Disclaimer: I own only what was not in the books.

Chapter 21: A New Life

Shadowstar surged up the ridge, Dogheart's scent fresh in his nose. In this cat, the murder and hate of Screave lived on. He needed to die.

There he was, standing atop the ridge, facing the other way. Without wasting a moment, the black tom leapt. To his surprise, the other tom slipped easily to the side, and turned to face him and his siblings.

"Now, now, that wasn't very polite was it?"

Thunderstar hissed. "We're not here to be polite, Dogheart!"
Riverstar snarled, "Your time on this earth has ended!"

The four siblings leapt, spitting at the tom.

Suddenly, Shadowstar found himself thrown back, landing hard on the ground, wind knocked out of him. Scrambling to his paws, he glared at the fire-bearing cats who had knocked them aside.

"What," Windstar hissed, "can't even fight you own battles you coward?"

The guards lunged forward, and Shadowstar automatically dodged to the side. He was exhausted from getting his lives and the fight with the Beast. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw his siblings were doing no better.

Suddenly, there were two flashes of brown and black and the four guards were swept off their paws. Mouse and Wren, battling side by side, knocked the fire from the jaws of the invaders and yowled, "We'll take care of them! Go!"

Shadowstar lunged forward, energy renewed, and followed Dogheart's scent through the battle ground, now littered with bodies and streaming with blood. It disappeared into RiverClan territory.

"He's headed straight for the gorge!" Riverstar hissed.

Thunderstar, limping along in the back, growled, "Perhaps he'll fall in and we won't have to kill him ourselves."

Windstar shook her head. "Wishful thinking brother. We have to follow."

The gray tom heaved himself to his paws and sighed, "I know."

The four cats continued at a brisk pace. Suddenly, Shadowstar smelled it. Made faint from the water, but there. Blood. And Dogheart. He had been here. Whether or not he was still here worried him.

"I'll check over here," he hissed, creeping along the narrow path. He rounded a corner and found a dead-end. There was nothing there. "How-" he began, then yowled in pain as a weight descended on his shoulders. He twisted, throwing his attacker off, and spun to his paws.

Behind him lay the dead-end. Before him stood Dogheart. The tom sneered at him, a vine gripped in his teeth. Slowly, Shadowstar looked up, and groaned. With a small jerk, a massive rock would come tumbling down, easily crushing the ledge and sending him into the heaving rapids below.

"Farewell, Lord of Shadow," he hissed mockingly and yanked the vine. At the same moment, Shadowstar gathered up the last of his strength and leapt. He sailed over the rock, the ledge crumbling beneath his paws, and watched as Dogheart fled- right into Riverstar, Thunderstar, and Windstar.

The ginger and white tom spun, forgetting where he was in his panic, and, as Shadowstar's paws hit the solid ground, he fell. With a sickening crack his writhing body hit a rock and went limp, before sliding off and disappearing under water.
Dogheart was dead.

Thunderstar and his siblings limped back toward Fourtrees. The chaotic swirl of battle was gone. Somehow, the wolves must have felt Dogheart's death, and fled, figuring that so many lives were to much to pay for cat flesh. The rest of Dogheart's supporters, cats, were gone as well.

The four cats stopped at the ridge of the clearing and watched their Clan's work. Then, with unspoken agreement, they touched noses and went their separate ways with one last look. For good. They would never again fight, all four, side by side. This was the end. They each had their seperate paths to follow.

Shadowstar suppressed a sad sigh. He would miss the bond he had shared with his siblings. The black tom shook his head. He couldn't mope. They had a lot of cleanup, and the cats from the mountain and alley's had to be sent home. The Canyon cats were already gone. They had to bury dead and heal the wounded.

The warrior code had to be established and the makeup of the clans put in order. He sighed again. Like the prophecy said, the doom of the old Clan, the birth of a new. The end of one story and the beggining of a new life.

There was a lot of work to be done.

As Sandstorm finished her tale, she looked at the young kit, the future of her Clan, and sighed. He was almost asleep.

"Are they in StarClan now?" he mewed sleepily.

Sandstorm purred. "Yes. Like all our ancestors, they will look down on us and guide us forever."

Redkit sighed. "Good."

The End

a/n- funny. This was going to be a one-shot. I now have 59 something pages worth of writing. I'll miss this story and it's faithful reviewers, but I'm excited. My first story that isn't a one-shot! Feel free to review though. I'd appreciate it. I'm so happy! I want to say it again. So I will.

The End.