The rain continued on at a light drizzle, barely even staining the pelts of the cats overlooking the clearing. Each side stood completely frozen, unsure of what to do or say.
Sunstar was gone. The thought barely even registered in the minds of the DarkClan cats. The tom had simply always been around, and even though his guidance might not have been the best at times, it had still been there. Now they were just a small group of young, inexperienced warriors attempting to survive in a world far greater than they.
Lostheart's eyes drifted back toward the bodies of the two brothers lying across from each other and toward the dull, brown grass that was now stained with their blood. Sunstar had never been particularly kind to her, despite her being his daughter; in fact, it was partly because of him that she was treated the way she was. The tom didn't deserve her sympathy, and yet...
For a cat to grow up alongside the brother they loved, and to then have that same brother turn on them, and slowly chip away at their happiness, it was an unjust life. Lostheart knew how it felt to lose Ivyfoot, and she also how it felt to lose Silentshadow.
Despite their rocky past and the troubles they experienced, Lostheart knew that Sunstar really loved her mother; she saw it in his eyes all the time. He made some mistakes, and it certainly wasn't fair to Longtail or Silentshadow, but every cat made mistakes. It was part of living. Sunstar had to live through the destruction of the clan he loved and grew up in by his brother's claws, and watch all his friends and loved ones die before him.
He had a lot of pain.
Maybe it wasn't right for him to take it out on her, but she couldn't blame him completely; and maybe, if she had been stronger and more brave, Ivyfoot and Silentshadow would both be alive right now.
Lostheart's ear twitched as a small rustle caught her attention, as well as the other cats'.
Across from where the DarkClan cats stood, Pineneedle and Eagleclaw lit up, smirks adorning their faces while Brisingstar and Morningstar shrunk back slightly with widened eyes.
Lostheart watched as the long, wild fur of Willowstar's body began to stir, and all cats in the clearing watched in amazement as the tom slowly rose to his paws. From where she stood, Lostheart couldn't see Willowstar's expression as he stood unmoving in the clearing, staring down at the body of his brother.
Now that their leader was up and standing, a small part of TreeClan's group moved forward, composed of Morningstar, Brisingstar, Pineneedle, Eagleclaw, and a select few TreeClan warriors. The DarkClan cats chose not to make a move and looked to each other for some sign of what they should do.
Lostheart didn't expect to see ten pairs of eyes suddenly looking at her with questioning glances.
The black she-cat's mind went blank as she realized why they had turned to her like that.
Her eyes moved slowly to look back at Sunstar's fallen body. If Sunstar was dead...then she was supposed to be clan leader now, she was the deputy. The thought of being a leader had never really occurred to her, and it was never something she had wanted. The she-cat had not even wanted the title of deputy, but Sunstar had given it to her in order to spite both her and the clan. Now everyone was looking to her for direction.
Lostheart's heart dropped as she stood rigidly in the lightly swaying grass. She couldn't be a leader, she didn't want to be a leader. It wasn't the right place for her, even if she had yet to find just exactly where the right place was.
"Willowstar!" Eagleclaw pressed, hurrying close to his leader's side. "Are you alright?"
The tom stood completely still for a moment, before his body twitched lightly, and his claw tightened it's grip on the earth. Willowstar lifted his blood-stained face to reveal two psychotic, yellow eyes, pupils narrowed into tiny slits. The great tom clenched his teeth together, baring his fangs so tightly that to others it might appear as if they would crack.
Letting out a yowl of anger, Willowstar struck Sunstar's cold body with a single blow of his paw, grinning as the stiff body shook from his strike. Finally, after coming somewhat back into reality, the tom's eyes drifted to the small line of DarkClan cats standing across the way.
Greysight could feel his shift in movement and stood as tall as she could.
"It would seem," Willowstar meowed, voice an eerily higher pitch than usual. "That Sunstar has lost."
