A.N: Here's where I start the bloodbath. Now, this is my first time writing hardcore gore, or whatever you can call it, so... Feel free to leave ConCrit on it!
The first wails were piercing the air, and shadows writhed on the other side of the blocked barrier.
"Here they come!" Brambleclaw called to the assembled cats of assorted ThunderClan and the ShadowClan patrol. His shoulders hunched as the powerful tabby crouched, and the silver and black striped pelt of Darkstripe, with only a few scratches marring his fur, burst through the barrier.
"Ha, ThunderClan! As predictable as ever." The tom hissed, a smile curling across his muzzle as he slid to a stop before the angry cats. Brambleclaw felt a shiver jolt down his spine, his fur bristling as he took in the sight of the once-dead warrior. His eyes glowed a sickly yellow, like the fire that Brambleclaw had experienced as a kit, and his claws gleamed with light, though a dark fog seemed to accompany the warrior with each threatening step he took forward. "You won't have enough warriors to make a plea to your blessed StarClan after we're through with you." He smirked.
"ThunderClan will fight until there is no cat standing!" Squirrelflight hissed as she launched herself at the semi-transparent enemy. Darkstripe rolled under the impact, and another misty cat broke through the thorn barrier with a yowl; the battle had started inside the camp.
The brown tabby leapt toward Squirrelflight, initially to help her, until the large figure of a red and white spotted tomcat knocked him out of the air with one paw. With a smirk, the tom flicked his paw and pain bloomed on Brambleclaw's face, cutting across his eye. He screeched and rolled away before the cat could gouge it out, and he turned as quickly as he could. The Dark Forest cat was faster though, boxing him over the ears with unsheathed claws, leaving deep furrows on the sensitive flesh behind them. Howling with rage now, he sliced at the red and white tom's chest and forelegs, forcing him back and onto his hind legs. With a quick jab, Brambleclaw nipped his back legs as well and sent him rolling.
His enemy disappeared into the fray, and the tabby shook blood out of his eyes and he shoved forward again to find his mate. The icy sense of battle settled over the deputy of ThunderClan as he fended off any cat that laid their claws on him, some living, while the others were misty with death. More than once, he came upon a Dark Forest cat that had wounds beyond any living cat could go on with, a throat slashed and an eye blinded, but still the cat fought on with all the anger of the sun.
"How…?" He coughed out once, when a Dark Forest she-cat knocked him back onto his stomach, and was taking the time to break his bones instead of cutting open his pelt.
"Oh, we have many tricks, forest scum." She almost purred, and struck downward with one powerful hind leg,; Brambleclaw felt a rib snap under his pelt. "Unfortunately, you won't be around long enough to see them all," She curled her forepaw back, claws extended as she prepared to deal a death blow.
"Get off my mate!" A screech was the only warning the she-cat got before a ball of ginger fury tackled her to the clearing floor, and began ripping out clumps of foggy fur that disappeared before they hit the ground. Brambleclaw scrambled to his paws, wincing as the broken pieces of bones shifted. A gasp found its way past his lips and he blinked to focus the spinning world, then shook his head and sprinted over to Squirrelflight to help her.
Squirrelflight struck down with her teeth, ripping flesh from the she-cat's neck before he could sink his claws into the same area. Brambleclaw felt guilt as he stabbed down, and whatever accounted for blood rush between his claws and splash down the sides of the she-cat's throat. She kept struggling though, and bared her teeth and lashed out at the two cats pinning her.
"You can't defeat us, kittypets!" She hissed and Squirrelflight fell back with a sharp cry of pain. The dark tabby turned for a second to see a slash begin depositing a fair amount of blood to the ground. "Squirrelflight!" But he wouldn't let go of his enemy, and instead, began digging his claws deeper into her throat, opening a thick hole until it looked like his paws were covered in black sludge. But still the she-cat wouldn't die.
