(Yea! Two chapters in one day!-posted the chapter before this one today as well- Well, the moment you've all been waiting for. Please tell me what you think, becaus I've spent my longest trying to perfect this chapter ." Kinda nervous... *laughs akwardly* Anyway, Cherry and her group finally make it to the clans, though not in top shape.)

"They're coming Bramblestar, and one of them is badly injured!" Dovewing yowled as her eyes snapped open. Bramblestar gave a curt nod and turned to the cats behind him.

"Ok they are coming; we have to meet them at the border! We cannot let them come close to the camp!" Amber eyes turned to blue ones. "You guys know what to do right?"

Crowfeather nodded quickly, letting out a low growl when Leafpool brushed up beside him. They both ignored the growls on their right. Thornclaw and Toadstep would just have to deal with the short alliance. 'And then I will deal with you both,' the ginger she cat thought darkly.

"Ok, Leafpool lead Windclan out to the cats! Cloudtail, you, Mousewhisker, Hazeltail, Birchfall, Millie and Graystripe stay behind; be close enough to lend helping paws to them if they need it. If they even come close to going into the forest I want you to use what you've been taught and shred them to pieces! Lionblaze, since you are the strongest you stay back with Dovewing. She can sense if they've broken through and let you know ahead of time." Lionblaze nodded his fur prickling in frustration. He was supposed to be out there with them, but if Bramblestar thought it right to stay back just in case then by all means he would, even if it made him grumpy.

"Go now Bramblestar! They are almost here! And someone just fell!"

Like a stampede of badgers they left, Dovewing being openly glad she still had her hypersensitive senses from the last battle. She looked towards Lionblaze, who was digging his claws in the ground, and felt sorry for the tom. He was supposed to be out there, that she knew, but Jayfeather's suggestion that he stayed back made sense to Bramblestar, and so it was.

Lionblaze marching over to the nursery, throwing angry eyes at Thornclaw and Toadstep along the way. He made sure to keep close eyes on their followers as well, which were Icecloud and surprisingly Brackenfur. Lionblaze doesn't know what lie he whispered in their ears, but he was going to stop it, and soon. Silently, he slipped into the nursery, looking around for Squirrelflight and found her ushering her kits into a hole.

"But mom why do we have to hide in here?!" Sunkit whined.

Gingerkit hopped up on his hind legs and batted clumsily at the air. "We can take them!"

"Yes, you will be able to when you are warriors, but until then you stay here, and stay safe." Squirrelflight mewed urgently.

Flamekit was surprisingly quiet, which piqued Lionblaze's curiosity quite a bit. The small ginger kit had such an intense look of concentration in her eyes that it threw him off a bit. 'I wonder,' he thought absently. "We are fine Lionblaze, no need to check up on us every three seconds."

"I know but, I just have to make sure." He casted loving eyes as his three kin. 'And to think they see me as their big brother. Wow.'

"We are fine OK?" Squirrelflight walked over and nudged his cheek lovingly. She leaned a little closer to whisper in his ear. "Keep an eye on Blossomfall. I don't trust her." He nodded sharply and pulled away, smiling lightly. With one last look over at the kits, who were now wrestling (except for Flamekit, strange) he left the nursery, nodding his greetings to Poppyfrost and Sorreltail as the two queens trotted by holding extra brambles. Bumblestripe dashed over to them, holding a mouthful of his own.

The brambles from the entrance trembled, spitting out Cinderheart, Dustpelt and Briarlight as the three made their way into the camp, mouths full of herbs. They made a beeline to Jayfeather's den, who poked his head out a moment before they entered. Dovewing watched them go, ears twitching as she stretched out her senses. "They're fighting," she mewed. "They've got the four cats."

~ooo~

With a yowl Leafpool jumped on the first big cat she saw, making sure to cling tightly on his back. The Windclan cats were running around the field and making the other chase them, only to turn around and attack as soon as a Thunderclan cat pounded on the big cats' back. The battle was loud, and Leafpool was pretty sure that the other clans could hear them. Green eyes widened as she heard a yowl, snapping her head around to see the sight of a big cat latching onto the scruff of Leaftail and shaking wildly. Cloudtail raced up to the cat and flopped on his back, starting to viciously claw at the things belly. Another yowl, a deeper one, let her know that another big cat was in trouble, and so she focused on the one she was currently perched on, pupils turning into slits as she started to claw out its back with eagerness.

Crowfeather dashed at the cat's front legs and jumped out of the way, and another came to do the same with the back. Leafpool jumped off at the last moment as the big cat fell over with a thud as it tripped over its own paws, and the tree warriors stared to mercilessly claw at its belly, sides and face. When it whimpered they let it go, only to be shocked when a blue cat tackled it, striking and sinking his fangs into his neck. The cat flailed, then convulsed and stayed still. "What did you do that for?!" Leafpool yowled angrily. Crowfeather and Bramblestar bristled beside her, sides heaving with slight exhaustion.

The blue tom narrowed his lighter blue eyes and growled lowly. "You have to kill them. If you don't they will run, regroup and attack again." With a flick of his tail Ocean turned and pounced on another with a battle yowl. The three warriors shared a look before yelling out what Ocean had told them, and the battle turned even bloodier.

Millie receives a deep bit on her thigh that made her yowl and fall to the ground. Graystripe was over there and protecting her the next moment, the white she cat Luna at her side. Leafpool paused to examine the field, and noticed that three of the cats had gotten away and into the forest. "Three strays!" She yowled, going to follow them when a distressed mew caught her ear. She turned to her left, eyes widening when she saw a large golden big cat towering over a weak and bleeding Cherry.

