A True Warrior: Novella Collection

eight

As Floraclaw faced Darkflame, Streamfrost froze like a startled rabbit, before turning tail and bolting away. Her original hatred for him rose uncontrollably back to the surface, bubbling and boiling. She had to stop herself from spitting at the tom.

Coward! She knew she'd been right to want to do this alone!

'Heya, Darkflame.' She said teasingly. 'I've been looking forward to this.'

She began to run at the warrior, pulling away just as Darkflame pounced for her. She used that second of advantage to pounce on him, digging her claws into his back. She felt for Darkflame's spine, but before she could crush it she found herself hauled off of his back.

She was being held by her scruff in somecat's jaws, but there was no cat there! She was floating, in some invisible cat's mouth. How could that be?

She twisted to get free, kicking and slashing at thin air. She wanted to worry about winning, not about how in holy StarClan's name she was levivitating.

She grabbed hold of Darkflame's head, pulling it toward her as she hauled herself away from the invisible thing. She tumbled to the ground, rolling once to connect her feet to the floor. Then, she raised her paws to bring them onto Darkflame's cheeks. But before she got the chance to, she felt a random gash in her stomach, then Darkflame grabbed her paw and threw it to the ground.

She backed up, stomach exposed, trying to make sense of the mystery cat attacking her. She noticed in one place, the air was darker than usual, and there was a cat-shaped shadow on the ground where there wouldn't be.

She'd heard about this. A long time ago, the Dark Forest discovered that they could bind themselves to a particular cat, so they could interact with the physical world like a StarClan cat could do. The difference was that only the cat who was bound to the Dark Forest cat could see them.

Great! So I have to fight two cats, one who I literally can't see and is more than likely Viperstar, the most dangerous cat in the forest?

Holy squirrel, I'm doomed.

Floraclaw wouldn't run. She'd rather go down fighting than let Smokestar and Nightwhisker die.

But the sun was setting rapidly, and Viperstar's shadow was the only way Floraclaw could track her.

Viperstar's shadow was approaching her quickly, so Floraclaw threw herself at Darkflame, remembering a last resort move her mentor, Oakfur, had taught her. She sank her teeth into Darkflame's throat, grabbing his shoulder with her paw as she threw herself onto him, forcing him to the ground.

But Darkflame kicked her where her wound already was. Jolts of angry pain ricocheted upwards through Floraclaw's body, stunning her momentarily as she was thrown into Viperstar, who clawed Floraclaw's still-healing leg, reopening the wound. If Floraclaw survived, that scar would never go away, she thought.

Floraclaw pulled herself away. Momentarily, she had a breather. A time to think about what she could do.

She wondered if she could bring Darkflame and his ghost back into BerryClan's territory. Someone may see them, and she'd have the advantage.

But she realised how far away that was, and anyway, Viperstar and Darkflame were BerryClanners, too.

She felt around for a branch and, desperately, hurled it at Darkflame. He ducked and began to laugh.

Everything Floraclaw knew was gone. All her techniques and strategies she'd practiced meticulously as an apprentice had disappeared. She was outnumbered and overpowered. The sun was so low they barely had any shadows, so she had next to know chance at protecting herself from Viperstar, and she was bleeding fast from two places. She would surely die if she kept this up, but if she ran, she'd fail the Clan by letting Darkflame win. She also couldn't do it to herself; couldn't live with herself if she'd turned tail like Streamfrost. Ugh! He had the right idea, leaving like that!

She had to continue fighting.

Not because she was some stupid, reckless cat who didn't know when to quit.

Because she was a stupid, reckless cat who didn't know how to quit.

She hissed, reaching out for Darkflame from her carefully balanced position. She clawed his eye, but that wasn't enough. Viperstar simply knocked into her and she fell over, weakened from a loss of blood and a loss of heart.

She got back up, clumsily.

She launched herself back at Darkflame, aiming for his throat but landing at his paws. She feebly clawed his legs. Although she drew blood, it was miniscule compared to what Viperstar and Darkflame did to her.

She was shaking. Not from fear, or from the cold, but from exhaustion. Each movement hurt as she breathed deeply and raspily.

They barely even needed to fight her to kill her. Just watch as her bold, reckless movements killed her herself.

In fact, the two cats weren't fighting her; just defending her. If an outsider looked on, it would've looked like Floraclaw was randomly threatening Darkflame, not the other way around.

Streamfrost was right all along.

Floraclaw was stupid, and reckless, and she didn't know her own weaknesses because she didn't think she had any.

Well, today she realised, alright.

And she'd killed herself in the process.

Because she fought Darkflame with that injured leg, that reopened during the battle and made her unable to fight.

Because she ignored Streamfrost's advice about not tracking Darkflame.

Because she refused time and time again to work with Aldertail, and didn't think to get him before launching herself onto Darkflame.

Because she got that injured leg in the first place, because she just had to fight that dumb fox!

It was all Floraclaw's fault. Her own recklessness was her downfall.

And now it was all over. She failed.

She failed Smokestar and Nightwhisker, who didn't know that they, too, were going to die today. She failed StarClan, who were relying on her to stop Darkflame from getting too much power.

And she'd failed herself, too.

She curled into a tiny ball, and silently sobbed as she waited to die.