Sunpaw felt his hackles rise stiffly along his spine. The hounds were here already? Starchild beside him gave a low growl deep in her chest. Sunpaw could see her mother's pelt draped across her back, lying so close that she looked like Moonchild. The young fox barked a harsh order in her frozen language. "Stay firm!"
Riverstar crouched beside her. "Oh, hello, there," she meowed. "I thought you were one of StarClan for a minute. Your name?"
"I am Starchild."
"Ah. The child of stars?"
"Yes."
"And you know the danger we face?"
"Yes. The leader of this pack shamed my mother, the very one who delivered him as a pup." Starchild's eyes blazed furiously. "And now I seek revenge for his actions. No cat is to kill the white hound."
Riverstar nodded, glancing sideways at Sunpaw. The apprentice saw respect glittering in her deep blue eyes. "When this is over, Sunpaw, I have a feeling we'll be blessed with many more warriors. It's about time, anyways." Sunpaw blinked. Was Riverstar so openly telling him this?
"They're coming closer!" Creekflow howled. Riverstar sat bolt upright.
"Mudpaw and Windpaw, into the elders den!" she ordered sharply. "Quartzfur, make sure those brambles are as thick as you can get them! No cat is to allow the hounds entrance into that den." She lifted her tail high like a banner, and the murmuring cats settled. Sunpaw felt a presence beside him.
He didn't have to look to know that StarClan was beside him. A soft voice murmured Fire is rising, leaping into the air...but there can be no light without shadows. Guard her...He turned to see Shadowpaw on his other side, her dark fur standing on end as terrible howls filled the air. She winked an amber eye at him.
The pack burst into the PromiseClan camp in a spray of broken branches, saliva, and sharp fangs. Sunpaw lunged at the hound running up beside the white one: a dark, black creature. The hound whimpered as Sunpaw's claws slashed across its snout. The ginger apprentice swiped out again, Shadowpaw coming up beside him and adding her claws to the mix.
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
Blood Fang threw back his head and gave a howl to encourage his pack. A paw slammed into his foreleg. The huge wolf looked down to see a fox smacking him. But wait...
"Old-fox?" he panted. The fox looked up sharply. It...it was the old fox. But she was dead! Old-fox had died not long before the Pack had made their escape. Blood Fang panted, but his pant carried the high pitch of fear and confusion. "No. No. No! Not old-fox! Old-fox dead, die long time ago!"
"I live again," the fox growled. Her voice was strong and young. Blood Fang whimpered fearfully. "I live to bring you down, whelp! Face me! Face me now, and meet your doom!" Her claws flashed, scoring across Blood Fang's cheek. "The gates of death call for you! Can you hear them howling? All your ancestors cry your name, pleading you to join them. Do not deny them!"
Blood Fang lashed out, catching the fox under the chin and knocking her away. He growled low and deep, the impressive sound making his paws shake with energy. "Old-fox not old, but old-fox still stupid!" he snapped. "Blood Fang never answer to old dead ones. Blood Fang never join them!" He leapt and landed with a paw on either side of the fallen fox.
Wait...this wasn't old-fox! He could see the white fur pulled back, revealing the silvery, paling pelt of cub-fox. Blood Fang snorted. He felt rage combined with shame, shame that he had actually been afraid of what he thought was old-fox. Cub-fox snarled, flashing her tiny fangs up at him.
"Growl, cub-fox," Blood Fang taunted. "Make Blood Fang angrier. Death come slowly, painfully. Leader-Father, Follower bigger than you. Blood Fang kill them easy. Cub-fox small. Blood Fang big." He panted, letting saliva from his tongue drip onto his captive's face. "Cub-fox good as dead." He opened his mouth to take her head in his jaws, only to feel persistent pain in his flank. He whipped his head around to see a Smallfur chewing away at him.
"Sunpaw! No!" cub-fox howled. Blood Fang turned from her to the Smallfur, Sunpaw.
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
Sunpaw heard Starchild's cry, but shook his head. "We've been through too much together!" he retorted. "I won't let him kill you!"
"It is for the best," Starchild replied. "You do not need me to win this battle. Besides, my sacrifice will distract the hounds long enough for your Clan to regroup and strategize." Before Sunpaw could protest, Starchild swiped her paw at Blood Fang and snapped, "Come and get some, you rogue!"
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
Blood Fang felt the strike and snarled, baring his fangs. "Cub-fox die!" he barked, taking her throat in his jaws. He bit down hard and let the blood flood his mouth. His tail swished in a wag. No more foxes. They were dead.
Bone Claw spotted her mate's kill and padded over, a Smallfur still clinging to her tail and leg. She dipped her head and took a bite of the fresh meat. Shadow and Low Step joined them in their feast.
.-''-.-''-.-''-.
Sunpaw was stunned and saddened beyond words. He had grown to like the young fox in the short time he had known her. But he could not let her sacrifice be in vain. He turned to the group of shocked, openmouthed cats around him. "Starchild gave her life that we might fight," he meowed in a strangely calm tone. "She drew the hounds away to give us a moment to plan. Riverstar?"
"Four warriors to a hound," the leader commanded. "Chose warriors you know you fight well with, whose tactics you know by heart. Arrange yourselves in those groups now." She waited until her warriors had assembled into little groups. "All right. Let's give these hounds a fight that they'll take to hell with them." She threw back her head and yowled a battle cry.
Sunpaw padded up beside Wavepaw, Shadowpaw, and Promisepaw. He studied the white queen carefully, then shook his head. "You're swaying on your paws," he mewed. "Get into the elders den where it's safe. We can take on a hound between us, right?" The others nodded. He watched Promisepaw slink away towards the safe den after giving her a quick nuzzle.
But like Shadowpaw had with Trickpaw so many moons ago, Sunpaw came away from an innocent gesture with a heavy secret. Promisepaw's pelt was covered in the faint scent of pregnancy. Now he was even more glad that he had sent her away from the fray. If she died, her nameless kits would perish as well. With a furious scream, he charged the reddish-brown hound whose muzzle was dripping with Starchild's blood.