She kicked him off and scrambled to her paws, the sight almost making Brambleclaw retch. The undead cat's throat was almost hollow, though her eyes were glazed and her head lolled, the body still quivered with life. The second that Brambleclaw hesitated, it struck with a clawed paw, raking across his muzzle and snapping his head to the side. His eyes were still wide with fear as he turned back to the cat, whose dangling head opened its mouth in a hiss that made him freeze. "You will never," the head gurgled, and its tendons snapped and stretched. Black blood splashed out and the cat's head bent down at an impossible angle. "Defeat the Dark Forest." It finished, and the remainder of the flesh holding the head to it's body disintegrated before Brambleclaw's eyes. He couldn't hold down the bile that rose in his mouth as the scarred head of the she-cat's head rolled across the ground, leaving a black trail in the dirt behind it. He heard a low wail of a cat in pain, and spun to see Squirrelflight staring at the decapitated body that still stood in front of Brambleclaw.
He turned back to the thing that used to be a she-cat, and bristled as it took a step forward, blood spilling down through her fur. The tabby spat bile onto the ground before shoving the remains of the she-cat over in disgust. The paws still twitched and struck outward, so he slit her stomach open, letting the grey-white guts of the dead cat spill out onto the ground along with an amount of blood. He watched as it slowly faded, smoke rising from where the body had lain. A few tail lengths away, the head of the she-cat, eyes wide open, also vaporized slowly.
"Brambleclaw…" He turned to his mate, feeling numb and disgusted, not trusting the meal he had had before the battle to stay down. The tabby was still frozen when Squirrelflight rushed over and pushed her muzzle into his shoulder. Tears made his fur wet, and a sob shook her body and Brambleclaw felt it thrum through his own. "Squirrelflight… I have a feeling that the Clan is going to have a hard time beating these cats." She nodded silently, and Brambleclaw licked her ear gently. "Squirrelflight, we have to go warn Firestar; and the rest of the Clan." He was not blind to the battle that still whirled around them, but now could see Bumblestripe fall under the blows of a tabby who had ribs protruding from his pelt, and Hollyleaf and Ivypool flee back into the camp with a couple of living warriors on their tail, who obviously were on the Dark Forest side. Brambleclaw had never seen them, and they seemed to be the cause of the lacerations on the two she-cats' pelts.
"Go find Firestar," He tossed over his shoulder to his mate as he sped over to intercept the living cats. Those he knew how to fight.
"Hollyleaf! Ivypool!" The two she-cat's turned to him, eyes wide with hope as he slipped between them to face the two living cats. One he recognized as Tigerheart, and the other, a RiverClan cat by the silkiness of his fur. Both of their faces were twisted in snarls of hatred, and the darkness that followed the undead cats of the Dark Forest.
Hollyleaf nodded and spun on her heel, facing down the two toms that pursued her with green eyes blazing with hatred. Ivypool limped before falling, and Brambleclaw meowed loudly, "Go see Jayfeather!" before turning to the opponents.
The black she-cat had already struck out at Tigerheart, her teeth clenched in concentration as she battled through the scratches that covered her fur. Brambleclaw matched her moves and soon drove them both onto their hind legs. The tag team sent them running with a slice to their stomachs, which reminded Brambleclaw of the she-cat so much that he was almost sick again.
"Thanks Brambleclaw," Hollyleaf gasped out, sucking in large lungfuls of air.
"Are you okay? Should you go see Jayfeather too?" He checked, doing a once over of the black she-cat's pelt. It was matted in several places with blood, but there was nothing too serious that Brambleclaw could see. Although, He winced as the adrenaline of the last battle faded and the searing pain of his broken bones returned, it's not always that easy to see.
"I'm fine, I'm okay." She puffed quietly, and upon getting her breath back, she stood up to her full height and looked the deputy in the eyes. "I'll always be okay for my Clan,"
Brambleclaw nodded, taken aback by the warrior's loyalty, even though she had just returned from a self-proclaimed exile, she was definitely a cat that Brambleclaw wanted on his side. "Watch your back then," And he sprang away, confident that the dark cat could take care of herself. He needed to find Firestar, to tell him about the Dark Forest cats but the ginger tomcat was nowhere to be found. One cat he thought was the ginger leader was a Dark tom, with large amber eyes that narrowed as they looked at the tabby. Brambleclaw was shocked to see a body fall to the ground behind the huge tom, one that he never thought he would see down on the ground, anywhere but the warriors den.
