- Retribution -

Tigerstar couldn't believe what he was hearing. This worthless, tiny cat was defying him? Defying his orders?

"There will be no battle today," Scourge had meowed decisively, and Tigerstar's blood had heated like the sun itself boiled what ran in his veins.

"Traitor!" he yowled at the top of his voice, and he sprang, every muscle in his powerful body straining to get at Scourge, to rip him apart for his betrayal.

I'll rip you limb from limb!

But Tigerstar was surprised by Scourge's speed. The smaller cat whipped to one side, and Tigerstar's eyes flew open as the light caught sparkling on Scourge's claws. How could he have forgotten about those claws, reinforced with the curved fangs of dogs?

Scourge's glinting paw swiped around and caught Tigerstar on his broad, muscular shoulder. Taken by surprise, the huge dark tabby staggered and fell to his side.

Even then he didn't concede that it was over. He couldn't be killed by this tiny cat, dogs' teeth or not! He started to heave himself to his paws, but then was stopped.

Scourge's talons had sank into his throat.

Tigerstar was so shocked that he didn't even hear his own bloody, gurgling noise. He coughed up scarlet. He made not a noise as Scourge ripped him throat to tail.

His cry of fury and fear and horrible agony came late, and then trailed off again with another gurgling cough. He jerked about, and his only thought was, What is happening to me?

Then, Tigerstar could not have understood what it meant to lose a life.

Now, the other leaders would see what it was like to lose all nine.

Blinking, sightless to all that was around him - all he saw was a pale, ghostly cat a fox-length away. He convulsed, and the pale outline grew sharper. The tide of blood flooded from Tigerstar's belly and lapped at the ghostly cat's paws. Tigerstar convulsed again and the cat grew sharper still, and with the fifth convulsion, Tigerstar realized what he was seeing.

Himself.

The dark tabby shape grew clearer as Tigerstar's vision grew hazier. Around the sharp shape of his past seven lives, Tigerstar could see the blurry cats of TigerClan and filthy Firestar's followers, and he saw Firestar himself, the bloody fool, and Scourge. Then another life went, and his own image smiled at him coldly.

And with the last life, he was no longer a convulsing body, seeing a sitting dark tabby - he was that dark tabby, sitting down with his tail wrapped around his paws, lifting a paw and shaking the sticky scarlet from it.

He stood and announced, "Where is StarClan to guide me home?"

There was silence.

"You abandon me, do you?" he yowled. "I'll have my revenge on you for this. And on your bloody 'chosen', Firestar."

Any heart that he had left was left behind with his still, bloody body. He strode forward into the forest, which glowed with eerie fungus, and he began to plot his revenge.