I'm so happy that you guys are still reading this thing! I honestly wasn't expecting a response to this resurrection, but I'm super touched. :D

Ivane: Thank you so much! Honestly my writing style has changed a lot since I wrote this, and idk if it's better now or not, since years of mental health problems have really eroded my motivation to write. But I look back fondly on my writing from a few years ago! I'm glad you guys like it too ^.^

Hollyshade: Thanks so much for reading! :D You'll learn the identities of the two mystery cats in this very chapter!

Shadowwolf1997: Thanks a ton! :3 I plan to update every Friday (even though this update is a few days late, urk!)

Ivypool: Haha, you might be onto something! :3

Night1212: You're so right about time going by fast! At the time of the last update, I was almost a completely different person, though I still have a soft spot for Warriors (and always will)! I can completely understand a waning in interest, though I just appreciate you checking in and reviewing if nothing else! :D

You guys are amazing, and you're my motivation! As mentioned before, I wasn't anticipating any interest in this whatsoever! I'm gonna finish this for you :)

Chapter 9: To Die For...

Crowfeather shook his head vigorously, clearing his eyes of the blood that had run into them before he sliced again at the dog's muzzle. He, Tawnyblaze, and Sparrowheart were fighting valiantly against the six dogs that were upon them, but they were losing the battle. Crowfeather had made sure Fawnstep was out of danger; she, Stormpaw, Sunpaw, and Breezekit were following Leafpool's scent trail, which hopefully led to the safety of the barn.

Out of the corner of his eye, Crowfeather saw a dog slam its huge paw against the side of Sparrowheart's head. The tawny-brown tom went flying into a fence, where he slumped motionless. Crowfeather swiped at his dog's muzzle and broke away, rushing to his fellow warrior's side. Tawnyblaze glanced at him and quickly followed.

Sparrowheart was lying limp as a dead mouse, but Crowfeather could tell by the faint rise and fall of his flank that he was still alive. "Quick, help me haul him up the fence!" gasped Crowfeather. Tawnyblaze leaped atop the fence, and when Crowfeather took Sparrowheart's scruff in his jaws and leaped, narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of a pursuing dog, Tawnyblaze helped haul both the toms up to safety.

"He's out!" hissed Tawnyblaze. "We can't keep this up, not with just the two of us!" The cats wobbled on their feet as the dogs flung themselves against the metal fence, desperate to continue their savage game.

"I know!" growled Crowfeather around Sparrowheart's scruff. He draped the unconscious tom over the fence so he could speak. "But what do you think we can do?"

The she-cat's amber gaze was sharp and fierce as she said, "You take him to the barn, follow Leafpool's scent trail there. I'll keep these mutts busy."

Her voice was barely audible over the baying of the dogs, and Crowfeather was convinced he had misheard her. "Are you mousebrained?" he demanded, outraged. "You can't take on six dogs at once!"

Tawnyblaze bared her teeth at him, and Crowfeather shrunk away from her despite himself. "I said move!" And with a challenging yowl, the lionhearted she-cat took off along the fence, balancing precariously as the flimsy thing swayed under her weight.

Instantly, the dogs chose the more interesting target and took off after her, scrambling over each other in their haste to catch her.

Reluctantly Crowfeather took Sparrowheart's scruff in his jaws and went in the opposite direction, and his mind was so clouded with worry that he didn't have time to think of his missing sons.

"I'm not going without my brothers!" snarled Breezekit, trying to dig his tiny claws in the earth so Fawnstep couldn't drag him along.

"Breezekit, the sooner we get you to the barn, the sooner we can find Jaykit and Lionkit," Sunpaw told him patiently.

Stormpaw wasn't so sure. She knew Leafpool would have been back by now if the barn wasn't far away. But they hadn't met her yet, and they were staying on the scent trail as rigidly as fox on the trail of prey. So either she was still coming back, or she hadn't gotten there yet.

"I'm going back," she announced.

"No, you're coming with me," Fawnstep mewed, softly but sternly. "We have to get you to the barn with your mother and Hollykit and Leafpool."

"But if you and Breezekit go, me and Sunpaw can look for Jaykit and Lionkit!" argued Stormpaw. "They're so little, we can't leave them by themselves."

"No, I'll go with Fawnstep and Breezekit to keep them safe," said Sunpaw. "As soon as they're safe, I'll come back and help look." He looked to Fawnstep. "You may as well let her go. She's smarter than she looks; she won't get herself into trouble."

Stormpaw narrowed her eyes at him.

The former kittypet was quiet for a split second before she said, "All right. You be careful, Stormpaw."

"Of course," she meowed at the same time Breezekit squealed, "I wanna go too!"

Sunpaw shook his golden head. "Breezekit, you have to come with us, so that way you can protect Hollykit when we get to the barn."

"But I-!"

"Not buts. A true warrior would look after his sister, and Mossflower too. She can't fight right now," Fawnstep mewed, fixing the kit with a gentle blue-eyed stare.

Breezekit didn't give in so much as he stopped arguing, and his eyes were still mutinous as he allowed Fawnstep to pick him up again.

"Be careful!" Sunpaw pressed his nose into Stormpaw's shoulder, and she licked her brother's ear before they went their separate ways.

