CLANLIFE
This is an account of all the stories (in correct order) that have happened to the cats of ThunderClan. These tales will begin just after a great flood that has destroyed most of ThunderClan and RiverClan. In these times the Clan leader Greystar was sick with greencough and sent his deputy, Lionheart, to the gathering instead. That day the Clan was struck with a massive flood and the cats could not return from the Gathering. When they finally were able to get back they found everyone who was left in the camp to be dead.
Our story begins one moon later.
THE FIVE CLANS OF THE FOREST - BoneClan Camp - Moonhigh
Since the time when the four Clans of the big cats roamed the forest there had been many battles between them, but rare was it that the Clans banded together to confront a common enemy. As far back as most cats could remember, the last battle had been the one against BloodClan lead by the horrible Scourge who Firestar had put to his death.
Now the Clans had reunited again against another enemy who had come to the Clans with their own army along with them. For this rare event the four Clans of the forest fought side-by-side to defend their home.
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Three grim cats found themselves padding towards BoneClan camp. They were already far from the battle where the other cats from their own Clan along with RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan were fighting.
Greyclaw turned to Amberheart and smiled weakly, trying to reassure his friend. Lionstar strode ahead of them, wanting to keep his grim face from the two Warriors behind him. He wished he could kill Metalstar himself, but he knew if the job could be done by one cat the BoneClan leader would be long since dead.
The cats stopped just outside the camp where there was a thin space between two patches of the undergrowth encircling the camp, which was a shallow depression in the earth.
The threesome passed through the opening into the clearing. Dens constructed in a similar way as the ones in ThunderClan were bordered the camp while in the middle stood a tall, rigid stone jutting from the ground. Beside it was a thin hole traveling straight down into the earth.
"That's her den." Said Amberheart, breaking the cold silence that had fallen over the cats of ThunderClan.
Lionstar nodded but said nothing as he stepped up to the hole and peered down into it.
His orange head cut off the last of the light illuminating the inside of the cave, but he could feel and scent something there. There was a movement at the bottom of the pit and two cold yellow eyes turned up to him, flashing in the darkness.
Metalstar.
He could hear her too; the black she-cat's breath was coming in fast, shallow gasps. He might've felt sorry for her; cornered in her cave like the mice she hunted, yet Lionstar felt no remorse. Instead, anger filled him and he wished he could dive down into the cave and tear her, but he didn't.
"Come out!" He commanded. "What more do you have to lose?"
He felt Metalstar's muscles tense and saw her eyes narrow. "My life." She spat.
"What kind of life would you live in a hole?"
Metalstar shifted her position, Lionstar guessed she was lying down on the cold dirt floor, but instead she shot upwards towards him, metal claws flashing in the light that filled the opening as the orange tom pulled away.
Metalic daggers cut easily though his flesh and he hissed, stumbling backwards and blinking away blood running from his forhead down into his eyes.
"Lionstar!"
A grey shape moved swiftly though the air, ramming itself into Metalstar's side. She hissed and reared, golden claws slicing through empty air as Greyclaw moved swiftly away before attacking again.
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Firestar staggered to the side, panting hard as Tigerstar lunged at him again. The cats were quite evenly matched, though Firestar found he was tiring faster. Life below had not been easy, and living in the Underworld so long had made Tigerstar a lump of bone, muscle and claw. Firestar's physical condition was no better then it had been when he'd died.
The ginger tom felt the HellCat's claws rake his side again. Firestar swung his paw, cutting three shallow marks in Tigerstar's underbelly.
A glance to his up and the living cats' down told him that his battle against Tigerstar was bringing him over towards ShadowClan camp, where he could see Metalstar leaping out of a hole in the ground and- A dark brown paw collided with the side of his head, knocking him violently to the ground. Claws cut into the back of his neck, but then a thought came to the former ThunderClan leader; 'How can I die if I'm already dead?' but he already knew the answer, and he'd rather die again then to go back under.
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Metalstar spun around, claws tearing at the grey ThunderClan warrior's chest. He leaned down, lapping up the blood with his tongue. Once again the BoneClan leader lunged forwards and Greyclaw hopped back quickly, a shallow cut appearing on the tip of his tongue. He decided not to try that again; last time it hadn't done much good either, besides, it tasted too good anyways.
He jumped at a cry from under the rock. He looked up instantly to see Amberheart fighting claw-to-claw with Metalstar while Lionstar's dead body lay on the ground nearby. Greyclaw leaped forwards, claws raking Metalstar's side. She spun around, knocking him to the ground with massive claw marks etched across his face. Bloody and exhausted, Greyclaw attempted to lunge at the BoneClan leader again, who was momentarily distracted by him and received a blow from Amberheart, who hopped quickly away from the other she-cat.
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Claws raked the empty air, cutting through nothingness instead of their enemy; Tigerstar, who had leaped back and tackled the handsome ginger owner of the claws and had pinned him to the ground.
Firestar hissed, lunging forwards at Tigerstar, who smiled victoriously and raised his own abnormally long claws. "Firestar, I've waited so long for this moment. Too many moons have passed since I've seen you suffer, but after this I will never get the chance again, so look up. Now."
The former ThunderClan leader raised his head, looking up past his enemy's head to the ground above where Lionstar lay dead on the ground with only the exhausted Greyclaw and Amberheart to protect him. "No..." Gasped Firestar, focusing back on Tigerstar. "No..."
