Ep.4 The Astounding Betrayal

This is the forth and longest episode in The Cresent Moon Pack.

Pepper tucks her kittens in their nest. Sandstorm, feeling weak, went to lay with them. Veloc eats two rabbits and Pepper kills and eats a mouse. Sandstorm feels very awful and sick. She and everyone else assume it’s too cold for her since it’s in the dead of the winter. She feels worse and runs off. Only Veloc, who is also a fast creature can keep up with her. Short-legged Pepper turns back to protect her kittens, since she wouldn’t be able to keep up anyway. She lays with her kittens for a few hours until she realizes how long Sandstorm and Veloc have been gone and goes back to find them, reluctantly taking her kittens with her. When she can’t find them, she finds her three old packmates, Dandelion, Dusty, and Garnet. She rejoices when she sees them and she asks them to help her find the others. They do find them, but Sandstorm not fond of them and Veloc turns into a hawk and flies around. Pepper asks the three of them to rejoin, and they agree too, which is an idea Sandstorm did not like. Sandstorm told them that Dandelion, Dusty, and Garnet would fight her and Veloc to see if they are strong enough to join. Pepper was disgusted, saying that first of all she was the leader, and she would give the orders. She said that second of all, Veloc was a Messenger, not a fighter. And last of all that the three felines were good and loyal. Sandstorm said that if they left, they weren't very loyal. Pepper explained that she sent them away when the pack was starving to protect them. Sandstorm still disagrees about letting them join. Pepper finally decides to go to the Star Pool to get advice about what she should do. Sandstorm stays to watch Pepper’s kittens and keep an eye on Dandelion, Dusty, and Garnet. Veloc and Pepper go to the Star Pool. They have a vision of Sandstorm attacking them. They decide that it means that Sandstorm should attack them--but not badly hurt or kill them--and ask the members of Star Waters if their reactions were the reactions of loyal pack member. Then they wake up. Veloc wakes up vomiting blood. Veloc is so out of it that he actually drinks some water from the Dark Pool to feel better. Worried about how anyone would react from a Dark Clouds vision, Pepper drank some too. They were shocked to see the Dark Clouds territory was deserted of their Leader, Thunder. Pepper knew little about him, but she knew if he wasn’t present in the territory, something was wrong. Then she had a quick vision of blood and claws that scared her so much that she didn’t bother to look and see if Veloc was still there. Then she saw an eye. It was a normal eye...until it turned glowing red. She woke up, startled. She dragged Veloc back to everyone else. Sandstorm said that in her old group, she was training to be a healer. Then she diagnosed Veloc with yellow fever and cured him. Pepper told Sandstorm her plan——specifically mentioning not to badly injure or kill them. Sandstorm agreed, with a slightly malicious look on her face. At night she attacked Dandelion first. Dandelion had a look of horror on her face and tried to speak, but Sandstorm injured her so badly that she couldn’t say anything. Then she attacked poor, clueless Garnet who screamed out, “Pepper said we could stay for the night!” But Sandstorm didn’t reply and attacked her again. Dusty woke up and saw blood-covered Dandelion, and half-dead Garnet. Sandstorm tried to bite Garnet’s neck and kill her, but Dusty pushed her away and fought her off. But Dusty didn’t get away without deep wounds. In the morning, he told Pepper what happened and she raged. She locked Sandstorm up in vines. She asked Sandstorm what her problem was and Sandstorm replied with a fierce snarl, and then tried to leap at her and attack, only to be stopped by the vines. Then Veloc opens his wings, which are now mysteriously covered in blood that makes Sandstorm’s eyes go thin. When her eyes went back to normal, they were as red as blood. Veloc went through a transformation, got bigger, and took on the name, Val. Pepper then exiles Sandstorm.