In this specific chapter, we will see through the perspectives of Hawkwing, Rockpool, Tigerstripe and Mudpool, in that order.
Mudpool's Path- Chapter 24
Mudpool leapt at Shadowheart, who quickly darted out of the way, and out of sight. Yowls began to fill the air as the battle began. Cats swarmed around Mudpool, and she could just make out the shapes of Flint, Scarlet and Rubble darting off in different directions, realizing that they were heading in the directions of the other three Clans.
"Hawkwing! Rockpool! Tigerstripe!" she called, hoping her friends would hear her. Relieved, she saw that they understood, and were already off to help their designated Clans. Be safe, she quietly urged as she, too, charged into the throng of battling cats, hoping to find Shadowheart along the way.
~o~o~o~o~
Hawkwing raced over the hills that lead to the BreezeClan camp. She had never had to run this fast, not even when hunting. This time was different, though. This time, she was racing to save the Clans.
When she finally arrived at the camp, her eyes widened with horror when she realized the rogues had already beat her here. BreezeClan didn't look outnumbered, but the rogues were pushing them back, surrounding them. Foxtail and Hollyberry, the newer BreezeClan warriors, were fighting side by side, their pawswipes mirroring each other.
With a screech, she sprang onto the nearest rogue, sinking her teeth into his scruff. He yowled, swinging back and forth trying to shake her off. Hawkwing gripped his shoulders with her claws, and only let go when a pair of jaws pried her off.
Looking up at her attackers, her fur bristled when she saw that they were ganging up on her.
"You think you can take me down that easily?" she spat. "Keep dreaming!"
She lashed out at the nearest rogue with unsheathed claws, yowling in triumph when they raked across the cat's muzzle, spraying its blood across the ground. The rogue charged at her, teeth bared. Hawkwing darted out of the way, just in time to see Featherheart fighting a large tom in front of the nursery.
"Get back, you filthy fox-heart!" Featherheart snarled. "I won't let you come any closer!"
"What brave words," he mocked. "But words will get you nowhere." He swatted her out of the way, slowly approaching the nursery, his eyes glowing with insanity.
Hawkwing sprinted towards him, darting under his belly and slashing at his forepaws with her claws. The rogue hissed, whipping his head around to spot his attacker. Hawkwing sprang up in front of him, raising her paw.
"Welcome to the forest." She swung at his muzzle, hooking her claws into his lip. He pulled back, causing blood to ooze from the wound. Featherheart then got up, grasping his tail in her teeth and pulling as hard as she could. The tom yowled, and ran off, tail between his legs.
Featherheart turned to Hawkwing, her eyes brimming with gratitude. "Thank you for saving my kits," she meowed quietly.
Hawkwing dipped her head, then brought her attention back to the battle. Her eyes darted to the center of the battling rogues, noticing that Rubble, the pale gray tom, was watching over them.
A growl rose in her throat. These rogues were not going to get away with this. She began to sprint towards him, until a rogue slammed into her side, knocking the wind out of her.
"You'll be slaughtered, just like the rest of these filthy Clan cats, if you lay one paw on Rubble," the rogue hissed into her ear.
She thrust her hind legs into his stomach, and sprang to her paws as he shook his head, trying to recover. "Try me!" She charged at him, sinking her teeth into his throat. The tom struggled in her grip, and she let go when she tasted his blood. Giving her one last glare, he struggled to run out of the camp.
"Oh, no you don't!" Hawkwing looked up as she saw Heatherfoot spring onto the tom, sinking her claws into his shoulders.
"You're not going anywhere!" she declared. Heatherfoot sank her teeth into the tom's scruff, and Hawkwing saw blood dripping through his pelt. The rogue's legs shook, and he finally collapsed, unmoving, onto the ground.
"That's what he gets for trying to run us out of the forest!" Heatherfoot hissed, before padding quickly back to the fight.
Hawkwing shrugged, then continued to shove her way through the crowd of fighting cats, coming face to face with Rubble. The tom was surprisingly handsome for a rogue.
