A Shattered Peace

Prologue

Firestar's dull green eyes swiveled over to Bluestar and Yellowfang as he listened to their conversation.

"Bluestar, you must eat." Yellowfang insisted as she padded over to the muscular she-cat.

"How did I let her fade away into nothing, Yellowfang?" Bluestar asked, her blue eyes clouded with heavy emotions. "Spottedleaf didn't deserve that. No StarClan cat deserves that."

Yellowfang stood silent for a moment and shook her shaggy head. "Spottedleaf made her own choices, Bluestar. She chose to make her last one end how she wanted it too. Even though she may be gone, no StarClan cat will ever forget her courage and kindness. Sitting around moping all day won't bring her back."

Bluestar's gaze suddenly hardened and she dug her claws into the damp ground. "You're right. If Spottedleaf saw me moaning and ignoring my duty, she would shred my ears, leader or not."

Bluestar lifted her sleek blue-grey body and scanned around the camp.

"StarClan is weakening." She meowed in a worried tone.

"The skies aren't as bright as they once were." Yellowfang agreed. "We can barely see the clans any more. Even with the Dark Forest's failed attack, they remain strong."

Firestar stood up and slowly walked over to the two she-cats.

"I didn't realize that things were so bad in StarClan." He murmured and switched his gaze from Yellowfang to Bluestar.

"How is it that StarClan is losing so much of their power? Have the clans really lost so much faith?"

Yellowfang shook her head. "No, they have as much faith as they've always had. The Dark Forest is stronger than it ever has been."

Firestar wished that he could check up on his beloved ThunderClan. The same clan who had taken him in and given him a new life when he was a kit. He knew that Bramblestar would be a great leader…. Who knows, maybe even better then himself? The thought clung to his mind and he remembered back to Bramblestar's leader ceremony.

"With this ninth and final life, I give you the life of morality. Don't be afraid to do what's right, even if others think otherwise."

Firestar stepped forward and touched noses with Brambleclaw. Brambleclaw jolted back in surprise and shock as a sudden pain jolted his body. He never thought that it would have been so painful.

"You shouldn't have died the way you did, Firestar. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

Firestar shook his head and smiled at his former deputy.

"It was my destiny, and no cat could have changed it." The orange pelted tom stepped back and yowled, "Bramblestar!"

The rest of the StarClan cats echoes his name in response and Bramblestar raised his head and stood proudly in front of the mass of ancestors.

Firestar blinked and suddenly he was back standing in front of Bluestar and Yellowfang once again.

"We must figure out a way to get contact with the clans again." He finally meowed with his green eyes narrowing.

"We've been trying too!" Yellowfang hissed and lashed her tail back-and-forth. "Do you think we've been sitting around all day stuffing our faces with prey?"

Firestar blinked once at her and a small grin appeared on his face.

Yellowfang snorted and turned away with a flick of her tail.

Firestar turned to Bluestar and opened his mouth to speak when Whitestorm came sprinting over.

"We're under attack by the Dark Forest!" The large white tom yowled in warning as he came skidding to a halt.

Firestar's pelt bristled. "I'll send someone over to the other clans and ask them for aid."

Whitestorm shook his broad head.

"It's happening to us now. All four clans are being attacked at once."

Firestar stood frozen in place for a moment.

How….?

His ears pricked up when he heard the yowling and screeches of battle close by.

"Hollyleaf, Lionheart, Ferncloud, Sootfur!" Bluestar yowled to the nearby StarClan warriors and she quickly sped off.

Firestar followed close behind and skidded to a halt in horror as he saw masses of dark, shadowy figures charging over the border and into StarClan territory.

Clan cats pray to StarClan….but who does StarClan pray to?

Chapter 1

Lionblaze opened his weary eyes and sunlight flooded in. He sighed and pushed himself to his paws and looked around the warm den. Dustpelt was curled in the back corner of the den, still asleep. The dark brown tom was taking Ferncloud's death hard. The entire clan was worried about him, and they wondered how long he would mourn for.

Lionblaze emerged from the quiet den and into the busy camp.

Mouse-dung! I slept in." Lionblaze thought irritably as he saw the sun up and the clan ready for the day.

"Lionblaze! You're needed on a border patrol!" Squirrelflight yowled over to him as she hurried around the camp giving orders.

She's doing well at her new position…. Lionblaze thought as he headed over to where Birchfall and Blossomfall were waiting.

