The Barn Cat

Chapter Thirty-Eight

      Iyvpaw could feel all the cuts burning along his body as he chased the cat out of the gorge. He felt his muscles throbbing by the time he made it to the top, surprise catching him when he saw all of the Mistclan warriors fighting evil cats outside of their camp. He trailed after the tom, making sure he left the territory and not going into any other clan's. He hissed once the tom reached the border, letting out some of his frustration and anger. Ivypaw turned his gaze and started sprinting back to camp, dodging trees and fallen logs. He made it to where cats were fighting, and was genuinely shocked when he noticed a couple of Fireclan warriors. Confusion hit him like a stone. Didn't Silverstar disapprove of this? Or was it just the barn cats? He didn't get a chance to think about it any longer though, since a cat decided to send him flying sideways. Ivypaw felt his head hit the ground, pain throbbing throughout it. Specklestone was right, he did need more time to heal. He lifted his head, the world spinning around him. There wasn't a cat there to attack him though. He looked around, puzzled. Then he spotted him.

    Slayer.

   The tom was a few paw steps away from him, licking his lips with his huge claws unsheathed. Ivypaw forced himself to get to his paws, trying not to show any weakness. It was very difficult, since Slayer had seen everything. He faced the tom, blurs fighting behind him in the background. Ivypaw dug his claws in the dirt, waiting for Slayer to make the first move. The tom just stared menacingly at Ivypaw, sneering at him. Anger and fear bubbled in Ivypaw's stomach, wishing someone else could see the large tom and help him. "Slayer!" Ivypaw and Slayer both turned their gazes, spotting Courage. The black tom had blood dripping from his shoulders and cheek, "leave him alone!" Slayer grinned, "Courage. I haven't seen you in moons. Or, I have. You just haven't seen me." His mew was taunting, and Ivypaw could sense Courage's anger. "You better call off your cats before we destroy all of them," Courage hissed, "including you." Slayer let out a tiny mrrow of amusement, "we're so scared. You're outnumbered, even with all the clans. I don't only have cats here, I have them everywhere. They are in all the warriors camps as we speak." Ivypaw's heart dropped. All the kits, apprentices, elders. He couldn't contain himself anymore, and shot at Slayer. 

     The tom wasn't expecting it and fell over to his side, letting out a shocked hiss as he hit the ground. Courage took this as an advantage and launched himself onto Slayer, ripping out his fur and tearing at his skin. Ivypaw watched fur fly everywhere, blood spilling all over the ground. The two toms fighting were in a blurry ball, and Ivypaw didn't know how to help Courage. He only heard hisses and skin ripping. He waited for a chance, then snatched Slayer's tail in his jaw and yanked. Slayer let out a painful yelp, slashing out at Ivypaw and hooking his claw on his ear. Ivypaw let go of his tail, gasping with pain. Slayer managed to get a good swing on Courage, sending him flying away and hitting his head on a rock. Slayer turned his gaze to Ivypaw, "you have been the most trouble caused to me. Do you know how many cats I could have killed if you hadn't gotten in the way? You should have joined us, Ivypaw. You would have been great." Ivypaw lashed his claws at the tom's face, feeling gross when he felt his claws rake Slayer's eyeball. Slayer let out a groan, and Courage had gotten back to his paws and launched himself back onto the tom. 

    "You'll never kill another cat again!" Courage hissed, pinning the tom by his throat. "My cats will, and you'll never get rid of them," Slayer sneered. "They'll fall apart without a leader," Courage growled, "we'll make sure of it." Ivypaw watched in horror as Courage ripped Slayer's throat open. He turned away, not wanting to watch anymore. He heard Courage let out a winning yowl, but Ivypaw didn't want to join in. Then he heard paw steps coming towards him. "Thank you, Ivypaw. You helped out so much, but the battle isn't over yet. There's still so many of them." Ivypaw nodded, not wanting to turn around, "I know." "Then let's go," Courage called, racing back towards camp. Ivypaw felt sick when he turned around and looked at Slayer's body, his throat ripped open and blood flowing out. He hurried away from the body, not wanting to see anymore. He was near Rock Cliffs when he heard a terrified shriek. A shriek he had heard before. 

Palepounce.

    He ran as fast as he could in the direction of her cry, nearly tripping on rocks on his way to her. He spotted her on rocky-sand pinned down by a large, muscular tom with red fur and black bengal-stipes. He charged over to her, but a brown flash took the tom off of her first, rolling towards the cliffs. "Palepounce!" Ivypaw called anyways, wanting to make sure she was okay. She got to her paws, blood dripping down her face, "Ivypaw!" "Are you okay?" Ivypaw asked. Palepounce nodded, "I'm fine." Battle cries came near the cliffs, and Ivypaw finally got a good glance at Palepounce's hero. It was Hawk. The tom was slashing all over the red tom, their battle looking a lot like Courage's and Slayer's. Then the red tom got a good grip on Hawk, swinging him towards the cliffs. Ivypaw squinted his eyes when he saw Hawk go flying into the cliff, but opened them wide when he heard a fearful cry for help. He was holding on to the cliff, and the red tom was walking over to finish him. 

    "I'll get the tom, you help Hawk," Ivypaw muttered, then bolted for the tom. He could see Hawk's paws now, his claws digging deep into the dirt holding him up. Ivypaw shoved himself as hard as he could into the red tom, sending them both sideways. He saw out of the corner of his eye Palepounce trying to haul Hawk up. His heart nearly fell out of his body when the rocks around Palepounce started to crumble under hers and Hawk's weight, nearly making her fall in with the brown tabby. "Palepounce, wait!" Ivypaw called, racing over to help. Palepounce was still holding onto Hawk's scruff when Ivypaw got their, but he took over and Palepounce backed away a bit. Ivypaw tugged and pulled until Hawk could get his back paw hooked onto the ground to help. "Ivypaw! Watch out!" Palepounce's terrified shriek made him turn to look. The red tom launched at him, making Ivypaw lose balance. Ivypaw slipped, throwing Hawk onto the solid ground. He felt himself flying threw the air, the red tom pushing him downwards. He felt himself bathe in fear when he realized what was happening. Before he could do anything, he felt the pain of his wounds fade away, and all he could see was black.