Chapter 55: Apex Hero

Longtail returned from his patrol with worry plastered on his face. It was unfortunate timing that this occurred right when Bluestar decided to call a clan meeting. She hadn't called one for ages given her addled mind, but something had clicked for her today. She wanted to commend Cloudpaw for his service in ensuring the clan survived after the fire. Unfortunately, that same mind neglected to see Swiftpaw or Brightpaw. It wasn't that she thought poorly of them. It was more that she outright forgot they were apprentices. Time was nebulous to her right, so she couldn't tell who was the oldest apprentice.

Darkstripe was incredibly proud of his adopted son when he was named Cloudtail, but there was obvious guilt in his son's face as he left his denmates behind. Swiftpaw was long overdue for his warrior name, and Brightpaw was ready as well. Meanwhile Swiftpaw could only feel jealousy towards Cloudtail. What was it he lacked that Cloudtail had? His eyes flashed to Darkstripe, one of his heroes and father to the subject of his jealousy. Something in his mind made the association. He needed to be a hero to be recognized. Cloudtail had brought in vast amounts of food after the fire. He needed to top that.

Longtail got Fireheart's attention which in turn pulled Darkstripe's.

"Sorry to interrupt the festivities, but it's important. I found some prey killed on our territory. It was, for lack of a better word, mauled. It was eviscerated like it was a toy, and it stank of dog."

Darkstripe's fur bristled as he instantly guessed what caused the mess. His mouth felt dry at the realization.

"Dogs." Was all he could say.

Fireheart's ear perked at Darkstripe's word.

"What?"

"Dogs. It's not just one, but a whole mean pack of them."

Fireheart turned to Darkstripe.

"How do you know?"

"A dealer told me about them. They've been breaking out of their Twoleg nest for days. I hoped it wouldn't come, but they must've gotten loose."

A pack of dogs was a frightening idea. Their tremendous destructive capabilities were often limited by their lack of numbers. This was not the case. A clan would usually shy away from confronting two dogs at once. A pack implied four or more.

"Where did you find this?"

"Out by Snakerocks. I also found some prey killed nearby that stank of Shadowclan in a stash."

What kind of madness was the clan facing? Why would Shadowclan bury prey in Thunderclan territory so close to those beasts? Whatever they chose to do about it, it would have to be meticulously planned. Unfortunately, an apprentice looking to become a warrior with a hero complex had been eavesdropping. His eyes lit up at the prospect of proving himself. He slunk off to the apprentice's den to recruit for his "heroic" mission. The younger apprentices weren't keen on the idea. Their mentors had drilled into them that dogs were dangerous. Swiftpaw did find a companion in Brightpaw who was only coming along to try and protect him. She wouldn't let him go alone. They planned to find the dogs right before dawn sneaking past Cloudtail who would be on vigil.

Darkstripe couldn't sleep that night. Something just kept bugging him. It may have been his anxiety at having to confront many bloodthirsty beasts. It may have been his fear that Cloudtail would be nabbed by the dogs in the night. Regardless, he could not rest. Just before dawn, he gave up trying to sleep and pulled himself out of the warriors' den. His eyes slowly adjusted to the moonlight as a pair of tails slipped out the dirtplace entrance. Something about it was suspicious, so he decided to tail them. He soon saw Swiftpaw and Brightpaw running out in the direction of Snakerocks and a pit immediately formed in his stomach. He ran after them silently fearing the dogs could be anywhere. Dawn was breaking and light was making his presence more notable. He slowed down to maintain his stealth as he approached the undesired location. There he saw the two apprentices sniffing around.

