The sun was starting to set as Scorchstar ran through the moorland with his Clanmates behind him. He could taste Wildheart's fear scent – and Iceheart's determination – drifting on the moorland, and his only goal was to follow them to wherever Gorseflight had them. Even though blood still trickled from his throat wound and other gashes on his pelt, it was the least of his worries. He knew that none of his Clanmates approved of his methods, but he didn't care. He had to get Wildheart back, no matter what.

Wait! Scorchstar gasped. I know where they are! The scent was drawing him close to the outskirts of territory. It's where the Nirvana cats lived. Scorchstar quickened his pace until he found the valley between the two hills, guarded by bramble and gorse bushes. Scorchstar skidded to a halt over the ridge of the hill and craned his head over. He unsheathed his claws as he spotted multiple-colored pelts populating the valley. One of them was a mottled gray-and-white pelt, a pelt Scorchstar knew very well. The tom was standing next to a bramble bush, and just as Scorchstar peered closer, his heart plummeted to his chest. He could recognize Wildheart's tortoiseshell pelt behind the brambles. He imprisoned her. There was another bramble bush, farther away, and he could hear Hotaru let out a sharp gasp behind him. Iceheart must be in there. There were two other cats who circled Gorseflight, their bodies thin and small. Some more of the survivors, I'm guessing.

"Gorseflight!" Scorchstar yowled, his voice piercing through the valley and echoing towards the gods. He didn't have time for a plan – not to skirt the valley and find a way inside, not to distract the guards. There was just him and Gorseflight, in that moment. "Let my Clanmates go!"

Gorseflight snapped his head from where he had been waiting and met Scorchstar's gaze. Fury and hatred clouded his amber gaze as he stepped forward, walking over to the entrance of the valley where he lifted his head. "Now you know what it feels," he growled, lashing his tail. The scar on his face was massive and cut his facial expression into two. When Scorchstar had first seen it, it had been drenched with blood. Now it had healed into a scar, but it made Gorseflight barely recognizable from the cat he had once been. "Having something you loved taken away from you."

"It wasn't my fault!" Scorchstar hissed, although he knew how horrible Gorseflight must feel, any sympathy he had for his old best friend was clouded by the fury and anger he felt about Wildheart and Iceheart being imprisoned. "You know that I tried to convince my father, but he wouldn't listen. The word of the Clan leader is the warrior code. I had no choice but to listen to him."

"We all have a choice," Gorseflight snarled. "You chose the wrong one. You could've been brave enough to defy your father to let innocent cats live, but you were a coward and hid behind him. You're just as bad as he was."

Anger mixed with a bit of guilt burned through Scorchstar's body. He hadn't meant for any of this to happen! He had tried his best to convince his father, but his father hadn't listened. What was he supposed to do? What did Gorseflight want from him? "Let go of Wildheart, Gorseflight! Your quarrel is with me, not her!"

"Gorseflight!" The voice came from Iceheart, shocking both Scorchstar and Gorseflight. Gorseflight turned over his shoulder and stared at the silver-and-white tabby she-cat, puzzled. She was still behind the bramble prison, but her pure blue eyes were focused on Gorseflight. "Please, won't you just surrender?"

"What…?" Gorseflight's yellow eyes were wide as he stared at the small she-cat.

"Gorseflight," Scorchstar repeated, unsheathing his claws. He ached from the fight with ThunderClan, but if he had to fight to release Wildheart, then that was what he would do. "Let them go."

"You don't have to hurt anyone," Iceheart tried to convince Gorseflight. "You can start by saving yourself."

"I do not wish to be saved—" Gorseflight tried to shoot something back at Iceheart, but Iceheart interrupted him.

"I want you to be saved!" Iceheart snapped. "I'm sick to death of seeing the nicest cats suffer the most in war!"

What is she going on about? Scorchstar stared at Iceheart from where he hovered over the clearing. In a way, she's right. Gorseflight used to be the kindest cat I knew. But now, he's completely changed. All he wants is revenge.

"I cannot grant your request," Gorseflight growled at Iceheart. "I am a demon. I do not care what you think or wish. I am doing what I must!" With that, Gorseflight left her and Wildheart, bounding towards the entrance of the valley and shooting flames at Scorchstar with his eyes. "If you want your precious mate, come down here and get her."

"Gorseflight…" murmured one of the rogues, walking over to the gray-and-white tom and touching his tail to his shoulder. "You mustn't. There are too many of them."

