A/N: Finally, the big fight! Darkfire and Snowstar vs Lightningclaw and Hollypaw! We've already written the whole story out, so we know there's only four chapters left... plus the epilogue.

Oh, I have a joke!

Q: What's a wolf's favorite fruit?

A: A PACK of apples!

Yes, I know it's kinda lame :D

Enjoy!

Chapter 21 | Darkfire

By the time Lightningclaw came back to the Cold Cave the next day, it was evening. Yellowtail and Sandcub were awake. Lightningclaw's dressings had come off on the more shallow scratches, and he'd gotten new scratches, but nothing too serious. It seemed that Swiftbreeze's strength-giving also included healing powers.

Hollypaw soon ran out of cobweb, so she searched the cave for more. "Yellowtail, do you see any cobweb?" Yellowtail shook her head. The cave was a smooth, rounded space, so there weren't really any good spots for a spider to live. Plus, the flood had probably discouraged spider life in the Cold Cave.

Hollypaw sighed and started plucking the most absorbent of the moss. She didn't want to, as that was the place to sleep and also cobweb was much stickier than moss, but she had to make do.

"So, Lightningclaw," Hollypaw said conversationally, "when are you planning to take on Snowstar?"

"Probably next morning," Lightningclaw said thoughtfully. "You and I can get some rest and if we're lucky, we can catch Snowstar while she's still sleeping. And if it's before dawn and if there's only a couple guards, we won't have to contend with the warriors either, if they've already come back to the camp."

"That's an awful lot of ifs," Yellowtail pointed out.

"And what if bad Clan attack while you sleep?" Sandcub asked, miming the motions of "bad Clan", attacking, and sleeping. She slipped off a slippery piece of rock into the river and started treading water.

"That's a good point, Sandcub," Lightningclaw admitted. "Yellowtail, do you think you could stand guard in the cave? Like right beside the tunnel so that IceClan can't see you but you can see them?"

"I guess I could," Yellowtail murmured. "But I'd like to dig out a trap for them…. Like dig a hole and put earth walls on top and if possible fill it with water."

"That would actually work," Lightningclaw said. "If we dig deep enough we'll hit rock and from there we can dig a channel to the Sky River. If we're lucky the River will put them to sleep." His stomach rumbled loudly.

"I catch prey!" announced Sandcub. She hopped out of the water and caught four mice and a vole almost instantly.

"I've been teaching her to hunt," Yellowtail explained. "I think she's inherited my skill."

Hollypaw, Yellowtail, and Lightningclaw spent the rest of the evening digging out the trap while Sandcub dug the tunnel to the river. When night fell, the trap was finished and Sandcub let the water run through. Lightningclaw blocked the entrance with earth and leaves, which threw the cave into near-pitch darkness, but everyone was used to night hunting so it didn't bother them.

The wolves drank from the Sky River, hoping for a dream from MoonClan. Hollypaw and Lightningclaw curled up on the moss while Yellowtail stood guard and Sandcub caught more prey for the wolves in the morning.

()()()()

"Swiftbreeze! Leopardclaw!" called Hollypaw. Lightningclaw was curled up next to her, sleeping in MoonClan. She prodded him. "Wake up, you dormouse!"

He sprang to his feet as the two MoonClan warriors padded into sight. "Leopardclaw! Swiftbreeze!" he cried. "It's so good to see you!" Then two more warriors came: Quailfur and Stormstar.

"I'm sorry that we haven't gotten a chance to visit you before," Quailfur said. "But we couldn't be more proud. This is your destiny, Lightningclaw, so embrace it."

"Good luck on your upcoming fight," Stormstar said. "You've got the chance to erase an evil from the territories, Lightningclaw."

Another wolf, one that neither Hollypaw nor Lightningclaw recognized padded into the clearing: an elegant silver-and-black she-wolf. She had the distinct lithe, sharp body shape of IceClan but specifically FrostClan.

"Who are you?" Hollypaw asked distrustfully.

"I am Silverflame," said the mystery wolf, "mother of Darkfire."

Lightningclaw had to hold Hollypaw back to prevent her from attacking Silverflame. "We're all allies here," he reminded.

"Darkfire killed my mentor!" screamed Hollypaw, kicking and thrashing.

Silverflame winced. "I know," she sighed, "and I wish she hadn't. If it makes you feel better, I was Swiftbreeze's guardian while she was alive."

Hollypaw stopped thrashing and Lightningclaw tentatively let her go. "You were?" Hollypaw asked.

"Yes," Quailfur agreed.

"Oh… well, alright then." But Hollypaw still seemed suspicious.

Suddenly Swiftbreeze and Leopardclaw faded away. "Where'd they go?" Lightningclaw asked.

"They're getting ready for your battle," Stormstar explained. "You'll be waking up soon so they have to do a special process to share their strength. Swiftbreeze in particular is putting so much of her soul into this."

