AN: Far out. I am pumping out these chapters super quick! I am very surprised. But I'm sure you guys are feeling spoiled with the sudden influx of chapters. With school starting to heat up I'd expect chapters to have longer spaces between them but for now they should have shorter waits *touch wood*.

Enjoy.

Chapter 19: Fall of Those that Rose

Tornheart pounded after Crimson, her paws slipping and sliding on the wet rocks. Rain had begun pouring from the sky only heartbeats after they had left Hiddenshade's family with his body. The she-cat shuddered as she thought of how angered the gods that lived in the sky must be. She had ran away from her birth Clan, betrayed the Clan that had taken her in and then lead one to be killed by Jinx. A shiver ran down her body as the rain slicked her pelt down against her sides and sent chills racing up and down her spine. She hated the rain, she always had. But today it didn't seem like rain. It seemed like the sky was crying, crying for the life lost to a tyrant with a plan so evil that it boiled Tornheart's blood to even think of it. Her eyes traced the back of Crimson's head and lingered on a long scar that ran from the tip of her head to the start of her shoulders. It was a scar Tornheart wanted to know so much about, it just seemed like the kind of scar that had a story behind it and knowing Crimson it would certainly be an interesting story to hear.

"I can feel you staring at me, Tornheart," Crimson said calmly, her paws flying over the rocks as she leapt over spaces and holes. "Something bothers you. What is it?"

Tornheart curled her lip at the sound of her new name. She didn't feel like she even deserved it. Her heart hadn't been torn when she was decided who to follow, it knew exactly who to follow. Crimson had always been the right cat to go after, even after she let Jinx murder Hiddenshade. Tornheart shook her head. Hiddenshade had it coming to him. By killing all of Jinx's family he had safely secured his death in the paws of Jinx, the gods must have smiled down at the rogue as she took the life of Hiddenshade. The ghost of a smile pulled at the corners of Tornheart's mouth as she realised that Jinx had done no wrong, but she did not answer Crimson's question. Instead she let the black she-cat leap over the final gap and vanish into SnowClan's forest, a thin white powder already spreading across the back of her pelt.

Jinx leapt after her and left Tornheart to wait until all of Crimson's followers crossed over the gap. Finally she was able to leap over it and bounded through the cold forest. Her breath soon became clouds of mist before her nose as the temperature plummeted the higher she climbed into the mountains. Bright green fir trees flashed past her, their soft fronds caressing her fur gently as she rubbed past them. Small yellow flowers dotted the soft green grass under the fir trees, one of the only places the snow could not reach. The flowers gleamed brightly in the small beams of sunlight that floated down to them. They seemed pretty, something that Tornheart had not ever thought she was. But now that she was with Crimson she felt as if she was the most beautiful she-cat in the world, under Crimson respectfully. Not even Jinx was as pretty as her. Tornheart grinned as she thought of Fallingfeather. Not even that pretty silver tabby was a beautiful and dangerous as she was. The ex RisingClan apprentice let out a small laugh before she skidded to a stop beside Crimson. The black she-cat had slowed her gait down to a mere trot as the trees thinned out and SnowClan's Snow Meadow came into view.

Small tufts of vividly coloured green grass dotted the meadow but most of it was submerged under a thick layer of pure white snow. Paw prints dappled the snow as well as dried blood. This was where Crimson had trained her subjects for the past two dawns. Tornheart ruffled the fur up on her shoulders, trying to hide the ugly wound that now cut through her red flecked fur. She glared at Jinx as she thought of the pain she had experienced when the rogue's claws and torn through her shoulder and tossed her to the ground. Then Crimson had ordered her to get back up and fight even harder regardless of the blood that had poured from the wound. But now it was healed and no longer hurt to move.

Crimson turned to face her subjects and Tornheart took her respective place on Crimson's right side. Jinx took the left. "My followers!" Crimson cried. "Today you did good, but not good enough! You must train harder! Go now, Jinx will run through a few more advanced moves with you." She nodded at Jinx and the light cream tabby bounced away, the dull pelted cats streaming after her. Once Jinx was out of earshot Crimson turned her blood red gaze onto Tornheart. "Something was bothering you earlier and I wish to know what it is," she said simply.