"Hush, now," Gorseflight murmured to them. "Even if I fall, as long as our allies live, their enmity for Scorchstar will burn on. But think, if they were to sacrifice themselves meaninglessly in trying to protect me, what would happen? It would diminish the will of our future allies. We must prioritize our cause above all else."

"Gorseflight…" said the other rogue.

"You must understand." Gorseflight's voice was sorrowful. "There was never a plan where we all got out of alive."

Scorchstar's patience snapped. He slipped down the valley and approached Gorseflight, lashing his tail and unsheathing his claws. Gorseflight swung his head to stare at his old best friend, and Scorchstar examined him up and down. Gorseflight was a shell of his former self. The scar, the cut that scored Gorseflight's face into two, given to him by Swiftstar, had healed awkwardly and was a grisly sight to look at.

"Well?" Scorchstar demanded his old friend. He wanted to feel pity for the tom – after all, he knew why he was here. Gorseflight had been driven by a sense of rage to seek revenge on the cats who had harmed the ones he loved. But that did not make it okay to drag innocent cats into his own rampage. "Are you going to release my mate or not?"

"Do you really care for her?" Gorseflight mocked, his voice full of contempt, but deep inside of it Scorchstar caught a glimpse of sadness and regret. "Tell me, Scorchclaw, how many innocent cats died in the battle you started this morning? If I recall right, the ThunderClan deputy was one of them."

Scorchstar flinched. How does he know? Wait… Had Gorseflight been watching the battle? Had he known it was going to happen? Did Gorseflight orchestrate this entire thing from the sidelines? He stared at his old friend, his jaw gaped. Did Gorseflight kill Ravenfeather? Were my senior warriors right the entire time?

"I did what I had to do to protect the most vulnerable members of my Clan," Scorchstar growled. I won't allow him to get in my head. "We were accused of an unjust murder, and Rootstar was already on his way to attack us."

"Maybe if you did a bit more investigating, you'd realize that battle was useless," Gorseflight snarled. "Just another waste of blood and life."

"What do you mean?" The air turned cold in an instant. Scorchstar could feel his Clanmates stiffen from behind him.

"Did you really that ThunderClan warrior was killed by her own Clan?" Gorseflight's fur bristled. "Or by yours? Did you not think to study the scent? Study the injures? Determine what happened – or hells forbid, bring your medicine cat to see the body? Maybe talk to Rootstar?"

Scorchstar's amber eyes burned. "You killed Ravenfeather?" he yowled. Brambledusk was right! Gorseflight did have something to do with Ravenfeather's death! It's his fault that we got in this mess in the first place! Hatred for the tom burned into his very veins as he stared at the cat he had once called his best friend.

"Was that her name?" Gorseflight tilted his head.

"How could you bend the two Clans apart and bend them according to your sick, twisted will?" Scorchstar yowled. "Because of you, cats died. And their blood is on your paws! And for what? Do you feel any better than you did before?"

"Absolutely." Gorseflight lashed his tail. "Now you know the pain I felt." With that, Gorseflight leaped on the cat that had once been his best friend. Scorchstar let out a fearsome yowl and lunged towards the tom, and the two friends, now turned enemies, rolled into a ball of fur and claws.

The cats behind him burst into action. Out of the corner of his eye, Scorchstar could see Hotaru heading to Iceheart's prison with Skyheart. Redmoon and Hawkfire were heading towards Wildheart's, and Russetstripe throwing herself onto Gorseflight's other rogues. Gorseflight didn't seem to notice it – his eyes were locked onto Scorchstar's.

"It wasn't my fault," Scorchstar snarled at Gorseflight as he tried to push him away. "Do you think I wanted it to happen? I didn't! But there was nothing I could do about it! And you're no better than my father if you think that killing innocent cats will ever make up for what he did!"

"Nothing you could do?" Gorseflight growled as Scorchstar lashed out at his face with his claws. Gorseflight stepped back nimbly and lunged to the other side before leaping over and clawing Scorchstar's ears. Scorchstar's mind whirled. He was still weak from the ThunderClan battle, and even though Gorseflight was a rogue, he had clearly lost none of his warrior skills, and it was worse remembering that they had trained with each other. Gorseflight anticipated every one of Scorchstar's moves and was ready for them. "Didn't I tell you we always have a choice?"

"The warrior code commands us to follow our leader," Scorchstar hissed as he doubled back and batted at Gorseflight's chest. "But I guess the warrior code meant nothing to you."

"My leader was a savage cat who killed innocents and kidnapped apprentices." Gorseflight lashed his tail. "Any sane cat would never follow him."

