A.N: I forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter, so I'll tell you now, for this chapter and the last one, I don't own the Warriors, I'm just slowly killing them all and giving their mangled bodies back to the Hunters as an example D. This is a filler, sorry for that. The next one will be bloody if I can help it.
Brambleclaw nodded and looked out into the battle again, terrified for the fates of his Clanmates.
"We should split up," Firestar said quickly, barely giving Brambleclaw enough time to let out a mew of objection. "You're too good of a deputy to lose, Brambleclaw. We both know that you and I are targets in this battle." The tabby hesitated again, and then dipped his head, always loyal to his leader before springing away into the mess of battling cats.
He landed on all fours before lashing out at a Dark Forest cat that was holding down Poppyfrost, who looked untouched on her part. The foggy cat turned on him with a snarl and Brambleclaw slipped into the habit of not paying attention to the moves, all he cared about was landing a blow on the neck and stomach. Claws slipped through Brambleclaw's own fur, who felt nothing, until his paws were once more, black with the blood of the undead, and he watched the body of the Dark Forest cat fade to smoke. Poppyfrost gasped as blood bubbled from a scratch on her throat, but after a moment, Brambleclaw was assured that it wasn't deep, and Poppyfrost went off to help Cherrypaw, who had unwittingly returned to the camp and was sucked into the battle.
Realizing the pain in his own chest again, the dark cat attempted to ignore the growing pain that had been a minor discomfort until now. He shook blood out of his eyes again, the wounds from the first few cats he had fought drying his pelt into one big matt. In a way it helped, as the coated and sticky hairs formed a type of shield over his face, chest and flanks, where most of the wounds had been received. Fatigue dragged on his limbs after only… The faces of the cats he had killed, killed, blurred in his mind's eye. Brambleclaw figured that that had meant he had killed many cats, and it seemed to have made a difference. The number of cats in the clearing was decreasing, and there were at least two ThunderClan cats to each Dark Forest, instead of the other way around. Claws slashed and feline figures were chased out of the clearing, or dropped to the ground, where the victim was ripped apart, whether they were Clan cat or Dark Forest.
Now that the clearing was emptying, Brambleclaw gazed around for Squirrelflight again, anxious to see if his mate had made it through the battle. "Squirrelflight!" He yowled, looking up to the stars, hoping that there wasn't one new star up in the dark fabric. The sun had set during the battle, and the warriors of StarClan were fading into view, just as cold and distant as always.
Wrenching his gaze from the heavens, he looked around the clearing, at the slumped figures, or half slumped in some cases, searching for her red pelt. He saw one, and rushed over, only to find Cloudtail's blue eyes staring dolefully up at him.
"Cloudtail!" Brambleclaw mewed in shock, helping the senior warrior up and over to Jayfeather, who was treating cats that laid in a row in from of his den. The scent of death came from inside the den, and no cat dared ask what had happened.
"I'm fine," The once-white warrior coughed, his long fur as clumped as Brambleclaw's, each matt dyed a red to cover the wounds underneath.
"You'll be even better when you let Jayfeather fix you up then as well," Brambleclaw countered. He cast a glance up and down the line of cats that had flocked to Jayfeather, who now had Leafpool and Brightheart to help him. Both warriors were covered in cobwebs as well as dolling them out, it was obvious that even the warriors that were less skilled at fighting were giving their all in this battle.
When it seemed like Cloudtail could stand on his own, and the deputy had made eye contact with Jayfeather, though it was useless, he knew that the young medicine cat understood that he had another patient. As soon as he felt that it was morally okay to leave the white warrior, Brambleclaw broke away from the throng to look for Squirrelflight again. Sickly, he staggered past the body of Dustpelt, with his throat ripped out and shoulder, a mess of tendons and white bone, to look in the shadows. Graystripe's still body just inside the entrance was also gruesome to look at, with severed internal organs leaking from a small slit in the long-haired tom's stomach, like a small paw had fished inside and cut up the senior warrior's insides. Bits and pieces of the flesh was scattered around him in a puddle of sticky red blood, with smears that covered the stems of thorns in the entrance like rainwater. Even more revolting were the paw prints that covered the clearing like the leaves that fall in autumn, turning every which way and overlapping, smearing and generally spreading the crimson liquid around the packed dirt clearing, which had turned to mud.
