Warriors: 9 Lives of TERROR

You can fight with all your might, but in the end I'll make the killing bite.

Chapter twenty-six 

Froststar's paws thrummed against the earth as he ran at the head of the patrol. He relished the sensation of leaves brushing against his pelt and the shrieks of birds as they spiraled up into the trees. When he reached the WindClan border, he could smell a fresh scent. Still feeling brave, are you WindClan? He signaled with his tail for his warriors to keep low and quiet as they jogged across WindClan territory.

When Froststar reached WindClan camp, Cricketleg, a young tan and orange she-cat was on guard. Froststar sauntered right up to her. Her eyes widened in fear and her mouth dropped open. "Hello," Froststar hissed. She shrieked as Froststar pounced, knocking her aside with a well-aimed swipe of his big paw. He stormed into WindClan camp with his patrol behind him. "ThunderClan! Attack!" he yowled. Then the shrieks began. Froststar snarled as he batted cats away, fighting towards the nursery. Thrushfeather leaped at the WindClan apprentice Deliahpaw, a pretty brown she-cat with white on her chin bravely standing her ground outside the nursery. She didn't stand a chance as Thrushfeather's paws came down, sending her rolling away with a squeal of pain. Thrushfeather looked back at Froststar, who nodded his approval. The tom seemed to swell with pride. "Guard me," Froststar whispered as he slipped into the nursery. He saw two pairs of glowing eyes. One was Flowerheart, the mother to Maplekit and Dovekit. The other was a lilac-colored she-cat with faint stripes named Cloverbreeze.

"Please don't hurt us or our kits," Cloverbreeze squeaked.

"I won't," Froststar assured her. "That's against the warrior code." Cloverbreeze relaxed, but Flowerheart wasn't convinced.

"What are you doing here, then?" she spat that question at him with as much venom in it as she could muster. Froststar purred, making both queens flinch.

"I'm here to take your kits to ThunderClan," he said.

"Over my dead body!" Flowerheart screeched, standing protectively over her trembling kits. Dovekit, a light-gray she-cat with yellow eyes and Maplekit, a sandy-colored she-cat with gray eyes.

"You can join with them," Froststar offered. "You don't have to be separated."

"I'd rather die then have my kits join ThunderClan!" she howled.

"We can arrange that," Froststar said, just as the protective queen lunged at him. To his surprise, she knocked him over and began hitting him with a flurry of swipes. She managed two good scratches on his muzzle before he kicked her in the stomach. Flowerheart fell back with a grunt and Froststar leaped forward and sunk his teeth into her neck. He released her after a few moments, and she sank, lifeless, onto the ground. Cloverbreeze was trembling, pressed up against the nursery walls, tail wrapped around her kits. Froststar peered closer: one was a black tom-kit and the other was a dark gray tabby tom-kit. Both their eyes were screwed shut. They weren't even a quarter moon old yet.

"I-I'll join T-ThunderClan," she stammered.

"Too late. I just realized that you'll just whisper to them that they're WindClan behind my back and end up making them rebel against me. You'll have to die," he snarled, pinning the terrified she-cat.

"Wait! They need milk! They'll die without it. Let me stay alive," she begged. Froststar hesitated: this was true. Robinflight wouldn't have milk for much longer, Leopardkit, Specklekit, and Treekit were almost three moons old. Mistfeather already had four kits to feed, two extra mouthes would stress her out.

"All right," Froststar agreed. "But you will raise them as ThunderClan." Cloverbreeze nodded, showering him with 'thank yous'. Froststar only grunted in reply. "What are their names?" he asked.

"The black one is Ravenkit, his brother is Galekit," she said. Froststar nodded and picked up Ravenkit. He stuck his head outside and managed to signal Shadeblossom over, and Thrushfeather was already waiting. He thrust Ravenkit at Thrushfeather, and grabbed Galekit from Cloverbreeze who whimpered. He gave him to Shadeblossom.

"Get those two to come out and follow Shadeblossom and Thrushfeather," Froststar hissed at Cloverbreeze, angling his ears towards Dovekit and Maplekit. "We'll kill your own kits if you don't and they run away," he spat. Cloverbreeze nodded hurriedly and dived back into the nursery. "Guard the kits and the queen outside camp. Now," he ordered, and his supporters hurried to execute his orders. Blood pounded in Froststar's ears and he flexed his claws. Now some real battle time!

Froststar plunged into the battle, snaking through the mass of wriggling bodies and shutting out the screeches and yowls. He narrowed his eyes, fixing them on his target: a sandy gray pelt. Froststar gathered up his haunches and sprang, landing exactly where he aimed. As he landed on the cat the momentum caused them to roll. The roll stopped with Froststar on top, snarling down at his opponent: it was Stonefoot. Good. He's a trouble maker. Finish him off! Froststar growled, showing his teeth. Stonefoot wrinkled his nose as a drop of blood from Froststar's fangs landed on his muzzle. The tom's gaze lit up with fury as he recognized the scent clinging to Froststar.

"You killed her," he growled. "You killed my mate! You killed Flowerheart!" He kicked his legs, catching Froststar in the stomach. The ThunderClan leader went tumbling off, but regained his balance fast enough to dodge Stonefoot's next attack. The tom was big for a WindClan cat, and he was fueled by his anger over Flowerheart's kits, making him dangerous. Stonefoot aimed for his left shoulder, but Froststar knew this trick. At the last second Stonefoot twisted and prepared to sink his teeth into his right shoulder. Froststar leaned away and smacked his paw against Stonefoot's head. For a heartbeat the tom was stunned, and Froststar took the opportunity to slash his claws above his left eye, causing blood to drip down and blind him. Stonefoot frantically blinked away the blood, lashing out and ripping out one of Froststar's whiskers. He hissed and slammed into Stonefoot, pinning him to the ground.

"Enough play-time," he snarled, digging his claws into the thrashing tom's neck.

"My kits," Stonefoot choked out.

"Oh, don't worry, I haven't harmed a hair on their pelts. Maplekit and Dovekit are going to become loyal ThunderClan warriors," Froststar sneered.

"No!" Stonefoot howled, finding the strength to push himself forward: which was exactly what Froststar was expecting. As he did so, it caused Froststar's claws which were digging into his neck to thrust all the way into his throat. Stonefoot choked and made a gurgling sound, and his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. Blood rose up from his mouth, and Froststar quickly dropped him to the ground, yanking out his claws. Suddenly there were claws digging into his neck.

"You killed my brother!" shrieked Heatherbranch. Heatherbranch was pulled off by Sageweed, and the dark forest she-cat pinned her to the ground.

"Can I take care of her?" Sageweed hissed in question. Froststar checked his neck wounds: they weren't deep.

"Sure," he said, and turned away just as Heatherbranch's shriek was cut off before it barely started. He looked around: many WindClan cats were battered and beaten. Prey was scattered, dens were destroyed. Blood covered the camp's ground, and most of it was WindClan's. WindClan warriors limped away, some begging to be left alone. Froststar took a long look, determined to remember this day. This was what true power looked like. "ThunderClan!" he raised his voice above the yowling. "We are done here!"