The thorns in Gorseflight's words throbbed at Scorchstar's heart as he threw the tom off with a massive shove. Swiftstar wasn't the best leader when it came to morals, Scorchstar knew that. His choices weren't the best. Scorchstar wished that he could travel back in time to work harder to convince his father to stop the attack on the Nirvana cats. But he couldn't. There was nothing he could do. Scorchstar lashed out his claws at Gorseflight's ears, not bothering to respond.

"Don't worry, Scorchclaw. I was just doing what you're doing. After all, isn't that what got us here?" Gorseflight leaped back onto the ginger-and-white tom and held him to the ground.

Scorchstar rolled out from underneath him. "No, you are showing your true colors as a demented traitor!" he screeched. He lashed out his claws and raked them deep across Gorseflight's face. Blood gushed out and splattered his chest. Gorseflight leaped back, shaking the blood from his eyes and stared at Scorchstar with wide eyes. Scorchstar scrambled to his paws, breathing heavily.

Gorseflight narrowed his eyes but didn't a step further. He looked over his shoulder, catching Russetstripe's gaze. The ginger she-cat was pleading with them through her eyes. He turned back to face Scorchstar.

"Get out of here," Scorchstar snarled. He could see that Redmoon and Hawkfire had managed to free Wildheart, and relief swamped over Scorchstar as they supported their mother. Hotaru had freed Iceheart, who was staring at Gorseflight with desperation glittering in her blue eyes. "Get out, and never return to the Clan territories, or else I will kill you myself."

"Do you have any idea how much you sound like your father?" Gorseflight taunted him.

Scorchstar narrowed his eyes. "I won't repeat myself."

"Kill me," Gorseflight said, stepping forward and lifting his head to expose his vulnerable throat. "Even if you do, I will curse your name from the Dark Forest's void for eternity."

Wildheart streaked across the moorland, her eyes blank with terror. Hawkfire followed in hot pursuit, leaving blood smeared pawprints behind. Gorseflight watched them go but made no move to pursue. His attention was focused on Scorchstar. This was always between him and I, Scorchstar thought. It never had anything to do with Wildheart. But Scorchstar couldn't forget the longing in Gorseflight's yellow eyes. Or did it?

"Nobody cares about you there. You'd just be screaming into the darkness forever, and nobody would ever hear you," Scorchstar sneered. "Go. Now." He didn't want to kill Gorseflight. Underneath it all, Gorseflight had been his best friend. He had been the cat who stuck with him during Adderstripe's rebellion, he had been the one who found Habu with him and had supported him when he was deputy. But I will not show any mercy if he does not leave.

"Your conquest only continues to spread the damage you've inflicted on so many... forcing subjugation to those who don't immediately fall into line? Your world must never come to pass!" Gorseflight's words were piercing the air as he screamed them out, and Scorchstar finally realized what he was doing. He was egging Scorchstar on. He was asking to be killed. Scorchstar was ready to rip his claws into Gorseflight's throat, but that was exactly what the tom wanted.

"I've changed my mind," Scorchstar growled. "You should be alive. Forced to live a life of isolation and misery because no cat wants to claim you."

Gorseflight was quiet.

"You've burned all your bridges here," Scorchstar hissed.

"What about them?" Gorseflight flicked his tail towards the other rogues, who were bleeding from torn ears and scratches, no doubt a result of Redmoon and Hawkfire's fury.

Scorchstar narrowed his eyes. He couldn't care less about those rogues. "They can go. But they must never return here or they will share the same fate as yours."

When the rogues walked over to Gorseflight and exchanged a few words with him, Scorchstar noticed that the fury never died from Gorseflight's yellow eyes, but his claws had sheathed. Iceheart bounded over to Gorseflight, and Scorchstar opened his mouth, ready to force her away. Gorseflight could still hurt her, after all. But Iceheart had approached him first and was speaking to him.

"They will spare my followers?" Gorseflight asked.

Iceheart nodded, a glint of kindness in her eyes. "I'm sure your brethren wouldn't want you to die with them."

Gorseflight sighed. "It's been a long time since I've felt any emotion but hatred. But when I was told my brethren had been spared… I felt relief."

"Then—"

Gorseflight suddenly chuckled. "I thought only a demon could kill a devil, but I failed in becoming even that."

"That's because you're not a demon. You never were, Gorseflight," Iceheart meowed softly. It seemed as if she was about to touch her nose to his, but she did not. "But you can go back to being the cat you used to be. Wouldn't that make you happier than what you're doing now?"

"I can never be happy again," Gorseflight replied tightly, glancing over his shoulder at the rogues who had accompanied him, and the blood that stained the ground after his fight with Scorchstar. "Not after what I've done. I foreswore my own joy and salvation when I buried the bodies of my brethren."