Tigerstar smiled and leaned down so his muzzle was hardly an inch away from the ginger tom's, then he laughed. He raised his head to the ground above and howled with laughter at the sight of his lifelong enemy, now lying helpless beneath his paws.
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Amberheart gasped as Metalstar let her go, turning instead to Greyclaw. Again her claws pierced his flesh, digging into his chest. An anguish cry erupted from his throat as the metal sank in deeper and deeper, but he couldn't die. He felt the black she-cat's sandpapery tongue graze his torso. He felt her step back off of him, but saw nothing; his vision was filled with dots of black and white, then occasional flashes of color that made him dizzy and stopped him from moving. Somewhere that sounded far away he heard Amberheart's cry, "No! Greyclaw, wake up! Please!"
But he didn't want to wake up; he would have loved to lie there with his headache forever, never having to move again. Ever...
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The bloody ginger tom watched in horror as Greyclaw dropped to the ground and Metalstar drank the elixir and he listened as Tigerstar laughed and laughed while Firestar could do nothing but lie at his mercy. Finally he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to take anymore.
"StarClan, help me!"
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Amberheart watched in horror as Metalstar stood back, glancing at her and smiling a smile that showed her bloody teeth. A sob caught in her throat and the Siamese warrior shook her head, horrified. No, this couldn't be happening, but it was. Metalstar swallowed, the elixir of life making it's way down her throat and she became immortal. Suddenly the black warrior froze, her body going rigid. Her pupils narrowed and she turned to look straight at Amberheart. A wheezing cough escaped the BoneClan leader and her head lolled to the side, resting on her shoulder. "It's..." She coughed again and this time blood splattered the ground and ran down her chin, dribbling onto her torso. "...poison." Then she keeled over, her body convulsing violently as her eyes rolled back in her head until suddenly it stopped and she was dead.
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Suddenly the laughter stopped and Firestar could feel the brown tom's breath hot against his face. "What did you do?" He demanded, spraying the ginger tom beneath him with spittle.
"N-"
"We won."
Firestar turned his head to see a brown and grey tom standing a few tail lengths away, staring defiantly at Tigerstar. He stood for a moment while the two cats took in what they were seeing, then he leaped forwards, knocking Tigerstar to the ground. Firestar rolled over and clamped his jaws around the back of Tigerstar's neck, then jerked him once, twice, three times until finally his enemy lay limp.
"Ridge..."
The two victorious tomcats turned to see Metalstar who had appeared behind them. She was standing, staring at the brown and grey tom with wide, betrayed eyes. He turned to face her, looking sad. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I fight for the right side now."
And before she could reply, Metalstar was gone, fading back into the underworld as did Tigerstar. Firestar turned to Ridge and nodded his head in thanks and dismissal. The younger tom nodded understandingly and padded off to celebrate with the other cats of StarClan.
Appearing in the spot where Metalstar had stood moments ago was a confused looking Lionstar. When he caught sight of the ginger tom he looked greatly relieved.
"Firestar!" He breathed, touching his nose to the former ThunderClan leader's.
Firestar smiled. "It's been a while since I've last seen you. A lot has happened since then. Thank you for saving me."
Lionstar nodded. "Yes, but I don't understand. Everyone seems to have found something in this battle; but for me it's just another fight."
The ginger tom sighed and shook his head, seeming more disappointed then understanding as Lionstar had expected him to be.
"What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry you feel that way, Lionstar. You are a good, strong cat but you do not know how to piece together a puzzle when everything you need is right in front of you."
This annoyed the orange tom; was Firestar telling him that he was stupid? "But, Firestar-"
The older tom shook his head and closed his eyes. "Someday you will understand. You're still young while I am now old and wise, it will take time for you to learn certain lessons. I'd give you some pointers, but in my day I was more like Greyclaw. Still, I'm glad my best friend's son has turned into such a spectacular warrior, and I'm just as glad that my own son has turned into one too."
"Wait!" But he was already back, sitting upright with Greyclaw and Amberheart at his sides.
"We need to go back now, Lionstar." Said Greyclaw, getting to his paws and turning towards the entrance of the camp.
Amberheart nodded and stood too. "He's right. We won the battle, it's over."
Lionstar nodded and followed them out, but stopped just before he left. Turning his head to the sky, the big orange tom saw that the forest of StarClan was gone now. He sighed, feeling now as if it had all happened so fast. One of the stars in the night sky lit up suddenly, touching the now-dark ground with a flash of light.
Lionstar smiled. "Dad."
A/N: Who is Ridge? How did Metalstar become who she is?You'll find out in the prequel to CLANLIFE, which I will start soon. I really hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. With that, thank you to everyone who read this and much love to those who reviewed.
This tale of love, betrayal, ancient enemies, friends, hardships and war is dedicated to all the cats who inspiered the cats of ThunderClan; Catame (Patchpelt), Amber (Amberheart), Grey (Greyclaw), Misty (Mistyfur), Mutant (Coldpelt), Farley (Orangestripe), Paper (Daytail), Socks (Cloudfoot), Peaches (Flamecloud), Tiger (Tigerstripe), Pouncer (Darkpaw), Spike (Mudpaw), and Rascal (Greyvoice).
Greyclaw x Amberheart forever! (Not in real life, though.)