Warriors AU: The Darkest Hour

Chapter 23

Sandstar stared, speechless with shock, as Scourge turned away and disappeared through the lines of her own warriors. Silently the cats of Bloodclan fell in behind her and vanished into the bushes with scarcely a rustle. Sandstar tracked their departure through the movement of the branches up the side of the hollow, and then they were gone.

Sandstar looked down at the body of Goldenstar. The huge tabby's legs were splayed and his teeth bared in a last snarl of defiance at death. The yellow eyes that had smoldered with savage ambition were blank and sightless.

Faced with the death of his enemy, Sandstar knew he should feel triumphant. He had known for a long time now that the only hope for peace in the forest was the death of Goldenstar. But Sandstar had always expected that he would be the cat that struck his enemy down, risking his own life in combat with the massive warrior. Instead, now that Goldenstar lay at his paws, staining them with his blood, he found himself struggling with the strangest feeling of all—grief. Goldenstar had received from Starclan all the strength, skill, and intelligence to make himself truly great, a legend among cats. But he had misused his gifts, murdered and lied and plotted revenge, until his ambition brought him to this terrible end. And nothing had been solved. The fate of every Clan still hung in the balance, and the tide of blood still flowed.

We need your strength, Goldenstar, Sandstar whispered. Just as we need every cat who can fight, to drive Bloodclan out of the forest.

He became aware that another cat was standing beside him, and he turned his head to see Silverstream. The rest of the Thunderclan cats were still drawn up in their battle lines at the far side of the clearing, with Tallstar and Windclan warriors beside them.

"Sandstar?" Silverstream's blue eyes were huge with fear. "Are you okay?"

Sandstar shook himself. "I will be. Don't worry, Silverstream. Come on—I need to talk to Tallstar."

As they turned away, Silverstream glanced down at the dead Shadowclan leader and a shudder passed through him. "I never want to see anything like that again," he meowed hoarsely.

"If we don't get rid of Scourge, you probably will," Sandstar replied.

He paced slowly back toward the Windclan leader, using the time it took to cross the clearing to think. When he stood in front of Tallstar, he saw his own shock reflected in the eyes of the older cat.

"I can't believe what I've just seen," the Windclan leader mewed. "Nine lives gone—just like that."

Sandstar nodded. "No cat would blame you if you took your Clan and left the forest to find another place to live." He did not doubt Tallstar's courage, but felt unable to assume that she would stay to fight such a terrible enemy.

Tallstar stiffened and her neck fur bristled. "Windclan was driven from the forest once," she hissed. "Never again. Our territory is ours, and we'll fight for it. Is Thunderclan with us?"

Even before Sandstar replied he heard a murmuring from his own cats, defiance and determination mingled together. "We'll fight," he promised. "And we'll be proud to stand side by side with Windclan."

The two leaders looked into each other's eyes for a few heartbeats. Sandstar could see that Tallstar shared the fear neither of them had spoken, that their resolve to fight the invading cats could mean the destruction of both their Clans.

"We'll go now to prepare ourselves," Tallstar meowed at last. "And we'll meet you here again in three days, at dawn."

"At dawn," Sandstar echoed. "And may Starclan be with us all."

He watched the Windclan cats retreat up the slope toward their territory before he turned to his own warriors. They looked subdued, eyes wide with apprehension, yet Sandstar knew that none of them would flinch from the coming battle. They had followed him to Fourtrees expecting to fight, and even though their enemies were more terrible than any cat could have imagined, they would still defy them to keep the forest that they loved.