the great battle

~~~

"VIOLETPAW." Stormbird's expression was past concern now. It was a mix of complete disbelief, confusion, and even a little bit of fear. His words came out through his gritted teeth, hissed. "What was all that? How-?"

"I'm Violetdust," Violetpaw interrupted. The words had come out of her mouth before she could stop them, and from the way Stormbird's face fell, she was regretting not holding her tongue.

Would he call her a liar? Delusional?

But there was nothing she'd ever felt more  sure about in her entire life.

"You're Violetdust?" Stormbird coughed out a laugh, as though she told a joke - or, likely, he was hoping what she'd just said was a joke. "That's impossible."

"It's not," Violetpaw replied, remembering the stories Swanfrost had told her about ThunderClan's ancestors. There'd been a medicine cat who died and was reincarnated into her brother's kit. "It's happened before."

"But how-? Why-?" Stormbird took a step backwards, shaking his head. "Violetdust died. She's dead. She's in StarClan." His voice was tight with pain. "You're not Violetdust."

The white she-cat thought about this. From their lives, she and Violetdust were two different cats; but, Violetdust's spirit and memories were inside her now. 

Violetpaw opened her jaws to try and put those ideas into words so that Stormbird wouldn't think she was crazy, but before she could, a yowl came from the woods. Instantly, the two cats' heads whipped towards where the noise came from, and Violetpaw's stomach fell when she realized it was from SkyClan's border.

Then, if possible, her stomach dropped once more when she recognized who the yowl belonged to: Ravendust.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she was in the woods, bounding over to the border as fast as her paws could carry her, Stormbird running right alongside her.

When they got to the border, it was a mess.

SkyClan and ThunderClan cats were there, fighting each other ferociously. Everyone's pelts blended together in a mesh of claws and teeth, and somewhere, behind his cats, stood Crowstar.

Violetpaw hadn't seen SkyClan's leader in many moons, but now that Ashbird's appearance was imprinted in her mind, she realized the similarity between Crowstar and his daughter was striking. Their amber eyes both seemed to gleam when showing emotion, and now Crowstar's, watching the battle intently, was filled with anger.

A father's love for his kit was not to be doubted.

Just then, two cats sprang apart nearby Violetpaw and Stormbird: Sunbounce and Ferndust. The two were glaring at each other with pure hatred, and as they went back at it, Stormbird jumped in to help Sunbounce.

Violetpaw looked back and forth wildly as the battles waged on around her, trying to pinpoint a Clanmate that she could help. But suddenly, she heard a voice through the noises of fight, the same sing-song voice that'd taunted her at the beach.

"The Ghost Assassin dwells in ThunderClan."

This time around, Violetpaw recognized the voice.

"Oh, no," she whispered, her blood running cold. "But how could this be?"

A cat from the past seeks revenge, their fallen future they want to avenge...

Violetpaw shook her head and took a step backwards, muscles tight. What would Sunbounce say? Russetfrost, Blossomsky? She could hardly believe it herself.

But it was inevitable. The voice that had spoken to Crowstar all these moons, encouraging him to hate ThunderClan, the voice that perhaps controlled the Ghost Assassin - it belonged to Honeykit.

The white she-cat wasn't given a single second to process this. Suddenly, a heavy weight dove into her, and Violetpaw was knocked onto her side. As soon as she regained her bearings, Sorrelpaw's eyes were gleaming into hers.

"Hello, Violetpaw," Sorrelpaw spat. "So we meet again."

Violetpaw didn't dignify this with a response. Instead, she bunched up her hind legs and kicked hard, satisfaction roaring through her as she heard Sorrelpaw's yowl of pain. As soon as the ginger she-cat was off her, Violetpaw jumped up, lashing her tail. 

"What are you doing on our territory, Sorrelpaw?"

Despite her injury, Sorrelpaw still glared back at Violetpaw with the same amount of ferocity. "Only rightfully taking our revenge," she hissed. "Crowstar was promised by StarClan that in this week, Ashbird's murderer will be found and punished."

"Like this?" Violetpaw demanded, gesturing to the fighting that was going on around them. "How are you going to find the Ghost Assassin like this?"

