I'm back! Finally!
Sorry for not uploading in a while, I had a TON of homework to get done (still do in fact, it's what I'm going to do after I post this and shower). I stayed up until about 1 in the morning yesterday finishing this and I'm really happy with how it turned out! :) It's over 8,000 words long and actually edited for once. Hope you'll like it!
Leopardstar2002: I'm glad you liked it, hopefully you'll like this one just as much! :) No promises about Foxtooth though...
QLKwriter: I absolutely LOVE plot twists, if you haven't noticed. XD Dawnshine gets a little explanation in this chapter, I tried to work it in as best I could. If it's not enough let me know and I'll try to explain better in my next review reply!
Silverkitty16: I'm sorry it was so confusing! Let me clarify: the kits are still there, just sleeping in the nursery. The war isn't centered on Featherpaw, but Dawnshine turned traitor because Ashthorn promised he would send her back. Hopefully I've provided enough explanation in this chapter!
Willowdream of ForestClan: Last chapter was only buildup to this one... hope you like this one too! :D I agree, snow is wonderful, though it canceled my church too. :(
Nightbird1648: Thank you! :) Hope you like this one just as much! I used the snow to stay inside and write, but there hasn't been much snow since so I haven't gotten a chance to work on this chapter...
Shadows of Weeping Wolves: Sorry you had to wait so long! *shoves chapter at you* Here you are! *hugs* Thank you so much! I'm glad I motivate you to write, writing is a good thing to do. I don't even know how I was able to finish this. It started with me being bored one summer day and randomly pulling out my iPod Touch and typing up the first nine chapters in the notes app. Then I looked back and thought, "Hey, maybe this could actually become something." Then I fell in love with the characters and just kept going. This was after many stories had died on me, though. I think it just takes a lot of practice writing and a really good idea for something like this to happen. Then you need a ton of free time or the will to stay up super late writing... XD
ShadowHawk540-2: I'm sorry it made you sad! *hugs* I hope this chapter's better!
ilovewarriorcats: Muahaha, I have kidnapped her and she is currently sitting tied to a chair begging me not to post but I WILL NOT LISTEN MUAHAHAHA... or maybe I just got motivation for once. XD I'm glad you liked them! I love how Rainstar's developed in this book, he's really matured a lot. About the splitting up of the chapters, I considered it but figured they would be too short in comparison to the last two, so I merged them into one long chapter the way I'd originally planned. There will be an epilogue for the "getting back to normal life" part, but I thought the end of the battle and how they deal with the traitors could be one chapter. There will be a bit of Cinder&Fox this chapter, and hopefully then it will make more sense why I added their talk in last chapter. About Ashthorn, I figured if [SPOILERS FOR THE LAST HOPE] there could be a battle between the Dark Forest and StarClan and the normal cats all at once, Ashthorn would be able to fight in this battle. Featherpaw wanted Dawnshine to move on from her and live her own life and knew she wouldn't be able to do that if Featherpaw kept visiting her. Dawnshine would only live for the visits and possibly commit suicide to join her. And Rainstar left his warriors at the ThunderClan camp. I don't think I specified which camp, but just assumed you'd realize it was ThunderClan's. Sorry about that! Hopefully this chapter will be better. :P
Rainstar's POV
I sat frozen in the middle of the clearing, watching the battle unfold. No… no… this couldn't be happening. I'd allied myself with Sootstar specifically to avoid battle. Would it all go to waste now?
"St… stop," I croaked. My voice sounded like a forty-moon-old sparrow. I cleared it then tried again. "Stop. Stop!" I forced myself forward, taking a few tentative pawsteps. "Stop!" Willing my muscles to work again, I began bounding forward. "Stop! We need to keep the peace! Stop!" But my shouts were drowned out by louder cries.
"Fight! Show them WindClan is strong!" My eyes narrowed as I found the owner of the voice. It was Adderclaw, the one I had trusted enough to make my deputy despite his aggressive, immature behavior as a kit.
"Adderclaw!" I skidded to a stop in front of him. All around us the deafening yowls and screeches of battle almost drowned out my words. "What are you doing?"
"Encouraging our warriors, what do you think?" Adderclaw spat out blood and lunged for a cat just beside me. I jumped out of the way as they tumbled past, Adderclaw ripping at the cat's ginger fur. I rammed him with my head and he lost his balance, letting the bleeding cat go.
He turned to me incredulously. "What's the big idea? I'm trying to fight this battle!"
"Obviously," I replied coldly. "You were the one who started it. Don't think I didn't hear you a moment ago. What was it you said? 'What are you waiting for? Attack!'?" I snorted. "These cats didn't want to fight and you forced them into battle. It's Leafbare, we can't afford a mass battle like this!" I stepped forward, staring into his face. "Help me call off the battle. Prove your loyalty to WindClan and the warrior code."
Adderclaw gazed at me steadily, not saying a word. I narrowed my eyes. "That was an order, Adderclaw. Show your obedience toward your leader."
He still didn't move for a heartbeat. Then he smiled and dipped his head. I relaxed as he said, "Very well, Rainstar. I will show you where my loyalties lie." His choice of words made me pause, staring at him suspiciously as his grin widened. "I'll show you so you'll never have to question them again." And he leaped at me, claws outstretched towards my face.
If he hadn't given me advanced warning in his word choice and tone, he probably would've blinded me. Instead, his claws slashed a deep gash down my cheek.
The pain focused me, forcing the shock to the back of my mind. I unsheathed my claws, growling low in the back of my throat. An image flashed into my mind, of the first fight I'd ever won. Sootkit stood across from me in a sunny clearing, Cinderkit's voice in my mind. Sootkit is much heavier than you. That means you can't unbalance him that easily. I couldn't use my strength to unbalance him, but there were always other tactics that didn't require strength to use.