"So you're the cat Shadowheart has told us about," he meowed smoothly. "Hawkwing?"
She wasn't fooled by his obviously fake kindness. "That's right. And you're going down!"
All traces of friendliness disappeared, his eyes glinting with malice. "Bring it on!"
He was the first to make a move, darting quickly towards her and swiping his claws at her ears. She winced when they made contact, her ear now feeling as though it were burning. Hawkwing retaliated by ramming into him, knocking him onto his back and exposing his belly fur. She wasted no time in pinning him down, raking his belly with her back claws. While she did this, she brought up a paw and brought it down hard onto his muzzle.
Rubble thrust her off, springing to his paws. "You'll have to try better than that to defeat me," he growled. Quick as a fox, he darted under her belly, slashing at her forepaws. She twisted around, not knowing where he'd attack next. Much to her surprise, he attacked her from the side, hooking his claws into her fur and dragging her down onto the ground.
When she tried to get up again, he pinned her down with one paw, claws unsheathed. "I'd recommend giving up now," he purred, cruelty dripping from every word. "Try any harder, and I won't even have to try killing you. You'll just end up killing yourself."
Hawkwing glared up at him, when she got an idea. Tucking in her chin, she grabbed Rubble's paw in her mouth, biting down as hard as she could. He yowled, yanking his paw desperately to get it out. Hawkwing took this chance to thrust herself upward, shoving him off her.
"I'm sorry," she snarled. "But my leader told us that if it were necessary for self-defense, or if a cat is outside the warrior code, I show no mercy."
She pinned him down again, sinking her teeth into his throat. Blood gushed out of the wound, seeping into her mouth. She gagged, but resisted the urge to let go. Rubble struggled vainly to free himself, but he soon grew weak, and shuddered before he fell still, showing no signs that he was alive.
Hawkwing spat out clots of blood and fur as the rogues turned to stare at the dead body of their temporary leader.
"Rubble is dead!" one of them yowled. "Rubble is dead!"
The rogues quickly fled, some of them even collapsing onto the ground, their breath quickly leaving their bodies.
Hawkwing looked up as Owlpelt limped towards her. "Thank you, Hawkwing," he meowed, dipping his head. "Please, quickly go to Sunpelt to get your wounds treated."
Hawkwing remembered her wounded ear, as well as wounds on her legs and neck. She nodded gratefully to Owlpelt, and padded towards the medicine den where Sunpelt waited, hoping that Rockpool and Tigerstripe were just as successful.
~o~o~o~o~
Rockpool stared at the river that rushed downstream in front of her. Carefully, she leapt onto each rock, safely crossing it and sprinting once she reached the other side.
In the distance, she could see the rogues, swiftly making their way towards the camp. She ran harder, fearing that her legs might give out. Luckily, she caught up to one of the rogues, leaping on top of him as they entered the camp.
The rogue twisted around, aiming his teeth at Rockpool's throat. She darted out of the way, flinching as she heard the snap of his jaws where her throat used to be. She dug her hind claws into his belly, slashing at his throat and muzzle at the same time. The rogue screeched, flinging her off and running away.
Struggling to her paws, she saw that the rogues were wasting no time in singling out each warrior, forcing them into one-on-one fights. Her attention was brought to Eagleclaw, who was backed up against the stream that served as a barrier to the camp.
Rockpool darted towards him, pushing the rogue out of the way just as it was about to deliver a killing bite to the weakening warrior.
"Eagleclaw! Are you alright?" she demanded.
He looked up, the light in his eyes fading. "I will be soon... StarClan is waiting for me."
"You can't die!" Rockpool meowed, her tail lashing. "You have to stay and fight!"
"I can't," Eagleclaw whispered. "I'm too weak now. But please... Tell Mudpool that I... I never stopped... Loving her..."
Eagleclaw gave one more shuddering breath before falling still, his blood oozing onto the grassy floor of the camp.
