Conflagration [A Warrior Cats AU]

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Bluestar stood in front of Thistlestar, staring at his surprised face. "You were dead!" He yowled.

The leader's ear flicked. "You didn't take all of my lives," she hissed. "And it's time to finally end this."

"But Sweetpaw told me-" Thistlestar started to meow, but Bluestar cut him off.

"Sweetpaw lied so that the Clans wouldn't be destroyed," Bluestar snarled. "This is the end, Thistlestar."

Thistlestar snickered. "You're going to take all nine of my lives, are you?" He sneered.

Bluestar's eyes narrowed. "If you almost did, I definitely can."

For a second, a flash of worry appeared in Thistlestar's amber eyes, and he looked... scared? The look of fear was swiftly replaced by rage. "Not if I kill you first! You must not have many lives left, so I can easily kill you!" He yowled.

Bluestar ducked as Thistlestar leapt for her, biting onto his tail as he passed. With a screech, Thistlestar swerved around and scratched her muzzle. Bluestar hissed and leapt at him, not planning to jump on him. As she jumped over the tom she watched his confused expression as he watched her. She nipped at a hind leg and instead of driving him away from her, he snarled and turned around. Bluestar tasted blood from the scratch on her muzzle. The salty tang made her ready to fight once more, except the blood spilled this time would be Thistlestar's.

The leader leapt at Bluestar and tackled her. The two rolled around hissing and spitting in each other's faces. Bluestar managed to pin Thistlestar to the ground, biting into his shoulder as hard as she could. Thistlestar yowled and scratched at her belly with his hind legs, making her get off and roll away. She hissed at him, slashing at his cheek and spilling blood. Thistlestar snarled and leapt at her, pinning her down and biting her ear, beginning to pull at it. With a screech, she pushed him off and pinned him down, biting at his ear instead and pulling a chunk off, making a nick in it.

With a yowl of rage, Thistlestar pushed her off and snarled at her, looking insane. Blood trickled from his ear down his head and into his mouth. He twitched and then jumped at her. She was ready and the two grappled before Bluestar let go and jumped back. Thistlestar reared up onto his hind paws and slammed down on her head, making her dizzy. She almost fell into unconsciousness but managed to stay awake, leaping back to her paws. The two enemies stared at each other, neither making a move. Mistyfoot tried to step in, but Whiteclaw stopped her. "This is their fight," he meowed gravely, looking uneasy at the likelihood of Bluestar winning this fight. 

But Bluestar was determined to prove him wrong, springing at the evil ThunderClan leader with strong hind legs. Thistlestar leapt out of the way but Bluestar was ready, jumping onto his back and clawing at it, taking out fur and making scratches on the tom's spine. With a roar, Thistlestar reared up, causing Bluestar to fall off of him and to fall with a thump on the ground. Thistlestar raised a paw to deal the killing blow to the blue-grey she-cat. Bluestar's eyes widened and at the last moment, she moved out of the way, the tom making a nasty scratch on her back. She stumbled to her paws, staggering for a second before glaring at Thistlestar. "Any second now..." she whispered.

Thistlestar lifted his chin and flicked his tail. "It seems you lost," she meowed. "As expected, of course."

Fireblaze, Whitestorm and another cat began to circle around Bluestar as she struggled to stay on her paws. She looked at the third cat, vision hazy. "Spottedleaf?" She hissed.

Spottedleaf's eyes narrowed. "Bluestar," she replied. "Such a shame Crookedjaw had to die, hm?"

Bluestar stared at her in fear. "W-what?"

Spottedleaf's tail twitched. "No hard feelings, right? Just an order from Thistlestar," she meowed calmly.

"I-I don't-" Bluestar stammered.

Spottedleaf gave Bluestar a cold grin. "It's been so fun, living a sort of double life. A trained warrior and a medicine cat. Thistlestar ordered me to lead a patrol to sunningrocks to kill you when we scented you there. I thought maybe I'd put you out of your misery, but it was a lot more fun watching your expression when Crookedjaw died. But, uh... you becoming deputy was not part of the plan," she meowed with a guilty glance at Thistlestar.

Bluestar looked up, terrified, at the medicine cat. "W-Why?"

Spottedleaf shrugged. "You know how it is. A cat saves your life, and you feel you owe 'em something. I almost died and Thistlestar took it upon himself to train me to fight as well if I fought on his side. I've enjoyed not doing much, just watching and getting involved if specifically ordered to," she continued, her speech ending in a purr. "But now, of course, I've been ordered to kill you. We could do this the easy way, or the hard way. Pick your poison: my claws in your throat, or literal poison."

Bluestar flattened herself to the ground and let a glimmer of defiance creep into her eyes. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed.

"I would definitely dare to kill a traitor!" Spottedleaf yowled. Cats from ThunderClan looked at the weak leader pitifully and angrily. Bluestar heard cats muttering about the traitorous things she did. In the crowd, she saw Oakheart, who looked petrified and rooted to the spot. Rain got in her eyes and made her close them tight. "You wouldn't... dare..." she repeated weakly, knowing that the she-cat definitely would dare. But...

Bluestar dipped her head. "I'll die the death of a warrior- to another cat, not to poison. Kill me, Spottedleaf."

Spottedleaf's eyes widened. She clearly didn't expect this to be so easy. She shrugged and placed a paw on Bluestar's throat. The other she raised, ready to deal the killing blow. Bluestar closed her eyes tight. Any second now, please... she thought as she waited for Spottedleaf.

Her prayers were answered and Spottedleaf never spilled her blood. Shakily, she got to her paws as Spottedleaf took a step back and stared somewhere behind Bluestar. She turned, her eyes lighting up.

The StarClan cats had appeared.