Crap. Crap. Crap. Utter crap. Except the ending!
Warriors (c) Erin Hunter
Cats/Clans (c) me
Tallcloud (c) AnnMY [DeviantART]
Stewey (c) Bluestrike2434 [DeviantART]
Dapple (c) TheSilentSpirits [DeviantART]
Prideheart, Fadedheart, Crowstripe, Mistytail, Featherspots (c) RedRivets101 [DeviantART]
Whiskerpaw couldn't believe what she was witnessing: her Clanmates, her own kin, were fighting her Clanmates. It was brother against brother, parent pinning down their child, mate raking their claws across their mate's face, and deputy defeating leader. This must've been what Tallcloud was warning her about, and it's a shame she never fully trusted his wise words.
Several fox-lengths away, Batwing had Sloestar pinned down. The ThistleClan deputy snarled and raised a paw to deliver the finishing strike, but Duskwing threw herself at the black and brown tom before he could.
"Traitor!" Lichenpelt yowled to Shadowmask, the black tom was slowly advancing on his Clanmate. She quickly lashed out with claws extended, nicking Shadowmask's ear. "You're nothing but a stinking traitor!"
A long-haired rowan male mutt was yipping loudly, snapping up cats as it dodged several cats' blows. It snapped up Rubyfur, a ThistleClan warrior, and threw her body into the air and caught it with a loud snap. Several other mutts were doing the same thing, traumatizing their victims before killing them mercilessly.
Stewey and Dapple were locked claw-to-claw as they rolled around in the bloody meadow. Stewey shot out a back paw into Dapple's belly, hoping to shake the old she-cat off of him. Dapple resisted and dug her fangs deeper into Stewey's shoulder. Stewey managed to wriggle free of Dapple's grasps, blood running down his shoulder. His demon eyes brightened and he launched forward, sinking his fangs into Dapple's back leg until he heard an unsatisfied crunch of bone. Dapple yowled and, struggling with her now broken leg, still continued to fight with all of her strength. Apparently kittypets could fight pretty well.
Cedarstep and Moonshadow were teamed up, raking their claws across the Shadow Master's puppets. Cliffjumper was lucky and managed to sink his teeth in Moonshadow's throat while the WaterfallClan deputy's back was turned. Moonshadow panicked and dug his claws into Cliffjumper's flank. Cedarstep heard his deputy's cries and whirled around, his tail bushing. Without hesitation, he shot forward and latched his claws on Cliffjumper's neck, trying to pull him off of Moonshadow. The dark brown tabby tom's claws dug into the dark ginger tabby tom's soft neck and pool began pooling out. Cliffjumper finally let go of Moonshadow's neck and fell to the ground as his neck bled out. His white eyes soon faded into their normal amber before dying.
Thunder roared overhead. "You…You killed him…" Moonshadow panted, trying to comprehend what had just happened. One heart-beat, he felt like he was choking. The next heart-beat, his Clanmate was dead.
"Good," Cedarstep snorted impassively. "One less traitor to worry about."
Whiskerpaw began to realize that nearly all the 'non-infected' Clan cats were sharing the same feelings as Cedarstep; she watched as Russetflame and Emberdust dealt finishing blows to Dewdapple and Featherspots; Maskclaw fell limp in Fogpelt's jaws; Hollowhead bled out mercilessly as Tidefeather ripped his throat out; Mudsplash licked his a bloody paw as the white glow vanished from Apricotfur's eyes; Lichenpelt emerged victorious in the fight with Shadowmask; and Shadowclaw fell from Moonshine's blows. This was certainly a battle of blood and death.
Even Sloestar got in the action of killing; she and Batwing were still scrambling on the ground, tufts of fur embedded in each other's claws. Batwing lung for his leader's throat and Sloestar leaned away. She retaliated by sinking her fangs in her deputy's throat and digging her claws in his black shoulder. It wasn't long before his white eyes turned amber and then he fell limp in her claws.
"Batwing is dead…" Hailbreath, her daughter, commented as Sloestar moved Batwing's body off of herself. "Are you going to appoint a deputy?"
"Of course," Sloestar meowed and gently rested her nose on her old deputy's shoulder. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, my friend. You've served me well." She raised her voice so that others may hear her proclamation. "I say these words so that Batwing may hear and approve of my choice: Berryshade shall become my deputy."
Berryshade let out a snarl and leapt on Voleear's back, sinking his claws into the warrior's dark brown back. Voleear bucked and attempted to get the possessed gray and white warrior off of his backside.