Suddenly diving forward, I rolled under Adderclaw's belly, knocking his hind legs out from underneath him. His back end collapsed, its momentum quickly bringing down his front. I took my chance and latched my claws into the soft skin just behind his shoulder blades. He howled and kicked his hind legs as he stood back up, trying to dislodge me. My claws jerked painfully but I refused to let go, holding on as he shook and plunged, jostling me back and forth, almost slamming my chin on the top of his head several times. I considered just letting my chin hit him, but it didn't seem worth it. Since my chin would've hit him right at the sharp point at the back of his skull behind his ears, it would've hurt me much more than him.
Finally, Adderclaw dropped to the ground. I tried to let go but I'd been hanging on so tight my claws were too tangled to let go quickly. His body weight crushed me for a moment, but to protect his belly from another attacker he was forced to keep rolling. I dodged his paws as they slammed down where I was a heartbeat before.
Adderclaw's eyes blazed with fury and he crouched, tail lashing as though preparing for another attack. But in the next heartbeat he lay thrashing in the packed snow, covered by a layer of golden fur. Hyperion had leaped onto his tail, then propelled himself onto the deputy's ears, smashing his chin into the ground. He nodded once to me as he sunk his claws into Adderclaw's fur. "I got you."
As I gasped in a breath of air, glancing gratefully up at him, I heard a voice from across the camp. My ears pricked up and I had a heart attack when I realized it was Cinderstar. "Sootstar! Look out!"
My paws were moving before I had time to properly process the information. Suddenly I found myself across the camp, where I saw Cinderstar lunging at Dawnshine, who pinned Sootstar beside a grinning Ashthorn. My mind reeled and I stumbled to a halt a good ten tail-lengths from the scene, watching dumbfounded as Cinderstar and Dawnshine tumbled to the ground, sliding across the snow.
"Cinderstar, what…" My eyes landed on Sootstar. Blood oozed from his neck, spreading across the dirty snow, too red to be a superficial wound. It was darker than a cardinal, darker than a woodpecker's head. My body went numb.
I dashed to his side, nosing his face repeatedly. "No… Sootstar? Sootstar! Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up!"
Sootstar groaned. I danced on the spot, terrified to try something in case it didn't work. Should I press my paws on his wound to stop the bleeding? Probably, except maybe if I did I'd cut off his airway and suffocate him by accident. But if I didn't do anything he'd bleed out.
He exhaled, long and slow. I crouched, silently begging him to inhale again, to prove to me he was fighting to stay alive. But his ribs refused to inflate and he went utterly still. Without the air usually filling his lungs he looked smaller, his shoulders less broad. He looked like me.
Something inside my chest fractured. I looked up and watched as Cinderstar grappled with Dawnshine on the ground, both she-cats spitting furiously at each other. Behind them, as though in slow motion, the battle patrols from RiverClan and SkyClan flooded into the already packed clearing, forcing the battling warriors closer to our little group. I stepped over Sootstar's motionless form, my belly fur pressing against his haunches as I crouched over him. No one was going to hurt him. Never again. I wouldn't allow it.
My eyes felt like miniature suns as they raked the clearing, taking in the scene. Who was fighting whom. Who was refusing to fight whom. I watched as Adderclaw passed right by Vixentail from ShadowClan only to leap onto Sparrowtalon. I spotted Badgertongue sweeping the clearing with her gleaming eyes, pausing only to exchange a nod with a pale brown SkyClan warrior. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ashthorn watching the scene with a strangely satisfied expression.
He looked satisfied at a battle.
He attacked Sootstar.
This was his fault.
I barely registered what my muscles were doing until I slammed into Ashthorn, knocking him to the ground in a pin. "You," I spat, making sure flecks of it landed in his eyes. "You. You set this up. It's your idea, your fault."
Ashthorn stared at me with a cool, unreadable expression. "So what if I did?" he asked, a slight smile curving his lips. "What are you going to do about it?" In a heartbeat he'd flipped me onto my back, pressing one paw against my throat. His claws pricked my skin as I struggled for breath. "You're no warrior. You can't even fight."
"No," I whispered, gasping against the pressure from his paw. He could crush my windpipe with just a little more.
"What was that?" Ashthorn leaned mockingly down, turning one ear toward me. "What were you saying, little Rainkit?"
I couldn't believe this was the same cat who had assured me he loved me in a dream. But then again, if he could lie so well when we first arrived at the lake, it shouldn't surprise me that he'd been lying to me then, too. And I'd fallen for it both times. Ashthorn must have been counting on how gullible I was, how trusting of everyone. Well I was done trusting him now. Sootstar was right; we should never have trusted him in the first place.
"No," I growled, feeling the vibration in my chest, deepening my voice to sound strangely like Sootstar's. "I'm not a warrior. I'm a leader." I stared at him, my eyes searing his flesh. "It's time you handed over the title for good." Unsheathing my claws, I kicked him hard in the stomach, ripping through his skin like it was water.
Ashthorn gasped from the shock of sudden pain. I felt a flash of triumph. "What, were you expecting me to give up that easily?" Sheathing my claws again, I kicked him off and rolled onto my paws, coughing to reinflate my throat. "That was Rainkit, Rainpaw, and Rainsky. It's not going to be Rainstar."
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Sootthorn getting to his paws. He looked tired but determined, and while blood still stained his neck fur the wound itself looked healed. His eyes narrowed as he took in the scene—Ashthorn and me facing off and Cinderstrike battling Dawnshine. He stepped forward and, bounding directly between me and Ashthorn, breaking our concentration completely, he headed straight for Dawnshine. Lunging suddenly, he knocked Cinderstrike aside and tackled Dawnshine, pinning her to the ground.
"What's your problem," he hissed. "What's wrong with you?"
