'Oh, I want to teach you a lesson
In the worst kind of way.'

'Just One Yesterday' - Fall Out Boy

¢нαρтєя ƒσυятєєη: тнє ƒιяѕт dєƒєαт

"Roll after you've landed a hit!"

It wasn't hard to miss the exasperation in Eaglestrike's voice as he repeated the same sentence for the fifth time to a sheepish looking Littleflame. The orange she-cat hung her head with a dejected sigh of defeat. She was trying, she really was, but fighting was something she found incredibly hard. Her personality wasn't a brutal one, she didn't find killing necessary, and after having witnessed the aftermath of fighting as a kit the idea of fighting had been cast far from her mind.

"Are you even listening?"

Littleflame flinched as the rusty coloured tom brushed past her. "I am! I'm trying, alright? You can't expect me to become some fighting master overnight," she mumbled, flattening her ears against her skull in discomfort.

"We've been at this for three days and you haven't improved one bit," Eaglestrike stated sharply. "There's no way I'm letting you anywhere near that mountain unless you can defend yourself to a level that will make sure you won't get slaughtered the moment we walk in."

"Who said we were going to the mountain?" Willowclaw cut in. He was watching their training session with a bored expression from the water's edge, trailing a paw gently through the cold water.

Eaglestirke bit back a growl, "if we're looking for Crimson the best place to start would be the mountain that she never comes down from."

"Ah, but we know personally that she does come down from that mountain. She burned down our homes, remember?" the tabby snarled.

"Can we not argue about this right now? I'm trying to train Littleflame. Go and find somebody else to irritate the fur off."

Willowclaw curled his lip but made no attempt to move from where he was sitting.

A sharp pain stung in Littleflame's shoulder and she snapped her neck to stare at Eaglestrike in surprise. Her wide eyes moved from the PhoenixClan tom to the shallow cut on her shoulder, widening even further at the sight of blood. "W-W-What was that f-for!?"

"Pay. Attention," he snapped before launching forwards in a sudden attack.

Fear rose up in Littleflame's stomach but she only had mere heartbeats to jump to her left, allow the tom to shoot past, rake her claws down his shoulder and then roll out of the way before he tripped her up and dealt a killing blow. It all seemed so simple in her mind but when it came to actually doing it she always messed it up. This time she managed to catch his shoulder with her sheathed paw but didn't roll away quick enough, finding herself pressed hard against the ground. A low growl rumbled in her ear as Eaglestrike stepped off of her.

"If you can't fight you might as well go home," he hissed through gritted teeth. "We won't always be around to save your tail."

"I can look after myself!" Littleflame protested.

"No!" Eaglestrike shouted, "you can't! Crimson's soldiers won't give mercy. They will attack you and they will kill you and I will be responsible for your death."

She felt her skin burn under her pelt at the stinging truth in his words. Sure she couldn't fight very well but she was good enough to have been made a warrior. Most of it was just instinct brought on in the middle of a battle, improvisation whenever a move was made against her. "I'm trying as hard as I can," she murmured.

"If this is your hardest then you might as well go home."

Fierce rage, akin to that she felt when finding out her brother was dead, set fire to her muscles and poured hatred into her veins. For a brief second she struggled with an inner turmoil as some hidden part of her clutched at the hatred, filling her mind with a dark chuckle. But she was not strong enough to keep herself from losing control and slipped away as her body found itself under the influence of someone else.

"Sometimes you have to do everything yourself."

She found that she could still see through her eyes, though she couldn't move them. She could still hear everything around her and smell the scents that the wind brought. But her limbs would not answer to her. Not even her emotions were her own.

"And now is one of those times."

Claws unsheathed themselves and scratched at the pebbly ground. A snarl tore from her throat, catching the attention of the two toms still watching her. Eaglestrike turned his head to stare at the she-cat over his shoulder and flinched when he met her eyes that were full of hatred and of bloodlust. He was in no way prepared when she struck, claws lancing across his chest to create lines of red blood and fangs sinking into his shoulder to tear at the skin. His yowl reached Littleflame, locked out from her own body, and she cried out silently to stop hurting him.