"You're alive. Your followers are too. Being alive gives you a chance. And a choice." Iceheart visibly swallowed a lump in her throat, and her eyes were glazed with pain at each moment Gorseflight pushed back against her cries for mercy.

"You are far radiant," Gorseflight said. "That our paths crossed even temporarily has brought me great joy and great suffering."

"What do you mean…?" Iceheart asked, puzzled.

"Forgive me, Iceheart," Gorseflight meowed. He lowered his head. "You are never to see me again." He turned away, nodding to Saturn and Orion. Though his back was straight, he cut a lonely, fragile figure. Iceheart bounded over to Scorchstar, who met her and brushed his tail down her back. Hotaru was after them, and when Iceheart nodded to him, the silver tom gave her a long gaze and shot off.

"That was amazing what you did back there," Scorchstar told Iceheart as they walked away together. He knew he had never been able to get to Gorseflight – not with the way he was going about it. But Iceheart had seemed to at least made a chip in Gorseflight's cold heart. "You didn't use your teeth or claws. You used… kindness."

"Fighting someone who wasn't afraid to die wasn't the way to solve it," Iceheart confessed. "Talking to him was the best way to get through him."

"I agree," Scorchstar meowed. "That's why I spared his life." He gave the silver-and-white tabby a nod. "WindClan won't forget what you did today. Without you, more cats would've died."

Iceheart lowered her head to Scorchstar. Scorchstar felt a flash of respect for the young she-cat. He gave her a curt nod and then bounded away from her, eager to catch up with Wildheart. Just as he quickened his pace and spotted his mate's tortoiseshell figure on the moorland, he headed towards her, relieved to see that she was more or less safe.

"Are you all right?" Scorchstar asked her.

"I'm fine," Wildheart said, nuzzling Scorchstar's chest, but he could feel her body tremble. "Thank you for coming to rescue me." Her yellow eyes were round. "I was scared. I didn't imagine Gorseflight would stoop all the way to kidnapping."

"Neither did I." Scorchstar sighed. I don't know that cat anymore. "But you're safe, now."

"I always knew you would come get me." Wildheart pressed her head to Scorchstar's shoulder and purred loudly, her yellow eyes shining. "I love you, Scorchstar."

"I love you too, Wildheart." Scorchstar licked her cheek, the high of the fight slowly dying down and allowing his heart to beat at a steady pace and the fear to melt away. Wildheart was safe, and that was what mattered. Gorseflight would never bother them again, not with the way he had disappeared. "I'll never put you in danger like that, again. I promise."

"It wasn't your fault," Wildheart told him. "It was Gorseflight's."

"Yeah," Scorchstar agreed quietly, "but… he wouldn't have been this way if I had been able to stop my father." He'd have never left the Clan, or sworn for revenge, if I was able to stop Swiftstar from massacring the Nirvana cats.

"That was a long time ago," Wildheart argued. "There's nothing you can do about it now. Don't blame yourself."

"I guess." Scorchstar focused his eyes on the horizon as he walked with his pelt brushing against Wildheart's. As he gazed at the love of his life, he realized that he had almost lost her today. Never again, Scorchstar thought. I'll keep you with me, for the rest of my life.

A/N:

Hey all! If you've checked out my new fic, then you'll see it, but I'm also going to post it here. I am currently taking a hiatus from this story. Why? Because if you've read Dapplestar's Dream, you'll know that about this time period, ThunderClan and WindClan's stories intertwine (Scorchstar and Rootstar form an alliance). I'm currently in the middle of writing Rootstar's story, so I want to keep Scorchstar's story open for me to alter any timeline discrepancies or general inconsistencies. So, in the mean time, I'll be uploading chapters from Talonstar's story to make up for no chapters of Scorchstar's family. I'm hoping that I can get this back up soon (aka finish Rootstar's story). This story is completely written, so it won't be abandoned, I just need to keep it open for editing. You might also notice some timeline discrepancies between this story and Dapplestar's. ...Why? Because I'm human, honestly. It's just me working on this story, and each Clan leader's story is about 700-800 pages (Dapplestar's story is 700 pages, Scorchstar's is 800, and Talonstar's is pushing 900, while at the moment, Rootstar's is pushing 1k pages). So there's a *lot* to write, and it's just me working on them, so naturally, there are going to be mistakes. I ask that you understand that, and if you find it, feel free to point it out! But again, since I'm one person with about 4k pages of fanfic between all four Clan leaders, unfortunately it's not going to be 100% perfect. Thanks for understanding.