◈ FALLINGFEATHER ◈

[ snowfox893 ]

Fallingfeather widened her aquamarine eyes when she felt claws digging into her scruff. She tried her best to shake her attacker off, who turned out to be Copperpaw, an EclipseClan apprentice.

"Get off!" The DriftClan warrior snarled, twisting around and raking her claws down the other she-cat's eye.

The copper-coloured apprentice yowled in pain and bit down on the grey she-cat's tail. Fallingfeather gritted her teeth and bit as hard as she could into Copperpaw's shoulder, which the apprentice exchanged with a slash of her paw down the the grey she-cat's ear, resulting in blood trickling down the DriftClan warrior's face. Fallingfeather leapt back in the anticipation, hissing as she brought her paws down onto Copperpaw's head - claws sheathed - and watched the copper-coloured EclipseClan apprentice become dazed for a few heartbeats.

As the apprentice attempted to recover, Fallingfeather leapt forward and crushed Copperpaw's leg with her jaws. The apprentice turned and tried to claw at Fallingfeather's back, but the DriftClan warrior was quicker. She stopped and rolled to the side, leaping back onto her paws. She backed away a bit, eyes narrowed. Before she knew it, Copperpaw was pouncing at Fallingfeather with her claws outstretched.

The pale grey she-cat thought fast, and she stood on her hind legs, bringing all the force down on the EclipseClan cat. Fallingfeather swiftly twisted Copperpaw under her and swallowed a hiss of pain when she raked her belly.

Copperpaw bit into Fallingfeather's tail once more, her teeth digging into the previous wound she inflicted on the warrior. This made the DriftClan warrior yowl in pain and jump off on instinct. She let out a screech of alarm and twisted around again, raking her claws down Copperpaw's muzzle. Copperpaw had a closed and bleeding eye, which Fallingfeather had done and felt bad about doing so. Copperpaw was only an apprentice, but in a way, she was a fantastic fighter.

The copper-coloured she-cat was panting, narrowing her amber eyes at Fallingfeather. "Zephyrstar won't forget this skirmish!"

The other she-cat backed away and half-limped, half-ran from the battle. Fallingfeather watched her leave before looking around; Ashenstrike was out cold, Falconpaw was limping away, and Copperpaw had fled from the skirmish. Iceglare was nearby, staring at a battered Sapfall smugly - it was obvious that the DriftClan tom had won.

DriftClan won, the she-cat thought. This time...

Sapfall backed away slowly and curled her lips into a snarl at Iceglare. "You'll be sorry for this!"

The EclipseClan warrior stumbled over to Ashenstrike and grabbed the grey tom's scruff, dragging him into EclipseClan's forest.

Fallingfeather smiled slightly. They deserved it after they've been fighting with us for so long. Claystar would understand... Perhaps.

Fallingfeather had her doubts. Their leader was highly aggressive at the moment - he would either be content or very angry at them.

The pale grey she-cat heard pawsteps and turned around. Blazestrike appeared from the bushes, his amber eyes unblinking.

"Where were you? I didn't see you in the battle," Fallingfeather asked, licking a bloody paw.

The brown tabby DriftClan warrior gave a nonchalant flick of an ear. "Willowbranch attacked me by surprise - I thought she was down. We fought over there in the forest."

Fallingfeather stopped licking her paw and narrowed her eyes. There was something the tom was hiding.

"Don't believe me? Go check for yourself," Blazestrike meowed, voice calm and steady.

Fallingfeather felt like she had to trust him. She would not be a good Clanmate if she thought he was lying. But... was he?

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. We should head back to camp. Skyfrost is probably wondering where we are."

Fallingfeather could feel the tension in the air as they began to walk back home. The skirmish had been Iceglare's fault, but she was not going to say that out loud.

"At least we won," the pale grey she-cat commented, a smile tugging at the end of her jaws.

No cat said anything, silence resonating with all the cats. Fallingfeather's gaze dropped to the ground and she sighed. After reaching the camp, the DriftClan warrior looked around.

Skyfrost noticed the bloody patrol and a gasp escaped from the deputy's jaws. "Great StarClan!"

The white she-cat ran over to the patrol, worry evident in her eyes. "What happened?"

"Border dispute," Iceglare huffed, raising his chin.

"It was pretty bad, but we won in the end," Fallingfeather reported. "Where's Claystar? We should inform him..."

Skyfrost's eyes floated to their leader's den and sighed. "He doesn't want to come out. I'll tell him."

The slender white she-cat leapt onto the steps and padded up. She poked her head inside Claystar's den, murmuring something inaudible.

"You guys need to get healed," a familiar, calm voice called.

Fallingfeather turned around to face Echopaw, DriftClan's medicine cat apprentice. The light grey apprentice shifted awkwardly but beckoned with her tail for the five cats to follow.

"Fallingfeather, go see Nightwhisper," the light grey tabby she-cat ordered. "Blazestrike, Falconpaw, come with me. Iceglare, Troutsplash, go with Fallingfeather as well."

Fallingfeather gave Echopaw a nod and padded into the medicine cat den. It was pretty dark - the only source of light for the den was light from outside the camp.

Her eyes soon adjusted to the darkness, though she could hardly see Nightwhisper; he blended in with the darkness like he was a shadow.

"Ah, Fallingfeather. Hello," Nightwhisper meowed, his voice friendly. He waved his tail in a greeting. "Go sit over there - I'll be with you shortly."

She did as he said, and winced when she accidentally brushed her scratches against the den's walls. I'll be fine, stop being such a little kit.

Iceglare and Troutsplash entered the den, both toms limping. Troutsplash looked like he was in the most pain, while Iceglare had an emotionless, blank look on his face.

The black medicine cat padded over to her. "I'll just put some goosegrass and cobwebs on these wounds. You'll be fine tomorrow."

