𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (BOOK 1) (ROS)

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 23

The territory was now at its breaking point. 

Endless days of no sign, no light, no hope... Ice'star had lost it. He ramped up the patrols constantly around both day and night, the warriors were becoming exhausted easily. Some were beginning to fall ill, but there was no medicine cat to help them. There were going to drop like flies anyway, there was no point.

At the darkest, and coldest night, where everything had frozen. The stream water stopped rushing, the wind was still, and icicles had grown on the dead branches. 

The air pierced her fur, Jade watched as the IceClan patrols roamed the lands, and she noticed how malnourished they were. Was it really worth it to kill them off? They were already beaten up from the harsh rules that their leader had set on. Their other leaders were far from being alive, as they were now presumably dead. But by Red'fang's rules, they had caused too much harm, the two major clans had dug too deeply in their graves.

With a group of a few warriors, and apprentices, she crept through the woods. She had her ears open, her sharp eyes scanning the area, and her paws creeping over the tall grass quietly.

 "Distance yourselves, ambush any cat who stands in our way!" A fellow warrior, Coral'flash, who was the second leader of the patrol exclaimed.

The tension settled in, Jade had overseen the trees falling apart and collapsing on the ground, the birds and prey had no movement or calls. The end is near, but the war is still young. It's only a matter time to do what the prophecy asked, to kill Ice'star.

Unfortunately, the ambush mission became futile when the patrol had found SunClan in the distance.

"THERE!" Kestrel'shade gestured her paws, Jade turned around to see a group of IceClan warriors in battle stance. "HALT!" She shrieked. "WE'VE BEEN FOUND!" 

Coral'flash stopped his tracks, he turned to see a cat leapt at him in an instant. He jumped back and yelled at the other warriors. "ATTACK!"

Claws were thrown, shrieks and hisses were heard, the cats immediately pursued each other and caused bloodshed. Cats were being scarred, injured, and dying. Their blood painted the forest red. 

Jade was being attacked by Adder'burr, the lykoi she-cat, she defended herself and gave a nasty scar, she still ended up being tackled on the dry ground. The lykoi's claws drifting against her chest, her eyes glaring at her fiercely. Though, something had caught her attention, the black cat looked too similar. 

She shook her head, carelessly moving the memories behind her, and eased her bloody paw against her throat, holding the black cat down. She raised her sharpened claws, ready to tear through the loner's throat.

 However, Jade had overseen a dark brown tortoiseshell racing on Adder'burr's side, clawing against her shoulder and pushing her away. The black cat quickly moved on her paws; she couldn't believe what she had saw. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Adder'burr hissed, distraught of what Fern'flame had done. 

The she-cat didn't say anything, her raging yellow eyes glared at her clanmate, before staring at Jade. Her feelings were mixed, but she knew who the black cat was, coming from Ember'star. And Jade, felt anger with a mix of shock, this is what he had left her for in the past, and now the same cat was saving her. She couldn't believe it. 

"You know these are the enemies of StarClan! And you're on their side!?" The lykoi dug her claws through the earth. "How would Ember'star look at you now?" She questioned in a condescending tone. Bringing up her mate would've gotten Fern'flame in tears prior to his recent death. Her answers to that were surprising. "He does not matter anymore!" Fern'flame snapped. "Don't let ignorance be the death of you! This war isn't yours but Ice'star's! Step aside, now!"

Adder'burr didn't listen, she charged at Fern'flame again, but Jade stood and blocked the she-cat's way, her claws struck the lykoi's throat, causing blood to leak before her. 

"GAH!" The lykoi stood there, surprised that the black cat had eventually fought back. Her vision faded off, and the blood stained her fur. She suffocated on her own blood and fell on her backside. The she-cat ends up croaking shortly after.  Fern'flame didn't say a word, her eyes shifted from the body to Jade's bloodied paws. She didn't know how to act, both of them never knew how to act when they saw each other. Maybe this was the closure Jade needed. 

The black cat calmed her heavy breathing, she turned to Fern'flame, and asked her in an anxious tone. "Are you alright?" 

"Yes." Fern'flame reassured her. "I'm alright."

Jade felt relieved that the warrior didn't have any scratches on her. She turned to see IceClan and SunClan patrols still fighting. Some of the warriors and apprentices had fell to their deaths. Bright'shell, Sand'paw, Big'paw, Gorge'hawk, and Scorch'teeth. There was no time to process their unfortunate deaths, they needed to keep fighting. 

As chaos presumed the IceClan warriors were still growing stronger in strength. They still believed that the stars would prevail. 

Before anything could happen, a blood-curdling roar is heard in the distance of the forest. Shaking the ground below them and temporarily stopping the battle.  Everyone had stopped instantly. Jade swiveled around until she saw a wave of darkness emerging between the trees, heading straight towards them. The ground crumbled, the trees, cliffs and caves were being fed to the abyss. The end had begun. 

"RETREAT!" A warrior would shout, the others scattered to the forests. Jade and Fern'flame started running. A flare of golden dust poured from Jade's tail, creating light that could fend off the darkness and giving her a longer time to escape. 

When she turned her back, she saw Blaze'light and Bloom'moss flying above the clouds, creating a signal for the other patrol that Red'fang had ran. But the brown tom had saw the darkness increasing its power and feeding on land. He had to lower himself from Bloom'moss' view. His fur glowed, and a streak of fire left his paws to create a fiery barrier, keeping the darkness away from the cats. He knew there was a risk in creating fire, but there was no choice. 

Bloom'moss saw the fire and went headfirst to the land. She yelled. "Go and see your brother! I'll take care of the fire!" The tom became worried that the darkness will probably get to the StarClan cat. "I don't want to leave you!" He shouted. 

"JUST GO!" Bloom'moss's voice echoed as she descended from the skies. Blaze'light took a deep breath and headed on to the mountains, the smoke trailed his tail.