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"No. I promise you, Smokestar, that I'll be leader one day. I swear it by StarClan."
==Dust==
"Wake up, you idiot!" a pair of claws tug at my fur. I open my eyes in absolute shock as the scent of pure fury hits me. There's a loud yowling and scuffling of paws from outside the den. I try to find the cat that has shaken me from my sleep, but they have already left my sight.
"To me, DarkClan!" Honeyflame's voice sounds, her warm feminine tone tainted slightly with anger and confusion. I realize that CaveClan must have attacked. But why is Honeyflame calling the battle cry? Where's Smokestar?
"Quickly, get out of here!" Frostpaw screeches; she's obviously just woken up as well. Still feeling a bit drowsy, I follow her into the heat of the battle. Sure enough, a mass of cats are swarming the camp entrance, pouncing on any living target they can find.
"Where's Smokestar?" I screech. Duskfur, who stands protectively outside the nursery, shrugs.
"He's been out all morning!" he yowls over the sound of the battle. I'm about to reply, when a considerable weight bowls me over, leaving me sprawled on the ground. A jolt of horror hits me, as I realize how slim my chances of surviving today are. I'm no good at fighting; there's no denying it. Smokepaw always used to have to pull away other apprentices when they tried to playfight with me. But Smokepaw's not anywhere to be seen. Frustrated, I try to wriggle free of the cat's pin. Unfortunately, it's a fully grown tom that's chosen to attack me, and he's a lot stronger than I ever could be.
"Don't... kill... me..." I whimper. His cold blue eyes shine in a mixture of triumph and scorn.
"Your Clan has been killing our cats for moons. I'm going to enjoy watching you die," he hisses. I feel my body go limp. This is it. I'm actually, really going to die. I'm never going to be a warrior. Regret makes me choke up with tears. If only I'd had the chance to become ''more ''than the stupid, clumsy apprentice I am now. No cat was ever proud of me. No cat ever really cared about me, except from Smokepaw and Frostpaw. ..
"No!" I feel the weight disappear. A dark grey shape strikes my attacker over the head twice. It's Smokepaw. He has leapt to my rescue. I am not going to die.
I watch as Smokepaw leaps onto the tom's back. His claws sink into the tom's fur. Furious, the CaveClan cat tries to roll onto his back and crush my brother, but Smokepaw has been expecting this. He jumps to the floor the exact second the tom rolls over, thus leaving his opponent lying on the ground. Just as he's about to turn away, a second cat runs at my littermate. It's a she-cat, maybe a couple of moons older than him. But he now has two opponents to face.
She doesn't hold back with her attack, and her strength takes Smokepaw offguard. He collapses in a heap on the floor. The first cat comes up from behind him, but Smokepaw lashes out backwards with his hind leg. I can tell that he's injured, but he's still fighting. I try to launch myself at one of the CaveClan cats, but a strong pair of claws sink into my hind leg and I'm dragged into my own scrap. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Smokestar has also arrived, and is fighting with a gray she-cat that can only be Rockstar of CaveClan herself. But I find myself struggling to see if he's winning or losing; everything is starting to grow dim. I have one last feeble swipe at my opponent's eye, before I feel myself dragged into unconciousness.
The darkness that claims me is welcome.
==Frost==
Bodies.
Everywhere. Lying all around me. The shadows of the past.
My fur is matted with blood, and I'm shaking. My face stings. I feel faint. There isn't much life stirring around me.
"Hello?" I whisper. A heavy crunching sounds from across the camp; I realize in disgust that someone is treading on the dead bodies to make their way over to me.
"Follow me," a tall tom with bright blue eyes hisses. I can tell that it's a CaveClan cat, but I don't dare argue. DarkClan has lost the battle. What becomes of me is no longer my own choice. I follow the tom in silence out of the camp.
"You won," I say as we tread through the trees. My heart is pounding. I have so much to ask this tom.. Are my brothers and Redpaw safe? Who has survived? Who has died? What will become of me? Am I the only one left alive? Life seems too surreal to accept.
"You noticed," he says in a slightly annoyed tone. Before I can help myself, I unsheathe my claws and strike him across the face.
"Oh, I noticed, did I? Tell me, did I happen to notice notice if my family is alive or dead? Did I notice whether or not you've decided to kill me? I think not," I hiss. The tom should be angry, but to my amazement, he doesn't fight back.
"DarkClan has been killing kits. You've been stealing food. Cats are dying. We had to do something," he says quietly, as if he's trying to convince himself. Good. I have something to play on; a way to manipulate him.
"Maybe some of our warriors have. But is it worth killing innocent cats? I don't know if my brothers are alive or dead right now. I'm so afraid. And then there's Sunpaw..." my voice trails away. I blink my eyes, which usually works with toms. It does with this one.
"Who's that?" he says slightly gently.
"He's... he's..." I pretend to choke out the words. The cat blinks. I'm sure he's feeling guilty for what his Clan have done. I just need to play with his sympathy for me a bit more.
"Look, she-cat, I'm feeling guilty. Okay? I admit it. My Clan have ordered me to take all survivors back to our own camp. There are some others. Maybe your brothers have survived," he says quietly. I nod my head.
He's right. Maybe they have survived. There's always hope.
Why am I having such difficulty believing it?
(TBC)
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