Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. It belongs to Erin Hunter.
'Thoughts' Dreams Memories
Firepaw's eyes widened as realization started to dawn on her, and as the rumpled cat stared back at her, she seemed to note the same. But it was quickly dashed away as the molly who called herself Yellowfang shook her head and bit into her paw to fling her headfirst into another rock. The younger cat stayed down, stars dancing before her as the old female let a hacking laugh.
"You carry the scent of ThunderClan! What, are they so desperate that they would take on a weak bodied fool like you?" The dark gray molly jeered, yet her eyes narrowed as she stalked closer, her claws at the ready. This little one, could she really be...? Would ThunderClan truly house one of their sworn enemies? They always seemed so...forward in their hatred, even if they couldn't see what was right in front of them.
Yellowfang was now beside Firepaw and roughly rolled her over, even clawing her to bring her back to her senses faster. There was a trickle of blood flowing down the young apprentice's forehead, did that last blow kill her? Firepaw stayed limp, her breathing slow, which earned a scowl from Yellowfang.
"Perhaps I was wrong, maybe it was just a trick of the light. There's no way a pathetic runt like you could..." But before the larger cat could say anymore, Firepaw jumped to her paws, going straight at the bigger feline with a savage snarl.
Yellowfang lurched back and swiped out with her claws again, catching the smaller molly but unlike before, Firepaw pushed through it and stayed on her paws. She grappled with the ragged one, hooking her claws into the matted fur and nearly got tangled up in it before she bit into Yellowfang's muzzle. Hissing in rage, Yellowfang reared up on her hind legs and tried clawing at Firepaw to get her off, but the fiery cat would not let go. Even after her sides and head were slashed horribly, she wouldn't let go just yet.
She broke apart of her own accord after working one of her claws loose and shredding Yellowfang's ear, only to break into a run, away from the older female. Huffing softly, the larger cat licked at her wounds, feeling slighted that after all of that, this cat would just turn tail and run.
"Spineless, pathetic coward! Couldn't even stay and give me a real fight!" she snarled, dropping to all four paws and continuing on her wondering. She could feel her blood dripping from her wounds, but it was no pain she wasn't already used to. Still the blood falling into her eye from her torn ear was definitely becoming a nuisance, it wouldn't stop bleeding. Grumbling darkly about it, her intact ear then twitched and Yellowfang stopped, looking around. There was nothing.
As she started walking again, there was a rustle above her, looking up, Yellowfang though she saw a flash of red and tilted her head. Turning her gaze to the base of the trunk, the old cat sighed and walked over to begin her ascent.
As her claws dug into the bark, Yellowfang felt a sense of heaviness she never had before. After only a few minutes, her muscles were straining and Yellowfang felt like it was more than just her bulk working against her. By the time she got even to the lowest of branches, Yellowfang's claws ached and her shoulders burned. How did ThunderClan do it?
As she took a moment to catch her breath, too late she realized someone charging at her. With a grunt, she was pinned to the tree and had her leg bitten into. Firepaw tried to bite down to the bone but Yellowfang's hide and course fur were tougher than she thought and she settled with just tossing her off the branch, which even though it was low hanging one was still quite a distance down.
With a sickening thud, Yellowfang lay paralyzed and Firepaw glared down at her, waiting for this resilient female to get back up. And indeed she did but when she tried putting weight on her injured leg, she collapsed. Snorting with satisfaction, Firepaw leapt down gracefully to the ground, which Yellowfang watched with disdain.
"How does it feel getting tossed around, huh?" Firepaw growled, smirking in dark humor as she saw a flicker of pain flash in Yellowfang's eyes as she tried and failed to stand again.
Yellowfang hissed at her, even took a swipe when the younger molly got too close. In that instant, both looked into each other's eyes and this time there was no second doubting on Yellowfang's part. Seeing the truth, she let out a breath, and almost seemed to deflate, she was still rather huge but now she didn't seem like a monster.
"So...a demon in ThunderClan, or rather... an outsider demon in ThunderClan. How?" Yellowfang asked, her voice full of questions and wanting to seek answers. However Firepaw was rather tight lipped and stayed quiet, licking her wounds.
Her whole body throbbed, her head even more so and soon, she could barely hold herself up. With a groan, she then crashed to the ground, her breathing shaky and fast. Yellowfangg stared at the young one's prone form, narrowing her eyes. Perhaps, she should just leave, after all they had just got finished attacking one another. But as she forced herself onto three legs, Yellowfang couldn't find it in herself to just leave the unconscious apprentice alone like this.
Heaving a great sigh, the large molly limped back to Firepaw and wrapped her body around the smaller feline, carefully licking Firepaw's wounds, paying special attention to the split flesh on her head.
