A/N- My gift to you before I disappear for two weeks. Once again, can't be held responsible, it's my crazy mind…
Disclaimer- Don't own it…You got a problem with that!?!?
Chapter 14- Reunion Pt 2
"Leafpaw, have you seen Swiftpaw?"
"No Spiritstar. I thought she was out training with you." The brown shepherd replied, puzzled.
"That's strange. I can't find her anywhere and Darkclaw didn't assign her to any patrols." Spiritstar murmured, scanning the clearing for any sight of her apprentice.
"Swiftpaw might be in the nursery. She likes playing with the pups." Beechpaw said, joining them.
Spiritstar nodded absentmindedly, setting off for the dense thicket of brambles. She shoved her way inside and stood blinking in the darkness. Still not finding the dog in question, she asked the room in general, "Where in the world is Swiftpaw?"
Whitefeather's sleepy voice answered her, "She went out with Hazelpup to give us some peace and quiet, but that was quite a while ago. They should be back by now."
For some reason, this made Spiritstar very uneasy. It wasn't terribly unusual for an apprentice to go off hunting by itself, but pups were a different story. Feeling a tight knot form in her stomach, Spiritstar quickly left the nursery and called Leafpaw.
"Swiftpaw and Hazelpup left camp this morning and haven't been seen since. I'm going to go find them, and I need you to come with me. I have a bad feeling about all of this." She explained.
Leafpaw nodded, "I do too Spiritstar. It isn't like Swiftpaw to leave for so long without telling anyone else."
With that the pair bounded out of the gorse tunnel. Spiritstar picked up Swiftpaw's scent almost immediately and followed it in the direction of the training hollow.
As they got closer, the knot tightened painfully and she slowed. They both stopped in their tracks when another scent suddenly joined Swiftpaw's. Many of ThunderClan still had trouble trusting the apprentice because the faintest wisp of it still clung to her fur.
She turned to Leafpaw, who nodded and ran back in the direction of camp. Spiritstar crept cautiously forward and barely peered through the bushes into the hollow. Swiftpaw stood defensively over Hazelpup as they were surrounded by a group of dogs.
She glared at the golden-furred dog in front of her as he warned the other dogs to wait. This didn't please one of the others, and she snapped, "Oh come on Fadingsun! We've been waiting all day! I want to show this traitor what's what."
Spiritstar silently prayed to StarClan for Leafpaw to hurry up as the one called Fadingsun retorted, "I know Breezewind. But you'll have to wait a bit longer. There's something I'd like to inform my dear sister of." Turning to Swiftpaw, he said smugly, "I've been made deputy."
Spiritstar turned to look for Leafpaw and when she turned back to watch she saw Fadingsun leap at Swiftpaw and barely stopped herself from leaping out right then to stop him. Swiftpaw dodged to the side with Hazelpup and warned her to stay close.
Fadingsun overheard and drawled, "Oh don't worry. You're first, then we'll take care of the pup. Feel free to join in," he told the dogs surrounding them, "But I want my face to be the last one my dear sister sees."
This caused Swiftpaw to leap at him herself. She scored her claws down the side of his muzzle but was hit away by his paw. She landed roughly on the other side of the clearing and slowly raised herself to her paws. By this time the other dogs joined in, and the female from earlier gouged a deep scratch down Swiftpaw's side.
So much blood gushed from the wound that Spiritstar was surprised she could even stand. She tried to fight back, but was unsteady and was thrown across the clearing again. This time she didn't get up, and Spiritstar saw her eyes slowly close.
Unable to hold herself back any longer, she let out a battle cry and leapt at Fadingsun as he stalked toward the fallen apprentice. She landed directly on his back and bit down, hard. Other dogs leapt at her, but she paid no mind as the dog beneath her wriggled and kicked, trying to shake her off. She finally leapt off of the struggling dog and turned on a black and white striped dog.
Breezewind jumped on her back as she fought him, and another dog grabbed her tail. Just as she began to be overwhelmed, she heard Darkclaw's battle cry and Breezewind was wrenched off of her. She turned on the one clinging to her tail and slashed him across the face.
He yelped and turned to run, straight into Redstorm and Jewelpool. Spiritstar glanced quickly around the clearing. Darkclaw was still battling the gray female as Beechpaw and Leafpaw chased two dark mixes into the undergrowth.
Adrenaline pulsed through Spiritstar as she searched for her next foe. She saw a flash of gold and bolted towards the deputy.
"Fadingsun," she called, causing him to turn from the bloody dog in front of him, "Looking for me?"
"Spiritstar," he growled, "Trying to protect my worthless sister? Typical, she always has to have someone fight her battles."
At the same moment, they leapt at each other. Spiritstar dodged around him and clenched her jaws around his hind leg. She then tried to roll away from his flailing paws but wasn't quick enough. Fadingsun scored his claws down her unprotected stomach. She quickly gathered her strength in her legs and heaved upward, throwing him across the clearing, where he landed with a dull thump.
He rose shakily to his paws and snarled, but Spiritstar merely growled, "Give up Fadingsun, its over. You've been defeated."
The deputy looked from his battered and defeated troop to the ThunderClanners standing in a menacing line in front of him.
In a deathly whisper, he retorted, "This isn't over just yet Spiritstar. You can't protect her forever." Then with a small jerk of his head, the half-breeds melted once more into the shadows.
Spiritstar stared at the spot a moment longer before she heard her name being called by Jewelpool.
"It's Swiftpaw…" the shepherd trailed off, her blue eyes clouded with worry.
Spiritstar followed her across the blood-ridden clearing to the small, still form of the apprentice. Hazelpup huddled at her side, her eyes wide with terror.
"Wh-why w-won't S-Swiftpaw wake up?" she whimpered.
Spiritstar bowed her head with her eyes closed to hide her grief. She blinked once and stared at the apprentice. Her eyes widened as Swiftpaw's chest moved feebly up and down.
"She's alive…" she murmured, louder she added, "We've got to get her back-" but was cut off by a long, eerie howl.
Turning, she saw Beechpaw and Leafpaw huddled over the bloody body of their den mate. Beetlepaw was dead.
A/N- Sorry any Beetlepaw lovers, it had to happen. I'm kind of annoyed at myself because it's taking a long time to write chapters lately. I think I'm having semi-writers block because I know what's gonna happen, I just have to figure out how to link all the events together. I'm kind of gonna disappear of the face of the Earth for about two weeks because the eight performances of Beauty and the Beast I mentioned earlier are next week and dress rehearsals are dominating my life right now. So pretty much I'm just trying to stay sane! Sorry! Don't hate me!