Dawnshine laughed, her voice too loud and off-kilter. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
"You took one of my lives!" I heard his throat starting to close up, though it was so subtle I doubted Ashthorn and Dawnshine would notice. I moved a step closer, ready to dive in if Sootstar needed help, but held myself back all the same. He needed this moment alone with her. "How can you say nothing's wrong?"
"I can't go on without her! I need my Featherpaw!" Dawnshine was barely fighting back now. She stared up at the sky, her eyes wild. "Ashthorn can send her spirit back into one of my kits, just like Cinderpelt in the old stories! When she left Cinderheart was still Cinderheart. My kit will still be my kit when I die and Featherpaw and I will go up into StarClan together and live there forever!"
"You need to move on! You can't keep grieving this strongly!"
"She's my sister!" Dawnshine screamed. Sootstar barely twitched his ears, though the volume must have painfully resounded inside them. "How can I stop grieving?"
"You need to live your own life! Dawnshine…" Sootstar was close to tears, I could tell. My heart reached out for him, yearning to wrap him in a hug and make everything all better. But I couldn't. Not yet, at least. He took a deep breath and continued, "You have a mate! You have kits, for StarClan's sake! They need you, Dawnshine. I need you!"
"Take some of your own advice for once!" Dawnshine kicked him in the belly, though thankfully her claws were sheathed, unlike mine had been with Ashthorn, and Sootstar didn't move. "Move on! Get over me, you hypocrite! You can't get me Featherpaw back!"
"Dawnshine… you can't mean that," Sootstar whispered. "What about the kits? Wolfkit, Sagekit, Willowkit, and Shadekit need you. You can't just abandon them."
"Kits have been raised without mothers before. They'll get over it," Dawnshine hissed. "Amberwing will take care of them." She looked away. "I never wanted kits anyway," she muttered.
Sootstar stared at her intensely for a couple heartbeats. The battle raged only a few tail-lengths away but it seemed as though the five of us were enclosed in a bubble, as if we were in a separate reality—connected, but still somehow separate from the outside world.
Finally, Dawnshine remembered to use her claws. Raking them down Sootstar's belly, she was able to wriggle free and turn on him, spitting angrily. "Ashthorn doesn't need me to distract you anymore. In fact, I'm starting to grow sick of you. See you in StarClan, Sootstar." She leaped at him, knocking him to the ground again and baring her teeth for the killing bite.
"No!" I wasn't about to let Sootstar lose another life. My head slammed into Dawnshine's shoulder and she went flying through the air, tufts of Sootstar's fur caught in her claws. She crashed hard against the ground.
I glanced at Cinderstar. Her eyes were narrowed, her pupils dilated from adrenaline. She blinked once, then darted after Dawnshine. She lunged, landing on top of the gently stirring she-cat, and dipped her head down out of sight. After several endless heartbeats, her spasming limbs fell slowly onto the ground.
Cinderstar turned and spat red onto the snow. Padding back toward Sootstar and me, she muttered under her breath, "I hate the taste of blood." I pressed my nose against her cheek.
"Well, well. It seems you've become a murderer, Cinderstar. How does it feel to know you've taken a life? How does—"
"Some life she took," I growled, turning back to Ashthorn. For a moment, I'd forgotten he was there. It seemed he had a soft spot for watching battles from afar. Perhaps he'd gotten used to it in StarClan. "Dawnshine was barely living on her own, I'd guess. She… she invested too much of herself in her sister." I glanced briefly at Cinderstar and Sootstar.
Ashthorn prowled forward, his eyes glimmering. He didn't answer, but merely stared at us, his eyes flicking from me to Cinderstar to Sootstar and back again.
"So," Cinderstar growled, taking a step forward. "So, you organized this, did you? This battle, everything that's gone wrong this Leafbare. It's all your fault."
Ashthorn shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said no."
Her eyes narrowed. "Why? Why would you set the Clans up for destruction? Do you hate us that much?"
His voice suddenly grew deeper, more serious. "I never wanted kits. I didn't want to have to deal with you three. I hoped… I hoped you'd go off with Lightwing and never return. I extended the fighting so I wouldn't have to go join you in that damned forest and be a father. Then all of a sudden you turn up and lead the way to victory over NightClan. What was I supposed to think? You stole my glory! Now the stories will revere you when they were meant to revere me."
He sank his claws into the snow. "If I led you to ruin then you'd be remembered as the leaders who couldn't lead, the leaders who gave themselves over to rash, emotional behavior, the leaders who formed the Clans again, then led them to ruin." Ashthorn flicked his tail at the crowd of battling Clans. "I assimilated cats to my cause, one from each Clan. It seems you've already taken care of my ThunderClan spy."
I felt movement beside me and glanced down to see Sootstar getting slowly to his paws. He didn't glance once behind him at Dawnshine's body, lying abandoned in the bloodsoaked snow. He fixed Ashthorn with his piercing stare and for the first time I thought I saw a difference between the two toms. Ashthorn's head was lower, his eyes darker, his body curved as though trying to hide something. Sootstar raised his chin proudly, his eyes blazing with a newfound fire, his shoulders squared. Their fur and eyes were the same, but the similarities ended there. Sootstar was a leader. Ashthorn was a twisted dead guy.
"Rainstar," he meowed, his voice steady and strong. "Cinderstar. Are you ready?"
I didn't need mind-speak to know what he meant. My claws slid out of their sheaths. "Definitely," I growled.
Cinderstar nodded once. "Of course."
"Good." Sootstar stepped forward, to stand in front of and between us. "It's time. It's long past time."
"Agreed," I meowed.
Sootstar began walking forward, Cinderstar and I keeping pace at his shoulders. I fixed my unwavering stare on Ashthorn, my peripheral vision fading out. I couldn't help but let exhilaration flood my heart as I felt how right this was; the three of us facing our father, united against his tyranny like we should be, like we should have been all along. He could never break us apart. Nothing could. We were littermates, and I would stand by my brother and sister forever.
