July's Gathering 2017

Snakeblaze growled as a third wave of mist hit. He had a sharp gaze when he opened his emerald eyes. "Then we'll keep on attacking until the fact that you belong in the dark forest and nowhere else through your thick skull, you mouse-brain. Your taunts won't stop us. he hissed.

Smokefang felt herself get weak again, but she quickly drew on the mist once again restoring her failing form. "You are going to run out of energy before you can ever defeat me!" The dark forest leader said. She quickly slashed at Snakeblaze and then turned and attacked Snakegaze.

Smokefang used slash on Snakeblaze and Snakegaze dealing 7900394 damage

Snakeblaze and Snakegaze:
KO'd

Smokefang:
200/400

Nectarleap's jaw dropped and he subconsoiusly backed up in astonishment as the near-dead she-cat suddenly regained her strength, going from dying to stronger than any of them. Was it true that Smokefang really could be immortal? Well, she was already dead, so that couldn't be true. But how did you go about killing a cat that had already died? He had heard stories about the battle against the dark forest, but that was all they had been, stories. Now it was all too real. But they had won before, so they would win now. But the stories had said nothing about regaining strength, or a mist for that matter. The young warrior suddenly realized that this was stronger than they could handle with brute force alone. He needed a strategy. He walked to the edge of greatrock, about to jump off, when he stumbled back. It was so far down. How was he supposed to jump that far? His muscles seemed to lock, and his head and eyes looked around frantically. What if someone accidentally pushed him off while they were fighting? He started breathing heavily, wishing he was back in camp, sleeping safely in his den with Heathershade.

Just when it seemed like the dark she-cat had finally met her triumphant doom, Ryeheart watched with a hopeless heart as, yet again, Smokefang pulled in more of the mist that had been haunting the Clans for moons, and rose up again, strengthened.  The pale ginger tabby took a few steps back, his usually bright eyes dimmed, and every little move he made seemed as if it took all of his energy.  Even breathing was a challenge; he felt as if the intense weight of their dire situation had come to rest inside his chest cavity, pressing down on his lungs with the force of dejection.  It was not worth it to keep fighting like this, against a supernatural being who oh-so-easily could rejuvenate it's self without the use of any herbs, and toss the strongest warriors to the ground without effort, as if they were pesky leaves that had floated down and landed on her pelt.  This was a hopeless fight, and no matter how he tried to convince himself to move forward and give it one last try, Ryeheart could not make his paws move an inch.

Small droplets of blood splattered on the ground as the young warrior stood still at the edge of the fight, every muscle in his body aching and sore.  His claws hurt from being extended for so long, and he could slowly feel himself slipping away into exhaustion.  Every time the Mist lashed out at the clans, he could feel himself growing weaker, and it was only a matter of time before he was one of the unconscious bodies laying on the ground.  Despondent beyond compare, Ryeheart's fluffy tail lay dragging on the dusty ground as he watched as the reality he had already come to accept seemed to be setting in among the other clan cats who were fighting in vain.  Evil had won; but was there really anything to be surprised about?  It was a losing fight from the very beginning.

Allowing a long sigh to escape his mouth, Ryeheart cast his somber eyes up towards the Highrock, where he could catch a glimpse of the she-cat who had started this all.  Swoop.  Her gray tabby and white pelt shone in the limited light cast from the shadowed moon, and the victorious look on her face almost could've made him retch if he wasn't so dead- tired.  This she-cat had called this monster here to attack them, and now was hiding behind it like a scared kitten.  The Mist guarded her well, he had watched as the few cats who had attempted to attack her had been thrown back through the air, and landing without the means to stand back up.  The solid barrier around the Tribecat was definitely a force to be reckoned with-wait!

To Ryeheart's astonishment, the misty wall around the Great Rock fluctuated, and a small section near the back of the stone seemed to be....dimming.  Unlike the thick, fog-like substance that supplied Smokefang her life-force, this place looked a lot more like regular mist, thin and light, easily swiped through with a extended paw.

Swiped through.....

