The days had gone by; Tawnypelt had knocked her shoulder, reopening the wound, and they'd promised Stoneteller they'd stay until it healed. She was currently with the kits, telling them a story about the first medicine cat.
Now Feathertail entered the main cave, a buzzard's wing in her jaws.
"You hunted well." Crag was telling Crowpaw. "And Brambleclaw did well to spy that eagle."
"It was nothing." Brambleclaw said; he held the eagle's vast yellow beak, which still was enclosed around a mouse. It had tried to make a pass at one of the newer to-bes, but some swift swipes from Squirrelpaw and the cave-guards had sent it for easier prey, at which point it had become the hunted.
Their cheery mood broke off as they swept past the waterfall.
Devastation was all around. Splatters of blood and weeping cats were everywhere; Star lay unmoving while two kits roughly shook her. A ginger cave-guard was slumped against the wall, his eyes sightless. Everywhere cats called for loved ones.
"Sharptooth... did this?" Squirrelpaw breathed.
"Yes." Primrosepaw approached with Tawnypelt. "He came, he destroyed, he took one of his conquests to eat, he left." The cream she-cat looked decidedly pale.
"Now you see why we must stop him. We will not rest until he is destroyed."
"We will stay." Feathertail said, suddenly. The light of battle glowed in her blue eyes.
"But how will we defeat him?" Brambleclaw asked, worry dancing in his own eyes.
"No one said it had to be in battle." Squirrelpaw said.
"Squirrelpaw, you're brilliant!" Tawnypelt called. "A cat as greedy as Sharptooth may not recognise deathberries..."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Brook murmured. A meaty rabbit, stuffed with deathberries, lay temptingly on the path where Sharptooth often lurked.
"Yes." Primrosepaw whispered. She drew back, hiding in the relative safety of an overhang.
"How will he get here?" A to-be whispered. In answer, Brambleclaw stepped forwards, taking a rock in his jaw and cutting a gash in his foreleg. He dripped blood onto the floor near the rabbit, trailing it near the lair. He then raced back like StarClan themselves had given him speed as an infernal growling came from the cave. All around, kit-mothers and mentors shooed the young into a well-hidden alcove as the Tribe cats got into position. The tense silence was punctuated only by roaring; from the waterfall and the tawny creature emerging from the den. Its beady eyes took in the prey, sniffing it cursively.
Then the prey was swatted aside.
"I'll take it!" Primrosepaw darted forward, Tawnypelt hot on her heels. Brambleclaw, wound still bleeding, raced after them. They were swatted aside too, but Sharptooth's attention had turned, even as Squirrelpaw tried to goad him into focusing on her. Crowpaw was in the corner, watching as the great beast advanced upon him. His expression was defiant, but there was a tremor in his paws.
Quick as a flash, a gray blur raced up the rocks, followed by a ginger one. Feathertail's eyes narrowed.
"I can hear them. This is my destiny." She launched herself up at a stalactite, her weight bringing it down. She clawed air for a terrible heartbeat as she fell, down, down, down...
Something sharp latched onto her tail.
"Come and help!" Squirrelpaw cried, struggling with Feathertail's tail. She was joined by Brook and Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt and Primrosepaw, while Crowpaw stood at the side, pacing nervously until enough of her was up the ledge for him to pull, too.
Feathertail lay at the rock's edge, gasping, as a dull thunk told them that their mission had been completed. Squirrelpaw allowed herself to look down.
Sharptooth was dead.
"What were you thinking?" Squirrelpaw yowled. "You could have died!"
"I knew that. In that moment, I knew exactly what I had to do. And I did it. I'm just lucky you were so close."
"What would Stormfur say? Silverstream? Graystripe? Huh? What about Leafpaw? What about me?" Tears pricked at her eyes and Feathertail found herself wreathing around her sister.
"I didn't die; I'm still here." She whispered, feeling the others press into her. She became aware of something trickling down her tailtip – Squirrelpaw's teeth had gone deep.
"I've brought cobweb for the tail." Stoneteller's voice was respectful even as he examined it.
"Can you feel anything?" He asked at last.
"No." She admitted. "It's numb."
"I'm sorry. That means there was nerve damage at that tip. I'll have to remove it."
"Alright." Her voice quivered. "Better my tailtip than me." She smiled wanly at the others.
"I'll stay here with you until it's better." Crowpaw sat to one side of her, with Squirrelpaw commandeering the other. She felt pressure and pain, gasping and jerking upright. Then gently, something was slathered on before the tail-tip was bound tightly.
"We have poppy seed to help you sleep." Stoneteller told her.
"Thank you." Exhausted and achy, she lapped up the seeds and trudged to her nest.
Crowpaw curled around her and kept vigil until she woke.
When Feathertail came to, Tawnypelt's cobwebs were off. There was no fur there, but otherwise her shoulder had healed. The others, though looking a bit haggard, were all rested; Squirrelpaw dropped a mouse at her paws.
"Nervous energy." She explained as Feathertail ravenously dug in.
When she finished, licking her whiskers, she gave her tail a flick.
"We can stay a night, then we must go." Primrosepaw told Stoneteller.
"Alright. Travel well. The tribe is eternally grateful."
The next dawn, they were off.
Peaks came and went, and their tribe-taught hunts came in handy. They ate the buzzards who pecked after mice and shrews and travelled towards sunrise.
Then it was easy to see. As they crossed the field of waving grasses, stalks tickling their noses and their paws, the shadow of rocks filled their vision.
The sun was rising, silhouetting Highstones in a golden light. Primrosepaw blinked rapidly, as if she couldn't quite believe it.
"We're home." She whispered, before she yowled in triumph. "We're home!" She bolted towards the stones, followed by the others, until they stood on the smooth gray rocks. They looked down at the forest.
"Oh, StarClan, what have they done?" Brambleclaw looked at the forest, vast swaths of green already having succumbed to the Twolegs' monsters.
"What Midnight said they would." Squirrelpaw replied, voice taking on a dejected tone. "I guess this is goodbye for a while."
"Not goodbye." Crowpaw broke in. "Just see you later."
"Yes." Feathertail replied. "When our Clans meet, we won't have to say that again." Hope flared in Crowpaw's eyes as she and Squirrelpaw turned away, following the shape of the river below them. Sun streamed onto their faces, beckoning them; Brambleclaw and Crowpaw's shoulders slumped.
"Oh, they've got it bad." Tawnypelt whispered to Primrosepaw, as they turned to the Thunderpath, ready to go home to their own Clans.
Forest : *Being destroyed*
Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw ,Feathertail and Crowpaw: *Crushing hard*
Forest: Cool for you, I'm still dying.