'And if the night is burning
I will cover my eyes
For if the dark returns
Then my brothers will die.'

'I See Fire' - Ed Sheeran

¢нαρтєя тєη: ѕραяк

"We've got to get out of here." Eaglestrike paced back and forth inside the prison den. His tail lashed like a whip every few heartbeats. All he could think about was Crimson returning soon and killing them all. The Clans last hope would be lost having not gotten further than the mountains.

"My idea still stands," Willowclaw muttered. "There are five of us and three of them. I don't see why we can't just tear them apart?"

Littleflame meowed in protest, "but killing them is wrong, even if they are a little brain dead. The Warrior Code forbids it."

Four heads turned to stare at her. She shrunk back a little at all the sudden attention she was receiving. "Do you really think the Warrior Code is going to save us?" Willowclaw snapped.

"I, uh, I d-didn't say that," she stammered.

"I think it's time we all faced the truth," Icepetal interrupted with a cold glare. "The Warrior Code no longer exists. It stopped existing when the Dark Forest took over all those seasons ago."

A sigh came from Eaglestrike's direction as he stopped pacing, head hung low. She speaks the truth, I suppose. How can the Warrior Code exist when everything that has happened since the Dark Forest took over has been against everything it said? Clan cats have been killing Crimson's soldiers for moons now without thinking about the shattered Code. "I still don't think it'd be smart to break out right now," he argued.

"Why not!?" Willowclaw shouted. Icepetal clouted him sharply on the back of the head.

"Keep your voice down! They might be brainwashed but that doesn't mean they aren't deaf! I agree with Eaglestrike. It'd be stupid for Crimson to leave only three soldiers to guard five cats, don't you think? Do you always rush so blindly into battle?" she hissed.

Rainpatch chuckled quietly. "It sounds like you all believe we have only two choices; dying here or dying there. I don't know about you guys but I'd rather not die today and if I do, I'd like to go down fighting not waiting for my death."

"So you think we should break out too?" Eaglestrike assumed.

The WaveClan tom inclined his head. Willowclaw smirked, puffing his chest out. "What's it going to be, leader?" he sneered. "Are we going to wait for our deaths or fight?"

It wasn't hard to miss the glint of a challenge in Willowclaw's eyes as he stared down his muzzle at the PhoenixClan tom. The two toms stared at each other, daring the other to break the contact and make a move. Heartbeats passed and the silence stretched on.

A soldier stuck its head into the den, probably confused by the sudden silence compared to the heated arguing occurring moments before. With the speed of a snake Willowclaw turned on the soldier, claws sinking into its shoulders, and dragged it into the den. The large tom threw the soldier to the ground, reared up and brought his paws crashing down on the soldier's skull. A sickening cracking sound filled the den as the soldier's skull cracked and caved in. Its head lolled to one side, yellow eyes dulled by death. Claws ripped through the sides of the den as the other two soldiers reacted to the murder.

"Why did you do that!?" Icepetal shrieked as she shot to her paws, shoving Littleflame roughly behind her. The small orange she-cat squeaked in surprise before falling into an obedient silence.

Willowclaw smirked at the enraged SnowClan she-cat, "had to get the party started somehow." He darted out of the den with a roaring battle cry tearing from his throat.

The Chosen left behind exchanged glances before they too made their way into the camp only to find that the fighting had ceased already. Two soldiers lay dead, large wounds gouged into their necks and stomachs. Willowclaw kicked at one with a sour expression on his face. Red stained his shoulder and he limped a little on it.

"Well," Icepetal looked around the dishevelled camp as if expecting an ambush, "perhaps Crimson really is that stupid." Then her eyes widened ever so slightly as a shadow flitted between two portions of sagging gorse. "Didn't Crimson mention four soldiers..?"

In the darkness of night where the shadows had taken on an eerie red glow from the low-hanging, large moon anything that moved stuck out. A shifting branch, darting mouse, flapping owl, enemies lurking in the dark, all were relatively easy to see in the red light of the moon.

"Did she?" Littleflame whimpered, "but there's only three bodies!"

A small section of crumbling gorse shifted, a shadow brushing past it. Twigs snapped under hidden paws. Fur bristled as the Chosen imagined dull yellow eyes watching them from places unseen, studying their every move, waiting to strike out at them, waiting to fight. Willowclaw winced as he put weight on his injured shoulder.

"Only three bodies means…" Rainpatch trailed off, anxiously flicking the tip of his tail from side to side.

Claws ripped into Littleflame's flank as the fourth and final soldier exploded from the shadows where none of the Chosen had thought to watch. She screeched loudly, whirling around to swipe clumsily at the soldier's muzzle. If it had emotions it might've been smirking at the horrible fighter it was facing. The soldier threw its forepaws around Littleflame's shoulders and tugged the small cat to the ground, claws and teeth tearing through her flesh.