As one, we broke into a bound, then as Sootstar tapped our shoulders with his tail, we attacked, each in our own way. I dived beneath his belly, knocking his legs out from underneath him as Cinderstar snaked around him, claws a blur in his starry fur, and Sootstar reared up to meet him mid-jump, grappling with his forelegs at Ashthorn's shoulders. I emerged from underneath him just in time to see fear enter Ashthorn's eyes—real fear. Finally.
"It's time for your reign to end, Father," Sootstar growled, pressing his nose against Ashthorn's as Cinderstar and I pinned his body to the ground. "Give up your power. It's time for your kits to take over." He paused, exaggerating a thoughtful expression. "Actually… no, it's past time. It's way past time. You should have let us rise when you died back in Greenleaf." His eyes grew hard.
Ashthorn, to his credit, didn't even try to defend himself. He merely stared at Sootstar, his face a mask of emotionlessness as his son's claws sunk into his throat, as his lifeblood spurted out, coating Sootstar's fur and dripping onto the snow at his paws. I held my breath as the stars from his fur slowly dimmed, their light fading into his fur as his eyes drifted shut. Sootstar let him fall onto the ground and he landed in the rose-red snow with a soft thump. His body disintegrated into a few wisps of smoke, fading into the icy breeze. A fitting death for his icy heart.
I stepped toward Sootstar, pressing my head into the hollow of his throat, just above his shoulder. Cinderstar joined us and I felt her breath brushing my muzzle as she rested her head on Sootstar's spine. For several long moments, I wasn't sure whether we were supporting each other or about to fall ourselves, whether we were about to leap into the air in joy or burst into tears. But we were there for each other, and that was the important part. It was the only important part.
The sounds of the still-raging battle filled our ears and I felt Sootstar turn his head toward their source. I opened my eyes to see a bloody clearing filled with the bodies of the injured and dying. It was jarring to see the battle still being fought after the one who started it had died.
Reluctantly, I sat up, pulling away from Sootstar and Cinderstar. "I guess we should… go try to break it up or something," I meowed softly.
"Yeah," Sootstar murmured. I saw him half-glance at the place where Dawnshine's body lay, but he stiffened and resolutely got to his paws, facing the battle. He took a deep breath, then repeated himself in a stronger voice. "Yeah. We're leaders." He glanced at the two of us. "It's up to us to end this bloodshed."
Cinderstar nodded, her eyes narrowing in determination. "Let's go, team." She grinned, and I couldn't help but mirror her. Despite the situation, I was exhilarated to be working in a team again.
Sootstar, naturally, led the charge. He darted up to the Highledge as Cinderstar and I began wading through the crowd, breaking up fights wherever we could.
I first came across an unfamiliar SkyClan cat grappling with Rustpelt. Yowling at the top of my lungs, I pulled the SkyClan cat off Rustpelt. "Stop fighting!" I called into his ear. "We need to stop fighting!"
The warrior pulled away. "What's your problem?" she hissed.
"I, as one of the five leaders of the Clans, command you to stop fighting."
"You're not my leader," she growled.
"Do you want to keep fighting?" I challenged her. "Imagine if you continued this battle only to find later that if you'd stopped now, someone you love could have survived."
I bit my lip as she considered me through her brown eyes. Finally, she spat, "Fine."
"Thank you," I gasped. Glancing at Rustpelt, I added, "Could you help me break up other fights?"
Rustpelt nodded energetically. "Sure thing."
"Thanks." I flashed a grateful smile, then turned to another brawl.
This one consisted of Aspensplash and Lionpaw tackling a RiverClan she-cat I didn't recognize. I reared onto my hind legs, pushing Aspensplash to one side and pulling Lionpaw off by his scruff. "Stop!" I shouted, my voice growing hoarse as the she-cat scrambled to her paws, growling. Coughing, I tried again. "Stop fighting!"
All three hesitated, claws still extended and eyes still gleaming with adrenaline. "Why?" the she-cat snarled, her voice husky. "What's the big idea?"
"We need to quit figh—" I started, but I was interrupted by a yowl from above.
"Stop!" Sootstar shouted. I glanced up and saw him standing on the Highledge, his fur outlined by a halo of white by the sunhigh sun. "Stop fighting! Do you want more bloodshed? Stop! Are you warriors or rogues? In the name of the Clans, in the name of peace, stop!"
His words appeared to break apart the majority of the skirmishes. Many beaten-up, bloodied cats turned their faces up, eyes revealing a mixture of emotions: confusion, curiosity, and wariness chief among them. Sootstar repeated his message, calling it into the hollow until most of the cats stood still, though some still paced angrily, their fur ruffled and their eyes flashing with a hunger for battle.
Sootstar gazed down at the representatives from all five Clans for a heartbeat, his fur drenched in scarlet from his chest to his paws, his dark eyes reflecting the sun's light. "I…" His voice rasped and he coughed. "I, er, know I haven't given you much reason to trust me." He paused for a moment and an uncomfortable silence followed. I stared up at him, silently begging him to just keep talking. I wondered if my speeches were this bad, and I figured I wouldn't be surprised if they were.
After taking a deep breath, Sootstar continued. "Nonetheless, I ask you to please listen to me for just a moment." He stared around at the Clans for just enough time to get their attention again, then said, "I was wrong to accuse you of spying on ThunderClan. It was my mistake, completely and utterly my fault, and I now ask for your forgiveness. I have no good excuses, I'm afraid, only that I was carried away by my anger at Ashthorn, my father."
A yowl echoed up from the clearing. I twisted around, trying to get a good view of the speaker, but the crowd was too thick. I listened hard and thought I recognized a certain condescending voice. Turning to Cinderstar, I took the glower on her face as confirmation. It was Badgertongue.
