I keep forgetting to mention this, but this part of the story and the upcoming one will most likely be shorter than Part One. I felt the need to tell you. :) Thanks for reviewing and enjoy this...fight...

Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Frozenleaf screeched as the fox lunged for her. Dodging, she stumbled a few tail-lengths down the hill, and her back right paw jabbed into a stone. "Mouse dung," she yowled, pain flowing through her leg. The fox looked at her, anger flaring like a dancing flame in its eyes, it's eyes so consumed in hatred.

She noticed how her claws slid out, how clean and sharp the reaction was. She knew she had to defend herself, but she vowed she would not use them to kill. Pain attacked her brain, freezing it like it had done twice before. The world fell apart piece by piece, falling into the darkness that left her paws dangling in nothingness. Claws closed over her throat, preventing breath, but she soon realized that the fox had grasped her around the neck, and it lifted her.

Suddenly the fox's head jerked to the side and Frozenleaf was released. Coughing, she turned to see why the creature had dropped her.

Greyson threw a blow to the fox's face. His eyes were lighted with fury, his lips peeled back to reveal sharp white teeth. When the fox attempted to grab him, he twisted out of reach and struck it again.

Frozenleaf looked at him. "Back off! I can take it!" Her fur quivered and the headache that had attacked her just moments earlier pounded in her head. It was like a signal, that she needed it.

"You're in no condition!" shouted Greyson, jumping away from the fox's snapping jaws.

She ignored him and leaped into the fight. Her teeth closed around the fox's shoulder, and it howled to the sky in pain. Greyson immediately took advantage and clawed the flank of the russet-furred creature. As the stones under their paws were starting to be flecked with blood, Frozenleaf released her hold on the shoulder and went for the neck.

The fox saw the attack coming and tilted its head to keep her from getting any grip. She landed upon the rocks and the fox whirled around, knocking her with its one untouched shoulder and extending its paw to hit Greyson tail-lengths away. The blue-eyed cat stumbled, and the fox lunged.

Frozenleaf rushed forward and clasped the creature's tail in her jaws. With a shriek of fury, the fox whirled and now stood over her, a murderous look in his eyes.

"Why do you want us?" she asked, as if the animal could understand her. "We're nothing but flesh and bones." She lashed out a paw to strike her opponent, but it lurched to the side and she went off balance. Frozenleaf heard the fox snarl ravenously, and braced herself for its teeth.

But the never came.

She looked up, only to find that the fox was now facing her companion, and it looked mad. Greyson seemed to be messing with it, trifling its temper.

"Careful," she called through gritted teeth. "It's a nasty one."

"Definitely determined to kill us," he meowed back, skidding slightly.

The fox would not be messed around with any longer, for it swiftly dove for the throat of Greyson. He yelped, and jumped as if he were a frog. Now both of them stood across from each other, the fox the only thing that separated them.

"Greyson!" Frozenleaf yowled.

"I'm alright!" he yelled.

Just as she was about to run forward, a flash of green appeared beside Greyson, as well as agony in her mind. She paused and fell, writhing. Her eyes went unfocused, and the world spun around her.

But one thing was clear in her sight.

Greyson stumbled forward...

...as if he was pushed...

...and fell directly...

...into the jaws...

...of the fox.

Frozenleaf had no clue who the screams belonged to. All she knew was that the wave of blood that washed over the stones was sure in mind before she saw nothing but blackness.

And a pair of green eyes.

She was awake, but could not bring herself to open her eyes. Every part of her hurt, and her paws throbbed. She moaned, like someone would come for her, but she knew she would have to continue in her own.

Frozenleaf slowly opened her eyes.

The land was dim around her, and it took her a heartbeat or two to realize that she was lying in the sunset of the day. The clouds above were dark gray, but the snow had stopped completely and there was a small patch of pink sky somewhere off in the distance.

Frozenleaf managed somehow to push herself off the ground, though in the process, she fell off balance and made contact again with the stones under her, but once she was up, she was alert. The memories rushed in, flaming the blood in her veins. Her eyes darted back and forth, up and down, until her gaze rested on the edge of a pool of blood.

It was dark on the rocks. She feared to look up any further for what she was about to see, but she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and jerked her head up.

Greyson, eyes closed, paws twitching, chest heaving with the struggle of life. His neck had a deep wound, a lot less mangled and gruesome than the body of Lionfire. Frozenleaf swallowed at the memory and padded forward swiftly.

"Greyson!" she exclaimed.

His eyes opened, when the rested upon her figure, he let out a shaky breath that soon expanded into a sigh. His voice was a croak. "Frozenleaf..."

"You're alive!" she said, feeling tears around the rim of her eye. "You'll be okay. You'll survive, I promise. I-"

"Don't promise," he rasped. "You'll only break it in the end. "You can't fix me. I can already feel myself...slipping away."

"No," Frozenleaf cried. "Don't die, please don't leave me! I'll be alone again! I can't bare myself when I'm alone! I'm my own nightmare in the waking world. I'll ruin myself if I have to face the future alone! I need you! I need help!"

"Please," Greyson whispered, "You don't need me. I couldn't leave a stinking cave for the me." He blinked, blue eyes starting to cloud. "Don't be sad. Be happy. I am happy, for I am not afraid to die." He voice grew quieter. "I will see my family. See Lilac, see Kayla, see Tony. My whole family will be waiting for me."

"How do you know?" Frozenleaf asked.

"There is a place my mother would tell us about, where cats go after they die to watch the world below them." His gaze rested on the sky. "To us, the place is the sky of stars in the night, but it is really so much more..." His eyes closed again.

"How...how do you know about that place?" Frozenleaf asked, stunned. He was speaking of StarClan. She knew he was.

"Before she was a kittypet, my mother belonged to a Clan of cats, far from here. She ran when she was very young, I do not know why, but she always told us stories of her family, and a lot about her brother." Greyson's breath went shallower as he paused. "I...believe his name...was...Hail...bla...ze..."

"Greyson," Frozenleaf mouthed.

"I...will...watch...you..." Greyson whispered.

His body went still.

She was nearly as motionless as he.

Despite his shocking words, Frozenleaf could not bring herself to think about it. She stood over his body, gazing sadly at his blue eyes, so clouded, so empty, but she knew, deep in her heart, that he was happy where he was.

So why couldn't she feel happy herself?

Ever so suddenly, the same freezing pain as felt many times before stalked her. She could feel the cruel claws around, waiting for the right moment to attack her. She braced herself for the pain of being trapped in the cold, where nothing happens but agony ripping and tearing away her insides and carving a morsel out of her. Anger swept through her body.

"Why?" she yowled. "Why me? Why most you take everything I ever cared about and shatter it over the stones?" She looked down at Greyson's body. "At least you have StarClan. They have abandoned me in the snow!"

Her claws unsheathed and she ran them over the rock she was standing on. Thin white marks formed under. Her claws led the marks to the pool of Greyson's blood, and as soon as she touched it, the icy pain ambushed her.

She tried escaping it. She tried to control herself, but all she was capable of was drowning in her own screams of terror.

Okay, so that was shorter than most of my chapters.

First, I know I'm a horrible person for killing Greyson but it had a meaning, which will come soon in the story. You can tell me you're angry, because I expect you to be, but don't wonder why I did it.

Second, the thing with Hailblaze. I know you are all incredibly confused and will give me a bunch of questions asking how this is relevant to the story. Well, not to this one, but it is for a future book: Hailblaze's Story. Connections, connections, how Warriors is full of them. Am I right?

~Destiny