WOOOO Chapter 50! Didn't think I would get this far a few months back.
So my family is feeling better. Good for them. Too bad I went through some pretty bad anxiety this week. It happens at the start of each semester, because I'm afraid of what I'll have to do to pass the class, what I'll need to buy, if I'll fail, etc. The anxiety gets worse when we go over the Syllabuses and I hear stuff I don't like. Like Proctorio. Or the fact that I need to learn how to program for one of my classes. (I didn't sign up for this ;-;)
But I made it through the first week at least.
(Except I got riled up this morning at Pokemon Journeys. Stupid Suicune. Stupid Goh. I hate this kid so much-)
I'm pretty satisfied with how this chapter came out. I thought I would have more problems but...
Reminder that while I'll try to get a chapter up every Friday, I might skip a week or two cause of school. It's just how it is.
She didn't need Dovewing's almost supernatural hearing to know that the second Dark Forest patrol was coming closer and closer to their camp. She looked on as Jayfeather rushed around in a muted panic, their herb supply already dwindling down into nothing.
They hardly had any herbs left. The fire hadn't done them any good. Sure, they weren't going to be getting any new herbs anyway with leaf-bare on the rise, but normally they had herbs in reserve to last through the bitter cold moons until new-leaf. The fire had only served to destroy a good chunk of what they had already stored.
Leafpool could have cried if she weren't in the middle of the most important battle that the clans would face in a very long time. She wished Squirrelflight were here, or her daughter Hollyleaf, or even Firestar. She supposed that at the very least they were safer elsewhere than at the clans at the moment.
Pawsteps sounded outside the hollow, determined and fast. "Prepare for attack!" Brambleclaw yowled.
The shredded barrier quivered as Birchfall leaped through it skidding into the camp, Blossomfall at his heels. Leafpool's heart dropped to her stomach; her clanmates were leading the attack against them themselves?
Jayfeather rushed past her and disappeared through the brambles. "Briarlight!" he yowled. "Get back into the herb store!"
Brambleclaw met Birchfall's gaze. "How could you betray us?" He advanced on his clanmate, his lip curled into a snarl.
"I thought you'd choose to fight on our side," Dovewing whimpered.
Birchfall lifted his tail. "We would never betray Thunderclan!"
Mousewhisker skidded into the camp. "We came to warn you!"
Blossomfall butted in. "We saw the Dark Forest patrol! They're coming!"
As she spoke, a huge gray-and-white tom crashed through the thorns. His muzzle was striped with wounds, one eye swollen, but hard muscle twitched beneath his pelt. "Traitors!" he snarled at Birchfall. "We lost the Windclan camp thanks to you!" His tail whipped behind him. "I'll save killing you till last."
"Not if I kill you first, Thistleclaw!" Birchfall hissed. "You tricked us!"
Dark Forest warriors began filling the hollow, and Leafpool's senses were assaulted with the sounds of battle and yowling, and the smell of blood. She ducked back into the medicine den, intent on staying out of the fighting. She wasn't trained to be a warrior and deemed herself useless in fighting. She would stay away and heal when necessary. She cursed at the low amount of herbs they had, noting that her skills as a medicine cat were useless if she couldn't actually heal anyone.
"We're running out of supplies," Jayfeather bit out.
"What are we going to do?" Briarlight asked the two medicine cats.
"Hope they have enough sense to not get too injured out there I suppose," Jayfeather muttered sarcastically. Leafpool poked her head outside the den, eyes scanning for anyone that needed immediate assistance. It didn't look safe for her to come out, every clan cat locked into battle fighting for their life.
Suddenly, Lionblaze appeared through the thorns. Graystripe landed a paw step behind him. She blinked at the sight of more cats streaming into camp after them. She recognized none of them, and their pelts were oddly pale—almost transparent, with trees and grass clearly visible through them. These were no living cats; that was for sure, but they didn't look like Starclan either.
"It's okay!" Lionblaze yowled. "They're Ancient allies, from before Starclan! They're on our side!" Leafpool let out a breath she was holding as Midnight of all creatures started knocking around some Dark Forest cats, both living and dead scrambling away from the badger. For a moment, hope bloomed in her heart, thinking that the clans had a chance of survival.
The brambles rustled behind her, and Jayfeather pushed past her, his nose twitching. "Half Moon!" His cry was almost a wail. "Are you here?"
