Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I do own the characters created for this story. Please don't steal any of them.
Chapter 21
The huge crowd of lake Clan cats and their allies burst into the clearing of the island. The nearly full moon shone down on them, casting the scene in a silvery sheen of light. Rowanwind looked around, searching and searching for the DarkClan cats. They were probably hiding themselves in the shadows up underneath the leaves of the trees.
"You came," a now familiar voice hissed.
Two, orange eyes blinked open in the tree where the lake Clan leaders usually sat to report during gatherings.
The cats around Rowanwind stepped aside, leaving him in a small, open space all by himself. A shiver ran down Rowanwind's spine. The end was coming.
"You thought we wouldn't?" Rowanwind spat.
Sly chuckled. His orange eyes seemed to grow brighter. "It would have been so much easier to pick you all off, one by one. But, it seems the easiest way out is not an option any longer."
"It might not be easy," Rowanwind said, "but we aren't giving up until your Clan is destroyed for good!"
"Well, then," Sly meowed. "We will just have to see how that works out."
Eyes began to appear in the darkness of the trees. Rowanwind couldn't remember ever seeing so many DarkClan cats at one time. Had they somehow found more allies? Had they brought more dark-pelted kittypets to aide them?
"Multiplication," Ghostlight's voice said, right beside Rowanwind.
"What?" Rowanwind hissed.
"It is one of the hardest, most difficult, spells possible with magick," Ghostlight explained. "It takes major concentration of at least six or more cats." Ghostlight looked at Rowanwind with worry in his yellow eyes. "They have copied themselves and made more living, breathing DarkClan cats. I believe we are outnumbered."
"Is there any way to..to..get rid of the copies?" Rowanwind asked.
"Yes," Dusklight said, appearing beside them. "The copies are made of magick. They might seem like they are living and breathing, but they are not. I remember learning about this spell when I was with DarkClan. There are two ways to kill the copies. Hit them directly on the chest...or kill the original they were copied from."
"We need to let everyone know," Rowanwind said. "Pass it on!"
The whispering started up. Rowanwind, Ghostlight, and Dusklight whispered the news to as many cats near them as possible. Those cats began to whisper to others and others until everyone knew just what they had to do.
"Are you ready to die, light-demons?" Sly's voice echoed throughout the clearing.
"Are you?" Rowanwind demanded in reply.
"Attack!" Sly screamed furiously.
The eyes attached themselves to the bodies of cats, badgers, and crows. Rowanwind realized suddenly just how dangerous this battle was going to be. They were going to have to try to hit some of those badgers and crows in the chest to kill them.
How many cats were going to get seriously injured, or die, trying to do that?
A black tom leaped and landed heavily on Rowanwind. With a mighty hiss, Rowanwind shoved the tom off of him and slashed his paw at the tom's chest. The tom rolled away and got back onto his feet.
"Stupid light-demon!" the tom sneered. "You think you're all high and mighty!"
"Like you are?" Rowanwind scoffed.
The tom snarled and swiped. Rowanwind dodged the tom's paw, feinted with his left, and smacked the tom across the face with his right. Three, oozing scratches appeared on the tom's cheek. With a ferocious snarl, the tom reared up and attempted to slash at Rowanwind with both of his paws. Waiting for just the right moment, Rowanwind swung his paw and sliced into the tom's chest. With a howl of pain, the tom disappeared into a cloud of dark smoke.
"Copy," Rowanwind whispered.
He chanced a look around the clearing. Every single cat was locked in battle with at least one DarkClan tom, she-cat, badger, or crow. There was a sudden plume of dark smoke and a howl of pain off to his right. Orangefoot of WindClan and Neeko the kittypet had just taken out a copy.
There was a caw above him, and sharp talons suddenly snatched at his back. Rowanwind rolled onto his back and slashed out at the crow. A claw connected and feathers flew down around him. The crow flapped, attempting to fly higher, but Rowanwind flipped onto his feet and leapt. His paws caught the crow's shoulders, sending the crow crashing to the grassy floor. Rowanwind unsheathed his claws and held on tight as the crow flapped around and cawed in pain. It suddenly turned its head around and tried to peck at his eyes, but Rowanwind let go. The crow flapped away.
