Beginning of the end! Two part ending!

Moons passed, and then a year. Kits were born, apprentices were made, and so was one new warrior. The clans had finally stopped calling us TrashClan, when they saw it didn't bother us. Now it was another full moon, and we were getting ready to leave. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a long long three days.

It had been an eventful year, and sometimes we had a few close calls at gatherings when clans tried to learn out where we lived. I had agreed to be Silvermoons mate, though it took a long time, and my kits had only just been weaned. I had three strong kits, two boys and one girl. The boy who looked like me was called Hawkkit, the other who had a plain silvery pelt was Roaringkit, and the girl who didn't look like us at all was Venomkit. She looked more like my parents, bright green eyes and a pure black pelt. Silvermoon mentioned his mother also had green eyes.

"Mosspaw, Thornpaw, Blackpaw, Glowingstone, Silvermoon, Darkpool, Dustcloud, Hawkflight, Silentwind, Nightfur, and Stripefur! You are all going to the gathering." I ordered, naming nearly all the clan. This left four grown warriors here at camp. Oh and one elder, who was a grumpy loner we took in. He didn't know warrior stories, but he had plenty of stories about doing the correct thing.

We filled out and walked to the island, as usual we were the first cats there so we waited patiently. Soon the other three clans came, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan, but no sign of ThunderClan. After waiting ten minutes the new leader of RiverClan, Greystar, suggested we start without them.

Just then ThunderClan came waltzing in, acting confident. Fangstar jumped up next to me and grinned at me. "I declare war on ThunderClan!"

I shrugged. "Why so happy then?" I asked.

She laughed. "Because we have found out your location. That was why we were so late."

I bristled. "Lies! You are too dumb to do that."

Fangstar sneered. "Wanna bet? Why don't you tell the others now, since we already know."

"Why don't you tell them if you know!" I snapped back.

She laughed. "Because I want to make you suffer by having you tell them."

I shook my head at her stupidity. "Then I just won't tell them and only you will know, and DarkClan can take ThunderClan on any day!"

"Fine. ThunderClan thrives, and we are leaving early!" She yowlled and gathered her clan, leaving.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Heatherstar wondered, then went on. "WindClan thrives, no bad blood here!"

"RiverClan thrives, two new kits."

"ShadowClan thrives, one new apprentice."

"DarkClan thrives, one new warrior, Glowingstone is here with us tonight," I meowed smugly. The warrior that was now mine, could have been ShadowClan's. "Oh, and before we all leave at the request of Moonglow, I will now reveal something. RiverClan has two extra ranks, secrets and elites. You will never spot a secret, but elites are the blind followers who always agree with the leader." I meowed. "Moonglow was once a secret, and these were the secrets when she left. Palepelt, Splashmuzzle, Waveheart, and Snowshimmer."

Greystar bristled. "If ThunderClan was still here, they would suddenly have gained an alley." He spat. "Gathering is dismissed."

They left while DarkClan laughed silently. They would ally with ThunderClan, then fight with them. Allys didn't last long, just same point of views, and everyone hated DarkClan. When they had been gone for a while we finally left. No one would stalk us into our tunnels.

We had just entered a tunnel when one cat hissed alert. Quickly we exited and I saw a cat run away. Someone had found our home! I sniffed the air, and the smell of ThunderClan came to my nose. This had been planned, if they couldn't trick me earlier, then they would just hide a few cats all over or have one stalk us when we thought they had all gone home. It was too late to catch the cat now too.

"Hurry, prepare for an attack! Someone put brambles all over this, no cat is to use the other entrances." I ordered. "Into the tunnels once you have covered the entrance with all the nearby brambles! It's a good thing Dustcloud suggested putting brambles into every entrance to the camp!"

I jumped into the tunnels and ran ahead of the returning warriors to warn the last few cats. "Hide the kits!" I yowled. "ThunderClan is going to attack!"

They put the kits into a hidden tunnel that took us half of forever to find, we didn't even cover the entrance with brambles, only later in it would they encounter brambles. I also put the grumpy elder in there, he promised to protect the kits with his life. He might of been anti-social to the rest of the clan, but he had a soft spot for kits, especially Hawkkit.

