A/N: Hey, two chapter in one day! Is this even possible? ;) Warning - the ending of this is kinda dark. This is honestly my favorite chapter, but you might not agree... You'll see why.
This is the start of the climax! I'm excited! Action! We like writing actions scenes... and reading action scenes...
Enjoy!
Chapter 18 | Invasion
"Dawnpaw! Get up!" hissed Honeypaw.
Dawnpaw blearily rubbed her eyes. "What for? It's not dawn yet."
Six moons had passed and the apprentices all knew that Honeypaw had a crush on Falconpaw now. In addition to that, which Hollypaw did not care for, the apprentices now knew how to hunt, fight, and in Hollypaw's case, heal very well. Swiftbreeze had even taught her how to assist a queen in giving birth. Ferncloud had two males and one she-wolf, delivered by Hollypaw. Their names were Hawkcub, Duskcub, and Mothcub.
"If you don't come see this I'll put shriveled moss in your nest!" hissed Honeypaw.
Dawnpaw sat up and carefully followed Honeypaw out. "What's the big rush?"
Honeypaw pointed at the ridge. Starkly outlined against the bright moon were countless IceClan warriors.
"Tell Lightningclaw!" hissed Dawnpaw. She spun around and howled as loudly as she could, "Invasion!"
"Falconpaw is on guard up there!" The whites of Honeypaw's eyes showed as she paled in fear.
Dawnpaw bit down a curse. "We could take matters into our own paws… hey Dustpaw, get over here!" Dustpaw sensed the urgency in her voice and dashed over. "What is it?"
Honeypaw quickly filled him in.
"Okay," Dustpaw whispered. "Let's do this… One of us sneaks up and hides Falconpaw. And one of us warns the warriors. Then the battle distracts all the IceClan warriors, or most of them, and then we can sneak in and get Falconpaw."
He glanced over at the sleeping apprentices. "Wake up, guys!" Dustpaw whispered loudly.
Stormpaw blearily opened his eyes. "What is it?" he mumbled sleepily.
Honeypaw hissed, "IceClan is attacking! They've got Falconpaw trapped!"
The apprentices sprang up. Dustpaw whispered, "Poppypaw, take the tunnels to the warriors' den and warn the warriors!" Poppypaw nodded and dashed into the tunnel.
"What if it's too late?" whispered Honeypaw, her voice rising to a wail. "He could be dead already!"
"We need Hollypaw," Dawnpaw snapped efficiently. "She'll fix his wounds."
"Hollypaw's needed in the battle," Dustpaw retorted.
"No, she's going to heal afterwards like Swiftbreeze. Hollypaw! Get over here!"
Hollypaw dashed over, approved the plan, and volunteered herself and her black pelt to do the sneaking part in less than three heartbeats.
"Someone's hyper," Dustpaw mumbled sleepily as the apprentices took their places.
"Shut up!" Honeypaw hissed. "Falconpaw's life is on the line!"
As Hollypaw snuck up the ridge right next to the entrance of camp, Honeypaw realized that something was very, very wrong. Sixteen IceClan warriors pinned Falconpaw and looked around, their beady malicious eyes searching for something.
Something meant Hollypaw, Honeypaw realized in an instant. "Abort! Hollypaw, abort!" she screamed. But it was too late. Hollypaw had fallen into the IceClan trap.
Dustpaw met up with Honeypaw. He too had had the realization. "They're going to hold Hollypaw and Falconpaw for ransom," he whispered hoarsely. "We played right into their hands."
Frostfur and Windrunner came tearing into the apprentices' den. "Is everybody okay?" whispered Windrunner.
Dustpaw replied, "They've got Falconpaw and Hollypaw trapped! They're planning for a ransom!"
Windrunner and Frostfur exchanged horrified glances. Frostfur looked up to the bright, cold moon and murmured, "Oh, MoonClan, keep our cubs safe."
Lightningclaw came padding quickly out of the tunnel into the apprentices den with Poppypaw following, ducking to avoid the brambles. He growled, "Apprentices, that was a very foolish thing to do. You need to always tell me first. I won't punish you… this time. IceClan is invading. Try to stay with your mentors, but if you get separated, use your skills wisely. Fight like rogues if you must. IceClan no longer fights by the warrior code. They will fight to the death if they must."
