I am just super happy today, so happy I made another chapter for you. Enjoy ~.
Chapter 24
"The Drums Of War."
8/17/16
The dawn's early light was barely lighting up the sky. The clouds moved in last night and snowed heavily through the morning. Thornstar met with Ivystar and RiverClan in the clearing as everyone came up with a game plan to defeat Lionstar and Crowstar.
Stoatfrost was glad Stealthfire stayed with the queens.
She told him about their kits that night, and it took a lot of persuading to keep her from coming. But he also knew that he was in the same paw steps his father was before he was born, Sparrowheart died in battle. Stoatfrost will make sure he won't.
"RiverClan and ThunderClan!" He looked up and saw Thornstar and Ivystar standing shoulder to shoulder.
"LionClan is a terrible threat to all of us. We must unite and defend our warrior code, our friends, our family, and our loved ones who deserve a better life."
Ivystar told her Clan,
"So until the battle is won, the ThunderClan cats you see before you will be treated like a life long friend and Clanmate. If LionClan can do it, so can we."
Stoatfrost sees Flameclaw, Duckheart, Rainstorm, Foxflame and Squirreltail next to him. He envisions his golden furred mate's earnest face, with bright innocence in her yellow eyes.
Stealthfire… Wait for me.
"Alright then," Thornstar said. "TigerClan, we will win this fight!"
TigerClan moved in near the WindClan moors, and they saw LionClan waiting for them. They sneered and jeered at them and lashed their tails.
Lionstar and Crowstar stood shoulder to shoulder as Thornstar and Ivystar stopped in front of them by five fox lengths.
"Well." Lionstar said, amused. "This is a surprise. We were going to visit your little Twoleg nest right now, but you've saved us the time and energy and came to us."
Stoatfrost heard Foxflame growl, and immediately looks and finds Stormtail sitting with Crowstar, beaming with pride.
Crowstar gave his paw a deliberately slow lick and ran it over his ear.
"Are you here to whine about your - I mean, our territory?" He sneers to Thornstar.
Crowstar looks to Ivystar.
"Or have you going to complain about being less of a pound without fish?"
"We're giving you two a chance." Thornstar said. "You can disband LionClan and never come in contact with each other again, or you can waste your cats' lives in a senseless battle."
Crowstar tilts his head and pretended to think.
"That sounds… Boring."
Lionstar raised his head arrogantly.
"I believe you've gotten your answer, Thornblaze and Ivycloud."
The leaders bristled at the contempt held in their warrior names. Thornstar and Ivystar cried,
"TigerClan! ATTACK!"
TigerClan cats surged forward, LionClan charged at them. Both sides clashed at the instant the sound of thunder exploded in the sky.
Stealthfire jumped at the sound of thunder outside, and curled her tail over her stomach.
"Jaystripe," Timberkit whispered, huddling closer to his mother's belly.
"I'm scared."
"It's okay, we're safe here." Jaystripe told him. Stealthfire felt two tiny paws touch her spine, and turned around to see Spottedkit and Tigerkit.
"Stealthfire," Spottedkit said. "The LionClan cats aren't coming here right? Tigerkit's scared."
"Am not!" Tigerkit spat, his dark gold fur ruffled with embarrassment.
Stealthfire whispered, "No. Thornstar and Ivystar are probably fighting their hardest right now."
Stealthfire secretly wishes she could be as optimistic as her words.
The outcome was unpredictable. They could have sent agents to hunt down the defenseless cats.
"Stealthfire…"
The golden she cat blinked and looks at the queens.
"Did you say my name?"
Seabreeze shook her head. "No, we didn't."
Stealthfire feels her head throb, and a sharp, painful jolt rips through her brain's nerves.
Stealthfire found herself in the moorland, looking down at the chaos below.
She saw Eaglecry and Cloudheart back to back, fighting off LionClan cats, but three cats jumped Eaglecry and lashed her throat. Cloudheart was taken down by a tom and dragged into the fray.
She saw three dead bodies ripped apart.
No! Duckheart! Flameclaw! Rainstorm!
