Prologue 

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The black and white she-cat launched herself at her attackers, latching onto a brown tomcat's back and digging in her thorn-sharp claws. He yowled in pain, but she did not relent. She planned to banish these dishonorable cats from her territory with a fight they would not forget. She sank her teeth into his ear, pulling backward until she felt it tear. The tomcat screeched, jerking his head out of her grasp and escaping back to his territory.

She whirled around, searching for a new opponent, and threw herself into the heat of battle with a cry strong enough to instill fear in even the most experienced warriors. Her claws tore through enemy fur with the vicious rage of StarClan. The ground near the border stream began to pool with blood from both groups of cats. The she-cat remained unharmed.

As she was swiping her unsheathed claws at the nose of a ginger tabby, she heard a sharp cry emit from one of her clanmates. Hissing at her opponent, she slashed his face one last time before streaking off to the source of the cry.

Another black she-cat was pinned beneath a striped brown tabby, who had his jaws clamped around her throat. The trapped she-cat thrashed in agony, kicking weakly with her back legs but failing to grab a hold. Growling with rage, the black and white she-cat leapt at the tabby, grabbing onto his back and scratching at his wide shoulders as she scrambled closer to his head. He began to rear up, freeing the she-cat beneath him, but the cat on his shoulders was faster; she extended a paw with claws unsheathed and slashed at his eyes, raking her claws through the soft material. The enemy cat let out a pained caterwaul, and as the black and white she-cat hopped down from his shoulders and growled, the blinded tom stumbled dazedly back to his territory.

The black and white she-cat turned quickly to the cat she had saved. "Nightfang! Are you hurt?"

Nightfang lay still on the ground, but her tail twitched rapidly. She took a moment to respond. "No, I'm just shocked."

"About what?"

"That I nearly died, mouse-brain," she growled back, but her eyes held amusement. "This is no time to joke, though. Keep fighting, I'll join you soon!"

The black and white she-cat ignored her entirely and waited until Nightfang had risen to her paws to fight. The two she-cats then worked as one, clawing at enemies from both sides and pinning them down, one raking their exposed underbelly or clawing at their faces. They had chased off multiple enemy cats, but their Clan was still being pushed back. The attackers were strong and much greater in number, not to mention fueled with the promise of new hunting territory and prosperity. DawnClan was losing.

The she-cats rushed to the back of their defending line, where a long-haired tom crouched low to the ground, hiding from their rival Clan.

"Blizzardstar!" the black-and-white she-cat meowed angrily. "What are you doing? Join the battle, you useless ball of fur!"

He did not reply, simply staring at one of his warriors as they were struck down by a large gray enemy cat. His mouth widened as he yowled, "DawnClan! Retreat!"

Blizzardstar dashed back to the east immediately, waiting for none of his warriors. The she-cats noticed that he limped badly from a vicious wound on his back leg, and his fluffy white fur was streaked with scarlet red.

DawnClan warriors began to retreat, ducking away from claws and running through the dense foliage to their camp. The pair of she-cats prepared to stand their ground, but the attacking DuskClan warriors had different ideas. Fueled with triumph at their impending success, the warriors turned on the few DawnClan cats that were left fighting and attempted to drive them forcefully back into their territory. Only the she-cats and three other warriors remained, forming a thin defensive line, their hind legs catching on tree roots as they slashed their claws at the flood of attacking cats.

One of the DuskClan warriors leaped from the horde, landing on a nearby grey and white DawnClan cat and bit down viciously. The DawnClan cat screeched in pain and collapsed to the ground.

The black and white she-cat yowled furiously, "Murderers! StarClan will have you struck down!" With that, she charged into the oncoming sea of DuskClan cats and scraped her claws across as many cats as she could before leaping back to join the defense with a couple of new scratches in her dappled fur. DuskClan was not disheartened.

"There's no hope, Ashscar!" one of the DawnClan warriors meowed. "We have to run, or we'll all be killed!"

Ashscar narrowed her eyes. "A true warrior never backs down. I will give my life for my Clan if I need to do so. I expect you will too."

A DuskClan warrior purred with laughter. "We'll crush you puny kits before you get the chance to retreat."

Filled with anger, Nightfang suddenly pounced at the cat that had spoken, wrapping her paws around his neck and pushing him to the ground, tearing at his ears with her teeth. They fought for a few moments, rolling around on the ground, but the DuskClan cat brought up his hind legs and kicked at her underbelly with immeasurable strength. Nightfang was launched off of him, her body sailing through the air and slamming into a rock a couple of fox-lengths away. The wind was knocked out of her, and she lay gasping on the ground, her belly torn open and leaking rivers of blood.

"No!" the black and white she-cat yowled, pushing her way to her sister through the oncoming DuskClan attackers, reaching her just as the life drained out of her eyes. Nightfang was limp, her face empty of emotion. Her sister gently touched her nose to Nightfang's, whispering a silent prayer to StarClan before she whirled around.

The cat that had killed Nightfang stood before her, looking proud for only an instant before the she-cat launched herself at him. His eyes flooded with fear as the mourning cat's teeth tore a jagged hole through his throat.

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