"What about the scents, then?" she challenged. "They were spread across the entire territories over the course of a few nights, I believe. What's up with that?"
"Exactly," Sootstar meowed. "They were spread across all the territories. Not just ThunderClan's, not just RiverClan's, but all of them. I do not believe that qualifies as spying on any particular Clan." His eyes flashed and his tail twitched as he continued. "This was the work of a certain deceased cat by the name of Ashthorn."
Badgertongue snorted. "You just said you hated Ashthorn, and now you expect us to believe this accusation?"
"Yes," Sootstar said. He scanned the crowd and his eyes landed upon mine. He beckoned with his tail, then found Cinderstar and repeated the gesture. "And if you are determined not to believe me, which I entirely understand, I am happy to say I have witnesses."
I bounded up the Rockfall to stand on the Highledge. At first, I hung back from the edge; it looked rather far to fall, much higher than the Tallboulder back at WindClan's camp. But Sootstar was probably more scared of heights than me, judging from his lack of skill in tree-climbing, so if he could stand there without turning a tuft of fur, I figured it shouldn't be that bad. So, stepping forward, I gazed down at the assembled cats. There were really a lot of cats. I couldn't count the number of eyes staring at me. My fur began to overheat.
"Rainstar of WindClan and Cinderstar of ShadowClan also saw his betrayal. Cinderstar even asked him specifically to make sure he was telling the truth." Sootstar nodded to Cinderstar and she stepped forward, into the reflected light of millions of eyes down in the clearing. My stomach turned over when I thought about how I'd probably have to do that at some point in the near future.
"Ashthorn betrayed us," Cinderstar meowed in a calm, level voice. "But it wasn't just him. He had help." She stared dog-tooth claws down at the assembled cats. "Five cats helped him, one from each Clan. He named one: Dawnshine of ThunderClan." She hesitated a heartbeat, but didn't turn to look at Sootstar. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him swallow but he gave no other sign of having heard her name.
"He did not give any others away, but—"
"But I think I have a guess or four as to who the others are," I broke in. Suddenly every eye was on me. I shriveled up inside, asking myself endlessly why I had to start talking then, out of any time I could have spoken up. But the words were out and I might as well continue. It's what a leader would do, after all.
"Adderclaw," I said, figuring I'd start with the most obvious candidate. From down below, the lilac tabby's eyes roved lazily upward to settle on me. He didn't look surprised. "My deputy. I gave you a chance to prove your character even after you bullied me as a kit. You wasted it." I took a deep breath. "This morning you attacked me. I believe that goes against the warrior code in itself, apart from your betrayal with Ashthorn." I stared down at him, trying to make my eyes as cold and unfeeling as Cinderstar's and Sootstar's. "Do you deny it?"
Adderclaw shrugged. "Well, I figured after I attacked you—" several cats gasped at his blatant admittance "—I wouldn't have much of a chance covering it up. Nope, I'm not gonna deny it." He turned toward me, his gaze suddenly fiery. "But mark my words, I am not saying I had any accomplices. I—"
"Ashthorn said he had five cats working for him," I said dismissively. "I already know there are five. Though, I suppose, now that you've confessed and D… Dawnshine was revealed, there are only three unknowns left."
I scanned the crowd, trying to recall my observations from earlier. Who wasn't fighting whom?
"Badgertongue," I announced. "I saw you nod at that SkyClan warrior." I scoured the upturned faces before locating the cat I'd seen earlier. "You. The one with the pale brown fur."
"Nettlesplash? What's Nettlesplash got to do with this?" Rockstar had stood up, glaring not at his warrior but at me.
I continued as though I hadn't heard Rockstar's words, though I flicked my ears in his direction to show him he wasn't being ignored completely. "You nodded back at her, didn't you… Nettlesplash?"
The warrior ducked his head, staring at his paws, his shoulders hunched. He appeared to be trying to make himself as small as possible. I felt my heart go out to him; I'd done that myself many times to avoid attention or punishment or something along those lines.
"Nettlesplash, tell Rainstar you had nothing to do with this grand scheme," Rockstar ordered, the fur along his spine bristling indignantly. "Tell him he saw wrong."
Nettlesplash didn't do anything other than perhaps hanging his head a little lower. I fought the urge to take back my accusation, reminding myself again that he had been part of plotting a war that had taken one of my brother's lives. I couldn't let a criminal like that escape justice.
"Nettlesplash?" Now Rockstar sounded confused and a little uncertain. "Were you involved in this, this rogue group?"
"I…" Nettlesplash looked terrified. His eyes seemed to be shrinking back into his skull and if his ears went much flatter they'd merge into his fur and never be seen again. "I… I d-didn't do an-nything wrong."
"Yes or no, Nettlesplash, please," I meowed, trying to make my voice echo around the hollow. It didn't exactly work the way I wanted it to. "That's all I need. A definite yes or no."
"I…"
Nettlesplash pressed his lips together. He had sunk into a crouch now, and even from my perch a tree-length above him I could see him trembling.
"Nettlesplash?" A she-cat padded forward, and I recognized her as the warrior I'd pulled off of Rustpelt earlier. "Say no. You didn't do anything, right?"
Still, the tom refused to speak. The gray she-cat's eyebrows furrowed and I saw a note of panic in her eyes. "Nettlesplash?" she prodded with increasing volume.
"Of course he didn't!" Badgertongue broke in, lashing her tail. "Neither of us did! Rainstar's just making it up."
"I am not!" I protested, narrowing my eyes. "Prove you weren't involved!"
"Prove I was," Badgertongue fired back.
"Fine."
I blinked, glancing toward Nettlesplash. Finally, he'd spoken up, though with the pressure off of him he might have found the strength to lie. His shoulders straightened and his chin lifted to fix me with a hard stare. I braced myself for his denial. "I did it. Yes, I was involved. And so were Badgertongue and Vixentail."
