Chapter 29

Hailfall rushed into the battle with a vicious snarl. He had to trust that Feathertail would follow his orders to wait in the trees with the other medicine cats for the wounded. Only heartbeats after the battle started, the entirety of Fourtrees was in chaos.

Hailfall launched himself at a wiry gray BloodClan tom. Though thin, the pale tabby could feel hard muscles beneath his opponent's pelt. His initial attack seemed to surprise the BloodClan warrior, but he recovered quickly and lashed back with a threatening hiss. Hailfall ducked, but not quite fast enough, and felt the warrior's sharp claws cut across his ear. The medicine cat didn't let it faze him, he only bared his teeth as he lunged forward beneath his enemy's outstretched paws and raked his claws across his belly. He didn't bother turning back to send the warrior off, instead flicking past him and jumping on the back of a huge tortoiseshell warrior that had Sagepaw pinned to the ground.

"Let him go!" Hailfall hissed furiously, digging his teeth into the tortoiseshell's scruff and yanking him forcefully off of the apprentice. Thistelpaw was there in a heartbeat, darting in between his flailing paws to lash at his exposed belly while Hailfall clawed his shoulders. With a shriek, the tortoiseshell tore free and ran for ShadowClan's territory. Hailfall spat out a mouthful of mottled fur as Sagepaw struggled to his paws.

"Good job, Thistelpaw," Hailfall rasped. "Keep it up. Sagepaw, come with me." He thrust his shoulder beneath Sagepaw's and helped the apprentice limp to the side, out of the thick of the fighting. Feathertail weaved through the trees to meet them, her blue eyes shining with concern.

"I can still fight," Sagepaw growled, scraping his claws against the ground as Hailfall and Feathertail pressed cobwebs to his wounds.

"I know," Hailfall stepped back and examined the work. "Feathertail, keep him here until you're sure the bleeding has stopped, then he can join the battle again. I'm going to go find others who may need help." With that the pale tabby vanished into the thick of the fighting again, flicking his ear irritably to rid it of the excess blood. No matter how many BloodClan warriors they managed to chase off, it seemed that two fresh, battle-ready cats would take their place. This is bad. A flash of dark red fur caught his eye, and Hailfall froze as he recognized his brother.

Foxtail threw the warrior he had been battling to the ground. "Run or die!" He snarled. "You will never take the forest!"

The BloodClan warrior struggled to his paws. "Brave words coming from such a small scrap of rubbish!"

As fast as a snake, Foxtail slithered forward, ducking under swiping claws and slashing his own, freshly-sharpened claws across the warrior's throat. He didn't look back as he spun to find another opponent. "Keep fighting!" The red-furred warrior yowled hoarsely. "We can't give up!"

Hailfall's mind flickered to the first dream StarClan had ever shared with him, where ranks of blood-thirsty cats had rushed towards his brother, and a wave of blood had crashed over them all. Could it mean that Foxtail will save us? The pale tabby was shaken from his thoughts as thorn-sharp claws dug into his haunches. He spun to face a BloodClan queen with jet black fur. Her eyes glittered with undisguised hatred.

Hailfall lashed out, catching her cheek and sending blood splattering. She didn't let it affect her, jumping forward and pushing the medicine cat to the ground. Fox-dung! He twisted around as she tried to rake her hind claws down his belly, grimacing through clenched teeth as they met his flank instead. He turned his head and bit down on her foreleg as hard as he could, then pushed with all his might to jump up and send the shocked queen flying. She stood shakily, and stumbled backwards into a RiverClan warrior, who spun around snarling to finish the fight. Hailfall let him, scanning Fourtrees for any cat who needed urgent treatment. A chill shot down his spine as he caught sight of Scourge. He threw a bloody heap of fur against the Great Rock, and with a sudden rush of horror he recognized Leopardstar's dappled golden pelt.

The great RiverClan leader staggered to her paws, but Scourge unbalanced with a solid blow to the head, and as soon as her belly was exposed, he tore her open in the same motion that had ended all of Tigerstar's nine lives. StarClan no! The last thing they needed was the loss of such a great warrior. He heard a miserable wail, and saw her deputy, Stonefur forcing his way towards her. Grief and fury blazed in his amber eyes, and Hailfall didn't dare try to convince him not to try to avenge his leader's death.

"Hailfall!"

The medicine cat spun to see Cedarheart's apprentice, Smokepaw, rushing towards him. "It's your deputy!" He gasped. "Graystripe!"

Hailfall fallowed the apprentice's desperate gestures to where a huge black and white tom had Graystripe pinned to the ground. Hailfall shouldered his way through the fighting cats, desperation giving him strength as he finally got near enough to attack the huge tom. He unbalanced him with the force of his first attack, but was nudged out of the way before he could make a second.

