Starlingkit's Prophecy

Chapter Eleven: The Last Hope

Starlingpaw backed up as Hollyleaf snarled with her huge bear-sized fangs.

"Starlingpaw," Flamepaw mewed. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," she replied with a course whisper. "Run?"

Hollyleaf laughed and approached the small cats with gleaming eyes. "You think you can run from me?" She stepped towards them slowly with her huge, black paws. "I'm faster than any horse, bird, or cat. You can't run or hide from me! Or fight me either."

Starlingpaw and Flamepaw took several paw steps backwards for every large step the bear took. They tripped over Larkpaw's limp body. Starlingpaw glanced down at her dead sister and sent a prayer to StarClan.

Suddenly, Starlingpaw and Flamepaw were sent flying with the quick swipe of Hollyleaf's forepaw. They hit the hard bark of a tree. Pain stabbed Starlingpaw's whole being. The forest blurred.

She watched as the huge maw of bear laughed maniacally. Hollyleaf padded towards them as the apprentice's vision cleared up.

"Hollyleaf, stop," she pleaded feebly.

Hollyleaf bared her fangs. "As if," she growled.

Then the bear's green eyes glinted with a sinister thought. She looked down at Larkpaw's body.

"Don't eat her!" Starlingpaw pleaded as she brought herself up to her paws.

Hollyleaf picked up the small tabby in her jaws. "I'm not a cannibal," she laughed through Larkpaw's fur.

She flung the small cat at Starlingpaw. The dead weight of Larkpaw pushed her back into the tree. Starlingpaw pushed the body off of her and stood up.

"Hollyleaf, why stay with Tigerstar? You have your powers now. You can leave him and rejoin the Clans," she mewed, hoping to be able to convince the former ThunderClan warriors.

Hollyleaf blinked. "I tried. If I leave he'll take away my powers. But it's worth it!" She roared. "I have more power than StarClan itself!"

As she said that, the limp body of Larkpaw twitched and jerked. Flamepaw and Starlingpaw stared down at their sister in awe. The tabby she-cat stood up with unnatural movements. Only moments ago had she been dead.

Larkpaw looked straight at her sisters with closed eyes.

"Goodbye," Hollyleaf said as she morphed back into the long-furred she-cat.

Starlingpaw saw the black cat sprint away into the undergrowth. She turned back to Larkpaw. "Are you okay?"

Larkpaw's eyes opened.

Flamepaw gasped. "Her eyes!"

The pale green of Larkpaw's eyes were replaced the bright, emerald shade of Hollyleaf's own.