'Where am I?'

Lostheart groggily opened her eyes, instantly realizing that she was in a very dark, stuffy place. It took her a few seconds to adjust to the newfound darkness and to pull her sore body up as she remembered just where it was that she was located.

Lostheart squinted and craned her neck back to look up to the opening she knew had to be somewhere above, and sure enough, she could see a faint light where air filtered down into the hole. It was a few feet up from where she currently stood, but with a well aimed leap, she might be able to pull herself out and back into the forest.

The tree she had fallen back on had indeed been deeply rotted, even more so than she had originally suspected. The wood had been soft and hollow, and with the added force of her weight, she had smashed right through it and into the small enclave beneath. As she moved toward the wall of dirt, she could see the roots of the tree winding all around and above her.

A new thought suddenly struck the she-cat; how long had she been asleep? The thought left her stomach churning anxiously. Willowstar had gotten away, and Browneyes was dead.

Lostheart narrowed her eyes in determination at the opening above as she wiggled her haunches and prepared to leap. She needed to return to the fields as fast as possible, her clanmates could be in trouble. She couldn't let anyone else get hurt, not only for herself, but for Browneyes. His death would not be in vain; Willowstar had taken so many lives already, and now he had killed two of her clanmates. This trend would not continue, she would not allow it to continue if she could help it.

Lostheart sprung off the hard earth in a mighty leap with claws outstretched as she rocketed toward the hole above. Her claws caught the edge of the ground and she promptly pulled herself up through the opening with a mighty heave, flinching as the broken bark around the hole scraped against her spine.

Shaking off the dust from her pelt, Lostheart looked around the familiar clearing; it was still dark, that was a good sign. The black she-cat sniffed the air warily, but caught no sign of any other cats or fresh scents around her. Scattered branches from earlier lay scattered around the base of the poor, rotted tree, but Lostheart turned away from the rubble, not wanting to bear the sight of her clanmate's lifeless body a second time. Browneyes would get a proper burial later, but there was no time to do so now, not when TreeClan and DarkClan were still locked in battle. Lostheart mentally prepared herself and dashed off into the forest on her path back to the fields once more, ignoring the pain in her sore limbs. Branches whipped at her face, and thorns tore at her pelt, but she continued on nonetheless, winding her way past and around the obstacles as she ran back towards the battle.

Raggedear let out a tired breath as he watched a pair of TreeClan apprentices run back across the field in defeat. The battle raged on around him; it couldn't even be seen for certain which side was winning. Both groups appeared to stand on even ground, and despite their determination, DarkClan didn't seem to be getting anywhere. The StarClan cats' pelts flashed all around him, and even though he had never voiced his thoughts out loud, Raggedear had never truly believed in the idea. Seeing them now was a shock, but he could not let his mind dwell on these things in lieu of what was currently happening in the forest. Where he and Thistleprick grew up, there was no afterlife or guidance from the stars above, there had only been fighting and death.

Raggedear rapidly flung himself to the side as a pair of fighting cats tumbled past him, one of which he recognized as a DarkClan cat by their starry pelt. This was no time to get distracted by the past, it didn't matter anymore.

Yellow eyes flickered toward the grass off to the farthest side as Raggedear caught sight of Moonfur's pale, gray pelt. She and Greysight had moved closer to the fighting now as the two she-cats fought against Brisingstar. They worked in tandem to lash out and dodge the OceanClan leaders blows, and from what he saw, they were doing just fine. OceanClan and LightClan were not the threat here, and he knew their leaders and cats were weak in both body and spirit; TreeClan was the clan they needed to worry about.

He caught sight of Darkpelt nearby just as the tom delivered a powerful blow to his opponent's jaw before another one of DarkClan's ancestors quickly moved to take over. Raggedear darted toward the familiar flecked tom to fight by his side, knowing two heads were better than one, especially now that there were enemies surrounding him.

