Hero stared up at his friend in shock; surely this was some sort of joke. "B-Bling?" he choked out, desperately hoping that his friend would laugh and deny it.

Instead, he smiled. "That's right, Timekeeper." Hero bared his teeth in a snarl. He thought he could trust that traitor!

"And what," Hero spat, "addled your brains enough to make you join in the Factions' war?"

Bling glanced to the side, shifting on his paws. "The battle is not going well for your cats, Timekeeper. How wonderful it will be to finally see you defeated." Hero blinked in confusion and anger. Bling was supposed to be his friend! Why was he suddenly wishing for Hero's death? And why didn't he answer Hero's question?

"Why do you want me dead?" Hero hissed angrily, whilst assessing the battle out of the corner of his eye. Bling hadn't been lying; the battle really wasn't going well for the Clan and Faction duo.

"Oh, Timekeeper, you're so naive," Bling said patronizingly. "I simply realized the truth." Once again, Bling glanced to the side nervously, appearing to be awaiting something. Hero inspected the same spot, but he saw nothing of interest.

"What truth?" Hero asked, trying to keep Bling talking so that he could come up with a plan.

"Oh, look," Bling purred teasingly, seeming to notice something behind Hero. "The life of the party's just arrived."

Hero turned to see a group of North Faction cats leap out of hiding and fall viciously upon the unprepared Clan cats, taking them by surprise and easily gaining the upper hand. As Hero turned back to Bling, the traitorous cat once again glanced to his side. Copying his motion, Hero saw the tip of a dark tabby tail disappear into the gap between two buildings. Before Hero had time to ponder this, Bling and one other Faction cat leaped upon Hero and pinned him to the ground, making him pay for his momentary distraction.

Hero pushed up with his hind legs, trying to use his front paws to execute the familiar belly rake, but his claws slid harmlessly off of Bling's armored stomach and Hero bit back a curse. The second Faction cat lunged for Hero's throat, but he was stopped by Annelyse, who knocked the Faction cat into Bling with a sharp head butt.

Bling lost his footing, allowing Hero to slip out from under his grasp, giving Annelyse a grateful look. Before the other Faction cat could get back to his paws, Annelyse had him pinned and tore his throat out mercilessly, with much more skill than Bling's clumsy attempt to take Hero's life.

Bling launched himself at Hero once more, and he and Annelyse fought side-by-side, alternating attacking and defending. Bling feinted to Hero's left and Hero dodged right, realizing his mistake too late as he stumbled in his haste to correct himself and lost his balance. Bling lunged in for the kill, and his jaws closed with a resounding snap!.

Annelyse fell limp and blinked in confusion, seeming to look down at the blood issuing from her throat in slow motion. She collapsed to the ground, landing in a pool of her own blood.

"Tell..." she choked out, "Kilter... I love him." Hero nodded mutely, in shock as her body went still. Annelyse had saved him. It felt to Hero as though the battle was over. Why weren't both sides ceasing their fighting in order to honor the brave cat that lay before him? But the battle wasn't over, Hero realized. There was still one piece of unfinished business.

"Bling."

Hero launched himself at his old friend, anger burning like the Fire Plains in his veins. Annelyse was dead, and an image of her dying expression seemed to be branded into Hero's vision, making the scene before him seem almost ethereal. He bowled Bling over, biting and clawing indifferently, not caring where he was striking, knowing only the need to avenge the dead cat whom he had known for a short while.

Hero's claw caught on the edge of Bling's armor, tearing it off in his deadly frenzy. His claws struck flesh and he finally came to his senses as Bling went limp beneath him. He stumbled a few pawsteps away, fighting the urge to retch. He had just killed his best friend. His best friend had just tried to kill him.

The world spun as Hero turned desperately towards the battle, hoping for good news, but there was none to be found. The Clan cats were losing badly, outnumbered by the Faction cats two-to-one. Foxspring was single-pawedly fending off three Faction cats, when a lesser cat would have died fighting one. Behind him, Roach was holding and injured paw off the ground, swiping at the attackers whenever she saw an opening.

One of the Faction cats lunged for Roach, seeing her weakness, and Foxspring intercepted them, slamming his shoulder into the cat's chest. Foxspring's shoulder was pushed out of its socket from the force of the blow, and Hero could almost hear the sickening pop! of the bone leaving its position.

The Faction cat went for Foxspring's weak side, raking his claws along Foxspring's flank, causing the warrior to yowl in pain. Still, he persevered, swiping at his attacker with his good paw and trying to bite his sides, but the fight was hopeless. The Faction cat knocked Foxspring off his paws, and, confident that he was defeated, stepped over him and towards Roach, who cowered back.

As the Faction cat knocked Roach onto her side and prepared for the killing blow, Foxspring got to his paws and shoved himself between the cat and Roach, falling limp as the Faction cat's sharp armor and teeth tore down Foxspring's flank. Roach would have become his next victim, had not Estelle and a group of Haven cats come to the rescue.

They joined the fight, helping to even the numbers and send the Faction cats fleeing. Hero's attention was still, however, on Foxspring and Roach. Roach was crouched over Foxspring's body, licking his wounds desperately.

"Foxspring, don't die! Please! Your Clan needs you! The Faction needs you!" Roach hesitated, sniffling. "I need you!"

Foxspring groaned opened his eyes. "You... Need me?" he got out.

"I need you and I love you I don't want you to die!"

Foxspring sighed resignedly, as if at peace with his fate. "StarClan are ready to take me, Roach. There's nothing you can do for me now." He hesitated, his breath coming in short bursts. "Except... Will you give me one last bit of happiness before I must leave forever... And agree to be my mate?"

Roach's breath caught as she sobbed. "Yes! Yes, Foxspring, I'll be your mate and I'll never forget you!" She buried her face in Foxspring's cheek, ignoring the stain of blood.

"Happy..." Foxspring muttered. "That makes me..." With a sigh, his body went limp and his eyes turned glassy. Hero blinked back tears and felt a lump in his throat. First Annelyse, then Bling, and now Foxspring? How much more loss would he have to face?

"Annelyse!" Hero turned to see Kilter staring down at his dead mate, aghast. With dread, Hero approached.

"She died defending me against Bling. She- she told me, before she died, to tell you that she loves you." Kilter blinked back tears.

"She was brave... She wouldn't hesitate to save another cat. She would have liked this death. A noble death. I only wish that I had whoever did this within my jaws," Kilter growled.

"His name was Bling," Herk said. "I thought he was my friend, but... He betrayed me. I would have died if it weren't for your mate. I killed him." Saying the words made it seem all the more real to Hero; he had killed Bling. He had murdered his old friend without mercy.

Unable to stand it any longer, Hero wandered away from the area, turning towards the scene of the main battle. He watched as a dark-furred loner grabbed Foxspring's body and began dragging it in the general direction of the Clans, seemingly distraught. The loner must have felt bad for the Clans and decided to aid in helping return bodies and injured cats to their leaders... Although Hero was almost certain that the cat looked familiar.

Shrugging, he gave Roach his shoulder and helped her towards Estelle, who was acting as a healer. Hero stared at the blood-spattered clearing as they passed it, and at his own dented armor. This was only the beginning.

This was written by le Amazing Annco! I hope Foxspring's death made you cry... I feed off of innocent readers' tears. Mwahaha!