"Poppypaw and Honeypaw," he lowered his broad head and looked them squarely in the eye. "You two are great stalkers. I need you two to spy on IceClan. I cannot stress this enough: stay out of sight. Those fox-hearts would kill you two on sight. If you see them harm Hollypaw or Falconpaw, come back and report to me. Also, try to find out their plans, and how many of them are here. Stormpaw will go with you. Split up to find out more information. If you need us, we will be in the Cold Cave. Now, go, and stay out of sight." The three apprentices darted out of the den, hopefully unnoticed by IceClan.
Lightningclaw turned to the rest of them. "Sneak into the Cold Cave. There are tunnels leading to it in each of the dens." He stepped back and waited until all had gone into the tunnel beneath a bed of brambles, then followed them down the cold, musty cave.
When they got to the Cold Cave, the rest of the warriors, Yellowtail and her cubs, and Swiftbreeze were all waiting in a dark corner. At the sight of their leader, they padded out and listened while Lightningclaw addressed them. "IceClan does not know that we are here. Two of our apprentices, Hollypaw and Falconpaw, have been taken captive, and Stormpaw, Poppypaw, and Honeypaw are currently spying on IceClan. I have a battle plan." All the warriors listened closely.
"We will split into two groups: Riverclaw, I want you to lead one group. Take with you Redheart, Thunderpaw, Firefoot, Frostfur, Hazeltail, and Songbird. I will lead the other group: Growlthroat, Dustpaw, Windrunner, Dawnpaw, and Ferncloud. Sunrise, stay with Yellowtail and the cubs down here to protect them. Riverclaw, you will sneak behind IceClan and begin the initial battle by attacking them. My group will attack from the leader's den. Swiftbreeze, stay well hidden and heal our warriors if injured. Fight if necessary. All of you, fight like rogues if you have to. IceClan will fight dirty. Also, mentors, try to stay with your apprentices. May MoonClan be watching over us." With that last statement, the wolves separated into their groups.
Swiftbreeze thought, Lightningclaw seems so grown up. What happened to the little cub Yellowtail and I raised? But then, Lightningclaw came bounding up to her with the excited glint in his eyes that he always had before a fight. He said, with a playful sparkle in his eyes, "If they have a medicine wolf with them, I'll remember what you and Leopardclaw taught me." Swiftbreeze grinned, remembering fondly the time when Lightningclaw had been an apprentice; she, Yellowtail, Leopardclaw, Stormstar, and Sparrowstar had fought Lightningpaw. He had learned that in order to win a battle, he must first defeat the medicine wolf/lion, and then the rest of the Clan would be vulnerable.
Lightningclaw led his group through one of the many tunnels in the Cold Cave, thinking, I hope I'm not leading my Clan into danger. He shook his head. Lightningclaw knew that he had to focus on the battle, and not what could become of it.
As they neared the leader's den, Lightningclaw became more and more excited as he heard the battle howls of his warriors and IceClan's. He quickened his pace, and carefully jumped from boulder to boulder that would lead them up to the forest.
Finally, Lightningclaw and his group were in the forest. They bounded through the undergrowth and around trees to where the other wolves were fighting. Peeking through a bush, Lightningclaw's heart nearly stopped- tons of IceClan warriors were brutally fighting his warriors, three-on-one. WaterClan was greatly outnumbered.
Lightningclaw drew in a sharp breath and howled, "WaterClan, attack!" He and his group streamed through the bushes and attacked the IceClan warriors. With an ear-splitting howl, Lightningclaw launched himself into the swarm of fighting wolves. Riverclaw looked up from tackling Birchheart and gave Lightningclaw a nod of gratitude. Lightningclaw just blinked excitedly, then turned and bowled over Mossfire, taking the red-brown warrior by surprise. She jumped up, but he was ready. Lightningclaw grabbed her scruff and swung her at Waspfeather, knocking both of them over. Then he pounced on them and slashed at their stomachs and faces. They howled in rage and pain, then scampered away into the undergrowth.
Feeling pleased with himself, Lightningclaw shoved through the wolves, and remembering to take down the medicine wolves, looked for Gorsepelt, Cedarheart, and Lilypond. He sniffed the air, and finally located their scents nearly masked with marigold smell behind a nearby oak. Dropping down into a stalking crouch, he crept up to them.
Without warning, he launched himself at them and slammed right into them. Lightningclaw swiped Cedarheart away from the tree and clawed him in the muzzle. The wolves stared at Lightningclaw's huge bulk for a second before their measly training kicked in. Lilypond aimed weak strikes at Lightningclaw's muzzle that barely connected with fur while Gorsepelt and Cedarheart seemed reluctant to fight.