Pineneedle, Eagleclaw, Morningstar, and Brisingstar all followed Willowstar's gaze to look at the DarkClan cats with varying expressions. Eagleclaw and Pineneedle with satisfied grins, and the two leaders with looks of sympathy and regret. Sunstar had been their in particular seemed to have lost all sign of light in his eyes as they became a dull, sullen blue.
"You're right." Lostheart meowed, catching Willowstar's attention. The tom's focus slowly shifted toward Lostheart and Greysight standing side-by-side in the crowd. By now, the light drizzle of the rain had slowed to a halt, but the sky remained dark and ominous.
"You won."
Greysight's ear twitched at Lostheart's words, and like the other cats, she waited anxiously for what would come next. More than anything, Greysight could feel anger overtaking her, but she fought to control her temper. If anything, they needed to avoid a fight, no matter how much she wanted to knock off the smirks that she knew lay on their faces.
"And in winning, it is up to you to follow through with your end of the bargain. You agreed to let us go, an agreement made between leaders before StarClan itself."
Small, barely audible whispers could be heard from the large crowd of cats behind Willowstar, each wondering what would happen now. Sunstar was dead, and Willowstar had accomplished his goal, as cold and selfish as it had been. Lostheart only hoped that Willowstar had found whatever justification he had been looking for.
The powerful tom in question had turned his head slightly, his face unreadable as the crowd watched him carefully. Willowstar's face cracked into a grin, and crazed yellow eyes could be seen once more as he let out a dark chuckle that soon escalated into a short bout of laughter.
Greysight felt the cats around her stiffen at the sound, but among them, Lostheart remained unmoving.
"You're not going anywhere!" he sneered, calming himself slightly.
Lostheart felt her blood run cold as Willowstar leapt onto a large boulder nearby and stood above the cats centered below. "DarkClan will be annihilated from it's place in this world!" His eyes flashed toward Lostheart and Greysight in particular as they narrowed in rage. His business here was unfinished; Sunstar's kits still lived.
Lostheart could see the malicious intent in Willowstar's eyes as they focused on Greysight and she, and she felt her blood run cold. He wanted to destroy Sunstar so utterly and completely that he would try to kill both her and Greysight in order to annihilate all remaining trace of the tom and his bloodline.
"We had an agreement! And in doing so you swore to StarClan!" Darkpelt roared.
Willowstar merely grinned as gleaming eyes flickered to the white tom and he stood up taller on the rock, an amused sneer adorning his face.
"StarClan!" he scoffed. "StarClan is meaningless to me! I have not broken our agreement. Sunstar said that if I won and took his life, I would have to spare DarkClan." He wore a self-satisfied grin. "But you see, I never took Sunstar's life. I do not need his filthy lives!" Willowstar had begun to laugh again as the dark atmosphere around him continued to grow. "I am the most powerful leader in this entire forest! In the entire history of the clans! You will never defeat me, even if you somehow manage to take every one of my thirty lives!"
Lostheart and the rest of DarkClan quickly took a few paces back from the newly forming line of cats across the way as Willowstar laughed victoriously from where he stood on top of the great boulder as thunder boomed overhead and a flash of lightning lit up the dark sky. The shining of eyes, teeth, and claws from the cats ahead were all that remained bright amongst the shadowed land.
"What do we do?!" Thistleprick meowed, backing up slightly while shaking his head as the rest of the cats' fear began to rise. Greysight, Lostheart, Darkpelt and the rest of the cats, save for the listening apprentices, remained silent, each wearing serious expressions. Slowly they moved into their fighting positions; there was nowhere they could run, nowhere they could hide from Willowstar's hatred.
They were warriors of DarkClan; the cats who lived in the shadows and were feared throughout the four clans for their power, formed from a rebel group against the three clans, a clan known for it's bad luck; but despite all their misfortune, DarkClan always pulled through. Their ancestors had fought against the odds and had stayed loyal to the very end, and now they would too.
