The battle wore on. Ravenwing was limping, his pad was torn and his black pelt was missing clumps of fur all over, but he still fought.
But with WildClan's reinforcements, Stormyheart's rogues were faltering, strong and well-trained as they were.
Ravenwing fought with Palerose and Whitestar, backs to a thick tree. They were holding off a group of the rogue cats together, attacking as a team.
Their strategy soon saw another cat abandoning the battle, racing out of the forest at top speed.
A flash of movement caught Ravenwing's eye. A slight flicker in the trees…
He received a slash to his ear for his ignorance of the fight. Ravenwing dismissed the thing as a squirrel, then resumed his offensive.
A couple more rogues burst into the clearing, heading straight for the nearest WildClan cat.
Among them was a dark gray tabby bearing a white star on his chest.
"Stormyheart," Whitestar hissed angrily.
Ravenwing's ears flattened, and he broke away from Palerose and Whitestar. This cat would pay for stealing his mate.
Now. He had been waiting for this 'Stormyheart'.
Ravenwing pounced, leaping towards Stormyheart. His black claws were extended, jaws snarling, ready to tear into his flesh.
Another flicker.
A being rammed into Ravenwing in mid-air, and they fell to the ground in a writhing ball of black and brown fur.
He tried to get back onto his paws, but the brown warrior rammed his head into his stomach, and Ravenwing lost his balance.
Snarling, Ravenwing slashed out with his claws, catching the cat on the ear. He retreated, blood flying as he shook his brown head in pain, and Ravenwing sprang to his paws.
Then, there were three more.
Ravenwing drew back in confusion and looked back upon the fighting cats behind him. Whitestar was disappearing in a crowd of more brown and gray cats, all with the same blue, piercing eyes…
Nutflower raised her head from where it rested upon her paws, the rest of her curled up in a tight ball.
She was nestled in the large dip underneath the small Twoleghouse, Twilight and the kits sleeping beside her.
The she-cat couldn't get to sleep. She kept thinking of Stormyheart. Her anger had not abated; if anything, it had grown.
She couldn't escape. Stormyheart had her well guarded: the unpleasant stench of Thunder drifted occasionally through the heavy, musky scent of pine trees, and she could sometimes see large black paws through the gaps in their branches.
Nutflower pushed away those thoughts, trying to focus on something else. They turned to her mate, Ravenwing. Right now, she would do anything to have the handsome black tom with her. His glossy black pelt, pierced by white, and his stunning green eyes so much like hers filled her mind. She could almost smell his strong, foresty scent.
She purred contentedly, and Rainkit shifted sleepily, yanking Nutflower out of her reverie.
Something about the little gray kit caught her eye. He looked very familiar. A dark gray tabby pelt and a white mark on his chest…
Nutflower scoured her memories, thinking of all the gray toms she knew. There was Sharpclaw, Dovefeather, Sootfur, Duskfoot, and Graycloud.
Who else?
Another dark thought came into her head. Stormyheart. Down to the little white star on his chest, Rainkit resembled him in every way.
Stormyheart could have been Twilight's mate. Twilight lived close to the gray tom, and, Nutflower had to admit, he was quite handsome.
A wave of fatigue washed over her. Tomorrow, Nutflower vowed, she would ask Twilight about her mate. If she did not want to answer, then she would ask Stormyheart. Maybe then she would get her revenge.
Pain exploded like fire through Ravenwing's head, and he staggered backwards, falling into a bush.
He had fought off what seemed like millions of the mystery cats, but they kept coming. Now, his strength was almost gone, and his senses and speed were dulled with battle and hunger, for sunset was drawing closer.
A small cream-coloured she-cat burst through the bush, and fixed him with those shocking blue eyes all Stormyheart's allies shared.
Ravenwing felt like he could hear the cat's thoughts as he struggled to lift his blood-stained head. It was clear that the cat meant for him to die, but there was some remorse and unwillingness planted within the fever of battle Ravenwing sensed inside her.
She lifted a black-tipped paw, claws glinting in the fading light, and drew it back behind her head. The cat was preparing for the death blow.
Then, her paw dropped, and she slipped away out of the trampled bush which concealed Ravenwing.
Ravenwing was startled by the she-cat's actions. The blue-eyed cats didn't seem like they were real cats at all. He was surprised that she had felt unwilling to take his life.
A fresh throb of sharp pain coursed through his strong body, causing him to shudder. He managed to lift his head to look out of the bush at the battle.
Whitestar was the only cat of WildClan left in the clearing. The strange cats had him surrounded. Stormyheart and his rogues themselves stood outside the circle of cats, Stormyheart looking very confused for once.
A small cat waited expectantly, looking at Stormyheart. Stormyheart did nothing.
The blue-eyed cat turned back towards the rest of the blue-eyed cats, and, with an unspoken command or twitch of the tail, they broke formation and regrouped behind their apparent leader.
Whitestar instantly rounded on Stormyheart. "You will not win. We carry the trust and power of StarClan in our paws."
With that, he turned and raced after his departed Clan.
Ravenwing drew himself to his paws and slowly started to limp to camp, leaving Stormyheart, his rogues, and the mystery Clan alone.