Lilypetal's POV

Immediately after Blackstar's words, his ShadowClan warriors leaped at us, and the battle had begun.

There wasn't time for me to be scared at all. The adrenaline was rushing through me, and I knew I had to jump into the battle and fight for my Clan, no matter how worried I was that my battle moves may be rusty, or my strength might not be up to par.

At least I knew I was far beyond my days of actually fainting after a battle, like I had shamefully done in the eclipse battle many moons ago.

Some cats in ThunderClan still hadn't let me live that down, unfortunately.

Like I said, now was not the time to let things like that get to me. I pursued the first cat I saw that had a ShadowClan scent. After giving them a single swipe across the muzzle, I then proceeded to pin them down.

I then met the green eyes of who I knew to be Tawnypelt; Brambleclaw's sister who had left ThunderClan seasons ago to be with her father. She had gone on the sun-drown place journey and was known to be one of ShadowClan's toughest fighters and most dedicated warriors.

I certainly didn't let that get to me, though. I sunk one of my claws into the tortoiseshell she-cat's shoulder, and used my other paw to give her a few rakes to the belly. Before Tawnypelt could even attempt to kick me off of her, I confused her a little bit by rolling to my side, making sure I picked myself up immediately.

I tried to swipe at Tawnypelt again, but she ducked her head down and then leaped into my flank. I fell over with her push, and she was able to rake her claws deeply into my flank. I couldn't suppress a yowl of pain, and for a moment I felt helpless to fight back.

Then, suddenly, I watched as another cat jumped into my sight and managed to bowl over Tawnypelt, and I felt her claws disappear and become detached from my side. I lifted my head up to see that Swiftpaw had saved me from a potentially serious injury. He had Tawnypelt pinned down once again and was raking at her side. Although she was down on the ground, I could tell that it wouldn't be for long.

Swiftpaw can't fight Tawnypelt all by himself! I realized before running up to help him.

Side by side, Swiftpaw and I swiped at Tawnypelt several times, our movements matching more and more with each swipe.

Eventually, as Tawnypelt was weakening, she let out a long hiss, turned around and then limped away. Swiftpaw and I exchanged a triumphant glance before he almost immediately leaped back into the battle.

I shook my head slowly in amazement. You'd think Swiftpaw had been fighting in battles for seasons! I thought. He's going to be one of ThunderClan's fiercest fighters, I can see it now.

As I was about to run back into the battle, I paused as realized how deeply past the border, the border we were fighting over, that ThunderClan was. The battle was practically happening in ThunderClan territory.

This is the opposite of what is supposed to happen!

I moved my head quickly around the clearing, seeing if there was any chance that ThunderClan had already begun to make any advances, and to my luck, I noticed Brambleclaw talking to Thornclaw and Brackenfur a little ways from the fighting.

Desperate to see if a solution was being created, I ran as quickly as I could over to them, making sure no ShadowClan cat's claws met my fur in the meantime.

Once I arrived over to them, Brambleclaw had disappeared, and Brackenfur and Thornclaw were speaking to Toadstep, Foxleap, Swiftpaw, Ivypaw and Dovepaw.

"Brambleclaw wants us to try something different," Brackenfur was meowing when I arrived.

"What is it?" I asked the golden tom, unsheathing my claws and digging them into the hard earth.

Thornclaw kept his gaze on the fighting cats as he spoke. "ShadowClan keeps regrouping. They're pushing us back across the field."

Toadstep, looking frustrated, muttered through his teeth, "It's impossible to get a good grip on this grass."

"Brambleclaw wants us to outflank them," Brackenfur meowed sharply.

That might be a good idea... I thought.

"How?" Ivypaw asked, her blue eyes wide.

Thornclaw finally turned his gaze back to the ThunderClan cats who had been gathered. "I'm going to lead a separate patrol," he responded, "and try to draw ShadowClan away from the clearing, back into their own territory."

My heart seemed to well up with pride as Thornclaw spoke. That's my awesome mate, I thought to myself proudly. I shook it off immediately though, knowing quite well that we needed to go through with Brambleclaw's plan as soon as possible.

Brackenfur picked up on his brother's words. "We stand a better chance in the woods. There are brambles and trees," he pointed out. "The ground will feel more familiar. And we can try out our new tree tactics."

"But won't ShadowClan just fight harder if we invade their territory?" Swiftpaw asked, his eyes filled with determination.

Heh, it's almost like he wants ShadowClan to fight harder.

Brackenfur's amber gaze darkened. "That's a risk we'll have to take," he murmured. "We'll never beat them out here in the open."

"I agree," I mewed. "What we're doing now isn't working. I think our only option now is to take a risk."

As I had been speaking, Toadstep arrived back to our separate patrol with Rosepetal, Sorreltail and Lionblaze following behind him. Thornclaw nodded to the four of them and then turned to the rest of us. "Let's go," he hissed, then proceeding to walk side by side with Brackenfur towards ShadowClan territory. I warily followed them, paranoid that we were going to be penalized for doing so within heartbeats, and that we wouldn't be able to even go through with the plan.

But luckily, we made it past the border without any attacks but did hear some very clear yowls of protest. Just as I was beginning to think the plan was going to fail already, I suddenly noticed Thornclaw passing on a message to each cat on the patrol.