It wasn't until he raced over that he caught sight of Thistleprick crouched beside Darkpelt. His brother had some serious wounds, but his eyes were lit up and showed no sign of fear or regret. Darkpelt acknowledged Raggedear with a flick of his tail as midnight blue eyes traveled over the TreeClan cats crouched across from them, sizing them up.

Raggedear blinked in surprise when the TreeClan warriors suddenly began to back away, and he noticed that the entirety of TreeClan had begun to do so as well to the best of their ability. The three toms rose from their fighting positions as they observed their opponents' movements with suspicion and surprise.

Were they retreating?

The StarClan cats moved to gather around them just as TreeClan began forming together again, and to their surprise, the TreeClan warriors began to part, forming a small opening amongst their ranks. Eyes narrowed as Willowstar's large form could be seen making his way up through the warriors, but as he came closer, Raggedear realized the tom was not alone.

Yellow eyes widened in shock as Raggedear looked down the line of newly parted cats just as Willowstar stepped forward and dropped the body of a cat to the ground.

Greysight hissed as she bit down onto Brisingstar's hindleg while Moonfur attacked him head on. The patterned, brown tom growled ferociously and managed to kick Greysight away. He looked as if he was going to strike again, but from behind them, a yowl sounded from TreeClan's lines, instantly causing the OceanClan's leader's, as well as Greysight and Moonfur's, ears to perk.

Moonfur let out a sound of surprise as Brisingstar suddenly shoved past her and bolted back across the field, disappearing amongst the throng of fighting warriors.

Greysight felt the entirety of TreeClan beginning to shift in movement, and immediately her eyes narrowed. She turned to Moonfur and nodded as the two she-cats moved inward back to where their clanmates stood.

Moonfur blinked in confusion as Darkpelt, Raggedear, and Thistleprick became visible amongst the starry, translucent cats; but each tom stood unmoving in place, eyes staring ahead. Moonfur felt a wave of fear wash over her, and she quickly dashed forward to their side with Greysight following behind her, her paws skidding to a halt as she met them and promptly turned to see what had caught their attention.

All the previous glint in Thistleprick's eyes had long since vanished as he slowly turned to look at Darkpelt beside him. Darkpelt made no motion to show that Thistleprick was even there as he stood unmoving in the swaying grass, eyes fixated.

Willowstar's face broke out into a toothy grin as the tom met the eyes of the DarkClan cats, and Moonfur felt her heart tighten at the sight ahead of her.

Willowstar was sitting on the body of a cat.

"Browneyes!" Goldenpaw screamed in anguish. The small she-cat made an attempt to dash across the field, but was promptly held back by a StarClan cat. Her screams chilled the pelts of her clanmates as hisses and angry yowls erupted from their group.

Raggedear felt his heart drop as a large wave pain of washed over him at the sight of Browneyes's lifeless body. He could feel his pelt burning up, and the rage that gripped at his claws, but he held it back along with the warm tears threatening to build up in his eyes from the anger.

'Browneyes!'

The tom had always been so kind. Raggedear's thoughts traveled back to the day he and the three other toms played that ridiculous training game, and how he and the silver tom had worked together and formed a friendship, a bond. It felt as if a deep hole was blown through his heart as he now viewed Browneyes's lifeless body, and he too had to hold himself back from rushing forward to attack the vile tom that now sat atop his corpse with such satisfaction, amusement glistening in his eyes.

Moonfur stiffened beside him and Greysight, shock written all over her face. The blind she-cat beside her immediately felt a wave of sadness and fear wash over her as she realized whose body it was. Greysight unsheathed her claws as a newfound fury overcame her when she realized Willowstar sitting on top of Browneyes; and even more so because there was no sign of Lostheart. Immediately, Greysight was able to put two and two together, and sharp realization and denial took over her in her anger.

Willowstar laughed at the sight of the DarkClan cats.

"You see." Willowstar bellowed. "This is what happens to cats who think they can stop me! Your clanmate here tried to get in the way, and look what has become of him! A truly pathetic effort, really." he snorted. Willowstar smirked to himself as he moved to rest his claws at the top of Browneyes's head, drumming them lightly above the tom's eyes.