My warriors retreated into the camp and we got ready for an attack. Brambles were everywhere in the tunnels now, and the warriors had closed the gaps in them so they would have to tear them open first. The first wave of cats from ThunderClan would be coming in with bloody paws.

"Redstar, I heard the warriors talking and…" Dustcloud came up. "Since we still have a little time before the attack-"

"We aren't sure of that." I meowed.

"Whatever." He meowed gruffly. "Let me get to the point then, we don't want you taking part. We want you to guard the kits."

I froze. "No…" I whispered.

"You must." He urged.

"No… My clan, I must be at front!"

"So you can tear us apart? Sorry Redstar, but you must be the ultimate last line of defense."

"I WILL BE THE FIRST LINE!" I roared. Yelling, but not as loud, I went on. "Back into your dens, now! When I die you are to come out and fight, but only then!"

They did not question me, for the lightning dancing in my eyes. They fled into their dens, and I knew they were fleeing from me. I was showing the monster. Soon I would show the same monster to ThunderClan.

Ten minutes later of uncomfortable silence we heard pawsteps thundering down the tunnels, and much cursing. They had meet our bramble defence, I grinned savagely at this fact. The thing the fog had left behind, I felt it, and I grasped it. I would need it I felt, I would need this, spark? Yes a spark in the fog. I would make it into a fire.

Fangstar burst in first. "ATT- Oh, just you?" She laughed harshly.

I meet her gaze with a calm smile, I was sitting down. "Why yes, it is just me." I meowed.

She was unnerved by this, but did a good job at hiding it mostly. "So, has TarshClan fled you? Ha! An exiled clan, they knew we were here to kill you all and steal your kits!" She laughed again.

I shook my head. "Turn back now Fangstar, there is only a monster here. No cats, just a monster in front of you." I said.

Fangstar looked at the gathering warriors. "What, you think you can take on a clan? Monster or not, you can't defeat ThunderClan one-pawed."

I got up and stretched lazily. "Glad you see that, but I will kill you before I die." I said.

She growled and lunged, her warriors would of helped kill me, but she screeched a quick, "THIS BITCH IT MINE TO KILL!"

I counter attacked by sidestepping and lunging at her side while she was in the air. We rolled, but I had the advantage and landed on top, I clawed at her stomach while she tried to claw at me, and the fog began to settle.

I set the spark ablaze and the fog melted, somewhat. It lurked at the edges of my mind fire, but it just needed to stay there for this battle. Fangstar was a skilled fighter, I needed my wits about me, not brute strength. I thought all this as she managed to slide from my grasp.

I turned at her and hissed. I lunged at her and took a quick swipe at her throat, no time for batting at her or weakening her, that would just weaken me. I wanted to last beyond this battle and take out a few ThunderClan warriors. She dodged and my claws impaled on her shoulder, the fog at the edges of my mind grew stronger. It wanted me to like this, but I refused to.

"I should of slain you were you stood that day!" She snarled, blood dripping from the deep gash in her shoulder.

I meet her gaze with mine, my eyes chips of yellow ice. "Oh, but then the secret would have escaped, the secret that all clans are actually corrupt and cruel." I said.

She screech and lunged at me again, but purposefully landed short and surprised me with a swipe to my throat. I ducked and shot forward, head butting her chest and forcing her to stumble back. As she regained balanced I hooked my paws around her forelegs and pulled forward, forcing her to faceplant in the dirt.

She rolled on he back as I tried to jump on her back, and sunk her claws into my stomach. I untangled myself from her claws and she stood up.

"We trained you well, to bad you didn't die in a training accident!" She meowed furiously.

"Then who would you hate, if not I?" I meowed sweatly.

"I will kill you!" She meowed and ran at me.

Last second I held up an unsheathed paw and her neck ran into it. I shoved deeper and twisted it. "No." I whispered. "I will kill you." And pulled out my paw, making sure to do max damage so her StarClan given lives couldn't heal it.

