Chapter 7
Happy Easter everybody! Sorry about the extremely late update. Once I got back from my aunt's on Sunday, I caught the stomach flu and was out for at least 4 days. It was pretty sucky. I'm back though, now, and ready to write!
Flaming Dawn - Where I live they wear orange jackets so that nobody will accidentally shoot them. I'm not sure about other places, though.
Paige Cullen - Jacob's Stalker - I might give Kestrelpaw a big part, I might not. I haven't gotten every single detail worked out yet. I'll be sure to put him in more, though.
Foxstar24 - Well, a Mary-Sue is like someone who is completely perfect in every way. They have no flaws or quirks, they're usually popular or all-powerful, and are extremely strong and quick. Basically, there isn't anything wrong with them at all.
AliKatNyah - I absolutely hate Daisy, which is why I killed her off. I killed Berrypaw, too, because I doubt Bramblestar would leave him alive if he was born to two kittypets. By the way, are you the AliKatNyah who made those Warriors animations on YouTube? If you are, I love those!
Silverstorm of RiverClan - Lol. I'll update as quickly as I can.
Firepaw could only watch in horror as Blackpaw began to plummet towards the hard ground. As the black apprentice fell closer and closer to an uncertain fate, everything seemed to start moving in slow-motion.
Blackpaw hit the ground hard and fell completely, as if he were dead, and Bramblestar let loose his familiar battle cry. Cats immediately began to surge forward, their unsheathed claws and fangs glinting dangerously in the newleaf sunlight. The Twolegs began to yowl in shock, and one pointed it's odd stick at Nightcloud. There was a deafening blast, and the warrior fell down dead. Just like that.
"Firepaw," whispered a voice in the apprentice's ear. He merely twitched.
"Firepaw!" The voice was more indignant this time, and was accompanied by a gentle shove. Firepaw looked up to see Nightpaw staring at him with wide blue eyes. She looked the same as he felt - terrified.
"We need to go out there and fight," she continued. At the hesitant look in his eyes, she added, "for Blackpaw."
Firepaw nodded slowly, cautiously.
"For Blackpaw," he echoed, though his voice was the opposite definition of confident or determined.
They both shot a quick glance at each other, took a deep breath, and lunged forward into the fray. Firepaw immediately felt himself being jostled about by furious, hissing warriors and apprentices, all clawing viciously at the soft flesh of the Twolegs. The Twolegs were yowling and screeching, clutching the areas where the blood gushed out.
Firepaw allowed himself to be pushed half-heartedly forward by the other cats until the pink skin of a Twoleg was directly in front of him. For a brief moment, the ginger tom remembered how Blackpaw had been handled so cruelly, and eventually left to fall to the ground.
Sudden fury bubbling up inside of him, Firepaw hissed and sank his sharp fangs directly into the muscle of the Twoleg's leg. It howled in pain and wrenched it's bloody limb away from him. It called something out to it's companions, and they began to drag themselves through the attacking felines.
"Let them go!" Ashfur yowled unexpectedly from his position within the fighting cats, and the Clan reluctantly backed off. The Twolegs immediately began to run as fast as their bloody legs would carry them. They scrambled their way hastily out of the hollow and raced off, still howling and screeching in pain.
Firepaw saw Bramblestar leap up onto the Highledge, but there was no need to call the Clan forward. Every cat was already gathered below, staring up at him expectantly. The entire hollow was silent for a few heartbeats, until Owlwhisker suddenly began to chant.
"BrambleClan! BrambleClan! BrambleClan!"
The reply was uncertain at first, but eventually the mantra grew in sound until even Bramblestar was cheering from his perch. Firepaw didn't join in. He was too worried about Blackpaw to even register what was going on around him.
"Firepaw, do you want to come see your brother?" asked a sweet, melodic voice in his ear. The apprentice looked up to see Leafpool looking down at him, Nightpaw beside her. Firepaw nodded vigorously.
In the medicine cat den, Blackpaw was laying on his side, his sides heaving. He was panting, and he looked exhausted after his ordeal, but his eyes were open.
"Blackpaw! You're okay!" Nightpaw cried, rushing forward and pressing her nose into his fur. Firepaw followed.
"Of course he's okay." Kestrelpaw was sitting at the back of the den, staring at them. "We treated him, didn't we?"
Firepaw blinked. Were medicine cats supposed to be so… stuck-up?
"Kestrelpaw, I've told you a thousand times to be nice to the patients, especially since you're a medicine cat. Tonight's the half-moon. Do you need to wait to receive your full name?" Leafpool scolded.
Kestrelpaw shook his head sheepishly and shot a glare at the three siblings, as if angry at them for hearing him get in trouble. Firepaw noticed that Blackpaw had tensed considerably as Leafpool spoke. He blinked, confused.
"I'll let you three talk alone for awhile," Leafpool meowed, her eyes sympathetic. "Come along, Kestrelpaw."
The two medicine cats disappeared through the den entrance and into the clearing, where Bramblestar was still talking to the Clan in his loud, booming voice.
"How did the battle go?" Blackpaw asked in a raspy voice.
"It was awesome!" Nightpaw yowled before Firepaw could get a word in. "there were so many cats, and I got pushed towards this one Twoleg and I scratched and I bit it, and it was yowling and screeching and kicking…"
Nightpaw's voice grew louder and louder until it seemed to become a tangled mess. Firepaw couldn't understand a word his sister was saying, and guessing from the look on Blackpaw's face, neither could he.
"Blackpaw," Firepaw mewed quietly once the black she-cat had finished. "Why did you look so startled when Leafpool mentioned tonight was the half moon?"
Nightpaw's head shot up and she stared at her brother inquisitively.
Blackpaw stared at them for a moment, his eyes growing as wide as the sun. He didn't even seem to be breathing. Suddenly, the black tom took a deep breath and turned his eyes away from the curious gaze of his siblings.
"Before I blacked out last night," he began cautiously. "I heard Bramblestar and Leafpool… talking."
"Go on," Nightpaw urged when Blackpaw paused. Firepaw blinked at him encouragingly.
"Well, Bramblestar told Leafpool that if she didn't make Kestrelpaw a full medicine cat, she would end up like Squirrelflight. And Leafpool said he would kill her anyways."
Firepaw's eyes widened until they were as large as Blackpaw's. Nightpaw's expression was contorted, as if she were fighting some inner emotion, and her eyes were wide and unblinking, like she was in a trance.
"Bramblestar would never do anything like that," she mewed finally, her voice robotic. Both brothers stared at her oddly.
"What are you talking about, Nightpaw?" Blackpaw rasped. "He killed Morningflower just for telling us a story, remember? I wouldn't put it past him at all."
"I said, Bramblestar would never do anything like that!" She flared with a strange anger. Firepaw stared at her in shocked silence. For less than a heartbeat, her eyes had turned the exact shade of amber as Bramblestar's
"You'll have to leave now, Firepaw and Nightpaw," Leafpool meowed suddenly from the entrance as she stepped inside. "Blackpaw needs to rest, and you need to share tongues with Nightcloud for the last time."
The medicine cat's eyes were worried, as if she had overheard everything the three apprentices had said. She ushered the two siblings out of her den with her tail.
"And Nightpaw," Firepaw heard the medicine cat murmur to his sister as she passed. "Bramblestar can do much more than that."
I know you're all thinking that I like killing too much, but I've gotta admit, it's fun to kill off the cats I hate. I don't especially hate Nightcloud -props to her for sticking up for herself - but I just had to kill her. It will probably make a lot of people happy.
