~Prologue~
GrassClan camp was filled with commotion.
"What's going on? Where are my warriors?" Leopardstar was making her way out of her den, which was by the edge of the bramble-lined camp. Watching with horror, she could see Brownpaw, a white-splotched apprentice, being clawed by several cats. The smell of StoneClan filled the clearing. GrassClan was being attacked.
A ginger warrior sprung at her, but was knocked to the ground as Swiftwind, a gray she-cat from GrassClan, slashed them. "Nightfang sent most of us on patrols!" She shouted.
What a terrible time for StoneClan to attack. It was almost as if they knew the camp was mostly vacant. . .
"Where is Nightfang, anyway?!" Swiftwind exclaimed. Leopardstar didn't concern herself with the deputy's location at the moment, and bolted over to the nursery, to protect the kits.
"Put him down!" She snarled as an enemy warrior raced out of the den, carrying a scared kitten by the scruff. She slashed the StoneClan tom's nose, but he merely threw the kit to another warrior, who stopped what he had been doing, which was slashing Brownpaw, and dashed out of camp with the stolen kit.
"Swiftwind! Brownwhisker! Treefur!" Leopardstar wasn't sure if they were still here, so she just called those whom she thought were most likely to still be in camp. "Catch them!" Leopardstar slashed the throat of a StoneClan cat who had been stalking towards the nursery- a perhaps unethical move, but she had to protect the kittens. Leopardstar started running over to Brownpaw, to save him.
Swiftwind and Treefur bravely fought their way to the cat who had captured the kit(Brownwhisker seemed to be on the patrol) and followed him out of camp. Leopardstar realized that, besides the queens, kits, and Brownpaw, she was on her own. . .
"So, it looks like we're alone, Leopardstar." Hissed Silvershade, deputy of StoneClan, who was stalking over. "Which is so exciting, by the way."
Leopardstar narrowed her eyes, refusing to take a step back like her instincts told her to. "You're the one who's leading this attack, aren't you, Silvershade?" She growled.
"I love to hear you say my name, Leopard'." Silvershade purred evilly, "Where are your warriors? They should be here, shouldn't they? They're so loyal to you." She chuckled darkly.
"What are you hinting at?" Leopardstar hissed.
"Grab her." Silvershade dryly ordered two StoneClan warriors, who leapt at Leopardstar and pinned her to the ground. She stalked over to Leopardstar and brushed her tail softly over her back, smiling. Leopardstar shuddered, but didn't say anything.
Leaning down, so her muzzle was near Leopardstar's, Silvershade hissed, "Your beloved Clan is about to die, Leopard. Your deputy betrayed you."
A wave of shock went through Leopardstar. "He- he didn't!" She said. "What are you talking about?!"
Silvershade smiled, eyes like dark clouds. "He sent your warriors on patrols, so the camp would be unguarded. And at this very moment, Stonestar is preforming the ceremony that will make Nightfang part of StoneClan."
"No! That's not possible. . . he's always been loyal to me." Leopardstar insisted. Why would he even consider doing it? What would Nightfang have to gain?
"It's very possible. . ." Silvershade whispered, brushing her muzzle against Leopardstar's muzzle. "Those whom you trusted most have betrayed you."
"NO! Get away from me!" Leopardstar snarled, struggling. "And my Clan is still loyal to me! They'll be back soon, and-"
"No." Silvershade placed her paw on Leopardstar's muzzle, silencing her. "You're Clan is going to die. . ."
Leopardstar stared helplessly at her.
"You're so beautiful. . ." Silvershade purred, walking behind her. "I can hardly wait for this." She reached towards Leopardstar's tail with her paw.
"Why do we have to have all these mushy delays?" One of the StoneClan warriors muttered. "We should just kill her and leave."
Just as Leopardstar was about to lose hope, she heard a noise. Cats were heading towards camp, and she could smell. . . GrassClan. Her warriors were back!
"Oh, no. . ." Silvershade muttered, and the StoneClan cats ran as GrassClan's warriors fought their way into camp, outnumbering the StoneClan attackers.