"Oh, wait, he's possessed," Sloestar muttered. "I say these words so that Batwing may hear and approve of my choice: Foxrun shall become my deputy."
Foxrun, whose eyes weren't currently white and glowing, looking up from fighting his daughter, Dawnheart, and nodded.
"Yay, we don't have a crazy deputy," Hailbreath half-jokingly cheered.
Claw suddenly dug into Whiskerpaw's back and she let out a surprised yelp. The scent of Crowstripe hit her nostrils. Great StarClan, even medicine cats are infected? Using the limited battle training she knew, Whiskerpaw twisted her body from underneath Crowstripe with her belly exposed and raked her claws across his cheek. She went for another blow, but Crowstripe caught on to her lame attacks and pinned down her paws to the ground.
Whiskerpaw looked up and saw Pigeonwing rushing over to assist her, but a sudden rush of rage surged through Whiskerpaw. No! I can do this myself! Whiskerpaw dug her hind claws into Crowstripe's soft belly and somehow managed to throw him off. Crowstripe flew not far and scrambled to get on his four paws. He snarled and cackled at Whiskerpaw, but his belly bled heavily. It was like watching a rabid cat struggling to fight.
"Are you going to end it?" Pigeonwing muttered in Whiskerpaw's ear.
Whiskerpaw got to her paws and gave Pigeonwing an incredulous look. "Are you serious?" she snapped. "I am a medicine cat, and I won't take the life of another cat. His wound is not too serious. He'll be fine."
"But he's trying to kill you," Pigeonwing insisted. He pointed with his tail towards Crowstripe, who was torn between ripping the fur off Whiskerpaw's pelt and dealing with the pain in his belly. He let out a hiss at the two medicine cats, his white eyes wide and hard with rage.
Whiskerpaw's golden eyes scorched Pigeonwing's own ones. "No," she answered defiantly. "I won't." She turned to pad away from Crowstripe. The possessed medicine cat let out a howl of anger, but he couldn't move far because of his wound.
Pigeonwing stubbornly followed her. "It would be in self-defense," he argued.
"Hasn't there been enough death already?" Whiskerpaw shouted and motioned towards the battle. Bodies of cats, both those who were trained evil and those who turned evil, littered the ground and the grass was moist with blood.
Pigeonwing bore his teeth. "It doesn't help if they are trying to kill you," he replied angrily. Tufts of fur were missing from his shoulders and his left ear was torn, suggesting that he'd recently been in a scuffle or two against his Clanmates. "We're being slaughtered out there."
"And so are our Clanmates," Whiskerpaw insisted. Nearby, Flintstrike fell as two possessed warrior clambered on his limp body. More warriors bore deadly marks on their pelts as they fought against evil, even though they were committing equally evil crimes themselves. It wasn't just the troubled kin falling, the strongest warriors were falling as well. "It's not their fault their emotions were too strong and powerful! The Shadow Master harnessed their emotions and trained them to kill their kin."
Pigeonwing let out a snort, but didn't respond. Thunder roared once more, drowning the sounds of pain-filled screeches and yelps deriving from the battle. Whiskerpaw glanced at the dark and ominous storm clouds that hid the sunlight, and the scent of rain was finally in the air. Was StarClan going to end this terrible fight? The Shadow Master still sat high in the sky, a wicked grin plastered on his ghastly and sooty form. How could any cat enjoy these acts of terror?
Suddenly, a bright flash of lightning struck the forest territory of WaterfallClan, thunder echoing loudly over the terrain towards the cats. It silenced every creature in the clearing as they looked towards the far off trees. A small smoke pile gently rose in the distance, growing as each puff of smoke rose up.
"That's over our camp!" Otterwhisker exclaimed, her claws deep in Mousethorn's shoulders.
"Our Clanmates are there!" Sharppaw whispered to Gingerflower.
Privetdrop heard the young tom's worried comment and he whirled around to face the small ginger tom. "What was that? Did you say that some of your Clanmates were in our camp?" He bore his teeth in an angry snarl.
Sharppaw boasted his chest, unfazed by the older tom's dangerous appearance. "So what? Maybe some of our Clanmates decided to invade your camp while you were away? After all, you practically gave Tinysnake a whole tour of your camp."
"Why you little—" the white warrior hissed, but Moonshadow stopped his son with a rough shove to the shoulder.
"Enough," Moonshadow snarled. "I'll send a patrol to assist them."
"Not if we stop you," Flashspark growled and stood up to glare at the WaterfallClan deputy.
"Look! The fire is spreading by the second!" Leapingriver yowled. "Our Clanmates could be trapped."
