Omen of the Sun Book Three: Dusk

Chapter Forty-Six

Sunpool

To end the battle, Sunpool knew, she had to kill Applestar.

Well, it didn't have to be her. It could be anyone. As long as Applestar died, then everything would be great.

She stayed back for a little bit, aiming to be a line of defense for if any cat managed to make it through the line. Applestar had disappeared, and Sunpool wondered what the most logical idea of where she had gone to was. It made sense that she'd try and come for her, because she hated Sunpool, but it could be that she was in the fray somewhere, attacking Cinderstorm or Lightningfeather. Or any other member of the group. Or maybe she'd gone around and slipped by and was somehow attacking the camp.

Sunpool didn't know, but she snapped out of her thoughts as a cat pushed through the line.

She knew exactly who it was, which made going to fight him off worse: it was Amberclaw. Nevertheless, he was looking at her with malice in his eyes, and she pushed aside her lingering loyalties as she ran to meet him. They were strangers now.

He was bleeding from a dozen cuts and scratces across his back and shoulders, but he was still running as hard and fast as if he hadn't been hurt. She didn't think; she just leaped at him.

He let out a yowl as she sunk her claws into his shoulders and started shredding at the fur, pulling out tufts with every swipe of her claws. She stuck her tail out for balance, and Amberclaw bucked beneath her trying to throw her off. She held on tight, her claws finding skin.

What do I do? She asked herself frantically, trying desperately to remember moves. Then, she remembered a sequence she'd thought of a couple of nights ago when she had been trying to fall asleep. If she could just get under Amberclaw-

Moving fast, she released her hold on Amberclaw and let herself roll off onto the ground. Scooting her body to the right, she squired under his stomach and extended her claws, scratching with unsheathed claws at his belly. Then, before he could drop back down, she rolled out again and reared onto her hind paws.

The basis for this move had been taught to her in CloudClan, so Amberclaw knew roughly what would happen next, and reared up to meet her. Paws flashing, they swiped through the air at each other. Sunpool slashed at his ears, but when her guard was down, he went for her muzzle, drawing beads of blood with the swipes of his paws. She snarled in pain, and linked her paws together, one on top of the other, then brought them crashing down on Amberclaw's head. He blinked, dizzy, and she took the opportunity to lunge forward and knock him down onto his back.

With her paws flying, Sunpool placed blows across Amberclaw's chest, not going deep enough to kill, but deep enough to scar. Amberclaw screeched, and swiped out bindly with his forepaw, desperately trying to make a connection with Sunpool. Sunpool jerked back to avoid a claw to the eyes. This needs to end, now.

Smoothly, she pressed a claw to his throat, just deep enough to draw blood form his tender neck skin. He snarled, but there was a light in her eyes telling her he was terrified.

"Go home." She pressed harder, then raise her claw. Amberclaw rolled, and for a second, her stomach jolted in fear. But all he did was turn and run.

Sunpool collected her break for a moment, and assessed her injuries. She was missing clumps of fur, and had cuts decorating her flanks and muzzle, but aside from that, she was fine. She turned around, and saw twin pelts of bright ginger streaking through the woods.

"Hey!" She shouted, breaking into a dash, and following them. She didn't recognize the cats, so she decided they had to be from FlowerClan. They were moving fast, but a rush of adrenaline kicked in, and she found herself catching up rapidly. They were almost next to each other and moving like twin blurs. Were they littermates? Maybe. She deduced from the way they were running that they were very close; if she attacked one, it was a guarantee that the other would turn. It would be two-on-one, but she was foolish enough to believe she could take it.

So she leapt forward, claws sliding out, and hooked them, none too gently, into the cat on the right's pelt. The cat screeched, and Sunpool hooked her other set of fore-claws into the cat's fur. Grappling, they went down to the ground. Sunpool whipped out moves as fast as she could, and for a brief moment when the cat's partner wasn't there, she was okay.

Then the other cat descended upon her, and she was fighting two cats, circling to keep them in view. They were beating her: one went for her ears, and as she moved to defend herself, the other moved in and knocked her off her paws. Her chin hit the ground, and she rolled onto her stomach, which just gave the cats a chance to move in on her. One went for her belly, and the other, her claws dripping and pelt smeared with Sunpool's blood, went for her neck.

Sunpool screeched as the cat's claws tore into her delicate stomach tissue. Her hind paws came up, and she dug them into her attacker's stomach, heaving, doing anything she could to shove the cat off. But it wasn't doing anything.

Cliché-ly, she thought, is this the end?

Mouse dung if it is! Applestar's still alive!

Then someone pulled her attackers off of her, springing into a flurry of attacks that beat them back, saving her. She got up and hissed in pain when she sunk back down to the ground. Her stomach was bleeding too badly for her to do much more than watch. The cat who saved her somehow managed to fight off the other cats. They ran off into the woods, away from the camp.

"T-thank you," Sunpool stammered. Blood trickled from the wound in her stomach, and she hissed in pain. Her vision was going black.

"Let me help you," the cat, who she realized was Storm, said. "Lean on me."

Sunpool leaned on her, and they started to go back to the camp.

End point, I guess?

#bringbackthelightning

Byeeeeeeeeee

~Rainfeather

(Also this took forever to write and idk why lol)