"There was never butterflies. Just fire."

~•~•~•~•~•~

Flamepetal had never been as apprehensive as she was now. Her legs trembled and she rumbled, making it almost look as if an earthquake was erupting beneath her paws. Her eyes were round and flashed with absolute terror the moment Dimstar led them straight into camp. Battles were the causes of many deaths -- of her brother's death.

A nervous lump formed in the she-cats throat as her group tore into EchoClan's camp. A battlecry erupted from the throat of Dimstar, signaling the beginning of the battle for freedom and vengeance. Flamepetal's paws thundered against the earth as she raced into the camp, her tail streaming behind her and her claws ready to lacerate her enemies any moment now.

Cats flung themselves straight in battle around her, colliding into the stunned followers of Archangel. Hissing and yowls of agony soon began to echo through the camp, making Flamepetal's head spin. Her ears folded against the back of her head when she spotted droplets of blood already fall to the ground and stain the snow.

Flamepetal feared the scarlet liquid, for it was a sight she never longed to see. It was the same substance that painted her brother's pelt the day he passed. The same liquid she had even drained from some of her victims, the metallic taste filling her mouth. It sent a chilling shiver down her spine, causing her fur to stand upright.

She cowered back into the shadows of the camp, her paws scuttling through the snow. She watched the horrific scenes of battle take place before her as cats were mercilessly slashed and pinned to the earth, struggling to free themselves and breath. Flamepetal didn't want to be one of those cats, but at the same time she couldn't have any of her Clanmates die. Not anymore.

Her gaze scanned camp, searching for a cat who was weak enough to attack. Finally, her gaze landed on Creekshadow, who was laying on the earth and struggling to move. The she-cat had one eye missing and her face was severely scarred. A perfect target to start off with.

Then Flamepetal came to a realization. She remembered entering the camp to see Creekshadow was already missing an eye and terribly scarred. Perhaps Creekshadow had tried to stand up to Archangel before the ambush and ended up suffering an agonizing punishment. She couldn't watch her just bleed to death -- she had to get her out of the center of the battle and to Slap.

Without taking a moment to process and develop a plan, Flamepetal rushed straight into the battle. She ducked away from the flying claws that reached towards her and kicked up snow behind her as she raced forward. She ducked and slid under the leaping forms of cats and even had to dodge away from multiple balls of fur that rolled across the earth. The battle was already doing terrible damage to both side. The results may be great in the end, but the cost would be terrible.

Flamepetal hastened her pace when she grew nearer to the struggling, weak Creekshadow. Her head turned though when she heard a hiss practically erupt in her ear and her eyes widened. An EchoClan loyalist known as Heirophant was leaping straight towards her, her paws outstretched and her jaws parted to reveal her massive, sharp fangs.

Before Heirophant could crash into Flamepetal though, a gray blur of fur slammed into Heirophant side and took her down to the ground. Flamepetal could make it out as Ashwhisper, a tom she had been close to for a long time and who helped her a lot. He pinned Heirophant to the ground, soon accompanied and helped by Angelpaw. Flamepetal shared a dip of her head with Ashwhisper before turning back to help Creekshadow.

When she glanced at Creekshadow though, she was no longer alone. A white she-cat had rushed to Creekshadow's side and struggled to help her to her paws. Flamepetal recognized the she-cat as Snowblaze, her father's old apprentice. She rushed over to the scene, pressing up again Creekshadow's other aside to assist in helping her to her paws.

"Thank you, Flamepetal," Snowblaze told Flamepetal, nodding to her. "Now, let's get Creekshadow to Slap right away."

Flamepetal nodded back to Snowblaze and snapped her attention back ahead. She could spot Slap's small form to the side of the camp, Breezestorm guarding the medicine cat. Slap had only brought a few herbs along, and hopefully they were enough to tend to Creekshadow.

Creekshadow was growing weaker as they advanced through the camp, her form now slumped against Flamepetal. The ginger she-cat grunted in slight disgust as Creekshadow's blood trickled onto her pelt but she continued padding towards Slap. Snowblaze and her's paces became matched as they hastened it, growing nearer to the medicine cat and his guard.

