Hey guys! So in this chapter you sort of see the end of the battle, but you don't know what's happening yet. But I do! Mwuhahahahahahaha!
Bramblewhisker88- Yeah that's how I feel;) I'm glad you loved it and I hope you love this one as much!=)
Chapter Thirty seven
*Moonrise*
Invisible once more, I fight by Hailstreak's side, near Feathershine and Lightingstorm. The idiot keeps running off, but we think – hope – he'll stay put now. An explosion of snarling causes me to turn for the briefest of seconds, and my eyes catch a golden pelt fighting a dark tabby. Refocusing on the fight, I slash at the cat from behind and it runs.
"Was that Lionblaze?" I whisper into Hailstreak's ear and he nods wearily.
I curse softly as Feathershine staggers toward us. My sister's soft gray pelt is tinged with blood, and is ruffled, cuts standing out painfully. Her blue-green eyes are dark and stormy as she looks up into the sky, the full moon floating directly above us.
Becoming visible I hit her shoulder gently and mew, "The others, have you sensed anything?"
"No one's died…" she replies slowly, "But Owlswoop almost did, I think Snakesayer must have just healed her."
Hailstreak groans quietly as he closes his eyes and I lean against him, watching my brother fighting hard against a large gray she-cat. Feathershine's eyes widen suddenly and I whip around, seeing a smaller cat, a dark red tom, sauntering towards us. His claws and pelt are stained with blood, but despite that he doesn't seem to be much of a threat.
Nevertheless, I leap landing hard on him and dropping him to the ground. Deftly I claw at him, battering his stomach before I jump off, circling the ground around him, hissing. He struggles up, dark eyes angry and snarls at me.
I dodge his first attack and whip around, counter attacking and leaving a long cut on his side. He hisses in pain and feints toward my head, but I leap away altogether as Hailstreak comes in behind me. I smile slightly, until I hear even more yelling, and I turn to see my mother fighting like a demon against a dark pelted Dark Forest cat.
Quickly I locate my brother's white pet in the throng and motion to mum's fight. Lightingstorm tenses as he sees our mother and he turns quickly, catching my eye again. Nodding hastily, I watch as lighting flashes out of the air and knocks his opponent to the ground, but my brother doesn't even see as he races towards the lakeshore and our mum. Shakily I swallow the tears and fear within me, but I've dawdled too long.
Snarling I slash the cats face, glaring at him as my shoulder throbs from the bite. I drive him back into Hailstreak's claws and we fight together for a few moments.
Suddenly a clap of thunder sounds so loudly that I stagger and my opponent cowers, whimpering before he disappears. Looking frantically at Hailstreak I hiss, "What happened?"
He shakes his head helplessly, "I didn't see!"
Looking around, I find Feathershine frozen, her eyes wide in horror as she whispers, "He killed it… Lightingstorm killed…"
I don't pay much attention to my sister's words because I'm too busy watching my mother yell at a cat that can only be Tigerstar, too busy feeling horror spread to every fiber of my body, too busy not breathing to hear. And then he lunges, or maybe she does, but they're fighting and I can't breathe because my brain is shutting down, and Hailstreak's talking but all I can see is my mother fighting and I'm going to throw up…
My world spins and I'm seeing stars, I scream as pain blossoms in my back. I scramble up quickly, realizing we were attacked. The large dark tabby is Hawkfrost and Feathershine's already fighting, all fury and righteousness, and I join in, Hailstreak at my heels.
Hawkfrost laughs when we first start, but then suddenly we're driving him back and he's snarling, and more cats are at our sides, fighting with us and owls are dropping in every few seconds, slashing at any bit of Hawkfrost they can find.
"You know your mother doesn't need help." Hawkfrost taunts softly and I feel Feathershine tense next to me in fear, but remembering Sandstorm's warning, I merely smirk back at him.
"However much I may look like her, I am not my mother." I snarl, "I am proud of her, and I love her, and I am honored to walk in her pawsteps, but she and I are very different."
I slash at one side of his face while Feathershine takes the other and Hailstreak goes for his chest. Hawkfrost yowls, in fury or pain I cannot determine. Mapleshade appears abruptly behind him and she smirks slightly, looking directly at me. She disappears and I hiss softly.
"I know…" Feathershine mutters, "I saw."
"Lightingstorm." I mew in a low voice.