"N—Nettle… What?" The she-cat's voice cracked.
"I'm not going to hide behind lies anymore. I did that with the kittypet food, remember? I'm not that cat anymore. I'm over that. I… I was one of Ashthorn's recruits."
Badgertongue's expression had closed up the instant Nettlesplash had given her away. She stared at him with a cool glare as if she were considering whether it would be worth it to pounce on him like a piece of prey. Vixentail had shrunk into a crouch, paws tucked so far under her chest I was sure they were flat against the ground underneath her belly. Beside her, her sister Iceheart stared at her, aghast.
"But… why?" Plumwillow bit her lip, kneading the ground as though she didn't quite know what to do with her paws.
"I guess I never really felt I belonged in the Clans," Nettlesplash shrugged, his eyes fixed on the ground. "I thought I wanted to be a kittypet but it was just too easy, too boring. Maybe I should try being a loner. Also—" Nettlesplash's eyes flashed in the direction of a tom with a fluffy tail almost identical to his own, "—I was sick of being overshadowed by Rabbitleap. After his whole escapade with Leafstar he kept thinking he was better than the rest of us. Didn't you notice?" His voice turned bitter. "I don't want to keep living in his shadow. I want to be equal with everyone I meet."
"But did you have to betray your Clan? Betray your littermates?"
Nettlesplash half shrugged awkwardly, not saying anything. He and Vixentail began to look a little guilty, nervousness seeping into their expressions from their chins to the tips of their ears. Nettlesplash wrapped his tail tightly around his paws.
Cinderstar nodded to me. "It seems to me as though we have all the evidence we need. Adderclaw, Nettlesplash, Badgertongue, and Vixentail, please step forward."
Nettlesplash, after hesitating a moment, padded forward to sit beside Adderclaw at the front of the crowd. Badgertongue, after shooting a glare at all the cats she could lay eyes on, followed. After much hissing and prodding by those around her, Vixentail joined them.
"Betrayers of the Clans," Cinderstar continued. "Violators of the warrior code. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Silence fell for a couple heartbeats. I heard Cinderstar inhale, preparing to move on, but I touched her side with my tail. Below, I saw Vixentail fumbling for words.
"I—I—I d-don't… I d-didn't… I didn't mean to… to hurt anyone. Ashthorn threatened…" She trailed off, looking uncomfortable, ducking her head in embarrassment and shame.
"You still went along with him," Sootstar broke in. "Do you agree that you should have stood up to him and defended your home? Clan above all, that is the warrior code."
Vixentail nodded miserably.
"Do you have anything else to say in your defense?" I asked quickly. After a tense pause in which not one cat moved a muscle, I glanced sideways at Cinderstar, nodding at her to continue.
"Very well. In lieu of the present circumstances, justified by how you, knowing full well it was against the code, jeopardized your Clanmates and the Clans as a whole, I now declare the four of you banished from the Clans. If you are not gone from the territories of all five Clans by moonhigh tonight, our warriors have permission to attack. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Sootstar growled.
"Agreed," I echoed.
After a pause, Mossystar lifted her head from where she sat near the base of the rocks. "Agreed," she meowed, crouching to leap up the rocky slope and join us on the Highledge. I shuffled over to make room for her.
"Yes… agreed." Rockstar glanced up and, spotting the four other leaders standing on the Highledge, hastened to join us. Together we stared down at the four traitors, watching as, one by one, they stood and headed through the parting crowd toward the entrance.
My eyes paused on Iceheart. She looked nervous, twitching her tail and flicking her ears distractedly as she clenched her teeth and pressed a paw hard against the ground. Finally, after several heartbeats of struggling, she burst out, "Vixentail, wait!"
The orange tabby glanced around as her sister dashed over to meet her beside the entrance. "Iceheart?" she asked, visibly confused. "What—?"
"I'm coming with you," Iceheart said. "We're sisters; we stick together. I don't care if you're a coward, you're still my little sister." She shot a glare up at the five of us, then with a flick of her tail vanished through the thorn barrier. Vixentail scurried after her like a baby mouse.
None of the traitors remained. I glanced around at the other leaders, unsure about what to do next. Were we meant to give some grand speech proclaiming our victory? Except it didn't feel like a victory. It felt like a loss. This battle was fought against ourselves.
Sootstar cleared his throat, silencing the few murmurs that had broken out in the clearing below. "I, um, suppose we should organize ourselves. All those fit enough to run need to be sent to the other camps for medicine cats and herbs. The most wounded, line up over by Goldenwing. She can start treating you now."
The crowd gradually began separating, small arguments breaking out as Clanmates insisted they weren't as injured as that other cat over there. I suppressed a smile; it was about one of the worst times to do so, but the sight of selflessness always made me smile. Slowly, though, a line formed outside the medicine den and Goldenwing hurried out to begin treating them, carrying a mouthful of dried herbs and looking frantic. Spitting them out onto the ground, she called up to us, "I need assistants! And get the messengers to bring back as many herbs as possible; these are the only ones I have left!"
"I can organize the messengers," Rockstar meowed at once. He disappeared down the Rockfall, diving into the crowd and surfacing on a rock placed near the center of the clearing, calling out for relatively uninjured warriors to come to him.
"We should start, um…" I flicked my tail nervously. "You know… bringing our fallen comrades together to mourn."
"Yes," Mossystar murmured, grimacing for a moment. "I… I agree." She glanced up at the three of us. "We should probably work in pairs for this. Sootstar," she nodded to him, "would you work with me?"
I again had to suppress a smile. Despite the dour atmosphere, I recognized Mossystar's subtext. She was making an effort to accept Sootstar again as a fellow leader, as an equal.
