I'LL TEACH YOU HOW TO TAKE BACK,

YOUNG CAT

Redtail's Story

Don't ask my why I wanted to write this. I just did. o.O Please read and review, and this is a one-shot, one part story part. XDD

Thanks:D

You pushed me once too far again
I'd like to break you fucking teeth.
Stick a knife in the center of your back.
You better grow some eyes in the back of your head.
I fight dirty, just like your looks.
Can't take, can't take, can't take anymore.

I slashed at a RiverClan warrior, his hiss echoing in my mind as he turned and ran, back leg immobile now.

I whipped around, my ginger tail flicking as I waited for another warrior to just try to attack. Few RiverClanners were left on Sunningrocks, and I felt like our victory was near.

But then, to my horror, a fresh set of reinforcements of at least a dozen cats poured into the river, paddled over, and didn't even bother to shake water from their pelts.

One of the cats leapt onto my back and raked at my sides. I yowled with surprise. But Bluestar, my mentor, hadn't just left me alone to let some other warrior take over.

I crouched low, one of my favorite battle moves, and went limp, as if the cat had won. He yowled in victory and went to sink his teeth into my neck, but I flung him off of me and he dove for another ThunderClan warrior.

Take back, Take back, Take.

"Tigerclaw, get your group out of here!" I yowled. I was bleeding heavily from one flank and breathing with difficulty. "Now!"

Tigerclaw, a massive brown tabby tom, just stared at me, mind taken off of the RiverClan warrior he was fighting. The small gray tabby just slashed at Tigerclaw's flank, but he didn't seem to care, and swatted him away as if he were just an annoying fly. "What? Why? Sunningrocks is ThunderClan's!"

"There are too many warriors!" I replied quickly. He stared at me, and I knew I must have been quite a sight. I could see a clump of tortoiseshell fur detatched from the rest of my fur and blood on my forepaw, shoulder, and hindquarters. "Go now! My group will follow up!"

"No!" he hissed. "We won't leave until they're all dead!"

"Go now, Tigerclaw, or be punished when we return!" I snarled. "ThunderClan, retreat!"

All ThunderClan cats sprinted out of the clearing, their pelts looking almost as bad as mine must. Tigerclaw... I had to watch him. He finally retreated, but not without spitting at me, "Redtail, certainly you can command your Clan better than what you've shown."

The taste of bad blood on the tip of my tongue.
An eye for an eye.
Gun for a gun.

At our second major battle with RiverClan that was like this, it was a half moon night. It glowed on the smooth granite boulders as lithe, dark shapes crossed over them.

Tigerstar was at the center of the frenzy of fur and claws as the cats collided, holding down a bracken-colored tom. "Oakheart!" he growled. "How dare you hunt in our territory? The Sunningrocks belong to ThunderClan!"

"After tonight, Tigerclaw, this will be just another RiverClan hunting ground!" he spat back.

A warning yowl came from the shore, shrill and anxious. I looked back at it, and felt fear creep up my spine. "Look out! More RiverClan warriors are coming!"

Tigerclaw turned to see sleek wet bodies sliding out of the water below the rocks. The drenched warriors threw themselves into the fray without even stopping to shake the water from their fur.

Tigerclaw glaraed down at Oakheart. "You may swim like otters," he hissed, "but you and your wariors do not belong in this forest!" He drew back his lips in a snarl as the cat struggled beneath him.

The desperate scream of Mousefur, a wiry brown she-cat, shook me to my senses. As I bounded over to help her with the RiverClan warrior that had pinned her, another warrior knocked into me and began to claw at my flanks.

Tigerclaw must have heard her, too, for he let go of Oakheart and the enemy must have been bowled over by the huge tom, for I heard, "Quick, Mousefur, run!"

I finally shook the RiverClan warrior off and clawed mercilessly at his flanks and belly. He yowled with pain and raced towards the river.

"Tigerclaw!" I called from the other side of the clearing."This is useless! There are too many RiverClan warriors!"

"No, Redtail. ThunderClan will not be beaten again!" he yowled back, leaping to my side. "This is our territory!" I looked at the blood that had welled up around his nose.

"ThunderClan will honor your courage, Tigerclaw, but we cannot afford to lsoe any more of our warriors," I urged. "Bluestar would never expect her warriors to fight against these impossible odds. We will have another chance to avenge this defeat." I met his amer-eyed gaze steadily, then reared away and sprang onto a boulder at hte edge of the trees.

"Retreat, ThunderClan, retreat!"

At once, the ThunderClan warriors bounded away, back into the forest, Tigerclaw following last.

...
Cold-cocked and I'm taking back what's mine.
Expect it when you're least expecting it.
No loss of love, the smell of regret.
Lights out
Can't take anymore

At our third battle, which was almost a half-moon later, I faced Oakheart. He was a worthy opponent, especially to a cat that was a little smaller than himself.

I darted forward and back, but he had pinned me beneath a ledge of an over-hanging rock. I circled around him, leaving him under the ledge. Then his eyes widened.

"Redtail, look out!" he yowled. The boulder that made the rocky overhang fell right on top of him and he released a blood-curdling screech.

But he hadn't been talking about that.

I whipped around and yowled, "Oakheart is dead!" though no warrior heard me, except for one.

Tigerclaw stood behind me, glowering down at me. "Redtail," he meowed smoothly. "This battle has been won. The cats are all gone from here. We're the only ones left."

Though I felt a loss for Oakheart, I nodded, happy about the prospect of being able to go home. "Then come on, Tigerclaw, let's get home," I meowed, taking a step forward. He stepped in front of me, though.

"No, Redtail, you've got something of mine," he purred in his velvety voice. "You are the deputy, and I'm taking back what's mine."

My eyes widened. "T-Tigerclaw, now, hold on... I never expected this!"

He grinned maliciously. "Good. Lights out, Redtail," he hissed. He leapt forward and easily pinned me under his weight. He gave me a swift bite to my neck and a searing pain lanced through my body as flames washed over my eyes.


Take back, Take back, Take back, Take back, Take back

I glared at Tigerclaw. My fur was now shining like a star and I could see my lifeless body.

He took a deep breath as he tried to think of what his plan was next. "Ah, the sweet smell of regret," he murmured. "I don't believe I can take this..." He whipped around, startled by a sudden sound in the bracken.

There, in the clearing, stood Ravenpaw, right behind the bracken. He had wounds covering his body and he looked as though he could barely stand.

"Ravenpaw!" Tigerclaw hissed to the black apprentice. His apprentice. He leapt forward and pinned the tom down with a massive forepaw. "You saw that, didn't you? You'd better say that Oakclaw killed Redtail, and then I killed Oakheart in vengeance, just like what happened. Do you understand?" he growled.

Ravenpaw gulped, eyes wide, and nodded, his whiskers shaking with fear.

Tigerclaw released him and gave him a huge shove. "Go!" he hissed. "And remember our little...talk... Or I'll do the same thing to you that I did to Redtail."

His eyes widened more and he sprinted away as Tigerclaw picked up my body, moving forward to explain his version of what happened to the Clan.

Oh, yes, Tigerclaw, I thought as I was greeted by StarClanners, I will teach you how to take back. Though you are still young, you will learn that your mistakes will have cost you your life in the end.