'Don't fret precious I am here
Step away from the window
Go back to sleep.'

'Counting Bodies Like Sheep' - A Perfect Circle

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Nocture slid under Icepetal's stomach, dragging her down to the ground behind him. His nasty claws, sharpened to vicious points, left trails of red behind. They blurred together, turning her underbelly scarlet. She winced and fumbled in the mud, desperately trying to find her footing before Nocture could apply anymore damage. Her lungs were burning, her body exhausted. The bone soldiers fought with everything they had, and they had a lot. It was almost like they didn't feel exhaustion, every time they went down they got straight back up, it was ridiculous and starting to get on Icepetal's nerves.

She'd given nearly as much as she'd taken, Nocture's sides streaked with blood and gore. A red eye dangled from its socket, and a long crack ran down the tom's bone face. Still he grinned at her, wriggling through the mud to bring a paw crashing down on her head. She surged up and slipped down, the paw splashing to the ground just beside her. Panting she rolled to the left, lashing out with her forepaws, catching the soldier on the throat deep enough to rip skin but not deep enough to kill him. Her roll deposited her over Shadari's corpse that had changed to resemble a dark tabby.

Icepetal couldn't quite remember how, but she'd killed the original bone soldier, somehow. The first few moments of their fight had been quick, brutal, a whirlwind of pain. He struck like lightning with the strength of thunder, driving into her, battering her down. Nocture hadn't even joined in, just sat back and laughed, laughed, as Icepetal struggled to even fight back. But then the ground under their paws had moved again. Shadari had fallen, and Icepetal saw her chance. Nothing had ever felt as satisfying as drawing her claws across his throat, hearing his death rattle, seeing the light die from his eyes.

She hadn't had even a heartbeat to check on Arrow, she had no idea if he was even still alive. He had to be, Icepetal didn't want to be the one to have to tell Tornheart that the tom was dead. She could deal without that sort of emotional trauma. Nocture crashed down on top of her with a throaty growl, locking her shoulder against the ground, forcing her muzzle into the mud. She bucked the tom off balance and kicked out her hind-legs, connecting with his chin. He hit the ground with a thud, curling inwards, the air rushing out of his lungs in a single rush.

They didn't talk much, Icepetal had worked out. She'd fought many soldiers that couldn't keep their traps shut, leering and mocking the entire time. It was a pleasant difference just to be able to concentrate on moving, on striking, on killing, rather than having to listen to some idiot go on and on about the revenge he was going to have. She struggled to her paws, swaying a little, a hiss threading from her throat. This fight needed to end, and it needed to end now. Any longer and there was a high possibility that she would mess up and die. Icepetal was not going to die today; she had a Clan to return home to.

Nocture's blood was warm flooding into her mouth. She felt his shoulder blade crack under the pressure of her teeth, heard the pained groan that racked his body. Maybe she could win this, could take down two of Crimson's bone soldiers. What a story she'd have to share with Willowclaw, one of surviving the city, and the battle against an army, of the exhausting fight with the bone soldiers that had her thinking that maybe just maybe this was the end.

The body beneath her teeth vanished, and then her legs were yanked out from under her. She was deposited on her back, spine colliding with a rock – or a bone. It hurt. Nocture's stupid face stared down at her. There was so much blood coating his skull, so much fur and skin missing on his body, so much wrong with this...thing standing over her. But he was standing over her, a paw pressing down on her chest, his heavier weight keeping her from escaping, teeth tracking towards her throat. She swallowed, waited. Sorry, Willowclaw.

"Oh, I don't think so." Nocture's weight vanished, a sickening squelch sounding above her. "She's not dying under your paws."

Icepetal released the breath she'd been holding and opened her eyes. "How the heck did you manage to survive and save me?" she laughed hoarsely.

"You weren't the only cat to be trained how to fight," Arrow grinned, flopping down on the ground beside her. He rolled onto his back, "the she-cat fell and cracked her head open. Lucky win for me."

"Lucky indeed. I thought he had me then," Icepetal shuddered.

"Can we just sleep for a little while? I don't think I can do much more fighting," he yawned.

She swiped a paw over her face, wiping away the blood. "I wish, but we still haven't found Frozengaze, and that's kinda what we planned to do."

"We're going to die if we fight him," Arrow mumbled. "We aren't strong enough to beat him, not after all this. Are you really ready to give your life up just to give Tornheart a chance?"