"Why would I stop now when I'm only just starting to get the reaction I want?"

He tumbled backwards under her sudden weight, crashing to the shoreline with wide eyes, unsure as to how he should be reacting. Whoever was using Littleflame's body took advantage of this, ripping claws through his soft pelt until red replaced the rusty colour of his fur.

"Fight back, you fool!" Heavy footfalls alerted the intruder to Willowclaw's intrusion into the fight and it grinned madly, abandoning Eagleflight's shocked body in favour of launching itself at the tabby tom. He avoided the first couple of its surprisingly strong attacks, managing to get in a few hits of his own, before it snaked its forelegs around his neck and threw him to the ground.

"You got away from me once; I won't let it happen again." The voice that came from Littleflame's lips was not her own, the toms were sure of that. It was hoarse, patchy and dripping with malice.

Eaglestrike – after having gotten over his shock – barrelled into Littleflame's side no longer caring that he might hurt her. It might be her body but it's certainly not her, he kept telling himself as he rolled under a kick from her hindlegs and retaliated with a bite to her haunches. Willowclaw shot under her belly dragging his claws through the soft fur. Blood gushed from the wounds but no sound of pain came from Littleflame, or at least no sound the toms could hear. Locked away within her own body the real Litteflame could only scream silently as the pain tore away at her.

The intruder reared up and brought her forelegs down on Willowclaw's flank as he tried to scrabble out from under her. A sharp crunch sounded as the tabby tom bit back a howl of pain, instead using the pain as a weapon against her, kicking up at her head to catch the side of her jaw. Her head snapped to one side inducing another silent scream of pain from the real Littleflame. She could only watch through her eyes as her claws ripped across Eaglestrike's face and her fangs tore into Willowclaw's ear.

He used his strength to knock Littleflame to the ground and pin her there, flanks heaving with the effort it took to keep the small she-cat from escaping. However he failed to keep her claws from gouging his chest open and instead settled for biting at her face. In the heat of the battle he forgot what he was fighting, forgot that the body still belonged to Littleflame, and his claws painted red across her throat. Silent screams

"No!" Sharp claws snagged into Willowclaw's shoulders and hauled him off Littleflame's bloody body, shoving him hard against the ground.

"The body doesn't belong to me. I was merely borrowing it. Killing me was just killing her," whoever possessed her body laughed before Littleflame took in a heaving breath.

"What were you doing!?" Icepetal screeched at Willowclaw as she glanced rapidly between the three bloody warriors. "Why were you fighting each other!?"

"It wasn't her! Something possessed her body! It attacked Eaglestrike!" Willowclaw protested.

Rainpatch nudged Eaglestrike with his paw, "was it necessary to go for the throat?"

A harsh gasping sound came from between Littleflame's lips as her entire body heaved. The harsh gasp turned into a thin shriek of pain as her eyes snapped open to reveal watery green orbs brimming with hurt. "E-E-Eaglestrike," her voice was near silent as blood bubbled up between her lips.

The PhoenixClan practically fell to his knees beside Littleflame's head. "What? You're going to be fine, we're going to find something to fix you with I promise!"

"I-I tried t-to fight," she whispered before her eyes rolled back into her head and her breathing became dangerously shallow.

Silence fell on the Chosen as they stared at their fallen member uncertain of what to do or how to save her. Willowclaw shook his head in denial. "I didn't mean, I didn't know. She's not going to die, is she?" he demanded.

"You tore her throat open. For all we know she could be dying as we speak," Icepetal spat bluntly.

"She was trying to kill us!" Willowclaw retorted hoarsely.

"You said she was possessed," Rainpatch cut in, "how'd you know that?"

Willowclaw rubbed his nose with one paw. "She – it – spoke and it wasn't Littleflame. Not at all."

"Stop arguing about this!" Eaglestrike shouted. "Who cares whether she was possessed or not!? She needs to be saved! If I have to carry her back to the Clans on my back I will but she doesn't deserve to die like this and Willowclaw doesn't deserve to be responsible for her death."

