Warriors: Fire of Vengeance

Chapter 8: Lion, Jay, and Leaves

Squirrelflight was the first to dash back into the once peaceful camp, now overrun with ShadowClan Warriors. "BRAMBLECLAW!" The she-cat ran for her former mate, who was pinned down by Lionblaze underneath the Highledge.

"Mother." Lionblaze hissed, his eyes narrowed to thin slits, "or, I guess not. No, I'm just some disgusting half-breed, aren't I?!" He lashed his tail, "but then, I'd feel remorse if this pathetic excuse for a Deputy really was my father."

"NOOO!" Squirrelflight leapt at Lionblaze, but before she could reach him, a ShadowClan Warrior collided with her in the air, and slammed a paw into her throat to keep her down.

"Good job you, I'll remember your loyalty. Name?" Lionblaze asked, giving the Warrior a smile dripping with evil.

"Raveneye." The jet black tom responded, blinking his sinister yellow eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Brambleclaw spat, struggling under Lionblaze's weight, but he didn't budge.

"I'm not that weak little kit you were able to push around before, Brambleclaw. And it's time you and this…this…wench paid for your crimes." Lionblaze pressed a claw against the ThunderClan Deputy's throat, but stopped short when he heard a sickeningly familiar voice.

"Let him go brother, Brambleclaw had nothing to do with it." Jayfeather stepped into his field of vision, even amidst the chaos, and his voice was calm and confident. That angered Lionblaze.

"Jayfeather, what do you think you're trying to do? Offering yourself to save this pathetic cat's life?" The self-appointed Leader of ShadowClan glared at his brother, pressing his claw deeper into Brambleclaw's throat until a trickle of blood started running down his fur.

"No, on the contrary. We're here to end this madness."

"We?" The question had barely left Lionblaze's muzzle before Hollyleaf jumped him from behind, biting as hard as she could into his ear and tearing it, jumping off before Lionblaze could counter. "Hollyleaf, I should have known." Lionblaze stumbled back, closing his eye to keep the blood that was pouring out his ear from blinding him.

Jayfeather took the chance to ram into his brother's chest with his shoulder, charging as hard and fast as he could. However, Lionblaze didn't move, his muscles being too much of an obstacle for the much smaller Medicine Cat. "Ha! Is that all you have?!" The dark Warrior easily swatted Jayfeather away, and advanced on Hollyleaf. "Now it's your turn dear sister. And you won't be getting off easily, not after what you just did to my ear."

Hollyleaf hissed, keeping her ears flat against her head, but her muscles tensed up from the fear. She saw Lionblaze take down Brambleclaw without a scratch on him, what chance did she have? Even with his eye closed, Lionblaze could turn her into crowfood in an instant.

"Holly, get out of there!" Jayfeather's voice snapped her back into reality, with her very large brother staring down into her eyes with a claw raised. She only just managed to dodge the crushing blow with a quick jump to his side, and she jumped onto his back once again, this time aiming for his other ear or eye with her teeth.

Lionblaze was ready for it this time, and rolled onto his back. Hollyleaf gasped for breath as she could feel the air being crushed out of her chest. "NO!" Brambleclaw leapt from the spot he was laying, to spring onto Lionblaze's belly and claw it open. But Lionblaze was ready for this as well, and simply brought his hindpaws close to his stomach before ramming them hard into the Deputy's own chest and stomach, and flinging him across the field.

"Any last words before you die from the pressure on your ribs?" Lionblaze asked, smiling once again, and didn't expect any other response except for the hoarse gasp that came out of his sister. He assumed it was some kind of last pledge of vengeance or some such nonsense. That didn't matter now anyway. He won. There was no cat, dog, or even twoleg that could stop him now, all he had to do was kill the rest of the Leaders and his victory would be assured. This line of thinking made him forget one important factor, the mottled gray tabby, aided with extra strength from his dead mate, running for him and aiming a bite for his foreleg.

Before Lionblaze could react, he could feel teeth sinking deeply into his right leg, and then deeper until an audible crack could be heard across the clearing, causing the fighting to pause. It was like a dream, everything ran in slow motion. Lionblaze rolled off Hollyleaf, spitting curses at Jayfeather and yowling from the pain in his broken and bleeding leg. Jayfeather stood his ground, and locked into a stare with Lionblaze. Then Leafpool jumped on from behind, and stabbed her claws into both of his eyes.