He dipped his head in return. "It would be an honor, Mossystar." He gestured with his tail, indicating that she should descend the Rockfall first. She nodded her thanks and led the way down into the hollow.
"Coming?" Cinderstar asked, brushing past me as she hurried down behind the pair, almost treading on Sootstar's tail as it whisked over the rocks.
"Quit being so hasty," I muttered teasingly, following her down from the Highledge.
At the base of the Rockfall, our two pairs split up, Mossystar and Sootstar heading toward the entrance and Cinderstar and I padding toward the fresh-kill pile, or at least what was left of it. So many paws had trod on the prey it was now unrecognizable. "We'll need to send out a hunting patrol," Cinderstar murmured, glancing over the pile. "Injured warriors need food to heal."
"It'll take a long time for us to heal," I replied. I'd come across the first body, partially hidden behind the squashed carcasses of fresh-kill. It was Oakpaw.
Memories flashed across my vision, of Oakpaw sitting with his brother and sister back in the Peace Forest, of Oakpaw and Rowanpaw laughing with me on the journey back, of Oakpaw's utter joy when he got Crouchfoot as a mentor… What was I going to tell his littermates?
Cinderstar moved closer to me. "He was one of yours, wasn't he?"
I nodded, closing my eyes. "I… I can't believe it. Not Oakpaw. He had so much potential."
"That's war for you," Cinderstar muttered. She tapped me lightly on the heels. "Stay focused, okay? We've got to get this done. His family needs the chance to mourn him properly in the center of the clearing, not hidden back here. Come on."
I nodded again, trying to focus. She was right, I couldn't break down over the first body. I had to stay strong until we were finished. Keeping my eyes shut, I let Cinderstar lead me toward his motionless form, stepping carefully so as not to tread on his little white tail-tip. I bent down, the reek of death overpowering my senses as I gently picked him up by the loose skin near his haunches. Cinderstar helped by taking his scruff, for even though he was only an apprentice he was heavy, and together we dragged him into the center, laying him beside Rockstar's perch. Then we headed back to the pile to search for more.
The next form we came across was, I believed, a ThunderClan warrior. Maybe Streamfrost? I couldn't quite remember everyone's names. But though I didn't know her, I still felt a pang of emptiness in my chest. She could have lived a long life, had kits, become an elder. I didn't even know her but her death was like a claw to my belly, draining me slowly of my energy until I thought I might lie down with the fallen and join StarClan too.
I was so distracted I didn't realize who the next cat was until I felt Cinderstar gasp beside me, her ribcage banging against mine, the sharp angles of bones jutting through her fur. Blinking myself out of my reverie, I spotted a russet tabby tom lying curled around a belly wound, his body drenched in drying blood.
"Oh Cinderstar…" Not her, too. First me, then Sootstar… now it seemed like it was Cinderstar's turn.
"Foxtooth," she whispered, drifting forward. She placed her paw on his back, right near his shoulder, but didn't shake him. He must have been cold because, almost unconsciously, she lay down next to him, getting her own fur wet again with blood.
I bounded to her side and rested my chin on top of her head. For a moment, I recalled the first battle, saw Silverdapple again dodge in front of me and take the claws meant to end my life, saw again her blood pour out onto the dusty ground. How could this have happened to all three of us? How could each of us lose a love?
"I…" Cinderstar staggered to her feet, throwing me off. "No." She shook her head. "We need to keep going. Help me with him."
I stared at her, not comprehending her words for a moment. Not until she repeated her last sentence, almost pleading this time, did I move. I grasped him along his spine and helped her maneuver him into the center of the hollow.
Sootstar and Mossystar were dragging another lifeless form in just as we arrived. Sootstar glanced over and his eyes went wide when he saw Foxtooth. "Oh… oh no…" He pressed his muzzle against Cinderstar's neck, burying his face in her fur, but she pulled away angrily.
"No. I'm fine. We need to keep working. Get going." She nudged him hard with her foot, almost hard enough to qualify as a proper kick.
Sootstar blinked, stunned as he recoiled. "Cinderstar—"
"I'm fine!" She coughed, realizing her voice gave away her impending tears. Shaking her head stubbornly, she stalked off across the clearing, her legs stiff with stifled grief. I almost started crying for her, but I blinked them away before they could freeze into crystals on my fur and jerked my head at my brother. Let her be. Maybe this is just her way of coping.
Sootstar clenched his teeth, grimacing in helplessness. "I know," I whispered, wrapping my tail around his shoulders, "but Mossystar's waiting for you. Cinderstar's waiting for me. We can comfort her later. Okay?"
He nodded. I leaned against him for a heartbeat more, squeezing his shoulders, then broke away and bounded after Cinderstar as a breeze whistled through the hollow. I realized I didn't have to worry about a stray tear falling; it was so cold it would just look like my eyes were watering from the wind chill.
The sun was setting over the lake as I padded slowly down towards it, my paws numb with cold and an overdose of shock. I'd taken half a leaf of thyme to prevent the latter, but it didn't seem to be working so well. Or maybe it was working fine and my paws were just cold.
The sky blazed pink and orange. I almost hated to see the beautiful colors; it was as though they were mocking the bloodshed that had occurred today. Why do you hate us, StarClan? But that was irrational, of course. StarClan had no control over the sunset.
I found Cinderstar and Sootstar sitting on the pebbly beach, right where I'd expected them to be. They weren't talking, rather just staring across the lake with narrowed eyes, their fur plastered to their faces by the wind. I padded up beside them, feeling the stones slide beneath my paws, and settled myself beside Cinderstar, resting my head on her shoulder.
She moved at my touch, shifting her weight onto me. Sootstar took a couple steps forward and rested his cheek on Cinderstar's and his muzzle on my forehead. I nestled into his warmth—in this position, he was blocking the wind from hitting me.
"Hey," I whispered.
"Mmm," Sootstar mumbled.
