Chapter 4: How the mighty fall...

Lionblaze sat at the edge of the camp, his cold, narrowed eyes on the dead body of his sister. He looked down at the dusty soil below him. He felt a tail touch his back and turned his head to see Cinderheart looking down at him with her blue eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

Lionblaze rounded on her his back arched, hackles high. She crouched down horrified. "What does it look like? My sister is DEAD and I can do NOTHING ABOUT IT!" he hissed. Suddenly all the cat stares locked on him and he suddenly realised what he had done. He looked around the camp wild eyed and sprinted out of the camp entrance. He stopped when he reached a large tree and sat beside it, shaking. "She was my best friend you know." He heard Cinderheart's voice and he looked at the ground, ashamed of himself. "I know how you feel Lionblaze." He looked up to see Cinderheart's warm gaze on him. "I'm sorry" Lionblaze croaked. Cinderheart shook her head.

"You thought you lost her once, it must be hard to know she is really dead when she had only been back for a while." Cinderheart licked his ear. Lionblaze just looked at the ground too broken to say anything. "How's the clan?"

Cinderheart licked her chest fur then replied. "Bad, Hollyleaf, Mousefur, Ferncloud and Firestar are all dead. The clan won't recover soon. Not to mention the risk of losing more."

Lionblaze lifted his head. "More?"

Cinderheart nodded, "Greystripe, wounded eye, Daisy a nasty scratch, Millie, torn ear, and Dustpelt had a deep scratch on his flank. Also the worst are Cloudtail who has lost loads of blood to a belly rake. Me and Leafpool eventually closed it but if we move him it will open up again. I don't know his odds of survival. Then there's Sandstorm..."

Lionblaze waited in dread.

"She has a bad neck wound and she won't let me touch her. She said she won't he healed until we take a look at Firestar, but we won't cause, well, he's dead. I think she's so upset that it's gone to her head. I don't know what will happen to her." Cinderheart trailed off. Lionblaze coughed. "Then there's you..."

"What!? How can I be seriously injured!?" he lifted his head quickly and a great dizziness crushed his head. His head flopped down to the ground again, he suddenly felt very weak. Cinderheart settled beside him and started to lick his head. "Well, you have a huge scratch on your head, it doesn't look bad but it might have caused some damage already."

Lionblaze felt tired, really tired. Shadows were creeping in his vision and he felt light headed. He tried to get up and Cinderheart took his weight. They slowly walked to the camp but it was too much, just as they got to the entrance Lionblaze could not take it any longer. His legs buckled underneath him and he collapsed to the ground. The last thing he saw was Cinderheart calling out his name and calling for help.

Lionblaze blinked open his eyes to find himself in the medicine den. He felt a warm pelt against his and looked to his left to see Cinderheart staring at him with panicked eyes. Her expression changed to joy when she saw that he was awake. Lionblaze felt a tongue brush his head. He looked up to see his mother. "Thank goodness your awake" she smiled. He was given a warm mew by Squirrelflight who looked worried sick. Next to her was his father. "Bramblestar!" Lionblaze tried to talk but all that came was another zap of pain in his head. "arrgg"

"All right everyone leave!" Lionblaze recognised his brother's practical tone. All the cats left the medicine den except Leafpool and Cinderheart. "Um, Its alright you too, you can leave, Leafpool, if you don't mind will you care for Cloudtail for me, I have my paws full at the moment." Leafpool nodded and left the den. "Cinderheart you can leave." Lionblaze knew his brother was irritated now.

"No, I will stay with Lionblaze." Cinderheart growled.

Jayfeather's tail flicked in impatience, "Fine!" he growled and he went into the herb storage section of the den.

"The clan was really worried." Cinderheart mewed, settling into the nest with Lionblaze. 7

"Why?"

"because your our strongest warrior, no-one would have guessed you would have to be dragged in here!" Jayfeather answered for Cinderheart.

"How long have I been out?" Lionblaze asked.

"Long enough for Bramblestar to get back." Cinderheart mewed.

"Have they buried the bodies yet?" Lionblaze asked suddenly afraid.

"No, come on, its time to say goodbye." Cinderheart leaped out of the nest and waited for Lionblaze to haul himself out. She helped him limp into the clearing.

He saw all the cats around their dead clanmates saying their goodbyes. Lionblaze settled beside Hollyleaf. "Goodbye dear sister." He touched his nose to her fur.

By the time the sun had risen the clan watched the fallen clanmates be hauled out of the camp. Lionblaze felt a tug on his heart when he saw Sandstorm chasing Firestar's body shouting "Where are you taking him?! He needs to be treated!" Lionblaze looked at Jayfeather who was sitting beside him.

"She isn't coping well, we had to hold her down to treat her neck, she still thinks Firestar's alive. His death has sent her mad."Lionblaze sighed, Sandstorm was a good warrior, she will probably be going to the elders den soon. "What about Greystripe?" Lionblaze asked.

"Millie is looking after him, I think he will be okay."

Lionblaze sighed, the clan was falling apart, who knew what was going to happen next...

There you have it! Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me anything I have done wrong so I can change it! Thank you and keep watch new chapters coming soon!

Till next time!

Neon