Disclaimer - I don't own Warriors.
"Are we there yet?" Amberpaw heard Rainkit mew to her mother.
"Not yet," the queen mewed gently.
"We won't be there for quite a while," Cassie butted in. "This is only the outskirts of the city."
"Stop speaking like the Twolegs!" Amberpaw hissed.
"Fine, fine. Twolegplace, or whatever."
The dark tabby snorted. She should speak like us if she's going to live like us, she thought. Great StarClan, why did Echostorm want her to come?!
"Because Echostorm is a fool," a snarl came from her left. Whirling around, she saw Tigerstar.
"Tigerstar!" she gasped quietly, so the others couldn't hear. "What are you doing? You said to only meet in my dreams."
"I know what I said!" he snapped. "Now listen to me."
She nodded, angling her ears towards the huge cat as if trying to block out the complaining kits.
"Once you get out of the blasted Twolegplace, there is something important you need to do," he explained. "Minnowpaw and Cassie; they will dirty the blood of your otherwise pure Clan. After you are settled into your new territory, dispose of them immediately."
"Dispose..?" she echoed. "You mean kill?"
"What else could I mean?!" Tigerstar hissed.
Amberpaw drew her ears back, but muttered an apology.
"Now, while you're here- The tom was cut off as he suddenly dissapeared. Amberpaw looked around wildly, calling his name out a few times, but she could not find the tabby leader.
Looking at her friends, she realized something was wrong. The kits had fallen silent and were hiding behind her mother while the the others had their hackles raised and claws unsheathed.
"You!" Cassie hissed.
That's when Amberpaw saw them. There was about a Clan full amount of cats, all skinny and ferocious looking. Leading the group was a dark ginger tom.
"Well hello Cassie," he growled. "Long time no see, eh? You've made some friends by the looks of things."
"Copper," the she-cat spat out the name. "Move along. We're not here to fight."
"It looks like you are," Copper sneered.
"Everyone, put your claws away."
"Don't order us around!" Amberpaw snapped. "If these cats want a fight, then they've got one!"
-------
A large tom walked through the dark, starless, cold forest he had been wandering for seasons. Usually, he would walk or watch cats that were still alive when he was bored. But this moment was different. He was walking with a purpose. One of the cats here; a cat that he had been affiliated with even when he was alive, was ahead of them.
He stopped when he felt piercing blue eyes upon him. "We're almost here," the tabby in front of him snarled. "I don't see why he needed you though."
The tom ignored the look of hostility his partner was giving him and walked into a large clearing. In the center of it was a cat with a similar pelt. He pricked his ears and turned towards.
"Good," he growled. "You came."
The tabby nodded. "Yes, Tigerstar. But if I may ask, what occasion is so important that you sent Hawkfrost looking for me?"
"You remember Amberpaw, correct?"
His new experiment, he mused. "Yes. The she-cat apprentice that you chose for the journey."
It was a few minutes before Tigerstar spoke again. "Yes. I've been watching her lately. She's becoming soft."
"Like a certain cat," Hawkfrost spat.
"Me? Soft?" The tom's eyes glittered. "Do you remember what I did?"
"You would have never attacked him if it wasn't for us!"
He unsheathed his claws and let out a snarl. "At least I got farther than you."
"Stop you two!" Tigerstar hissed. "Bramblestar, I need you to travel the remainder of the journey at Amberpaw's side. Teach her; fight with her; influence her."
Bramblestar nodded. "I understand, but won't StarClan object?"
"StarClan?" he echoed. "Brokenstar and his lot are taking care of them. Now go!"
-------
Amberpaw didn't know which side attacked first; all she knew that moments after she spoke, the cats were locked in battle. As she dove in and out of the cats, occasionally fighting with one. Looking around for her friends, the sight she found made her eyes wide. They were heavily outnumbered. They would lose. No! she thought despairingly We can't lose! We have to get through this!
Suddenly, a gray tom barreled into her, clawing her muzzle in the process. Letting out a screech, she tried to regain her balance and counter his attacks, but it was no use. The tom was twice her size. As he pinned her down and reached for her neck, she let out a yowl: "Help me!"
As if to answer her cry, the cat's side suddenly turned red with blood. He let out a hiss of pain before more claw marks appeared on his head. Amberpaw watched as the creature tried to fight his invisible enemy, but with no avail. After a few more moments, his throat was ripped open and he dropped to the ground dead.
"Get up, you runt," a voice growled. Looking around, she saw a dark tabby appear.
"Tigers- she cut herself off and got a better look at the cat. It wasn't Tigerstar. "Who are you?"
"My name is of no importance right now. No get up off your back and fight!"