Regular mist....

Dimming......

At once Ryeheart's icy eyes widened as the realization came upon him like great wave, and it suddenly felt as if all pain and exhaustion had been wiped clean from his mind.  His paws stood firm and strong on the ground, and his tail was lifting high above his head as the young tom whipped around and began to charge towards the right side of the Great Rock, his sight locked on that one spot of weakness, the only possible hope for the survival of the clans.  Well, maybe.  He wasn't really sure this would actually work, he would probably just get thrown aside like all of the other cats who had tried - and failed.  Yet, something kept him moving forward.  Some kind of guiding force fueled every  step that he took, his drumming paws leading him towards something that, beyond all logic, would be the end of him; but he kept going.

Skidding to a halt, among the flying dust the ShadowClan tom could see that, to his horror, where the possibly opening had been was once again filled in with solid, impenetrable Mist, like the other sections of the barrier, and for a moment Ryeheart with a heavy heart realised that his plans had been foiled.  Oh but-wait!  It had only shifted a bit!  Like a cloud that changed shapes in the sky above as you watched, this weakened Mist seemed to shift back and forth between being strong and weak, as if putting up a fight to survive and protect it's master.  Before his eyes, Ryeheart saw that, once again, the patch of thinner mist opened, and then closed again.  With a determined smile, Ryeheart's eyes narrowed to slits as he crouched down, his claws digging into the dirt as she kept watching the mist strengthen and abate.

Now, being of ShadowClan orgin meant that the young warrior wasn't really the best at leaping; this would've been a much more fitting job for a SkyClan cat, who jumped up with tree branches as easily as they walked across flat ground.  He wasn't confident in his abilities, especially given the fact that he was injured and, if not for the adrenaline probably already laying limp on the ground; but that didn't matter now.  This was his best shot - their best shot at keeping their lives.  It needed to be done, no matter the consequence.  Sucking all the air he could into his lungs, the ginger tabby tom steadied himself, lined up correctly so that he was aiming for where the hole would be, and closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer to StarClan, asking them to forgive his stupidity when he joined their ranks any second.

The hole revealed it's self.

And Ryeheart leaped.

Flying through the air with a determined yowl, Ryeheart was positively astonished when he felt himself slip through the thinning Mist, it's still very intense icy chill taking his breath away, before he crashed to the ground at the base of the Great Rock, the gap closing quickly behind him.  Chest heaving, Ryeheart clambered to his unsteady paws and, for a moment, stood there staring at the wall with a look of terrified wonder.  I...I DID IT!  Holy StarClan, how am I still alive?!  Like a slap in the face though, Ryeheart realized there was no time for examining what just happened.  Swoop was still sitting on tip the the leader's rock, her reign over the Clans not yet challenged.  His eyes narrowing seriously, the ShadowClan tom lifted a paw and found one of the familiar footholds he had used just the other day to climb the rock.....it felt like so long ago that he had been climbing - and falling - off of this rock in the lovely presence of Willowpetal.  His fantasies of emergeing over the tom of the stone as the strong, brave Ryestar suddenly seemed not so far off, as pawstep by careful pawstep Ryeheart climbed his way onto the top of the rock.

He made it; he was standing on the very top of the Great Rock, and he had locked eyes with Swoop.  Without hesitation, the tom dashed forward and bowled over the smaller she-cat, his greater weight managing to keep her pinned against the stone, with no chance of some miraculous escape.  He had moved so quickly that there was no chance for the queen to prepare herself; she was at his mercy.

Gazing down at her, Ryeheart knew what he needed to do; but he hesitated.  He could still remember when the Tribecats had arrived at that Gathering moons ago; he had just been a naive young apprentice, probably flirting with some unsuspecting she-cat when the group had tromped in, ragged and starving.  He rememberd vividly seeing Swoop....and a golden kitten, walking slowly at her side.  She was a mother, who loved her kit deeply and protected him from the harsh journey the Tribe cats had faced.  Never having had any sort of mother in his life, Ryeheart didn't totally understand how it felt on that side, but if it felt anything like how he had felt when he had lost his father Shadewillow....the poor kit.  Knowing that he would be the one responsible for his pain almost tore his heart to shreds; but Swoop had done too much damage.  There was no choice.