"I want to know why I watched Hiddenshade die but felt no remorse," Tornheart admitted and then clamped her jaws shut. She sounded weak and she knew Crimson hated weak cats. She bowed her head in submission and hoped that the black cat would not lash out at her. But no pain came and when Tornheart returned her eyes to Crimson she found the she-cat staring down at her with soft eyes.

"When you took my blood into your system you allowed my evil to flow into your veins. It slowly corrupts your mind and turns it dark, rots the goodness away from it. Usually it takes close to a moon, but I believe the High Stars decided to give themselves more power, thus giving me more. It more than likely sped up the process and turned your mind evil within two days," Crimson explained. Her red eyes bore a whole in Tornheart's forehead and she felt as if the black she-cat could see the thoughts that were now racing through her mind. How dare she share their blood and not tell her that it would rip away the goodness that she had fought so hard to keep.

Tornheart let a low growl as she stared at Crimson with angry eyes. "Why did you not tell me of this!?"

"Would you have taken the blood oath if you had known?" Crimson replied evenly. She didn't even bat an eyelid at Tornheart's angry tone.

"No!" Tornheart cried. "Of course not!"

Crimson smiled and rose to her paws. "There is your answer," the she-cat purred as she padded towards where her followers were leaping at each other with angry yowls. Tornheart watched her go with a grave expression. She finally realised why Crimson had chosen her in the first place. She was weak, her mind corrupt with the lust to be someone she wasn't. But now it was all too late. She could feel the presence of evil pressing at the corners of her mind, pushing the bad thoughts of Crimson away from her mind, banishing all slithers of moral to the darkest corners of her brain.

As the sun rose over the mountains the next day, spreading its glorious rays over the Clans that dwelled in the sweeping valley below, Tornheart was no longer the cat she was before Crimson. Instead she was a merciless killer with a taste for blood that could never be quenched.

Her old life had been ripped away from her by the bitter cold winds of jealousy, thus creating a steep slope that lead to the downfall of everything the Dark Forest had tried so hard to uphold. Crimson was no longer a threat to the High Stars but to everyone. Her raging river of greed and hatred would only serve to destroy everything, starting with RisingClan once the moon rose that night.

-000-

Fallenshadow stumbled back through RogueClan's marshy territory, Hiddenshade's icy cold body lying across his shoulders. The sun was already beginning to sink, painting the swampy water a sickly red and casting eerie shadows dancing across the tree trunks. Spindly saplings rose from the wet ground, their soft green fronds appearing so innocent among the old towering trees with ragged cracks and fissures in their trunks. Holes had been gouged out in their trunks by animals looking for a place to hide or just for fun. Fallenshadow guessed that Scar must have ordered the apprentices to sharpen their claws on the tree trunks until they created deep enough marks to be seen from a distance.

He flinched as a cold draft of air blew across his face from the darkness creeping into the forest. He no longer wanted to be out here alone with just Shatteredlight to watch his back. He didn't doubt his kin's power in fight but if he was to return to his Clan hauling Hiddenshade and Shatteredlight's bodies back then Dancingwave would slit his throat right then and there.

The sound of the river rushing by greeted his ears and the leader sighed in relief. Soon he would be out of RogueClan's haunted territory and back into the safety of all six Clans. The thought made him stop dead. How was he supposed to tell the Clans how Hiddenshade had died? He refused to tell them that it was an ambush by a rogue and a traitor. The fight with them would be a fight RisingClan would need to fight alone. Fallenshadow did not want another Clan by their side. He figured that it would only anger the rogue even more and he was certain that his Clan would be able to stamp her and her army out.