Ivyfoot, Cherrynose, Sunstar...they had all sacrificed themselves in their loyalty to the clan, and it was this same loyalty that would not allow them to run like cowards from Willowstar. They would not give him the satisfaction; he was a cat just like them, and no superior being or deity like he seemed to believe. They would not allow a cat like that, a cat so bent on hatred and destruction to take over the forest; and if they had to die trying, had to rip out thirty lives from Willowstar's body, then so be it.
Thirty lives, thirty lives of innocent cats stolen by this tom who called himself greater than StarClan. The entirety of DarkClan felt their hearts drop, and Greysight in particular tightened her claws against the ground as she thought of all the cats whose lives had been taken from them; and it made her feel an immense sorrow, knowing that all of those lives had indeed been innocent ones. She wouldn't have been surprised if some cats had volunteered with the way they seemed to revere their leader, and it disgusted her how Willowstar had brainwashed an entire clan of cats to follow under his rule so easily and completely.
There was no running now. Even if they did, the tom would only hunt them down like prey until each and every cat of DarkClan blood was slaughtered mercilessly. Only then did Willowstar believe he would be content, but even so, Lostheart knew his anger could never be quelled. Once everything was gone, the tom would only seek out more to continue on in his path of destruction; trying to fill the empty gap that would remain after nothing else was left for him.
The first wave of TreeClan cats took up their positions as dark clouds swirled above, and the wind whipped against their fur. Willowstar's dark, billowing form was outlined as another flash of lightning struck the sky and he threw up his head.
"Destroy them all!" he roared.
Quicker than lightning, a bright light suddenly erupted from the clouds and struck the ground, sending a shockwave amongst the cats. Lostheart felt her body shake lightly from the initial force, and her eyes widened in shock at the pillar of light that now lay in the center of the grass, It lit up the clearing with a bright, blue glow, creating dark shadows over the separate groups.
Each cat had frozen in place, their eyes widening at the miraculous sight before them. It was almost as if the stars had joined together and struck the ground in one single beam of light!
Willowstar stood at the top of the boulder, his expression frozen as the light accented his dark features. "
Wh-what is this?!" he cried, watching as light continued to radiate from the unnatural pillar.
The wind, the sky, and time itself seemed to have frozen in place; and all that moved was the swaying grass.
The light suddenly intensified, causing the cats to squint their eyes at it's sudden harshness. Then, figures burst forth from the column, pelts shining with a dull, otherworldly glow as the cats poured out from the beam and into the grass.
Greysight had frozen in place, her eyes wide in shock as all around her, cats began fading into place. She could feel her clanmates turning to look around in amazement and wonder. But what really stunned her was that she could see them! She could see them everywhere!
All around her, the forms of cats suddenly appeared visible in the usual darkness of her vision. Their pelts twinkled with a translucent, starry light, matching the atmosphere she had so often seen in her dreams. Greysight couldn't believe it; this was StarClan!
Willowstar's mouth hung slightly open from where he stood, eyes widening at the forms of starry cats pouring out from the light and moving to stand amongst DarkClan. The great tom's yellow eyes were wider than they had ever been before, and a slight flicker of fear could even be seen in their depths.
Greysight continued to watch in amazement at the sight of the cats around her, and as she did, she slowly began to realize; this wasn't StarClan, these were DarkClan cats!
Willowstar stood frozen on his post as the pillar began to fade and a bright light began to grow overhead of the DarkClan cats, a figure forming in it's midst. Willowstar and the entirety of TreeClan looked on with shock and fear as the shadowy head of a great cat appeared at the front of the DarkClan cats, blue eyes glowing sharply out from the creature's starry form. The creature opened it's jaws and let out a deafening roar, causing many of TreeClan's warriors to stumble back fearfully.
