Another Challenge Forum songfic! I've got so many to write! This is inspired by the song In The End by Linkin Park. Hope you enjoy.
I Had To Fall… But Why Did You Fall Also?
"It starts with one. One thing I don't know why. It doesn't even matter how hard you try."
The apprentice paced in front of the apprentices' den, repeating the same three phrases over and over. Then he asked himself, "Why won't Bluestar make us warriors! She made that dumb kittypet Cloudtail a warrior!" A ginger-and-white apprentice took a step closer, about to try to comfort him, but was stopped as he growled, "If we get that thing in the forest, Bluestar will HAVE to notice! She'll make us warriors for sure!"
The she-cat sat back down and looked at the other apprentices. A brown tabby. A tom and a she-cat that looked nearly the same – gray with darker flecks. Then she looked back to the one planning on fighting the thing. "Swiftpaw…"
He glared at the she-cat and asked, "Brightpaw? You with me? What about you, Ashpaw? Fernpaw?" All but the ginger-and-white she-cat shook their heads.
The gray she-cat meowed, "You'll get killed! What if it's a big badger or a fox or something like that!"
The black-and-white tom boasted, "Then I'll flay it!"
Ashpaw butted in and asked the ginger apprentice, "Don't tell me YOU'RE going with him! It's mouse-brained!"
The brown tom pleaded, "Please don't Brightpaw."
She hung her head slightly and mumbled, "I'm sorry Ashpaw. Thornpaw. But how much longer can an apprentice wait? I have to go with him…"
Swiftpaw glared at the other three apprentices and told them, "You three are just too weak. We'll show you when we become warriors and heroes!" And with a growl of contempt he turned away without a second thought.
The ginger she-cat cast one last, nearly sorrowful look, as if she already knew what was to become of her, and she mouthed, 'I can't let him go alone…' before following the black-splotched shape quickly disappearing into the shadows of the tunnel.
"You smell that?"
"What? The REEK of dog?"
The two bi-colored apprentices sat at the base of Snakerocks, their fur on end and their eyes wide in fear. The black-and-white tom opened his mouth; ready to admit the idea was mouse-brained, when suddenly a huge gray beast lunged from a cave at the cats. Both immediately jumped to their paws and turned to run, but it was in vain. They quickly realized it wasn't a single foe. But many. A whole group of dogs. And, nearly deafeningly, they all cried, "Pack, Pack! Kill, Kill!"
Swiftpaw, with a cry forced out from pure fear and adrenaline, leaped at the first slavering beast. It yelped in pain as his claws dug deep into its face and his teeth sunk into its ear. He turned his head to see Brightpaw and sighed with relief when he saw her fighting another of the dogs, currently unharmed. But that sigh was interrupted by a sharp cry of pain from his own muzzle as another dog clamped its teeth into his back and flung him into the rocks. Brightpaw whirled around and gave a yelp of horror when she saw Swiftpaw, already bloodied, and she herself gave an eerie wail of torture as another dog picked her up, this one grabbing her by the head, and flung her away. When she landed there was only a bloody hole where her eye had been. And her ear was in tatters.
"We can't face them!" she yowled. Her remaining good eye shone with fear as she jumped out of the way of a charging dog only to run into the heavy claws of another. The second dog flung her out of the way, leaving deep scars in her side.
Swiftpaw glanced back at Brightpaw and dashed towards her. She didn't get up, even when he called her name. He shot past the dogs and quickly reached the other apprentice.
Now he glared into the amber gaze of the beast. His back was arched, and under him was Brightpaw. The tip of his tail lashed feverishly as the group of dogs circled the weakened pair of cats, one unconscious and the other barely clinging to awareness.
"Please wake up, Brightpaw," The tom whispered. Of course, she didn't even twitch. The only proof she was alive was the faint rise and fall of her chest.
"I tried so hard, and got so far. But in the end it doesn't even matter," the tom whispered. "I had to fall to lose it all. But in the end it doesn't even matter." His claws dug furrows into the ground, but despite Swiftpaw's rage, a single tear fell down his face. He added, "But why did you fall as well…?"
The dogs kept circling, crying out, "Pack, Pack! Kill, Kill!" That was all they seemed able to say.
He knew that if he waited too long they would attack him first and Brightpaw wouldn't stand a chance. So, crouching as low as he could while standing over Brightpaw, Swiftpaw sprang at the nearest dog.
That very instant, though, Brightpaw's eyes flickered open for a moment. But that brief heartbeat of consciousness was long enough to realize what the other apprentice was doing. It was long enough for her to scream in fear, "Swiftpaw!" But the blood still pouring from her wounds dragged her back into the foggy blackness.
Swiftpaw glanced back at the she-cat for less than a moment before returning to the dog he was facing. He landed one more solid blow on its ear, sending it reeling and whimpering from the sudden pain. Then he sprang off of it and onto another dog. He just barely missed ripping its eyes out, stopped by excruciating pain in his tail. He was dragged down to the ground as one of the dogs bit his tail. He didn't last long after that. For a moment all there was, was a mass of wrestling dogs surrounding where Swiftpaw had been. Then, so caught up in the argument over which should get the creature – the new prey – the dogs edged away from the black-and-white figure.
No breath stirred his chest; no fire gleamed in his eyes as it had moments before. Teeth were still bared and claws still ready like just before he had begun the futile attempt. His throat was nothing but ribbon. His chest looked as though one of the dogs had stepped on it, which one might very well have done so, much thinner and ragged than before his attack. His tail, from the dog that had dragged him down, was almost disgusting to look at. There was no chance he could've survived the dogs.
But, right beside the still figure, was a silhouette that looked just like Swiftpaw.
"What happened?" it asked no one in particular. Its eyes swept the clearing until it reached Brightpaw's still form. Jumping to its paws it jumped over Swiftpaw's body and stopped just before reaching the apprentice. "Brightpaw…" it whispered, crouching down next to the she-cat. There was just barely any breath left in her body, and the starlit figure thought for sure she would die. It touched its nose to her forehead and he whispered, "I've put my trust in you, pushed as far as I can go. For all this there's only one thing you should know. I tried so hard, and got so far. But in the end it doesn't even matter. I had to fall to lose it all. But in the end it doesn't even matter…" A few stray tears fell from his eyes onto the ground, though they left no mark. He added only a pawful of extra words, repeating himself from before. "But why did you fall as well…?"