Warning: This chapter is a little gory, so beware.
Silverpaw smacked into a white and brown tom. It was Cricketpaw, an older Windclan apprentice. He was larger than Silverpaw, but that didn't stop her.
Silverpaw leapt onto his back and unsheathed her claws. She dug her sharp claws through his soft fur right down to his flesh. She dragged her claws down the bone in his spine and watched as blood began to surface from the puncture. Cricketpaw screeched and instantly rolled. SIlverpaw leapt off of him before he could crush her. She spun back around and pinned him down on the dusty ground.
Cricketpaw gave her an icy glare. But Silverpaw didn't miss the slight look of fear in his eyes. Cricketpaw began pelting her underbelly with unsheathed hindpaws and she was forced to let him up. Cricketpaw heaved up and rammed into her with his lithe but forceful body. Silverpaw was caught off guard and stumbled a bit. Cricketpaw raced behind her and tried to pull her tail out from under her but she kicked up with her hind legs and hit him in the jaw. He fell back and rose to his paws again, but instead of turning to face her again, he pelted off. Silverpaw felt a little rush of triumph at her victory.
Suddenly, Silverpaw was pinned down. Claws began scraping down her back and Silverpaw let out a screech of pain. The cat picked her up by the scruff and flung her. Silverpaw hit a tree, and, dazed, she slowly rose to her paws. The cat once again pinned her down and dug there claws into her sides.
Suddenly, the weight was lifted from her shoulders. Silverpaw got up and looked around to see Hollowpaw pinning the cat down on his stomach. Hollowpaw dipped his head down and sunk his teeth into the cat's chest. The cat, Silverpaw believed to be Leafsoar, eyes widened in panic. Leafsoar heaved up in a desperate attempt to save himself and swiped a paw at Hollowpaw's ear. Blood began dripping from the wound and Silverpaw was propelled by a new sense of urgency to help Hollowpaw. She bashed into Leafsoar and, realizing he was outnumbered, dashed into a bush.
Silverpaw and Hollowpaw both shared a look of triumph and raced back into the dying battle. Both Hollowpaw and Silverpaw batted cats of all kinds away together. They made a powerful duo.
Suddenly, there was a loud screech that silenced the battling cats. Silverpaw stiffened up and raced through the bloody clearing toward the noise. She stopped dead at the sight she saw.
Swirlingskies was dangling Ashcloud over the edge of the gorge.
Silverpaw raced forward to try and save her aunt but Breezeheart leaped in front of her and bared his teeth.
"Don't be a hero, apprentice. We've had enough of Thunderclan heroes," Breezeheart snarled to her. Silverpaw crouched down and growled at him. He ignored her and lifted his head to address the crowd of confused cats.
"We have a score to settle! We kill your deputy, we are even!" Breezeheart's deep voice rang around the clearing. Blizzardstar stalked forward and stood between Silverpaw and the vicious deputy.
"First, you break my shoulder. Second, you threaten and almost blind my daughter. Now you try to kill my sister? What next?" Blizzardstar snarled. Breezeheart snickered.
"Revenge," He growled.
Blizzardstar growled a swiped Breezeheart aside. He raced forward to Swirlingskies. Once Swirlingskies saw Blizzardstar she let go of Ashcloud's scruff. Ashcloud caught herself on the ledge while Dusklight and Buzzardheart drag Swirlingskies away. Blizzardstar raced to his sister's aid. He gripped her slipping paws tightly.
"Blizzardstar, let go," Ashcloud murmured. Blizzardstar growled no and began trying to haul her up.
"Blizzard, now! Let go! I will die from my wounds anyway. Your shoulder isn't even fully healed yet. You'll end falling with me, and then what would Thunderclan do. Let go or I'll make you let go," Ashcloud growled.
"No! I'm not going to let you die. Brackenflame, Stormtail, come help," Blizzardstar pleaded. Only Brackenflame raced forward but two Windclan warriors blocked his path.
"Then you've left me with no choice. Think of my death as a deed I did for Thunderclan. I love you, Blizzard. I love our family. Good-bye my wonderful brother," Ashcloud said. With that, she reached up and nipped Blizzardstar's paws. He let go and Ashcloud fell over the edge to her death.
Silverpaw suddenly understood Luna's words. Ashcloud had power and her final stand was her paying the debt Windclan created. A pang of sadness hit Silverpaw as she thought about her aunt's final words. She loved her but Silverpaw never got the chance to tell her she did too. And what would happen to Thunderclan? Their deputy just died.
"You're deputy was actually stupid enough to fall," Breezeheart mocked. Blizzardstar didn't respond.
Instead he hung his head over the gorge. His paw stood in a puddle of his sister's blood. Silverpaw had never seen him like this before. He looked so small and defeated. Silverpaw watched as her mother padded through the crowd toward Blizzardstar. She said something to him and he sighed and rose to his paws.
"Leave, Breezeheart. You and your clan are no longer allowed to step paw on out territory," Blizzardstar said, strangely calm.
"And if we do?" Breezeheart taunted.
"Then I give my warriors permission to shred any one of your clanmates. You brought this onto your clan, Breezeheart. Don't think Thunderclan will give up so easily," Blizzardstar said. Breezeheart grunted and gathered his clan together.
Once they were gone, the Thunderclan cats broke down. Blizzardstar turned to the cats, but instead of telling them to stay strong, he just walked through the cats towards home. Silverpaw followed him and when he stopped she turned to see why. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw his reasoning.