"Let go of her, Fox-dung!" Brownwhisker roared, bounding towards Silvershade and her warriors. Brownwhisker was a large cat, and Silvershade turned to run. Leopardstar leapt to her paws and bit down on Sivlershade's tail, causing her to trip to the ground.
"Now you're the one who's been betrayed, beautiful." Leopardstar purred, watching the StoneClan warriors flee. "Except you won't be so beautiful after this. . ."
The GrassClan warriors, and Leopardstar, leapt onto Silvershade, and started viciously clawing and biting her. Her screams muffled the sounds of Swiftwind entering camp, dragging behind her the body of Treefur. They had not recovered the kit.
Leopardstar turned to look at her. "What- what happened?" She gasped.
"They killed him. . ." Swiftwind said, looking down at the body of the brown tabby tom. Swiftwind spotted the gruesomely attacked body of Silvershade, and appeared shocked.
"What did you do to Silvershade?!" Swiftwind gasped.
"Only what the fox-heart would have done to our leader." Flamewing of GrassClan growled, kicking the body. "Minus a few things. . ."
"Come on, Swiftwind." Leopardstar said. "Let's check if everyone's alright."
"I'll tell you who isn't: Brownpaw." Flamewing growled.
Leopardstar dashed over to apprentice's body, and crouched by it. "No. . ." She breathed. "No. . ."
"What about my kitten?" Robinflight, the mother of the stolen kitten, demanded. "Aren't you going to save him?"
"I'm sorry. But there's no hope for him now. . ." Leopardstar said.
Robinflight stared at her.
"We can't just leave him!" Swiftwind declared, stepping forward to stand by the Queen. "If you're not going to lead a patrol to StoneClan, then I'll have to."
Leopardstar frowned. "Well?" Swiftwind demanded.
"Very well, then." Leopardstar said. "Flamewing, Swiftwind, Brownwhisker, Mudtail, Graypelt, come with me. The rest of you stay here and guard the camp. I don't want them getting Sunkit as well. Treefur-"
She stopped, and felt a hollow fear in her stomach when she remembered Treefur was dead.
"Don't worry; Those fox-hearts will pay, if I have anything to do with it." Flamewing growled.
"Oh yes, they will. . ." Leopardstar growled.
"We're almost at camp." Swiftwind hissed. The patrol had already crossed the StoneClan border, and was by the base of the ridge that led to StoneClan camp. They could see it above them, by the cliff. Since there was such a good veiw from StoneClan camp, they were staying near the cliff, where a StoneClan cat would have to look directly down to see them.
Leopardstar nodded, and they proceeded to make their way towards the camp. "ATTACK!" Leopardstar cried, and the warriors dived at the StoneClan cats.
Yowls and snarls filled the camp as the cats fought. Flamewing slashed the muzzle of a StoneClan warrior named Honeyblaze, and lunged at his throat. Leopardstar scanned the camp for any signs of the stolen kit, but could hear kittens only in the nursery. She raced towards it.
"Where's mommy?" The captured kitten, Eaglekit, was asking a StoneClan queen. A small white kit was next to him, examining Eaglekit's fur. "I want to go home!"
The Queen spotted Leopardstar, eyes widening. The GrassClan leader dived into the den and tried to grab Eaglekit.
"He's ours now." A gray tom growled, stepping into the nursery. His muscles rippled under his fur as he walked, and Leopardstar recognized him instantly as Stonestar, the leader of StoneClan. He hadn't founded it, but was named after the first leader.
"You can't just steal kits, Stonestar." She snarled, taking a step forward. Eaglekit looked confused.
"Oh, can't I?" Stonestar rumbled. "And who's to stop me? You?" He smiled, which was rather disturbing. "I'll enjoy killing you. . . but first. . ." Stonestar strode forward.
Leopardstar raked her claws across Stonestar's face, earning a roar from the unnaturally large tom, who slammed her against the nursery wall, tearing through it. Leopardstar's pelt was torn by the woven branches and the sharp pebbles, though it was better than it would have been if she'd been hit against the bramble-walls of the nursery at GrassClan. She crashed against the ground, and Stonestar loomed over her.