"Wait!" Rockpool begged. "What do you mean?"
She was taken by surprise when the rogue she had pushed aside rammed into her, throwing her onto her back and pinning her down. "I thought you were warriors!" he taunted into her ear. "I never expected you all to be so weak!"
"Oh, shut up already!" Rockpool wriggled free and whirled around. She unsheathed her claws, then lashed out at the tom who attacked her, slashing through his chest, coating her paw in blood.
The tom hissed, grabbing Rockpool's paw in his mouth as she began to withdraw it. She winced, and pulled her paw back, slashing her claws across his face. While he was still dazed, she darted under his belly, flipped onto her back, and powerfully thrust her hind legs into his belly. As he flew across the camp floor, Rockpool chased after him, leaping onto his back and clawing out tufts of fur from his shoulders.
He yowled, throwing Rockpool off and fleeing from the camp. Rockpool held her head up in triumph. She suddenly remembered the burning pain in her paw, wincing as she touched it to the ground. She limped towards the medicine den quickly, trying to detect the scent of herbs.
Just as she thought she found the medicine den, she was knocked off her paws and onto her back, staring into the dark blue eyes of one of the rogues. This rogue was huge, almost the size of Thunderstep, and blood dripped from his pelt. She suddenly realized this was one of the cats Shadowheart had introduced, as well as one of the temporary rogue leaders, Flint.
"My leader has told me that you're one of those silly 'prophecied' cats," he snarled. "StarClan doesn't exist, and neither does your prophecy. It's nothing but tales for kits. Which means, you're nothing special."
Rockpool struggled, but Flint placed a paw on her throat, unsheathing his long claws. Thinking quickly, Rockpool slowed her breathing, fell limp, and shut her eyes, hoping Flint would fall for the trick.
To her dismay, he didn't believe it for a second. "That's the oldest battle technique ever thought. You'll have to do better than that." He swatted her away, against a rock with one of his enormous paws. Dazed, Rockpool looked up, only to see his raised paw, ready to strike a killing blow.
"Get away from her!"
A black cat slammed into Flint's side, and Rockpool felt her shoulder being supported, propping her up off the ground.
Mossnose, the cat helping her up, gazed at her with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I am now," Rockpool sighed. "I was almost turned into crowfood!"
Ravensky landed in front of them on his side, his chest heaving. Flint came back, his eyes glittering with disgust. "You traitor!" he snarled at Ravensky. "I knew we couldn't trust you, not for one second!"
Ravensky struggled to his paws. "Leave now, Flint," he rasped. "I have no quarrel with you."
"You left us to come here," Flint went on. "You are nothing but a traitorous piece of fox-dung, and you deserve what I'm about to give to you."
Mossnose glared at the rogue, her neck fur rising. "You can't talk to my mate like that."
"And you even found a mate!" he purred dryly. "What's she going to do? Nag me to leave you alone?"
"No," Mossnose responded. "She's going to drag your sorry tail below the ground!" She leapt over him, landing squarely on his back and grabbed his tail in her teeth, pulling her head up to yank it as hard as she could.
Flint yowled so loud, it may as well have been heard outside the territories. He spun on his forepaws, trying to dislodge the she-cat. But Mossnose sank her claws into his back, pulling even harder.
"Let's help her out!" Ravensky directed. He dove under Flint's belly, slashing at the back of his forepaws.
Rockpool nodded, slashing at the enormous rogue's chest. Flint spun around, unable to decide which cat to attack. He sank to the ground and rolled over, trying to crush both Ravensky and Mossnose beneath him. The two MistClan warriors darted away from him.
"You really think you can defeat me?" Flint panted, coughing up drops of blood. He grabbed Rockpool by her scruff, dragging her beneath him. "I am far stronger than you could ever hope to be."
Rockpool realized that one of her paws was free, and she unsheathed her claws. "It's my destiny to defeat you," she explained. "And I'll make sure you don't recover."
