A/N: Hello, everyone! Beowulf's Spirit here with something absolutely lovely….. A CHALLENGE! For the first time in life, I'm actually accepting a challenge! Except for that one time in first grade, when I was dared to kiss…. (Tigerstripe: Okay, maybe you don't need to share so much vivid details. But, the challenge is..) The challenge is to write 100 one-shots with various themes! As some of you might know (*hint, hint* Cocoa *hint, hint*), I love to write one-shots especially with themes! So, the first one is… *checks Prin's beginning chapter* Injured! Ooh, sounds fierce…. So, let's go write this one-shot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors! The Erin Hunters do and if you have not noticed, I am unfortunately not an Erin Hunter. I'm not a unicorn either.

100 One-Shots Challenge; Challenge By: Prin Pardus

Injured

The stink of death hung heavily in the air. Countless bodies lay littered along the grassy clearing, blood still oozing from their wounds. But a cat stirred on the battlefield. This one cat was the only one alive.

It had started as a normal morning for Hollypaw. She had woken up at dawn as always to watch the sun rise. Her mentor, Swiftclaw had found her in her favorite spot in the clearing near the top of the stone hollow. Swiftclaw didn't appreciate her daydreaming up here when she should be in camp listening to the deputy, but he let her go for this time. This would be the last time he would ever greet her in that clearing.

Hollypaw followed the muscular sandy brown tom back into camp and listened to Redheart calling out patrols. But she yearned for adventure this morning and was glad when she was assigned to the dawn patrol along with Ivysky, Willowdapple, and Sparrowleap and Willowdapple's apprentice, Sorrelpaw.

While the four warriors conversed quietly at the front of the patrol, Sorrelpaw and Hollypaw chattered like birds. Soon, they found that they had lagged behind the patrol so far that the older warriors were nowhere in sight. Sorrelpaw sighed and the two sat down on the wide root of a maple for a rest.

Soon, Hollypaw got bored and offered to play "Truth or Dare". Sorrelpaw eagerly accepted, her eyes shining like she had thousands of dares in her mind yowling at her. Hollypaw began.

"Truth or dare," she questioned, looking Sorrelpaw straight in the face. The lithe brown tabby apprentice laughed and slapped a paw on the ground. "Dare, of course!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, tail lashing and waiting for the dare to be thrown on her.

Hollypaw frowned. She had been hoping for a truth, but this was the best she could get. She smiled and mewed, "I dare you to run up to Willowdapple and say, 'You old cats are slow! Need a trip to the elders' den?'" The dark brown she-cat snorted with laughter, while Sorrelpaw looked down at her paws with embarrassment. "Could you give me another one?" she asked slowly.

"Hah! I knew it!" Hollypaw jumped up and swished her tail in Sorrelpaw's direction, pointing it out to no one in particular. "You're a scaredy cat! Sorrelpaw's a scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat!"

Sorrelpaw responded with a frustrated hiss and she lashed her tail. "Well, if you're quite finished," she meowed sullenly. "I'd like to place this pressure on you: Truth or dare?"

Hollypaw went silent for a moment then replied, "Truth!" Sorrelpaw unsheathed her claws and worked them in and out of the bark of the tree root. She then looked up, a bright, mischievous look in her eyes. "What would you do first if your Clanmates were caught in a deadly situation?"

Hollypaw slowly contemplated the information then nodded as if she had made a decision mentally. "I would save the first cat I saw in peril," she meowed. Sorrelpaw mewed slyly. "But if you could imagine who was in peril, who would you save?"

The light brown apprentice cupped her paw over her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter. Hollypaw frowned, knowing Sorrelpaw was hinting at the slight crush she had on Ashpaw. "My mother and my siblings," she mewed honestly, drawing herself up straight.

"No, but seriously," Sorrelpaw meowed, looking up at the canopy of leaves above her head with a faraway look in her eyes. "What if our Clan was put in a deadly situation?" Hollypaw looked at her best friend, her green eyes warm.

"I doubt that time will come soon," she meowed, looking up at the branches as well. "Our Clan is alive and well and the prey is coming in faster than you can say mouse." She laughed at her light-hearted joke, but Sorrelpaw's eyes remained fixed on the great beyond.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting shriek cut through the still air, surprising Hollypaw and snapping Sorrelpaw out of her trance. They both looked at each other and Sorrelpaw exclaimed, "That sounded like Sparrowleap!"

The two apprentices sprinted through the forest like lightning and quickly, they found themselves on a slight hill looking down upon the grassy clearing that Firestar, an ancient leader of the past had given to ShadowClan once, but taken back.

