Chapter 3, The Last Stand Of The Clans

Parties of ThunderClan warriors had traveled to the other Clans, and told them of their plan. All the Clans had agreed to help. Perhaps they might even win, with four Clans against the twolegs. They stood poised at the edge of the workings, ready to fight for what the twolegs had stolen. Brightpaw was among the ThunderClan warriors, and all the medicine cats were just back a bit in the trees, with all the herbs they could gather.

"THUNDERCLAN, TO ME!" Tigerclaw yowled.

"WINDCLAN, TO ME!" Tallstar yowled.

"RIVERCLAN, TO ME!" Crookedstar yowled.

"SHADOWCLAN, TO ME!" Nightstar yowled.

All the Clans surged together as one, surprising the twolegs at their work. Back at a sheltered glade, Cinderpelt shuddered. For once, she was glad to be a medicine cat. Barkface looked equally troubled, but he didn't say anything. Yellowfang sat closer to her apprentice. Then a terrible sound came. It was like a loud bang. The twolegs were yelling at the cats who were defending their territory. They pulled out strange devices that shot round, sharp things at the cats. Sandstorm yowled in pain as one pierced her in the chest. Fireheart helped her back to the medicine cat hollow. "They shot something at her," he gasped. Yellowfang didn't know it, but the twolegs weren't taking kittypets. They were using guns.

From inside her kittypet nest, Bluestar heard the yowls of the Clan leaders. She peeked out of the curtain. It was true! But she saw her Clan-mates falling. There were twolegs bleeding, but most of the things on the ground were the bodies of cats that hadn't made it to the medicine cat den. She let out a fierce screech and broke through the glass. It ended up in shards in her paws, but she didn't care. She broke through and started defending her Clanmates. She spotted one big twoleg that Tigerclaw was fighting. She leapt to his defense. Then suddenly a gun-shot hit Tigerclaw in the back. But he kept fighting. Fireheart watched from the clearing, wondering if he had been wrong about the warrior. But he knew he hadn't. Tigerclaw was just fighting to save his own skin. If only StarClan had given him nine lives, he thought, then we'd have a better chance.

It was then that a gun hit Bluestar in the neck. She fell to the ground, choking as she felt the bullet pass through her throat. She convulsed on the floor. Then she saw herself in StarClan. Her mother, Moonflower, was staring at her in un-disguised grief. "Send me back!" She screamed. "I need to fight for my Clan! This wasn't my last life, I know it!"

"The wound is too great for us to heal," Moonflower whispered.

Bluestar sat back in shock.

"But we will bestow nine lives on the one that deserves them," Moonflower said. "ThunderClan will not perish today, Bluestar. That is all I can promise you."

Bluestar gazed around numbly at the ranks of StarClan. She saw so many dead Clanmates here. Whitestorm, Longtail, Swiftpaw, Thornpaw, Willowpelt, Mousefur, Cloudpaw, Brindleface, Goldenflower, all the elders that had fought, Nightstar, Crookedstar, and Dustpelt. All dead. What had ThunderClan come to? So many warriors dead. Then she saw Tigerclaw appear, and she saw all that he had done. She said, her eyes blazing with fury, "You do not deserve a place in StarClan!"

Tigerclaw looked at her. "No, but I fought today a loyal warrior. But I have no wish to join the ranks of StarClan. You have not defeated me this day, Bluestar."

She began to laugh, and sob. "No? Then the twolegs surely have. For soon no cat of ThunderClan will live."

The cats of StarClan bowed their heads.

"Come on Sandstorm, fight! Fight!" Fireheart coaxed to her as she lay on the ground. Cinderpelt and Yellowfang were working their hardest, but Fireheart and Sandstorm both knew it wouldn't be enough. Clan-mates came coming to them, and they could do nothing. Finally Fireheart realized that the cats were still waiting for the order to retreat. He yowled as loud as he could, "RETREAT!" They began to run back into the forest. And then Sandstorm slipped away. Fireheart buried his face against her in grief. Then a bullet got him from behind. "NO!" Cinderpelt yowled, as her mentor fell to the ground, dead. Yellowfang had to give the order. "Leave them! Leave all of the fallen cats!"

Cinderpelt saw Frostfur among the fallen, already unconscious or dead. She searched for Brightpaw. She was fleeing back to camp. Cinderpelt realized that she couldn't run back to camp. Yellowfang knew it, and when the other medicine cats fled she stayed behind. When Brightpaw saw this, she ran back. "Brightpaw no!" Cinderpelt gasped.

Brightpaw looked at her with wet eyes. "My mother is dead. Brackenpaw and Thornpaw are dead. You are all I have left. I will not leave you."

Their eyes met, and then they started to straggle away. Then Yellowfang fell from a bullet. Even though they had retreated, the twolegs still shot at them from behind. Then Cinderpelt realized. They were leading them to the camp! She yowled, "NO! STOP!" But it was too late.

When Brightpaw and Cinderpelt got there, there was nothing alive or moving in the clearing.

"What have they done?" Brightpaw asked Cinderpelt, shaking. "They destroyed everything we have to live for. It might have been Tigerclaw who led us into battle, but they have destroyed everything. They've taken our territory away from us, they've filled the air with stench so it's hard to breathe, they have taken EVERYTHING away from us."

Cinderpelt sat down, then she looked into the nursery. A strangled sob came from her mouth. "The kits!" She gasped. "They even killed the kits!"

Brightpaw looked before Cinderpelt could stop her. Bramblekit, Tawnykit, and Snowkit were all shot and laying splayed out on the ground in the nursery. So was Speckletail, she had died protecting the kits.

"Why?" Brightpaw moaned. "We were defending what they had taken, and they killed every last one of us."

"They tried to extend their territory. But when we defended it, they killed all of us except for a cripple and an apprentice. Some Clan we are." Cinderpelt was bitter. "Maybe they didn't know we lived here when they started, but why would they destroy a place as beautiful as this anyway?"

Brightpaw didn't point out the obvious, that it was no longer beautiful. No birds flew, no sunlight came through the clouds, the prey was driven away or killed, and it seemed as if the forest was in mourning. Just then, the sky began to weep for all that had come. Rain splashed off their noses, but they didn't move. The moment was too painful for that.