"You walked into the wrong forest."

With a single strong, tearing bite to the throat, the she-cat was done for.  Her blood spilled out onto the Great Rock, and Ryeheart could feel his paws being soaked with the metallic red substance.  His face numb, the young tabby tom backed away from the she-cat's body, and tried to wipe some of the blood off of his muzzle with a paw, but only succeeded in smudging more across his furry face.  Eyes empty and dull, Ryeheart whispered, hoping that maybe, somehow, the she-cat's spirit could hear his last parting words, wherever it was going.

"I'm...so...sorry."

Smokefang had moved to attack another clan cat, a rather large grin sitting on her face as she slowly took out the cats on by one. There was no way they would be able to defeat her! She was all powerful! Immortal even! As long as they persisted she would have the energy to carry on. She needed to get her revenge, she needed this forest to be hers! It had to be hers.. She would make it hers..

The wispy gray form of Smokefang paused, her smirk dropping, and her eyes widening as she realized what happened. As soon as the bite was taken from Swoop, the massive warrior fell. Her body breaking apart into mist, with every movement she made. "No no no!" How..? How did one of them get to her? She tried to move forward, her amber eyes narrowed into a glare as she tried to attack another cat, but as soon as she reached them she was nothing but mist. Her body completely faded back to Mist.

It wasn't the large terrifying fog from before. It was just a small cloud that drifted around where the dark forest leader used to be. Nothing could be seen inside the mist. It moved to lash out, but everything was weak. No words could be heard.

The Mist lashed out, dealing 1 damage to everyone.

The Mist:
15/15

Nightheart looked at Smokefang with wide eyes and lowered her ears as she took a step backwards. This…this just couldn’t be…Fear reflected in her once determined eyes, as well as a good amount of despair. Since she was nothing but a newly named apprentice the Dark Forest had been there in one way or another to cause her whole life to go downhill, shattering her happiness and hopes for a better future.

Over and over she had tried to overcome the grief, the pain, the paranoia, the loneliness…but all her attempts were in vain, and now it appeared that she would fail yet again to defend those she loved and cared for so much, those she would gladly give up her life for. Tears formed in her eyes at the thought Mother...Sister…my kits…my clan…I failed you yet again She clenched her jaws as she gave a hatred filled glare at Smokefang. But then, the spark of hope that was slowly dying in her got a new life when a tom appeared on her peripheral area of vision and, unlike all those that had tried before, tackled and managed to defeat Swoop!

The second Swoop was thrown off her throne of mist, Smokefang started to lose her physical form and return to being a mist. For the first time the Dark Forest leader showed fear…she knew it was risky, that all those that had attacked the mist before had failed, but if Swoop could be taken down, maybe…just maybe…

With a loud yowl that served as her war cry Nightheart rushed forward, pushing her hesitation and fears aside, rearing up on her hind legs and using her front paws with stretched claws in an attempt to banish the corrupted ghost possessing that mist that had haunted the clans for so long, for once and for all….


Nightheart used Upright front paws on the Mist, dealing 15 damage and using 20 stamina

Smokefang/Mist:
KOed

Nightheart:
50/80
140/240

Rowantalon shook himself, his eyes narrowed as Ryeheart and some Windclan- or was it Skyclan -cat dealt the final blows to the mist and the wretched Tribe cat.
With a howl he leapt into the center of the clearing, his cry both victorious and full of mourning.
They had won, Starclan had prevailed, but their leaders were gone.
Shadowclan was leaderless.
He turned to Silentstorm helplessly, his eyes wide as he regarded his former mentor.
"Who's going to lead us?"


Leafstorm screeched as the mist disappeared, yowling in wild celebration. The mist was gone. It couldn't hurt Specklefang, Hawkswoop or any of his clan.
But still...
He padded to Leopardclaw, nudging him anxiously. He was their only hope.