"I think so." Feathershine replies, her face tense.
"I'll go… but…"
"I'll take care of him." Feathershine mews with a half-smile, and I nod as I weave between Hawkfrost's blows.
"Moon…" Feathershine mews and my head snaps back to her, "I love you." She whispers softly and I swallow a ball of tears.
"I love you too sis. But I'll be right back."
And then I go invisible, and I run, looking back to see Hailstreak intercepting a blow aimed at my sister's chest. Shivering I press on, running through the crowd to where Lightingstorm is, the storm swirling faster here.
Inching closer I realize he is fighting Mapleshade already and I jump into the fight, passing close to my brother and whispering, "I'm here." His grin tells me he knows, so I slip behind Mapleshade, and attack.
*Emberdawn*
Behind me, the wall of flames roars, and I shake slightly as I fight to control it. Whatever the Dark Forest did to the fire made it alive and it strains against my control, yearning to break free and destroy everything. The limits I've place on it to protect the forest and our fighters has its energy bottled up, and the tighter I try to hold on, the more it struggles.
Another Dark Forest warrior appears in front of me and eyes the fire wearily. I snarl at it, the fire yearning to reach out. I hear Hopewind's voice in my mind, kill them… they'd all deserve it, and my resistance beings to fade.
The cat snarls at me, and strikes out, but the flames obey my instinctive thoughts and wrap around the cat before it can even touch me. It screams as it dies and I feel waves of revulsion crawling through me.
I stagger to the ground and close my eyes, trying to breathe steadily, trying to hold onto the fire. Let me go, let me go, let me go… it insists, a whining high-pitched noise in my brain. It feeds on every bad through I've ever had, and makes the darker side of me grow.
Struggling to remain in control I remember Ivypool talking to me, instructing me as I practiced battle moves.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, and you cannot fight fire with fire. Just because someone does something wrong or something bad happens to you does not give you a right to do the same. It is hard but you must remain the better cat, never stooping to their level. Justice is not punishing someone, it is not inflicting onto to them the pain they caused you; justice is forcing that cat to realize what they have done is wrong and hopefully leading them to repent. You will find this is often done with kindness, not strength and brutality."
My eyes open as I stand and rein the fire back in, forcing it to grow somewhat smaller. I can use this, yes, but I will not allow it to run free – no matter what. The twisted thoughts it whispers in my mind are not justice and no matter what I will not stoop to their level.
Racing through the forest, I look for those who are in pain, letting the fire go enough to kill the Dark Forest cats about to attack the weak. I make to the edge of the forest and I see the wounded, lying exposed on a small spit of land across from the half bridge. Struggling through the battlefield I push my way there, forcing the fire to remain docile and call out to Snakesayer.
He approaches me, his eyes wide and mews, "I heard them all say it but I did not believe them…"
I laugh before I can stop myself, "Yeah well, I hardly believe it either. But you guys are really exposed here; I was thinking we could take them back to the hollow."
"How are we going to protect them there?" Snakesayer asks, stepping closer to me so we can hear each other over the sound of the battle.
"I have a few ideas." I mew with a grin and he shrugs slightly, turning back to the other medicine cats.
They all agree and we enlist some warriors' help, lugging up the injured and dragging them back to our camp. Leafpool joins us half way through, with more herbs in her mouth. She helps a limping cat, but I pay more attention to those around us, the Dark Forest cats watching in the shadows, unwilling to come any closer to the deadly flames.
When we make it to the hollow, Jayfeather approaches, but then stops with a frown on his face, "What…?"
"I'll explain later." Snakesayer mutters and the wounded are quickly shuffled in though the thorn tunnel.
Snakesayer comes back out and when I raise an eyebrow he mews sharply, "I'm staying on site, I've saved more lives than I can count tonight and I'm not stopping now. Besides they need my earth power too."
"Can't say it fairer than that." I mew and then turn around. I close my eyes, funneling my thoughts into the fire, keeping them very explicit.
Surround the cap. Do not go into camp or into the wolves' camp. Do not harm any cat unless they are Dark Forest, and then you can kill them. Stay here. Do not follow me and DO NOT under any circumstance leave on your own. Do not start any new fires. Do not spread. Wait for me to return.
