Chapter Twenty-Eight

Foxstar emerged from her den in an instant, her kits mewling loudly in the nursery. Alderleaf raced to her side, murmuring in her ear before standing at the tom's side. Shadowheart quickly got to his paws, while Sandpool swept the kits into the nursery. Firelight bristled beside him, staring at the entrance to camp.

"I will summon the cats to go on this battle patrol," Foxstar announced, turning to face the group of cats that gathered. "Alderleaf, Yellowsky, Shadowheart, Silverleaf, Larkflight, and Lynxfang."

Firelight's eyes flashed and she looked at Shadowheart. He gazed back into her eyes, and knew how much his friend wanted to be with him during this fight. Touching his nose briefly to hers, he ran ahead to join his patrol as they raced away out of camp. The injured tom lead the way, and Shadowheart could see he struggled to walk.

"Streamwatcher," Alderleaf meowed, coming to a halt. "Go back to my camp and have those wounds seen to by our medicine cats. We can carry on from here."

The black warrior's eyes widened. "What? No way! I have to fight for my Clan!"

Alderleaf shook his head. "You won't do your Clan any good if you die. We will help them, so please go get your wounds tended to."

Hesitant, Streamwatcher winced and finally conceded. He turned and began to limp back towards LeafClan's camp, while the patrol carried on. As they crossed the stepping stones downstream, Shadowheart could hear the echoes of cats fighting in the distance. Worry for his own kin in ReedClan sunk heavily in his belly. Stonetail, please be okay!

As the warriors raced across the marshland, they crossed another set of stones and burst their way into camp. Shadowheart flung himself onto a ragged gray tom, who was dragging the warrior Mudspeck across the clearing. As he rolled across the ground, grappling the rogue, he was keenly aware of Cinder shouting orders over the chaos. Growling angrily he shoved the rogue off and raced towards the sound of his sister's voice. Cinder was nearby, with Leaf at her side as she signaled with her tail for the rogues to set up in a formation. Fury turned his vision red and he leaped at his littermate.

Cinder met him half-way, a shocked expression on her face as Shadowheart pinned her to the ground. "This is where your father lives! Isn't killing your brother enough?" he snarled.

Eyes dark, Cinder stared at him with an unreadable expression. "Nothing is ever enough," she growled, as she shoved Shadowheart off.

"Why?" Shadowheart yowled, his snarls turning to pleas. "Why do you insist on doing this? You should know by now that Hawk is a monster!"

Cinder got to her paws, just swiping at Shadowheart with hard blows. "I don't need to answer to you!"

Shadowheart dodged and headbutted her back, slashing her muzzle. Cinder let out a shriek of pain as blood sprayed across the ground. Snarling angrily she sunk her teeth into Shadowheart's shoulder and the two writhed on the ground. Pain shot up his shoulder and across his body as Cinder sunk her teeth deeper, and he finally managed to get to let go as he sliced his claws across her ear. Breaking away and panting heavily, Shadowheart did his best to ignore the agony of the pain in his shoulder from Cinder's bite.

"Why?" he breathed, blood dripping to the ground. "What do you gain from this?"

Cinder stared at him with a hardened gaze, and was about to speak. She was suddenly cut off by Leaf, who rushed to her side with blood oozing from his own wounds.

"Cinder, we need to retreat," he panted. "More warriors appeared from that wretched PineClan!"

Snarling, Cinder gave a nod. "Fine, call the order."

Gazing one last time at Shadowheart through narrowed eyes, she turned and dashed off as the rogues began to disperse under Leaf's orders. Shadowheart stared after his sister, his wounds throbbing painfully. However, nothing hurt more than his own sister turning against her family. Growling, he unsheathed his claws and sunk them into the marshy ground. Next time they met, he would fight his sister like any other rogue. I can never forgive her for killing Blackflame, and leading the attack on our father's Clan!

When he turned his gaze back to the ReedClan camp, he saw it in disarray. The reed dens were torn to shred, and the nests were ripped up. Many cats were wounded, mostly ReedClan warriors. Icestar lay in the center of the clearing, his white fur stained red as he lay motionless. Fear throbbed through Shadowheart as he watched Littletail desperately try to heal his wounds. Oh StarClan...is he losing his last life?

Mudspeck had ran over to her father, her eyes wide with horror. After what felt like an eternity, Icestar's eyes opened and he lifted his head weakly. Giving a big sigh of relief, Shadowheart looked around for his father. Stonetail wasn't too far off, his fur matted with blood for multiple scratches. Upon seeing Shadowheart, he purred and ran towards him.

"Oh thank StarClan you're okay!" his father gasped, rubbing his muzzle with Shadowheart's.

Shadowheart purred and looked at his father. "Yeah, just a some scratches and a nasty bite. I was more worried about you!"

Stonetail's eyes shone with amusement, before they darkened again. "Cinder led the attack on our camp. Shadowheart...I didn't know what to do. I couldn't possibly fight my own daughter! But now, now that she has done this much destruction towards my Clan...do I have a choice?"

Eyes hardening, Shadowheart looked away. "I fought her. I tried to get her to see reason but she's chosen to be our enemy. She's no sister of mine, not after-" he quickly cut himself off, remembering that he had spared his father the knowledge of Cinder's participation in Blackflame's death.

"It's not right," his father mewed quietly, looking up to the sky. "Oh Silversky, what do I do?"

Pressing himself close to Stonetail in comfort, he looked around the camp. To his surprise, Blackstar had led a patrol of her own warriors to aid ReedClan. The PineClan leader's black fur was sleek and well kept, and she raised her head with grace as she approached Icestar.