The head of the great cat faded, causing Willowstar's eyes to suddenly snap back to his forces. His eyes widened in shock and rage as he realized several of his cats were scrambling away, now running from the battle in fear. Willowstar let out a ferocious howl and leapt down amongst the fleeing warriors, slamming into all he could as he pulled cats back with his claws.
"Cowards!" he screeched. "Fools!" Willowstar struck a nearby warrior and then grabbed another by his side, pulling them around to face DarkClan.
Willowstar whipped around to face his enemies, crazed, black slits narrowed in rage. The tom's jaws were clenched tightly shut as he snarled at the cats across from him.
"Destroy them!" he yowled more hurriedly than before, his face set into a deep grin. "Destroy them all!"
Time seemed to slow down around Lostheart as the pelts of starry cats moved past her. The she-cat turned her head in an attempt to look amongst them, her mind instantly traveling to something she had never thought possible before, trying to find certain familiar faces...
By now Greysight had a wide smile on her face as she watched the cats moving all around her, and felt the paws of the fleeing TreeClan warriors with their thick fear scent. She still couldn't believe it- DarkClan, their ancestors, had come! Sunstar had brought them!
Their size, although much larger now, could still not be considered extremely impressive, but DarkClan had always been small. However, they were enough to compete with Willowstar's forces. Greysight's head turned to look all around her, honestly still amazed at she was seeing.
Cats were everywhere! Cats she had never even seen before, but she could pick out a few she had always heard about in Silentshadow's stories when she was a kit! There was Tornear the brave, and Robinwing with the white belly; her eyes even fell on a particular dark tom standing passively a few feet away from her. Was that...?
Greysight's ear suddenly twitched and she slowly turned to look over her shoulder, a strange wind blewaround her, carrying the familiar sound of a faint whisper she had heard so many times before.
"Greysight..."
Behind her cats were moving around, but she froze when she caught sight of one cat standing still amongst the other that blurred in motion around them.
It was a she-cat. Her long, bushy white tail stood out from the rest of the StarClan warriors, and her sparkling silver eyes were watching Greysight, a serene sort of smile on her face. As Greysight met her eyes, the she-cat smiled at her, but before the Greysight could fully react, the cat was suddenly blocked from view. Still, the sight of the she-cat left Greysight with a warm feeling in her heart as she thought of the warm smile she had seen only seconds before.
Lostheart found herself standing at the front of the group, her eyes still wide in shock, or at least as much shock as the she-cat was able to portray. She turned to look at the cats behind her and instantly her eyes fell upon a faded golden tom, watching her with a calm expression.
'Sunstar...'
Beside him stood a dark, sooty tom, the likes of which Lostheart had never seen before; but if she had to guess, Lostheart thought she knew just who that tom was. They met her eyes in silence, the tom watching her expectantly as she and her clanmates stood at the front of the group of starry warriors. Her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes scanned frantically through the crowd in an effort to find the cats she was looking for, but she knew what she had to do.
Stopping in her efforts, Lostheart turned with her clanmates to face TreeClan's line of warriors just as Willowstar yowled his attack. At her sides, Lostheart could see the faces of her clanmates revived with a new sort of courage and a strong sense of pride as they prepared themselves for battle, all looking to the dark she-cat with the strange, mismatched eyes to lead them.
Lostheart took a step forward as the horde of enemy warriors came racing at them from across the clearing, and with small nods from her clanmates, Lostheart pushed forward, followed by the warriors of DarkClan and DarkClan's past for one last battle.
The wind blew through her fur as she raced toward their attackers, ready for what they knew needed to be done. Willowstar remained in the back as he sent his forces forward, watching from behind. His eyes were fixed on the black she-cat at the head of DarkClan's forces, a she-cat he had heard much about. Willowstar's eyes narrowed; Lostheart, the deputy of DarkClan and one of Sunstar's daughters was leading the group. He scraped his claws against the earth as his own cats continued to fly past him.
Sunstar's kits would die.