"Rainpaw..." whimpered Jaykit, poking the she-cat's beautiful feathery pelt once more. "Rainpaw, wake up!"

He was very worried. He and Rainpaw had been wandering along the tree line for a little while when Rainpaw had tripped and fell into an icy stream. She had managed to pull herself out and walk a little way, but she had collapsed a few fox-lengths away, and she wouldn't wake up. She was cold, and there was a knot on her head that was growing bloody.

"R-Rai-"

There was a rustle of leaves just beyond the thicket they were sheltering. Jaykit bristled, his blind blue eyes staring unseeingly into the bushes. It was only when he heard the fast-approaching leaf-crackle that he realized he was in danger.

Leafpool's lungs burned furiously. She and Socks had not stopped running since they left, and the way back seemed so much longer than the way there, especially when they were running so fast...

Socks suddenly skidded to a halt. Leafpool did the same a second later, turning back to look at him with confused amber eyes.

"Who's that?" he mewed, nodding toward two approaching shapes in the distance.

Leafpool squinted, and then her eyes flew open in surprise. "Fawnstep! Sunpaw! Breezekit!" She sprinted toward her Clanmates, and she could hear Socks following her.

Leafpool pressed her nose deep into Fawnstep's shoulder once she got to her side. "Great StarClan, I was afraid something had happened to you!"

Breezekit was unhappy, and he was determined to let every cat know. "Lionkit and Jaykit are still back there!" he complained loudly.

Leafpool exclaimed, "What?!" at the same time Sunpaw asked, "Who's that?" The apprentice was pointing his golden tail at Socks, who was hanging back a little nervously.

"That's Socks. He's here to help us. But where is everyone?"

"Crowfeather, Sparrowheart, and Tawnyblaze are back fighting the dogs. Stormpaw just went back to look for the kits, and we haven't seen Rainpaw since..." Sunpaw looked back at Fawnstep, a little nervously.

Leafpool narrowed her eyes. StormClan was spread much too thin. "How many dogs were there the last time you saw them?" she asked.

"I saw five, but there could have been more," meowed Sunpaw. "I have to go back and find Stormpaw, I promised I would help her."

Socks caught Leafpool's gaze and held it for a moment, and then he said, "You, Fawnstep, was it? You and the kit need to come with me, I'll bring you to the barn." He turned back to Leafpool. "You two can go on ahead and look for your kits. Can you fight?"

Leafpool lifted her chin. "I'm no warrior, but I can fight. Besides, I have Sunpaw here with me. I'll be fine." Sunpaw puffed out his chest proudly beside her.

Socks held her gaze for a moment and dipped his head. "Stay safe. I'll rejoin you soon."

"Take care!" Leafpool called as Socks and Fawnstep (still holding Breezekit) turned and headed to safety.

"So where to now?" Sunpaw was looking very serious and valiant, his eyes sharp and attentive.

"We'll follow your scent trail first. Then we'll go from there." Leafpool spoke with a confidence she didn't feel. Her heart was fluttering as they took off in an anxious silence.

"How did I go n'get lost? No, wait, I ain't lost, I don't get lost, I just get... sidetracked, that's it. Yeah, sidetracked."

Purdy, even if he wouldn't admit it, was lost. When he tried to help Crowwhatsit and the others, they sent him out in the woods, away from the fighting. Now every tree was starting to look the same, and every bush he passed was familiar.

"Gotta find those kits, they can't look after themselves yet..."

Purdy's pelt fluffed up in alarm as he heard pawsteps in the leaves. "Show yerselves, I ain't afraid of ya!" he called out into the forest. "Ain't polite to sneak up on a cat."

A gray streak shot out of the tree line. Purdy's claws came out, and he was about to pounce when he recognized the cat.

"Thank StarClan I found you, Purdy!" mewed Stormpaw, her blue eyes wide. "I can't find Lionkit or Jaykit anywhere!"

Purdy sheathed his claws and allowed his fur to flatten. "Ain't that Jaykit feller the blind one?"

Stormpaw nodded erratically. "I have to find them."

"Here, I'll help ya, I'm a good tracker, dontcha know. Ain't no scent gonna be missed by me!"

It was indeed a relief to know that Purdy was as good a tracker as he was a navigator.

Lionkit wished he was brave like Crowfeather. But his bravery felt as small as his tiny golden frame as he slunk amongst the Twolegplace, his belly fur blackened by the pools of dirty water speckled amongst the Twoleg dens. He began to shake with stark fear. Somebody, anybody... HELP ME!

Lionkit heard the sharp bark of a dog coming from within one of the Twoleg fences. With a yowl of alarm, Lionkit streaked away from the den and onto the Thunderpath.

He didn't see the Twoleg monster until it was already too late.

This is a really mean cliffhanger and I'm sorry T.T But if all goes according to plan, I'll update again this Friday!

I'm not completely happy with this chapter. It feels confusing even after going through and editing it, but I don't want to change up too much without outright rewriting the story. Let me know what you guys think!

The chapter title comes from the song of the same name from The Lion King soundtrack. I listened to it a lot when I wrote this the first time, and I feel like it goes with how erratic this chapter turned out! ^^;;