(WELCOME TO MY BOOK OF CHALLENGES.)
Challenge: Return of the Lost Leader
Who are you writing for, DNACAT (:3): BunnyClan
BEGIN!
Lionpaw stared up at Lightwhisker, mortified.
Sunstar was dead?! His own father?! Then it hit him. Who had Sunstar walked out of camp with only a day ago? Which cats did all know desired to be leader? Lightwhisker.
"T-That fox-heart!" Lionpaw shook with fury. How could Lightwhisker do such a thing? His own uncle!
"I came to the clearing, only moments after going in search of fresh-kill. He was dead, lying there dead." Lightwhisker sighed and turned to stare at Needlefur, "Needlefur, I shall come with you and Nutheart to go to the moon stone."
Needlefur nodded, and Nutheart crawled out of her den, some of her cheek fur flat because of tears.
Lionpaw glared at Lightwhisker as the dark golden tabby tom left the camp.
Lionpaw saw the look in those emerald green eyes. He knew that it was that of a sadistic killer.
"I can't stay here. But yet, I have to tell Darkpaw." Lionpaw turned and retreated to the apprentice's den.
"Darkpaw?" Lionpaw whispered as he saw the dark fur of Darkpaw passing the den.
"Lionpaw!" Darkpaw cried as she entered the den, "Are you okay? I know it must hurt."
"It hurts, Darkpaw." Lionpaw drew in a breath as he stared into the pale green eyes of the pretty black she-cat, "So much that I'm leaving."
"What?!" Darkpaw exclaimed, her eyes going blank with hate and confusion, "Lionpaw, you promised me! Y-You promised to be mates! You promised me your life!"
"I know I did, Darkpaw. But I have reasons, I promise." Lionpaw sighed as he hung his head, "I love you, Darkpaw. I have never felt this strongly about someone before, but I can't..."
Darkpaw turned away from him, scowling and growling, "Just go Lionpaw!"
Lionpaw stared at her, tears forming in his eye, "Darkpaw, I'm staying here for one day. D-Do you want to go to the stream?"
Darkpaw glared at him, but let out an obviously held in breath, "Fine."
Lionpaw and Darkpaw left camp, the black she-cats head resting on the broad-shouldered golden tom's shoulder.
Lionpaw gave Darkpaw a loving lick, "I'll miss you."
"I swear, Lionpaw. I'll wait, I'll wait for StarClan if I have to. I'll never love any tomcat over you." Darkpaw promised her sweetheart, feeling his warm breath on her ear.
Darkpaw lay down on the overhang by the stream, sighing. Lionpaw lay beside her, watching the stream as he remembered all the great memories he, his father, Darkpaw and his brother – Eaglepaw – had shared here together. But he was going to have to leave that all behind that, to leave his clan.
His heart ached as he locked eyes with Darkpaw. He was going to leave the cat he loved behind, all to escape Lightwhisker.
"You're pathetic." He thought to himself, sighing.
"Lionpaw, why do you have to go?" Darkpaw asked him, her pale green eyes glowing with misery.
"Darkpaw, if I could tell you, I would. But, because you are such a fantastic apprentice, and you would be a great loss to the clan, I cannot tell you." Lionpaw nuzzled her.
"Why are you so secretive?" Darkpaw hissed at him, but love shone in her eyes.
"Because, I can be." Lionpaw countered, cuffing her over the ears.
_/ZEE ULTIMATE TIMESKIP\_
All cats gasped.
"Where's Needlefur?" One cat wailed as Lightwhisker padded into the clearing.
"Dead." Lightwhisker replied bluntly, "And I am Lightstar!"
All cats went silent, as four cats made their way to the inner circle of the crowds.
"Leafstorm?! You were part of this!" A voice hissed at one of the russet brown toms.
"Proud of me Petalfur?" Leafstorm sneered.
"Needlefur was weak! I challenged him for leadership, and he barely hurt me!" Lightstar bragged, and he turned to Lionpaw, "But we have one more weakness in the clan." He leaped down and padded up to Lionpaw, growling and fur bristling, "Lionpaw, the eldest son of my weak, cowardly brother, lives on. I wish to banish him, so the weakness may not spread!"
The four cays turned on him. "Oh StarClan!" Lionpaw turned and fled as he heard caterwauls and wails behind him.
"KILL HIM!" One of the four cats screeched as he left camp.
"Lionpaw!" He heard Darkpaw yowl, but he couldn't stop. Not when bared claws and unsheathed claws were chasing him hungrily. They were thirsty for his blood, hungry for the taste of his fur.