She heard spats of hatred and saw Foxflame fighting Stormtail. Stormtail ripped Foxflame's throat open and stabs his claws on his side, killing the bright ginger tom.
She saw a white tom get killed and knocked into the lake, drowning.
"Stoatfrost, no!"
Stealthfire ran down and stopped when she saw Ivystar lying in a pool of her own blood. ThunderClan and RiverClan were nothing but dead cats bleeding to death and torn apart… Except for Thornstar, who was badly injured and standing bravely against Crowstar and Lionstar.
"Stand down," Lionstar said, closing in on him with Crowstar in toe.
"There's nothing left for you."
Thornstar coughed up blood, but he said, "Never… So long as I have my nine lives, I'll never surrender to two rogues!"
With that answer, Lionstar and Crowstar lunged. Stealthfire was blinded by light as she heard Thornstar's dying shriek.
Stealthfire gasped and stood up.
"What's wrong?" Silverlight asked her,
Stealthfire was scared out of her wits.
"This is a vision." Deerheart was speaking in her mind. "The time for the prophecy is now. You, the stealthiest of cats, must end this war in flames."
Stealthfire's brain disagreed with the possibility of danger… But that's what her previous life would have gone. Always stepping back, staying out of harm's way, and never fighting back.
No more!
I am Stealthfire now. Warrior of ThunderClan. Friends to the Six Apprentices. Former apprentice to Seabreeze. And mate to Stoatfrost and expecting mother.
This is who I am.
Stealthfire looks at the queens.
"I have to go, they need me more than we know!"
"Wait - Stealthfire!"
The golden she cat took off, and jumped into the stream, sending droplets flying off her pelt as she ran through the snow covered ground, scaring the small wildlife.
Stealthfire heard the thunder crash in the sky and saw lightning bolts in the falling snow.
Is this a Thundersnow?
Stealthfire skidded to a halt when she saw Flameclaw being tossed around by a dark grey tom his size. The LionClan cat lunged, but Stealthfire bites the side of his head, and made him recoil.
Flameclaw stared at her briefly before looking at the dark grey tom. He jumps on him and lashes at his ears before sending the dark gray tom away.
"What are you doing here?!" He demanded. "You're expecting kits!"
"Thanks for the news flash." Stealthfire retorted. "What's the situation?"
"But you can't-!"
"Flameclaw!" Stealthfire begged. "I need to be here, trust me!"
Flameclaw stared at her and nods.
"We're getting overwhelmed. Lionstar brought his entire Clan with him."
Stealthfire follows Flameclaw to the moorland filled with fighting cats. Flameclaw immediately went into battle, leaving Stealthfire alone.
Deerheart, what now?
Stealthfire saw lightning strike, and thunder crashing afterwards.
You are the fire. Light up your path and save your Clanmates!
"Get off me!" She saw Foxflame being pinned down by Stormtail. Stealthfire snarled and bunched her hind legs, lightning bolts fell down and hits her body, and she took off like a rocket.
Foxflame kicked Stormtail off as Stealthfire slammed her paws on Stormtail's chest, and fire exploded from her paws! Stormtail screeched and shook the flames off his fur. Foxflame charged and rakes his claws across Stormtail's muzzle and eye, and sent him running away.
Stealthfire looks at her paws in smoke as Foxflame stared at her.
"How did you do that?" He asked. Stealthfire heard a cry and charged again, feeling a stinging, burning sensation in her front and back legs.
Duckheart was in a scratching match against Harewhisker.
Stealthfire leaps and pounces on Harewhisker as flames exploded around her paws.
She bites Harewhisker's ears and clawed her face, and bites Harewhisker's scruff and threw her a few mouse lengths away and watched her run.
"Stealthfire!"
The golden she cat looked back and saw flames extinguished from the fire symbols on her hind legs that glowed faintly with crimson red. Duckheart had a look of shock and awe.
"Your paws were on fire." She said.
Stealthfire blinked, and now realized what the prophecy and Deerheart meant.
"Where's Thornstar?"
"They're not too far from you." Duckheart replied. The fluffy she cat narrowly dodged a light brown she cat and clawed her. Stealthfire ran through the knot of battling cats and found Ivystar and Thornstar fighting Lionstar and Crowstar.
