Chapter Fourteen: The "Truth" from Tigerclaw

Screams of alarm erupted from his clanmates' mouths when they saw the two warriors enter camp, their paws and muzzles covered in blood. Their pelts were splattered with their own blood, having given themselves a few wounds to convince their clanmates they'd been in a fight.

"Tigerclaw!" Bluestar exclaimed. "Who has done this? Where are your apprentices? Where's Sandstrike?" The graceful blue-gray she-cat bounded across the clearing in the blink of an eye, sniffing the two dark tabbies anxiously.

"Where's Lynxpaw?" Yellowfang asked. "You escorted him to Sandstrike, right? The forest isn't safe for him to be out on his own."

"We sent our apprentices to hunt," Tigerclaw explained when he'd caught his breath from the run back. "Me and Darkstripe gave them a moment before we began to follow them. Sandstrike had gotten a mouthful of sand during training and went to get a drink from the stream. Me and Darkstripe hadn't even caught up with the apprentices when we heard her scream. We raced back, but we were too late to fight off the attacker, whoever it was had gone. I told Darkstripe to get Yellowfang, but Sandstrike was acting odd, and insisted he get Lynxpaw instead, and act as though everything was normal. She'd been wounded rather badly, and was too weak to get back to camp."

"You should have told the truth!" Yellowfang spat.

"I know," Tigerclaw bowed his head and was silent for a moment. "And I'm so, so sorry I didn't, because it had grave consequences. I stayed with Sandstrike in case her attacker came back, and it was fine until Lynxpaw and Darkstripe returned."

"On our way I had told him Sandstrike was wounded," Darkstripe put in. "So we stopped to grab some herbs, but it wasn't enough."

"Her wounds used up all the herbs, and he sent us to get more, as well as lots of cobwebs, for he'd used all of them to try and stop the bleeding, and needed more to bandage the wounds," Tigerclaw went on. "Both me and Darkstripe went this time, knowing two cats would be able to collect more. We assumed the two would be safe, since Lynxpaw had trained as a warrior, plus, he was the best cat to stay with her in her condition. We made a grave mistake."

"What happened?" Bluestar murmured. "Where are they?"

"We heard screams again, and returned with all we had gathered," Tigerclaw told her. "The attacker had returned, and I saw who it was: Whitestorm, and a few of Brokenstar's rogues. Me and Darkstripe fought them off with little trouble," Tigerclaw used his tail to gesture to their few, shallow wounds. "But Lynxpaw was no match for such ruthless fighters. They did little to harm Sandstrike further; they must have mistaken her for dead, but Lynxpaw…" The dark brown tabby hesitated. "They wounded him so horribly that he wouldn't die. He was so torn up, you'd think a fox tried to eat him alive."

Goldenflower was staring at Tigerclaw, her eyes blank, her face twisted with grief. She lifted her muzzle to wail, her cries of grief tearing through the sky. Lionheart rushed to comfort his sister, but it was of little use.

"I tried to stanch the bleeding," Tigerclaw helplessly held up one of his bloody paws, covered in Lynxpaw's blood. "But there was nothing I could do, not even Starclan could save him. He died within moments of our arrival. We managed to stop Sandstrike's bleeding, I think, but I don't know if she'll survive."

I pray to the Place of No Stars that she doesn't, the little piece of fox-dung! Tigerclaw thought.

"And you left her? While the forest is full of dangerous rogues?" Longtail demanded, his eyes wide with fear.

"I didn't see all of Brokenstar's rogues, or Brokenstar himself, and we rushed back to camp, thinking they were attacking you all," Darkstripe explained. He looked around the peaceful clearing, and a fake dread filled his face. "The apprentices!" He exclaimed suddenly. "They're still out there!"

"Sandstrike is too," Longtail spat, his eyes narrowed with determination. "If there's even a chance she's still alive - Bluestar, can -"

"Lionheart, Yellowfang, Tigerclaw, and Longtail, come with me," Bluestar ordered. "We must find the apprentices and bring Lynxpaw and Sandstrike back to camp… even if it may only be for a burial."

The patrol met the apprentices on the way to the Sandy Hollow, Cinderpaw and Redpaw had their mouths full of prey and were returning from their hunt. The patrol sent them the rest of the way home and continued on. The shock of the rest of the patrol was evident once they saw the grizzly scene.

"Sandstrike… come on, stay with me," Longtail pleaded as he crouched beside the battered she-cat. Her eyes flickered open, her lit up at the sight of the pale tabby. Her gaze slowly traveled to the body in front of her, and then up to Tigerclaw. Her eyes sent a clear message of defeat.

That's right, Tigerclaw gave her a small nod. I'm the most powerful here. Now, I trust you'll never stand up to me again. Tigerclaw acted melancholy on the way back to camp, taking it upon himself to carry Lynxpaw. He lifted his face so that it was illuminated by the blood-red light of the setting sun. I'm only a pawstep away from winning. I've stamped out Starclan's fire meant to destroy me, and I've put out Sandstrike's fire as well. She has no will left to fight. She's as good as dead to me.