As the CedarClan warrior cried out again, her blood spattering against the camp floor, the four Chosen finally kicked themselves into gear and launched themselves at the snarling soldier. A firm kick from Rainpatch's strong back-legs threw the dull pelted cat against the marshy ground where Eaglestrike and Willowclaw then pounced on it, striking their claws against its throat and stomach.

Within heartbeats the soldier was dead, bleeding scarlet blood from a tear in its throat and a gash in its stomach. Drops of the red liquid dripped from Littleflame's chest. She whimpered pathetically earning a scowl from Willowclaw. "Learn to fight, weakling," the bulky tom snarled.

"Hey!" Eaglestrike protested, "watch what you say!"

"She's going to end up getting herself or all of us killed with her shabby fighting!" Willowclaw snapped back.

"I'm going to teach her to fight."

Willowclaw snorted in disbelief, "you'll have your work cut out for you."

"Stop this incessant bickering!" Icepetal snapped, thrusting herself in between the arguing toms with a snap of her jaws. "Tornheart needs us to save the Clans. We need to get out of the valley before Crimson comes back and finds us missing. She told us to head to the mountains behind PhoenixClan territory," she looked Eaglestrike dead in the eye. "So take us there."

He firmly shook his head. "We're going to High Star Isle to see what Crimson wants with the Clans."

"You're kidding? Please tell me you're kidding!" Icepetal scoffed. When Eaglestrike said nothing and merely returned her gaze with a serious one of his own her face fell, "oh, you're not. Going to that island would be signing our own deaths! Crimson knows who we are! She knows we're the ones supposed to kill her! It's not safe going anywhere near that island!"

"Icepetal is right. Time i-is run-run-running out," Littleflame stammered quietly.

Willowclaw curled his lip at her, "you don't get a say in this, weakling. This is big cat talk."

"Didn't I tell you to watch how you spoke to her?" Eaglestrike growled.

"Enough!" Rainpatch thundered. The fur along his shoulders bristled as he glared at the others, his tail sweeping in fast lashes. "As the eldest one here I suppose it is my job to sort out these kit like arguments you all seem to enjoy having. We are the last remaining hope the Clans have, and here we are sitting in RogueClan's camp arguing over what we're going to do next. I admit that travelling to High Star Isle sounds like a dangerous plan but we need Tornheart. She's the only one who knows what we need to do."

A throaty growl echoed from Icepetal as she hissed icily at Rainpatch. Her eyes were a storm of mixed emotions the most clear being betrayal. The way she stared at Rainpatch with hurt in her eyes was enough to turn the older warrior's blood to ice. He didn't understand why she was taking his refusal to follow her so personally. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

"Fine," she spat, "we'll do it your way. But when we die, which we will, I'll be holding you accountable." Then she stomped out of camp and vanished into the red shadows beyond.

Rainpatch let out a shaky, uncertain breath, "she'll get over it soon enough." But he wasn't so sure that she would. "We should get moving."

As Eaglestrike brushed past Littleflame he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "the time for shaky peace has come to an end. If we have to kill a few mindless beasts to bring back full peace then so be it."

The others exchanged curious glances at the whispered words between two enemy Clan members but said nothing as they followed Rainpatch out of the dishevelled and bloody camp into the gloomy, muddy forest beyond.

-000-

Gushing water did little to soothe the fraying nerves of the Chosen as they stumbled across the stepping stones that protruded from the cold water. They were all cold, tired, hungry, weak and injured, wanting nothing more than to return to their Clans and sleep peacefully in a den of familiar faces. But instead they were sneaking onto High Star Isle not knowing what was waiting for them within.

Silence was not pleasant, Eaglestrike decided. He didn't like the way it had settled over the group upon their abrupt exit of RogueClan's ruined camp, gripping them in tight claws. It was as if the silence was stopping them from uttering a single word. There had been countless occasions when he had wanted to reassure Littleflame, snap at Willowclaw, hiss at Icepetal or converse with Rainpatch yet every time it was as if his tongue had frozen in his mouth, stopping him from starting a conversation.

The thick undergrowth surrounding the meeting place of the six Clans felt constricting to the PhoenixClan warrior. His paws were used to feeling soft sand under his paws, not damp leaf mould, just as his senses were not accustomed to the many sights, sounds and smells that came with an unruly forest. Even an unthreatening squawk from a sparrow as it hurried away from the approaching cats had been enough to ruffle his pelt considerably.

He'd hardly been away from home all that long but he missed it so very much. He missed the hot desert and the cool oasis; his fellow Clan mates and delicious desert hares. With a sigh and a hung head the tom tried to expel the thoughts of PhoenixClan far from his mind. Soon he'd return home to be hailed as a hero; the cat that killed Crimson and brought peace back to the Clans.

So why did he suddenly feel like the mission he was about to embark on was doomed to end long before it should?

