WARRIORS AU: Swiftpaw lived

Chapter 4

Swiftclaw narrowed his pale yellow eyes as he approached the meeting place for the future battle. ShadowClan and WindClan were already there. And so was the dreaded BloodClan. 

"Hello," Firestar said coldly as he glared at Scourge.  Scourge licked his paw. 

"RiverClan better hurry up," Blackfoot grunted. A few ShadowClan warriors nodded. 

"We have arrived." A voice said sharply. It was Leopardstar. Swiftclaw bared his fangs at the Riverclan leader. He was NOT a fan of her. She had done so much bad towards her own clan. She let her own deputy DIE! She wanted to kill Featherpaw and Stormpaw! Who were friends of his! She would never have his respect. He was surprised StarClan even approved of her. In his eyes, she was no better than Tigerstar. Maybe even Brokenstar. 

"Good, is that everyone?" Scourge asked. 

"Yes," Blackfoot flexed his large claws. 

"Get on with it Scourge," Firestar spat. Scourge rolled his eyes. 

"This is your last chance, forest cats! Surrender and leave this territory, or fight to the death for it," Scourge challenged. BloodClan cats yowled roars of support towards their leader. One tortoiseshell queen from BloodClan looked nervous but nodded. Swiftclaw growled. Brightheart shifted her paws next to him. 

"I can't do this!" She whispered. "It's my first fight since..." 

"I know," Swiftclaw leaned against her. "We may not be mates, but we are friends, aren't we? And friends stick together. I'll help you. Remember, we survived the dogs. We can survive this." He assured her. 

"You're a good friend," Brightheart purred. Swiftclaw smiled softly. 

"LionClan! Attack!" Firestar yowled. Swiftclaw widened his eyes. He hadn't noticed Firestar and the others preparing for battle. 

"AH!" Swiftclaw screamed as a BloodClan cat pounced on him. 

"Say Goodbye forest cat!" The BloodClan tom sneered. He raised his claws over Swiftclaw's head and got ready to kill the young warrior.

"Oh no, you don't!" A cat yowled. Cloudtail? The big white tom attacked the BloodClan cat. He knocked him off of Swiftclaw and bit into his throat. Swiftclaw winced and hauled himself up off the ground. Blood poured all over the forest floor. The BloodClan tom snarled as Blood raced out of his neck wound. 

"H-Help me!" He screamed as he fell to the floor, twisting in agony. Cloudtail stepped on him and pinned the tom down. 

"I'll let you live if you promise to never harm ThunderClan again," Cloudtail told him. 

"N-never!" The tom growled weakly. He raised his paw to hit Cloudtail but put it down seconds later. 

"Oh really? Last chance BloodClan cat," Cloudtail unleashed his claws. 

"I told you! N-never! I'm loyal to Scourge! And Scourge never backs down!" He spat. He's letting his pride take over his judgment, Swiftclaw thought. Cloudtail bared his fangs and dragged his claws along the tom's belly. That's what Scourge did to Tigerstar! Swiftclaw thought in horror. It was a painful way to die. The cat's mouth opened to howl in pain, but he fell limp under Cloudtail's claws. 

He had killed him. 

"W-Why?" Swiftclaw asked as he padded up to Cloudtail. Cloudtail blinked in confusion. 

"Why what?" He asked. 

"Why did you save me?" Swiftclaw blurted. Cloudtail tilted his head. 

"What do you mean? I saved you because we are clanmates! Clanmates care about each other, right? Plus, we're friends aren't we?" Cloudtail mewed. 

"Yes," Swiftclaw nodded. Cloudtail flicked his tail and raced off to help other cats fight. Swiftclaw sighed. Maybe he and Cloudtail could be friends. After all, he did save his life. 

"Watch me fight!" A tiny voice mewed. Swiftclaw turned around. It was a tiny BloodClan kit. Its claws were out. The kit looked no more than 4 moons old. The young tom kit was a brown tabby. A lean shape paced around it. Leopardstar! Swiftclaw thought. The dappled she-cat pounced on the kit. The kit squealed and tried to claw at her muzzle. 

"Quiet kit!" Leopardstar spat. She sank her claws into the kit's pelt. 

"No!" Quick as lightning Swiftclaw pounced on Leopardstar, knocking her off the BloodClan kit. 

"Tratior!" Leopardstar growled. "You defended the enemy!" 

"It's a kit!" Swiftclaw spat. He stepped off Leopardstar. "Have you no honor? Killing a kit is no way to win this fight!" 

"It doesn't matter if it's a BloodClan kit!" Leopardstar roared. 

"No wonder Stonefur is dead!" Swiftclaw shot back. Leopardstar widened her eyes. 

"Stonefur is dead... yes... it was a foolish mistake of mine... but the past is the past." She said firmly. Swiftclaw stepped in front of the kit and bared his fangs. 

"Whatever. But I will not let you harm this kit!" Swiftclaw flexed his claws. 

"Wait until the great Firestar hears about this," Leopardstar purred. 

"Tell him. I dare you." Swiftclaw narrowed his eyes. Leopardstar snorted. 

"I will," she glared at him and bolted off, leaping back into battle. 

"T-thanks!" The little tabby squeaked. 

"Err- no problem. Stay out of battle," Swiftclaw ordered. "I have an idea. Run to the twolegplace and become a kittypet- it's much safer." The kit tilted his head. 

"Okay! Thanks for saving me!" He mewed. Swiftclaw nodded. 

"You're welcome," He said. 

"Oh! I'm Beech by the way," The kit told him. Swiftclaw smiled. 

"I'm Swiftclaw, May Starclan light your path little one." Swiftclaw told him. Beech dipped his head and bolted off towards the twolegplace. Swiftclaw spun around and flexed his claws, ready to fight once more. He ran through the battle field. He stopped in horror. Longtail- his former mentor was pinned down by a red-ish BloodClan tom. Swiftclaw recognized the tom attacking Longtail. It was Brick. He had been one of the cats to stand by Scourge's side when Tigerstar died. Brick hung his claws over Longtail's throat, preparing to kill him. 

"NO!" Swiftclaw ran towards them and leaped on Brick, knocking him off of Longtail. 

"Watch it clan cat!" Brick grunted. 

"S-Swiftclaw?" Longtail looked up weakly. 

"It's me, stay there Longtail." Swiftclaw hissed at Brick. He slashed his claws across Brick's face. Brick yowled in pain. 

"Run, or I'll kill you!" Swiftclaw whispered into the tom's ear coldly.