When he got to me, he hissed into my ear, "The patrol is going to climb up these trees and attack from above, while Lionblaze and I will stay down here."

"I gotcha," I whispered back. But, before I leapt up the nearest tree, I paused and turned back to Thornclaw, tapping his shoulder with my tail to catch his attention. When his gaze met mine, I whispered as quickly as I could, "Please be careful. I am not losing you again."

Thornclaw's gaze softened. "I will," he whispered back. "You be careful too. Please."

I nodded quickly, and then lashed my tail in order to gesture towards the battle ahead. "Now go," I muttered before beginning to climb up the tree I had chosen.

Soon after I had taken my spot quite a few branches up, I saw Blackstar burst from the battle to stand in front of where Thornclaw and Lionblaze were standing.

"Can't you even respect the border you just made?" He hissed as he swiped his head around quickly.

"Where are the rest of you?" He demanded. I felt a nervous pang in my stomach as I saw his warriors quickly gather behind him, all of them bristling with aggression.

Then, to my surprise, I watched as Lionblaze's gaze went up to our patrol hiding up in the trees. Blackstar's gaze followed, and as his eyes widened, Thornclaw gave the signal to attack.

"Now!"

Not being able to hesitate, as much as I wanted to, I leaped out of the tree. The first ShadowClan cat that I saw was Owlclaw. As I landed, I was able to bowl him over. Unfortunately, immediately after, Dovepaw landed from her tree and knocked me over.

Foxdung! I cursed to myself. Be careful!

Luckily, the both of us were able to get ourselves together and get up immediately. We exchanged a quick glance and then we both leaped at Owlclaw. Dovepaw nipped at his leg while I raked at his flank. Eventually, Rosepetal pitched in to help us, and in no time, Owlclaw was running away as fast as he could, hissing in pain.

We're really getting into the battle now! I thought excitedly. After that, I managed to chase away a couple more ShadowClan warriors.

For a moment, I was actually able to scan the clearing, and it began to look as if the battle was calming down. In the distance, I could see Dusty and Pippy almost at the heart of the battle. I was overwhelmed with pride once again as I saw how skillfully they were fighting the ShadowClan warriors. They're going to be warriors any day now, I realized. I then noticed my daughter, Goldenshine slashing at a ShadowClan warrior at Dusty's side. I couldn't suppress a small smile as I saw the two of them. They do really well together.

But, my satisfaction immediately went away as I saw that tail lengths away, Firestar was battling one-on-one with Russetfur. Firestar let out a yowl full of pain as Russetfur bit at his throat. I could see the ginger tom trying to fight back, but it clearly wasn't doing him any good.

No! I thought anxiously, about ready to throw myself back into the battle to save my leader. Russetfur is going to kill him!

My heart nearly seemed to stop as Firestar then went completely limp. But, as quickly as anything I had ever seen in my life, I saw Lionblaze then leap at Russetfur. He hauled her off of the ThunderClan leader, and as Lionblaze fell off to the side, Russetfur fell back on him, seemingly lifeless.

I was baffled. Lionblaze barely touched her! I was even more confused as I then heard a ShadowClan cat yowl, "You killed Russetfur!"

I looked over to Lionblaze to see him looking as shocked as I was. "I d-didn't do anything!"

Before Lionblaze could defend himself anymore, I saw Blackstar practically throw himself on Russetfur, calling her name over and over. As he shook her with his big black paws, Russetfur didn't stir at all.

Lionblaze did kill her! I realized, my mouth dropping. How in the name of StarClan...?

"Enough!" I heard Thornclaw hiss from behind me, interrupting my bewildered thoughts. I whipped around to see him shaking Ratscar off of his back and practically tossing him to the side. "The battle is won. The clearing is ours. Do you concede or shall we fight for it again?"

My stomach twisted with apprehension as I turned my head towards Blackstar, whose eyes were practically burning with hatred.

"Take it," the black and white tom hissed. "It was never worth the blood that has been spilled here today."

As I looked around the clearing, I realized that Blackstar's words could not have been more true.

My heart sank as I saw ShadowClan cats beginning to gather around Russetfur's dead body. As if that wasn't enough, I then heard Sorreltail's dismayed yowl come from behind me.

"Firestar!"

I felt my heard drop as I could sense the fear in the tortoiseshell she-cat's voice. I whipped around once again to see cats beginning to gather around the ThunderClan leader.

He wasn't moving at all.

No!

"What's wrong?" Sandstorm meowed worriedly as she appeared into my view.

"He's losing a life," Sorreltail answered, lowering her head.

I lowered my head as well as I thought to myself, my mind spiraling as it had many times in the past moons. Was this battle a complete mistake? We've lost a Clan deputy, and one of the lives of our ThunderClan leaders.

I found myself getting increasingly more anxious and angry. What if Ivypaw was wrong? What if this wasn't supposed to happen? What if we should have left ShadowClan alone?

But we would never know if she was.

We would never know if this was meant to be.

And, we hadn't left ShadowClan alone.

Instead, we had leaped into a battle based on an apprentice's dream.

The battle was definitely over, and ThunderClan had won, but it felt as if nothing had been resolved.