Gingerheart was suddenly at Rowanwind's side. "I have an idea, Rowanwind! I have an idea!"
"What? What is it?" Rowanwind asked.
"Do you know what a deer is?" Gingerheart asked anxiously. "They come into the forest every once in a while to eat the leaves and moss off the trees!"
"Yes. What about them?" Rowanwind asked.
"They're brown. Like me!" Gingerheart lashed her tail through the air. "They have hooves, Rowanwind. Hooves that can do very serious damage!"
Rowanwind thought about it. Yes, deers did have hooves. They were also brown, just like Gingerheart. "You want me to turn you into a deer?" Rowanwind gasped.
"Yes! There are others who can be turned into badgers, foxes, and deer!" Gingerheart gestured at the battle with her tail.
"Okay," Rowanwind said. "Gangohhoeht as e tooh."
He watched in amazement as Gingerheart began to grow and grow, until she was the size of a deer. Her fur and tail grew short. Her ears grew bigger and a little floppy. He watched as her eyes changed from light brown eyes with slitted pupils to the large, black eyes of a deer.
"Hurry, Rowanwind! Changing us into more dangerous creatures will give us a better advantage!" Gingerheart said before trampling off.
Knowing that Granitetail was a good candidate to become a badger, as he had already been made one before, Rowanwind looked around for his Clanmate. He spotted the tom across the clearing, battling a badger.
"Ghenatoteal as e betgoh," Rowanwind said, and watched as Granitetail grew and grew into a badger.
The badger Granitetail was fighting reared up onto its hind legs in surprise. Granitetail's new claws swiped forward and dug into the DarkClan badger's chest. It disappeared into a plume of dark smoke.
Rowanwind looked around, searching for cats who could become badgers, foxes, or deer. He watched Brownclaw tackle a slender she-cat to the ground, dodging the she-cat's paw swipes. Brownclaw's pelt was a mottled brown and gray. Was he brown enough to resemble a deer?
"Bhuwnclew as e tooh!" Rowanwind whispered, dodging out of the way as Brambletongue of ShadowClan and Oliver the kittypet chased a hopping DarkClan crow.
Rowanwind didn't look back to see if Brownclaw had transformed. He looked for other cats who he could change into more dangerous creatures. Cedarspirit's bright orange pelt caught his attention.
"Cotehspahat as e fux," Rowanwind said.
Blackshadow of ThunderClan appeared. A crow was chasing him, clawing at the fur on his back. Rowanwind suddenly realized that he had forgetten that there were lake Clan cats with pelts dark enough to be turned into crows. Blackshadow was one of them!
"Bleckshetuw as e chuw!" Rowanwind shouted.
He watched as Blackshadow became a crow. The tom opened his wings and turned on the crow chasing him, which spun around and flew off in its surprise.
Rowanwind realized he needed more badgers. He looked around for toms and she-cats with gray pelts. He spotted Timberpelt of RiverClan and Stoneriver of WindClan, a she-cat and tom with pelts of gray fur.
"Tambohpolt ent Stunohavoh eho betgohs!" Rowanwind said.
Rowanwind was unable to find more candidates to turn into stronger, more dangerous animals because he was suddenly toppled to the ground by a dark gray tom.
"Gore!" Rowanwind realized, seeing the tom's amber eyes glaring at him.
"Remember me?" Gore sneered. He slashed out a paw at Rowanwind, hitting him in the face. Rowanwind felt blood ooze from the scratches left behind. "You stupid light-demons think that everything is about you! DarkClan was created to get rid of you filthy, vile creatures. You have no right to call yourselves cats!"
Rowanwind snarled at the tom. "You have no idea what you're saying! DarkClan was created by a cat who was once part of a Clan that lived beside our Clans! We have ancestors that once walked the heavens together!"
"Liar!" Gore screeched, slamming his paws into Rowanwind's shoulders.
They rolled across the ground, slashing and spitting at one another. Gore landed on Rowanwind, knocking the air out of his lungs. Rowanwind wheezed but was unable to draw breath back into his body.