"Aha!" Stealthfire was knocked over by a dark brown tabby tom.
"Stay still, pretty kitty-!" He was knocked down by Cloudheart. The RiverClan deputy gave the tom a vicious bite on his neck, and the tom fell limp.
Cloudheart tossed the body aside and looks at Stealthfire.
"Are you alright?"
Stealthfire always assumed that Cloudheart was mean. Now she thinks differently, and nods. Cloudheart grunted and went back to fighting with Eaglecry.
Stealthfire saw three LionClan cats ganging up on a white tom, pushing him near the edge of the lake.
Stoatfrost!
"Uh, can we talk about this?" He asks feebly. A black she cat bites at his paws.
"No? Well, can I interest you in some squirrel-?"
A silver she cat bites near his throat. Stealthfire charged forward, flames danced on her paws and engulfed her pelt. The three cats saw only a fireball and fled quickly.
Stealthfire allowed her flames to extinguish in front of a shocked Stoatfrost.
"Are you serious?! You - Fire! - Here?!"
"Stoatfrost, don't faint on me." Stealthfire told him. "I have to get back to Thornstar, go and help Rainstorm!"
Stealthfire ran back to find Ivystar on the ground, losing a life. Crowstar and Lionstar were slowly advancing on Thornstar, the cat who took her in and gave her a chance.
NO!
Stealthfire kicked up embers, her hind leg fire symbols glows in a fierce, burning red light as flames appeared. Stealthfire jumped and lashed her claws on Crowstar's throat.
She quickly pins Lionstar down as Crowstar fell to the ground and loses his own life.
"Stealthfire!" Thornstar cried. The golden she cat kept a firm grip on Lionstar's throat, unsheathed claws piercing his skin, as he struggled under her weight.
Ivystar woke up as Cloudheart helped her up.
The snow began to fall harder, and the winds blew harder. Stealthfire's flames burned higher and brighter against the snowfall, and lightning bolts became more frequent as the TigerClan and LionClan cats stopped out of shock at the sight: a cat in flames.
"You're not going anywhere!" She spat, her nerves buzzed with adrenaline.
"Get off me you freak!" Lionstar spat. Then he smirked. "Or do you want to kill me? Go ahead!"
"Don't tempt me!" She hissed. "At least when I do, it won't be to steal something that isn't mine!"
Stealthfire leaned toward Lionstar's ear.
"I know you killed Deerheart."
The WindClan cats perked their ears with interest and confusion. Lionstar's bravado fell from his face.
"I don't know what-."
Stealthfire punctures her claws in his throat and quickly pulled out, leaving it bleeding slightly.
"Tell the truth," Stealthfire growled. "Tell the truth, then maybe StarClan will forgive you."
"You dare speak of StarClan like you're one of us!" Lionstar spat.
"How does some Twoleg know about StarClan?!"
The cats in the moors gasps in shock and quickly forgot the battle. Stealthfire refused to back down, not even when she feels Stoatfrost's horror drifting from him.
She glared at him square in the eyes and pierced his throat again.
"Either you say it, or-."
"Alright!" Lionstar roared. The dark golden tom gagged and whispered.
"I killed her…"
"Louder!" Stealthfire exclaimed. "So the whole Clans know what you did!"
Everyone fell silent as they waited for Lionstar's reply. Even Crowstar, who regained consciousness, was watching. Lionstar gave Stealthfire a look of pure hatred and a slight amount of fear.
She thrusts his muzzle in hers and yowled, "I KILLED DEERHEART AND BRANCHSTAR!"
The WindClan cats cried with horror and protests.
"No! Is he serious?!"
"He killed his own father - and sister!"
"He's a monster! He disgraced the warrior code!"
Lionstar kicks Stealthfire in her stomach.
"That's right! And I killed Willowtail as well, after she told you what happened!"
Lionstar lunged and prepared to sink his fangs in her throat. Stealthfire saw a flash of light in the clouds, and raised her front paws out and a lightning bolt came down and strikes Lionstar!