Flowerpetal dragged herself towards her deputy, running her muzzle through her fur in respect.
"We did it," she mewed.
She was impresssd by how quickly Ivyfall reacted to the mist. Fishstar had made an excellent choice.

Snakeblaze went stumbling off the rock, he opened his eyes to see a cat he didn't know breach the mist and kill Swoop, and Smokefang with it. He saw a random medicine cat come and patch his wounds. He slowly stood up and went towards the rock. "Keep your pelts on, what about our leaders?" he asked loud enough for the cats to hear over the yowls of joy. He isn't the one to ruin moments, but still, all the clans have no leaders, the warriors have nobody to lead them. Would StarClan have to decide on new leaders? He hoped not. "And what about all the others who were kidnapped?" he added.

Echo that Strides Through's eyes widened as Swoop was killed. She painfully stood up, and leaped onto the rock. She walked over to Swoop's dead body. "Swoop... why did you have to be blinded by them???" she mewed sadly.

(welp pretend my cats fought their little hearts out bc i missed everything ;^;)

Littlebrook watched in astonishment as complete and utter chaos broke out amongst the gathered cats. Suddenly she was an apprentice again, stuck in the clearing with the Dark Forest warrior taking over and forcing all the leaders/deputies out of the forest. Her legs threatened to buckle beneath her as the overwhelming fear of the memory flooded through her, but she caught herself as soon as she caught sight of her sons and daughter. Silentstorm. Firepaw. Gingerpaw. Blazeflight. Her kit's names echoed in her mind as her fear was replaced by a blazing fury. The Dark Forest was not taking over again. Over her dead body. She vowed silently, eyes narrowed angrily.

{Time Skip past the fighting cc;}

Littlebrook panted breathing hard as Smokefang disappeared and it was just a Mist. Then suddenly a WindClan warrior struck it for a final time. She glanced around frantically, taking in her family's wounds and assessing their severity. They all seemed to be okay and breathing, which was best thing she could hope for in that moment. Maybe it'll be alright. She hoped silently, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Silentstorm went through the same thing as Littlebrook, making sure his babies were okay and everything. (#sunlitislazy2k17). He glanced towards his former apprentice, and friend, when Rowantalon asked him an impossible question he had no answer to. "I.." He let out a deep breath, glancing around the clearing in shock, "I have no idea." He finished, his green gaze a look of confusion and horror.

Willowpetal watched in utter terror as fighting broke out, and the once peaceful clearing turned into a bloodbath. Cloudstone was turning his back on StarClan. The Dark Forest was actually real and not just some elder's tale. And worst of all, the mist was an invincible, evil-minded cat. Well, until it wasn't. Everything seemed to happen so fast, and her head was spinning. She caught sight of a familiar pale golden pelt leap up onto the Great Rock and kill the tribe cat that had brought the whole thing upon them. She let out an audible gasp, but she couldn't say she was upset with him. She had secretly hoped that someone would end her. She was the one who controlled the Mist, and taking her out took the Mist out as well.

Frost that Blankets the Brook watched in sheer panic as everything turned into mayhem.

Cloudroar was flipping his shiznit and being an overprotective brother to his siblings.

The bite didn't come as a shock, perhaps a part of her realised this was the only way that it could end. As his teeth sank into her throat, the she-cat closed her eyes in acceptance of the fate that she had chosen. She didn't doubt what she believed, the course she had taken, but there was undeniable regret and guilt that filled her when she saw to-bes being attacked by her creation. There was too much love in her to look away from the pain of young cats, but not enough to have her forgive the world for abandoning her.

She knew there was no Tribe of Endless Stars waiting for her, she didn't want them anyway. She didn't want to race amongst the stars, useless and unable to do anything but watch her family wither away.

But a voice called her, several little voices.

"Mother, come with us. Please."

"Mother!"

"Swoop, let go of Smokefang. Come with us instead."

"Yeah, mother! Don't leave us!"