"Squirrelflight?" Brambleclaw called out again, his voice breaking while searched the shadows for any place the she-cat may have dragged herself to get away from the fighting. The scent of blood was too strong to track her, and the ground was a mess of marks and prints that only showed a struggle of huge proportions. A weight cannoned into him from the side, and the tabby tomcat responded instantly, spinning with his teeth flashing and claws unsheathed, ready to strike. Standing there in front of him was the ginger cat he had been looking for, and the growl that had risen in his throat changed to a strong purr as he rushed forward and lick her ear.
"You scared me!" The deputy murmured as his heartbeat slowed. He hadn't even realized how terrified he was of losing her until this moment. "Please don't do that ever…ever again."
"I won't, stupid furball," Squirrelflight licked his chest, avoiding the edges of a scratch that had stopped bleeding just a little while ago. "But don't think that you didn't scare me as well." Looking into her green eyes, Brambleclaw could see his own fear of finding his mate dead, like the bodies that were now littered about in the clearing.
"Did you get checked out by Leafpool?" He changed the subject quickly, forcing back the raw emotions that the night had already stirred within him. A breeze drifted through the hollow, replacing the stagnant stink of carrion and blood with the moist, sour scent of the Dark Forest cats that still waited in the trees. No cat was naïve enough to think that this battle was over, nor that the Dark Forest cats would give up without a real fight.
"Not yet, I was helping Cherrypaw and Molepaw. Firestar sent the ShadowClan patrol home when the last of the Dark Forest warriors were leaving. He had to apologize from keeping them away from their Clan in the time of need…" Squirrelflight looked up at Bramblclaw as they padded slowly-more like limped-across the clearing. "Have you thought of your sister just yet?"
He shook his head silently, trying to repress the idea that his sister was just another body on the forest floor of her own camp. "I haven't had time. The Clan comes first." The gruff reply made Squirrelflight touch his shoulder with her tail. "Family and Clan are the same thing. You may live with these cats, but you were born with Tawnypelt. I'm sure that Firestar won't have any problem with sending an apprentice out to see the other Clans when he gets the chance."
"Squirrelflight," The tense mew came from Jayfeather as he looked up from the cats that were seeking care. "Leafpool… I think you should go see her." His voice was taunt, and very formal. Brambleclaw could feel the fur of his mate fluff up with alarm. "What's wrong?" She called, picking up her pace to get to the medicine cat den as fast as she could. Brambleclaw stayed behind, focusing on the pain that accompanied each breath in his lungs, rather than the line of injured Clanmates that stood around him, glassy eyed with pain or heaving labored breaths as they sunk to the ground, regardless of the state of it.
Jayfeather and Squirrelflight stood together for a moment among the mob of cats, and he could just make out the slumped shoulders of the grey tabby and the bottle-brushed tail of his mate. Without letting Jayfeather finish, she raced into the medicine cat den, brushing past Brightheart, who looked mostly uninjured, except for the split on her hind leg. The ginger and white she-cat watched the younger feline with pity before moving on with the bundle of herbs. The tabby could guess what was going on inside the den, and left the sisters to mourn quietly before Leafpool was overwhelmed by her wounds. There was a faint sense that he should be there for Squirrelflight, but he dismissed the thought, figuring that she'd rather be alone. Instead, he went to seek out her father again, who was sitting by Highrock with one foreleg splayed forward to take the tension off the other.
"Firestar, we need to collect the bodies," Brambleclaw tried his best to sound hard and grim, though he just wanted to break into sobs for the three cats they had already lost. "The battle is by no means over, and the warriors will want to pay respects to their Clanmates before…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Before they died? Before they forget that their Clanmates had not sacrificed themselves in vain? Before they lost hope? Even he couldn't answer the questions that flooded his mind, and could only nod when Firestar gave him an affirmative.
Looking around at the semi-active warriors, he picked out Thornclaw and Icecloud to help him find the bodies of their friends. As expected, they pulled Dustpelt from a pit of mud that his own blood had created, and left the body under the rockfall, by the edge of the hollow. Next, they found Graystripe, and Icecloud retched as the toms picked him up, unable to stop the flow of blood that gushed through the ragged wound in his stomach. Brambleclaw couldn't feel anything as they laid the senior warrior beside Dustpelt's brown body, and went to check the outside of the camp for where Firestar had mentioned seeing Brackenfur before.