Lionstar screeched and fell on Stealthfire. She rolled over and pinned him down, and amazingly still lived. Stealthfire bites down on his throat and heard him shriek, and falling limp in her grasp.
Stealthfire drops Lionstar down. The WindClan leader was ominously still as blood poured out his mouth.
He's...dead.
Yes. He was on his last life. You saved us all.
Stealthfire saw the transparent body of Deerheart smiling at her before vanishing in her snow flecked eyes.
"ShadowClan! Retreat!" Crowstar ran off the moorlands with his ShadowClan cats in toe. The WindClan cats were left, allowing the information to sink in.
A mottled grey tabby tom approached Thornstar and Ivystar.
"I want to apologize for what WindClan - I mean, my Clan has put you through." He said, dipping his head.
Thornstar nods graciously. "I accept your apology, Creeksplash."
"Me too." Whispered Ivystar.
"Lionstar had us all fooled." Creeksplash said. "I never dreamed he would murder his own kin."
"You were just following the warrior code, as twisted as it sounds now." Thornstar said. "I only hope that you learn from Lionstar's mistakes and make WindClan respectable again."
Creeksplash nods.
"I will. For now, please let my Clan recover…" Creeksplash narrowed his eyes at Lionstar's body. "And I suppose we should bury him."
Ivystar looks at the TigerClan cats.
"TigerClan! We have won!"
"TigerClan! TigerClan! TigerClan!"
Stealthfire feels the adrenaline leave her body as the sizzling sensation left her paws. She pads to her friends, who were staring at her.
"So… You're a Twoleg?" Flameclaw asked. Duckheart shouldered him.
"I used to be, in a previous life." Stealthfire replied.
Rainstorm, for once, was baffled. "Well… That's just…"
He lashed his tail. "Seriously?! I don't know how to process this!"
"Really?" Squirreltail gasps mockingly. "The great, knowledgeable Rainstorm doesn't know what to do in this situation? I guess there's a first for everything!"
Stealthfire looks at Stoatfrost.
"Well?"
Stoatfrost tilts his head.
"Well, what?"
"... You're not weirded out by the fact that I used to a human - Twoleg?"
Stoatfrost chuckled.
"I could care less if you used to be a badger. I love you for you, little Firebender."
Stealthfire purred and presses her head on his chest. She heard Ivystar,
"RiverClan, let's go home."
The RiverClan cats followed Ivystar to the forest.
"ThunderClan." Thornstar announced. "Let's go home."
The ThunderClan cats went back to their camp, and Stealthfire went back to the queens and - after a severe scolding from Jaystripe and Seabreeze - and returned them home too.
Stealthfire felt as though she finally belongs somewhere. And now, she hopes, her kits will feel loved the same way she does.
(Kyubi sits in a home theater, drinking tea)
I don't know how to think, but I'm pretty proud of how this turned out.
And Stealthfire became a FIREBENDER! I guess that answers Patches' question… Just kidding.
Lionstar's dead.
(Kyubi pulled a rope and confetti rains down from above)
I would play "The Witch is Dead" from the Wizard of Oz, but copyright.
Fun Facts!
Did any Shadow the Hedgehog fans get that reference in there?
Or that Lion King reference between Stealthfire and Lionstar?
I loved that movie to death as a kid. I always rewind it repeatedly, I even go to the scene where baby Simba gets held up by Rafiki and I would do the same with Muppet.
(Spoiler alert: she hated being touched and carried… Ouch.)
And the title is a reference to the Disney movie called "Pocahontas", and one of its songs "Savages" has them saying "sound the drums of war". I figured it was fitting. ^^
But don't think for a second that the next chapter is the last one. As Ducky from The Land Before Time would say "Yup, yup, yup!" There's still more to do.
The birth of Stealthfire's kits, the recovery of WindClan, and maybe check up on what Crowstar is up to now.
Also, a Thundersnow is a real thing. I looked it up. I think it's very rare weather condition that happened in January in certain areas.
Remember, reviews and constructive criticism is accepted. But flames will be doused with Hydro Pump by my Milotic, Breezie and my Greninja, Sasuke. - Kyubi