"Go," Lightningclaw snarled, his fur bushing up. "Out of my territory. Now."
The three wolves tripped over themselves in an effort to scramble out of WaterClan territory.
Lightningclaw watched them go, then tore the herbs apart till they were nothing but little slivers of plants, scattered and buried in the ground. Then he raced back into the battle.
()()()()
Stormpaw, Honeypaw and Hollypaw stalked the edge of camp to where Falconpaw was hidden. They got him out, and all was going well until one of the IceClan warriors lost his balance. He tripped over a rock, obviously unused to the kind of ground near the WaterClan camp, and his point of view shifted. The three apprentices were starkly outlined.
He roared and all sixteen of the warriors leaped for the apprentices. "RUN!" Honeypaw screamed. The two she-wolves made it, but Falconpaw's bulkier frame was immediately injured. He screamed in pain.
Honeypaw stood frozen in shock while Hollypaw tried to lift Falconpaw away. "We need herbs!"
Snowstar padded forward and faced the three apprentices. "Trying to do a little rescue mission, huh?" Her eyes gleamed, and she howled, "IceClan, attack!" A swarm of IceClan warriors lunged for the apprentices; it was at that moment, however, that Riverclaw and his group lunged out from hiding and attacked IceClan. Honeypaw and Stormpaw dragged Falconpaw into the bushes.
Frostfur came hurtling into the bushes. Her eyes darkened at the sight of her unconscious cub. A deep snarl sounded in her throat. She grasped Falconpaw by his scruff and muttered around her mouthful of fur, "Stormpaw, if you can, Riverclaw needs you. Lightningclaw wants all apprentices to stay with their mentors." Frostfur nodded at Hollypaw and Honeypaw. "I need you two to come with me. I'm taking him to Swiftbreeze." Stormpaw dashed off and the two she-wolves followed Frostfur.
Once at the medicine den, Frostfur gently laid Falconpaw down on a makeshift bed of moss, then left to go fight. Swiftbreeze and Hollypaw worked hard to get him put back together. Falconpaw was injured worse than Lightningclaw had ever been.
"Will he live?" whimpered Honeypaw as Falconpaw hissed in pain, too weak to do anything more than that, and then slid back into unconsciousness.
"I don't know," Hollypaw said as she patched up a large belly slice. "It's almost certainly-" She realized what she was going to say and stopped.
"You mean he's probably going to die," Honeypaw whispered, her voice shaking.
"I didn't- I- well, I don't know." Hollypaw sounded unsure as if she was positive that Falconpaw would die. Honeypaw's emotions wavered even more.
Swiftbreeze's crisp, efficient tone sounded. "Honeypaw, please go help with the battle."
Honeypaw had never disobeyed Swiftbreeze before, but this was different. She wanted her own face to be the first thing Falconpaw saw when he woke up. She looked Swiftbreeze in the eye like she'd seen Yellowtail do to Sunrise. "No. I'm staying. I'm staying with Falconpaw."
Swiftbreeze looked like she expected this to be her answer. "Then go stand guard." She looked into her stores and winced. "Hollypaw, we're out of marigold. Please get the horsetail and remind me after the battle to collect some more marigold, but with a warrior. It only grows on the FrostC- I mean, IceClan border." Her apprentice nodded and scampered off.
After a long while on guard, Honeypaw began to get more anxious. Falconpaw couldn't die! He had a life ahead of him. Now, if Riverclaw died, she would be fine-
She colored red. All her Clanmates were precious, no matter how old they were or how well she knew them or what sort of a destiny they had. Honeypaw stuck her head back into the den. "Is he all right?"
"Yes," Swiftbreeze called. "You can move him to the apprentice den or somewhere safer and stand guard for him."
Honeypaw gave a crisp nod, happy to do something for her Clanmate. She picked Falconpaw up by the scruff of his neck and raised her head high, determined to not let him touch the ground. She jumped over perilous boulders to get to her destination: a small, unnoticed cave next to the leader's den. Although it was crawling with mice and prey and had a good source of water, no one would ever look at it because its entrance was too small for even Swiftbreeze to get into.
However, a small wolf apprentice could easily slide through, so Honeypaw carefully placed Falconpaw inside the dimly lit cave and then slid through herself. A glance down to camp assured her that Swiftbreeze knew where they were.
