Prompt: Bracket 1H. Write an entry about attacking an enemy camp and seeing your apprentice bleed to death. Minimum 775 words

Bright light shone fiercely into the den, falling warm and steady upon the mottled brown tabby she-cat who was lying in the den. Blazestorm blinked, opening her eyes, yawning sleepily. She was ready to succumb once more to the delightful warmth of the sun and sleep that made such a contrast to the previous chilly night. The only thing that kept her awake was the reminder that her new apprentice must have been waiting for her.

The Warrior stepped outside of her den, watching the Clan with a calm satisfaction. The cats milled about peacefully, lounging and exchanging small talk in a heartwarming, peaceful display.

"Pinefrost! Some cat get Pinefrost!" The loud yowl rang through the camp, startling the Clan and ending the rare moment of tranquility. Blazestorm rushed towards the entrance of the camp, shocked to see a fellow Warrior being dragged in. His leg was bleeding profusely and his head was red with blood.

"Rowanheart, what's wrong?" Hollystar asked, bounding from her den. "What happened?" Rowanheart took a moment to breathe, panting heavily. He moved away from the injured cat as Pinefrost, the medicine cat, began to examine him.

"Border....skirmish... we found StreamClan trying to steal territory again... we confronted them and it escalated quickly. The patrol leader sent me back to camp to help Cindertail and to get reinforcements." He panted.

Blazestorm found herself snarling, her lip curling upwards and her eyes narrowing. For far too long that greedy Clan had spent countless efforts attempting to steal prey, land and anything they could get their paws on from TreeClan. Blazestorm agreed with the opinion of the vast majority of the Clan- attack them and teach them a lesson that they could never forget. She looked up at her leader.

The normally benevolent she-cat was bristling, fur standing on end. Blazestorm watched with satisfaction as her leader had to visibly hold herself back, closing her eyes to control her emotions.

"I want every able-bodied Warrior and apprentice to come with me. Icepelt, Darkfur, Volefoot and Yewfang, remain to guard the camp. I've had enough of StreamClan's playing." Hollystar snarled. Her voice was eerily calm; rough and biting but never increasing in volume.

Blazestorm made eye contact with her apprentice, Maplepaw, who until then had been standing next to the apprentice den. She gestured with her tail for Maplepaw to join the group of angry Warriors at the camp entrance. The ever-enthusiastic apprentice was almost instantly by her side, eager, ready, and waiting.

"Yes! My first battle will be used to show StreamClan which Clan is the best!" She whispered. Blazestorm's eyes gleamed.

"It's about time that we stood up for our.... never mind that. Maplepaw, this is your first fight so I want you to stay close to me. We'll treat this like a fun learning experience." Blazestorm said. This seemed to amuse Maplepaw, who giggled and bounced up and down.

"I'll call out the moves just for you." The gray apprentice teased. Blazestorm cuffed her ear with her paw.

"TreeClan, to battle!" Hollystar shouted. The large group of cats ran out of the camp, bounding easily through the thick maze of trees and bracken that made up their territory. In no time they had made it to the border. Many Warriors hissed as they smelled thick StreamClan scent well within TreeClan border lines.

It was clear where the battle had been taking place. Clumps of fur and blood were splattered on tree trunks and covered the flattened grass in the area. Though the trees were thinning out, it still took a few more paw steps to discover the fighting cats.

Hollystar snarled and jumped out from the shade of the bushes, all sense of propriety lost. Blazestorm followed, and gasped momentarily at the scene. Then she snarled angrily. A group of eight StreamClan Warriors were raining hell upon the three TreeClan cats that had remained to fight. It was clear that they were toying with the cats, and that realization made Blazestorm's blood boil.

When the StreamClan cats saw the massive group of cats heading angrily towards them, they screeched, springing away from the injured TreeClan cats and darting away into their own territory. The TreeClan Warriors let out yowls of anger.