Cinderstar said nothing.
"It's pretty cold out here. Are you okay with coming back to the hollow?"
Cinderstar almost snorted. "It's not that cold, mother."
Sootstar laughed, or maybe it was a sob, or possibly a shiver.
"Mossystar's about ready to head out. She wants to bring news back to the few cats she left behind."
"Does she want to talk with us?"
"Yeah." I tilted my head to look up into the eyes of my littermates. "You ready or do you need a little more time?"
Cinderstar took a shaky breath of air, her muzzle pointed straight into the wind. I winced in sympathy, imagining how painfully cold that must have felt. She rubbed her nose into my fur to warm it up, then replied, "Y… Yeah. I think I'm good." She took another breath, this one steadier. "Yeah." She looked at Sootstar. "You good?"
Sootstar nodded. He pulled away and shivered as the wind cut beneath his fur, blowing it the wrong way. "I'm good." He took a deep breath and shook out his body, flicking his ears a couple times before heading back up the slope. It took him a couple tries to be able to walk in a straight line, but eventually he made it to the trees. "C-Coming, slowpokes?"
"Last one to camp's a rotten sparrow," I whispered as Cinderstar and I followed. Cinderstar almost laughed. Almost, but not quite.
Mossystar waited by the entrance to the hollow, her healthy warriors behind her. She had agreed to leave the three most injured behind along with their two dead. They'd return for them the next day.
"I thank you for your hospitality concerning my injured warriors," she meowed as Cinderstar, Sootstar, and I entered the camp, Sootstar last as he hadn't heard my whisper. "I hope our Clans can improve our relationship in the future."
"I also," Sootstar said, dipping his head respectfully. "Again, I apologize for letting this battle occur."
Mossystar shrugged it off. "I believe we can agree it was more Ashthorn's fault than yours." She glanced behind her at her warriors. "I will be back tomorrow. Until then, may StarClan light your path."
"May fish leap out of your rivers and into your mouths," Sootstar replied. "Or… something like that?"
Mossystar smiled. "Not quite, but I suppose it's close enough." She stood, flicking her tail at her warriors. With one last nod at the three of us, she led the way out of the hollow.
"I believe SkyClan is also ready to head out," Rockstar meowed, approaching from behind us, his patrol around him. "Frecklewish has agreed to remain here to help Goldenwing care for your wounded."
Sootstar dipped his head. "I thank you for your generosity," he said gravely. "I only wish it wasn't necessary."
"Don't we all," Rockstar mused. He glanced briefly around the camp, taking in the bloodstained snow, the bodies in the center of the clearing, and the makeshift dens constructed for the injured. "I believe there is some hope, though."
"And what would that be?" Sootstar asked curiously.
Rockstar half smiled as he replied, "We can only go up from here."
As the SkyClan cats bounded after their leader out of the camp, I turned to Sootstar. "I guess it would be improper for Cinderstar and me to stay overnight. We should probably head back to our camps."
Our eyes met and for a moment, our thoughts seemed to be one and the same. For one afternoon we'd almost forgotten we led different Clans. Now it was time to separate again, but this departure didn't feel the same as our first. That one had been full of tears and desperate last, loving goodbyes. This felt more… unemotional, more normal. We weren't littermates, but at the same time we were; connected in blood and yet separated by Clan. Clan over blood.
"I'll be back in the morning to… you know," Cinderstar meowed. "But Dewcloud will wonder what became of us. She'll worry. I need to let her know we're all… or at least most of us are okay."
I nodded. "Lightwing will be desperate to hear from me. I'm not looking forward to telling her about Ashthorn though."
Sootstar grimaced. "She has Hyperion. She'll be fine."
"We'll all be fine," Cinderstar insisted. "We… we just need time, I think."
"Newleaf will come," I said, and finally allowed my smile to break through. "The prey will return. The Clans will rise again."
"And we will lead our Clans well," Sootstar meowed. He looked from Cinderstar to me, then back again. "Separate, yet together. Allies but different Clans."
"Yeah." I whispered.
I pressed my nose into Sootstar's cheek and Cinderstar nuzzled my neck, giving Sootstar a swift lick over the ear. Then, with one last, terse smile, she left to gather her Clanmates. I turned and headed toward where WindClan had gathered.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
Alderleaf, his fur standing on end and dusted with dried herbs, glanced around at the Clan, and when no one else spoke up he meowed, "Yes, I believe we are."
I looked over my Clanmates. Tansyfoot was washing Lionpaw, one forepaw wrapped around Hoppaw. Both apprentices looked shell-shocked and kept glancing over into the center of the clearing, where their father, Whistlefur, lay, his fur covered with lavender. Forestwind lay next to his two remaining kits, Honeypaw and Rowanpaw, both of whom were sniffling quietly. I imagined their loss was probably worst, as they'd lost both Oakpaw and Blossomstep. Crouchfoot sat nearby, connected to them through the loss of his apprentice. Hyperion crouched near the front, seemingly desperate to return home to Lightwing. Alderleaf and Aspensplash pressed against each other, staring out across the clearing. These cats, this entire Clan, was my family, no matter how small we'd become.
"Come on, then," I meowed, smiling and raising my tail proudly into the air. "WindClan… let's go home."
Whew, that was a long chapter! I'm really proud of it, though. :)
And that's the end of the actual story! I AM planning on adding an epilogue after to show normal Clan life again and to wrap up a few unanswered questions, mostly concerning what happens after, but the main plotline is finished! I can barely believe it...
AOTD: I much prefer snow in the winter, rather than just pure cold. I moved a couple years ago and in the place I lived before, the temperature was constantly in the 40s from February through April, just too warm for snow but otherwise c-cold... It bugged me like you wouldn't imagine.
QOTD: Any particular questions you have that you'd like to be answered in the epilogue?