"Come on Dawn, you can beat him!"

Raven felt her screech drown out in the other yowls that filled the air; fear was prickling at her pelt as she watched the small tortoiseshell she-cat bat at Shard's head. Her blue eyes were wild with nervousness and fury, while Shard's icy eyes were burning with excitement and blood-lust. Seeing those eyes made Raven's worry factor sky rocket. He wanted to feel Dawn's blood seep between his claws. He wanted to hear her cry in agony. He wanted to kill her.

"Do not let him beat you, Dawn!" The furious yowl erupted from Frost, who was planted firmly next to Willow. His dark-colored eyes blazing with rage and anger, while Willow sat silently, watching the fight with blank blue eyes focused on her trainee.

The tortoiseshell she-cat had exhaustion written all over her face, Shard was testing her limits and he seemed to have noticed the fury in the trainee's eyes to die down. This meant he was going to close in while she was in her weaker state. His claws were now reaching upwards and cuffing her over the ears. Raven watched with terrified eyes as the she-cat stumbled backwards with blood trickling down her face. Her blue eyes were dazed, obviously dizzy from the continuous batting to the head from Shard's large paws. He swiftly leaped at her and barreled over her, pushing the she-cat to the concrete.

"Dawn, redeem yourself!" Raven cried out to the she-cat with a trembling voice and she noticed the tortoiseshell's eyes turned to her for an instant before Shard's claws connected to her face.

Raven's heart twisted in pain as the she-cat struggled helplessly underneath Shard's weight, Shard had his paws pressed against Dawn's throat and seemed to be putting all pressure on his paws. Dawn's eyes were widening in horror and let out a cry of protest as she continued to wriggle underneath of the dark tabby. At least she continued to fight for her life, and she seemed to have some type of hope of getting out of this fight without getting severely wounded. Raven hoped Dawn would embrace that hope and plead it to grow.

"Seems that you have given up," Shard bitterly hissed and shoved his muzzle into the trainee's face, his lips curled backwards in a devilish smirk and his eyes glimmering with amusement.

"I am never giving up! I am not going to let you kill me!" Dawn screeched in fury and new energy seemed to have surged into the she-cat's veins, her claws penetrated deeply into Shard's shoulders and used all of her strength to haul the tom off. Raven noticed the surprise that came across Shard's face as he stumbled backwards.

"Go Dawn!" Cheers exploded from the crowded cats and Raven joined in with the chorus of yowls and cries. Shard obviously wasn't pleased that everyone was cheering on the trainee instead of him, but he seemed to ignore the obnoxious screeches that rounded him, while Dawn seemed to be absorbing each and every encouraging word.

The tortoiseshell she-cat sprinted forward and lunged forward, her paws were outstretched and her eyes were now glowing with excitement. Her new sense of energy was overwhelming her it seemed, which made it possible for her to defeat Shard in the battle. It made Raven's worry factor lower down to lower ranks, yet there was a small drip of worry that still hung in her body. Shard will not give up easily.

Dawn tumbled into Shard and her claws immediately found themselves in his skin, a provoked snarl bubbled in the tom's throat as he tried to rip the trainee from his pelt. Yet, the she-cat clung on and continued to penetrate his skin with tooth and claw. No longer did fear or nervousness radiate from the tortoiseshell; no longer did her eyes shake with fear and terror. Determination and bravery glowed in her blue eyes. She certainly was not going to give up easily as well.

Suddenly, Shard collapsed to the concrete, Dawn falling alongside him. Her claws were still buried deeply in his pelt and her teeth were still attached to his scruff. She had actually managed to push him down! Raven's eyes widened in surprise as Dawn ripped away from Shard, tearing a chunk of fur from his pelt and a small piece of skin jumbled in with the fur. Shard didn't even move though, he lay motionless and his eyes were tightly shut. What is wrong with him?

Dawn cautiously stepped away from the band leader; her claws were still unsheathed her lips were curled backwards, revealing her thorn-sharp teeth. But Shard never arose to his paws, his body was still and his flank didn't rise or fall. Dawn didn't seem to notice though; she didn't need to care what happened to him. Cats were already gathering around her, throwing compliments at her face and cheering her on. Raven noticed the she-cat's blue eyes enlarged in happiness and excitement, once again taking in all of the encouraging words into her system.

"Great battle, Dawn," Dawn's eyes turned upon her two mentors who were strolling up to the crowd, both of their eyes glimmering with pride as the stared down at their trainee and the tortoiseshell's eyes glowed even bright in joy.

Raven strode forward towards the she-cat, feeling relief wash over her a billion times. It was nice to know that Dawn would not be leaving her without a slit throat or a gashed belly, but only the pride that overwhelmed her and the endless cheers from her base-mates. She would not have to hear taunts whisper endlessly in her ears or feel Shard's dark wraith for being too weak.

"I am proud of you, Dawn," Raven meowed as she finally was at the trainee's side, a purr erupted from the tortoiseshell and Raven felt her nose bury deeply into her shoulder fur.

"Thank you, Raven," Raven could barely hear the soft whisper that escaped from Dawn and Raven wrapped her tail around the tortoiseshell's shoulders to bring her closer. For some reason, it felt as if she needed to protect her, some type of urge forcing her to make sure that Dawn was alright.

Kind of what Scarlet would always act towards her.

The moon casted a silvery light down on the base and the stars sparkled and danced around the large circle. No clouds drifted among the sky and no winds ruffled Raven's pelt. She could say that finally once, it was a peaceful night. After many nights of dread and pain, it was nice to have a night where no cat was getting brutally murdered or bleeding to death. No yowls of agony echoed off of the stone walls, only the songs of crickets as they sung the night a sweet lullaby.

If only it could have stayed like that.

An ear-splitting screech broke the peace and Raven felt every bone in her body strain. Who was the victim tonight? Whose skin is being pierced with sharp claws? Whose blood is oozing out of their body? Raven suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling bubble up inside of her. The cries continued to split through the air and it sounded like the most agonizing sound that has ever reached her ears. Something awful was obviously happening, and it was bothering Raven to the breaking point.

She pushed herself to her paws and took a swift glance around her, she shouldn't leave her post but she would take the risks. She just was curious to see what the agonized screeches were coming from and who they were coming from. It sent shivers up through her spine as she imagined what might be happening. Something getting ripped apart by a fearsome creature, a cat getting its throat ripped out.

Raven shook her head to clear it of the nasty thoughts and sprinted forward, towards the cries. Her paws were shaking with each new paw-step and her body felt somewhat numb. She didn't want to see the gruesome scene that may lie in front of her, yet she felt like she needed to see what it was. It was an urge that continued to tug at her, pulling her towards the painful screeches. It was odd, but she went along with it.

Raven rounded the corner that led out of the alley and immediately halted at what lay in front of her. Her eyes widened in horror and her body began to tremble in terror. Blood was everywhere. Blood was soaking her paws. And a body laid a few fox-lengths in front of her. It was a mangled, blood-soaked silver tabby tom.

Raven stiffened when a sudden voice sounded behind her. It was laced with menace and mock humor.

"Why hello, Raven."