"There's no need to take her back to the Clans," a soft voice interrupted.

The Chosen turned away from Littleflame's barely moving body, surprised to hear the familiar voice they thought wouldn't return so soon. "Tornheart?"

-000-

Dull pain roused her from a strangely peaceful sleep in which her normal horrifying, dark, twisted dreams had not interrupted. The peaceful sleep had come over her shortly after Frozengaze and Crimson had dropped her bloody, broken body to the ground. Darkness had been her ally for once, coming to steal her from the burning pain. Shame had replaced the numbness of her mind heartbeats before she slipped away, shame caused by the knowledge that she'd spilt all of her plans to the two out of three cats she'd wanted to keep them from.

But even her body had its limits. There was only so much pain she could take before she was prepared to give up everything to make it stop. Frozengaze had exploited that limit after Crimson had carved her newest 'mark' in Tornheart's forehead. An 'X' to represent the traitors. An 'X' to represent those she found guilty of conspiring to kill her. An 'X' to represent the ones she planned to kill before everyone.

She didn't care that she'd been marked; she'd figured she'd die whilst acting out her part to play in the fate of the world. It wouldn't be a heroic death either. The Clans still hated her guts, blaming her for bringing Crimson into their world when in reality she was just as much of a victim as they were even more so now.

Her body ached as the pain from all her wounds increased as her nerves returned to life. She groaned quietly when she tried to move, wincing at the pain it caused. She'd never felt this hopeless before in all her life, never felt as if she'd failed so much. The world might've just been doomed by her careless actions. The Chosen would most likely be caught and killed. The sun would set forever and the world plunged into chaos.

"So you are alive."

Crimson.

Her entire body gave one big shudder as memories of her torture came rushing back. The words uttered by Crimson before her torture begun had cut deeper than any of the wounds they inflicted upon her.

"When I convinced you to take that Blood-Oath I promised to make you the one thing you wanted most, to be beautiful, and you promised to give me your undying loyalty. You took that away in one simple move and so I will do the same to your beauty." And then the torture had begun.

"Would you rather I be dead?" Tornheart hissed hoarsely.

Crimson kicked her in the side, "I'd rather you still be under my mind control and not planning my downfall but there are things even I cannot have. Your loyalty is apparently one of them."

"You never had my true loyalty," Tornheart groaned as her flank throbbed.

"I can see that now," she snarled before her eyes filled with pain. "Did you plan on killing me whilst I still had my k-kits in my womb? Were you really planning something that cruel?"

Tornheart's eyes widened, "that cruel!? How many mothers have you killed, Crimson? How many innocent families have you slaughtered mercilessly just because they got in your way? Don't you dare talk to me about being cruel!"

"I would have let you live! I would have let you earn my forgiveness and be welcomed back as one of my closest allies! But you threatened the lives of my unborn heirs! That is unforgiveable! And the only way to keep my heirs safe is to eliminate any threats. You just happen to be one of those threats," Crimson spat.

"So you and Frozengaze spent all that time mutilating me to just kill me afterwards? Sounds like a waste of time," Tornheart murmured coldly.

Crimson laughed darkly, stalking closer to the bloody bush that had been hollowed out just to keep the newest traitor from escaping. Not that she could go very far with her newest injuries. "Get up, traitor." When Tornheart didn't move Crimson grabbed her roughly by the scruff and hauled her to her paws, ignoring the sharp cries of pain she emitted.

The black-furred she-cat hauled Tornheart from the den, throwing her practically into a small creek that dribbled through a tiny ditch. She hissed at the pain the water caused to her wounds, blinking when she saw blood in the water around her. "Look at yourself now, Tornheart."

Cautious green eyes met cold red ones before the eye contact was broken as Tornheart glanced down at the bloody water she was standing in. With a swish of her paw she pushed the blood downstream and stared at her watery reflection. Her body froze up at the sight. The face she had taken for granted for so long, the one she had only just started to feel content with, was mutilated beyond recognition. Her muzzle was a mess of flayed skin, her cheeks crossed with claw marks, her forehead tainted by Crimson's 'X', her eyes…she was surprised she could still see out of her right one and her ears were just tattered strings of flesh.