"Which border are we checking?" Lionblaze asked Birchfall with a small cock of his head.

"ShadowClan's."

The small patrol took off running out the camp. Lionblaze could still sense the tension between his clanmates who had trained in the Dark Forest. He could tell they were eager to prove themselves and show that they truly were loyal ThunderClan cats.

As the patrol neared the border, they slowed to a walk. Firestar, Mousefur, Ferncloud, and Hollyleaf had all been buried two sunrises ago, and their deaths were still heavy on everyone's shoulders. Lionblaze imagined running besides Hollyleaf when they were apprentices on patrol, but it never lasted long. The memory was too painful.

The patrol remarked the borders and was getting ready to leave.

"A ShadowClan patrol is close." Birchfall meowed to his clanmates just as Smokefoot, Oakfur, and Pinenose appeared from the shadows.

"Smokefoot." Lionblaze nodded to the ShadowClan warrior in greeting. Like his clanmates, the ShadowClan warriors bore the wounds of the recent battle. Guilt pricked his pelt when he realized that he didn't have any to match.

"Lionblaze." The black tom nodded in return. "Is ThunderClan recovering?" he asked, addressing Birchfall with curious eyes.

Birchfall nodded. "The clan still grieves, but we move on. Cloudtail was close to meeting his ancestors, but he's doing fine now, thanks to Jayfeather."

Smokefoot nodded slowly and his eyes narrowed sadly. "Redwillow and Happykit both died during the battle, and Ferretclaw just last sunrise from his wounds. Thank StarClan no more were killed."

"We need to head back, Smokefoot." Oakfur meowed once there was a break in the conversation. "Rowanclaw wants everyone back as soon as they can to help with repairs."

Lionblaze met the senior warrior's eyes and he caught a hint of distrust towards the ThunderClan patrol. After everything we went through, he's still suspicious?

Smokefoot flicked his tail in agreement. The two patrols nodded to each other and then departed to go their own ways.

Lionblaze fell in step behind Blossomfall at the rear of the patrol as they headed back towards the camp.

At the camp entrance, Berrynose and Brightheart were working on repairing the broken and battered barrier. As Lionblaze entered the camp, Bumblestripe nearly toppled into him.

"Sorry!" the young tom quickly meowed and flattened his ears in embarrassment. He quickly grabbed the tendrils that he had been carrying and headed towards the nursery, where Dovewing and Foxtail were working.

Lionblaze spotted Jayfeather hurrying back-and-forth between cats. When his brother hissed in annoyance at Cloudtail, Lionblaze knew he'd better butt in.

"What were you thinking? Helping repair the camp? I told you to keep off your paws! If you think that keeping off your paws is working all day dragging StarClan knows what around, then you've got bees in your brains! Sorry to tell you, but I can't help you with that!"

Lionblaze heard Jayfeather yowling angrily as he approached the blind medicine cat, and his brother. Cloudtail's wound had opened up and his white pelt was turning crimson red. Cloudtail continued to roll his eyes.

"I know you're rolling your eyes." Jayfeather snapped and barely seemed to notice Lionblaze standing there.

"You need to relax a bit." Lionblaze meowed coolly with a slight grin.

"Relax? How do you think I can relax, Lionblaze? The battle was only just a few sunrises ago, and mouse-brains like this." He flicked his tail towards Cloudtail, "Have to go off and ruin any work that I put into healing their wounds. Why do they even bother asking me for help if they just go and make it even worse?"

Lionblaze knew that Jayfeather was just stressed and tired from all of the work that he'd been doing. Jayfeather finished patching up the white warrior's wound, then he disappeared inside his den with Lionblaze quickly following.

"I could help you with something, if you want." He offered with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"I'm the medicine cat, not you." Jayfeather snapped and continued to quickly take a count of his herbs.

"If you need me to get anything, I can always bring Cinderheart or Leafpool along." He added, expecting Jayfeather to snap and say something about how the clan didn't need three medicine cats.

"I need more marigold and chervil." He answered simply without turning from his work.

Lionblaze nodded and quietly left the den. He scanned around the busy clearing until he spotted the gray tabby form of Cinderheart.

"Cinderheart!" he yowled and ran up to his mate. Their noses touched briefly in greeting. "Jayfeather needs me to get some herbs and I was wondering if you wanted to come. It's not just because you know what they look like!" he quickly added.