"Shame I'm about to kill you, or you could of had my kits." He snarled to her. "Roll over onto your stomach; I'm going to mate with you. Don't struggle and maybe it will be gentle. . ."
Leopardstar rolled over as he requested, but just as he came down towards her, she dived forwards. Stonestar snarled and tried to grab her, but Leopardstar slipped out of his grasp. She kicked backwards, hitting him in the eye she'd already clawed, and bounded over to Brownwhisker.
At the corner of the camp, standing by the StoneClan medicine cat, Whitewing, she spotted Nightfang. So it was true. . .
She met his eyes, and Nightfang set his gaze on the ground. Guilty, perhaps? Leopardstar didn't think he had any right to be. He'd consciously betrayed his Clan. And now Nightfang would pay. . .
"Flamewing, Swiftwind. Come with me!" Leopardstar ordered. She bounded towards Nightfang, with Flamewing following.
Nightfang snarled and stepped back, when Leopardstar leapt over to him and slashed his muzzle. "Traitor!" She snarled. "Prepare to die!" Nightfang stumbled back, and Whitewing of StoneClan watched with alarm.
"We can't kill him!" Swiftwind exclaimed, bolting over with a growling StoneClan warrior following. "The Warrior Code says we don't need to kill to win our battles!"
"This isn't a battle. This is revenge." Leopardstar stated coldly. She leapt onto Nightfang, knocking him to the ground. When they were young, she'd always won their practice battles. Now it was time to kill him.
Nightfang struggled and called for help, but the other StoneClan cats were too busy fighting to come to his aid. Leopardstar knocked him onto his back, and leapt onto him, her jaws by his throat. But, between his back legs, Leopardstar felt something a little more interesting than Nightfang's throat. She turned around and licked it.
"Wh-what are you doing. . ." Nightfang groaned.
"You like that?" Leopardstar hissed. "Well, you're not going to like this." She bit down.
Nightfang let out a scream, and Leopardstar lunged back to his throat. She did not want to mate with him. Leopardstar snarled. Then Stonestar barreled into her side, knocking her off of Nightfang.
"Dark forest!" Leopardstar cursed. She felt Stonestar's claws ripping down her pelt, and Leopardstar almost wished she had agreed to mate with him earlier. It probably would have been better than whatever was about to happen.
"We've lost, GrassClan!" Swiftwind shouted. "Get back to camp!" She bounded out of camp, with the others following. Brownwhisker shot a guilty look at Leopardstar, then followed Swiftwind.
"Now is your time to die, badger-dung." Stonestar rumbled. He raked his claws across Leopardstar's eyes, and started dragging her.
Leopardstar thought about how her Clan had just betrayed her. She was about to die, wasn't she? "Oh StarClan, for whatever I've done, I'm sorry. . ." She whispered. Leopardstar just hoped this wouldn't hurt too much. . .
She was suddenly lifted off the ground, though all of the blood made it too hard to see what was happening. Leopardstar then felt herself being thrown.
Oh no, the cliff!
She felt herself falling through the air, legs helplessly flailing for any grasp. The ground hit her like a badger's claw or a falling tree, and Leopardstar felt the life being knocked out of her. Through the blood she could see several starry cats watching her. Her great grandmother, Grassstar, was visible. Leopardstar wondered if she was about to be with them. . .
"You may have spelled the end of these Clans. . ." Grassstar murmured. "And, though Stonestar played a bigger part in this than you, you're partially to blame. You've killed for your victories, and tried to kill. . ."
"I'm sorry. . ." Leopardstar said, starting to choke on all the blood.
"You're forgiven." Grassstar said, voice like distant winds. "And your part was small in this. You will go to StarClan. . . goodbye, for the moment. . ."
The starry cats faded away, and Leopardstar realized she was on her next life. "But I'm not healed. . ." She muttered, lying on the ground.
Leopardstar realized that the Clans were about to enter a long war. . . and there was nothing she could do to stop it. . .
She felt her stomach turn as she heard StoneClan warriors coming towards her. They were going to kill her. . . eight times. . .
Leopardstar closed her eyes, and awaited her death.
~End of Prologue~