"You will pay for the death of my mate," the large tom growled, raising his paw and swinging, knocking Cherry away. Sakura instantly attacked him, reaching his tail and clamping down on it hard. Ocean and Ravenpaw both finished off their big cat with deep bites to the front and back of its neck before racing over to Sakura, Ravenpaw jumping up and running his claws over its face while Ocean head butted him hard in the chest. With Luna to join, all four cats were instantly upon him, and they only left Ravenpaw alone with him when they were sure the cat didn't have enough energy to rise again, letting Ravenpaw have his own torturous way with him.

The three quickly made their way to Cherry, who was lying too still for their liking. The slight rise and fall of her flank was the only way they knew she was alive. Leafpool trotted over to them and stared down at the red she cat. 'If we make her walk she will lose a lot of blood,' she thought with a troubled look on her face.

"Can both of you carry her to our camp?" She asked, taking a quickly glance around the battle field. Three of the big cats were dead including the leader, and that only left two standing, but barely. 'The others can handle them, but the ones in the forest...' Leafpool turned ran over to Birchfall, watching the tom rise on trembling legs and prepare himself to launch into the attack again. "Birchfall! I need you to protect Cherry and help them get to the clan. Be quick but careful. Cherry is heavily wounded and we don't need to completely open her wounds. She's lost enough blood." The tom nodded, glad to be doing something else. Leafpool turned and ran into the forest, mind racing the whole way. She hoped the other clan cats were OK. She hoped Squirrelflight was OK.

~ooo~

"Some of the cats are heading this way, maybe three or four!" Dovewing meowed urgently. Lionblaze nodded and turned to the clan.

"Three are heading our way! Get ready to defend!"

The Queens mewed in horror and shot into the nursery, making sure that the kits were OK before taking protecting stances outside of it. Lionblaze made it perfectly clear that he wanted Squirrelflight out of the fight and had her stand guard over the kits just in case a big cat broke through. The cats spread out among the camp, some of them hiding behind brambles and in shadows for surprise attacking. 'Hopefully they don't find us,' Lionblaze worried. The camp was well hidden, but their adversaries were big than them, which meant sharper senses.

Dovewing took her place on one side of the ginger tom, Cinderheart poking her head out of the medicine cat den to shoot them a worried look. Dovewing would have sent one back, but her sister Ivypool strolled up on the other side of Lionblaze and gave her an encouraging look. The light gray she cat smiled, and sent a determined nod towards Cinderheart, who gave a quickly smile before vanishing into the den again. Dovewing took a deep breath and closed her eyes. They snapped open instantly.

"They found us, they're here!"

Not even two seconds after she had said that the cats burst in, light wounds on their bodies and blood coating their flanks. Eyes shined maliciously as they attacked the clan head on, and with angry yowls the clan cats attacked back. Dustpelt, Blossomfall and Sandstorm jumped out of their hiding places and pounced on each cat's back, and like they were trained to, they sunk their claws in their furs securely before shredding their backs. The others reacted accordingly, going under to attack the legs, digging their claws in as hard as they could while using the speed they need and jumped back. Cats surrounded all three of the big cats' front and back legs, and when one of them stumbled, a cat from the front and back wrapped their tails around one of the paws and pulled, effectively tripping him over. Blow after blow landed, blood flied, and Ivypool gave a screech as she saw Dovewing flying through the air. Whitewing wailed, abandoning her post to run over to her daughter. Berrynose snarled and scrapes his claws viciously down the cat's snout, then struck out and sunk his fangs into its nose and pulling harshly.

Another yowl was heard, and nearly everyone turned to see one of the big cats jaw clamped down Rosepetal's neck. The dark cream she cat struggled, and with a crack she went limp, amber eyes lifeless. In rage Lionblaze jumped up and latched himself onto the side of the big cat's neck, paws scrambling to claw at and grab ahold of something. Whitewing and Docewing each clamped down onto one of its back legs and Ivypool slid under to claw at its stomach.

Leafpool climbed through the brambles just as Foxleap and Icecloud delivered twin blows to one cat's face. "You have to kill them, kill them now!"

Briarlight didn't have to be told twice as she sunk her fangs into the neck of Rosepetal's killer, and even though the other two cats put up a big struggle, they ended up dying as well. Lionblaze panted as he shook his head, flinging blood every which way from his mouth. 'Disgusting,' he thought as he pawed as his shoulder. There was a wound there, though it wasn't deep. "It's all clear Jayfeather!" He heard before Cinderheart shot out of the medicine den with herbs in her jaws, Jayfeather joining her a second later. Toadstep wailed as he sat near Hazeltail's limp body. The clan members bowed their head in sorrow, only to lift them, seconds later when Birchfall walked through the entrance, followed by Sakura and Ocean carrying an unconscious Cherry. When the tom saw Dovewing and Ivypool alive he gave a relieved sigh, though they turned into sorrowful gems as he spotted Rosepetal and Hazeltail's dead bodies.

"Jayfeather! One of foreigners is badly wounded!"

Leafpool turned and trotted over to them. "Take her over to the den, quickly!"

Sakura looked at Leafpool with fearful eyes. "She will make it right?"

"I don't know yet," Leafpool replied, worry taking her. 'Please Starclan, Skyclan, let her be alright.'

"Bring her this way," Jayfeather called out, and both Sakura and Luna carried their mother into his den, Ocean trailing behind carrying her tail in his mouth. Leafpool went to follow them but Jayfeather growled at her. "I will tend to them. Go check on the others and your Windclan buddies."

Leafpool's eyes widened in shock. He was doing this now?! Biting back a retort, Leafpool turned and walked around the clan, helping Cinderheart with tending to her clan mates before taking some herbs and rushing out of the den.