Sorrelpaw shrugged. "ThunderClan will surrender and give the assassin up."

Fed up and properly annoyed, Violetpaw snarled, "We don't know who it is," before ramming back into Sorrelpaw. She gave the SkyClan apprentice a blow to the flank, before hissing, "So stay off our land!"

"Mousedung," Sorrelpaw replied, twisting to scratch at Violetpaw.

The two apprentices fell into a ball of fur, claws, and teeth, rolling around as they tried to harm the other however they could. Violetpaw felt her white fur stain with gushes of sticky, wet blood; probably both hers and Sorrelpaw's.

When they finally sprang apart, Violetpaw noticed that they'd ended up on SkyClan's side of the border. Crowstar was there, only a few steps away from her, watching the fight play out with gritted teeth. Oakbounce was battling Ravendust, and when he threw the ThunderClan warrior off him, he turned to his apprentice.

"Sorrelpaw," he called, his sharp green eyes flitting over to Violetpaw. "You okay?"

His eyes. Why did they look so familiar?

"Just about to finish off this ThunderClan apprentice," Sorrelpaw mewed simply, flicking her torn ear.

Ravendust leapt to his paws, looking over to Violetpaw, his eyes scanning over her body. The white she-cat was certain her appearance was a mess; her pelt was probably all bloody, tufts of fur missing, dirt and twigs matted on her fur. However, she managed to give Ravendust a weary smile, hoping to signal that she was okay.

Still, the black tom stepped beside her, glaring over at Sorrelpaw. "Finish her off? You don't look like you're doing too well yourself."

As Sorrelpaw's eyes zeroed in on Ravendust, she scoffed. "I remember you. Are you always around her? What are you, her sidekick?"

Ravendust's broad shoulders lifted up then down in a shrug. "I prefer to think of her as my sidekick, considering I'm the warrior and-"

"Ravendust," Violetpaw interrupted, "not now."

From the corner of her eye, she can see ThunderClan reinforcements rushing to the border, led by Lilystar, recognizing Frostsky and Sweetpaw among them. As she saw Sweetpaw's sharp green eyes glitter with determination, she was suddenly struck with why Oakbounce's gaze looked so familiar to her. His eyes looked like Sweetpaw's.

And, for the second time that day, Violetpaw's blood turned to ice. Why does Oakbounce's eyes look like Sweetpaw's?

"Enough talking." Sorrelpaw's snarl brought Violetpaw back into focus. "Let's finish this."

She darted forward, quick as a flash towards Violetpaw, but Ravendust was faster. With a mighty swing, he knocked the SkyClan apprentice away, and she hit the ground with a hard thump. Then, with a furious roar, Oakbounce jumped onto the black tom, and the two fell into a mess of claws.

When they stopped rolling, Oakbounce was on top of Ravendust with a murderous stare. As he raised a paw, claws unsheathed, Violetpaw's eyes widened with panic. "Ravendust!"

She darted forward, and with a great jump, aimed for Oakbounce's back. However, before she could make contact, sharp teeth grabbed her tail and yanked her backwards, pulling Violetpaw aggressively to the ground.

Snowbird.

SkyClan's infamous deputy was cackling something into Violetpaw's ear, but the white she-cat wasn't even paying attention. Her focus was fixed onto Ravendust, relief seeping through her as the black tom dodged Oakbounce's claws by no more than a mouse's tail, wiggling free a paw to send a blow to his opponent's muzzle.

It was only once Ravendust had shaken Oakbounce off of him that Violetpaw managed to turn her attention back to Snowbird. And then quickly realized that she was in a bit of trouble.

Snowbird's muzzle was scarily close to Violetpaw's. She had pinned the white she-cat down, and her pale blue eyes glowing with a bit of craziness. "You were the liar," she hissed softly. "You got me in trouble with Crowstar. And now, you must die."

Violetpaw yelped, wiggling around, but she was exhausted, injured, and the SkyClan deputy's grip on her was tight. She watched as Snowbird lifted her claws, wincing and shutting her eyes in defeat.

Hopefully it won't hurt.

It hurt.