Doing as he said, she looked around. Her friends were still in the same position they were in a few moments ago. "How will we win? There's at least a Clan full of them!"
"Follow my lead," the tom ordered and dashed into the fray. Amberpaw hesitated, but eventually followed after.
Soon she was locked in battle again, but this time with an easier opponent. Eventually, she had the white she-cat pinned down.
"Finish her off!" the tabby's yell came from a short distance away.
"But that's against the warrior code!"
"Can you say that if you're not in a Clan?"
The tom made sense, but this would be the first life Amberpaw would have ever taken. Gulping, she looked down at the she-cat. Her green eyes met Amberpaw's and all the apprentice saw was helplessness. I can't do it!
"You worthless pile of fox-dung!" the tabby shoved her aside. "It's just a rouge!" He then killed the she-cat just like he had the gray tom.
Amberpaw watched in horror as the light died from the cat's eyes. Her cry for help had been answered by a fox-hearted killer.
-------
A dark ginger she-cat sat alone at a small pool, watching the battle below. Her once firey green eyes were dull with sadness as she focused on Bramblestar. She had seen him take the rouges' lives. Is this really him? What went wrong?
"Squirrelflight," she whirled around to see a tabby with white paws and chest and amber eyes. Her hackles raised and she was about to run at the cat when she realized it was only her sister, Leafpool.
"What is it?" Squirrelflight muttered, returning her focus back to the pool.
Leafpool walked up beside her and peered into the water. When she saw the scene Squirrelflight had been watching, she mewed, "Squirrelflight, I don't think it's best if you watch this."
"Why not?!" she hissed. "He's my mate! I have a right too?"
"Do you still love him?" her sister whispered. When Leafpool was greeted with silence, she continued. "How can you? Don't you remember all that he did? He killed innocent cats, including our father!"
"I know," she sobbed. "I can't help but love him though!"
She felt's Leafpool's tail touch her shoulder. "Trust me, I know more than you think."
The two stood there for silence for a bit longer. Suddenly, Squirrelflight heard a yowl. It was a battle cry. She looked down at the pool to see that the battle had dissapeared. "Did you hear that?" she asked Leafpool, who nodded.
"It sounded like Feathertail," the medicine cat replied quickly. "Let's go."
With that, they bounded off. The farther they went into the starlit forest, the louder the yowls became, soon sounding like many cats. Soon, they came to terrain that looked similar to WindClan's ancient territory. There, StarClan were fighting other cats.
"Look!" Leafpool's meow was alarmed. "I see Sol! And Crowfeather!"
"What are they doing here? Isn't the Place of No Stars enough?" Before her kin could reply, Squirrelflight jumped into the fray.
"Go back from where you came Brokenstar!" she turned to see Bluestar fighting with a long-haired tabby.
"After this is over, this will be where we stay," Brokenstar hissed.
But they can't kill us! Squirrelflight thought. And we can't kill them.
Suddenly, a dark gray cat with black tabby stripes slammed into her, knocking the breath out of the she-cat. Scrabbling to her paws, she hissed at her opponent. She rolled over to dodge his claws, exposing her belly. He pounced her, but before the tom could do anything, she clawed his stomach, ripping it open and causing the ground around her to turn scarlet. He let out a snarl, but dashed off. Squirrelflight knew all too well that wounds cats recieved up here would heal perfectly, and sooner than she would like, the cat would be back.
"That's it!" she turned to see Feathertail bat away Sol. "We're winning!"
"Keep it up!" A tortoiseshell tom with a bushy red tail yowled.
Soon, the shadowy cats had quickly retreated back into the Place of No Stars. "It's over," Squirrelflight panted.
"That it is," Sandstorm walked up to her and meowed.
"But for how long?" Mousefur hissed.
"They will be back," a ginger tom with white paws growled.
"Stay calm, Thunderstar," Firestar met Thunderstar's gaze. "Right now I think we should find a way to keep them out of StarClan hunting grounds."
"Should we organize border patrols?" Feathertail suggested.
"Or set up guards around key areas." her mother, Silverstream, suggested.
A gray she-cat rumbled over to the group of cats. "Whatever we do, we need to keep them off until a least the cats get to their new home."
"And why is that, Yellowfang?" Squirrelflight's son, Jayfeather, asked.
"If they win before that, then they decide who the leader of the new Clan is. And possibly the fate of those cats."
A/N: Well, I hope you liked it! I tried to give some much loved cats a chance in the lime-light, so tell me how you liked it! Oh, and I bet you can't guess which cat Squirrelflight was fighting.
Oh, and I'm on Thanksgiving break!
~AliKatNyah