"Jay's Wing!" A smoke-gray Ancient ducked away from the battle and rushed to meet him. She touched her muzzle softly to his.
"You came," Jayfeather whispered.
"Of course, my love." Half Moon held her cheek against Jayfeather's, then broke away.
"I must fight." Jayfeather nodded.
"Send any wounded to me." He nosed his way back into his den.
Leafpool stared at the she-cat, raising an eyebrow at the obvious display of love between her and her son, and lashing her tail at the sheer hypocrisy. He had scorned her for some time for falling in love and having kits, but it was totally fine for him to turn around and have some kind of romance with what she assumed was a very long-dead cat. Half Moon turned her head to meet Leafpool's gaze, lightly flinching at the feeling of the medicine cat's eyes burning into her skull.
Half Moon glanced to Dovewing next to her. "Come on," she meowed briskly, leaping away into the crowd of fighting cats. Dovewing gave Leafpool a nervous glance before plunging in after Half Moon into battle. Before Leafpool could contemplate on the mysterious Ancient any longer, a howl rose up from the fighting, and she watched in horror as Midnight finally fell to multiple claws of the Dark Forest.
A shriek of warning came from Dovewing, and Leafpool's head snapped to her and was forced to watch as Breezepelt pinned down her son.
A black pelt barged past Dovewing. She would recognize Crowfeather from anywhere. The Windclan warrior sank his claws deep into Breezepelt's shoulders and hauled him back. Lionblaze scrambled to his paws. She rushed up to them, catching the tail-end of their heated hissing.
"-hated you!" Crowfeather growled. "That's just what you were determined to believe. And Nightcloud encouraged you."
"It's not her fault!" Breezepelt spat.
"No," Crowfeather hissed. "I should have done something much earlier. But now it's too late. You chose the Dark Forest." He hauled Breezepelt to his paws and flung him away. "Get out of here!"
Breezepelt stared at his father, eyes wide, then turned and raced from the camp.
"I'm so sorry!" Leafpool meowed solemnly, eyes misty with regret as she padded up to him. "I never meant for this to happen!"
"He's a warrior," Crowfeather hissed. "He's been making his own choices for a long time now."
Leafpool looked down at his paws. "Perhaps if we'd stayed together, things would be different."
Crowfeather's gaze sparked for a moment, then he sighed. "It was never meant to be." Leafpool flinched, but Crowfeather touched his tail to her flank. "I don't regret anything," he murmured. His gaze flicked toward Lionblaze. "Nothing at all."
Stars exploded into her vision, and they all looked around them as star-pelted warriors joined the fray from what seemed like out of nowhere. She didn't recognize many of them, but she did recognize Longtail as he and Dovewing rushed past them, fighting their way to the elders' den.
She yelped as a black-pelted cat came hurtling at her, only for him to meet multiple claws from Starclan cats and an extra set from Crowfeather. She leaped into action, ducking and rushing past the battle towards the medicine den. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as every time a Dark Forest warrior aimed to attack her was thwarted by a Starclan cat. It was strange, the way Starclan was seemingly positioned to protect her specifically, as none of them were helping any of her clanmates the way they were doing for her.
No, that wasn't right. She squinted, picking out an unusual amount of protection around Brambleclaw and Sandstorm. What made them so important for Starclan to constantly protect them?
"Leafpool!" Spottedleaf's sweet scent hit her as she approached the medicine den, and the tortoiseshell she-cat standing outside with a relieved look on her face. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Safe... Spottedleaf, what's going on? Why does it seem like Starclan is invested in keeping me, Brambleclaw, and Sandstorm safe?"
Spottedleaf's expression turned into something strained. "It's- it's complicated. Just know that we need to keep you three safe or the clans may very well meet their ends here and now," she said uncharacteristically serious.
"What? You're not making any sense! Why do we need to be protected? Shouldn't you all be protecting all the clans and not just three cats? What makes us so special?" Leafpool asked, panicked.
Spottedleaf's scent gave away her nervousness. "If Firestar-"
"Leafpool! Jayfeather! You need to come help! Ivypool's injured and she can't make it back to camp on her own! She's going to die if no one helps her!" Molepaw wailed, running towards them and the medicine den. His words registered in her mind, and she sprung into action, pushing past the brambles and taking as many herbs necessary.