As the last of her lifeblood spilt onto the rock, she reflected on what she'd done. All the chaos that Smokefang had brought to her with sweet promises of a world where cats controlled their own fate, without fear, connected by love. She wanted that still, but her family called her from within the stars. She had a choice here, let Smokefang go, or to follow her into the Darkness that beckoned.

With the last of her strength, she made her choice.

"Ry- Ryehe- heart. The d- dark fo-forest..." She spluttered out more blood, some coming out of her gaping wound. "It wi-will ri-se a-again. B-be w-ware. I- I wil- will re-retur..."

As the light faded from her eyes, there was a hardness in it. A conviction that would not be broken, even in death. She would not forget who killed her, she would not forget who ruined her plans. She'd forsaken her family for this path, she swore to succeed eventually.

The Dark Forest would rise again.

Harder and stronger.

As soon as the mist was attacked it scattered from Nightheart's paws. It started to gather once again, but the mist struggled. It kept trying to form but it fell apart, and eventually it scattered to the grass floor of the fourtrees hanging at the cats paws like it was supposed too.

The clouds part away from the moon. With the release of the moonlight, the mist that once sat at their paws faded fully, no longer lingering. A glow was cast on the cats in the clearing bathing them with some  kind of warmth from the long battle filled night. But something in the glow pointed towards the cat's home. Like something was telling them to go home.


ooc: Thank you guys for participating! The gathering is officially over as of now~ You can still post your cats reactions and things after this but as for the staff controlled part it's over! Congrats~

Since he had been defeated by Smokefang, Leopardclaw had lay sprawled on the ground nearby the scene of the fight, unconscious and bleeding heavily from his torn shoulder.  When Leafstorm prodded him though, the tom seemed to start drifting back into reality, and slowly opened his eyes.  The pain was unbearable.  A chunk had been torn from his shoulder by the misty cat's twisting attack, and it was sure to leave quite a scar.  Looking around the clearing with blurred eyes, Leopardclaw quickly realized that peace had come.  Cats were cheerish, and the vivid light of the full moon shone down on them yet again.  It was a challenge, but the spotted deputy managed to stagger to his paws, but he had to lean heavily on Leafstorm.  

Taking in the scene, he quickly caught sight of a young ginger tom standing over the body of Swoop; he didn't know the tom's name, but he tried to catch his eye and nod his thanks, but the poor tom seemed too shocked to notice.  Turning towards where most of his clan were either standing or laying, Leopardclaw was about to call out when he felt it - a sudden warmth, that reminded him so much of his comfortable nest back in the ThunderClan camp, and the feeling of his mate's fur brushing his own.  Trembling, Leopardclaw managed to call out to his clan, voice weak but filled with triumph...and hope.  "I..it is d..done!  T..the monster h..has been defeated, and it is time f..for us to go ho..home."  Trying his best to stand up straight, his voice regained a bit of power as he yowled; "T..ThunderClan!  Let us return to camp!"

---

Laurelpaw managed to stand up from where she had fallen, her legs shaking a bit, but her face shown with pure joy.  They had done it!  The clans had defeated that horrible creature, there would be peace again!  With a gleeful laugh, Laurelpaw launched herself at Necterleap, nuzzling his shoulder in a rare show of affection.  "We did it!  We actually did it!"  Her smile beaming, Laurelpaw felt the warmth that began to filter into the clearing, and knew that soon, they would be back home, and everything would be normal again.

---

"N...no....no!"
As Swoop chocked out her last words, a cold chill ran down Ryeheart's spine, foreboding and terrifying.  The she-cat's ominous words were filled with such certainty, without any doubts.....  Backing away, for a minute Ryeheart could only stare at the she-cat's dead body, his eyes widened and mouth gaping in deep shock as her blood stained the rock beneath his paws.  He had to tell someone...he had to tell Leopardstar!  He gazed around at the clearing for the first time, oblivious of the ThunderClan deputy's thankful nod as he searched frantically for his leader.  No!  The leaders didn't come back!  Panic beginning to set in, for a moment Ryeheart's heart raced so far that he thought it would burst out of his chest; but suddenly, his body was filled with such comforting warmth, as if he was still a kit, cradled in the crook of his....adopted mother's belly.  Home....we need to go home....it's time.  Taking a deep, calming breath, Ryeheart spared one last wary glance at Swoop's body, before leaping off of the Great Rock.  Trotting over to the rest of ShadowClan, he felt a bit of his usual lively energy flood back into his limbs, and the young tom broke into a run.  Running past his clanmates, he skidded to a halt at the top of the rise, looking down at them with an excited smile.  "Come on guys, let's go!"