Dragging the flattened thorns aside, Brambleclaw and Icelcoud had just exited the camp when they heard a howl of rage from the forest. A flash of fur bolted through the bushes, and the deputy had little time to pin the offending cat before they attacked.
"Get off me, you fat piece of crowfood! You stink of death and blood!" Spat his captive, and he stared until he recognized Mousewhisker's gray and white fur under a thick coat of black blood. He glanced up in time to see the enraged faces of Hazeltail and Whitewing flying down the slope as well, eyes narrowed.
"Stop!" Icecloud yelped, "It's us! Icecloud and Brambleclaw!" The warriors skidded to a halt clumsily, and a murmur of laughter came from the trees, and eyes gleamed between branches.
"I'm so sorry Brambleclaw, I thought you were Hawkfros-" Mousewhisker's eyes were wide as the deputy lifted one wide paw to left the young cat up.
"Get inside the camp. Now." He cut the tom off, and his gaze caught the two she-cats as well. "It's not same out here."
"Listen to the big bad deputy!" A haunting voice sounded from the deepest shadows, and Darkstripe's face appeared in the inadequate lighting. "You better get inside before the big bad cats get their claws on you," he sneered, a glint in his pale amber eyes, "Someone might just get their stomach slit open, and be left to bleed to death…"
"You!" Thornclaw had joined the other five cats now, and Brambleclaw ushered the WindClan patrol and Icecloud back inside the camp. This was no time to be picking fights.
"You killed Graystripe! How could you? You grew up with him." Thornclaw's voice almost broke, then he looked down at Brackenfur's almost untouched corpse.
"That filthy piece of foxdung didn't have a drop of loyalty in him to anyone," Darkstripe crowed, "Except that disgusting kittypet that still leads your Clan. By the end of the night, he'll be on the ground with the rest of you!"
"Thornclaw," Brambleclaw warned quietly, before picking up Brackenfur's scruff in his mouth, and waiting patiently for the golden-brown warrior to grab his brother's corpse as well. The deputy could see that the cat was choking on tears as he followed the tabby back inside.
A wail broke the silence as the two toms came in, and Brightheart sank onto her stomach, staring at the body of her brother as they laid him beside the other two toms. The Clan gathered mutely around the three fallen warriors and dropped their heads solemnly, eyes wide with grief. Squirrelflight had not emerged from the medicine cat den, and Jayfeather was gone as well, alone with Sandstorm. Brambleclaw walked silently over to Firestar as Mousefur showed Purdy how to prepare the bodies for burial. The bodies of the living Dark Forest cats had been pushed and piled at the edge of the hollow, and among them he could spot the silky pelt of a RiverClan tom, and the ragged pelt of the WindClan tom he had torn apart in revenge for Dustpelt.
"It's a tragedy the Clan has never faced before." He murmured, wishing that he actually meant his words. They had lost this many cats in the fight against Scourge, but the enemies then had been untrained rogues, not undead evil cats that had spent seasons perfecting the ways to kill.
"They'll make it through," The ginger tom responded hollowly. "Can you take over the Clan for a bit? Leafpool… She needs everyone she can get."
"Of course, Firestar." The tabby dipped his head sadly. He had the worst feeling that the amount of death would only go up as he stared through the barrier at the glint of eyes, and a chorus of maniatic laughter filled the night. A tremor shook his ragged pelt, making it stand on edge as a cat, broad shouldered and huge, cast a shadow on the clearing. He recognized the shadow before he even saw the cat he knew as his father, walking into the ThunderClan camp as if he had already won.
A.N: What is with me and giving Tigerstar the big entrances? I just love the big genocidal maniac!
Tigerstar: Awwww, I love you too. Can I kill the kittypets now?
Ash: Not just yet, keep your fur on.
Thank you, Cinderstar377, becca, eclareforever901, and Starrymists for your reviews, you make writing a great experience ^.^ Next to the thrill of getting to kill Firestar my own way xD