His own keen ears caught the disturbance as one of the dogs pushed its way through a bush. The two apprentices heard it as well and spun. Darkstripe could only watch from beneath a bush as four more dogs emerged. The leader of the monsters appeared to be a brute that was bigger than three cats put together with brown saggy skin and drool dripping from its jowls. Darkstripe instantly knew fighting that dog traditionally would be a mistake. That saggy skin would deflect blows unlike the taut skin of one of the smaller dogs whose head was as big as his body. Knowing this, Darkstripe began analyzing. He'd only have one chance to drive the pack off, and it had to be clean or else he'd become fodder like the apprentices had made themselves.

The two apprentices leapt into their hopeless battle. Despite being easily overwhelmed in size and number, the two apprentices held their own fairly well. Each hit was powerful, and they gave as good as they got. Meanwhile the pack leader hung back to strike a devastating blow. It suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Brightpaw by the face and shook. Blood sprayed across the grass. Brightpaw's only mercy was that her face gave in before her skull as it tore away flinging her into the grass just by the bush Darkstripe was hiding beneath. It took all Darkstripe had to not bolt out for the injured cat. He knew that would only cause his death as well. He still needed that one moment.

Swiftpaw, at seeing his companion injured, realized his own mortality and mistakes. He should have never brought Brightpaw out here. Despite that, he would defend her to the end. He knew he would die, but if he could save her, he'd make up for his mistake. He fought even harder with every fiber of his being burning. Trading blows no longer mattered as long as he could drive the dogs off.

Darkstripe's instincts were going mad watching his little hero fight. He could barely restrain himself, but he know his perfect moment was approaching. The way the leader hung back and lunged was an opportunity he would not miss. He quietly watched the pack leader circle the battling cat until it was perpendicular to Darkstripe. Then it paused. This was it. Just as it began its lunge, Darkstripe exploded from under the bush and in a practiced motion struck with his right paw lancing through the dog's eye. It lurched into standing and let out an odd death wail and collapsed.

When the beast fell, Darkstripe's leg was caught underneath, still stuck in the dog's eye socket. He felt something break, but this moment was to crucial to cry out in pain or show weakness. He needed to frighten the dogs as much as possible. He pulled his leg free as smoothly as possible and put weight onto it to hide it was injured. He adopted a posture the dogs would find familiar as another aggressive dog. His experience lowering his voice also paid off as he could let out his closest approximation of a dog growl. He circled in front of the fallen dog facing the rest of the pack who looked on alert and in indecision. Darkstripe buried his teeth into the dead dog and ripped a chunk from it and visibly chewed. It tasted foul and was thick with muscle, but the scene was necessary. He needed to give the appearance of an apex predator. The rest of the dogs were backing away, so he spun on them letting out that growl and a close bark. The dogs sprinted away at this new threat.

Swiftpaw POV:

Swiftpaw had been sure this was where he would die. He was covered in blood, a horrid mixture of the beasts and his own. Then there was the last dog. It was lunging right at him and he knew he couldn't move in time. His life was flashing before his eyes. Then a dark shape blasted into the side of the dog's face causing the beast to stand and collapse. Swiftpaw had collapsed at this point, his vision growing foggy from the exertion and blood loss. Despite this, he knew he was saved. He also knew who saved him. It had to be Thunder. What other cat could strike as violently as the bark of thunder and slay a dog instantly. He could only watch as Thunder postured to drive the dogs away. Before he passed out, he saw Thunder rushing over to him in a panic, but that paw he struck the dog with bent at a point it wasn't supposed to. Swiftpaw could only muse, so heroes can bleed too.

Darkstripe POV:

DArkstripe could hear the yowls of his clanmates in the distance, but the more pressing issue was stabilizing the two apprentices. He frantically looked for any cobwebs he could find to press against their bleeding wounds hobbling the whole time. Thankfully his time practicing medicine was not wasted as he managed to bandage on a basic level the two cats. He knew they wouldn't die yet. They'd have time to make it back to camp. He let out a yowl as loud as he could before collapsing himself. The pain of breaking his leg and actively using it caught up to him in that moment. He could only smile as he saw the foggy forms of cats approaching before he slipped into unconsciousness.