Creamfluff's Hope

*/\* Chapter Twenty-nine */\*

We are MistClan! We don't back down from a fight. Cowards don't make warriors. 

Blizzardstar's words suddenly echoed like a thunderstorm in Creampaw's mind as she felt Pineshade's teeth enclose around her neck. Creampaw closed her eyes and waited for her end. I'm sorry, Blizzardstar, but your advice didn't help.

But a sudden yowl followed by an unfamiliar scent rushed past Creampaw in a blur, throwing Pineshade off of Creampaw. She scrambled to her paws, her shoulder bruised from when she rammed into Pineshade and crashed to the floor. She had wounds from fighting, her pelt bloody and soaked from the rain. But Creampaw tried focusing on the golden-brown pelt in front of her, struggling to make out who it was.

Then she gasped. "Sunnypaw! Why are you here?"

Sunnypaw was gripping Pineshade's back with his claws as he crouched on the ShadeClan warrior's back. "Your friends Softpaw and Amberstorm ran to FeatherClan to fetch help."

Creampaw felt her heart skip a beat with delight. Softpaw had gone to get FeatherClan for backup! They'd definitely win the battle with ShadeClan now, no doubt. She remembered when Thrushwing had told her of the truce FeatherClan and MistClan had together and thanked StarClan for that alliance. Creampaw bounded toward Pineshade and raked her claws down his flank while Sunnypaw but his ear. Pineshade yowled in pain as Creampaw bit down hard on his hind leg and ducked underneath his belly to slash at his soft, unprotected skin.

Pineshade shook the apprentices away from him before scrabbling to his paws and running away; the ShadeClan warrior embarrassed at being beat in battle by apprentices.

"Good job!" Sunnypaw purred to Creampaw. "You're a natural born fighter!"

Creampaw smiled and flicked her tail happily before noticing a bloody scratch on Sunnypaw's cheek. "Your cheek!"

"Huh? Oh," Sunnypaw mewed, dabbing at his cheek with a paw and wiping away the blood. "It's nothing compared to you!" Creampaw looked down at herself, her chest fur matted with blood and her cream-and-white fur stained red.

"I've been fighting for quite a bit, that's why." She licked at a clump of knotted fur. 

Sunnypaw nudged her with a shoulder. "Alright, now's no time for grooming. We've got a battle to fight! C'mon!" He bounded away into the midst of battle, tackling Curlpaw, a ShadeClan apprentice, and pinning her to the ground. Creampaw rushed forward to help her friend and clawed at Curlpaw's muzzle.

Curlpaw yowled and struggled to get away from the FeatherClan apprentice's weight on top of her. Sunnypaw gave her a good clawing to the ear before jumping away from her, allowing her to get up and run away toward Tigerstep. Creampaw purred as she saw ShadeClan warriors begin to flee toward their camp or the medicine cat. Soon enough, the only ShadeClan cats left fighting were Cedarstar and Darkenedfrost.

Cedarstar had Blizzardstar pinned down while Ripplestar and a FeatherClan she-cat with gray-black fur Creampaw knew as Crowchirp fought Darkenedfrost to keep her from helping her leader.

"I've said it once, and I can say it twice: I have killed Acornstar, and I can kill you too!" Cedarstar sneered, lunging for Blizzardstar's throat. The two leaders were battered and bruised, but Blizzardstar looked too weak to fight back.

"No!" Windycloud yowled from somewhere among the cats crowded around Cedarstar and Blizzardstar to watch them fight. The tom burst from a clump of cats, the gray swirls on his white pelt stained with blood. He leapt at Cedarstar, barreling him to the ground away from Blizzardstar, allowing her to get to her paws.

"Get out of here, flea-brain!" Cedarstar snapped at Windycloud's front leg as Creampaw watched in horror. Cedarstar had killed a leader and threatened to kill another, and he kept trying to steal territory from his neighboring Clan. Something was wrong with this leader.

"Not until you surrender!" The two toms went back and forth clawing at each other's faces, biting tails, and scratching pelts until Windycloud managed to pin Cedarstar down. Cedarstar's eyes were alight with fury as the rain slowed to show the sun in the sky. The ShadeClan leader was panting as Windycloud snarled in his face. 

Darkenedfrost yowled as Ripplestar and Crowchirp held her to the ground with unsheathed claws. "Cedarstar! Don't give up! We can win!"

But Cedarstar didn't reply to the she-cat. He glared at Windycloud, looking directly into his eyes before letting out a sigh. "I am a single cat against two Clans. I cannot win this battle. ShadeClan surrenders."

Windycloud let out a triumphant yowl before stepping away from Cedarstar. "MistClan has won back Moss Rocks!"

"I never agreed to that," Cedarstar purred as he stood up and licked his matted fur. 

"What?" Juniperseed yowled in fury as she stepped forward. "You claimed Moss Rocks as your own when we didn't say you could!" 

Cedarstar looked coldly at the black she-cat before scoffing. "ShadeClan will never admit defeat so easily again. You have earned your territory back, soft-hearted mice." 

Juniperseed didn't reply as she ran back toward her Clan, limping from a wound on her hind leg. Windycloud rushed over to Blizzardstar to help her stand up. 

"MistClan," the gray and white she-cat breathed heavily. "Remark the borders. Thrushwing and Mapleleaf, make sure Darkenedfrost and Cedarstar leave out territory."

Thrushwing and Mapleleaf cautiously limped toward the ShadeClan leader to escort him and his warrior over the border. 

"Ripplestar, thank you for coming to help us." Blizzardstar turned to the FeatherClan leader. "How did you know we were fighting ShadeClan?"

The dark blue tom dipped his head in generosity before responding. "Your cats Softpaw and Amberstorm came to our camp to ask for our help."

Blizzardstar weakly turned her head to look at the bloody calico she-cat and the young gray-and-white tom. "You knew the perfect time to fetch help. Thank you, Amberstorm and Softpaw. Thank you FeatherClan, also."

"Well, I think it's time we get going." Ripplestar turned to look for the cats from his Clan. "FeatherClan, come to me."

Creampaw saw Boulderfoot, Cricketclaw, Morninglight, Cloudtuft, Crowchirp, Heatherbranch, Gorsetuft, Harshbite, Dawnrunner, and Breezestep walk over to their leader. Creampaw turned to see Sunnypaw brush against her side. 

"I've got to go," he mewed. "It was fun fighting with you, not literally. Well, kind of literally. No, let me reword that-"

"It was fun fighting by your side," Creampaw said for him. "I agree. Thanks for coming."

"I guess I'll see you at the next Gathering, then?" Sunnypaw purred. Creampaw nodded and quickly touched her nose to his ear in a friendly good-bye. Sunnypaw walked away toward his Clan, brushing his tail tip along Creampaw's flank as he went. Creampaw felt her heart pumping so aggressively and loudly she was amazed her Clanmates couldn't hear it. She turned around to look for Rainspeck and Aloeheart, only to see Softpaw standing behind her.

He looked heartbroken, as if he would break into sobs and run away. But instead of running, he hung his head and walked over to Lilypurr and the others.

Sorry for the fact that this chapter took a day to publish. I had something else written, except I reread it and didn't like it, so I deleted it and rewrote it. 

My computer was lagging so badly when I wrote thhissssss