Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or its characters, only the ones I create.

Sandstorm felt her entire body being covered in ice. Her stomach dropped as she took in the sight before her and her mind screamed at her to take action.
'Move. Move! Move!' a voice inside her repeated over and over again. When she finally recovered from the shock and she had complete control over her body,
she moved to help her mate. But just as she was about to tackle Shadow and send her flying head first into the mud, a silver blur shot past her.

Sandstorm ran over to Firestar and inspected him anxiously as he stood back up on shaking legs. His bright ginger fur was matted with mud and dried blood, he had a gash on his shoulder blade, and one of his green eyes was slightly swollen. But no life threatening injuries, so she let herself relax a little.

Firestar lightly shrugged off her insistent nudging and prodding at his wounds and smiled at the cat in front of him.

"I'm fine Sandstorm. Honest."

She nodded and looked up at him, a stirring beginning in her chest as emerald eyes locked with each other and she realized she was finally with him again after so long. For a brief moment, she was able to drown out their chaotic surroundings of battling cats and rain beginning to drizzle on the ground, her focus solely on him.

But of course, her moment of euphoria was cut short as she heard a yowl of pain. Shadow had kicked Rain off her and sent the younger cat barreling into a tree.

"You traitor!" Shadow yelled as she cornered Rain. "I took you in. I trained you. I raised you. And how do you thank me? By betraying me and joining sides with the enemy!"

Rain narrowed her blue eyes. Shadow almost sounded hurt, almost sounded like she cared. Almost. "Raised me? You took advantage of me. You used me to get others to follow you. I just wanted to have your approval, but I was just your pawn that you used to hurt others. Members of your Clan that you should have been taking care of.
Being a strong leader means that you take care of your own and protect them. I get that now, and that's what I'm trying to do. This will just lead to destruction of the forest Clans and BloodClan. I get that now, but you? You're just selfish."

Rain's throat felt tight, but she continued, "I thought you were actually wanting to help others.I left my Clan because I didn't really fit in. I loved them, but I wasn't really fit for their life. I thought you actually understood me. Understood that I just wanted peace with everyone, no fighting among our own kind. But I was wrong because here I am, fighting the very one who raised me. But I can't let you do this."

Shadow flattened her ears and snarled, "You won't stop me. You want to be a traitor, fine. I'll give you the proper treatment for someone who betrays me."

The tortoiseshell she-cat lunged at Rain, pinning her up against the trunk of the tree by her shoulders. The light gray cat cringed as the rough bark dug into her back her teeth clenching back a cry of pain. She looked up at Shadow, but before she could push her off, the older cat raised her paw with malice in her eyes. She hissed and swiped for Rain's throat.

She didn't miss.

"Rain!" Sandstorm screamed as she saw Shadow remove her bloodied claws and let her sister's limp body fall to the ground, the mud around her beginning to darken.

The pale ginger she-cat felt and overwhelmingly tight feeling constrict over her heart and she fought to catch her breath. She had failed. She had promised to take care of her sister, to protect her, and in the end Rain still ended up being hurt. And it was all her fault.

The she-cat tore her eyes away from the form on the ground and glared at the cat standing in front of her. That-

"Murderer!" Sandstorm growled as she charged forward before Firestar could stop her. Her sadness and guilt had been replaced by anger and fury. The pale she-cat narrowed her eyes, trying her best to see past the red clouding the corners of her vision and focus on the target in front of her.

Sandstorm fell heavily on Shadow, crushing the BloodClan leader into the ground. Sandstorm angrily unsheathed her claws and they dug into Shadow's shoulders. She didn't even feel like herself; she felt like she was in a daze and something else was controlling her actions.

A swift kick to the stomach broke Sandstorm out of her trance and sent her falling backwards. She managed to roll out of the way just as Shadow's paws stomped towards her head. She recovered quickly and shot up to her paws, taking a low crouching position.

She saw Firestar come over out of her peripherals and turned to him.

"Stay out of this Firestar," she warned her mate.

"But Sandstorm-"

"I said stay out of it," Sandstorm said in a tone she never would have used towards him before. "This is personal. She killed my sister; wouldn't you feel the same way if it had been yours?"

She saw him open his mouth to argue but then he quickly shut it. He glanced between her and Shadow, worry etched on his face, but took a step back.

"So, you're taking me one on one, huh? This should be interesting."

Sandstorm felt even more anger as she saw the smirk grow across Shadow's face. She rocked back on her haunches, prepping her next strike.

"What's the matter? Too afraid to attack me now? Afraid you might end up like your sister?"

Sandstorm let out a low growl and jumped at Shadow, attempting to land on her back. The older cat anticipated this, however, and reached up and hit Sandstorm mid-jump. She landed with a thud on the ground, head swimming. She looked up in time to see Shadow running at her. The young warrior got up but wasn't fast enough. Shadow rammed into her shoulder and sent her skidding across the slick ground.

"And I've heard that you were such a great warrior. How disappointing."