"Tend to Graystripe!" Firestar's eyes met his for a moment. "I'm so proud of you," he added softly. "And Foxtail. You remind me every day of the strength and will of StarClan."

Hailfall blinked, taking in all of the pride and love and sorrow in his father's eyes. Is this really goodbye? "We're proud of you, too," he murmured. He turned and dug his teeth into Graystripe's scruff and drug the horribly wounded deputy to the trees. Feathertail was at his side in an instant.

"We can help him, can't we?" Her voice squeaked like a tiny kit's.

"We can ease his pain," Hailfall couldn't meet her eyes as he took some poppy seeds from the leaf bundle Feathertail was in charge of. Suddenly, he was glad that Yellowfang had urged him to bring chamomile and honey. He mixed it into a sweet poultice, and pushed it towards Graystripe's muzzle. The great gray warrior lifted his head and lapped at it feebly.

"I'm sorry," he rasped. "I couldn't avenge Silverstream…"

Feathertail bowed her head, and Hailfall swept his tail soothingly down Graystripe's flank. "You did everything you could," he murmured gently. "Soon, you'll be reunited in StarClan."

Graystripe sighed, peace seeming to overcome him. "I'd like that," he whispered. His eyes closed. Feathertail tipped her head back and let out a chilling wail. Hailfall pressed against her.

"Feathertail," he murmured. "We must keep doing what we can to help the others."

"I know," she mewed despondently.

Hailfall moved to rejoin the battle again when a pained cry split the clearing.

"Tallstar is dead!"

Hailfall felt his blood turn to ice. That means Firestar is the only Clan leader left… From the top of the slope leading into Fourtrees he could see more unmoving bodies than he cared to count. But too few belonged to BloodClan. Slowly, Clan cats began to back away, their eyes stretched wide in terror at the impossible battle they faced.

"Don't give up!" Hailfall recognized Stormfur's voice.

"We must kill Scourge!" Cedarheart's yowl echoed Stormfur's encouragement.

But then Scourge scrambled onto the Great Rock. The huge black and white tom that had killed Graystripe followed him, a limp body in his jaws.

Firestar… Hailfall took a step back, his legs trembling.

"All of your leaders are dead!" Scourge yowled. "Die now, knowing that not even your precious StarClan could save you from the claws of my Clan!"

Screeches of terror filling Fourtrees as cats from every Clan tried to flee. BloodClan warriors chased them gleefully, their eyes glimmering as if they were apprentices on their first assignment.

"Run!" Hailfall shoved Feathertail towards ThunderClan's territory. "We must get back to camp and save the queens and elders!" Feathertail nodded, and the two gray tabbies pelted side by side through the forest.

"Don't stop," Cedarheart joined them suddenly. "Feathertail, keep running, go through RiverClan's territory, and WindClan's," the ShadowClan warrior was panting, and bleeding heavily. "I'll help Hailfall get the queens and elders."

Feathertail opened her mouth to object, but Foxtail flashed past them. "Just listen to him!" He spat as he flew past. "Help RiverClan if you can but don't stop running!"

Feathertail gave the tiniest of nods and broke from their trail to race towards the river. Hailfall felt a flicker of relief. He could hear BloodClan warriors giving chase through the forest.

"I'll stand guard," Foxtail called back over his shoulder. "You two get in there and grab as many queens, kits, and elders as you can!"

Hailfall didn't answer, he only charged past his brother as they came over the ravine. His claws tore as he scrambled down, but he didn't feel the pain.

"They're already here," Cedarheart's fur bristled as he threw himself through the gorse tunnel. Hailfall knew he was right, but he wasn't prepared to see the battle happening in his camp—his home. He could see Sandstorm's body, and Brightheart's. The elders were fighting feebly in front of the medicine den, where Yellowfang's body lay. They must have put the kits in there!

Cedarheart joined the fray with a vicious caterwaul, Hailfall hot on his paws. Sorreltail was crouched in the medicine den, sheltering Sandstorm's three kits under her swollen belly. Her fear scent filled the cave.

"We have to go," Hailfall nudged the tortoiseshell and white queen to her paws. "We lost the battle, we've got to run now, okay? Take a kit and go as fast as you can to RiverClan's territory."

Sorreltail's amber eyes were stretched wide in terror, but she nodded and bent to gingerly lift the tiniest kit in her jaws.

"We'll hold them," a ShadowClan elder growled. "You young warriors save the kits and queens. We'd never be able to keep up with you."

Hailfall glimpsed grief in Cedarheart's pale green eyes, but the prickly warrior dipped his head. "StarClan honors you, Stumpytail," he muttered. Hailfall snatched one of the kits up, and Cedarheart grabbed the other. As they ran, one of the elders let out a fierce battle cry as they stopped BloodClan's pursuit. Foxtail was still waiting on the ravine, the body of a BloodClan warrior at his paws.