"Fallenshadow," Shatteredlight whispered sadly. The she-cat was broken. Both on the outside and the inside. She had no spirit left and was just an empty shell of who she used to be. Fallenshadow softened his eyes slightly at his granddaughter. To be faced with the deceit of a Clan mate and the death of her father in one day was something most cats would not be able to face without breaking down. But he could see her walls beginning to crumble.

"What is it?" he murmured as the river and stone crossing came into view.

Shatteredlight swept her tail across the dead leaves before she answered. "Do you really think we will be able to defeat those rogues?" Fallenshadow widened his eyes at her comment. Did she really think that RisingClan was that weak without Hiddenshade that they could be defeated by a mere rogue and her pathetic army? "I mean, they held us down to watch while that other rogue, Jinx, killed Hiddenshade.."

She had a point. And it was that point that made an icy cold shiver race up and down Fallenshadow's spine. "Of course we can win," he replied strongly, hiding his fear behind his strong voice. "RisingClan will not succumb to the claws of a rogue and her army. Even if that rogue has corrupted one of our own," he added.

"Tornheart was not corrupted," Shatteredlight snarled. "She knew exactly what she was doing when she did it. The only way she can be forgiven now would be for her to die and face the judgement of the gods." Fallenshadow could see a dark glimmer of something more than hate in his granddaughter's eyes. As he jumped across the rocks he recalled something his mother had said to him once, something that he had never thought of until now.

"The gods judge those that have done wrong by them," he whispered just loud enough for Shatteredlight to hear him over the gurgling sound of the river.

What?" Shatteredlight replied as she landed beside the leader. Her white pelt was stained with blood that had begun to run as the river spat water at them from the rocks. "That doesn't make any sense."

Fallenshadow shook his head. "What Tornheart did might not be frowned upon by the gods. They might welcome her into the afterlife as a hero. You see, Shatteredlight. We do not know what the gods count as evil. For all we know the gods could be tigers with the head of a dragon and wings of an eagle." He narrowed his eyes as the noise of the gathered Clans reached his ears. "Say nothing to anyone," he warned Shatteredlight. "No one can know what happened to Hiddenshade. The war we are going to fight must be fought by RisingClan alone."

Shatteredlight nodded and returned to her silent, broken state of mind. Her ears were pinned back against her head and her teeth were clenched in a sign of pain. She walked with a slight limp on her left fore-foot where blood still oozed from an angry red cut. But none of this could have prepared her or Fallenshadow for the silence that descended upon all six Clans once they came into view. Their blood created a wall of fear that worked its way through the clearing, capturing the attention of every single cat in the clearing. Many pairs of eyes focused on the three bodies that stumbled into the clearing. Two alive and one stone cold with death.

Fallenshadow pushed his way through the cats that had started to gather around him, his mind set on getting to his Clan and warning them of the war that was to be had when the moon rose. He ignored the questions that bounced from cat to cat and Shatteredlight did the same. She snarled at a tom that rushed to her aid when she stumbled, not knowing that it was Singe of RogueClan, the Clans newest leader.

Finally, after what seemed like moons, the two cats broke into RisingClan's part of the clearing and were greeted by the worried faces and voices of their Clan. The senior warriors created a barrier, stopping the cats from other Clans from breaking through. They snapped, hissed, clawed and snarled at any cat that tried to pass their line and soon the Clan leaders called their Clans back to order and summoned them away from RisingClan. But each leader gave Fallenshadow a parting look, one that said they demanded to know why he had returned with the body of his deputy.

But he did not want to tell them. He did not want to tell the other Clans how he had failed to save the life of his closest friend. It hurt him too much to even think of it and the look in Dancingwave's eyes when she saw the lifeless body of her mate only served to punish him more. He lay Hiddenshade's body on the ground and allowed his Clan to grieve for their deputy whilst he hobbled away and collapsed in the shadows of a large tree. His eyes slid closed before snapping open again as soft fur brushed against his. The alarm faded away when he recognised the concerned blue eyes of Risingwhisper. "What happened?" she asked softly as she curled her lithe brown body around her mate's. "Where is Tornshadow?"