She slashed his throat with her forepaw, scrambling away from him as he collapsed. He struggled to his paws, blood gushing from the wound with every breath he took. It looked as though he was about to retaliate, when his eyes rolled back into his head and he sank to the ground.
"He's dead," Ravensky mewed breathlessly.
"Well done, Rockpool," Mossnose praised.
The fighting around them continued for a moment, when one rogue who was grappling with Minnowtail looked up. "Flint!"
The rogues stopped, then with loud shrieks, fled from the camp. Owltalon and Squirreltail chased after them, not eager to let them stay any longer in the forest.
Icepool padded out of the medicine den, carrying a bundle of marigold in her jaws. "Rockpool, you should come and get your wounds treated. You too, Mossnose and Ravensky."
The three cats nodded, and followed the old medicine cat to her den.
Rockpool's pelt pricked with unease. I just hope the others are doing okay.
~o~o~o~o~
Tigerstripe stumbled her way through the dark pines of ShadeClan territory, grumbling to herself. "How in the name of StarClan can these cats live in a place like this? It's so dark I can hardly see my own nose!"
At last, she reached their camp. Much to her despair, the poor cats were being overrun with rogues. Sandflower from BreezeClan and Pebblestream from MistClan were fighting tail-to-tail with two larger rogues, both clearly exhausted.
"Tigerstripe!" Sweetberry ran up to meet her. "Thank StarClan you're here! Scarlet suddenly appeared here with a bunch of rogues and before we knew it-"
Tigerstripe raised her tail for Sweetberry to calm down. "Don't worry. Where's Mousetail?" She lost sight of him when the battle began back at the Great Maple, and she suspected he had come here.
"He's in the medicine den," Sweetberry explained. "Scarlet hurt him pretty badly, and I'm not sure he'll live."
"Then why are you standing here?" Tigerstripe meowed. "Go back and help him!"
The she-cat nodded, turning around and bolting towards the medicine den. Tigerstripe bunched her muscles and leapt at the nearest rogue, grabbing its head in her forepaws and sinking her teeth into its throat. The tom yowled, kicking her off with his hind legs. A tortoiseshell rogue took his place, baring her teeth at her.
Tigerstripe shoved her aside. "This isn't your fight." She battered at the rogue's ears with her claws, before the rogue backed up and rammed herself into Tigerstripe's side.
As the rogue leapt into the air to strike again, Tigerstripe reared up onto her hind legs and slashed at the tortoiseshell's underbelly. When the rogue landed, Tigerstripe reared up again and slammed her forepaws down onto the rogue. Scrambling out from beneath her, the rogue hissed, limping out of the camp.
Talonstrike passed and nodded approvingly, when his eyes suddenly widened. "Tigerstripe! Behind you!"
Tigerstripe turned to look behind her slightly, and saw that Scarlet had made a leap for her. She lashed out with her back legs, then spun around to face the scarred she-cat.
Scarlet got up, coughing. "Well, well, well," she rasped. "What do we have here?"
"I'm Tigerstripe," she replied. "Tigerstripe of LeafClan. And you're going down!"
"Oh, am I now?" Scarlet sneered. "Alright then. Do your worst."
Tigerstripe huffed, then leapt at the rogue. She darted quickly to the side, and Tigerstripe landed on the pebbly ground. Scarlet pinned the warrior beneath her, flashing her teeth.
"It appears as though you'll be the one who will die," Scarlet taunted. "Why aren't you fighting like a warrior that you forest idiots claim to be?" She battered at Tigerstripe's belly with her back paws, drawing blood, then shoving her aside. "You're pathetic. You can't even defend yourself against me."
Tigerstripe struggled to get up, Scarlet's eyes showing nothing but sheer mockery. Tigerstripe was suddenly drawn to the scars that laced the she-cat's body, especially the scar going from her eye to her shoulder. Something clicked in her mind, and she sighed. "You're right. I'm not the greatest fighter."
"It's wonderful that you admit it," Scarlet stated.