"Quailheart," Moonshadow yowled to the gray tabby tom. "Take Privetdrop and Moonshine to investigate."
Quailheart nodded and motioned with a flick of his tail to the two warriors to follow as he dashed away.
Flashspark made a motion to charge after them, but Moonshadow intercepted him with a blow to the flank. "For now, there is a still a battle to be fought," he snarled and crouched down to attack. Stalkshine leapt on the deputy's broad shoulders, surprising him. The fight resumed.
Leapingriver took this brief moment to check on her family—Goldenstar and Prattlestar were still fighting with blood dripping down each other's shoulders, Springfox was still possessed and fighting Meltingice, Fallsriver was back at camp and hopefully she had evacuated from the blaze, and Whiskerpaw—
"Where's Whiskerpaw?" Leapingriver meowed aloud. She nervously scanned the clearing for her youngest daughter. "Whiskerpaw?" The medicine cat apprentice was nowhere seen in the bloody clearing. She wasn't with the other medicine cats, she wasn't fighting in the meadow…
…There! In the distance, she could recognize her daughter's pale ginger speckled tabby pelt dashing away, straight for the burning WaterfallClan territory. What in the name of StarClan was she doing? Leapingriver had to alert Goldenstar.
The air was heavy with smoke and it threatened to choke Whiskerpaw before she could even arrive to the camp. She pelted through the scorched sycamore and maple trees, their dry branches and leaves providing excellent kindling for the bright blaze. The lightning had struck right over the WaterfallClan camp, and Whiskerpaw prayed that her Clanmates were safe.
"Quickly, help us with the elders," Whiskerpaw heard Dustberry command. She heard more panic-filled mews and shouts as she approached the camp.
"What happened out there?" Leafwhisper asked.
"Some shadow cat thing suddenly appeared and started controlling our Clanmates." Whiskerpaw recognized the worried voice of her brother, Quailheart. "They started attacking us!"
There was a shuffling of paws. "Like who?" Leafwhisper replied.
"…Cliffjumper is dead," Quailheart somberly spoke.
The sound stopped, as if a cat had stopped whatever they were doing. "Cliffjumper's dead?" came Dustberry's soft voice.
"Cedarstep killed him."
Dustberry didn't respond, but Whiskerpaw heard her whisper something under her breath.
"Tallstalk, how are the kits?" Moonshine quickly meowed.
"They're fine, but let's hurry and get them out," Tallstalk replied.
"Adderpaw, Cragpaw, help Privetdrop with Stripedwhisker," Dustberry spoke again, her voice strong and firm.
"We don't need any help," came Stripedwhisker's stubborn voice. "Go help the kits and queens."
Whiskerpaw finally burst into the clearing the same time Auburnwhisker and a patrol of cats appeared as well.
"Did you chase those mangy RowanClan cats away?" Adderpaw laughed and bounced lightly on her paws.
"We chased them as far as the border," Nightstrike reported.
"Tinysnake led them," Auburnwhisker growled and dug his claws in the ground. "We never should've been so nice to that traitor."
"They fled once they saw the fire," Ryeleaf calmly meowed.
"And so should we," Dustberry replied and then raised her voice. "Pick up the pace, warriors! We need to leave immediately!" She turned towards Whiskerpaw. "What are you doing here, Whiskerpaw?"
"I had to get—" Whiskerpaw panted, the smoke making it difficult to breath, but was interrupted by Cragpaw's yowl.
"Watch out!" Cragpaw screeched. A flaming tree had gotten loose in the blaze and was falling towards the WaterfallClan cats. Cats madly dashed away to escape the tree, screeching and yowling as they ran. The tree fell with a mighty thud in the WaterfallClan camp and the fire resumed its corruption.
Whiskerpaw steadily got to her paws and shook the ringing out of her head. She heard her Clanmates' worried shouts and yowls.
"Is every cat okay?" Dustberry's meow roared over the sound of the flames consuming their kill.
"I just have a few scratches…" Steelclaw mumbled.
"Tinyspirit's dead!" came Auburnwhisker's panicked yowl. "She shoved me out of the way of the tree…she saved my life."
"She died a warrior's death," Stripedwhisker meowed.
"Where's Pikekit? Pikekit's missing!" Moonshine screeched.
"Fallsriver was near the nursery! She's trapped!" Privetdrop also yowled.
"What about Whiskerpaw?" Ryeleaf insisted.
"Their probably trapped beyond the tree!" Tallstalk meowed.
"Fallsriver! Fallsriver, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Privetdrop yowled from beyond the tree.
"Whiskerpaw? Whiskerpaw, say something!" Quailheart insisted.
