I just realized that I didn't post anything for Chappy 18. Well, here we go.
goldendusk:...You just love toms using she-cats as part of violence for your stories, don't you?
Sure seems that way, huh? But that's really just how cats are. Tom cats in the wild will mate with basically anything that moves; even other toms, their mother, or their sisters! They don't have a lot of restrictions. And then, this is also drawing off a bit from soldiers. In the past (and even now) soldiers such as Slaughter's scouts would take anything they wanted from the land and people; including sex. Raping wives and daughters of the enemy was common and not even frowned upon, often; what Slaughter doesn't know won't hurt him, right? It's also a powerful method of control, something most of these evil toms very much enjoy.
lynxeye: And where does Chillcome from? Those eyes remind me of Slaughter, but did he have a mate?
Chill's origin isn't important (at the moment) but might come into play later. Slaughter had a mate mentioned in his first chapter; she ran away, though, taking one of his kits with her. His other kit was Toxin, and she's obviously older by now, so Chill isn't his son.
Rainshimmer: Is Blight the cat that Belladonna's been dreaming about killing?
At first I thought he might be, but I decided against it; even if he was, it wouldn't matter, as we see in chapter 19.
Rainshimmer: Like, why did Shimmer come along with Ravenwing and company? Who the heck is Shimmer anyway, and where did wh come from? How is she signifigant? In case you can't tell, I'm very curious about Shimmer. How do Silverstreak and the gang intend to deal with PeakClan? Are they going to try and recruit cats? What are they going to call the new Clan? Will it be BirchClan again, or will they call it SilverClan? And are Shimmer, Jag, and Death going to join the new Clan? What about Blackmoon? When is Northstar coming back?
First, dear GOD you ask a lot of questions! Second, Shimmer has nowhere to really go, since her mother hasn't come back and she'll probably starve on her own. Shimmer's past will be revealed soon; she's very impotrant, as we'll soon see. Silverstreak isn't sure what to do about PeakClan, but she knows she'll have to expose Northstar or confront hi first, and soon. The name of the new Clan is my little secret. Blackmoon, although he hates how PeakClan is run, is still very loyal to his Clan. Shimmer and Death already joined the Clan, Jag and Reedrush will likely join as well. Northstar should also be back soon, hopefully from his POV. Silverstreak and co will try to recruit when they can, but we'll just have to see~
Now, about chapter 19. There's a lot to say. First, I'd like to thank bookworm for helping me write it. Second, I'd like to apologize for the time it took; it was kind of long and the method of brainwashing had to be researched and such. Now, for the brainwashing itself....
The entire thing took place in about twenty days (we're on like Day 43 for Belladonna/Nightshade, I think). Now, that's obviously a short time to lose all your faith in...everything, but there are many reasons it was so effective. The main one was that Mother was Belladonna's whole world. She was the authority figure. Once Mother died, there was a gaping hole in Belladonna's life that she couldn't fill. She tried to direct her life as best she could, by following her dreams to the forest, but even though Robin thought Belladonna had adapted, she really hadn't. She didn't know how to lead; she didn't know where they were going. In all likelihood, Belladonna would have never found a place where she felt they belonged. She and Robin would have continued to roam until either they died, or the differences that were emerging rapidly between them frayed the relationship. Robin never really wanted to be in the wild; it wasn't where she belonged. She was too close to Belladonna to leave her, though, but even after entering the forest she knows she doesn't belong. She sees how strong Belladonna seems, and is jealous, especially since Bella bosses her around. Robin would eventually have given up on Bella and left her, leaving Bella to roam around alone until despair set on her too. This is obviously not what StarClan intended, but they couldn't interfere, when their connection to Bella was so weak; Bella had no Clan blood or knowledge, only a good warrior heart. Like Firestar, all StarClan could do was give her dreams at first, without truly contacting her. Thus, they couldn't stop Blight from overpowering her, and as Bella's good heart began to crumple under the stress of torture, they couldn't even enter her dreams.
Also, Blight seems a bit odd to those who remember TalonClan. TalonClan never declared war on StarClan, or set up any sort of weird rituals. Blight improvised on these as a method of control, a way to control Bella to do what he wanted her to, a way to make her think he had everything the way he wanted it. Obviously losing an eye wasn't part of the plan, but he was smart enough to even use that to his advantage, laying the guilt on her even more thickly.
Really, Belladonna never stood a chance. Also, to those wondering about her name, belladonna is the prettier name for deadly nightshade. He knew that, and figured it would make sense; it sounded fearsome, like the rest of TalonClan's names, and it showed how completely he controlled her, that she would give up her name and identity entirely in hopes of becoming 'good'.
Honestly, I'm pretty pleased with this chapter, even as dark as it is. Please review and let me know what you guys thought~!