The scene below shocked them. Sparrowleap was dead, deep claw marks scored directly on his throat. Blood flowed like a river from his stomach, which had been slashed mercilessly several times and his jaws were open, letting out a now silent shriek they had heard on the maple root.

In front of the patrol stood a multitude of unfamiliar cats, all of them staring silently at the Clan cats. Hollypaw stiffened when she saw blood on their leader's paws and how he delicately stepped over Sparrowleap's lifeless form.

She ran down the side of the hill and up to the patrol. Swiftclaw turned around with an angered look on his face. "Hollypaw!" he erupted, flinging himself forward with his claws unsheathed. Hollypaw braced herself for the sting of his long claws, but did not feel them.

She looked up and saw that Swiftclaw was walking forward, his powerful shoulders shifting from side to side. He glared at the unknown cats' leader and began to speak.

Hollypaw took the time while Swiftclaw was speaking to study the cats' leader. He was as powerful as Swiftclaw, with a sleek, dark grey pelt and stormy dark blue eyes that seemed to glow with an evil light. His cruel-looking black, shiny claws were permanently stained with blood at the tips and when the tom grinned, Hollypaw could see that his upper teeth cut into the side of his jaw, making the appearance that his mouth was gurgling with blood.

Hollypaw nearly vomited at his disgusting looks, but even more so when he spoke. It was dark and rich, yet it seemed to her like ice. It cracked in the oddest of moments and when he made a stinging retort, the blood from the side of his jaw would slap against his teeth and his tone would be that of a demon.

Now, the tom lifted his head proudly, revealing a deep, horrid scar that was stained bright red from seasons of merciless unneeded death. "I was but a simple kittypet," the cat hissed grimly. "But when I was abandoned, I learned the true taste of victory: innocent blood. That's where I get my name, you fools: Stormblood."

The tom then attacked with the force of LionClan, raking his crimson-tipped claws down across Swiftclaw's face until he finally reached his throat. Stormblood looked up from the warrior's neck, his dark blue eyes insanely wild. "It's time for revenge, Swiftpaw!"

Then Stormblood's claws sank deep into Swiftclaw's throat, cackling with laughter. "Attack, StormClan, attack!" Stormblood's followers surged forward, attacking the small patrol. Swiftclaw dropped dead, his amber eyes never to see anything ever again.

Hollypaw let out a wail and rushed to her mentor's side. She felt herself choking on tears and her vision went blurry. She looked up at Sorrelpaw, who stood dumbstruck. "Go and get help, you mouse-brain!" she yowled.

Sorrelpaw nodded and immediately retreated into the shadows of the forest. She held on to Swiftclaw like he was her life. She lifted her head to look Stormblood in the eye and his malicious eyes churned with a deep depth of revenge finally earned.

Now, Hollypaw was the one who needed to feel vengeful toward this tom. She padded forward, her green eyes narrowed with hate. She would get Stormblood back if it was the last thing she would ever do.

The battle rushed past like a blur. Hollypaw was hardly conscious of claws swiping at her sides. She remembered a night black tom wrestling with her and wounding her viciously. Her cheek was permanently scarred now and Hollypaw took that as a token to show how bravely she fought.

The dark brown she-cat finally escaped from the tom's grasp, unsheathing her claws and raking them across his neck. The older cat stopped in his tracks and began to breathe heavily. Suddenly, the black tom started writhing on the floor, restricted of air and slowly dying.

Hollypaw smiled grimly then padded toward Stormblood who was sitting calmly at the edge of the battlefield, watching StormClan and ThunderClan go at each other. The tom looked surprised as if he expected her to be dead then gestured with his dark grey tail to a soft spot of grass next to him.

Hollypaw gazed into the vengeful chips of ice that were Stormblood's eyes and smartly decided to sit in front of the untrusted tom. "Young one, I see that you may be wondering why I killed Swiftpaw-"

"Swiftclaw," she interrupted fiercely. Stormblood dipped his head in an uncharacteristic politeness. Hollypaw narrowed her eyes. "Yes, Swiftclaw," he mewed quickly. "Well, the truth is that I was only getting him back for the pain he had dealt to me."

"What?!" the dark brown apprentice hissed, springing up and swiping across the tom's cheek fiercely with her claws. But Stormblood remained calm, staring coldly right through her. "Swiftclaw hurt me when I was but a simple kit," he answered through clenched teeth. "I knew nothing at the time except that I was weak, small, and no use to this world. I do value your mentor for something. He taught me that if I wanted revenge, I would get it no matter what obstacles I would face." He laughed a harsh, maniacal chuckle that ripped through the air like claws. "Now, I have one more obstacle left. The witness of my story, the last survivor."