"Sorreltail's just ahead of us," he told them as they started running towards the river. "Sootfur showed up to help, so I sent him with her."

Hailfall felt as if his lungs would catch fire, but he wouldn't let himself slow. The kits in his jaws was too scared to even cry anymore. As they neared Sunningrocks, he saw Sootfur and Sorreltail across the river. Smokepaw was with them, his tail fluffed out in fear despite his pelt being soaked through.

"Swim!" Hailfall growled through the bundle of fur in his mouth. "Let BloodClan think that's the only way across!"

Cedarheart plunged into the river without hesitation, swimming strongly towards the other side. Hailfall followed, battered body hardly feeling the frigid water as it crashed over his head. Adrenaline made him strong, and fear pushed him forward. Foxtail swam beside him, glancing his direction every few strokes to make sure he wasn't struggling. When they splashed onto the bank, Hailfall glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of scrawny warriors pacing the shore, spitting furiously about their lost prey.

"Others have crossed the stepping stones!" A ginger ShadowClan warrior joined their small group. "They've invaded the camp, but we've helped as many as we could escape. Two ThunderClan warriors are still back there with some RiverClan cats—Stormfur and Feathertail I think."

"Good job, Rowanclaw," Cedarheart dropped the kit he had been carrying at his Clan-mate's paws. "I'll go help as well. You take this kit."

"We'll go ahead through the uplands," Foxtail meowed. "WindClan is bound to need help, and Sorreltail needs to get to safety as soon as possible."

Cedarheart nodded and vanished into the reeds. Rowanclaw picked up the kit and motioned for Foxtail to lead the way. The small group set off quickly as the BloodClan warriors caught sight of the stepping stones upstream. Sootfur had taken the kit Sorreltail had been carrying, and the queen struggled forward numbly. The wind whipped through the moorland, chilling their soaking coats as they ran across the exposed land. Hailfall was surprised to see Tawnypelt's familiar pelt ahead of them.

"Foxtail! Sootfur!" She exclaimed, her eyes flashing in relief. "Whitetail and a couple of WindClan apprentices are just behind me. We could… only save one kit…"

Sootfur pressed his pelt comfortingly against hers.

"Have you seen any others?" Foxtail demanded.

"Yes," Tawnypelt nodded. "Sagepaw and Thistlepaw have both been through this way, they helped us fight, but I sent them ahead to find a place to wait in case there were others that survived. Littlecloud is with them."

"Good," Foxtail flicked his ears. "We must keep moving forward. Once we reach Littlecloud we'll stop to wait for the cats helping RiverClan. If they don't arrive before BloodClan follows us, we'll have to leave without them."

"Leave?" Smokepaw looked up at Foxtail through terrified amber eyes.

"No matter what happens," Foxtail rumbled gently, "They would want us to survive."

A solemn silence followed his words, and as Whitetail joined them, a single kit clamped in her jaws and two exhausted apprentices on her tail, they started running again, this time following Sagepaw and Thistlepaw's fear-scent.

They found the apprentice's cowering beneath and outcropping of stone at the edge of WindClan's territory. Littlecloud snarled threateningly as they approached, then relaxed as he recognized Clan scent.

"Thank StarClan," he crouched, trembling. "We were beginning to fear the worst."

"We won't be defeated so easily," Foxtail growled. "There are still survivors, coming from RiverClan's territory. We'll wait for them until it isn't safe, and then we'll keep moving."

"But what about our home?" Thistlepaw lashed her tail, but her eyes were filled with fear.

"We must accept that our homes are no longer ours." Foxtail met her gaze evenly. "Even if the forest is turned to a twoleg place, StarClan would want us to keep pushing forward. We will find a new home—a better one, far from twolegs and BloodClan."

The sun had begun setting when Hailfall finally saw a small group of cats hurdling through the moorlands towards them.

"Hurry!" Cedarheart yowled as they approached. "We're being chased!"

Hailfall immediately picked up the kit he had been carrying. Foxtail jumped to his paws and called for them to move. The rushed from the shelter of the overhang as a group, ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan scents all mingling together as they fled their homelands. Hailfall could feel the terror of the cats around him, but Foxtail kept his head high as he called for them to keep moving. He doubled back to help those that stumbled, and took a turn carrying a young RiverClan kit when its mother twisted her paw.

StarClan, Hailfall prayed fervently as they ran. No matter what danger this hunter may be capable of, give him the strength to be the light that guides us through this terrible darkness.

He could have sworn he felt Oakheart's starry pelt brushing his own as he ran; that he caught a trace of Spottedleaf's sweet scent wreathing around him.

"Do not fear," they seemed to whisper. "This is only the beginning of your destiny."

Fin