Disclaimer: Warriors isn't mine.
Chapter 28
Shadowthorn twitched, raising his head. His fur stood up, he tried to calm his lashing tail, something felt wrong. He looked over his den mates, Featherstep curled up next to him, Lionstorm's golden pelt obvious in the faint light, Firestrike's orange pelt made them look like a tree in leaf-fall.
Falconheart's silver fur stood out next to Sorrelflower's tortoiseshell pattern, he could barely see her or Blackstone, Splashcloud was on sentry duty. Still he felt uneasy, and he shifted slightly, hoping it would pass.
"Invaders!" or maybe not. Shadowthorn shot to his paws, accidently kicking Blackstone, but the large tom was getting up as well.
"We're under attack!" Splashcloud yowled, as the warriors den emptied, every warriors' paw thundering over the ground to meet the invasion force.
Shadowthorn's eyes found the familiar brown pelt and with a mighty leap, he fell on Robin.
The she-cat yowled as Shadowthorn sank his claws into the skin beneath him, careful not to wound her too badly. He raked his claws over her shoulders, hoping it was enough.
"Get out." Shadowthorn snarled, his voice rough, "Go, run away, please." He kicked slightly, feeling her fur come loose. "Don't do this Robin." He released her, hopping off her onto the familiar camp ground.
Robin's eyes met his, before glancing at something over his shoulder. Her eyes softened, and she raced out of camp. Shadowthorn whirled, finding Lionstorm a tail-length away, wrestling with Frost. Shadowthorn swerved, doing Lionstorm a small favor by stepping down on Frost's tail as he passed. He ran his claws over Reed's flank, causing the dark brown tom to yelp in pain, turning away from Firestrike. Firestrike slashed out scoring a hit down the tom's exposed side before focusing on Jay.
Shadowthorn landed blow after blow on Reed's chest and head, the brown tom retreated slightly, unsure how to defend himself under the vicious blows.
Shadowthorn let out a battle cry, a roar that rivaled Buzzard's, and Reed backed further up, right into Firestrike. The orange tom snarled in disgust, kicking back hard enough that it bowled Reed over. Shadowthorn attacked his exposed stomach, and Reed shrieked beneath him. Shadowthorn retracted his claws, staring him in the face, ignoring the multitude of angry lines that spilled blood over the tom's fur. "Go."
Reed slid loose and took off; Falconheart gave him a slash as he passed the deputy. The silver tom plunged forward, leaping over Splashcloud and Snow, to come face to face with Shadowthorn.
"StarClan above tell me they didn't bring kits to this fight!" Falconheart bore wounds; white fur clung to his paws, suggesting his opponent had been Frost.
Shadowthorn parted his jaws, before he shook his head, "I can't tell you that. They could've."
Falconheart unleashed a string of oaths against Buzzard that Shadowthorn agreed with wholeheartedly. "Where is that piece of fox-dung so I can flay his pelt into strips?"
"He won't be down here." Shadowthorn sank his claws into Forest, pulling the trainee to him to give him a nasty bite on the shoulder, until the tom howled in pain, at which point Shadowthorn released him. He spat out the mouthful of fur and blood and continued, "The Pride leader never fights unless their loosing."
Falconheart curled his muzzle in a sneer of disgust, "Then let's bring him into the fray. Cats of CreekClan, drive them out!"
Shadowthorn answered him with another battle roar, he heard several caterwauls, shrieks and snarls, and dipped his head to the deputy. "I'll help you find him. If we can chase of Frost, Fox and Storm, we should bring him into the fun."
Firestrike joined their side, yellow eyes a light, "I'll take one."
"Take Storm, I'll get Fox, I think I dealt with Frost." The three toms all slashed out at the mass of enemies in front of them at the same time.
"Doesn't mean anything. Frost wants to be leader bad. He'll stay if he thinks it would earn him any glory." Shadowthorn muttered, "So keep your eyes open for him. Fox is a ginger, he might be gone by now, and Storm's all gray, except for his stomach and paws. He's not blue-gray, that one's Jay."
"That one's gone." Firestrike informed him, his muzzle curling up, to reveal bloody fangs. "Let's find these three."
"Shadowthorn check by the nursery, there's some nasty fighting there." Falconheart ordered, before he let out a chilling wail, charging into the throng of squirming bodies.
Shadowthorn charged to his left, up the creek bank, to where Honeynose and Sorrelflower fought with two Pride she-cats. Shadowthorn recognized Moth, and flinched as he did his next trick. He struck at her hip, causing her to let out a choked gasp. Sand kicked at Shadowthorn, he could see the tension in her muscles as she attempted to injure him. He dodged the feeble kick, knocking Moth's hind legs out from under her.