"We have messages from Leopardclaw and Swiftbreeze for you, however," Quailfur said. Stormstar steered Lightningclaw out of the clearing while Quailfur took Hollypaw. Silverflame disappeared to another part of MoonClan as well.

"A message from Swiftbreeze?" Hollypaw asked.

"Yes," Quailfur said, "your mentor told me it's very important. You'll be fighting Darkfire while Lightningclaw fights Snowstar. Here is the thing: when Lightningclaw gets his leader's name, both of you will go to the Dark Forest to fight the Frost Forest. Defend Swiftbreeze. She will be there and if you don't defend her, she will be lost. Her soul will be lost forever. You'll never see her in MoonClan ever again."

()()()()

When Hollypaw woke up, Lightningclaw looked just as disturbed by his message as she'd been disturbed by hers.

It was right in the middle between moonhigh and dawn. The two wolves ate some of the prey that Sandcub had caught somewhat tersely and nervously, knowing that one misstep could send a rock tumbling, and finish their chances of this being a sneak attack.

"Once we've overpowered Snowstar, then what do we do?" Hollypaw asked quietly.

"Overpower Darkfire too."

"I mean, assuming that we've got both of them pinned."

"Either threaten to kill Snowstar if they don't get out of our territory, or kill her and then drive the rest out of our territory."

"Do the options have to include killing Snowstar?"

"She's too dangerous to be kept alive. I know you don't like the idea of killing, since you're a medicine wolf-"

"I'm an apprentice," Hollypaw corrected firmly, "and I will stay an apprentice until Swiftbreeze gives me my name."

"I know," Lightningclaw muttered. "I-"

"You just chose to ignore it, I know."

Lightningclaw sighed. "So which option will we choose?"

"I guess the second one. The first one is like something Snowstar would do."

"That's true."

"But what about Darkfire? She killed Swiftbreeze."

"On orders of Snowstar," Lightningclaw countered. "We leave her alive but injured. I refuse to kill twice in a day. Besides, she's deputy of FrostClan. Snowstar replaced Bluefur with Darkfire. Without Darkfire, FrostClan won't have a leader, and it might be a bad thing to have a leaderless Clan of bloodthirsty warriors on our border who still want revenge on us." Lightningclaw's voice positively dripped sarcasm.

"All right," Hollypaw said, her throat suddenly feeling dry, "ready to do a secret mission?"

"Secret mission? I love secret missions!" Lightningclaw squealed, miming the voice that Falconpaw had had when he was a cub.

Hollypaw muttered, "Males," and rolled her eyes to Yellowtail on guard on her way out of the Cold Cave.

As soon as they were out, Lightningclaw stopped short. "Wait. In our dream, didn't Silverflame say that Swiftbreeze and Leopardclaw were getting ready to share their strength with us?"

"Yeah."

"So why don't we have our extra strength? I don't feel it."

Hollypaw racked her brains for an answer. "My message involved the Dark Forest. So maybe they're being delayed by the Dark Forest?"

"Yeah," Lightningclaw growled, "it would be just like the Frost Forest to give advantages to their descendants. But there's no time to wait. It'll be dawn soon if we don't hurry."

Hollypaw's black pelt blended in with the path above the leader's den so she went on to scout ahead to see if Snowstar and Darkfire were sleeping.

Hollypaw peeked in the den and suddenly panicked. Lightningclaw struggled to look at her tail and see the signal she was giving… Awake! Lightningclaw raced up the path, not caring how many warriors he woke. If he wasn't there that very instant, Hollypaw would be dead.

Things were going terribly wrong.

()()()()

Back at the temporary Twolegplace camp, Frostfur worried about Hollypaw and Lightningclaw. They should've been back the day before, to at least give news on what was happening. She consoled herself with thoughts about how Lightningclaw wasn't that stupid, and how he knew that in the circumstances he wouldn't have been able to come back.

But what if he didn't come back because he couldn't? IceClan was powerful and Frostfur didn't really see how one wolf could drive them all out without serious injury. And Snowstar had already shown that she'd kill anyone in her way.

What she really wanted, however, was for Hollypaw to come back. Frostfur knew that she needed to heal Lightningclaw during the battle, that two sets of eyes were better than one, that her black pelt was perfect for spying, but still. Even with Hollypaw's rushed medicine training, about cobweb and marigold and catmint and if-they're-cold-then-warm-them-up-and-wait-for-me, Frostfur still thought that Hollypaw did it much better.

And with Falconpaw's injury, despite Hollypaw's care and effort and time, the poultice was coming off, and Frostfur didn't know how to take it off without hurting him. And the wound started to smell of infection but Frostfur couldn't put marigold on it without taking off the cobweb, stuck to the slowly forming scab with sticky blood.

Come back, Hollypaw and Lightningclaw, she whispered to the moon, hoping that it would take her message. We need you. The camp is falling apart.

