talk with Tidestar.