The older she-cat struggled back up, smacking Shadowthorn across the face with her front paw. She headed for the entrance, her gait off.
The three warriors turned to Sand, Honeynose's hackles rose, and she bared her teeth. "You'll never come near these kits."
Sand stepped backwards, Sorrelflower flattened her ears against her skull and hissed, Shadowthorn snarled, his claws gleaming in the moonlight, the blood that clung to his paws running between them.
Sand went after Moth, a little faster than her Pridemate.
"Are they okay?" Shadowthorn panted the battle beginning to catch up with him.
Honeynose nodded, her eyes fierce, "I'll die before any of them sets a paw in the nursery."
"Hopefully it doesn't come to that." Shadowthorn heard a familiar battle cry, and twisted, "Well, Buzzard's here now."
A howl of grief made his fur stand up, eyes darting over the cats, searching for the source.
"Blackstone." Sorrelflower breathed, "Oh no, not Splashcloud."
Shadowthorn snarled, squaring his shoulders, "That's it." His fury at Buzzard strengthened him once more, "Stay here, let out a yowl if you need help." He plunged into the final fight; he could see these were the last of the Pride cats, only those that had held out. And Buzzard, he could make out his brother through multiple battles, it looked like he was caught between Firestrike, Lionstorm and Falconheart.
Stone raced off, Featherstep hard on his paws, Shadowthorn raised his head to call her back, but she turned, charging back to the knot of cats. He caught sight of Splashcloud, the she-cat stood beside Blackstone; the huge warrior looked wild with emotion, his huge paws coming down on anyone unlucky enough to be close.
"Let them go!" Falconheart shouted, Shadowthorn caught a paw on his jaw at that point and went down. He twisted to bit whoever had hit him, fur ripping away in his teeth as his opponent ran. Frost stood beside Buzzard, who crouched over a small body, the fallen kit covered in dust and blood. He grabbed the kit and sprinted, before CreekClan decided prisoners were a good idea. Frost went after him; he looked more like Patch with the splotches of blood that covered his pelt.
Shadowthorn rolled to his paws, looking over his stunned Clanmates. No one was dead, no one was seriously wounded, so why had Blackstone… The large tom's head hung, he sat down, quickly turning his attention to his pelt. Shadowthorn looked for Featherstep, finding her next to Firestrike. She looked up as Shadowthorn approached, touching noses with him.
"Are you alright?"
He nodded, looking her over, "You?" he could see several claw marks, but they all seemed shallow.
"I'm fine." Her yellow eyes scanned Shadowthorn; she began fussing over his wounds, cleaning them, which caused him to flinch.
Icepaw approached, carrying a mouthful of marigold. Shadowthorn flattened his ears, but she passed him for Firestrike. The ginger tom held still, not even flinching as she placed the crushed pulp against his wounds.
"Would someone get some cobwebs please?" Icepaw asked, her paws turning red with Firestrike's blood.
Sorrelflower moved away from Splashcloud and Blackstone, quickly reaching the entrance to the medicine cats den. She disappeared inside; Icepaw continued to apply the marigold.
Honeynose sat next to Shadowthorn and Featherstep, the queen was the least injured of them all. Shadowthorn bit back a yelp when Featherstep touched a wound on his flank.
Sorrelflower returned, one paw raised to carry some cobwebs asides from the ones stuck to her pelt. "Here,"
"Thank you." Icepaw took them calmly, sticking them to Firestrike's wounds.
A yowl came from the nursery, everyone turned to the den, in time to see a black blur charge out, followed by Brackenkit. Splashcloud sprang forward, pinning the blur down.
Brackenkit, Branchkit and Goldkit skid to a halt, growling.
"It's a kit." Splashcloud shoved her into the circle the warriors had formed.
"She attacked us in the nursery." Brackenkit raised his head, "We chased her off."
"We see that." Shadowthorn muttered, turning to look at the kit. She had a cut on one ear, but otherwise seemed fine. "Who are you, and who are your parents?"
"I'm Dusk, daughter of Storm and Ciara." The black she-cat raised her head, the hints of gray or silver standing out under the moonlight.
Falconheart made a strange noise, stepping forward. The deputy's eyes were huge, his jaw parted slightly. "Ciara? Did you say Ciara?"
Dusk, in-turn, gaped at him. She looked up at the tom, who appeared huge compared to her. "You… you look like my brother, Owl."
A.N.: Hmm… how odd that Falconheart looks like Ciara's kits. Since Storm is totally the father.