He grabbed some dark, coarse, green grass and chewed it into a poultice before applying it onto her sounds. The wound immediately felt better after he applied it, and Fallingfeather let out a sigh of relief.

"Good enough?" Nightwhisper mused, applying the cobwebs to hold the poultice in place.

Fallingfeather nodded, letting out a grateful purr - even though her voice sounded coarse. She watched Nightwhisper, flicking an ear. "Can I do warrior duties now?"

"No, I'd rather you stay in here and heal up," Nightwhisper replied. "I don't want you opening up those wounds."

Reluctantly, Fallingfeather obliged. She wanted to do warrior duties, but she knew if she did that, it would only make the wounds and scratches become infected, which was the last thing she needed if she wanted to help her Clan.

She let out a huff of displeasure and closed her eyes. The battle still raged in her mind, and she wondered what it was like over in the EclipseClan camp at that moment.

◉❀◉

◈ SILVERFROST ◈

[hawkfrost_swag]

Silverfrost watched the border patrol entering the medicine cat den. They must have gotten into quite a fight.

Skyfrost padded back down the steps of Claystar's den, looking slightly ruffled. Silverfrost flicked an ear in slight annoyance; she would not be surprised if their leader had yelled at the deputy. The silver she-cat narrowed her eyes. Claystar needs to get his act together. I wish he would actually lead us!

She let out an inaudible sigh and stood to her paws, flicking her tail. I want to hunt. And think...

"I'm going out," she mewed to the deputy. "I'll be out for a while. Don't bother looking for me."

Skyfrost flicked an ear in acknowledgement, her eyes downcast. "All right."

Silverfrost turned and began padding towards the camp entrance until she heard her name called.

"Oh, and Silverfrost?" Skyfrost called to the silver warrior, causing Silverfrost to look over her shoulders.

The silver she-cat fixed her icy blue eyes on the deputy's sky blue ones. "Be careful."

Silverfrost nodded. She was talking about Sorrelspot. That won't happen to me. I can fight.

The trees swayed in the wind, leaves rustling as they collided softly into one another. The silver she-cat took in a deep breath of air. She closed her eyes, content with listening to nature's song. Dark clouds in the far distance were brewing. They would be hit with rain. That's right. I saw those clouds earlier. It wouldn't be surprising if it rains soon.

Silverfrost's breathing grew quiet as she heard scuffling in the bushes. Her ears flicked toward the noise and the silver she-cat narrowed her eyes, immediately alert. She lowered her body to the ground, tail lowered. Silverfrost stalked forward, watching her prey - a mouse - intently. It doesn't even know I'm here.

She narrowed her icy-blue eyes again and leapt, landing squarely on the mouse. It let out a squeak of surprise, but was killed by Silverfrost's claws before it could even scramble away.

"Sorry, mouse, but that's just how life goes," Silverfrost muttered. She flicked her tail and raised her head, letting out a sigh.

Suddenly, a huge body bowled into the she-cat, sending her stumbling. She let out a grunt and attempted to throw her attacker off as they rolled in the trees. Since she was smaller than her attacker, she slipped out from under its grasp and spun around, hackles rising. What in the name of StarClan?

It was a cat - Silverfrost was certain. She could make out her attacker's feline-like silhouette - definitive ears, tail, and frame. The cat was dark-furred one, but Silverfrost couldn't make out the colour nor the identity of the cat. A rogue? An aggressive kittypet?

Without speaking, the cat threw themself at Silverfrost. Silverfrost had been distracted with her thoughts, and was caught off guard. She let out a whimper of pain as she was pinned to the ground. She clawed at the cat's belly desperately, but her attacker only narrowed their eyes, which stood out like moons against their dark pelt.

Silverfrost's eyes widened as her eyes took in more of the cat's features. "I-It's you..."

The cat chuckled. It was apparent that her attacker was a tom; his voice was deep - quite raspy - and his claws sharpened in the small amount of sunlight they had in this dark part of the forest. "Yes, it's me."

"But why? Y-You... You'd never betray your Clan..." Silverfrost choked out, her icy blue eyes wide in fear.

"I'm just doing what I must," the tom replied calmly, his eyes glinting with malice. "Sorry, Silverfrost. But that's just how life goes."

His claws swept against her throat easily, causing blood to gush out from her throat. She let out a shriek - a loud one - as she swung her claws wildly, thrashing about. Her shriek was one that was filled with pain and confusion. Wh-why would he do this?

The blood from the open gash flowed onto the ground, creating a small, red pool. The tom looked content with her death, unmoving; the only movement he made was that of his lips curling into a wicked grin.

Silverfrost gritted her teeth, her eyes wild in panic. Stay, you fox-heart! T-Then when my Clanmates come to find me, they'll see you!

She began to cough up blood, gagging as the air had seemed to be taken away from her completely; she was choking on her own breath. The pain ate into the silver she-cat, causing sobs to escape from her jaws. "H-help!"

"This is what will happen when you break the rules," he murmured, the smirk tugging on his jaws. "And you pay the price."

The tom turned his back on the she-cat and left her to die slowly and painfully. Silverfrost watched him go, shadows at the edge of her vision. She saw dark spots that grew larger with every beat her heart could still manage.

She could feel herself falling into despair as she closed her eyes. Her heart silenced.

And everything turned black.

◈°◉❀◉°◈

▣ Author's Note ▣

From the next chapter on, it will finally be new chapters that the previous readers have not read. Chapters from now on will take longer to get published, but I hope you'll still stick around!

What are your thoughts on DriftClan's victory? It seems that even though they won, it isn't something to be proud of. It was an unnecessary skirmish gone wrong, after all.

So, our mysterious villian has appeared! What are your theories on this villian?

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave your thoughts - I'd be very happy to read them!