"Cowards!" Hollystar screeched, running after them. Blazestorm was surprised to see how much her leader had let go of her usual control over her emotions. Hollystar was a very peaceful leader. Cedarfoot, the current Clan deputy, directed two Warriors to escort the injured cats back to camp, and then indicated for the rest of the cats to follow Hollystar.

The StreamClan cats made it very easy for the TreeClan cats to follow them. Moons of tracking small, agile prey through the thick bracken of their forests had taught the TreeClan cats how to distinguish scents on a very specific level. The StreamClan cats made it even easier for them, leaving paw prints, debris, and obvious trails through the forest from their clumsy movement. Blazestorm felt a sick satisfaction when she realized that the primary scent they left behind was fear.

Soon the StreamClan scent became more concentrated, the trees in the territory almost non-existent with the marshy territory expanding the further they ran. Hollystar slowed to a stop, gesturing with her tail for Cedarfoot to come closer.

"Cedarfoot, take five cats with you and circle around the camp. It's that weakly guarded ring of reeds just beyond that bog. When you hear my group charge in, come in and cause more chaos. Blazestorm, take another five cats on the right side and do the same."

Blazestorm's mouth dropped open, and she was forced to restrain herself from letting out an unprofessional kit-like squeal. The brown she-cat filled with happiness. Hollystar was letting her lead an important patrol in a major battle? It felt too good to be true, but she felt the overwhelming urge to never wake from this dream. Blazestorm made eye contact with four cats near to her and tapped her apprentice on the shoulder with her tail.

She broke away from her thoughts and the group by slinking between the thick reeds and water plants, using the uneven ground and mud to keep her and hopefully her entire patrol from immediate sight. Already she could hear the panicked cries of the StreamClan cats inside the Clan attempting to ready themselves for battle. They had spotted Hollystar. Blazestorm knew it was only because Hollystar had let them see her.

"When I give the command, we're going to rush for that break in the reeds on the side of the barrier. A few of the reeds look as if they haven't been replaced in a while, and should be easy to remove or crush. From there, head straight to a medicine cat den or the nursery, or just destroy whatever you can. If Hollystar calls a retreat, get out immediately." Blazestorm instructed. She turned to Maplepaw. "You stick by me." The apprentice nodded seriously.

Blazestorm waited, ears pricked and eyes peeled. She couldn't see much through the reeds, but they could all hear the yowls and snarls of the cats inside the Clans, proving that Hollystar had indeed entered with her group. Blazestorm took a few moments longer to take stock of the situation, waiting for the perfect moment. Finally, she flicked her tail.

It was perfectly executed. She had managed to time it just seconds after Cedarfoot's group had come in, and the StreamClan cats were lost to chaos. It gave her a thrill of triumph, and seeing the StreamClan cats quell under their force made her victory even sweeter. Blazestorm fell easily into battle mode, looking for a cat to fight. Her vision narrowed, picking out various areas of the camp that was weak, and various TreeClan cats who were struggling.

Blazestorm plunged forward recklessly, her heart hammering in her ears. She was intent on freeing a fellow Warrior from the pile of StreamClan apprentices that he was trapped under.

"Get out of my camp!" A ginger she-cat snarled, intercepting her. Blazestorm's lip curled in return and she hissed at her enemy. She darted to the right; claws extended, and landed a blow on the ginger cat's side.

The she-cat continued with her momentum, surprised by the quick dodge and sudden pain, and fell upon Maplepaw. The little apprentice let out a loud squeal and instinctively kicked up with all four paws, hitting the Warrior with a sudden but rather ineffective blow. The StreamClan Warrior retaliated with a fierce bite of Maplepaw's ear. Blazestorm darted towards the she-cat dragging her off of Maplepaw.

"Don't touch my apprentice!" She snarled. Her next paw swipe was fueled with rage, and it hit the she-cat in the face, her claws slashing over the she-cat's nose and mouth. The ginger cat jumped towards her, ignoring the pain, and threw all her weight at Blazestorm.