I can feel the fire's displeasure, meaning that I covered all of the loop holes and I turn back to Snakesayer, with a smile. He stares at me, as though fearing for my sanity, but we set off running back to the fight anyway. Some of the fire remains at camp, surrounding the hollow, but the rest follows me dutifully. I split off from Snakesayer at the tree line and watch his pelt until he is back with Dawnpelt.
My mind aches as much as my body does and I as I watch the fighting my heart hurts just as much. But I cannot give in now. We cannot give up or lose hope. So with that thought as a talisman, I plunge back into battle.
*Bramble*
Amid a mass of cats I fight on the moor, near Feather Breeze. Earlier in the night we'd found Moon Beam and we haven't been apart since. Currently Moon Beam and I have teamed up against a burly Dark Forest tom and are doing our best to not die.
The wolves are right behind us, a whole squadron of them. Apparently Allai convinced them to stay near me, and they took her orders very seriously. The sounds of the fight crescendo again and I slip down, sliding under the cat we are fighting on my back, and clawing out, leaving long gashes in his underbelly.
Yowling, he staggers away and is hidden by ever shifting pelts.
"Let's move back to the stream!" Moon Beam calls, running to my side, "Something happened there and I want to know what it is!"
"You want to be close to Lightingstorm." I mew back, calling her bluff.
She glares at me, completely unabashed and mews coolly, "He's your friend too, you must want to know what happened to him. And what about Feathershine?"
Her words echo inside of my head and I close my eyes for a brief moment….
It's hard to look at her now, hard not to glance at her wounded shoulder, hard not to remember them staggering into camp supporting her, hard not to believe it's my fault.
It is your fault! Another voice inside of me whispers, but I shake it away, for there are things that must be said and little time in which to say them.
"Feathershine…" I mew softly and she looks at me, her eyes dazzling, even in these tense moments, even right before a war, she is truly beautiful. "I have been so wrong lately, so terribly wrong, about everything, about you and me and… I… I don't want to be wrong anymore."
She laughs slightly as a ghost of a smile passes her lips and she replies, "I don't want to be wrong either. But I won't run lovesick across a battlefield Bramble. Yesterday I…" Feathershine pauses for a moment, frowning and closing her eyes before she sighs deeply, "My emotions made me so weak. I was defenseless, completely at the mercy of Dark Forest cats. That will never happen again, not to me."
Staring at her, remembering how defeated she had looked, I understand and I nod. "So… what about us?"
Laughing she smirks, "Come back alive, and I'll tell you."
My eyes snap open and I mew heavily, "That is neither here nor there. But we can go back to the stream if you want. Get Feather Breeze."
Moon Beam's blue gray eyes stare at me suspiciously for a moment before she leaves and I watch her white-and-gray pelt, tracking it through this mess. Some of the wolves are fighting, but some stand tense, waiting for my command.
"We're going back to the stream." I mew and they nod, two of them setting off but the other remaining.
Moon Beam returns quickly with Feather Breeze and we sneak through the fighting pairs back to the stream. Fighters are everywhere, with more cats pouring from the forest and RiverClan emerging from the river.
"Mum!" Feather Breeze screams and I jerk my head around, my eyes finding my mother on the lakeshore, back to back with my father, hissing and swiping at Dark warriors.
We stand stationary for a few precious seconds before Moon Beam mutters, "C'mon."
The fighting here is worse than anywhere else, cats snarl and scream, ready to kill, and we have to fight a path to where Lightingstorm is, halfway to the water, a virtual hurricane raging around him, with a blur of gray fur darting here and there, felling enemies that are trying to sneak up on him.
"Feathershine!" I cry and she nods when our eyes meet.
A matted tortishell suddenly leaps at me and I dart back, avoiding her wide blows as I sense my sisters falling into place next to me. This cat is better than any I've ever faced before, and I hardly think we're wounding her when she suddenly screams and stumbles, blood gushing from her back leg.
Moonrise appears, smiling and mews, "Sorry that took me so long, I had to save Hailstreak."
"I didn't need saving!" The gray tom yelps indignantly while Moonrise rolls her eyes.
"Whatever you say love."
The tortishell snarls at us, but leaves anyway and we look around again, panting and trying to find the next threat. I press closer to my sister's unconsciously as cats scream and fall and the night wavers around us. Visibility is weak now, even with Lightingstorm's lighting.
"You power cats." A scarred brown tabby mews disdainfully, stepping out from the fray, "So weak."
