Raggedear couldn't help it as he stumbled through the forest, his paws beginning to fail him. He stopped briefly to regain his sense of balance against one of the many thick trees, its base more than twice his size.

Chest heaving, the tortoiseshell pushed himself off the trunk and continued forward, his legs shaking with each step. He barely knew where he was going, and was acting only on the knowledge he had received from Greysight while they had maneuvered through the territory previously. Raggedear could only continue to walk the path he believed would lead to the cliff. There was no point in being stealthy now, any cat could easily detect the sound of his movement and the heavy scent of his blood. He hoped that they would all be too distracted by the attack at the other TreeClan camp to pay him any attention.

Raggedear limped as quickly as possible over the lush grass, staining each blade a bit darker with every step; his wounds hadn't stopped bleeding yet. He couldn't even open his left eye as it was flooded by the blood that dripped from the cut on his forehead.

I have to keep my word, he told himself as he raised another leaded paw and stepped over a large root.

In his mind, he could see Amberpaw's smiling face, and with that, he was able to push himself. But his body was his enemy now, dragging him down.

'You're weak, Raggedear. You know that I'm stronger; let me take over, stop trying to block me out. You know that I could annihilate them.'

'No.'

Raggedear listened as the voice went quiet in his head, but he could feel anger burning in the back of his mind.

'I don't need you. I can do this myself.' he said.

'Idiot!' It snarled.

Raggedear blocked the voice out completely; he was too weak, and in too much pain to be distracted by anything else. He could never help anything or anyone, and he knew that. It was true that he was weak, but that didn't mean he was going to give up. He would try to save her. He owed her that much, he owed all of them...

Raggedear picked up his pace, wincing slightly when quick shots of pain erupted in his leg muscles.

He would do this on his own.

The scent of TreeClan cats lingered in the air, creating an airborne path for him to follow, one which he hoped would lead him straight to Amberpaw.

It didn't take long for Raggedear to see the wall of stone between the trees that signaled his arrival at the cliffs, and the scent of cats became stronger. Hiding was pointless.

After a brief moment of standing in silence, Raggedear looked up with hard, yellow eyes and stepped forward through the bushes.

He walked into a small clearing and immediately froze, his only good eye glancing around in alarm. Four cats stood in the clearing, all looking at him with amused faces. Almost as if they were expecting him.

"Raggedear!"

At the sound of that soft, familiar voice, Raggedear's eyes traveled straight across the clearing to where Amberpaw stood trembling behind Pineneedle.

Raggedear could see the fear in her eyes, and hear it in her voice. His pelt burned hot with anger as he beheld Amberpaw's captors, and he locked gazes with Pineneedle; the TreeClan deputy's green eyes glinted in the light, poisonous, as his warriors each took a step forward, lowering themselves for a fight.

Pineneedle and Amberpaw stood the furthest away, shielded by the four warriors spread out among the trees. Raggedear's eyes narrowed; it was clear that the second he took another step, they would be on him in a heartbeat.

By now, the sunlight had begun to fade from the forest, darkening the canopy with the threat of the oncoming storm.

Raggedear flexed his claws as the blood dripped from his wounds and onto the ground beneath him. And then he moved.

His walk was steady and constant as he limped toward Amberpaw, who now watched with wide, fearful eyes. The first of the warriors ran at him, but at the second he came within range, Raggedear grabbed hold of the warrior's head in his claws, and moved to avoid his hold.

His body practically screamed as he made such a rapid movement, and suddenly his limbs felt like stone, and for a second, he thought they would drag him down.

But then, with as much effort as he could muster, he slammed the warrior headfirst onto the ground using both paws, effectively putting him out of consciousness. Breathing heavily now, Raggedear gasped and released his claws from the warrior's fur and stepped past him, limping worse than before, expression unchanged as he continued toward Amberpaw.

The second TreeClan warrior let out a hiss of rage after seeing his clanmate fall and sped towards the notorious DarkClan rogue.

"You filth-!" he roared.

The tom closed in and decided to lash out when Raggedear lurched to avoid his attack in an awkward motion before using his hindlegs to push off the ground and push himself headfirst into the other tom's side. The tom let out a strangled choking sound as Raggedear's claw met his throat- he had not been quick enough to push Raggedear off, and soon the blood gathered in his throat and he began to choke on it.

Raggedear tore out his claw and moved over the tom's body, numb to the whole world. His ears rang loudly so that he could not even hear the sound of the tom's haggard breathing, or his coughing and spitting on the dirt.

Raggedear stumbled toward Pineneedle, the blood from his wounds now dry on his pelt. The final warrior stepped between the path of he and Pineneedle with his legs spread apart. He looked on in shock at Raggedear's beaten and bloodied form.

Slowly, the cat took a step back, looking between Pineneedle and Raggedear before turning tail and running off into the forest. Pineneedle's eyes narrowed in disgust as he watched him go, but he said nothing. LightClan cats were so pathetic.

Raggedear finally came to a stop when he stood across from Pineneedle, eyes looking back to the trembling apprentice behind him.

"Let her go." he growled, his voice sounding dry and cracked.

Pineneedle smiled as he eyed the horribly injured DarkClan warrior. Then suddenly, he turned and his claws went to Amberpaw's back, right above her neck, and he pushed her small body to the ground. Amberpaw shook under his claws, eyes clenched tightly shut as she trembled.