"But there is one thing that I am good at." She used every last bit of strength to leap onto Scarlet's back, sinking her claws into her pelt. "And that's finding the enemy's weak point!"
Tigerstripe sank her teeth directly into the scar on the rogue's shoulder. Scarlet yowled, swinging her body back and forth to dislodge her, but Tigerstripe only sank her teeth in deeper. "Now let me give you some more scars to remember me by!" Tigerstripe snarled. She lifted her claws, slashing at Scarlet's neck and ears. Blood spurted from the wounds, and Tigerstripe leapt off.
"You... You forest fool!" Scarlet panted. "This... This is nothing! I can this and much more!" Scarlet's claws unsheathed, and she crept closer. Leaping, she yowled, "You will never win! You will die beneath my claws!"
Tigerstripe's eyes narrowed, as she aimed for a spot to attack on the rogue. When she finally found the perfect mark, she whispered, "No. I won't." Rearing up, she slashed at Scarlet's throat, blood beginning to pour from the wound.
When Scarlet collapsed in a crumpled heap to the ground, her eyes widened. "Shadowheart... Forgive me..." she choked out, as her last breath left her and the life in her eyes faded.
Tigerstripe glared up at all the rogues, who had stopped battling to stare at Scarlet's unmoving body. "Get out."
They screeched, dashing past her, shoving each other to the side so they wouldn't have to stay any longer.
Tigerstripe looked around at the ShadeClan camp. The rock walls were stained with blood. Sandflower and Pebblestream, who had fought so bravely to protect one of the rival Clans, were lying on the camp floor, their bodies unmoving and coated with their own blood.
Sweetberry padded out of the medicine den, her eyes sorrowful. Tigerstripe lowered her head. "Mousetail is dead, isn't he?"
Sweetberry nodded. "I tried so hard to keep him alive, but..."
Talonstrike laid his tail across her shoulders. "It's okay, Sweetberry. You did your best. That's all we could ever ask of you."
The medicine cat sighed. "Thanks."
The dark tabby tom looked around. "I suppose we should clean up here, huh?"
Tigerstripe looked at Scarlet's body. Mudpool said that if Shadowheart died, one of these cats would take over in her place, Tigerstripe recalled. If the others already defeated Flint and Rubble, and if Shadowheart sees their bodies with her own eyes...
Tigerstripe lifted up the rogue's body by the scruff, and was about to leave the camp until Sweetberry called her back. "Let me treat your wounds before you do anything else!"
~o~o~o~o~
Mudpool sped through the forest, her jaws wide in an attempt to catch Shadowheart's scent. The cats back at the Great Maple were fighting well, but they still lost Cloudstar, after he risked his life to protect Thunderstep.
She suddenly caught Shadowheart's scent, and turning in the direction of it, she realized that it was coming from the old Twoleg nest in her own territory. As soon as she began to run towards it, she was knocked off her paws by a group of three rogues.
"Where do you think you're going?" one of them, a black tom, snarled.
"Run back to your pathetic little Clan," the white she-cat jeered.
Mudpool planted her paws firmly on the ground. "No! I'm going to defeat Shadowheart, even if it means I have to defeat all three of you!"
"How brave," the mottled gray tom meowed in a mocking tone. "But I don't believe that's possible."
As they crept closer, a cat stepped in front of Mudpool, and she recognized the cat as Nutwhisker. "Don't touch her. I'll be your opponent," the old warrior hissed.
Mudpool's eyes widened. "Nutwhisker, what are you doing?"
He turned his head to face her. "Go Mudpool. Kill Shadowheart. I'll take care of these mouse-brains."
Mudpool stared incredulously at her former mentor, wondering whether she should have actually done what he said and run. It was then that she remembered the words that Thrushflight had said to her, just before he died. Don't hesitate. When the time comes, just act.
She looked up determinedly at Nutwhisker, nodded, and darted past him towards the Twoleg nest, trying to ignore the yowls of the four battling cats behind her.
YEAH! More cliffhangers! *runs from angry mob*
Stay tuned!