()()()()

Lightningclaw hurtled through the entrance of the leader's den when he heard a message in his mind, in Frostfur's voice. Come back, Hollypaw and Lightningclaw. We need you. The camp is falling apart. Lightningclaw shook it off. He couldn't get distracted.

Hollypaw was trapped by Darkfire while Snowstar was prowling (there wasn't any other word) around the den. "So you thought you could catch me asleep," she hissed. "Little do you know that I'm always one step ahead."

"Fat lot of good that's going to do you now," Hollypaw snapped from underneath Darkfire.

"Please, shut her up," Snowstar grumbled to Darkfire.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" screamed Hollypaw and Lightningclaw together. Hollypaw bucked Darkfire off of her with strength that suddenly came. Hollypaw crouched next to Lightningclaw in a defensive position, then suddenly whirled and kicked an IceClan warrior down the waterfall.

Snowstar strode out of the den, and onto the rock just past the waterfall. "Attention IceClan," she announced. "Go back to sleep. Do NOT come up to the leader's den. If you do I will injure you extremely badly." For a second Hollypaw wondered why Snowstar was telling the warriors not to come for backup; then she realized that Snowstar wanted the glory all to herself. She could always call the warriors back in if things went south anyways.

"I just want to push her off that rock," muttered Hollypaw.

"Same here, except for Darkfire," agreed Lightningclaw.

"Yeah, if I were you I wouldn't do that," Darkfire hissed. Her amber eyes gleamed with excitement for the final battle.

Without MoonClan's extra strength, Lightningclaw didn't know if he could be able to take down Snowstar and then drive out all the other warriors. But he had to try. Maybe once Snowstar was dead the other warriors would just go.

Snowstar crouched down in an offensive position. Hollypaw felt the stirrings of dread. Snowstar was the second-best warrior in all the Clans, other than Lightningclaw, but she played dirty. Snowstar could also defeat Leopardclaw and she'd trained in the Frost Forest.

How was Lightningclaw going to (ugh) kill her?

At the moment, it didn't matter, because there was a large black murderer leaping for her.

Hollypaw rolled out from Darkfire's target zone and jumped over her when Darkfire lunged for that spot.

"You think a medicine wolf apprentice can take me?" Darkfire taunted. "You have no battle training!"

Hollypaw ripped clawfuls of fur from Darkfire's back. "I'm a natural. That means I'm better than you, because I can heal myself if I get injured."

Darkfire half-winced at her fur coming out, and rolled over Hollypaw, squishing her. "You're nothing without your herbs!"

Hollypaw reared up, slamming Darkfire back, and sliced at her belly. "I have natural control where to go to be least injured!"

Darkfire snapped, "At least I'm not half-Clan." She slid out from underneath Hollypaw's stomach-slicing and flipped Hollypaw onto her belly, trapping her there.

"I'm full WaterClan! I hate ThornClan!" Hollypaw snapped, enraged. She wriggled herself onto her back and sliced Darkfire's stomach with claws trapped underneath her. "Besides, you could be half-Clan and not know it."

Darkfire's lip tightened and she didn't say anything. Hollypaw suspected that she was thinking about how she could be half-Clan. Then the adult wolf snapped, "Whatever. I'll still win this fight, apprentice."

"That's what you think, half-Clan," Hollypaw shot back, and the two black wolves kept grappling.

()()()()

"You think you can take me?" hissed Snowstar. "I'm the best warrior in all the Clans. I've taken over three-quarters of the forest. You're no match for me."

"I'm more honorable," Lightningclaw replied.

Snowstar leapt for Lightningclaw. "Honor. Like that's going to help you in this battle. What helps now is cold ruthlessness." She tore at his ears.

Lightningclaw rolled out from under her and flipped her backwards, then pinned her. "No. What helps now is battle training."

"I've defeated Leopardclaw himself!" Snowstar gasped in barely-hidden pain, and then reared, knocking Lightningclaw off of her.

"So have I," Lightningclaw pointed out, "and I did it when I was an apprentice." He landed on his feet and reared up to match Snowstar, and the two traded blows.

Then suddenly, Darkfire lurched up to Snowstar, bleeding from so many cuts it was a wonder she could walk. "Can't-" she gurgled, then fell down. Hollypaw stood over her felled opponent triumphantly, challenging Snowstar with her eyes.

"You killed her! She's dead!" screamed Snowstar as she looked at her fallen deputy.

"Unconscious," Hollypaw and Lightningclaw corrected together. Hollypaw added, "If you had any brain cells you'd know the difference. See, she's breathing."

"Well it doesn't matter. If she can't fight, she's useless!" screamed Snowstar. She breathed heavily, as if just noticing she was outmatched. "I don't suppose you'd consider a… compromise?"

"Nope!" Lightningclaw said cheerfully, and tackled her.

A/N: Oh, I have another joke!

Q: Why did the wolf cross the road?

A: He was chasing the chicken!

Not quite so lame! Thanks for reading and please review!