"Don't touch her!" Raggedear yelled; he wanted to move, but he stopped as Pineneedle pressed his claws in deeper and a thin trail of blood ran down Amberpaw's side.

"Ah, ah ,ah," Pineneedle chided. "If I were you, I wouldn't take another step-Unless you want poor Amberpaw here to die."

At his words, Amberpaw's eyes opened and she looked up at Raggedear, clearly frightened by Pineneedle's words. Raggedear narrowed his eyes threateningly at Pineneedle, but complied nonetheless, taking a small step back.

"That's better." Pineneedle meowed. "My life is much more important than hers, I can assure you- You won't lay a claw on me... This apprentice is part of TreeClan now, her life belongs to Willowstar! Don't you understand? She has been blessed with one of the greatest honors of our time, one that I can only ever hope to achieve as the time approaches."

Raggedear watched as Pineneedle became increasingly animated, and his eyes glowed.

"Soon, even I will become a part of Willowstar and everyone will-"

Pineneedle was cut off suddenly as Amberpaw struggled out of his grasp and leapt onto him, biting hard into his shoulder while he was distracted.

Pineneedle let out a hiss of rage and moved to pull her off; then Raggedear, seeing his chance, leapt at the skinny, brown tom and dug in his claws. Amberpaw leapt off as Raggedear pinned Pineneedle down, but the action was short-lived as Pineneedle roughly jammed his hindlegs into Raggedear's belly, causing the wounded tom to double over in pain.

Amberpaw hissed and leapt onto Pineneedle's back once more, biting the nape of his neck as she scrambled to keep her grip while he tried to shake her off. She was successfully able to distract him long enough for Raggedear to pull himself up again and slam Pineneedle into the tree behind them.

Pineneedle winced and slid down against the trunk, his head spinning from the impact. Vibrant green eyes opened as he gazed up at the mottled warrior standing above him.

"See." Pineneedle meowed hoarsely. "You can kill me, take my place now and join with Willowstar yourself..."

Amberpaw stood back behind Raggedear as he stared down at the defeated TreeClan deputy. Her eyes widened as Raggedear's claws flashed, slicing away at the patch of bark beside Pineneedle's head. The tom froze, and then slowly his eyes moved to look at the marks beside him.

"I'm not like you..." Raggedear meowed, backing off slowly.

Pineneedle remained where he was as Raggedear turned away and limped back toward the forest with Amberpaw now trailing by his side. The young she-cat glanced back at Pineneedle before they vanished from sight, but Raggedear did not.

Raggedear had told her to stay quiet, but besides that, the tom didn't say anything as he led her through the trees. Amberpaw watched him, worried, as he winced with every step, becoming slower and slower.

"Raggedear?" she meowed quietly.

Slowly, Raggedear stumbled sideways against a tree, his breathing coming out in slow painful breaths.

"Raggedear!"

Amberpaw hurried to his side and attempted to pull him up, but the tom was too heavy. Still, she tried desperately to help him to his paws. "Please, please try to stand up!" she begged.

Raggedear leaned forward, clenching his teeth before slumping back against the tree. He let out a breath.

"Come here." he meowed, only able to see Amberpaw as a blur in his distorted vision. Sounds were going in and out.

Slowly, Amberpaw padded up to him and sat down. His normally bright, yellow eyes now seemed so dull; she had never seen him look so beaten.

"Hey..." he meowed, offering her one of his tired half smiles. Tears began to form in the corners of Amberpaw's eyes as she looked at Raggedear's mangled body.

"You're strong Amberpaw." he meowed. "I know you can make it back without me." Raggedear's head turned slowly to the side so he could see her clearly with his good eye. "You need to go..."

"But-"

"You can do anything when you put your mind to it." Raggedear told her, "You just have to keep telling yourself that you can, and I know you can."

Amberpaw began to shake slightly as the small tears slipped down her fur.

"Raggedear...no-I..I can't-"

"It's okay." Raggedear breathed, shaking his head slightly. "I know it's hard...When I was young, I had to leave my home...and I remember how hard it was for me to do that, but think of your mother, and your family. You need to make sure they're safe... I know it's hard, but you can do it. You have to take care of them."

Amberpaw looked away from Raggedear, sniffling a bit.

"I understand." she meowed, her voice wavering slightly as she tried to convince herself. She didn't want to leave him behind, but she also knew that she was too small to carry him, and she shouldn't refuse her mentor's order.

"Find the rest of the clan...they should be looking for us by now; then, if you can, get to the river and back onto DarkClan territory where it's safe."

Amberpaw looked down at the grass beneath them and clenched her eyes shut as the tears rolled down the sides of her face, her body shaking lightly with small sobs.

"And Ambererpaw-" Raggedear continued, causing the she-cat to look at him once more. "Don't forget to watch your balance, alright..." he meowed lightheartedly, voice trailing off as his eyes closed.

Then he went quiet.

"...Raggedear?"

Raggedear's eyes opened a little more and he blinked tiredly as if he were falling asleep. "Don't worry...about me...

"Bad things happen sometimes, and it isn't fair...but you can't let their memories run your life...Don't be afraid, you can make it out of here..."

Raggedear smiled tiredly at Amberpaw and leaned his head back against the tree.

Amberpaw backed away, pausing to look at her mentor one last time. With her now tearstained face, she looked briefly into the surrounding trees, and back at him.

It was time to go.