Heartbeats turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours and still the battle cries raged on. Honeypaw started pacing. She knew it should be her down there, fighting for the battle. Then she stiffened as IceClan warriors pounded past the den.
In a way, she was fighting for WaterClan, by protecting an injured Clanmate.
Just as she'd predicted, no one spared a second glance at the cave. Once she was sure that the enemies were past, she caught a mouse to eat and lapped some water. It was too dark for her to use her tiny knowledge of first aid skills on Falconpaw, though his head seemed hot. Honeypaw couldn't remember if this meant the heat was killing infection or if he'd gotten a disease and the heat was killing that, or if he was just overheating.
Honeypaw wished Hollypaw were there. Despite being only halfway through her training, Hollypaw could probably diagnose an IceClan warrior while the warrior tried to kill her.
Just as she thought that, Hollypaw shrieked, louder and more terribly than Honeypaw had ever heard her, accompanied by an IceClan warrior's savage growl.
"How could you?" Hollypaw wailed. "You savages! I can't believe you did this! Why would you wound an already hurt warrior?"
"Shut up if you don't want us to do it again- this time to you," the IceClan warrior snapped. With a jolt, Honeypaw realized that the voice belonged to Snowstar.
The sounds of Snowstar jumping onto the Great Rock tingled Honeypaw's ear fur. "Attention WaterClan," she hissed loudly. "IceClan is taking over your camp. Any dissenters will be killed immediately. Surrender now."
()()()()
Hollypaw shrank into the medicine den as Snowstar made her proclamation. IceClan warriors flooded the camp. Swiftbreeze leaned down at Hollypaw and whispered, "Hide in the herb stores! There's a small crack and it might be too small if so go into the Cold Cave through another entrance because there isn't an entrance in this den-"
An IceClan warrior pulled Swiftbreeze away. Shaking with fear and exhaustion, Hollypaw shakily pulled herself into the crack in the herb stores, remembering to grab a bit of wet moss and a mouse before she went. She didn't know how long her black pelt would have to blend in with the shady rock.
Trembling, Hollypaw listened to the terrible announcements happening. "As an example of what happens when you defy IceClan," Snowstar growled in a terrible voice, "we'll show you with your medicine lion."
A scream sounded. Snowstar listened with satisfaction. "Soon. Soon you'll realize that resistance is futile. IceClan is always superior."
Yellowtail screamed, "Let my friend go!" It was distant and faded, but there.
"We'll deal with her later," Snowstar hissed. Her head snapped back to Swiftbreeze. One motion of Snowstar's tail, and Darkfire stepped up. In the blink of an eye, Darkfire was bending Swiftbreeze backwards with the most savage expression possible on her face.
"Surrender now," Snowstar hissed. "Or Darkfire will kill you."
Hollypaw's heart nearly stopped. She darted out of the den. "Stop! Don't! Kill me instead!" she screamed.
"No, Hollypaw," Swiftbreeze rasped. "This is my destiny. MoonClan told me-" Darkfire pressed her claws against Swiftbreeze's throat and she exploded into coughs.
"Less talk," Darkfire sneered.
"Don't… surrender," Swiftbreeze managed to Hollypaw, ignoring Darkfire. "Have faith in MoonClan."
Hollypaw stood frozen. She couldn't believe that MoonClan would want Swiftbreeze to die... but at least she would get to die a hero.
"I'll only give you one chance," Snowstar hissed. "Do you surrender to IceClan?"
Swiftbreeze coughed again. Darkfire sliced the edge of her cheek. Swiftbreeze looked up for the last time and defiantly stared Snowstar in the eye. "Never."
It happened in slow motion to Hollypaw. Darkfire slammed Swiftbreeze to the ground and lifted her claws. She slit Swiftbreeze's throat and blood poured out.
Finally Hollypaw became unfrozen and she lunged for Darkfire, but it was too late. "Swiftbreeze!" Hollypaw screamed. "Don't leave me! Please!"
Swiftbreeze's head turned painfully to Hollypaw's, frozen with grief. Swiftbreeze's eyes were already glassy. Darkfire slit her throat again. Swiftbreeze spasmed once, then was still.
All the life drained out of her.
A/N: Oh, you're going to hate us for this... please don't! You'll see why! And don't forget that Swiftbreeze will go to MoonClan and Hollypaw will see her there!
Thanks for reading and please review!