"If you see me, father. Help me, now." Lionpaw prayed to himself as he bolted through the forest.
A sudden feeling of warmth encouraged him to go further. To run faster than WindClan. To know the territory better than his own father had.
"Run, coward." He heard the bitter voice of Wolfcry yowl at him as he crossed the border into no-cats-land.
Lionpaw gave one last look over his shoulder as he spotted the four cats staring him down.
"Don't ever come back, Lionpaw!" Lizardfang growled at him, before all four cats left to return to Lightstar.
"Goodbye, Darkpaw, Eaglepaw, Silverwhisker and ThunderClan." Lionpaw sighed as he stalked away from the forest of ThunderClan.
Tears gathered in his eyes as he continued on.
/LINE\
It had been at least fourteen moons since he had left ThunderClan.
He had heard news. That ThunderClan was in chaos. Cats were starving, they had said, they hunted out of their own territory.
Well, not only ThunderClan was in chaos. More like the whole forest. Lionpaw had heard ShadowClan and RiverClan attacked each-other's borders night and day, and WindClan were beginning to gnaw away at some of the RiverClan border as ThunderClan began to take their territory.
But he couldn't care less. He had met four of his best friends. Nita, Scar, Louis and Rex.
Nita was a beautiful tortoise-shell she-cat with dazzling green eyes the shade of a leaf.
Scar was a big, bulky dark brown tom with sky blue eyes and a long scar from the top of his eye to his under-muzzle.
Louis, the mate of Nita, was a timid but muscled golden-brown tom with amber eyes. He was almost identical to Lion.
And Rex. The 'leader' of the group. He was the proud and strong-willed tom who fought for everything he saw right. He was a tall and broad-shouldered black tom with dark green eyes.
All of them were the best of friends that Lion had ever had.
"You found anything, Lion?" He heard Nita call to him, her voice as a sweet as the honey in which bees made.
"I found a hare, must've strayed from the hill-climbers territory." Lion called back to her, as he pawed his hare.
The 'hill-climbers' were WindClan, but of course, being rogues, the others had no idea they were actually called 'WindClan', so Rex decided upon their name; hill climbers.
ShadowClan were Pine Eaters.
And RiverClan were Fish Swimmers.
ThunderClan were referred to as 'ThunderClan' because, of course, Lion had told them where he was from.
"Good, we'll be eating for once." Nita appeared with a plump cardinal in her mouth.
Lion nodded to her, as he picked up the hare as they began to leave the clearing.
"Hey, Lion?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever miss ThunderClan?"
"Sometimes. I miss Darkpaw, she was my sweetheart, until I had to leave."
"Oh, that must suck."
"It does, I really miss her, Nita. She made me feel like a hero."
"You really loved her didn't you?"
"Yes, I did." Lion sighed through the fur of the hare.
Nita hung her head, taking this all in, "Hey, why don't you just go back?"
"Because Lightstar would kill me."
"Not if you kill him first." Nita snorted with amusement, "Come on, Lion, he's no match for you."
"But you g-"
"You know you want to be back with this, 'Darkpaw', not with us." Nita rolled her eyes as Lion looked taken aback, "But, if you want, we can always come and help."
"Really?" Lionpaw stared at her with admiration, "You would take on the biggest threat I have ever known, for me?"
"ThunderClan have posed a real threat since they started leaving their own territory to hunt." Nita shrugged, "They've been taking our prey, no questions asked."
Lion gave Nita friendly lick, "Thank you, Nita."
Nita smiled at him and they returned to the groups 'camp'.
"Nita, are you really asking to risk our lives?" Rex asked her, as Louis padded up to stand by Nita's side.
"If Nita is going to go stand to help ThunderClan, I will too." Louis nodded to his mate who stared at him lovingly.
"Where do you stand, Scar?" Rex asked his brother, who stared at the two sides.
"Too be honest, Rex. It's either let them steal prey, or make a stand against their 'leader'." Lion smiled gratefully at Scar, who nodded respectfully.
"Fine, then. We go tonight." Rex grumbled as he turned and fled to his den.
/LINE\
The night was as cold as the heart of Lightstar, as the group of cats left the clearing.
Scar eyes were shining with anticipation as they stalked through the grass. Only Louis's and Lion's pelts stood out in the night air as they approached the ThunderClan border.
"Well, are we ready?" Rex turned and looked at all his cats with worry, but pride, shining in his eyes.
