A/N: Action! More action! Pretty much the whole next couple chapters will be action! :)

This is the climax, right here. Lightningclaw attempts to drive out IceClan all by himself.

Again, we own nothing of Warriors except our OCs. Also, I didn't get the chance to say this earlier, but thank you so much to Feraa, Blazing Bright Streak of Light, and The Tree That Fell Silently for commenting! We really love feedback :D

Enjoy!

Chapter 20 | New Strength

Hollypaw asked Frostfur, "Where's Lightningclaw's nest?"

"Over by the apprentices' nests," Frostfur replied, pointing with her tail to a large heap of fur surrounded by a bunch of smaller heaps of fur.

"Thanks!" Hollypaw said and raced off to the big heap of fur, careful not to step on the smaller heaps. "Lightningclaw," she whispered, trying not to wake Honeypaw and Falconpaw, "Swiftbreeze came to me in a dream and told me to ask you about yours."

Lightningclaw stretched and got to his feet. "Not here. Let's go over to your nest to talk." The two wolves walked over to Hollypaw's pitiful nest underneath the overhang. "Leopardclaw told me that I'd drive out IceClan," Lightningclaw explained. "All by myself. Today."

"Well what are you waiting for?" Hollypaw asked, some of her old hyperness sparking. "Let's go!" She dashed off into the woods and Lightningclaw grabbed her scruff.

"You need to stay right here," he said firmly. "Falconpaw's been injured badly and the rest of the Clan has scratches and injuries too from the battle."

Hollypaw felt a flush of shame that she hadn't thought to check on her Clanmates' wounds before going to sleep, but she had been tired and shocked with grief. "Fine. I'll put dressings and stuff over everyone's wounds, and then I'm coming with you. You'll get injured, guaranteed, and I can keep my cobweb in the Cold Cave. You need a medicine wolf with you. Also I can help Yellowtail, Sunrise, and the cubs. They're still in there."

"They'll attack you and you won't be able to defend yourself! Without you, we've got no medicine wolf."

"IceClan doesn't know about the Cold Cave. Besides, my presence will be masked considering I have a black pelt, the herbs will wash my scent away-"

"Fine!" Lightningclaw said in exasperation. "You can come. But you need to treat everyone first and show Frostfur how to do basic cobweb and marigold."

"Okay!" Hollypaw suddenly stopped short. "Lightningclaw, I don't have any herbs."

"I'll make a run to our territory to get it."

"That's way too dangerous, considering how marigold only grows on the IceClan border which is sure to be crawling with enemies!"

"I'll make do. Besides, marigold is important, right?"

"Well, yeah, but… horsetail does the same thing! And so does dried oak leaf."

"But marigold's the best, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Hollypaw said again.

"Then the matter's settled. I'll get herbs from the territory and bring them back to you." Lightningclaw didn't wait for Hollypaw's response and instead leaped over a log into the IceClan scent marks.

Everywhere Lightningclaw went, it was flooded with IceClan scent. His WaterClan scent was standing out way too much so he smoothly slipped into a fast, cold stream, letting it take his scent off. Then he rubbed a fern frond gently against himself and then stood in the strong IceClan scent. Now he smelled (mostly) IceClan-ish.

Lightningclaw carefully stalked close to the ground. When he made it to the clearing where Snowstar had given Yellowtail a choice resulting in their injuries and the invasion, he stopped. He'd never go there again. It was a reminder that wolves were more vicious than their species should allow. Instead he veered around the ferns that were the edge of the clearing and carefully picked as much marigold as he could, careful to leave the roots in to let them grow.

Lightningclaw was on the edge of WaterClan, ready to jump back over the log to Twolegplace when they found him.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

Lightningclaw cursed inwardly. He recognized that voice. Turning around, he sighed, "Hello, Darkfire."

"Hello, Lightningclaw," Darkfire snarled. "You're on my territory. Did you know that or are you too dumb to realize it?"

"This is my territory," Lightningclaw hissed, coldness seeping into his voice. He knew that he'd have to win this fight to stop Darkfire from attacking him in the Twolegplace "camp". And it would be harder to fight her while trying to protect his Clanmates; plus Darkfire was smart enough to realize that if she held one of the wolves ransom, he'd stop fighting.

Then Snowstar appeared. "Are you going to try to fight us both?" she hissed. Lightningclaw knew that both of these wolves had no respect for the warrior code, but he was a better fighter. Or at least more honorable.

"Yes," Lightningclaw answered, "and I'm going to win."

Without warning, both she-wolves leaped for Lightningclaw. He rolled out of their target zone and leaped onto Snowstar's back, churning his legs with no mercy. She wouldn't die but she deserved to for her unspeakable crimes.

Darkfire hauled him off with rippling muscles in her stocky body, throwing herself on top of him. He rolled her over but was kept so busy by her paw strikes that he forgot about Snowstar, who'd stopped clawing and grappling but was getting ready to fight in a very different way. Lightningclaw caught a glimpse of white fur by some large rocks, but he couldn't get distracted.