The time to dwell on his darkening thoughts was brought to a shuddering stop when he bumped into the white hindquarters of Icepetal. His jaw opened to snap a sharp retort, but his ears picked up the familiar smooth voice of Crimson. They were near the clearing and so much closer to danger.

"We need to be extremely careful," he whispered loud enough for the others to hear. "Crimson no doubt has her soldiers lingering in the shadows."

"Because none of us had thought of that," Willowclaw replied sarcastically.

Eaglestrike sent him a livid look before shouldering gently past Icepetal to lead the group closer to the clearing. He wanted to hear why Crimson had decided to visit the Clans so suddenly. Was it because she knew of the Chosen? Had she come here to kill them? Unlikely, she would've just killed us earlier if she had.

A quick glance behind him only aroused more questions. Icepetal had been acting particularly strange during their short journey to the island. A mixture of sadness, anger and unsureness created a violent storm in her eyes. Eaglestrike quickened his pace; pitying whatever poor soul ended up on the receiving end of the SnowClan she-cat's claws.

Every Clan cat had gathered in the large clearing, and all their eyes were focused on the three she-cats standing in front of the disused High Star thrones. Jinx stood tall and proud, Crimson sneering with a curled lip and Tornheart merely looked unamused. "I had come here," Crimson shouted, "with a plan in mind to annihilate you all."

The blood in Eaglestrike's veins ran ice cold. They were too late. Crimson was going to destroy the Clans. A hastily thought up plan began to form in his mind. If he ran out now he'd catch Crimson and her soldiers off guard. That might just give him enough time to slit the demonic she-cat's throat before she could order the extermination of the Clans.

During his plan-making Eaglestrike nearly missed what Crimson said next. "But I decided against that particular idea in favour of making you all a deal." The tom heaved a quiet sigh of relief. There was still some time left. He didn't miss the similar sighs coming from the Chosen behind him. "You see, there is in fact a particular reason I decided to travel all the way here. I have heard rumours of a rebellion sparking, of five cats that have decided to embark out on some quest in order to destroy me in the hopes of bringing peace back to you all."

Silence once again settled over Eaglestrike, smothering him.

"So, I will make you all a deal. I know you all know who these five cats are and all I demand from you is to offer up their families and loved ones for me to speak with," Crimson flashed a toothy grin, "I can assure they will return albeit lacking a few limbs perhaps. However, if you do not except this deal then I will continue with my previous plan of destroying you all."

That's it. Crimson's won. I highly doubt the others will happily sit back and watch as their families are torn limb from limb. I know I certainly wouldn't. Eaglestrike couldn't help but feel downhearted. He'd tried so hard to keep the Chosen safe up until now, to keep them alive long enough to at least escape the valley. Apparently that was all about to go to waste.

A familiar voice rang out clearly as an orange she-cat stood firm, glaring up her muzzle at the three tyrannical she-cats. Littleflame stiffened beside him. "I think I speak for every Clan cat here when I say that we will not give up our own Clan mates for slaughter. You might think we are stupid but we are not. If you're here asking us to give up the families of those five questing cats then that means you have yet to find them. There is hope left for us as long as those five remain alive," Firestrike thundered boldly.

Crimson leaned over to whisper in Jinx's ear, keeping an eye on CedarClan's elected leader the entire time. The cream coloured rogue nodded once before slinking off into the shadows, a group of soldiers following her closely. "Wouldn't you like to know where your daughter is, Firestrike?" Crimson purred coldly. The orange deputy's jaw went slack with shock.

"So you don't know yet?" Crimson chuckled, "oh how delightful. The timid daughter of the great CedarClan deputy has run off to join some doomed rebellion! I have seen them, the five supposedly chosen to kill me. They are nothing but mice, stumbling through the dark pretending to be lions when they are not. Trust me when I say this, Firestrike, I will bring you back your daughter's head!"

"And if you do you will find yourself at war with CedarClan," Firestrike snarled back, turning her back on the black-furred leader in favour of returning to her smirking Clan.

Crimson's muzzle tweaked up into a sadistic smile. "I can see that my deal has been rejected. That will be your loss and not mine. Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be burned alive?" her question was aimed at all the Clans, "what it feels like to have your lungs slowly fill up with sickly black smoke until you can no longer breath?"

She lashed her tail once – a signal of sorts – and an orange glow sprung up behind her, joined by a horrifying crackling sound. Black smoke billowed into the sky as hungry tendrils of orange curled themselves up dry trunks.

The valley was burning.

And Crimson, along with Tornheart and her soldiers, had vanished.

AN: Long-time no update, aye? The Chosen'll get out of the valley eventually. Also, those that offered to do voice acting for Crimson Moon characters, could you mention who you were voicing in a review or PM? There are still positions open if anyone else is interested.

-нυηтєя