All cats nodded, staying silent with the tension of battle.
As they crossed the border, a twig snapped ahead of them.
"Great, we're dead already." Lion heard Louis snarl under his breath, and turned to glare at the other tom.
"Who are you, what are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" He heard that deep but sweet voice hiss at them.
Lion took a step past Rex, "Is that you, Darkpaw?"
"How do you know my name?" He heard her voice spit at him, but it was softer and not as aggressive as the first time.
"Because I know we used to lay by the river and share tongues." Lion replied, smiling into the shadows.
"L-Lionpaw?" He heard the rasp of a reply, as a black she-cat approached. Her silver stripe on her shoulders stood out in the night as it glowed beautifully.
"Darkpaw." Lion beamed at her, "You remember me!"
"How could I forget?" Darkpaw smiled at him, "And also, my name is Darkfur now."
Lion nuzzled her, but she pulled away.
"Why did you have to run away? Lightstar has sent us into chaos. He kills anyone who challenges him, and now we starve every night." Darkfur snarled at him, glaring at his group of cats, "And why did you choose to come back now?"
"My friend told me to come back." Lion flicked his tail towards Nita.
"So you found yourself a mate, instead of me?" Darkfur snapped at him.
"No! Nita is a friend. And her mate is Louis." Lion indicated to Louis and Nita, who both let their fur brush, as Louis comforted his mate.
Darkfur scoffed at him, "Anyway, why are you back here?"
"Because I can't leave ThunderClan to be destroyed, no cat knows what Lightstar did to siege control. He probably murdered Needlefur in cold blood, not 'fought him to see who would be leader'." Lion took in a deep breath, "He killed my father, Darkfur."
"What?! Why didn't you say!" Darkfur gasped at him, mortified that her powerful leader had killed his own kin.
"Because, you would be too great a loss to ThunderClan." Lion smiled at Darkfur, "But now, I am here to reclaim leadership and to avenge my father."
"You still know the territory?"
"As Sharpfang once said, if you know the Sky-Oak you know the territory." Darkfur nodded and turned.
"Save them, Lion." She mewed before she bounded off, probably to find a patrol.
Lion watched her go, heart pounding.
"Darkfur seems…snappy." He turned to see Scar smiling at him. This was weird to Lion. Scar rarely smiled, so he must have done something to delight him.
"She's just upset I, the ever so handsome tom, left her." Lion smirked at his friend, putting on a mock bragging voice.
"Oh really?" Scar scoffed at him, rolling his eyes.
"Stop joking, we have to move." Rex snapped at them and lashed his tail in Lion's direction, "You lead."
Lion guided his friends through the territory, as they all flinched at the battle pained yowls of cats in the distance.
"Are there seriously fights going on twenty four seven?" Lion thought to himself, mortified.
"Are the clans usually this…bloodthirsty?" Louis asked Lion, lowering his ears as a long yowl rang out across the forest.
"No, Lightstar has done something to my clan. The clans used to be at peace." Lion replied firmly, not wishing for his friends to think of the clans so cruelly.
"Hush!" Nita hissed as they began to approach the camp.
"Scar, you're the darkest here, go seek, yowl if it's okay to attack." Rex ordered as Scar nodded and dashed off.
"Are we ready?" Rex whispered to his group of cats as Scar left them.
"I take Lightstar, understand?"
"Fine, Lion." Rex hissed at him and turned to his group, "When we attack, if you spot any kits and their mothers, leave them out of this? Announce that 'you are here for Lightstar'."
"If we do so, Rex, none shall attack us other than Lightstar's posse." Lion explained, "So anyone who seems to back away, leave them out of this as well."
"While we distract all of Lightstar's posse, you go up and face him, okay?" Rex ordered as a loud call sounded in the camp.
"Cats of ThunderClan, can all of group one prepare to take over the ShadowClan border fight?!" Lion heard Lightstar call out.
Cats began to mumble and shuffling of paws indicated whoever was 'group one' was preparing to go fight.
Scar returned precisely at that moment, "There's hardly any of them there, we should go now."
"Get in positions." Lion hissed as he faced the side of the camp, claws unsheathed.
Nita and Louis took off for the entrance, while Rex took off for the back of camp. Scar prepared to take the other side by force.
As soon as all were in position, Rex let out a long, loud wail and they all charged into camp screeching, "DEATH TO THE TYRANT!"
All cats turned, surprised as the small group of cats began to maul their way through all cats who stood in the way.
