Surrender or Die

Prologue
I remember the day it all happened. The day my clan overthrew the tyrannical leader who had ruled over us for several moons.

I remember the endless pain everyone suffered before. The many who had died: my friends, my family, even those who I despised. However, nothing had matched my hatred for him.

Brightstar, they called him. The irony being that he was the darkest and most treacherous leader in MoonClan history. Just hearing his name makes me sick.

I remember being a kit warrior. He sent kits who were only a few moons old to go fight his battles. He was so bloodthirsty that he even enjoyed seeing the kits get killed. No one was safe, not even the elders. He expected them to continue fighting even though they could barely walk.

"Only the strongest survive." He used to say with a grin, I was his right hand tom when I got older. I was strong and lucky enough to survive battling as a kit and as an apprentice. He entrusted me with all his secrets and even thought I was his friend.

What a joke.

I remember when my clan mates finally rallied against him. His supporters fought the rebels, while he quietly sat and enjoyed the battle from the safety of his den. I sat next to him, watching his every move.

I hope you enjoy this battle, Brightstar. I said to myself. Because this is the last battle you will ever see.

Brightstar retreated into his den when he saw his cats losing the rebels. He looked at me in worry and said:

"Please help me. I need to escape. I trust you more than anyone. Please just get me out of this mess!"

His blue eyes stared into mine. I heard, for the first time, genuine fear in his voice. He cowered into a corner to make him look more vulnerable, or make me feel sorry for him.

Too bad I was beyond the point of no return.

I jumped onto him and reached for his throat. He was quick to return and pushed me onto my back. I covered my face and neck and he clawed at my stomach. I finally pushed him off of me and he slammed his back against the den wall. I quickly scratched his face with my claws and cut open his muzzle. He retaliated by reaching for my neck. I dodged his attack but still had my ear cut open by his sharp claws. He got up and bit my back leg and crunched his teeth down so hard on it that it broke one of my leg bones. I couldn't even stand now, and fell down onto the ground.

"How could you betray me?" He screamed, his eyes flashing with anger. He pulled his claw back and he prepared to kill me. I winced, expecting death to finally meet me.

His claw came flying towards me, I saw my life flashing by. I winced expecting the final blow to finally hit me.

Except it didn't.

Springflower, one of the rebels, bit onto his paw as hard as she could, preventing Brightstar's killing blow. Some other rebels then began to surround him and pinned him down. He began to scream and yell when he couldn't move.

I got up using all my strength and looked Brightstar in the eye. I now knew what I had to do.

I looked toward Springflower, and she gave a nod. She knew exactly what I was going to do.

"Brightstar, your time of evil is now over." I said, raising my claw in the same fashion he did. I used all of my strength to finally end him. I clawed open the bottom of stomach to the top of his neck. Blood spilled everywhere. Brightstar barely held on, but he was obviously experiencing pain beyond anyone's imagination. I continued scratching him, continued biting him, I couldn't stop unleashing my anger until I knew he was finally dead.

"Stop!" Coldpelt, the leader of the rebels, yelled. He saw that Brightstar was dead and I was only beating up a dead corpse. "There is no more need to beat up this foul tom anymore. We've won the battle. All of you may leave and rest for the night!" He excused the rest of the clan and all the rebels left. However, I wasn't going to go rest tonight.

I limped out into the Clearing of MoonClan. ''I now have reached my one true goal in life. I can no longer be of service to my Clan. I know what I must do.''

"Wait! Don't leave!" Yelled Sunshine, my lovely mate. Her golden eyes full of worry. "Where are you going?" She pondered.

"I'm going to the Moonpool." I said, solemnly.

"But isn't that where dying cats go to die!" She yelled with tears in her eyes.

"Yes." I nodded. "I can no longer help anyone in my clan with my broken leg and unstable mental state. I must leave to pass onto StarClan."

"Don't leave! Please! What about our future? We can finally be happy!" She cried out, tears coming down her face.

"I must go!" I told her, standing up for myself.

She paused for a moment and stared at me. Her golden gaze met mine, and I think she finally understood. With a sigh, she said:

"At least let me come with you. I want to make sure you'll be safe." She said, giving me a sad look.

"Alright." I said.

And so we walked to the Moonpool, the only place where StarClan and MoonClan meet. The place where the dead may contact the living or vice versa. Where deputies become leaders, where medicine cats receive their prophecies, and where dying cats go to pass on.

We didn't speak a word as we traveled to the Moonpool, but I could tell that my Sunshine was upset. Her face that was normally happy and smiled often, was now covered in scratches and looked upset. As we approached the Moonpool, I spoke to her:

"Sunshine, I know I promised many things to you, but now that I am dying, I cannot do anything to help you or our future. I only ask that you will forgive me for not meeting up on my promises to you. I truly am sorry."

She gave me a small lick on my ear and smiled. "Don't worry, my love. I forgive you. I just need more time to process what has just happened."

Finally, we were at the entrance of the Moonpool. I stared lovingly into Sunshine's eyes.

"I'm sorry once again for all that I have done. I just want you to know that I will always love you. I hope we meet again some day." I stated, trying not to break down into tears.

"It's alright. I love you too." She said quietly and nuzzled me. These were the last words I ever exchanged with her.

I sighed and entered the Moonpool. There was a small, shallow poll in the center of a giant cave. There was a strange blue light emanating from the pool. I limped towards the pool and touched my nose to it. I thought my last words.

Please don't let a leader like Brightstar rise again and please let StarClan protect my love, Sunshine.

Little did I know that neither of my wishes were going to be fulfilled. Life is, after all, quite the trickster.

Chapter 1
TBC