She was…ugly.

I'm ugly.

The revelation cut deeper than it should have. But it was all Tornheart had ever really wanted. It had been the reason she'd gotten in so deep with Crimson, because the demonic she-cat had promised her beauty. Now it had been all taken away.

"Do you see what happens when you betray me?" Crimson's voice was soft as she stepped into the shallow creek. "Do you see the consequences of your actions?"

"You took everything from me. You made me kill my own mother. My sister and father died in the same battle. My Clan turned against me. My friends hate me. And now you've taken the one thing I gave all that up for."

Tornheart looked up to see sorrow in Crimson's eyes. "I didn't want him to do this to you. But he said it was the only way to make you see."

"You mean Frozengaze did this to me?"

Crimson nodded.

"What do you mean make me see? I'm surprised I can see anything out of my right eye at the moment!" she cried.

"To make you see that our side will always win. We might not win the war. We might lose the world, but we will always remain in the memories and the scars left behind." Crimson touched her forepaw to Tornheart's chest, over her heart. "And in here."

The ex-Clan cat blinked as she stared down her muzzle at the paw place against her chest. "You said you didn't want him to do this to me."

Crimson gave one stiff nod. "I've learnt much from this world and I plan on learning much more before I have to leave it but I have had few to share my discoveries with. But you…you have always been by my side. Even when I beat you down, hurt those you loved, took over your mind, you were always there. I could see it in your eyes whenever you looked at me, a shred of your old self shining through to let me know that I wasn't alone. Even when I discovered your betrayal I still hoped that you'd come back to me after having realised that your plan would inevitably fail."

"You really thought that much of me?" Tornheart breathed. All this time she'd been under the impression that Crimson had just been using her for power. That Crimson couldn't feel any emotions, that she was just a demonic she-cat making a mad grab for power. But she was so far from right it wasn't even slightly amusing. Crimson hadn't only just been using her for power. She could feel emotions and she was more than just a demonic she-cat making a mad grab for power.

"I always will. I'm giving you the chance, Tornheart," Crimson pressed. "Forget your mad idea of saving this world. Come back to me; come back to the side that will always win. Please."

The streams of magic were returning to Tornheart. She could feel it thrumming in her veins, snapping out whenever she flexed a muscle. It was a comforting feeling. She met Crimson's expectant gaze and flinched. Her ties to Crimson were growing stronger with each passing moment, they were growing potently strong.

She swallowed unsurely and pressed her nose into the soft fur around Crimson's neck. The black-furred she-cat stiffened in surprise before she relaxed. When Tornheart pulled away they were so many emotions clashing in Crimson's eyes. "Does this mean you're going to stay?"

The feeling of her magic being pooled together for one use was pleasant. It filled her with warmth, lit up her green eyes so they glowed. She saw the horror in Crimson's eyes as the she-cat realised the power Tornheart now commanded. "No. I'm saying goodbye."

"No! Don't!"

But the cry was lost to Tornheart's ears as she commanded her magic to take her away, to return her to the five warriors picked to save the world. They needed her help. She could feel it in her marrow. Something had gone horribly wrong. They were confused, filled with grief and loss. She had to get to them. She had to help them finish their destiny. She had to…she had to kill Crimson.

She didn't feel the tears until her paws touched ash-covered grass.

The shouts of the Chosen reached her ears through the trees that stood before her. She had been right. Something had gone wrong; she could smell the blood on the air.

Her paws carried her quickly through the shadows but stopped abruptly right before they ended, eyes focused on the huddled group standing over a fallen body. What will they think of my mutilated looks…? She knew it was a selfish thought, but it was a fear nonetheless.

They need you.

A paw step brought her out of the shadows and into the pale light. The roaring of the waterfall was loud in her ears but all her sense were focused on the bloody scene before her eyes. Littleflame wasn't moving. Eagleflight and Willowclaw were in shock. Icepetal and Rainpatch were trying to piece together what happened. There was blood everywhere.