One of the major differences between most StreamClan and TreeClan cats were their sizes. Blazestorm and her fellow Clanmates were small and light, built to climb and jump. StreamClan cats were stocky, heavy and had a bit of weight to them; both from their source of prey and their natural body structure. As such, when the ginger cat hit her, Blazestorm felt as if a badger had slammed into her, and her head ached from the pain of hitting the ground.

The ginger cat took advantage of her momentary stun to rain heavy blows on Blazestorm. Each paw strike dazed Blazestorm more and more, and she felt cuts on her body well with blood. Though Blazestorm tried to play dead, the she-cat refused to let up and continued to strike.

"Let go!" Maplepaw screeched, jumping at the ginger she-cat. Her momentum took her high enough to latch onto the StreamClan Warrior's shoulders, and the little apprentice sank her teeth into her ear and tried desperately to hang on. Blazestorm pulled her hind legs in, trying to use the distraction to kick the she-cat off of her. Her legs shot out, hitting the ginger cat in the gut and causing her to hiss and sink her teeth in Blazestorm's shoulders.

In that moment, everything changed.

Blazestorm remembered seeing a very large black tom gallop towards them, violently pulling Maplepaw off of the ginger cat. She saw out of the corner of her eye the black tom lifting a large paw and bringing it down mercilessly over Maplepaw's head. She remembered turning to the ginger she-cat struggling intensely to get released and save her apprentice. And then, all she could see was blackness.

"Blazestorm! Wake up! You need to wake up!" Blazestorm blinked up at the frantic tortoiseshell she-cat that was nudging her.

"Wh-What happened?" Blazestorm asked. Her head was fuzzy and a dull ache was starting between her eyes.

"Blazestorm I don't know how it happened, I just looked away for a second to help you and then I turned and... oh!" The tortoiseshell, who Blazestorm now recognized to be Nettlefur, bowed her head. Blazestorm felt a seed of dread worm its way into her heart.

"What happened?" Blazestorm asked firmly. Nettlefur couldn't lift her head.

"M-MM-Maplepaw." She stuttered out. Blazestorm felt her heart stop. She struggled to her paws, casting her gaze around the den. They had moved her from the StreamClan camp and into the medicine cat den, but she couldn't see Maplepaw anywhere.

"Where is she?" Nettlefur pointed out with her tail. Blazestorm shouldered past her, moving as fast as she could out of the den. What she saw had her gasp and bow her head, her legs buckling.

Maplepaw's body was lying in the middle of the clearing, small and gray as a sharp contrast to the green all around her. Her parents, Hollystar, and various other cats stood around the body. When they saw Blazestorm approaching, they parted for her.

"No." Fell from her lips, and as she reached the body, Blazestorm finally gave in to the weight of her dismay and collapsed on the grassy ground.

"It's not your-" Hollystar started, only for Blazestorm to cut her off.

"It is my fault! I told her to stick to me, that I would help and protect her!" Blazestorm wailed. "It was her first battle, and she needed me, and I couldn't even fight off a Warrior to help her." Hollystar backed away, having learned long ago to leave grieving cats in peace during vigil.

Blazestorm could barely look at Maplepaw's family. She didn't want to feel their anger or hatred, but knew that as Maplepaw's mentor, it was her duty to face them. Maplepaw's mother, Icepelt, had her nose buried in Maplepaw's fur and seemed to be ignoring the world around her. Maplepaw's father, Badgerstripe, had his dull brown eyes locked on Blazestorm. She could see no sign of accusation; only grief. They made eye contact and after a moment he dropped his eyes from her gaze.

Blazestorm felt horrible. In her eagerness, her pride at being chosen to lead a patrol, she lost sight of her apprentice, her training, and her cunning. That one mistake, that one moment of distraction at such a crucial time, had cost her and the Clan dearly.

Blazestorm pulled herself up and buried her nose in Maplepaw's cold fur. The pain behind her eyes came stronger than ever, then faded to a dull ache as she closed her eyes.

I'm sorry.