A/N: Here's an update for you! Please read, enjoy and review.
The air was much colder than it had been the previous days. Dampness clung to the ground and gray clouds completely covered the sky.
"I hate winter," Take meowed. Her fur was puffed up twice the normal size and she huddled near Keep for warmth. Panther purred in amusement, watching the sisters as she batted a crumpled piece of paper around.
"Winter hates you, too," Rust joked. He dashed over to Claw and bowled her over in one swoop. The gray kit squealed loudly, causing Mahogany to crack an eye open.
"Kits," she warned. "Sleep now or you won't get to see the fighting tonight." The kits all stopped what they were doing and stared at Mahogany. "It's going to be an interesting one, too. Snow always makes the fights better."
"Snow?" Claw squeaked. "I gotta go to sleep! Snow!" She cavorted around the room twice before landing in a chair and curling up. The twins followed, although much less exuberantly. The three of them took over the tiny chair, leaving Panther and Rust alone.
Panther turned her back on Rust as she curled up on the dusty rug. She didn't want anything to do with him and had ignored him for the past few hours. She growled angrily as Rust joined her on the rug, but she was extremely happy he didn't touch her.
The light was dim inside the abandoned house, and it allowed Panther to close her eyes and sleep easily. Outside the first few snowflakes had begun to flutter down from the dismal skies.
When she awoke, the house was much darker than it had been before. Panther blinked her eyes slowly to help them adjust quicker.
She was the only one awake at the time. Farther away, she could hear yowls and cheers. The battling was going on, which meant that the finals would be held soon. She'd have to wake Cream and them if they were to go.
Rust snorted as she poked him but she dashed away before he really woke up. She was feeling better towards him and they really didn't need to fight over such a trivial thing. Although, he was wrong for assuming just a tom could be leader of BloodClan.
Panther stopped as she appraised the chair. Claw was smushed under Take and Keep, and Take had her paw stuck inside Keep's ear. It made her laugh, but what she was going to do made her giggle even more.
She wiggled her haunches as she prepared, and then took a running leap. Panther landed on Take and was immediately catapulted off as the kit jumped up. Claw was pushed off the chair as the sisters began fighting.
"Why'd ja do that for?" Take snarled, batting Keep in the face with sheathed paws. "I was sleeping."
"So was I!" Keep meowed, utterly confused as to why her twin was attacking her. She leapt at Take and they tumbled onto the ground.
Dawn grumbled in the back corner, and immediately the two stopped fighting. "Can we go now?" Panther crowed, running up to the queens. "I hear the fighting! I do. It sounds good. Can we go?"
Mahogany stretched out, yawning as she did so. "I guess so," she muttered. Dawn and Cream were already up, both looking like they needed more sleep. "I thought we were waiting until the final round, though."
Rust joined Panther at the feet of the queens. "I wanna see cats fight! We can guess who will win!" The other kits cheered in agreement. The queens sighed, because it meant that the decision was made.
"Fine, fine," Cream meowed. She jumped down from her resting spot and began licking her fur. However, the kits protested stating they wanted to go now.
A few minutes later, the entire family was heading along the alleyways to the Death Circle. Snow clung to each of the surfaces, and momentarily erased the grime and dirt that had been so prominent on them. Only an inch or two had snowed, but the kits had trouble wading through it. This lead to two queens in front to break the path, and Dawn behind them for protection.
Steadily, the yowling grew louder. Panther wondered what the humans were thinking of it. She doubted they could see much in this darkness, but they could definitely hear it. Panther pranced forward with more energy, almost bumping into Claw as she did so.
A few more strides later and they were in view of the Death Circle. Panther began to dash forward but Cream caught her deftly by the scruff.
"What are you doing, Panther?" she hissed after she put the kit down. "These cats are hardened warriors. If you bump into them wrong, you die!"
Panther cowered down, the snow reaching her belly. "Sorry, Cream," she whispered. She fell in behind Rust, who draped his tail over her shoulders sympathetically. She was grateful to have her friend back.
The Death Circle was filled with cats, although not as many as there was the previous night. It was darker without the full moon to light the fights, but the kit could still easily see. The inside of the circle was down to the ground underneath and a sickly red color. Cats around it sat in the snow that was trampled down and beaten.
With a smaller number of cats, the family easily found a place where everyone could view the battle. Currently it was the older tom, Clover, facing off against Spade. The wiry black tom seemed to have the upper hand as he darted around Clover.