Fallenshadow sighed heavily. "Tornshadow is no longer part of this Clan. She betrayed us, Risingwhisper. She chose a rogue over us. No longer is she Tornshadow, now she is Tornheart for her bitter heart and the tearing she must have felt somewhere in her heart when she watched Hiddenshade die under the claws of a rogue." He paused and Risingwhisper lapped gently at the top of his head, smoothing down the ruffled fur and cleaning off the blood stains. "We were ambushed on the rocky part of RogueClan territory by a fierce rouge with blood red eyes and a small army of mindless cats with completely yellow eyes and pelts as dull as dust. The rogue ordered her army to attack whilst she, Tornheart and another rogue by the name of Jinx." Fallenshadow felt Risingwhisper stiffen beside him at the mention of Jinx's name. But he ignored it and carried on. "Jinx threw Hiddenshade away from the fight whilst the army pinned Shatteredlight and I to the ground. We could only sit and watch as Jinx took Hiddenshade's life before our eyes."

Risingwhisper remained silent for a few moments before she laid her head on Fallenshadow's flank. "Today is a dark day for our Clan but we must press on. Who are you going to promote to deputy?"

The answer was on the tip of Fallenshadow's tongue before he even had time to think. "Shatteredlight. She has been trained for this moment since the day she could walk. The time has come for her to step up and take charge of this Clan. But there is more."

"More?"

The leader nodded. "The rogue declared war on RisingClan. We are to be at SnowClan's Snowy Meadow by the time the moon sits high in the sky. Then we will go to war against this rogue's army of…mindless cats. We will stamp them out. I know it." His voice was flat and lifeless despite the promises he was making to his mate. She could tell that he was on the verge of unconsciousness.

"I will call the Clan and promote Shatteredlight to deputy. You stay here and sleep and I will return to patch you up shortly," Risingwhisper ordered as she got to her paws. Fallenshadow made no attempt to pull his mate back down and within seconds his eyes had drooped closed as sleep cascaded over him like a silent wave.

Risingwhisper did just what she promised. She called the Clan and promoted Shatteredlight to deputy, much to the young warrior's surprise. But the Clan trusted Shatteredlight and she was welcomed into the position with loud cheers from the Clan. None of the other Clans' joined in though. They were still eyeing the senior warriors that were patrolling the side of RisingClan's small territory on the island with raging eyes and unsheathed claws. The healer had then returned to her mate and set about fixing up the worst of his injuries before she was called away to prepare Hiddenshade's body for burial.

By the time she returned the sun had already climbed high into the sky and was beginning to make its slow descent. Risingwhisper decided that now would be a good time to wake Fallenshadow up and start their long journey into SnowClan's highest reaches. "My love," she whispered, pawing him gently. "The time has come."

Fallenshadow blinked open his eyes and yawned loudly. "Already? But the sun is…nevermind." He looked downcast once he realised that he had slept most of the day away. "Did Shatteredlight take her promotion well?"

"Of course she did," came a harsh voice. Fallenshadow turned his head to stare at Dancingwave's figure that was silhouetted against the bright sun. "She was born to be the next deputy, how could she not take the promotion well?"

Risingwhisper nudged her daughter gently. "Because her father is dead. Shatteredlight did not expect to rise into power before she had a mate. She is only a young warrior, Dancingwave; I think you forget this sometimes."

"Shatteredlight will be the best thing for RisingClan. As long as father can keep her alive long enough for tales to be told about her," Dancingwave spat before she stalked off. Her comment had dug deep into Fallenshadow's heart but he made it seem like it had only stung a bit. He knew his daughter would blame him for the death of her mate for many seasons to come but he hoped that with the death of his killer she may forgive him a little.

"Come now," Risingwhisper ordered gently. "The Clan is waiting for you. They know what is happening and they are ready to avenge Hiddenshade's death. Huntinglion is staying behind with Frozenmeadow and the elders." Fallenshadow gave his mate a questioning look. "She will look after our kits as if they were her own. I am coming to this fight whether you like it or not," she added sternly.