As soon as Breezestorm saw them, the tom rushed towards his step-sister and fellow warrior. "Creekshadow! My SpiritClan...," Breezestorm mumbled softly at the sight of what had been done to Creekshadow.

Flamepetal had expected Breezestorm to not care at all since Creekshadow was the daughter of Hollowstorm, the mangy furball that had murdered Breezestorm's furball. Breezestorm assisted Creekshadow back to Slap though, taking most of Creekshadow's weight onto him and giving Flamepetal and Snowblaze time to now relax and breath.

Flamepetal stood next to Snowblaze as she watched Breezestorm set Creekshadow down beside Slap. She spotted Slap flinch back before Breezestorm mumbled something to the tom and he nodded in recognition.

The new warrior released an exhale of relief. She was glad she managed to get Creekshadow out of the mess and save an innocent life. But she couldn't have done it without Snowblaze's help. Flamepetal turned her head to smile at the she-cat, but instead caught something out of the corner of her eyes.

A shadow was moving up quickly behind Snowblaze, ready to pounce at any moment. Flamepetal's eyes widened and she quickly leaped forward, tackling Snowblaze to shove them both out of the way. Snowblaze and her rolled through the snow until they came to a halt, Snowblaze clearly surprised by what Flamepetal had just done. She scrambled rapidly to her paws, jaws parting to ask what had happened but it was too late.

The enemy cat had turned back towards them and hissed in annoyance. Flamepetal growled lightly and took a step forward to embrace a battle with the orange colored tom, but she felt a nudge on her shoulder. The ginger she-cat turned to eye Snowblaze, who looked straight into her gaze.

"We should fight him, together," Snowblaze suggested, determination burning in her gaze.

Flamepetal blinked but a smirk eventually curled onto her face. She felt a knot of determination well inside of her as well, pushing her towards her goal. "Yeah, let's do that," She replied with a curt nod.

Both she-cats turned their attention back to the ginger tom, who stood snarling at them as he inched slowly closer. In the blink of an eye, both warriors took off in a sprint, Flamepetal advancing the tom's left side and Snowblaze advancing his right. The tom was dazed and his gaze flashed between the two, perplexed on which he should strike.

Before they could collide into him, both slammed their paws through the snow and into the earth. They skidded to a halt and turned away from the tom, who was bewildered and dazed as he lashed out a paw at the air. Flamepetal skidded to a halt at his left side while Snowblaze did at his right.

Flamepetal then leaped forward, landing squarely on the tom's shoulder. She locked her claws into his shoulder and then pummeled his side with her hind legs. She released her grip on his shoulder then and gave one last kick before leaping back. The tom fell to his side and slid through the snow, but halted in his tracks when he met Snowblaze.

The white she-cat leaped forward and pinned him down, one paw on his shoulder and the other on his head. Flamepetal smiled with satisfaction and began to pad over, ready to finish her enemy off. It's okay to kill now. It's okay. Because everyone of these followers of Archangel, deserve every bit of pain they receiv-

Flamepetal's thoughts were interrupted by an esrsplitting cry of pain echoing through the camp, and it wasn't one from their enemies. Her ears bolted straight up and her eyes grew wide at the cry that faded into a large gasp for air. The ginger she-cat whirled around to face a horrific sight.

The battleground was already tainted with blood, sinking into the snow that almost made the snow look like it was pure red instead of white. Tufts of fur lay out amongst the camp as well, showing that many cats were severely injured. The worst part of it all though was what lie in the center of camp.

Two of Archangel's loyalist, Spark and Wolf, stood proudly with a devious smirk plastered over their visages. In between them lie a body, painted over with blood and its eyes foggy and blank. A pool of blood formed around the lifeless body and every cat turned immediately, eyeing it with horror in their eyes. Archangel's loyalist took celebration though -- for this was the first kill of the battle that went to them.

The rebels lost an important cat. A lover, a fighter, and piece of the puzzle.

A part of the family.

~•~•~•~•~•~

A/N: Kind of a shorter chapter standing at 1600 words. Anyway,, nice cliffhanger Losty ;)