Hollyflower stood over her brother's body. Blood seeped out of every wound on his body. The only indication that he was still alive was the extremely shallow rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were barely open. Blizzardstar heaved him onto his back. The moment Stormtail was on his back blood already started to seep into Blizzardstar's fur. It dripped off of Stormtail's paws onto the ground, making a blood trail for the rest of the cats to follow.
It was a long journey back. Many cats had deep and serious injuries. Silverpaw watched many cats collapse, lean on, and fall behind the others. Silverpaw knew this was going to be a very costly battle. And the thing was, the battle wasn't exactly over. Thunderclan and Windclan remained at war with each other. For how long? Silverpaw couldn't tell. But she could tell many more lives would be lost to this war.
Silverpaw hadn't realized she was leaning on Hollowpaw until he wrapped his tail around her shoulders. She gave him a look of gratitude which he responded to by touching his nose to her ear.
To pass time, Silverpaw began thinking about her future. She hadn't been able to think about it much but now seemed like the perfect time.
Silverpaw knew she was going to be a warrior. But what about after that? Will I have a mate? Kits? Apprentices? A mate. Did Silverpaw really want a mate? Perhaps. Many of the cats in the clan with mates were happy and strong. But who would wind up being her mate? She thought she might have feelings for Hollowpaw, but then there was Darkpaw. She had started to develop feelings for him as well, especially since he was starting to become Thunderclan's hero. But Hollowpaw was very sweet and she had begun to suspect he shared the same feelings for Silverpaw, as she possessed for him. Maybe he'd end up being her mate.
Now kits were a completely different story. Sure, Silverpaw hoped to become a mother someday but she enjoyed hunting and protecting her clan. Besides, kits were sometimes a pain in the tail to take care of.
And then apprentices. She hoped she would train a few apprentices. She had heard that being a mentor is a quite entertaining and fun. Plus you make fantastic friendships with the cats. Silverpaw had a feeling her and Hollyflower were going to remain friends for many moons to come.
The cats finally made it back to camp. Willowleaf had been awaiting their arrival since she had an assortment of herbs laid before her. Mistkit dashed out of the medicine den with her paw laden with cobwebs. Blizzardstar silently padded across the clearing and laid Stormtail down in a shady corner. Willowleaf quickly began gathering herbs and carrying them over to Silverpaw's brother. Fawnleap came out of the elder's den and began working on some of the warriors. Silverpaw had forgotten that she knew bits and pieces of the medicine cat stuff.
Mistkit padded through the line of warriors and apprentices, assessing the damage. She put cobwebs in some of the deeper, more heavily bleeding wounds. Silverpaw couldn't help but admire her carefulness and gentleness. She really was cut out to be a medicine cat.
Suddenly, Berrytail stood into the center of the clearing. He scanned all the cats and puzzlement washed over her face. He turned to Blizzardstar.
"Blizzardstar, where is Ashcloud?" Berrytail asked. Many of the cats breathed in sharply and waited for Blizzardstar to retort. Silverpaw hadn't realized she was holding her breath.
"She walks among out warrior ancestors now. She gave her life to defend ours and she will be remembered as a hero," Blizzardstar replied calmly. Berrytail nodded briskly and padded over to his mate and Acornkit.
Blizzardstar looked up at the setting moon and heaved a sigh. He leaped onto highledge and swept his tail over his paws. All the cats looked up to him.
"Tonight was a dark night for Thunderclan. The battle may be over, but the war still rages. We lost a brave soul in the battle. My sister and our deputy, Ashcloud. But first I'd like to appoint Thunderclan's new deputy," Blizzardstar announced. Many heads swung toward Brackenflame and many heads swung toward Stormtail. Silverpaw wondered who the new deputy would be.
Brackenflame was the son of Duststar, leader of Thunderclan after the tyrant Bramblestar and before Blizzardstar. He defiantly showed leadership qualities, like loyalty and calmness. Blizzardstar and Brackenflame were also good friends and many cats compared their friendship to that of Firestar and Graystripe's. He would end up being one of Thunderclan's most powerful deputies.
Then there was Stormtail. He was young and ambitious. Not in a bad way like Tigerstar but in a good way like Bluestar. Him being young meant he would lead for many many seasons. He also possessed leadership qualities like, love for his clanmates and loyalty. Blizzardstar had taught Stormtail how to be leader from a very young age. Blizzardstar truly thought that Stormtail would be the nest leader of Thunderclan.
"I say these words before the spirit of Ashcloud, so that she may hear and approve my choice," Blizzardstar began. There was a long pause before he continued.
"Brackenflame, will be the new deputy of Thunderclan,"
Many cats nodded their heads in approval. Hollowpaw looked proudly at his father. Cats began chanting Brackenflame's name as he padded forward to accept his new role.
Okay, so once again, I'm very confused with what I'm planning for this story. If I don't write this story in more than one book than this story is going to have like over 100 chapters. So if you could please review or pm me for how you want me to continue this story
In other news,
I'm starting a new Warriors story! I'm actually posting it after I get this chapter done. So please check that out. Also for those of you who have been suggesting warrior names, thank you so much and they are great suggestions. Unfortunately, I've already decided on some names and Silverpaw's name has to be the name I picked out for her to make the prophecy work. But you know I love to see the suggestions! Anyway thank you for your continued support and please please review, it is greatly appreciated. Anyway bye! :)