Moonlight’s shoulder burned like if a flame had gripped onto it and didn’t let go. Each time she tried to gather the strength to get up and continue the battle she was forced back down by the mist’s relentless attacks. She hissed softly, angry to know that while she had landed the first hit on Smokefang, that was mostly it. However, she was also worried for her clanmates and the cats from the other clans. Each time she looked around more and more cats joined her on the fog covered clearing.

All she could do was watch, not able to get up, until, at least, the Dark Forest leader and his tribe minion were defeated. At least, the Dark Forest had been defeated once more and kicked out of the forest. It wasn’t until then, until the mist faded, that she could finally get up.

Her eyes raised to look at the moon and the signal given to them to return to camp. She didn’t took the lead at first though, she decided to wait for a bit longer in hopes of finding Crowstar and Rippedsky between the crowd…but they never arrived.

With tears in her eyes, she turned to face her clan and spoke loud enough for them to hear her “SkyClan, we are going back home" They need to recover if they wanted to find their missing leader and deputy. They had to be somewhere, she refused to give up hope yet. She turned to face the other clans and nodded respectfully “I hope you can find your missing leaders and clanmates soon so we can together celebrate our victory. May StarClan light your path” With those words she turned around and, with a noticeable limp caused by the nasty wound on her right shoulder, she decided to lead her clan back home.

Fox that hunts in the Night was watching all the chaos caused by the Mist that was claimed to be the something called The Dark Forest. The prey-hunter heard some stories about that place during his days in Skyclan but he would never think that it could be as real as The Tribe of the Endless Skies. He could feel the harm done by the attacks of the mist on his body as he kept looking with disapproval to the kit-mother that was his Tribemate.

The usually stoic and emotionless tomcat shivered by the last words of Swoop, surprised because of how the darkness and evil consumed the mind of the she-cat. She was wrong... she made the wrong choice and now she paid for her sins. She attempted to hurt the cats that gave his Tribe and he a shelter and a new home where they could build a new life, a new family.

The bengal cat stayed in his place, without mourning the death of Swoop or even saying a word like Echo that Strides Through did. His green eyes just narrowed, glancing at the dead body coldly. For him, Swoop was no longer his Tribemate and that's why he followed Skyclan without looking back again.

----------------------

Cedarpaw failed to keep his body standing because of the damage made. However, she smiled exhausted because of seeing how everything came to an end. Or at least for now. The Mist was gone, but the leaders were all missed. What would happen now?

----------------------

Jaystream and Tinytip followed Ivyfall during the rest of the fight and both of them were scared by the last words of the Tribe cat. The Dark Forest was a dangerous enemy for all the clans and both of them knew that all this mess wasn't over yet.

---------------------

Firepaw tried all the time to follow his father and mother during the fight, but his wounds and the attacks of the Mist left him out of combat before he could even touch Smokefang.

Larksong stumbled backwards with wide eyes as the Smokefang's form flickered, breaking apart as she struggled to continue to fight, wincing at the weak flicker of pain that flared in her body for just a moment but it was nothing compared to the previous attacks. Then a WindClan warrior rushed forward, slashing at what remained of Smokefang as the she-cat disappeared at last and peace came across the clearing. Her gaze snapped up to the great rock, her mouth falling open as she recognized the form of one of her Clanmates standing over the corpse of Swoop.

