The Shift

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The Shift

A Fanfiction by SilverWings

Chapter 12-

(Note: There was an error in Chapter 11. Bloodfeather grabbed Teal's arm, not Bronzefeather)

"What do you want?" Tealfeather hissed, wrenching her arm out of her father's grasp.

"Patrol, now," Bloodfeather replied shortly.

"B-but," Teal stuttered, her gaze turning back to her brother.

"I said patrol! Don't make me ask twice..." Bloodfeather hissed aggressively.

With one last look at Bronzefeather and Greyfeather, Tealfeather turned to Bloodfeather.

"Fine," she muttered darkly.

"Where are we going?" Teal asked, her tone hinting at how annoyed she was. They were roughly ten minutes into the 'patrol' and Tealfeather had no clue where they were going.

"*That* is for me to know... and you to find out." responded Bloodfeather, his voice conveying no emotion.

They rounded a corner, and came face-to-face with another raptor.

The stranger hissed with surprise, and Bloodfeather's vision clouded with rage. The unfamiliar raptor slipped into the shadowy undergrowth and for a moment Teal was certain that her father would chase after him, but instead he took a deep breath and kept walking.

"There's a waterfall over here. I... wanted to show you," Bloodfeather said cheerfully

Teal was taken aback. She thought about how her father would never do this for her, and then immediately felt guilty. *Maybe he changed his mind,* whispered the voice of a younger Tealfeather in the back of her mind.

They came to a cliff and, sure enough, a breathtaking waterfall burst from the sheer rock. It dropped away into a clear lake that eventually led out into the river that ran through the area.

"Wow," she began, "this is really ni-"

She was cut off as Bloodfeather barreled into her, knocking her clean off the cliff.

Freefall was something Teal had experienced once, for a split second, when she fell off the highest rock that around the camp when she was younger. It wasn't soothing she wanted to do again. And as she was knocked off of the cliff, she nearly did. Tealfeather let out a scream and desperately lashed out with her claws. One connected with Bloodfeather, leaving a shallow cut down one side of his face, but another miraculously wedged itself in the space between two rocks.

"Why-" Tealfeather looked Bloodfeather in the eyes and saw pure hatred.

"Have you ever noticed that all siblings are born very close to each other," he began, his voice cold with long-concealed rage," And have you ever noticed how much older Bronzefeather is than you? You're too young to be of the same clutch, he's a whole moon older than you! I had one clutch of eggs. *One*. You're not my daughter. Your father was one of *them*. A rouge. Like Star." He smirked. "Yes, I know what you saw. It doesn't matter now. No one is ever going to find out what really happened to you." He chuckled, and as she watched, Bloodfeather ran his claws down his arm, opening a series of cuts that suggested a fight. "Goodbye Tealfeather."

And with that, he aggressively wedged his claws into the furrows of the rock that Teal desperately clung to and loosened it, causing Teal and the rock to plummet into the fierce waters below.

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