With a snarl that was laced with a sob, the deputy leapt at the orange cat, knocking him back. His paws ripped through flesh, and he didn't care what he hit, as long as the fur and blood flew, his tears and sobs mixing into the cries of battle. It took more time than Brambleclaw was willing to admit to realize that his opponent was dead, and the body below him was a little less than a hunk of meat. The tom had been a living warrior of the Dark Forest, and had perished easily under the dark tabby's' claws even though he had kept striking. The normally strong deputy stood over the body of his friend before stepping away to be swallowed by the battle again.
Stumbling through the barrage of bodies, Brambleclaw made his way toward Highrock, shouldering his way between a tortoiseshell Dark Forest cat and Sandstorm before leaping up onto the rock fall. He turned and looked out over the clearing of writhing cats, looking for another orange pelt, ignoring the bloody mess that cats now avoided, even in the heat of battle. When Brambleclaw managed to locate his leader, he plunged into the crowd, paddling as if he were swimming through the river of the old RiverClan territory. He reached Firestar as the leader threw off a grey and white tom that was obviously undead. The Dark Forest cat had long fur tufted to points, which were stained black with blood. The enemy cat leapt again and Brambleclaw smashed into him, throwing him off course. The cat turned to Brambleclaw and glared, landing on all four paws to turn toward him. "Hawkfrost!" His anger was apparent until he turned toward the battle, spotting Hawkfrost shouting orders, and his face turned stormy. "You're not Hawkfrost…" Brambleclaw took advantage of the cat's confusion to slice along the light-furred tom's side. "No, I'm a lot better than my brother ever was," Brambleclaw growled, and sliced at the tom's muzzle as well, even as he ducked under the blow.
"Brambleclaw!" Firestar called from behind him, and then leapt up beside him. Together, the two of them attacked the Dark Forest tom, steadily slicing lines through the untidy fur until the cat turned and stumbled away into the midst of battle. Only then did Firestar cough up a mouthful of blood, spit, and turn to address his deputy. "Brambleclaw, it's good to see you," He nodded, green eyes warm "Now what's wrong?"
Brambleclaw attempted to dismiss the disturbing pictures that wouldn't leave the forefront of his mind, and looked up at Firestar with sadness. "The Dark Forest cats don't die like regular cats. They need to be beheaded, or ripped apart. Firestar…" Brambleclaw had never thought that he would cry in battle, or feel the immense amount of sorrow and fear that slowed his paws like never before. "I saw Dustpelt die. I saw his ears in shreds and his fur almost black with blood."
Firestar could only nod sadly. "Graystripe and Brackenfur were found outside. They died in the first wave of warriors."
The deputy could only stare at Firestar and imagine the pain that he was going through. His kithood friend, almost his brother, was dead, and Brambleclaw was worrying over his senior warriors. It suddenly made him feel so small and whiny next to the strength of the ginger tom, who could only stay strong for his Clan now. He couldn't grieve like he wanted, and yet he stood tall and fought off the cats that still attacked his Clan and wanted nothing more than to see them all dead.
"Oh Firestar," And though the younger cat felt no sexual attraction to his leader, he wrapped his tail around his shoulders to pull the orange tom closer.
"We're wasting time." The tom said gruffly after a few seconds of letting himself be comforted. Brambleclaw nodded and looked out into the battle again, terrified for the fate of his Clanmates.
A.N: Lol, Dustpelt, Graystripe, Brackenfur are dead. The oldest cats in the Clan next to Mousefur and Firestar. I'll write a new Alliances after all of this is over, and you'll all stare ^.^
(12/17/12- Sorry for all of these false updates, I don't have a Beta so I edit chapters myself. I haven't been writing much, as you might have heard, there's been a shooting in my town. President Obama was here yesterday. It's very surreal to see the President of the U.S standing on your auditorium stage =/)