A boulder fell from the sky and knocked him out.

()()()()

When he came to, he was lying inside a very familiar bramble structure. He remembered milk-scents and Quailfur and…

The nursery! Those fox-hearts had taken him prisoner to his very own camp.

Lightningclaw peeked through a little hole in the wall to look at his guards: Swallowtail and Emberfoot. He scooted out of the entrance to face them, but before they attacked, he asked politely, "Could you two please inform Snowstar that I'm going to drive IceClan out of my territory?"

Swallowtail scoffed, "Why? And besides, one wolf can't drive out an entire powerful Clan."

Emberfoot agreed, "We should just attack you right now and get you back into the nursery." The two IceClan wolves bared their teeth, snarled, and leaped onto Lightningclaw.

"WaterClan is mine!" howled Lightningclaw.

"Never," Emberfoot hissed.

The great battle between Lightningclaw and IceClan had begun.

()()()()

Hollypaw began to get anxious when Lightningclaw didn't return by sunhigh. She ventured into WaterClan territory, the sharp IceClan scent irritating her sensitive nose. Immediately she picked up Lightningclaw scent… but also Darkfire and Snowstar scent. Swiftbreeze murderer scent.

Hollypaw struggled to get over her feelings. She had a job to do and this wasn't it. She quickly picked up all the marigold she could find in good condition, which was a lot, and then she sniffed around to see what had happened in the clearing. Blood-scent, fear-scent, and the imprint of a wolf's head beneath a boulder. And then drag lines from that boulder.

She knew what had happened.

Hollypaw dashed back over the border. There wasn't much she could do for Lightningclaw now. She healed all her Clanmates' injuries, all fading into a blur. The battle had started or would start soon and she needed to be at the Cold Cave.

But she couldn't rush Falconpaw's injury. This was a huge injury, and she'd never healed something like it without Swiftbreeze. But Swiftbreeze seemed occupied, as she didn't appear from MoonClan, so Hollypaw looked at the wound, and then looked away and winced. Falconpaw seemed shredded, but still alive. "Honeypaw! Get me all the cobweb you can find! Make sure it's not dusty and it doesn't still have the spider in it!"

Honeypaw looked up from cleaning her pelt. "But I just got all that blood off my fur-"

"It's for Falconpaw!" That'll make her.

Honeypaw had a huge wad of cobweb back to Hollypaw in five heartbeats.

"Frostfur!" called Hollypaw. "I need you here."

Frostfur dashed over. "What is it?"

"Lightningclaw wants me to teach you basic medicine. If a cobweb binding gets soaked in blood, you need to take it off and apply more herbs and fresh cobweb."

Hollypaw kept healing and talking but her heart wasn't in it. The moment everything was done, she scooped up cobweb and marigold and flat-out sprinted to the Cold Cave. She wasn't cautious, but if any IceClan warrior heard her or smelled her, she'd blow past them or fight viciously.

Hollypaw slid into the Cold Cave. She'd only been there once before, briefly, during the battle the day before. Almost immediately, however, she smelled death. The bodies were gone but the smell still lingered. "Yellowtail?" Hollypaw called, afraid to see.

Yellowtail staggered out of the shadows, pelt matted and frame gaunt. At her side was Sandcub who looked as bad as her mother.

"Where… where's Sunrise and Goldencub?" Hollypaw asked, fearing that she already knew the answer.

"Dead," rasped Yellowtail. "They were killed by Snowstar when they went out to hunt. We're too weak to hunt now." Though Yellowtail didn't say it, Hollypaw could tell from her eyes that her spirit was nearly broken. The only thing keeping her alive was Sandcub.

Immediately Hollypaw caught a mouse and scooped up water from the river for them. Yellowtail blinked gratefully before she and Sandcub tore into the meat and slurped up water.

"That feels better," chirped Sandcub before she fell asleep promptly. Yellowtail smiled at her little cub. "Thank you, Hollypaw."

"It was nothing," Hollypaw mumbled as Yellowtail fell asleep as well. Hollypaw listened to the sounds above the Cave. It was quiet, which meant the battle hadn't started yet. She padded to the underground river and lapped up a few drops. She didn't know that the water flowed from the Starpool. The Sky River water put her to sleep almost instantly.

()()()()

"Swiftbreeze!" screamed Hollypaw in MoonClan. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

A lion padded out of the trees, but it wasn't Swiftbreeze. "Who are you?" Hollypaw asked suspiciously. She'd never seen a MoonClan lion before, other than Swiftbreeze.

"I am Amberfur," the lion responded. "Swiftbreeze is helping Lightningclaw to wake up. She's putting her strength into Lightningclaw, as is Leopardclaw. Swiftbreeze won't be available until the end of the battle. However, Lightningclaw does know that you're here. Swiftbreeze is telling him that right now."

"I want to wake up! Why am I sleeping?"

"You drank from water that flows from the Starpool. Now, wake up."