Icepetal closed her eyes, fighting the overwhelming sense of dread trying to settle over her. "Someone once asked me the same thing, if I was willing to give up my life to save the world, and I said no. I was selfish, I didn't want to die for the Clan that exiled me, and I wanted to have a family and grow old, die as an elder. But I'm ready now. If dying means my siblings get to have the life I want, then it's worth it. If dying means my Clan gets to live on for seasons to come, then it's worth it. If dying means Tornheart gets to finally live a life of peace, then it's worth it. I am ready to die to save the world. Are you?"

"I've been ready to die for Tornheart ever since I met her."

Something reached Icepetal's ears over the whipping of the wind and the hissing of the rain, paw-steps thumping against the ground, growls and snarls of anger. They couldn't handle another fight now, not if they were going up against Frozengaze soon. "Get down as low as possible, dig into the mud a little, we need to hide," she hissed.

Arrow's fur blended nearly seamlessly with the mud, he was practically drenched in it. She supposed she must look similar. They flattened themselves against the ground and waited, listening to the thudding paw-steps as they grew nearer. A body hit the ground a few fox-leaps in front of them, spitting blood from its mouth. Icepetal went rigid. She'd recognise that huge cat anywhere.

"Did you break your neck, Frozengaze?" Shatteredlight prowled around him tail lashing. She was practically drenched in gore, only a few patches of white fur showing through. Her sides rose and fell quickly but she looked to be enjoying herself, muzzle tweaked up in a slight smile. "I'd rather do it with my own paws."

"No chance, Shatteredlight," he rumbled. "I'm not going to be the one dying here." They leapt at each other, her a little higher than him. The height gave Shatteredlight an advantage, access to the top of his head. She ripped her claws across it, peeling flesh away as they came crashing back down to the ground. He rolled her onto her side but she was ready, nipping at his exposed throat.

"Is this going to end like our last fight?"

Frozengaze wrestled out from her grip, snapping at the backs of her hind-legs. "How did our last fight end? We've had so many I simply can't remember."

"You ran away with your tail between your legs," Shatteredlight sneered and pounced on his back, gripping his head with her forepaws and kicking at his hind-legs. He went down, her pressing down on top of him, thudding into the ground solidly. She decorated his back with red lines and puncture wounds, carving into his flesh.

"Odd," he knocked her off with a sharp cuff to the side of the head; "I remember it differently. You were the one that ran off." They circled each other, waiting for the ideal moment. When Shatteredlight lost her footing Frozengaze struck with a kick that sent the she-cat tumbling. "Where is she?" he demanded loud enough for Arrow and Icepetal to hear.

Shatteredlight tried to escape but cried out when her foreleg gave way. It was bent at an extreme angle: broken. Rolling she lashed out at his face aiming for his eyes but he was prepared, snapping his jaws shut so tightly around one paw that the bones in it cracked. He pressed a paw against her throat. "Where's who?" she choked out, scrabbling at his underbelly with her hind-paws.

"Where's Icepetal?"

A sharp gust of breath left Icepetal's open mouth. He was looking for her.

"Where is she!?" he demanded, pressing down harder.

Shatteredlight squirmed frantically, wrenching her head from side to side, but nothing was loosening the tom's firm grip. "Fancy her, do you?" she coughed. "Why would I know where she is? She could be anywhere. Find her yourself."

"To think our rivalry would end so quickly in the final battle," Frozengaze frowned, obviously disappointed with her answer.

She laughed hoarsely, "so quickly? We've been fighting since the battle started. Or isn't that long enough for you? If you let me up I'm sure we can continue for much longer."

"I don't think so. There are more important things I need to do," he hissed and unsheathed his claws, digging them into her throat. "Now how am I going to kill you?"

Icepetal couldn't just lie there and watch someone she looked up to be murdered. Maybe he'd let her go if she showed herself. "Stop!" she demanded, rising from her hiding spot much to the shock horror of Arrow.

"No," she only just managed to hear Shatteredlight's whisper, but she certainly heard what the ex-Clan cat screamed next, "run! Get out of here! You can't beat him!"

"Shut up," Frozengaze ordered and slammed his paws down on her throat, plunging his claws into her flesh. A tide of blood surged up from Shatteredlight's slack jaw. She struggled weakly, trying to dispel the claws from her throat, until she fell limp in the mud. Icepetal's jaw went slack. "I've been looking for you," the tom purred.