Cinderheart smiled at Lionblaze and nodded. "I understand. I just finished clearing away the space around the warriors den, so have me do something before Squirrelflight does."

The two clanmates turned towards the entrance and were about to leave when someone yelled, "Lionblaze, Cinderheart, wait!"

Lionblaze turned and saw Jayfeather hurrying over towards them. "I also need some more poppy seeds, if you can find any. I'm running dangerously low."

"I think we can manage that." Cinderheart meowed with a smile and flicked the tip of her ear.

Jayfeather nodded and stood rather awkwardly in front of them. "Well….I have to go." He meowed then went back over to his den.

"He needs an apprentice." Cinderheart purred then headed out into the forest with Lionblaze.

A cold breeze ran through the trees, making Lionblaze shiver. Leaf-fall is nearly here…

Cinderheart seemed to know exactly where to look, because before long both warriors had their jaws full of herbs.

Lionblaze bristled in surprise as a cluster of ferns rustled and Foxleap, Rosepetal, Molepaw, and Cherrypaw emerged.

"I don't believe it! We caught the mighty warrior Lionblaze by surprise!" Foxleap teased with his eyes gleaming.

"Be quiet Foxleap, before I embarrass you in front of your apprentice." Lionblaze meowed in reply in a joking tone added with a grin.

"I would always bet on my mentor." Cherrypaw meowed with a wide smile. "I have to, since he's my mentor."

Rosepetal purred then flicked her tail. "How are we supposed to get any hunting done if we stand around here and talk?" she pointed out to the group.

Foxleap sighed and nodded. "I suppose you're right…. But who says that we can't have a little conversation every once and awhile?"

Rosepetal snorted and nudged him affectionately before turning away.

"Rosepetal could beat Foxtail!" Molepaw boasted to his sister.

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

Lionblaze listened to the apprentices fight in amusement, but his smile suddenly faded.

"Badger!" he yowled in warning to his clanmates just as a massive badger tore through the cluster of ferns.

Cherrypaw and Molepaw both yowled in surprise and leapt backwards as the badger charged in between them, swinging its thick muzzle. Once past, it turned around and bared its sharp yellow teeth at the cats.

"How much training do Molepaw and Cherrypaw have fighting badgers?" Cinderheart asked in a low growl, keeping her eyes locked onto the massive creature in front of them.

"They've had a couple practices at it." Foxleap replied as his crouched into a defensive position.

Cherrypaw's mouth gaped open at her mentor. "We've had a couple practices fighting against Graystripe, who was supposed to be the "badger". This thing is triple his size!"

"Calm down, Cherrypaw. You and Molepaw run back to camp and get some help." Lionblaze told the ginger she-cat. Lionblaze knew that normally four warriors would be enough to drive a badger away, but this was a huge badger, one of the biggest he'd ever seen. Plus, everyone was still tired and recovering from the recent battle against the Dark Forest.

"Come on Cherrypaw!" Molepaw hissed and nudged his sister in her shoulder to get her moving.

Lionblaze watched as the two apprentices disappeared towards camp, and the badger let out a low grumbling sound.

"This is an experience badger." Cinderheart growled with narrowed eyes. "Look at all of the battle scars, plus it's almost twice the size of a normal badger!"

"Rosepetal, go around to-." Lionblaze was cut off as the badger charged straight towards him. He barely managed to jump to the side in time to avoid the deadly snap of jaws closing where his head had been.

Lionblaze snarled and leapt over the badger, landing behind it. He whipped around using his hind paws and sunk his teeth into its leg. It roared and turned around to slash at him, but Cinderheart yowled and raked her claws hard across its face.

Blood splattered the forest blood and Cinderheart's claws gleamed red with fresh blood. Foxleap snarled and slashed at the badger's flank, with Rosepetal helping.

The badger roared in pain and anger, and whipped around with incredible speed. Rosepetal yowled in surprise as the huge jaws opened and close around her back. It swung a massive paw and hit one of Foxleap's paws, slicing it open.

"No!" Lionblaze yowled and watched in horror as the badger took off running still holding the smaller she-cat.

"What in StarClan's name is it doing?" Cinderheart yowled and charged after it. Lionblaze looked at Foxleap and opened his mouth to talk, but Foxleap beat him to it.

"Go and help her! I can't run with this paw."