"Stop arguing about this! Who cares whether she was possessed or not!? She needs to be saved! If I have to carry her back to the Clans on my back I will but she doesn't deserve to die like this and Willowclaw doesn't deserve to be responsible for her death."

"There's no need to take her back to the Clans," she called.

They turned to face her with surprise written across their faces. "Tornheart?" Icepetal sputtered.

"She will survive. I have enough magic to heal her."

Their eyes were burning holes in her head as she walked towards them. No matter how low she hung her head she knew they could see the injuries on her face, her shattered beauty cleared for all to see.

"Are you okay?" Icepetal breathed as Tornheart crouched down beside Littleflame's barely moving body.

"I'm fine," she replied evenly. Her eyes slid closed as she focused on letting her magic flow from her to Littleflame, imagining the wounds on the small she-cat closing up, the blood reflowing through her veins, the shallow breathing becoming normal.

It was a tiring process that sapped most of Tornheart's strength, used up all the magic she had been storing since waking up. But it was a process that needed to be done. Littleflame's life was far more important than her own.

Littleflame's breathing evened out as her wounds closed. She was going to survive.

"What happened, Tornheart?" came Eaglestrike's strong voice. It appeared he had gotten over his shock.

"Crimson discovered that I'd been deceiving her," Tornheart flinched, "she knows everything we had planned so far, which isn't really much but it's enough."

"How did she find out!?" the PhoenixClan tom exclaimed.

Tornheart snapped her neck up to look straight into his face, letting all of them see her still bleeding wounds, her mangled face. "How do you think!?"

"Oh no…" Icepetal breathed.

"Stop pitying me! I don't need your sympathy. We are at war. Cats get injured and die during wars, get used to it, it's bound to happen before you even reach the mountain," Tornheart snapped. "You need to go, all of you. Get as far from here as possible. Crimson can trace the magic I left when I transported here from where she was. She'll be here any moment now."

Rainpatch stared Tornheart straight in the eyes, "you won't be coming with us, will you?"

"This is no longer my journey. It's yours now. Look after each other as if you were a family because you've only got each other from here on out. Don't look back," Tornheart explained without even a hint of regret. "And don't forget the keys. Crimson hid four keys throughout the lands near her mountain that open the entrance to her kingdom, if you're not with her or don't have the keys then you won't be getting in. Now go!"

The Chosen wasted no time hauling Littleflame onto Eagleflight's back, vanishing quickly into the forest shadowed by Crimson's towering mountain.

Tornheart watched them with sad eyes knowing that the next few moons would be harder than anything they had ever faced before. And she wouldn't be around to see it.

Just as expected she felt the shift in the air as Crimson teleported into the area with all the cats she had brought with her. Tornheart swallowed, preparing herself for whatever came after life. She'd become the new Guardian and watch over the world she had failed to remain in for very long.

A small part of her hoped that Crimson would simply throw her in some cold, dark cave for the rest of her days. It would give her slight chance of escape at least. But she was prepared. There was nothing she regretted, nothing she felt she needed to apologise for. The Clans might hate her but that was only a minor misfortune. Still the hope of surviving burned on.

"Tornheart!"

But the angry shriek that shattered the silence tore that hope to pieces as Crimson leaped out from the trees, her small squadron following closely. The look of betrayal that shone in Crimson's eyes caused a sharp pain in Tornheart's cracked heart.

"I gave you a chance!" Crimson screeched. "I trusted you enough to speak my mind to you and you used me to escape!" She closed the space between the two with rapid steps thrusting her muzzle within inches of Tornheart's. "They were here weren't they? Those darn Chosen, you helped them get away!"

"I was never and will never be loyal to you," Tornheart hissed coldly.

Crimson knocked Tornheart to the ground with a strike to the face. "I can see that now. I will not be making the same mistake again, I assure you of that."

The scream of defeat rang clear in the late afternoon air.