Gore's amber eyes blazed above his face. "You don't deserve to be here!"
"And neither do you!"
A badger came barreling toward them. His massive head collided with Gore's haunches, sending the tom flying. When Gore landed, he did not get up.
Rowanwind gasped for breath. His chest burned with each life giving breath. "Who...?" he asked, unable to distinguish who the badger was that had just saved his life.
"It's me," the badger reliped. "Granitetail."
"Thank you," Rowanwind rasped as Granitetail helped him to his feet.
"It wasn't your time to die," Granitetail replied. "Speaking of that...Rowanwind, Webpaw is hurt. Badly. Frostflower looked her over really quick. She isn't going to make it. Frostflower thinks that Clawstar should give her a warrior name before she passes to StarClan."
"No!" Rowanwind gasped out, thinking back to Rainfur screeching that she couldn't bare to lose any of her kits so soon after losing her mate.
"We need to find Clawstar," Granitetail said, his voice weary.
"No," Rowanwind said. It felt as if his insides, which had been burning seconds ago, were being squeezed.
"Come on, Rowanwind! Focus!" Granitetail said, nudging Rowanwind's shoulder with one of his massive paws.
Rowanwind shook his head. "Where is Webpaw?"
"Over there," Granitetail said, gesturing with one of his paws.
"I'll find Clawstar. You keep fighting," Rowanwind told the tom. "Keep fighting!"
"I won't stop," Granitetail promised. He lumbered away, giving out a tremendous battle roar.
Rowanwind sped over to a tree and clawed his way up until he could see the entire battle. His eyes scanned the cats spread out...fighting...clawing...screeching...there! He could see Clawstar clawing at the haunches of a she-cat. He jumped down from the tree and sped over to his leader.
"Clawstar!" Rowanwind called.
The she-cat Clawstar was attacking disappeared as Clawstar paused and turned toward him.
"What is it, Rowanwind?" Clawstar demanded. "Are we losing?"
"No," Rowanwind replied. "It's Webpaw. She's been fatally wounded. Frostflower thinks you should give her a warrior name before she passes on."
"Bring me to her!" Clawstar shouted.
Rowanwind raced away, Clawstar beside him. They skidded to a stop beside a bloody Webpaw. The apprentice was wheezing, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Frostflower sat beside her. Nimblepaw and Sootpaw were standing nearby.
"Webpaw!" Rowanwind gasped out. "Clawstar is here!"
Webpaw's eyes turned around, but she had no strength to lift her head.
"I, Clawstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on Webpaw. She has trained hard to understand the way of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn," Clawstar said. "Webpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I...do," Webpaw gasped out.
"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this day forward, you will be forever known as Webpelt. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan. Go now in peace to StarClan, Webpelt."
"Thank you," Webpelt said on her last dying breath.
"No!" Nimblepaw screamed. She spun to look at her brother beside her. "How could you have let this happen? You were standing right there beside her, and you didn't even try to stop him from killing her!"
Sootpaw's ears flattened against his head as his sister screamed at him.
"Nimblepaw, enough!" Clawstar yelled. "Get back into the fight! Both of you!"
The two apprentices ran off in different directions.
"Get back into the fighting!" Clawstar shouted, disappearing after a few DarkClan crows.
Frostflower glanced at Rowanwind briefly before racing off herself.
Rowanwind couldn't bare to look at Webpelt's lifeless body. He turned away and went to help Francis and Lola tear at a crow.
"NO!"
The shout caught Rowanwind's attention, as well as some other cats. A few turned to see Graytail feriously snapping at the neck of a tom. Behind Graytail lay the motionless body of Angelstar. A tingle of shock went through Rowanwind. Not Angelstar! Not one of their leaders!
There was a screech of pain very close to Rowanwind. He spun the other way and watched Rippletail of ShadowClan disappear beneath two black toms. A few moments later, the toms raced away, and Rippletail's lifeless body was left behind.
Rowanwind began to pant with fright. Cats were dying to his left and right. He'd changed some of them into more dangerous animals, but it didn't seem to be helping!
He was beginning to lose hope.
End of Chapter Twenty One