Darkpelt let out a ferocious battle cry as the two groups of cats met at the center of the field, clashing together in a violent exchange of teeth and claws. The starry pelts of DarkClan cats wove through the crowd and latched onto enemy warriors, engaging them in battle.
Lostheart attacked the nearest cat she could, tackling them to the ground as the two continued to fight for the upper hand. Lostheart kicked the she-cat off of her using her hindlegs and turned to face her; Lostheart could tell the she-cat was from OceanClan based on the wavy pattern of her pelt. The she-cat let out a furious yowl as she lashed out at Lostheart, but Lostheart was far quicker than she and avoided the attack easily, countering with a sharp slash across the OceanClan cat's shoulder. The she-cat howled in pain at the now bleeding wound on her shoulder, but before Lostheart could follow up with another attack, another enemy warrior suddenly leapt at her from behind.
Diverting her attention from the OceanClan she-cat, Lostheart flew back as she rounded on her new attacker. In no more than five powerful blows, she had sent the tabby tom flying as the pelts of both ordinary and translucent cats battled around her.
Unbeknownst to Lostheart, Willowstar had located her in the crowd and was already moving through the fighting cats around them. His eyes were narrowed in rage as he walked briskly through the crowd, eyes locked on his target. From his side, a StarClan cat leapt at him in an attempt to catch the great tom off guard.
Willowstar didn't even glance at the cat as he caught them with the grip of one of his claws; the cat struggled as Willowstar pulled them to the ground, but they were unable to overpower the tom and in seconds Willowstar had dug his claws into their throat as he tossed them aside, never slowing his pace as he went.
The pale form of the StarClan cat faded away and a single bright light rose from where the body had previously lain before it too faded from sight.
Willowstar growled darkly as he tore cats from his path, both StarClan warriors and his own warriors, in his path to reach the black she-cat ahead.
Once he took care of Lostheart, he would move on to kill the blind one as well.
Raggedear wound through the cats with Thistleprick by his side as the two toms struck their blows, working in tandem to take down as many enemy warriors as possible. Together, no one could stop them.
Thistleprick smirked cockily as they sent another tom running back across the field as he and Raggedear turned to face their newest attackers.
"Well, if it isn't DarkClan's filthy little pick-ups. I would have thought you guys would have been intelligent enough to leave once all this started."
Raggedear and Thistleprick met Eagleclaw's golden eyes as he approached with Nettlewhisker and Leaftail. The she-cat's green eyes were locked furiously with Raggedear's, as she remembered how the tom had humiliated her in their own camp.
"Says the one who isn't even a real TreeClan cat." Thistleprick mused, "I think there's a word for that, isn't there, Raggedear?"
Raggedear didn't join in with his brother's games and immediately prepared himself to attack the trio; Thistleprick caught his signal, recognizing the position they so often used and dashed to the side around the group.
Eagleclaw immediately shot after Thistleprick while Leaftail attempted to tackle Raggedear.
The mottled tom in question avoided her claws easily and wound around the three warriors in the direction opposite his brother. Nettlewhisker stood between the two tortoiseshells, looking back and forth between them, unsure of what to do.
"Now!" Raggedear meowed.
Thistleprick's violet eyes snapped up as he and Raggedear dashed forward toward Nettlewhisker, causing both Leaftail and Eagleclaw to turn tail and immediately try to race back to help the tom. The two cats skidded to a halt, however, when Raggedear and Thistleprick dashed right past Nettlewhisker at the last second and ran toward them side-by-side.
Raggedear leapt into the air, twisting himself forward to perform the signature move he was known for. Eagleclaw cried out in pain as the tom's jaws came to his shoulder, twisting as he went. Thistleprick moved to follow up behind his brother and leapt onto Leaftail while the she-cat was shortly distracted by Raggedear's attack.
Leaftail hissed and spat in rage as she wrestled with the calico warrior.
Raggedear, however, was engaged in a fast-paced fight with Eagleclaw as the golden-eyed tabby swung at him.