"Who's dead?" Rust whispered to Panther. The she-cat scanned the circle and found two dead bodies.
"It looks like Berry, Breeze and Jordan," she answered. That meant that two fights were already through. She looked around the circle again and saw that Charger, Nickel and Creek were standing, albeit bloody.
Her attention was drawn back to the fighters with a loud yowl. Clover had been trying to trip Spade and had finally succeeded. With a battle cry he leapt upon the tom and quickly dispatched him. Small tufts of black hair floated down to the ground, and slowly moved in the streams of blood.
"Clover is the winner!" A new cat announced. He was a gray and white tabby and stocky. Two she-cats dragged the dead form of Spade off into the growing pile. However, he was so light it could have taken just one of them.
"Who's that?" Panther asked Mahogany. The she-cat didn't take her eyes of the new announcer, and addressed the kit's question without looking at her.
"That's Pig. He's Checkers' brother. Except he left his humans for a life in BloodClan. He's a very good warrior. Almost an Elite." Panther watched as Pig announced the next two fighters – Damien and Ebony – and digested this information.
The next fight didn't last very long. Ebony taunted Damien in the beginning, causing the larger tom to rush at her. As he passed Ebony stepped to the side and raked dog-tooth claws down his chest. Damien flopped to the ground and ceased breathing within minutes.
Panther was thrown off by the swiftness of this battle. Ebony had the upper paw in taunting. She enraged the tom so much that he threw out all of his common sense and just charged in angrily. It was good that he died, then. A rash leader is not a good leader for BloodClan.
Bennie, the last cat to fight, was staring at Pig expectantly. "Who am I to fight?" he asked, his fur bristling slightly. Panther sympathized with him. She'd feel extremely embarrassed if something like that happened to her.
"Who wants to fight Bennie?" Pig asked the champions. A few, like Creek, were too injured to do anything more than cough out a 'no.' Charger stepped backwards, and Panther curled her lip at him. He was a coward.
Both Clover and Ebony stepped forward to accept the next fight. Neither was injured very much, and both had the fighting fire in their eyes. "I'll take it, old-timer," Ebony drawled as she waltzed into the ring.
Clover snarled. "I'm not that old!" he yowled, making everyone look at him. "I am four years old – forty eight moons. That is not old."
"Sure, sure," Ebony stated as she took her stance against Bennie. "I'll be sure to go easy against you, though, when I fight you. Make sure ya don't break a bone."
Ebony elicited her silver tongue again in her fight with Bennie. However, the tom knew what happened to Damien and decided to take it slower. The two began to circle, Ebony still throwing taunts at him. Most included vulgar phrases and the word 'kittypet' was used quite often.
Bennie feinted to the left and Ebony fell for it. He preyed upon her unguarded side, but was met with a paw full of claws. "Nice move," Ebony snarled, "but I'm quicker."
The fight escalated from there, with both parties exchanging blows. A few, like when Bennie tore off Ebony's ear, made Panther cringe. Both cats were bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, but neither of them were giving up. To give up meant certain death.
Bennie leapt forward, intending to smother Ebony with his weight when the she-cat decided the end to the fight. She caught his jaw in her claws and quickly ripped his chin from his face. The tom's tongue flopped out of his mouth and blood poured heavily from the blow.
Ebony laughed as she examined the bone caught on her claws. "You just lost a major weapon, Bennie," she whispered before leaping at him again.
Not a truer statement could have been said. Bennie was still a force to be reckoned with with his claws, but his fangs had caused most of Ebony's damage. Within a minute Benny was on the floor dead. His body was so marred that Panther couldn't recognize it anymore.
"What an interesting fight!" Pig crowed as the cats dragged off Bennie. "We're going to take a short intermission to patch up our valiant warriors, and then there's three more fights. After that, you know it, the Leadership Brawl!"
The cats surrounding the Death Circle cheered as the medicine cats came out. A large berth was given to them as other cats followed with certain herbs. Panther didn't realize that he heart was pounding. She didn't understand why she had been bored yesterday. This was a great part of her life so far!
Not only did the Leadership Fights provide entertainment for the cats of BloodClan, they also chose a suitable leader. For a leader who could beat out his own comrades in an equal showing of wit and strength was a good leader for this band of rogue cats.
A/N: Sorry if it's not that interesting or anything. I'm trying to fit myself into this chapter, and I just can't seem to get the mindset anymore. Merf… Review and tell me how you think I did.