"Be quiet!" Sandstorm shouted to her as she pushed herself up off the ground. Her fur was soaked in water and mud and her paws were sinking into the ground.

"She's trying to make you angry!" She heard Firestar shout from somewhere behind her. Her sense of direction was slightly off at the moment. "Don't let her get to you. You're so much better than that. You're better than her, I know it."

Hearing Firestar's words snapped her back into reality. Even though he didn't say it, there was so much more meaning behind his words. 'You're not like her, and none of this is your fault. Don't let her words bother you, because using hurtful words are the only way she can control others. Don't give her that control.'

Sandstorm took a brief moment to look around. The battling was beginning to subside, and forest cats now out numbered BloodClan cats. Some more forest cats were beginning to show up too. Someone must have sent an apprentice for reinforcements. She turned to look at her opponent.

"Look around you Shadow. You're "Clan" has pretty much abandoned you. There's no way you can win."

Shadow looked around surprised, but then smiled wickedly. "I don't need them. I just have to kill you, then take out your stupid mate. Then the forest will be under my control."

Sandstorm felt her temper flare at the mention of hurting Firestar, but she knew if she let her emotions get the better of her, she would definitely be beaten. 'Don't give her that control', she reminded herself. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not losing someone else to a cruel cat. Murderers hungry for power have taken almost everyone I cared about away from me. It's not going to happen again," she replied calmly, taking a battle stance.

"We'll see about that."

The two she-cats shot towards each other at the same time. Shadow pinned Sandstorm to the ground, but the ginger she-cat reacted quickly. She clamped her teeth down hard on Shadow's front leg, then raked her hind claws across her belly. The tortoiseshell jumped back and Sandstorm quickly sprung up, hitting Shadow across the face with her paw. Thunder began to boom as Sandstorm stalked towards Shadow, who had rain and blood dripping down her face.

Pretty much all of BloodClan had left and now the majority of the Clan cats were watching Sandstorm and Shadow's battle from a distance.

"It's over," Sandstorm said as she approached the BloodClan leader, "just give it up."

"No! I'll still have my victory!" Shadow yelled. She dug her paw into the soft ground and quickly brought it up, flinging mud and dirt into Sandstorm's eyes. She took a step back and shook her head just as Shadow ran towards Firestar who was sitting at the base of the Great Rock before any of the cats could get to her. He jumped up and prepared himself for battle, ignoring the intense pain from his shoulder wound.

But before she even reached the ThunderClan leader, a pale ginger blur rammed into Shadow's side and sent the she-cat airborne. She hit the side of the Great Rock and then fell limp on the ground.

Everyone stared silently at the fallen leader, waiting for her to get back up. When she never did, what few remaining BloodClan cats raced out of Fourtrees, no longer having a reason to fight.

"She's dead," Sandstorm forced out. She...had killed another cat, something she had never done before. She knew there was always a chance she would eventually kill in battle, but she didn't think it would feel like this. She thought she would feel like a hero, but at the same time, she would feel guilty. But all she felt was a numbness settling deep inside her. She looked around at all the cats staring at her. "And I have some explaining to do."

She climbed up onto the Great Rock and told them everything from the beginning. She told the truth about Rain running away from their Clan when they were kits and about how Sandstorm had told everyone a lie about a fox getting her. She explained how she had been kidnapped by BloodClan, found out her sister was a part of BloodClan and had been taken in by the new leader Shadow, and how Rain eventually betrayed Shadow and gave her life to protect them.

She decided to leave out the part about the sickening guilt building up inside her.

Sandstorm sighed as a cool breeze brushed her fur, her eyes falling down to look at her paws, which were still covered in faint stains of dirt and blood. After her revelation the Clan cats were checked by the medicine cats, and once treated, made their way back to their respective territories. Firestar had told Cloudtail and Dustpelt to carry Shadow off and bury her somewhere.

"She was a tyrant," Sandstorm had told Firestar when he offered they take her to BloodClan territory, "they were all afraid of her. They wouldn't give her a burial."

But it was still honorable to give a warrior a proper burial, so he had sent the two warriors to find a resting place.

Afterwards, he had insisted that Sandstorm see Cinderpelt for her wounds. Once she was all patched up she had made her way over to her sister's limp form to sit vigil.

As soon as she sat down, however, Firestar had sat beside her. "Graystripe took the others back to camp so I could sit vigil with you."

"You didn't have to," Sandstorm looked at her mate, "it's my fault all this happened."

Firestar brushed his (good) shoulder with hers. "I wanted to. And no it isn't. Everything will be okay."

Sandstorm just nodded, but decided against arguing. They began their silent vigil and after several heart beats she looked up at the now clear sky. Her eyes locked on a very bright star above her.

She gave a small smile towards it.

END

Finally finished! I apologize for the inconvenience of all the hiatuses I had throughout this story. But I just kept getting writer's block and for a while, just lost my inspiration to write altogether. But I didn't want this story to be unfinished.

A big thanks to all the readers that have been loyal and stuck with this story, even with my hectic updating habits!

Please review!