"Ryeheart, get down here!" she called for the tom before turning to Snakeblaze as the injured warrior spoke up. "There is nothing we can do about them," she said in a soft tone, anger flaring in her eyes as she shook her head. "We don't know what happened to them but...But we can hope that this is all over and that they will return to us..." for a second, her face crumbled as she stared up at the heavens above her. "Please...Please let them be safe," she whispered softly before she looked over the group and the lights that seemed to glow in the distance of each of their camps, before blinking as Moonlight spoke up. She turned toward the injured warrior, dipping her head in return as she turned to lead SkyClan away. "And may StarClan light yours, Moonlight," she called after her.

She raised her tail, swishing it as she moved toward the bulk of the ShadowClan cats, dipping her head to Ryeheart as he joined her. "Cats of ShadowClan - its time for us to return home. I want everybody sticking together - lean on each other if you can't walk and we will have Honeydrop and Roaringpaw give you all one-overs when we get home," she ordered, taking in a deep breath. "Then...Then tomorrow we can start looking for our missing or hope that they find us first. I don't want anybody going anywhere by themselves until we are certain that this threat is over, understand?" With a sigh, she turned as she motioned for her Clanmates to follow her. "Come along..." she said as she left the clearing.


Smokestripe felt his whole body quake with relief as Smokefang disappeared into mist and faded, his body trembling as he turned toward the gathered cats that had helped slain the Dark Forest leader as his eyes landed on a sleek black form that he loved so much. "Ravenclaw!" he gasped as he stumbled forward and pressed himself against her once more, letting his tail twist to entwine with hers. "We did it, we're safe," he whispered as he rested his muzzle on her forehead. He blinked as he turned his gaze up to the stars that twinkled above them. "We avenged Pinepaw's death," he added in a sad tone, almost certain now that the Mist - that Smokefang - had been behind the death of his step-son. He turned as Larksong started to speak, listening to his friend bark orders before turning to lead them away. "Come on, lets go home," he whispered as he nuzzled Ravenclaw, gently ushering her to follow him side-by-side as he moved to follow after Larksong.


Storm panted as Smokefang disappeared for once and for all, turning his gaze onto the rock only to flinch at the site of an unfamiliar cat standing over the corpse of Swoop. He listened as a few cats started to talk, taking the moment to bound onto the Great Rock beside Echo. He pressed himself next to the young To-Be, staring down at the corpse with a soft sigh as he took the moment to rest his muzzle on the top of Echo's head as Swoop's slayer jumped away. "There was nothing we could do for her," he sighed softly before glancing down to see Moonlight leading the rest of SkyClan home. He blinked sadly at the sight, gently brushing his shoulders against Echo's. "Go join the others, Echo," he ordered softly as he took a step forward, bending his head down to stare at the still body of Swoop. "I'll bring Swoop's body...We..." his voice cracked. "We can't leave her here. She may have...She may have betrayed us but she was still one of ours." With a soft sigh, he grabbed her scruff and tossed the body off of the Great Rock, flinching as it hit the ground before he bounded down to grab it once again. Then with little effort, the Cave-Guard followed after the trail of SkyClan cats, his eyes narrowed and cold as he glared at anybody who dared look at him for taking Swoop's body with him.


Lionspark watched with a mixture of relief and horror as Smokefang disappeared into mere mist and faded away, glancing around as the cats took the moment to soak in this victory and separate into their own Clans. Her eyes widen for a second as she recalled Leopardfang being stuck and thrown, spinning around until she spotted the tom already straggling to his feet. "Leopardfang!" she called to the deputy with worry in her tone as she hurried across the clearing as Leopardfang tried to speak to ThunderClan. Her motherly instincts took over as she pressed herself against the tom, taking some of his weight as she stared at him. "Are you alright?" she asked, although the answer to that question was clear. She paused for a second, glancing around at the gathered cats. "Come on, lets get you back to the camp and we will see what we can do about your wounds," she said in a soft voice as she turned her attention back to the deputy. She only wished that they had Honeypaw to properly tend to him but...They would have to see what they could do without her knowledge and skill.