PROLOGUE
A huge black-and-white tomcat
stood over a whimpering golden tabby she-cat. The she-cat seemed so small and weak at that moment that she looked like a kit. Meanwhile, the tom had his claws unsheathed right over the tabby's neck, ready to kill.
After MoonClan, the Clan that the she-cat was from, had lost their now former leader Sparrowstar, Icestar, this she-cat, had taken over the leadership. Icestar had eight of her lives still yet she looked like a dying elder.
Currently MoonClan was in a battle with rogues, ever since they came to invade the Clans and try to kill all their wariors. EagleClan was already taken down; now StormClan was next after MoonClan was defeated, at least in the rogues' opinions.
There were only four of the rogues, but each one was vicious. Their names were Marty, the black-and-white tom about to kill Icestar, Cody, Lucy, and George.
Icestar wriggled in Marty's tight grip and strained to see where her deputy Ivyfrost was.
The long-haired white she-cat was struggling under yet another black-and-white figure. For a moment the MoonClan leader thought that Marty had moved on from her and she was already dying. But then she realized that Ivyfrost was being attacked by Cody, who had one brown ear. The evil tom flicked a brown ear as Icestar realized this.
"Say good-bye to your Clan," Marty snarled in Icestar's face, the only expression on his face a smirky grin. Marty, who was the leader of the rogues, was in a bad mood from losing against EagleClan, so ever since he heard of the other two Clans, the horrible tom had plotted to kill the rest of the Clan cats so EagleClan was left on their own. That'll show them!
"No!" Icestar cried, but it was too late. She watched as her deputy was cruelly slaughtered by Cody. But then suddenly everything started to fade…then everything was black.
The MoonClan leader was dying.
Seven lives, six lives, five lives, four lives, three lives, two lives…each time Icestar opened her eyes again, Marty dug his claws into her neck, killing her yet again. By the time that Icestar was fully dead, Marty's claws were sticky with blood and full of golden tabby fur.
As for Icestar, well, she was off to StarClan now. So much blood had been spilled from her tiny body that all of her pelt was stained scarlet, and her quick-drying blood was already making her fur stiff. Now that her fur was completely red, it looked as if that had been Icestar's original pelt color.
She was…dead.
The sound of sixteen paws trampling over the bloody battlefield pounded in Goldenfeather's ears as she sat, panting, in a puddle of her own blood. The she-cat's long golden fur was drenched with rain and spattered with blood. Her fur was spiked up and quickly drying, though now that it was raining, it was starting to wash off the blood and become wet again.
The she-cat couldn't believe what had happened.
Her usually bushy and happy tail was down and quickly soaking up the rainwater and blood, not repelling it away, not streaming off her pelt like it was for the warrior Ashfoot.
Goldenfeather hated having her fur wet.
Her gaze scanned the clearing. Her Clan was ruined! Bodies lay everywhere, and each time she recognized yet another beloved fallen warrior grief pierced her heart. But then her pale green eyes rested on two more familiar bodies of she-cats. She gasped. Icestar and Ivyfrost, the leader and deputy!
Goldenfeather rushed over. It was hard for her to look at the two she-cats' drenched bodies, drenched with blood and rain. Another cat padded up to her, and Goldenfeather turned. It was Lightshade, a nice fellow warrior of hers.
"It's horrible, isn't it?" he murmured, suddenly burying his muzzle into her long, soaked fur.
"Er, yes, it is," Goldenfeather replied, staring at the white tom for a moment. Why is he…doing that? I already have a mate!She wondered to herself.
Just then a gray tom began to push himself through the crowd until he came to Goldenfeather and Lightshade. "Can you two please help me carry Icestar and Ivyfrost's bodies?" Goldenfeather and Lightshade nodded, avoiding disobeying the senior warrior.
Yet Lightshade then cracked a grin and chuckled, "Are you sure? It might hurt my paw even more." The three cats turned and looked down to glance at the white warrior's front left paw, which was twisted slightly.
But Ashfoot was serious. "Do you want me to find another cat?" He narrowed his icy blue eyes to thin slits. "Oh, no, Ashfoot, I'm fine."
Goldenfeather snorted then helped Lightshade lift Icestar's body onto Ashfoot's back. Another warrior, Cloudflower, supported Icestar's head, which hung off of the gray tom's back awkwardly, as if she were a dead piece of fresh-kill. Cloudflower, a white she-cat, muttered under her breath, "I knew that one of 'em should have stayed back,"
Goldenfeather suspected that she meant Icestar and Ivyfrost. She then lifted Ivyfrost onto Lightshade's back, who commenced to limp back to camp. Goldenfeather felt so sad to see the deputy, or, formerdeputy, so limp. She held up the dead she-cat's dangling head, having a hard time keeping up with Lightshade's surprisingly fast speed. She hoped that he wasn't being too hard on his foot.
Thanking StarClan that her mate, Pineclaw, wasn't in the battle, before she knew it they were already back in camp. The two warriors that had stayed back and the queens, kits, and elders gasped as their bloody, wet Clanmates limped into camp. Pineclaw was luckily one of the two warriors who had stayed back, along with Snowleaf. He rushed over to Goldenfeather, who continued to support Ivyfrost's head until Lightshade proclaimed that he didn't need any more help.
"Are you okay?" Pineclaw cried, quickly licking down Goldenfeather's pelt, cleaning of any more excess blood.
Goldenfeather purred at her mate's nervousness. "Yes, I'm fine," She then turned to Icestar and Ivyfrost, who were being lowered down to the ground in the middle of the MoonClan clearing. "But I'm afraid that not every other cat is."
Pineclaw bit his lip and slowly walked over to the bodies of his former leader and deputy, staring with unmoving light green eyes. Goldenfeather walked up beside him.
"I know, it's horrible."
Pineclaw continued to stare in disbelief. "How can it be?" Icestar had eightlives left…"
All Goldenfeather could do was just shake her head. "I know, I know…"