A/N: Early update a day late... ;) Typical. But I did have a busy weekend and we had some guests over and I couldn't type and all of that... stuff.
Replies to Reviews:
XxSilverslashxX- haha, very funny :D
Wishheart01- and the next chapter is here!
Silver wolf rain- that's okay! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Stormfeather of LakeClan- that's fine ;) Thanks!
Dragonflywing- you'll see more of that in this chapter! =)
Silvershadow (Guest)- thanks a ton! Hope to see more reviews from you in the future!
Okay, onto the chapter!
Chapter Sixteen: Running Away from Revenge
He swallowed down the nausea that had arisen in his throat and stood tall as he was walked into the ring of cats. He held his head up with pride, for he was better. Not by title now, not by position, not by blood. He was dying for those he loved. He was standing up for what he believed in. But he would never go down without a fight. The clan cats probably wouldn't come at all; he wouldn't put an ounce of trust into that. No, he would die that night but he would take his father down with him. On the opposite side of the clearing the cats parted once again to allow Rezkin and the frightened looking Nimble into the clearing. With one unsheathed paw the twoleg place 'king' lashed out a Nimble, sending her leaping back into the center of the clearing. Akain's ears flicked back as he swore he heard a startled gasp from nearby. He shook his head, dismissing it as nothing, and met Rezkin's glare with his own as one of the cats; a massive gray-and-black patched tom stepped up beside his king.
"Having somebody else do your dirty work now, father?" Akain hissed.
Rezkin snarled, his top lip curling to reveal a set of sharp teeth, "Blood can't spill blood now, can it, son?"
Nimble trembled beside him, causing Akain to press his pelt up against hers almost on instinct.
"A bit too lovey-dovey for me, time to end the party?" the tom questioned Rezkin.
Rezkin flicked his tail, "Yes. It's overdue."
Rabbitpaw perched precariously on the edge of the building, peering down into the place where the execution was about to take place. She shivered in excitement as she watched Akain, wishing only to be as brave as he was being right now.
"Remember; wait until Rezkin gives the order, than drop down onto your target. Try to fall the ones closest to them before moving on. We need to make sure that they are safe."
Right now Rabbitpaw had her eyes set on a skinny looking white she-cat. Now just for the order. She strained her ears to catch onto every word. There.
"Yes. It's overdue."
And she leaped, landing squarely on the she-cat's back. Around the clearing screeches of chaos and confusion arose as the clan cats attacked. The white she-cat used Rabbitpaw's ever-slight waver of attention to curl up under her and knock the apprentice off of her back. Now Rabbitpaw found herself in the bad spot, fending off blows from both the she-cat and a black tom that she had been tossed into. The she-cat landed a heavy blow across Rabbitpaw's nose, sending the apprentice reeling back only to be pinned down now by the black tom, who bent down to deliver the killing bite. Fortunately he was not prepared for the other black blur that came tumbling into his side.
"Stay off my apprentice!" Ravenheart battered him around like a toy.
"S-sammy? Wait! Wait, it's me! Ray!" he stopped defending himself as Ravenheart's blows ceased to fall.
"Why?" Ravenheart snarled, "You were like a brother to me. Why did you join them?"
Ray pinned his ears back, "Life is not always easy; most cats don't get an easy ticket out like you did. You deserted us."
"I didn't desert you! Aliana wanted me to join the clans!" Ravenheart protested.
"Aliana isn't around anymore," Ray swiped his paw over Ravenheart's ears, sending blood into the warrior's eyes.
"How could you say that?" Ravenheart whimpered, clearly hurt not only by just the blow, "Aliana took care of us. She knew what was best for us. She took us in when our mothers wouldn't."
Ray sneered, pinning Ravenheart down, "She apparently didn't know what was best for me. She died."
Ravenheart glanced around uncertainty, "I don't want to do this, brother. But if you aren't a friend of the clan you are my enemy. You tried to kill my apprentice and I can't have that."
"Look who's talking," Ray laughed, his amber eyes dark against the dawn light, "You're the one who-" his legs suddenly crumbled underneath him as Ravenheart lurched up and delivered the killing bite.
Regret flashed in his eyes as he pushed the body off of him and glanced over, horrified to see that Rabbitpaw had watched the whole thing.
"You… you killed him."
"I protected my family from a cat who would have done worse to them," Ravenheart snarled, still reeling from the encounter, "I didn't want to."
Rabbitpaw backed away, her hazel eyes beginning to dawn with understanding, and ran back into the battle.
As soon as the first clan cat fell Akain ran forward to tackle into Rezkin. With the gray and black tom currently occupied with two of the clan cats the path was clear as the enraged tom leaped onto his father, his claws flashing.
"I'm sure that you're glad that your friends came to save you," Rezkin growled as he met Akain paw-for-paw as if he was a loving father playing with a little kit.
Akain only snarled in reply and increased his attacks, dodging blows from Rezkin as he went.
"Well I'm here to tell you, they haven't come to save you. Because before they even get the chance I'm going to kill you," Rezkin landed a hard kick into Akain's stomach that sent him skidding across the clearing.
Akain swore he heard a crack as he landed that was only confirmed when sickening pain flooded his paw. Now hopping on three paws he turned to face Rezkin.
"Boy you're tough," Rezkin sneered, using Akain's disadvantage to quickly maneuver around him and land several heavy blows before he could defend himself.
"Stop this game, Rezkin," a new voice entered the clearing.
"Oh little Grayson, you've grown so much," Rezkin forced out a rough purr that dripped with malice, "So, you decided to join these bunch of scum, I see? It's a shame, you could have been greater than even he," the tom sent a blow into Akain bad leg, making him yowl.
The ForestClan tom smiled, "It's Grayscar now; I'm a warrior for your information."
Rezkin sighed, "Why do all of my sons have to turn out to be failures?"
"Sons?" Akain hissed, "Why you little good for nothing-"
Suddenly Rezkin's own legs collapsed out from under him as a ForestClan she-cat leaped on his back, tearing out half of his throat at the same time.
"That serves you, father," she snarled, letting him go with a parting kick to his back.
Rezkin hissed, but now partially crippled he could do nothing against the warriors.
"Let's go. Bonefoot and Sunleap already got Nadia's daughter out of here. The rest of the clan is going," Grayscar cast one more glare of disgust at Rezkin before turning to Akain, "I'll help you."
Akain shook his head, "I need to finish him."
"There will be reinforcements coming any moment. We need to leave now," the she-cat said quietly.
When Akain shook his head again her brother backed her up, "Hazelblossom is right. We leave now or we all die."
"He'll just recover if we leave him now!"
"Somebody else can finish him then!" Grayscar shot back.
Akain limped forward to his father's figure, "It will be me that will finish-" he was cut off, a shriek of anguish exiting his jaws, as another rogue leaped on his back and caused him to put weight on his paw.
Grayscar leaped and managed to get the rogue off but the damage was already done. Akain closed his eyes, attempting to block out at least some of the pain. It only seemed to intensify.
"Get him home!" Grayscar called to his sister, keeping the rogue at bay.
This time Akain didn't argue.
A/N: Will Akain's paw heal properly? Will all of the ForestClan cats be okay? And what about Ravenheart's past? Did you guys understand that?
Chapter Question: (Forget if I already did this one before or not... I dunno, but maybe your opinion has changed) Who is your favorite main character in this book?
1-Ravenheart
2-Rabbitpaw
3-Wildsong
4-Akain
~Willow