Her clan screeched and attacked, I put out the struggling fire and thanked it. It didn't occur to me I was thanking my own mind. The fog took over and my vision grew as red as the blood I had just spilt. A few minutes after I blacked out, and then in a sense, blacked out again.

"Greetings Redstar. You have made a wise decision." Came the voice of Brambleberry.

I turned around. "Do I go back, or did they shred my body?" I asked, accepting any fate.

"You can go back." He purred. "You are such a good warrior, and leader."

I was surprised by his praise. "Why praise me? I am a monster, monsters do not deserve praise as such." I said. "The only praise I deserve is good fighter, and I am such a good fighter because I am a monster."

He shook his head. "You are no monster, I know you think you are because of the blood you spill, but you are no monster. The twolegs are the monsters, for they messed with your mind, Heatherstar is a monster for he kills innocent kits on purpose. Would you ever hurt a kit on purpose?" He pressed. "Or mentally destroy a cat so bad she couldn't be around others without danger?"

I looked down, realizing what he was getting at. "Well no… I fight because I must, because I defend the innocent. During the battle I like it, but afterwards I don't like it, no hate it. Only monsters like it, and Fangstar likes it doesn't she?"

He nodded satisfied. "She is the true monster, and so are the others. The future only gets a little better from here. Now return, your clan and kits need you." He meowed.

I gasped, the faint light of the full moon entering the camp. I growled with fury, this was a full moon, right after a peaceful gathering! How dare they attack on such a day, this day of peace? I lunged up, and remembering the dead elders words I rush into the hidden tunnel, one smell reach my nose that wasn't DarkClan. It was Fangstar's.

I saw her tearing at the brambles. "Let me in, I will her kill kits for the lives she took!" Fangstar screeched.

"Impossible!" I gasped. "I, I ruined your throat beyond repair!"

She turned around, grinning bloodily, suggesting she had killed someone, or badly wounded. I looked in the dark and saw Claw the elder. He was struggling, but couldn't move. That brave brave elder, I would avenge him!

"Rest now Claw." I choked out. "This cat is dead!"

"One last life, to take you out, and I will!" She snarled.

I yelled and went to lunge at her, but I forgot about the low roof and brained myself on it. Falling the ground dazed she pounced on me. I felt blood slowly trickle from the new cut on my head, and the burning pain of her claws piercing my flesh. I was unable to move, the tunnels, they were too narrow. Quickly I grew weaker when.

"Mama?" Came the mew from Venomkit. "Mama, stay strong!" She cried from behind the brambles, trying to get through them but unable to.

Her voice lent me strength, this cat wanted to murder my kits! I would stop her, even if it took the rest of my eight lives. Those were my kits! I summoned the last scraps of my strength and threw her up towards the roof. Her head hit a sharp part of it and she feel like dead weight.

I laughed weakly, she was dead for good now, right? No, I was wrong. She struggled up, but I couldn't move, I was used up. The flame in my mind though, it was bright, it was so bright that the fog had fled for good, there was no fog. Just clarity, ha clarity in my dying moments.

Fangstar stumbled over, breathing hard, and I knew she didn't have much left either. She was going to bleed out here, or the brain damage I did to her would end her. "Must kill!" She snarled.

I looked her straight in the eye as the paw came to my throat, right now I was fearless. "I look at a monster."

Even as dying, Fangstar ravaged her throat inflicting worse damage than the now still Redstar had done to her. Redstar was unable to fight back, or defend herself, and Fangstar just kept clawing even when there was no chance of Redstar coming back. She clawed until dead.

Two dead she-cats lay before me, but I, I had to survive. I had to tell the stories and protect the kits in case more cats followed them. I couldn't move though, I was old and a bone was broken. The kittens cried from behind the bramble barrier. They needed me!

I was a harsh old tom, but at that moment my hard heart broke, broke for the motherless kits, and the other kits who might lose their mother too. Lose their mother, father, and clanmates. I struggled, but I could not comfort them. I took Redstars last advice to me, and slept, but I did not go into the forever sleep she feared I might enter. I couldn't do that, not with the kits crying behind me.

Soon Hawkkit stopped crying for mama, and began to cry for. "Claw!"