The yowls, hissing, and wailing of cats filled the once peaceful night air. The night was brisk and cold, frost starting to set on the leaves and grass as fresh blood was splattered and quickly cooled. Cats were pulled from their hiding spaces in the cliff wall, torn apart by their fellow feline assailants. Lower down, on the ground floor, a group of cats fought another, their battle frenzied and desperate as they tried to defend the opening but it was futile as they were quickly over run by the other cats.
Queens and kits were pulled from the opening, the queens howling as the kits were carried off. Of the three queens two fought their attackers, the third ran away as fast as she could, trying her best not to cry out in pain and despair from her lost kits or the way the attacking cats ripped apart her flank. She did not survive the night, her injuries doing her in later that night.
On top of the cliff face four cats stood, two facing the others.
"No response?! No excuse for your crimes?!" The sleek white tom cat howled, his fur bristled and teeth bared. Next to him was a massive she-cat, her thick brown fur just as bristled making her look even more imposing and intimidating. Unlike her companion she did not yell or hiss, instead her eyes fell coldly on the smaller tom across from her, his haunches raised but tail and ears low.
"Well Brackentail? What excuse can you provide that your leader refuses to? Your medicine cat and many of your warriors have fallen to our warriors, our kits and apprentices reclaimed from where you kept them. Certainly you have something to say before we run what is left of your treacherous clan out of the forest." Her voice was calm and cold, making the object of her gaze shiver. Brackentail looked beside him at the night-black she-cat he called leader. His leader stood tall, but the way her tail twitched betrayed her fear. Neither cat gave any response.
"Leave. Your clan is no more, even Starclan has abandonded you." the massive she-cat said. The tom beside her hissed and spat.
"Well? Or must we kill whatever lives you have left!?" He spat. Brackentail fled, leaving his leader behind. The dark she-cat stood her ground, her bright yellow eyes betraying nothing.
"Starclan may have abandoned us, the clans may have turned their tails to us, but Caveclan did what it needed to survive." She said. The sleek tom spat at her, but the massive she-cat flicked her tail to keep him from attacking.
"You kidnapped kits from other clans and placed them in your own nursery to be raised by your queens. You stole apprentices, killed warriors, and had your clanmates feast upon them. You are insane Crowstar, and your clan has paid the price." She seethed. Crowstar regarded the two coldly, her thoughts on her deputy that had fled, on her kits that had starved to death in New Leaf, her clan mates bellow and how easily she could see their bones through their fur, and the tiny kits her queens had managed to birth be taken by warriors from other clans to further in the forest. The two leaders before her knew nothing of what her clan had faced, and with so many dead and those that survived fleeing out of the forest to face whatever the fates gave them, she doubted any of the clans would ever know.
Crowstar showed no remorse as she stared them down. She was on her last life, something she was aware of but they were not. She prayed to Starclan, even while knowing they had abandond her and her clan after she turned to eating fellow cats to help her clan survive, that the kits that were taken would survive this ordeal.
Crowstar flicked her tail, purring lightly at the two before her.
Before the two could react, Crowstar tilted to the side and tumbled down the cliff, her body hitting landings as it went and landed on the ground level as cats scattered to avoid her. Her body was twisted in an unnatural way, like her spine may have turned a full 360 and blood began pooling out of her open mouth. All cats stared at her in shock as the two leaders made their way down, joining another two at the base as they approached Crowstar's broken body.
The survivng members of Caveclan that hadn't fled were grouped together and surrounded by warriors that stared at them quietly.
With a call from one of the leaders, a large golden tom, warriors carrying kits slowly emerged from the trees, placing the kits gently in a group that was then cared for by the group. Slowly the warriors began seperating the kits into groups, gving the kits that belonged to different clans back to warriors of their original clans until finally only four tiny kits laid wailing on the ground unclaimed.
The massive brown she-cat looked over at the body of Crowstar, her tail flicking as she finally realized the black cat was not recovering. The other three leaders regarded the fallen she-cat with a respectable silence. Finally, the golden tom spoke up, his voice grave.
"Her crime was unforgivable, but a part of me wonders if I wouldn't do the same in her position." He said, his deep voice rumbling softly. The sleek white tom hissed, spitting in Crowstar's direction.
"She ate fellow warriors! She fed her clanmates the apprentices of our clans!" He hissed. the fourth leader, a speckled grey she-cat murred softly, flicking her tail.
"Starclan shall judge her crimes, but now we must decide what to do with what remains." she said, looking at the remaining warrriors of Caveclan and the kits.
There were not many left. Four kits, three warriors, and all of them looked like they might not survive the night if not fed. The kits mewled in the night air, curling up against the Sunclan warrior that laid beside them to offer shelter in the cold night air. The four leaders looked amongst themselves. The sleek white tom hissed, looking away.
"Hillclan won't take any of them! Starclan abandonded them and I refuse to allow such a curse to fall on my clan!" He spat. With that he padded off, yowling at the surrounding warriors. A fourth of the warriors broke off and joined the tom as they ran off towards the hills. The three remaining leaders looked among themselves again.
"I can take one of the kits. If any of the warriors wish to join me they can. Make no mistake, if you are found to be traitorous in any way to my clan, I will run you out personally." The massive brown she-cat said. She went to the kits and grabbed one at random and saw one of the three warriors slowly break from the group and approach her. His fur was thin and his ribs obvious, but his eyes were clear.
"I will stay with my daughter. I already lost her mother to famine." His mewl was weak and hoarse. The massive she-cat nodded, and gave the kit to the thick furred warrior that had sheltered the kits. With a yowl, she and her warriors left.
The speckled grey she-cat walked over to the remaining three kits and took two with her clan. Of the two remaining warriors, neither joined her. The remaining leader had one of his warriors collect the remaining kit and he silently wondered if it would even survive the night with how small and starved it looked. He looked to the remaining two warriors, their bodies so thin and their fur scrappy from malnutrition.
"Will you join us, or take your chances as loners?" He asked. The two remaining warriors looked between each other, one hacking suddenly. In that moment the leader understood, and none of his clan stopped the two as they laid beside their fallen leader, their nosses touching her pelt.
He allowed those who wished to return to camp, and asked that the kit be given to the queens. He sat a little ways away from the two warriors and their fallen leader, joined by a few of his own warriors as they stood a silent vigil for the fallen clan and the fallen leader.
By sunrise he and his remaining warriors left for camp.
He mourned the two loyal warriors that will forever stand vigil over their fallen leader, though all three bodies were now cold.