"Is this really the best DarkClan has to offer?" he drawled. "A pity-"

"Don't touch him!"

Willowstar's ear twitched at the sound of the furious roar, and slowly, he rolled his eyes upward to meet the voice of the enraged cat who had dared call out to him. Across the small distance between the two clans, he met the eyes of a large flecked tom who had suddenly stepped forward, causing a smirk to make it's way across the TreeClan's leader's bloodied face.

"Hm?"

Darkpelt's body shuddered dangerously as the tom clenched his teeth together and his dark eyes locked on to those of flashing yellow; and in his despair and anger, it was not hard to see the dull sheen that had come over his gaze and begun to form in the corner of his eyes.

"Where's Lostheart?" Greysight screeched after him. "What have you done to her?!"

At the mention of the black she-cat's name, her clanmates glanced around fearfully, and their pelts began to prickle even more; they hadn't even noticed the Lostheart's absence. Darkpelt remained unmoving from where he stood at the front of the warriors, only an enormous amount anger visible in the depths of his furious gaze.

"She has been taken care of."

Lostheart leapt through the opening of the trees and landed gracefully in the grassy field beyond her; not far from where she stood, she could see the two groups of fighting warriors moving away from each other. The action itself confused and worried her, but it did not look like DarkClan was defeated just yet. She ran across the way to where the two groups stood at a face off, but as she neared, she knew something was wrong.

Her clanmates stood at the front of their ancestors, but their eyes were locked forward. Without stopping, Lostheart ran up to their side to join them. Her actions caused an immediate reaction throughout the two crowds, and every cat had turned to look at her in shock. Lostheart didn't pay them much mind, and instead, chose to look beyond Darkpelt and at Willowstar ahead of her. Mismatched eyes widened as she laid eyes on the silver body Willowstar sat on. Anger immediately fueled her body, but she also felt a great wave of pain as her gaze flickered to Darkpelt.

Willowstar appeared baffled by her appearance for a second, but he regained himself easily, eyes narrowing in the process.

"Well," he began, "It appears that Sunstar's daughter has somehow managed to survive yet again."

"I said get off him!" Darkpelt growled ferociously, grabbing Willowstar's attention. The TreeClan leader merely smirked as he watched the tom's growing anger and let his gaze flicker between the three cats at the front of the group.

Willowstar let his eyes drift shut for a moment, and the DarkClan cats watched as his face twitched slightly, and the tom's body began to show signs of anger. In a second, yellow orbs had flashed open again, pupils left to narrow slits.

"Again!" he hissed, claws flashing out from dark paws. "If you want something done right, nine out of ten times you have to do it yourself! My deputy failed in his mission to eliminate Sunstar's spawn, but he was defeated by nothing more than a small, blind she-cat! And now," Willowstar laughed, turning to Darkpelt, "If my eyes do not deceive me, it is none other than the son of Shadestar himself, and if I am not mistaken, Sunstar's apprentice. Oh yes, many clans are familiar with your name Darkpelt, one of DarkClan's most renowned warriors, correct?"

Willowstar grinned at Darkpelt's enraged expression and he gazed down at the cat he sat on.

"Oh? Was this cat precious to you?" he drawled, looking boringly down at Browneyes. His gaze did not last long as he ignored Darkpelt and focused on the two she-cats whose deaths had now become his goal.

"You..."

Willowstar's ear twitched as Darkpelt's strangled voice suddenly spoke up, as if the tom was holding himself back. "You murdered my father, you are responsible for the death of my mother, you murdered my leader and my mentor; you've taken everything from me, and now," Darkpelt growled, anger shaking his body, "You've killed my brother!" Midnight blue eyes flashed open as Darkpelt met Willowstar's gaze evenly without any trace of fear. "I swear to StarClan that I will destroy you!" he yowled, stepping forward.

"Get off of him!"

Darkpelt ran at the great tom, his movements bringing about a spark amongst the warriors as once again the two sides leapt forward to lock against each other in battle as Willowstar was swallowed up by his forces.