A flash of black fur came to Lion's side and smiled at him, "Let's take back ThunderClan."
"Let's go," Lion licked her forehead as he yowled once more as Lizardfang launched himself at Lion.
Darkfur launched into the crowd, obviously to fetch more cats, as chaos began to ripple through the camp.
"REX!" Lion yowled as he clawed at Lizardfang's face, "I need help over here!"
A flash of black, and a pained wail from Lizardfang meant that Rex had just crashed into Lizardfang.
Lion leapt over a sliding cat and rushed towards the confused and furious Lightstar.
By now, the camp was in chaos. Cats either strayed by the Warriors Den or fought off the rogue attackers. Darkfur had also gathered some rebels to fight off the cronies of Lightstar.
"Lightstar." Lion growled as his uncle turned towards him.
"Lionpaw." Lightstar sneered as he flicked his tail towards the battle. Lion couldn't help but notice that the rebels were being overpowered, "Look at that. I have rebuilt ThunderClan. Made them stronger than they shall ever be!"
"Does stronger mean starving to you, Lightstar?" Lion growled at him, fur bristling as he heard the battle begin to quieten down.
"We are stronger than all of the clans put together! ShadowClan and RiverClan are slaughtering each-other, while WindClan pitifully begin to eat away at RiverClan territory because we are the most powerful clan in the forest!" The ThunderClan 'leader' smirked in his direction, "And now, I shall destroy the one piece of weakness that remains." A pause, "You."
Lightstar lunged at Lion, snapping his jaws. Lion hissed as he was tackled, mauling his uncle furiously.
The battle had become silent, all cats watching this fight of the ages. Lion winded Lightstar as the bright golden tabby leader had clawed his cheek.
Lightstar leaped back and bared his teeth in a snarl, giving Lion a warning to back up.
Lion lunged at Lightstar, claws unsheathed as he tore at the leader's shoulders. The leader wailed in pain as he began to maul his nephew. "You monster, Lightstar! You never deserved leadership! You killed Needlefur in cold blood, along with my father!" Lion spat at him, tears beginning to gather in his eyes.
The clan gasped. They had always thought Lightstar had rightfully become leader. Not that he had slaughtered his way to victory.
Lizardfang, Leafstorm, Treeleg and Clawedear began to back away from the fight, as all cats turned towards them.
Then their fur was lost in waves of angry and hissing cats as they were torn to shreds.
"You've lost, Lightstar. You always had lost." Lion sneered at the golden tom, "Now, surrender or you're life will be joining the Dark Forest."
"Never," Lightstar lunged and spun so that he landed with his tail facing Lion, before he kicked out with his back paws, claws unsheathed.
Lion hissed as a long scar was ripped onto his muzzle, before he lunged at his uncle and pinned him.
"FIRE!" One cat shrieked, as all cats began to flee camp from the bright flame, "FIRE!"
Lightstar squirmed underneath Lion, "Let me go you fool! We'll die!" He spluttered as the fire began to toss smoke in the sky.
"No, you'll die." Lion tossed his uncle over the edge into the fire, as his uncle let out a pained yowl.
Lion watched as his uncle began to turn to ash, before he began to flee camp.
But the fire cut him off, and began to create a circle around the leader's den, forcing Lion to flee to where his father once slept.
"Good job Lion." He heard the whisper of his father, as he cowered in the back of the den, "Now, no cat will have to fear Lightstar."
Lion closed his eyes as the roaring flames burst into the den, but a small smile was plastered on his face.
"Lion! Lion are you there?!" A voice wailed in his ear as he mildly opened an eye.
"A-Am I dead?" He simpered as he felt blood begin to spread in his body.
"Lion! Oh thank StarClan, you're alive." He felt a body slump down to touch noses with him.
"D-Darkfur?" Lion whispered as his vision cleared and he saw the beautiful black she-cat.
"The one and only." Darkfur purred as she touched noses with Lion.
EPILOGUE
Lion went on to become Lionstar, and the war's between the clans began to settle down.
Darkfur had Lionstar's kits, Newtkit, Redkit and Sunkit.
Rex changed his name to Sharpclaw and had a successful relationship.
Scar changed his name to Scarmuzzle, and trained many apprentices.
Rita changed her name to Petal-leaf and Louis changed his to Leopardfur, and the two had two adorable kits, Jaykit and Bramblekit.
And all were happy, but none could forget, the terrible reign of Lightstar.
END
Words (Not including A/N:): 3201