"An outsider demon in ThunderClan...what could have brought that Bluestar to make such a decision? Is that Clan starting to change it's views...or is it something more?" Yellowfang mused to herself, looking down at the young one laying against her. "And what part do you have to play in it, young kitten?"
Yellowfang stayed washing the kit's wounds as much as she could before tending to her own. Her leg was the thing that hurt the most, the pure savagery in even thinking of an attack like that made the old one smile. "Just like a ShadowClan cat." she mused, her tail twitching.
Eventually Yellowfang began to doze and for a while, it was quiet. But then some sound, some disturbance made Yellowfang's eyes open and she looked around, trying to find what it was that woke her. Her fur began to bristle as she noticed the sound fading away. Was she losing her touch? As she wondered over what was going on, she felt Firepaw stir beside her.
The flame colored molly wobbled to her feet, lightly shaking her head and wincing when she felt a stab of pain run through her.
"Easy there, unless you want to pass out again, don't be so quick to move." Yellowfang growled, turning her head away for she wasn't looking at the apprentice. Firrepaw snorted at that and slowly got to her paws, trying to will the earth to stop moving.
"Funny, I have a hard time thinking you care. After all, you did chuck me into a rock and tried to split my head open." the young one added with a barely subdued hiss.
Yellowfang's muzzle twitched with the beginnings of a smirk before she schooled her features into a neutral expression. "I can say the same when you pushed me out of that tree. You were trying to break me!"
Firepaw snorted at that, a tiny smirk on her muzzle. "Fair enough." She then looked herself over and titled her head. "You...cleaned my wounds... Why?"
Yellowfang snorted and rolled her eyes. "Instinct," she groused, her claws digging in the dirt. "I couldn't let a fellow demon have their wounds get infected. No more, no less."
Firepaw huffed at that but then saw Yellowfang try and lift herseelf but fall back into a grunt. She could see that the gray molly's leg was being held at a strange angle. She also heard the older cat's belly growled and narrowed her eyes. Just then, her own belly started to rumbled and she grunted before getting to her paws. "Wait here."
Firepaw then turned to stumbled further into the forest, trying to keep her paws steady. Eventually Firepaw held up long enough that she was able to walk without feeling like she was going to keel over. She passed a long dead rat and curled her lip, food like that was only fit for cats like Longtail. She sniffed the ground, hoping that she could find something and after a long while of coming up with nothing, she thought of going back to collect the dead rat.
Firepaw instantly shook her head at that and narrowed her eyes. A sick, weakened cat like Yellowfang needed fresh meat. She had to press forward. Then the wind changed and Firepaw caught the scent of a rabbit. Following the scent, Firepaw came across a rather plump rabbit and into the hunter's crouch. The rabbit had its back turned and Firepaw bared her fangs before lunging for the rabbit.
The fiery apprentice tumbled with the rabbit but managed to come out on top, swiftly snapping its neck and carrying it back to Yellowfang. The elder cat looked at the rabbit and huffed but pulled herself into a sitting position and took the first bite of the slain rodent while Firepaw busied herself with licking her fur back into place. Suddenly she felt a slight nudge at her leg before looking down, seeing the rabbit next to her.
Her gaze transferred to Yellowfang who stared back with no real emotion on her face. "I can hear your belly growling. Eat. At least enough to stop you from passing out again. Eat."
Firepaw looked down at the half eaten rabbit before taking a few bites and pushing the rest to the older cat. The pair shared the meal in silence before Firepaw's ears twitched and she looked up, the sound of many paws pounding the earth came to her. Yellowfang heard it too, but she narrowed her eyes, her fur bristling and her claws digging into the dirt. If it came down to it, she wasn't going to run, she would rather die fighting. Firepaw had to admire her courage and stood in front of the elder, even as the cats approaching consisted of Bluestar, Darkstripe, Longtail and surprisingly, Ravenpaw.
Bluestar glared at the remains of the rabbit before turning that frosty glare over to Firepaw, who stood her ground, her posture straight and unafraid.
"So, Firepaw, do you want to explain to me why you smell of fresh kill? And why you have no food with you to feed the Clan?" Bluestar growled, her hackles raising over the lack of remorse in the demon's eyes, though even she couldn't look long into them.
"I fed her, and you should be happy that she at least tried to stop me. With how long it took for you to get here, I could have killed her and anyone else I please before you even knew what happened." Yellowfang shot back with a hint of a growl. She turned to Firepaw, winking at her. "This little whelp put up a decent enough fight, been a long since I had a fighter came at me with everything they got. A warrior like her needs her strength. I thought that was something you valued, Bluestar."
The pale furred molly narrowed her eyes at the other before recognition dawned on her and she smirked, turned back to Firepaw, her eyes glittering with snide amusement. "Well, Firepaw, looks like you've done something useful after all. You've fought and managed to subdue ShadowClan's medicine cat!"