Before Hollypaw could protest, Stormblood leaped forward and caught her in a death-lock. His paws were gripped around her neck and she struggled to breathe. Stormblood was about to win when Hollypaw was flashed back to a moment of her training.

"If you're caught in a death-lock," Swiftclaw had explained. "Don't struggle; it will only make you weaker and your opponent grip tighter. Pretend to weaken and fall limp in your opponent's paws. They'll think you're dead and they'll relax. Then explode upwards when they've relaxed enough and give them a blow that they'll remember forever." Hollypaw narrowed her eyes. For Swiftclaw, for Sorrelpaw, for Willowdapple, for Ivysky, for Sparrowleap, FOR MY CLAN!

Hollypaw went limp in Stormblood's death-lock. "There, little apprentice," he whispered softly. "Go run up to your supposed StarClan." The dark brown she-cat waited a few moments then focused all her strength into her forepaws. She bunched her muscles then leaped, opening her eyes to see Stormblood's eyes stretching wide with surprise. Hollypaw let out a wordless shriek and slashed her claws across the dreadful tom's throat, ending him once and for all.

Stormblood hissed then fell with a thump. Hollypaw limped over to him and leaned her face in close next to his. "'Go run up to your supposed StarClan'," she whispered mockingly. "No, I think you're far too bad for StarClan. So, go now to the Dark Forest." Stormblood opened his mouth to let out a yowl of protest but at that moment, he was gone.

Hollypaw suddenly felt all the wounds burning on her pelt. Her muscles screamed in protest against moving, but she couldn't die next to Stormblood. She padded weakly over to a spot near the middle of the battlefield. She dropped on the grass and felt blackness covering her vision then she drifted into unconsciousness.

Hollypaw woke to the sounds of birds chirping. She stretched her legs out, expecting to feel a soft mossy nest that she slept in every night. But instead, she felt an unfamiliar rough pelt. She opened her eyes reluctantly, only to be faced with giant, glassy yellow eyes completely unlike Sorrelpaw's.

She jumped up with a quiet shriek. Then she realized where she was. She remembered how she had defeated Stormblood and destroyed the rogue group once and for all. Suddenly, she saw the shadow of a group of cats stretching across the battlefield.

She was about to let out a cry to show them that she was still alive when suddenly, a cloak of darkness fell over her eyes and she could not see nor hear any longer.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Is she alive?" A pained whisper sounded beside Hollypaw's ear, making her twitch it in frustration. Wait, I can hear? Slowly, Hollypaw opened her eyes and she saw Sorrelpaw sitting beside her, her dark eyes concerned. "She's alive!" Sorrelpaw cried out, joy flickering in her gaze. "What?" Hollypaw mumbled.

Sorrelpaw ran out of the den to get the medicine cat, Nightshade to come in. The quiet black she-cat worked silently on her wounds, fixing on more cobwebs and a few more poultices. "You have a severe injury, Hollypaw," she mewed softly. "One of your back legs is paralyzed due to a cut off nerve. You probably won't be able to become a warrior." Hollypaw's eyes widened.

All that training for nothing! She shook her head vigorously. "No, whatever you do, don't make me part of your boring medicine cat work," she meowed firmly. Nightshade shrugged and padded off calmly. "We'll see," she said over her shoulder and Hollypaw swore she saw a faint wicked smile playing across her lips.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoO

Hollypaw's muscles strained to work as she lifted herself off the ground with her front legs. But it was no use. Even after several moons of training, she still couldn't balance herself on her back legs, making her useless. Dumb paralyzed leg! Hollypaw wondered angrily why StarClan would allow her to have an injury like this.

But it was official. Flamestar was making Hollypaw apprentice to Nightshade and the dark brown she-cat wasn't so sure she trusted the medicine cat. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw something terribly evil in the cat's gaze.

She sighed. She turned toward the black she-cat and again, that faint smile fixed herself on her face. "Well, then," Nightshade mewed. "Let's start training, shall we?"

Eh, wasn't my best work though I do like the ending. Maybe, Nightshade was evil, maybe she wasn't. I wonder what will happen to little Hollypaw with her paralyzed leg. Kind of based her off of Briarlight, but her leg wasn't crushed by a tree. Oh, no, no, no! Her leg was just kind of torn up during the battle, some cat's claw hit a nerve or something, and it cut off all stimulation from the brain to her leg. So…. Yep, only one leg works and that doesn't even serve her well. She's like Cinderpelt except Cinderpelt could actually limp. Briarlight could drag herself around. But Hollypaw's pretty much useless. Should've made it a tragedy with the Clan tossing her out to the foxes and ending with her ripping her apart. Eh, we can't do things sometimes. Why is this author's note so long?