"I...I must thank you, Blackstar," the old ReedClan leader rasped. His gaze flickered to the LeafClan cats. "LeafClan as well. I do not know how well my Clan would have fared had we fought them alone."

Blackstar dipped her head respectfully to the older Clan leader. "I mentioned it before, remember? The Clans must stand together to face this threat. Divided we fall, but united we can face any threat that comes to us."

Littletail gave a murmur of agreement. "StarClan has not spoken to me, but I believe this is what we must do as well."

"StarClan is not the one to make every decision for us," Blackstar told her. "If we just blindly put our faith in them to solve every one of our problems, we would not truly be warriors."

Icestar closed his eyes. "Wise words spoken for one so young. StarClan was right to choose you to succeed Lavenderstar."

Shadowheart stared at the black she-cat, studying her. For some reason he couldn't explain, the PineClan leader was oddly familiar; as if he knew her before he came to the Clans. Suddenly an image flew into his head. A black she-cat laying in the nest he shared with his mother and littermates, helping to keep them warm during leaf-bare; playing with them while their mother hunted. Was Blackstar the mysterious she-cat from his memory? Shadowheart must have been staring hard, as he found himself gazing into curious amber eyes.

"Shadowheart, was it?" she greeted, walking over to him.

Despite her small frame, Shadowheart felt intimidated under this fierce she-cat's gaze. "Y-Yeah..."

Stonetail dipped his head to Blackstar. "This is my son."

Surprise flashed through her eyes, and she looked at Stonetail. "Yet he lives in LeafClan?"

"Yes," Stonetail answered, unashamed. "But my son all the same. I...I had two sons, but recently one was killed by Hawk." His voice cracked a little at Blackflame's mention, and he looked away.

Blackstar lowered her head in respect. "I'm sorry to hear it, may StarClan light his path."

"Shadowheart!" Alderleaf called from the camp entrance.

Dipping his head respectfully to Blackstar, he quickly touched noses with his father. "I have to go."

Stonetail licked his head affectionately. "Stay safe."

Quickly meeting the rest of his Clanmates by the entrance, he began the trek back home. Limping from the pain in his shoulder, Shadowheart's mind buzzed with questions about Blackstar, and why she would be with his mother when he was a kit. There is so much I don't know about my own past, or my own mother for that matter!

Pushing away the thoughts for now, he focused on getting back to camp with one good leg. Once they emerged into camp, the patrol was instantly greeted by the Clan, wondering how the battle went. As Alderleaf relayed the news to his Clanmates, Shadowheart limped over towards the medicine cat den, where Pinefrost and Ravenfeather were waiting for the injured warriors.

"Oh my, that bite wound looks nasty!" Pinefrost commented, grabbing some herbs she had laying ready nearby. Shadowheart sat down as she began to lick his wound, wincing in pain. "Don't worry, it shouldn't get infected as long as you rest for a day or so."

Ravenfeather dropped some more herbs at Pinefrost's paws. "How did the battle go?"

"Icestar lost a life," Shadowheart replied, grimacing as Pinefrost trickled some herbs into his bite wound. "PineClan came to help too. Blackstar still believes that if the Clans work together, we can beat Hawk."

"Do you believe that?" Ravenfeather asked, curious.

Shadowheart looked at her. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Hawk has gotten more followers now. Besides that, it looks like Cinder and Leaf are in control of some of the attacks. They were the ones in charge of this raid."

At the mention of her brother's name, he felt Pinefrost stiffen. "...Leaf was there?"

Ravenfeather looked questionably up at her mentor, as Shadowheart gave a little nod. "He and Cinder seemed to be in charge of this attack."

Slowly going back to working on Shadowheart's wound, Pinefrost quietly murmured, "I see."

The three cats sat in silence after that. Shadowheart knew more than any cat how hard it was to have kin that were an enemy now. Pinefrost was no different. However, unlike Shadowheart, Pinefrost had been born a rogue and the only family she had were back in the gorge. Guilt bubbled in his chest as he realized he hadn't thought of how his friend must have been feeling with these attacks. My dad is in ReedClan, and I had a brother here in LeafClan. Pinefrost has no one since she left the gorge. No wonder she feels so tense after hearing her own brother organized an attack on us.

"Your wound should be good now," Pinefrost mewed after the tense silence. "Make sure to keep off of it for a few days."

Shadowheart stood up, dipping his head gratefully. "Thank you, Pinefrost."

Limping towards his nest, he was greeted by Firelight, who had been waiting nearby for him.

"Geez, that's one nasty wound," she commented, sniffing at his shoulder. Despite her nonchalant approach, Shadowheart could tell his friend was relieved to know he was okay.

"Yeah, thanks to Cinder," he muttered, going into the warriors' den, Firelight close behind.

"Cinder did that?" she blinked. "After what happened with Blackflame?"

Shadowheart laid down in his nest awkwardly. "Are you really surprised? She's completely under Hawk's spell now. The next time we meet, it will be a real fight."

Firelight laid beside him, and Shadowheart was grateful for her warmth. "I'm sorry, Shadowheart. I know it must be hard."

"I can't change fate," he murmured. "Cinder chose her path, and I chose mine. If I have to fight her to protect the cats I care about, that's what I'll do."

Intertwining her tail with his, she sighed. "I just wish you didn't have to."

"Yeah, I do too."

Laying his head down, Shadowheart felt himself begin to doze off. Memories of his kithood flooded his mind as he faded off. Memories that he had long forgotten of his time with Silversky; a time before life took he and his littermates down different paths. A time where life had been complete.