Lionblaze nodded and pelted after Cinderheart, and for a moment he was afraid that he lost them until he saw Cinderheart's streaming tail.

"Help me!" Rosepetal screeched as she bounced up and down.

Lionblaze realized that WindClan border was in front of them, and the badger suddenly crossed into it.

"We can over-take it now that we're in the open!" Lionblaze yowled to Cinderheart, and they both picked up their speed. Lionblaze was now running alongside it looking for a way to stop the running badger without hurting Rosepetal. He was nearly to the top of the hill when he heard Cinderheart screech,

"Lionblaze, in front of you!"

Lionblaze's eyes widened when he saw a second badger standing with its teeth bared. With no time to react, he slammed into the second badger, hard, and let out a yowl of pain. The impact sent him and the badger rolling down the hill, both of them locked in fighting at the same time.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, the badger pushed Lionblaze off him and stood up, taking several long steps backwards in the process. Lionblaze moaned in pain and tried to push himself to his paws, but his sides ached and he fell back down.

Cinderheart wasn't sure what to do as she watched the new badger get closer to Lionblaze, and the one carrying Rosepetal going further away.

"Get Rosepetal!" he yowled then grunted in pain.

Cinderheart hesitated a moment, but she must have heard the urgency in his meow, because she turned and ran towards Rosepetal.

Lionblaze looked up at the badger that was slowly walking towards him. I can't get hurt in battle, but is there a limit to that? Everything has a limit, doesn't it? One look at the badger and he was sure there was.

Think positive…. This one's smaller than the other one.

He laughed out loud.

It's a good thing nobody is around to hear you….they'd think you have bees in your brains.

"What could possibly be funny?" A tom's voice asked.

Lionblaze blinked and looked up at familiar face.

Heathertail, his former friend, was standing next to a large pale gray tom.

"Did he hit his head, Heathertail?" the gray tom asked his mentor with curious eyes. He looked back down at Lionblaze and titled his head to one side. "I guess what they say about ThunderClan cats being a little off in the head is true."

"I didn't hit my head!" Lionblaze growled and forced himself to his paws.

"Boulderpaw, go back and fetch the rest of the patrol." Heathertail told the tom. The apprentice hesitated then took off sprinting away.

"I don't need your help." Lionblaze muttered stubbornly, making Heathertail laugh.

"Alright, so when I come back later I won't find your shredded, lifeless body? It's better just to help you now so I won't have to deal with cleaning you up from the ground later."

Lionblaze was silent for a moment and wasn't even aware of the badger lumbering towards them. Why is everything so tense between us? What happened was moons ago, and none of it matter now….

"Look, I'm sorry that things ended the way that they did, but can't we just be friends again? Every time I see you, I don't want to try and avoid you. Besides, I'm with Cinderheart now."

Something unreadable flashed behind Heathertail's blue eyes that made Lionblaze curious. Was it jealousy? Regret? Lionblaze couldn't tell, and he ached to know.

"Enough with the talking rabbit-brain." Heathertail meowed. "There's an angry badger right in front of us."

Sure enough, the badger had reached them and was raising a large paw. Lionblaze jumped to the side, wincing, and raked his claws down its side.

With lighting fast speed, Heathertail darted to the other side and crouched down low, aiming for its feet and paws.

The badger roared in frustration as it lashed out at Heathertail, but she had already darted away.

"Be more like a WindClan cat!" she hissed as Lionblaze struggled to dodge the next swipe.

"After all, you are half WindClan." She added, making him flinch.

"I'm a ThunderClan cat." He growled, shooting a glare at her and lashing out at the badger's muzzle.

"You can't deny where you're from, Lionblaze." She snapped back, making him curl his lip.

Lionblaze opened his mouth to yowl a response when Crowfeather, Ashfoot, Leaftail, and Boulderpaw appeared.

With a screech, Crowfeather flung himself at the badger, landing on its back and sinking his claws in its pelt.

"Ashfoot, a badger ran off with Rosepetal and Cinderheart ran off after them. We have to help them!" Lionblaze yowled desperately and took off running in the last direction that he knew they were going.

"Crowfeather, with me!" Ashfoot yowled to the dark grey warrior.

The two WindClan warriors quickly overtook him and were speeding ahead.

Lionblaze reached the top of the hill and horror enclosed him as he saw Rosepetal lying motionless on the ground and Cinderheart pinned by the furious badger.

StarClan, don't let it end like this!