He yowled and reached back, grabbing her and slammed her into the ground. "MOTHER!" Jayfeather screamed, and rushed for her, but no one was fast enough to stop Lionblaze.

"Jayfeather, stay strong, Hollyleaf and the Clan will need you, I-"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT SAYING IT!" Lionblaze screamed with pure fury and hatred, and clamped his jaws blindly into her face, and pulled, snapping her neck, and nearly tearing off her head. "It doesn't matter! None of you will live after today! If Jayfeather can fight blind, then so can I!" He yowled, spitting out his dead mother's head from his jaws and whirled around wildly, as if daring any cat from getting too close.

"No, you can't, your vision is as dark as your heart now." Jayfeather stated. Lionblaze couldn't believe it, his brother was less than a mousetail away, judging from his voice, but it seemed to ring out all around him. For the first time, the large cat felt…afraid. He would die to this miserable, scrawny excuse of a cat, blinded by his mother, and as revenge for killing his so-called mate.

"NO! I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THI-GHHKKHHhhh…" He hadn't even realized that Hollyleaf was standing at his other side, and both her and Jayfeather's claws were in his throat.

It was a pathetic sight, all of his power, to die at the paws of his two siblings, it's all he could think about as he lay on the dirt, squirming and twitching, feeling the blood rush from his ear, eyes, and throat, and being carried away to where Tigerclaw was surely waiting. I'll get you, I'll get all of you…damnit… The final thought, along with a last gurgling breath, and he was dead.

Everyone in the clearing, save for Jayfeather and Hollyleaf, could only look on stunned. ShadowClan slipped out in the confusion, leaving only RiverClan, ThunderClan, and WindClan, who had joined the battle somewhere in the middle. Jayfeather shook his head, actually, maybe they were here when we got here. He honestly could not remember.

Firestar dismissed the other Clans, thanking them for their assistance. Jayfeather noticed that Crowfeather lingered for only a moment longer than the rest of his Clanmates, an expression of pain flashing across his face when his eyes rested on Leafpool, and then turned, and left. "Everyone…gather the dead in the center…and Jayfeather look after their…wounds…" Firestar winced, coughing up blood, and Jayfeather had only just noticed the Leader's own wounds. "Don't worry about me, I still have a life left. Get to everyone else and then check on me." He ordered as clearly as he could, and sat beneath the Highledge.

"BRAMBLECLAW, NO, HANG ON!" Squirrelflight's distressed voice broke up the somber silence, and Jayfeather ran to her side along with his sister. She looked to her foster kits and then back down to her mate. He was wheezing, bleeding heavily from the final blow that Lionblaze had delivered. Jayfeather attempted to dress the wound, to keep Brambleclaw alive, but inside, he knew it was useless.

The Deputy was able to breathe one last thing, "Squirrelflight…I…I'm sorry about…" A breath. "About how I treated you…I do still love you…"

"Bramble…claw…" Squirrelflight buried her face into his chest fur, "no, don't leave me, not after saying that…please…"

"Ngh…I'm sorry…and Hollyleaf…Jayfeather…thank you both…you saved the clan…just like we did so long ago…Holly…I want you to be the next…Deputy…be strong…and take care of each other…" Brambleclaw gave a final desperate gasp, to say a few more words, but it was no use, his eyes glazed over, and his head fell to the ground.

"BRAMBLECLAW!"

They finished burying everyone that night, but Jayfeather could still feel his mother and adopted father's spirit watching over them. As Firestar was carrying out Brambleclaw's final wish, the Medicine Cat looked up to the stars. Thank you Cinderheart…it was thanks to your help that I beat him… He swore he could hear the familiar giggle, and felt someone pressing against him, and before he knew it, he fell into a dream, to talk at great length with his mate.

Pop the champagne bottles or whatever it is you do, because this Trilogy is officially done! Yay! Haahh, writing that was tough work, lemme tell ya, especially since I haven't read Warriors in moons. Er, months. Anyway, lemme know what you think, but I don't think I'll be continuing this anytime soon, because I've honestly lost interest with writing Warriors anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'll still write Frosted Leaves to its conclusion, but after that, I've had other stories rattling around in my head for quite a while now. Well, thank you everyone for your support and comments, and I'll catch you on the flipside! Later!