Be happy! This is my longest chapter in a long time. 716 words! Woot! But... you know me. Whenever it is long, it is depressing...
Battle
The Battle of the Apprentices.
I don't remember who made it up, but I knew that I would hate them for the rest of my life.
The Clans had entered a barbaric time.
Everyone had gotten so used to fighting for their answers after the death of Firestar. Now we fight.
Our Clans were getting overpopulated. No one wanted to kill off the honorable warriors, queens, elders, or kits, so they decided that the apprentices of all Clans needed to face off against each other in a battle to the death. No one was to be trusted. We had to kill our Clanmates too.
A group of three warriors led us, a throng of seven apprentices, to the battlegrounds. We were going to be battling near a cliff adjacent to the lake, so it would be easy for us to be pushed down the jagged rocks.
I hate this.
My sister, Crystalpaw, stood beside me. We had said good-bye to each other earlier in the day, for we knew we may have to kill each other when it came to the battle. Yarrowpaw, a tom I had a crush on, stood on my other side. It would kill me on the inside if I had to attack him.
We were finally there. The apprentices from the other Clans stood in there own positions. The four leaders went to the middle of the clearing.
"Attack any apprentice that you see. Even a member of your own Clan. Even a relative. Help no one. Have no mercy!" they chanted. With a yowl, the battle had begun.
I raced into the middle of the fray, spinning to see who would dare attack me. A large-bellied tom came lumbering over to me, trying to rake his claws down my pelt. My heart throbbing, I leapt for him and quickly clawed at his throat. Blood welled around my claws like small, ominous rivers. Cringing of the cruelty, I bit into his neck and killed him.
Pain laced through my tail. I spun around, claws outstretched, and sliced them down the nose of my opponent. It was Bubblepaw, the medicine cat apprentice from WindClan. She raked her pointed claws down my eye, and I screeched in pain. My claws dug in to her chest, bringing blood. I lunged for her, but she sidestepped and I missed. Snarling, I leaped into the air, twisted, and landed on her back. With a hard bite, I had her limp on the ground. In another second, she was dead.
I couldn't see through one eye, but I knew the battle was not over yet. Quickly glancing around, I saw Crystalpaw battling a RiverClan apprentice named Sharkpaw. I cringed as the tom sliced and dug his claws into my sister. I so desperately wanted to help, but I knew I would be killed for helping. All I could do was watch in horror as my sister was killed before my very eyes.
Thud!
Suddenly, I was on the ground. A large tom was pinning me down, and I couldn't see who he was. I spun around and was startled to see Yarrowpaw. His muscles rippled and his chest heaved as his blue eyes glared at me.
"Yarrowpaw... you wouldn't!" I gasped.
He closed his eyes, then glared at me again. "I must, for our Clan."
I pushed him off me and ran. I ran until I reached the edge of the cliff, where I didn't think anyone would care to look for me. I was wrong. Yarrowpaw had been chasing me. I spun around, but it was too late. His paws met my body, and I was thrust off the side of the cliff. My claws flailed as I tried to get a pawhold on the cliff, but all I succeeded in doing was collecting dirt.
I looked up just before I fell into the water, and I saw horror and fear in his eyes. I think I heard him call my name, but water was crashing into my face at the time. Trying to breathe, I flailed around with my paws, but I couldn't bring myself back to the surface. It felt like something was pulling... dragging me down...
I knew then.
I knew that this was my first and last battle.
Why, Yarrowpaw, why?! Yes, I know this will never, ever, never, never, ever, never ever never happen in the books. It was just a random, evil idea I got!