Whiskerpaw shook her pelt once more and waited for her vision to clear before responding. "I'm okay!" The embers from the flaming tree singed her pelt. The tree laid perfectly across the camp and the fire hungrily ate the rest of the woods behind her. She couldn't see her Clanmates from beyond the bright flames, but she could hear their reassuring words. "But I'm stuck."
"Don't worry. We'll find a way to get you out." Nightstrike yowled.
"Whiskerpaw, do you see Fallsriver? Is she alright?" Privetdrop worriedly shouted.
"And Pikekit?" Moonshine added.
"I'll try," Whiskerpaw shouted back and gingerly scrutinized the camp. Everything was tinted in a bright orange glow and smoke hovered just below the treetops, making it hard to breathe. She let a cough and strained her ears to listen for her sister and Pikekit. She spotted Fallsriver's white patches glowing near the nursery and quickly rushed to it. Her sister laid next to the tree stump, cinders gently coating her white patches. Her swollen belly steadily rose and fell, signaling that she was still alive. However, smoke inhalation was not good for a pregnant she-cat.
Whiskerpaw also heard the worried mews of a kit, fright mixing in with worry. Pikekit was in the nursery and Whiskerpaw gently stretched her neck to grasp the kit by the scruff. The black and silver tabby tom-kit tucked in his paws and tail as Whiskerpaw carried him out. She set him next to Fallsriver and shouted over the flames, "I found them, but we're still trapped!"
"We're working on something, so just hang tight!" came Dustberry's feminine voice.
The pain in her shoulder raged like the fire threatening to consume her, and the heat from the fire scorched her pale ginger pelt. Whiskerpaw couldn't just stand there and do nothing! Fallsriver was still unconscious and Pikekit was…where did Pikekit go?
"Pikekit?" Whiskerpaw called and quickly spotted the black tabby kit a few fox-lengths away. "Pikekit, get back here!" Whiskerpaw trotted towards the mischievous tom-kit. The kit, though his eyes still sealed closed, was a master squirmer. "You're not making this any easier by running off like that, you know," Whiskerpaw mused.
Suddenly, Pikekit let out a screech as a pillar of smoke and darkness appeared next to the tom-kit. The pillar then morphed into the shape of a cat and for the first time, Whiskerpaw could see actual cat features. She could see a dark gray tabby pelt visualize from the soot and the large muscles that rippled under it. She could make out ears and a nose and paws. She could see the black stripes that marked the tom's body and the multiple scars that laced around his throat, face and flank. The most stunning feature were the tom's now glowing yellow eyes that stuck out in the darkness of the tom's figure.
"W-Who are you?" Whiskerpaw stammered. She had never seen this tom before, but he looked pretty menacing. Was this the Shadow Master?
The Shadow Master dug his claws deeper into Pikekit's belly and the kit let out another horrifying screech. He didn't respond to Whiskerpaw's question.
"Let him go!" Whiskerpaw demanded, and she was surprised at the sudden bout of courage that appeared in her voice. "I am the medicine cat of WaterfallClan and I demand that you let go of that kit." When the tom did not obey her orders or respond, Whiskerpaw growled and launched herself at the tom. He dissipated before Whiskerpaw could lay her claws on him and Whiskerpaw landed awkwardly on the ground with an oomph! The mysterious tom reappeared out of smoke and ash a few paces behind Whiskerpaw with a mischievous grin plastered on his scarred face.
Whiskerpaw quickly got to her paws once more and let out a menacing growl as the tom approached her. "I'm warning you," she hissed. The tom stopped half a tail-length away from her and still didn't respond. "Are you the Shadow Master?" When the tom didn't reply, Whiskerpaw lashed out a paw. The tom easily dodged. Whiskerpaw lashed out another simple frontal attack, and the tom dodged again with a sick grin on his face. Was he amused by her weakness?
He'd seemed to notice that Whiskerpaw favored her right front paw. In the blink of an eye, he lashed out a paw at Whiskerpaw's already worn out right front paw. She had stretched her shoulder too much that day and it didn't take much to make her fall. Whiskerpaw let out a gasp and crumpled to the ground. The tom smirked and planted an unsheathed paw on her throat as he gazed menacingly down at her.
The tom's yellow eyes sparkled and gleamed in the roaring fire that surrounded them. "I go by many names, Whiskerpaw," the tom finally spoke, his voice as cold as a leaf-bare storm, and it sent chills down Whiskerpaw's spine. He gazed steadily down at her and raised his other paw to strike down at her. "But you can call me Jaggedstar."