They didn't have much, but Ivypool needed help. She could see Jayfeather was too busy working on some other cat's injuries. She would have to go herself.
"Take me to her," she mumbled through all the herbs in her mouth to Molepaw. As they sprinted out of camp, she heard Spottedleaf' rushing behind them.
"Wait! Leafpool! I'm coming too!" she yowled.
The smell of fresh blood wafted through the forest, and it was so much that she could smell it despite the overpowering scent of the bundle of herbs in her jaws. Ivypool was lurching towards them, her pelt matted with fresh and dried blood. She stumbled and fell to the ground, and Leafpool jumped over to her and immediately started cleaning away her pelt, looking for the worst of her injuries. Spottedleaf was beside her, using the little herbs Leafpool brought to treat the silver and white tabby.
"Where's- where's Tigerheart?" she slurred. "He was... helping me-"
"Don't try to talk. You've lost enough blood already," Leafpool interjected. She turned to Molepaw. "Get back to camp Molepaw, we'll be alright." He hesitated, not sure if he should be leaving two medicine cats and a very injured warrior by themselves. "You're not supposed to be drawn into any fighting remember? Just get back to camp and bring back someone healthy enough to help us bring back Ivypool."
Spottedleaf looked up at the sky as soon as Molepaw left. "A clawscratch of moonlight," she breathed. "That must be a good sign."
"Not for the clans." A snarl sounded from the ferns. A she-cat with a matted tortoiseshell pelt came into view. Ivypool stiffened underneath them.
"Mapleshade..." she uttered. Mapleshade sneered at her appearance.
"How pitiful. Look how far you've fallen Ivypool! You were one of our best recruits and you threw it all away to help these mouse-brained clans?"
"You and the rest of the Dark Forest are trying to destroy my home," Ivypool weakly growled out.
"Your home has done nothing but cause me pain!" Mapleshade screeched, eyes flashing with memories only she was privy to. She calmed down, forcing her fur to lay down flat. "But lucky for you, I'm going to be merciful, because you're not who I'm aiming for now," she hissed, eyes trailing over to Leafpool.
Spottedleaf jumped in front of Leafpool. "You'll have to get through me first!"
"Very well then." Mapleshade lunged at her. Spottedleaf rolled under the warrior's weight, paws flailing as she fell. Leafpool was helpless to do anything. The only thing she could do was to keep watch over Ivypool, who was hissing furiously at Mapleshade. "I don't understand you Spottedleaf. She's the result of someone else stealing Firestar's love for herself!"
"There was nothing to steal. Sandstorm made him happy!" Spottedleaf spat.
"Shame that she didn't chase after him to keep him happy. Look where he is now: he's hated by the clans for what he is. Doesn't look like either Sandstorm or Firestar are happy," Mapleshade sneered.
"That's not true. We don't hate him!" Ivypool almost yowled it out.
"If you didn't hate him, you would have defended him. Stopped him from being chased out. But you didn't." Ivypool looked down, ashamed.
"I tried to help him..." she murmured.
Spottedleaf tried wriggling out of Mapleshade's grip, only for the twisted she-cat to bring her claws down on Spottedleaf's sides. She yowled in pain, and Leafpool finally got to her paws and leaped for Mapleshade. She didn't get far as Dark Forest warriors jumped out of their hiding spots, blocking her from reaching Spottedleaf. Her meager warrior skills weren't a match for one Dark Forest cat, let alone multiple. One of them brought his claws down on her head, and she fell to the ground in a daze.
"Leafpool!" Spottedleaf and Ivypool screamed.
"Watch it! Tigerstar wants her alive! We don't want her dying of blood loss before we deliver her to him," Mapleshade yelled to the other cats. She felt herself getting dragged on the ground, her consciousness fading in and out.
'Father...'
Well we're getting to the end of the battle. Next chapter is probably going to be the chapter I've wanted to write since I thought up of this idea back in July. OOHHH BOI I'm excited for that.
Remember that Hollyleaf was with the search party and thus didn't go to Windclan to help out Ivypool. Ivy just barely escaped with her life. Maybe Tigerheart didn't wait so long to help her out this time around.
Spottedleaf also lives! Not sure why I did that though. I'll probably regret that later lol
Tell me how I did.