"So I heard," Icepetal's mouth was dry. She just stared at Shatteredlight's dead eyes not really believing what she'd seen. If Shatteredlight hadn't been able to beat him, if RisingClan's prodigy had fallen under his claws, then she didn't stand a chance, even with Arrow behind her. "Why?"

He grinned, stepping over Shatteredlight's body. "You interest me, Icepetal. You've managed to capture my attention. That little display you put on in the forest that day was certainly interesting, there are few that can say no to me. Yet you did. I always get what I want."

"What does that have to do with me?" she curled her lip.

"I want you, Icepetal." When he darted forwards in an attempt to catch her off guard she slipped to the right, hooking a forepaw around his hind-leg and tossing him to the ground. He was heavy and much bigger than her, but perhaps that would give her an advantage. Shatteredlight had been a similar size to him; maybe not build wise, but length wise. They'd both been long cats.

She sunk her teeth into his flank, ripping a chunk of the thin, weak, flesh away. There was a slight chance that she could do this. If he felt something for her, the idea disgusted her, then maybe he might go a little easier, afraid he might kill her. It was a fragile hope, but a hope nonetheless. The sounds of fighting from behind her told her that Arrow was preoccupied. She was facing Frozengaze alone.

"What do you say?" he moved in a flash, pressing her into the ground, leaning over to murmur in her ear, "would you like to rule the world by my side? Be my queen?"

His lapse in defence gave her the chance to toss her head back, slamming into his muzzle. "Sorry," she snarled, flaying the skin near his eyes, "I belong to another."

They fell into each other, claws flashing in the light of Tornheart's fire, one not quite sure whether to fight to kill or fight to maim. The other knew exactly what she was fighting for, and she wouldn't stop until she'd acquired it. She'd avenge Shatteredlight; make sure Frozengaze was slit open from top to tail, even if it meant her own death. She'd make sure Tornheart was given enough time to take down Crimson. Rainpatch or Eaglestrike could kill Crimson; they didn't need her for that.

She slipped between his paws, darting out of reach, gasping down gulps of air. It carried the taste of death. She swallowed and looked at the tom watching her carefully. The way his gaze settled over her was unnerving. It didn't feel the same way it did when Willowclaw watched her. Her lip curled, a growl vibrating in her throat. "Giving up so soon?" he mocked.

He was baiting her, Icepetal knew that, but she allowed herself to take the bait for once, leaping forwards to meet him headfirst. Yet when they were just about to collide she dropped, diving under his belly. The mud made it easier to roll onto her back and dig her claws into the soft skin of his underbelly; red splattered against her face. She felt him twist overhead expecting her to pop out the other side. Grinning victoriously she began to back out the way she'd come, only to have all of Frozengaze's weight – there was a lot of it – drop down on top of her, crushing everything in her body.

Air gushed out of her lungs in a loud oof. How she was going to get out from under him before she passed out she had no idea. He was everywhere, flooding her senses, an overwhelming, stifling presence. The burn in her lungs snuck up on her, slowly at first, an annoying sensation, like an itch behind an ear. It grew, spread, and intensified, choking her. She reached for the tiny speck of light, pitifully stretching and reaching. A fuzzy darkness settled on the fringes of her vision. Her cries were muffled. I'm sorry, Willowclaw, I'm so sorry. I won't be coming home.

"Don't do it. Don't give up."

Littleflame?

"He's waiting for you."

"No!" there was power, so much power, pooling in her veins. "I will not die here! Willowclaw is waiting for me."

Frozengaze landed with a thud, glassy-eyed and in awe. His jaw was slack, "how? Why? Why are you...glowing!?"

"Because I am a Chosen! I have more important that you will ever be, and I am not going to die here today. Crimson will fall under my claws, that is my destiny!" Icepetal roared. Glowing, that was a new one. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. All that mattered was the cowering cat simply begging for death in front of her. "You are nothing, Frozengaze."

"You're beautiful," he breathed, then shrieked when her paws thudded down beside his head. His face twisted into something that could have been pain, or even loss. "This feeling, what is it?"

"Defeat," she whispered and struck. When she withdrew, lapping the blood from her muzzle, Frozengaze was dead.

'Count the bodies like sheep
to the rhythm of the
ωαя
drums.'