"I'll kill you for what you've done!" he jeered, referring to Raggedear's defeat of both Pineneedle and his sister. "Rogues don't deserve a spot in the clans!"
Raggedear dodged out of the way as a well-aimed slash at his throat whizzed past him, and he countered with a sharp blow to the Eagleclaw's underbelly.
"We may only be rogues in your eyes, but unlike you, we would never desert DarkClan!" he hissed, pinning Eagleclaw beneath him.
Eagleclaw spat in rage as he twisted beneath Raggedear's claws and met the mottled warrior's sharp, yellow eyes.
"You think they care about you?! Just wait, they'll turn on you, you'll see! This forest-"
Eagleclaw's yowls were silenced as Raggedear delivered a powerful blow to the tom's head, knocking him unconscious. He would not kill a cat if he could help it, a vow Raggedear had made to himself since living in twolegplace.
Now that Eagleclaw was taken care of, Raggedear turned back to find Thistleprick, eyes suddenly widening as he saw a large TreeClan tom racing at his brother from behind.
"Thistleprick, watch out!"
Thistleprick turned questioningly, violet eyes widening as the tom leapt toward him.
Leaftail managed to scramble away in the short, few seconds Thistleprick was distracted and quickly staggered back to her clanmates.
"Thistleprick!" Raggedear yowled, running forward.
Raggedear stopped sharply as a dark shape suddenly appeared from the crowd, leaping into the air and tackling the large tom to the ground before delivering a sharp blow to their neck. Raggedear stood frozen in place, feeling as if his heart had nearly stopped.
"Now I understand why Raggedear always has to babysit you." Darkpelt meowed to Thislteprick, stepping off the body of the warrior.
Thistleprick's frozen expression lit up suddenly as the tom straightened up to his full height, a grin plastered across his face. Darkpelt snorted and turned away from the two brothers, leaping back into the fray of battle.
Lostheart had managed to send another cat running and was about to attack a nearby TreeClan warrior that was battling with one of their ancestors when she stopped to take a quick look at how the battle was progressing. Right now, it seemed like an even fight as cats continued to fight around her, but she knew that in order to win, they needed to defeat Willowstar.
Lostheart scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of the monstrous tom, but she could find none. As usual, Willowstar always seemed to disappear during a fight. Lostheart was about to turn back to the battle herself, but she froze as her eyes suddenly locked onto a large shape moving across the way.
Mismatched eyes narrowed as Lostheart laid eyes on Willowstar's dark form as he vanished into the line of DarkClan trees across the field. Taking a few quick glances around her, Lostheart hurriedly made her way across the battle ground in pursuit, dodging the fighting bodies of cats around her. She managed to come to the line of trees at the edge of DarkClan's territory and paused before entering the darkness of the forest, looking back to the cats fighting in the grassy plain.
This fighting needed to end.
Greysight finished off the two toms she was currently battling with with two quick blows to their forelegs, causing them to collapse at her paws. She had sensed Lostheart's shift in movement, and was even more curious as she felt the she-cat moving toward the forest after Willowstar.
What was Lostheart doing?
Greysight hurriedly moved to follow Lostheart's pawsteps, and was about to go in after her, when two cats suddenly moved in front of her, blocking the way. Greysight's eyes narrowed as she recognized the scent and forms of the two cats.
"I am sorry, but we cannot allow you to go past here." Morningstar meowed with Brisingstar by her side. "Willowstar has ordered that no cat may escape."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
SO APPARENTLLLYYY something like this happened in the last warrior book or something (I haven't read it) SO LET ME JUST SAY I TOTALLY HAD THIS IDEA FIRST xD Goshdarnit seriously; have gad it for about six years, I just never managed to write the books out as I am doing now. You can imagine my displeasure when I heard that they had done it as well. This chapter was hard to write, but I have a feeling all these last ones will be.