"Oh are we?" Lightingstorm snarls and lighting scorches through the air, causing the cat to disappear and reappear a few foxlengths away.
Smirking, the cat replies, "Yes."
Suddenly a wave of Dark Forest cats appears and we leap into battle while Lightingstorm and Feathershine fight the tabby.
I'm fighting a bulky brown cat who seems intent on my imminent demise. I stagger away from him, dodging his blows before I leap straight up, spinning, and landing hard on the cat's shoulders. He falls to the ground and I claw at him, battering his sides mercilessly.
Snarling he throws me off and I hit the ground. I feel a weight above me and see Feather Breeze hissing, showing her teeth as the cat laughs. My blood runs cold as I leap up and we fight together. Then the cat goes for my sister's throat and I move before I can think, my paw flashing out to intercept him. He screams and fades slowly, eyes wide with horror.
Shivering I look to my sister. She's panting and she looks as afraid as I am, but she mews softly, "Thank you."
I shrug, "You do what you have to do to protect those who are most important to you."
*Hopewind*
After I was separated from my siblings I slipped into fight mode. Midnightstar always said in battle, a real, big battle, your instincts take over for you and you just act on them, not even thinking much beyond battle moves. Back then I'd never really believed her.
Now I do.
Something about this has changed me from the sweet innocent little girl my family and friends seem to believe I am. Watching all of this bloodshed pulls at my brain, horrifying me and making my head spin as I try not to remember. Something inside of me has snapped, whether it's my tolerance or sense of justice or whatever. I just want the Dark Forest gone, all of them, and I don't particularly care how it happens anymore.
I fight hard, whipping around every time a Dark cat tries to sneak up on me until they all leave me alone, marking me as too hard to fight. Then I run through the forest and the moor, trying to help all those I can, looking for my siblings, my parents, my family, and my friends.
I'm back in the forest again, fighting by Frostbite's side. His green eyes are wild and angry as we fight against a dark red Dark Forest tom who taunts Frostbite, causing the cat to stiffen, hate gleaming harder in his eyes.
Finally Frostbite slams his shoulders to the ground and the cat laughs, "Well go ahead then, kill me. If you have the stomach for it, brother."
My mouth falls open as Frostbite glares at him, spitting at the ground next to him. "I'm not going to kill you Darkpaw."
"My name is Darkrise –"
"No!" Frostbite snarls, cutting him off, "Your name is Darkpaw and it will always be Darkpaw because you betrayed your Clan and lost the honor of a warrior!"
"The Dark Forest is my Clan!"
"The Dark Forest isn't a Clan!" Frostbite mews furiously, "It's a farce, besmirching the name and noble purpose of the true Clans. You are merely a pretender."
Darkpaw or whoever he is snarls furiously as fire blazes around us. I look up to see a black white striped cat caught in the flames. He's screaming, writhing as the flames lick his pelt, but he fades away.
I turn and find Emberdawn in between the trees and I smile at her. She nods to me and walks closer, as Darkwhoever screams, "Boneclaw! Boneclaw!"
"He's dead!" Frostbite snarls and the cat goes limp shaking with shock.
"No…." His eyes suddenly flash and Emberdawn acts quickly, pushing Frostbite out of the way as his brother lunges up. They start fighting and I help Frostbite up, he regains his footing quickly and races after them.
"I've been looking for you." The voice sparks spasms of fear with in me and I know who it is at once.
"Blossomfall." I growl as I face her.
"Amberpaw." She simpers and I growl.
"My name is Hopewind!"
She doesn't respond, instead she leaps at me and I jump back, dodging down to avoid her claws. We fight hard, moving fast as we weave around each other, both of us landing blows. She screams in fury every time I cut her and I have to be extra careful after I do, her retaliations are brutal.
I spring at her, clawing at her chest before I leap back and she runs at me, so I duck down and she trips over me. We are up again at once, grappling, and she lunges at me. I scrabble backward, her teeth just barely missing my throat. As my back hits a tree, screams rent apart the world.
"HOPEWIND!"
"NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU –"
My parents materialize, apparently out of thin air, and attack together, both of them going for Blossomfall. My mother is a ball of fury – I have never seen her so terrifying as she hisses and spits and Blossomfall laughs.
"What will happen when I've killed you both? Lord Tigerstar might promote me! And then I'll take care of the rest of your brats and your traitorous bloodline will gone forever!"
