Blood on a moonless night had a special tint to it, not red or scarlet but something darker. It wasn't quite maroon, either. It was like crushed deathberries, in essence. The blood of Silentstar mingled with the blood of others, and Phoenixwing, whirling around, saw that the battle still raged on.
"Phoenixwing!" Ripplefoot cried. A warrior darted towards him, but Mistfeather jumped out.
"Leafstorm! Stop!" She told the cat, who glared at her.
"You were attacked," he noted.
"No I wasn't! Ripplefoot is my mate!"
"Then..." He dipped his head, glancing at her swollen stomach with longing. "I will defend you both."
Phoenixwing, through icy snow tinted with the crushed-deathberry blood, let loose on the lonely clearing.
She fought with Clawpelt for a bit, helping him and Scarletheart defend themselves, and when it was clear they would be okay she joined in with Sandclaw, darting in and out of the forest. Next, her pelt brushed up against Rivertail's as side by side they fought, terrified but powerful as the wind and the constant snow.
The dawn sun cracked over the horizon, and bloody paws left the moat to return to shore. The water around the camp was now nothing more than a river of red and dead bodies, some drowned in their own clanmates' blood.
Phoenixwing, with the rest of the clan, trod slowly around the hollow, looking for those she loved in the heap of bodies.
Most of them were cats she didn't know, but a few were eerily familiar, their faces frozen in shock and pain. Scarletheart, the ruby warrior who had just earned her name, was dead, Clawpelt defending her until the end. At least seven warriors surrounded them, the deputy had not gone down without a fight.
Ivywhisker, too, was dead- his blood-washed coat was dragged out of the river by Moonstar, who's bleak dead eyes said everything. One life left. She, too, had paid a heavy price for this battle.
Luckily, it had only been the three... but why? How? Only three casualties in such a big battle? It was impossible. It was unthinkable. It was relieving beyond compare.
But they had lost more than three.
The other clan...
Phoenixwing saw a gray, limp shape, and immediately her heart stopped, dropping to the pit of her stomach.
She turned the warrior over, and it was... Jayclaw. Even though it wasn't Rivertail, she still buried her face into his pelt like she had done when she was a kit. She could've killed him. Anyone could've. Who knew?
"The remaining rogues have fled into the forest, Moonstar." reported Bluewing.
Moonstar nodded curtly.
Ripplefoot was curled around Mistfeather, and the tom who had helped save them both was standing at the door, his breaths coming out uneven. "GET AWAY!" he screeched, his already unsheathed claws covered in splattered blood.
"You protected a queen carrying kits. I believe that we can let you into DragonClan for that, if you want." Moonstar told him.
The tom nodded. "Leafstorm."
"What?"
"That's my name. Leafstorm. I, too, have a mate... or at least someone I love."
Longclaw sat in the back of the cave.
"As Silentstar went insane, I took care of his abandoned mate. I know that you have crimes against him, but if you'd please let her in... if only for her kits!"
"Kits?!" said multiple DragonClan warriors, shocked.
Leafstorm nodded.
Two young kits squirmed for milk at their mother's stomach. "I was wrong... Please, I can die here, but Wolfkit and Heartkit deserve to come home..."
Moonstar helped the weary queen get to her feet, and Rivertail and Phoenixwing stepped forwards to get the kits. "Let's go home." she told the cats.
The clearing was soaked in deathberry-juice colored snow, and it seemed, that without cats to watch it, it would stay that way forever.