Hollypaw sat up straight in the Cold Cave and got her herbs in order.

()()()()

Snowstar and Darkfire sat on soft moss inside the leader's den. "Snowstar," said Darkfire, "why aren't you going out and fighting?"

Darkfire knew why she wasn't fighting: Snowstar wanted her to back her up for what she insisted would be "the turning point of the battle".

"I shall wait for the end," hissed Snowstar, "the climax of the battle. Lightningclaw will battle me with his injuries… Then we'll see who's the better fighter, and I shall become the supreme leader of three Clans. It'll be a matter of time before SnowClan suffers the same fate. Then I'll rule all the Clans."

"And if you die?"

"No evil truly dies."

Darkfire inclined her head respectfully. She knew better than to argue with Snowstar, even if she sounded crazy.

()()()()

Lightningclaw whirled and hissed, scratched and kicked, and soon both his guards were knocked out. He glared up at the leader's den where Snowstar was. "WaterClan is mine!" he howled. "Anyone who dares to challenge that will not like what happens!"

Instantly he was bowled to the ground by six IceClan warriors. But Leopardclaw and Swiftbreeze were giving him strength from MoonClan, so the warriors were easy work. "Is that the best you've got?" he taunted loudly. "This is easy!"

Lightningclaw launched himself into the swarm of IceClan wolves. He slammed his shoulder into Petalfang's muzzle, nearly knocking her over.

Behind you! Swiftbreeze whispered in Lightningclaw's head. Lightningclaw whirled around and saw three big warriors racing madly his way. He merely stepped aside, and the three warriors crashed into the surprised and shocked Petalfang. Lightningclaw squashed them and scratched them, making them flee into the undergrowth.

To your side! Leopardclaw growled. Lightningclaw whipped his head around, and immediately spotted Snakeheart charging toward him. He lunged for her throat and sank his teeth into her flesh, but didn't kill her. Behind you! Without looking behind him, Lightningclaw kicked out with his hind legs. Letting go of Snakeheart, he whirled around and saw Birchheart sprawled on the ground behind him. Lightningclaw bit along Birchheart's flank.

Turning his head, he spotted Cliffpaw, Runningpaw, Bramblepaw, and Ivypaw coming at him from all sides. Lightningclaw sighed. He didn't like harming apprentices because they were so young, but they were a threat. Lowering his broad head, he grasped Bramblepaw by his scruff and swung the shocked apprentice in a circle. The remaining apprentices were flung away, and Cliffpaw crashed into Troutfur, knocking the small warrior down. Feeling pleased with himself, he flung Bramblepaw into Goldenflower.

Lightningclaw crouched down, ready to leap, but he felt little teeth holding him down. Glancing back, he saw Featherpaw, Sparrowpaw, Rabbitpaw, and Smokepaw grasping his legs. Lightningclaw merely shook them off. Look above! Lightningclaw glanced up and immediately sprang away; Snowstar had shoved an enormous boulder over Highrock to squash Lightningclaw, but it fell on top of seven unfortunate warriors instead.

Lightningclaw leapt into the swarm of wolves. He whirled around, scratching, biting, and dodging blows. Suddenly, a huge weight collapsed on him! Lightningclaw struggled to breath, but he was trapped under all of IceClan. You can do this, Swiftbreeze growled. Lightningclaw felt a surge of strength flow through his limbs, and with a sudden burst of energy, kicked up with his hind legs, sending IceClan warriors flying in all directions. He bounded up onto Highrock, and roared, "All who dare challenge me will be killed!" Lightningclaw glared down at IceClan with his flashing blue gaze. The wolves flinched and looked away. Then they fled into the forest, back to their territories.

()()()()

Lightningclaw panted as he lowered himself into the Cold Cave. Immediately Hollypaw was there, fussing over him. "Were you injured badly? Where does it hurt most?"

Lightningclaw pointed with his tail to a deep bite on his leg. "There. Someone bit me and then clawed me and then drove me into a thornbush."

As Hollypaw fixed his wounds, she asked, "Did any IceClan warriors see you coming to the Cold Cave? Yellowtail and Sandcub are still sleeping here."

Lightningclaw tensed. "What happened to Goldencub and Sunrise…? Are they…."

"They're dead," Hollypaw said shortly. "IceClan killed them." She continued to put dressings on Lightningclaw. "How goes the battle?"

Lightningclaw sighed heavily. "Leopardclaw and Swiftbreeze are giving me strength from MoonClan to help defeat the warriors, and I drove the wolves back into their territory. But I have a feeling that they will return. In fact, I think they're still up there at the border, waiting for a chance to invade. And at the end I'll have to fight Snowstar and Darkfire."

"For that bit, I'm coming with you," Hollypaw said in a tone that invited no argument.

Lightningclaw was too tired to argue, but even if he wasn't so tired, he knew he would be grateful for the backup.

A/N: The next chapter will be the big fight! Hollypaw and Lightningclaw vs Snowstar and Darkfire!

Thanks for reading and please review!