She laughs again, and I see her cracked eyes sparkling as they make their way out of the forest. Following them I see fights ranging up and down the land surrounding the stream and the haze of black pelts by the lake that can only be Aunt Midnight.
"You, Blossomfall," my mother snarls, "will never kill anyone again!"
"Revenge is sweeter cold, as is vengeance." My father growls and they move together, Blossomfall's eyes flashing in alarm as their claws find her throat. She falls snarling, and fades away, turning to black mist, her final words hanging in the air:
"You shall pay!"
"Yeah?" My mum mews, spitting at the dirt stained with Blossomfall's blood, "We'll see about that."
*Lightingstorm*
I don't know the cat we're fighting now and honestly all of the Dark Forest warriors are blending together in my mind. Feathershine darts in front of me, intercepting a blow that would have taken out my leg while I bring a bit more lighting down. The cat screams again when he's fried, but he doesn't fade.
"I am Brokenstar, Tigerstar's second in command boy! I am not some common warrior and it will take more than that to kill –"
I cut him off by slashing down his face and he snarls angrily, but stops bragging. Moonrise joins us again, I can tell it her because she brushes my pelt but there's nothing there, and Brokenstar yowls in pain as she strikes.
"The invisible one…" He growls, before lunging out, and lighting bars his path as I pull Feathershine away. She growls angrily and Brokenstar yowls again before I leap in, clawing at anything I can reach.
Seeing Moon Beam's pelt behind Brokenstar as she fights a Dark cat, I shake my head. I have to focus. This war is dangerous and if I'm not careful, I'll die and then my sisters will probably die too.
Together we drive the cat back and he growls, snarling angrily. He disappears when Feathershine swipes at him across his face and we pause, trying to regain our breaths, but Feathershine screams before we can.
"Lillywinter!" She jumps over me, going for the cream cat that had tricked her and I turn, leaping to the fight and slipping effortlessly into it.
"You could have avoided this dear." Lillywinter purrs her voice sickeningly sweet but then she snarls and stumbles as Moonrise gets her from behind.
Lillywinter is up again, her eyes scanning all around as she curses. "Little brats!" She hisses but we say nothing, and keep fighting. Unexpectedly Moonrise appears, and Lillywinter goes straight for her, but Feathershine shoulders her out of the air as she leaps and I watch as the cream cat rolls away.
"What are you doing!?" I demand and Moonrise gapes at us for a moment before she hisses, "Tigerstar and mum are gone!"
"We keep fighting." I reply reflexively as my insides turn to ice.
"Behind you!"
Lillywinter screams as she falls, her pelt smoking and she rises from the ground, obviously weak. "You know," she growls lowly, "That little trick is really getting old!"
"Really? I still find it funny." I mew and lighting strikes again, but she's vanished. She reappears behind Moonrise who goes invisible and Lillywinter howls in disappointment when her claws come up empty. I bowl her over, pinning her down and start slashing as Feathershine joins me. Screaming I leap off her after Lillywinter's claws hit my side.
"It isn't bad!" I hiss as Feathershine fusses and we look back to Lillywinter.
Suddenly, Tigerstar appears back near the lake and jumps on a fighting pair. I can't tell from here who it is, but I can smell the rank scent of blood and I hear Moonrise start to growl.
A furious yowl drowns out all of the fights for a moment as Lillywinter jumps back at us. We start to fight again as the lighting rains from the sky, obeying my anger more than my thoughts.
"NOW IT'S MY TURN!"
Shocked gasps reach our ears as Lillywinter staggers and Feathershine leaves a deep bite on her shoulder. Lillywinter backs away from us, her eyes wide in both shock and fear, abject terror coming over her as she looks widely around.
We follow her gaze and see a familiar pelt standing over a huge fallen cat. Before my brain can comprehend what my eyes are seeing, a tremor runs through the air and I feel something shift within me. Barely a moment later, light appears all around us, blazing bright and drowning out everything except the feeling of my sister's pelts pressed against me and disjointed, terrified yells.
Mwuhahahahahahahaha! Cliff hanger!
But I'll update tomorrow and the next day and the next day so it won't be so bad=) Let me know what you think!
-Quote: "A man you can keep a secret may be wise but he is not half as wise as the man who has no secrets to keep." ~Edgar Watson Howe
If only we could live like this…
Review please=)
~Midnight