Warriors - Times of Anarchy (Book 1, The Flame)

Epilogue

"Stealing our food again, eh Molestar?" snapped the leader of Proudclan, Fangstar, as she pinned Molestar vertically against a rock. Cries of battle and pain echoed around them, but for now, all Molestar could hear was his rapid heartbeat as claws sank into his shoulders.

"If you want us to stop, give us more territory!" spat Molestar, slamming his hind paws against her chest and getting out of her grasp. Mad with rage, she flew back, landed on her four paw and leapt at him again, crushing him with her weight and biting down in his throat until all she could taste, smell, and hear was the crimson liquid spraying dangerously from his unconscious form.

"Molestar!" wailed Weasletooth spotting her dying leader. "You're nothing but a murderer Fangstar! You don't deserve your title!" yowled angrily the she-cat. The sounds of battle died down as Ruinsclan fled in retreat back to their territory. A small Ruinsclan apprentice hissed at Fangstar, who regarded him with a triumphant grin.

The apprentice helped Weasletooth carry Molestar who was just waking up, the wound on his throat having crusted with what seemed like magic. The truth was, he was on the balance of his before-last life. He was a young tom for a leader, yet he was already nearing the end, something that he feared greatly.

"-And don't come back, thieves!" cried Daintystep, the tall deputy of Proudclan. She flicked her tail with a black tip and glared at the remaining Ruinsclan cats lying on the ground injured or fleeing feebly whilst being aided by their peers. The mauled body of Ruinsclan's deputy lied in the center, inert, Snakefang's eyes glazed but wide in terror.

"Starclan won't forgive you for this slaughter!" growled Saltlake, limping rapidly away from the Proudclan cats like a kit running away helplessly from a fox.

"It's not because of Starclan that Proudclan always wins it's battles and keeps it's majestic title, it's because of me and my father," hissed Fangstar, talking about her father, Saberstar, founder of Proudclan and murdered in cold blood by his daughter and deputy Fangheart. Remembering old memories, she murmured to herself softly. "Yet he was a weak fool,..."

Daintystep raised an eyebrow, interested, but Fangstar said nothing else, watching the last Ruinsclan cats crawl away. She then turned around to her clan mates, screeching with triumph. They cheered back as she leapt up on a low brach of a nearby tree.

"Proudclan, today, you have yet again beaten your opponent! Let me tell you that I'm proud, proud of you, proud of me, proud of our clan who will never be beaten!" yowled Fangstar, rising up on her hind legs and swiping the air with her claws, as her clan replied with as much enthusiasm.

Molestar growled in the shadows of the forest's underbrush, looking left at Ravenskies, who held a dark glare towards Fangstar and all of the Proudclan cats. "Wait until they'll face us next time. They won't be so... prideful." snickered the leader, as murmurs amongst the hidden clanmates behind him started.