Fallenshadow had no choice but to accept. His heart fluttered a little as his kits came bounding out from underneath a hawthorn bush, their large clumsy paws kicking up dust as they raced over to their parents. "Mother!" one squeaked her light blue tabby fur ruffled from sleep. "Frozenmeadow says you are going to fight some bad cats! Is father going to?"

"Of course I am, Singingriver," Fallenshadow purred and nuzzled his daughter. Losing Hiddenshade had opened his eyes to how short life can be sometimes, he didn't want to lose his daughters before they were at least warriors. His eyes flicked to his other daughter's pale gold head. "Why are you so quiet, Dawningsun?"

"I don't want you to die," Dawningsun replied bluntly. Her eyes were shining with worry despite her calm face.

Risingwhisper licked Dawningsun's ear. "Do not worry, my dear. We will not die. I promise. Now go back to Frozenmeadow, both of you!" Fallenshadow watched as his daughters raced away before he too rose to his paws and summoned his Clan with one flick of his tail.

"Now we go to war," he rumbled. "Tonight we will avenge Hiddenshade's death and annihilate the cats that have threatened our Clan. Tonight the meadow of snow will run red with the blood of our enemies!"

-000-

The moon had reached its highest point in the starry sky, the velvety black expanse of nothing hovering behind it, and was now casting an eerie light down on the Snowy Meadow. Black silhouettes stuck out among the pure white snow and eyes flashed in the gloom. The smell of war had yet to grace the clearing but the cats of Crimson's army were on edge nonetheless. Tornheart hovered beside Crimson, nothing but impatience shining on her face. She once again sat on Crimson's right side, up high on a thick slab of stone that protruded from the snow. Crimson had claimed it as hers the moment she saw it and now she was using it to look powerful, and it worked. She had an air of murder around her. Maybe it was just the way her sleek black pelt glowed in the moonlight or the way her claws gouged deep marks in the stone with one swipe of her paw. Whatever it was it made Tornheart envious. She wanted the power Crimson had. She wanted it so bad.

The sound of scuffling paws brought Tornheart out of her daydream and she sent a cold glare at Jinx. The light cream tabby was sitting on Crimson's left, her piercing blue gaze searching the opposite end of the clearing for any signs of movement. "Here they come," she whispered to Crimson, her voice heavy with an odd accent.

But Jinx was telling the truth as all of RisingClan slunk out of the shadows of the tree line. Fallenshadow stood tall, a menacing looking she-cat on his right and Shatteredlight on his left. From behind the leader Tornheart could see Dancingwave tearing up the snow with her claws looking eager to sink her claws into the flesh of the cat that killed her mate. Tornheart smiled. These cats had no idea what they were about to see.

Fallenshadow halted his Clan about ten fox lengths in front of Crimson's rock. "You will regret this," the leader snarled.

Crimson let out a high, dainty laugh before it became a bone chilling evil cackle. "I regret nothing. All I have done over the course of my life has been planned. The destruction of your Clan will be the first of many beautiful revelations to occur before I can set my ultimate plan into action!"

Her laugh had had a rippling effect on the warriors of RisingClan and Tornheart watch as fear passed over their faces. She stifled an amused purr. They still had not seen the rest of Crimson's army. All they could see were the six or seven that were split up on either side of the rock. RisingClan did not know that the rest of the army was waiting on either side of the clearing to charge in when Crimson gave the order. "This is your final chance," Fallenshadow warned. "Leave now and no one will be hurt. Return to your home and we can forget about this!"

Crimson leaned forward and curled back her lip to reveal razor sharp teeth. "I am home."

She lifted her tail and brought it crashing down to the ground with a loud screech, "Attack!" Her army charged forwards from the sides of the rock as the rest of the army poured in from the sides, boxing RisingClan in. Cat leapt at cat and the clearing exploded into screeches of pain and fury as blood splattered against the ground.

War had begun. And it had no end for it did not have a beginning to start with.

AN: This chapter was officially the longest with 4,196 words!