Ravenpaw's Sacrifice (Warriors AU Short Story)

Ravenpaw's Sacrifice

Hello! Before you start reading, I want you to know some things. First, this is something fairly different from what I usually write about when it comes to Warriors, which is usually fanfiction. But this time, I took a shot at writing an AU! This is a prompt that I came up with while I was doing my second read of The Prophecies Begin series, specifically on The Darkest Hour. (So, spoilers if you haven't read that book yet!!!!) This starts at the part where Firestar, Graystripe, and Ravenpaw were trying to sneak the half-Clan TigerClan prisoners of Mistyfoot, Stormpaw, and Featherpaw over to ThunderClan territory, but they get caught eventually and have to make a run the rest of the way, namely across the stepping-stones. Canonly, everyone crosses the stepping-stones into ThunderClan territory safely (except for the pursuing ShadowClan warriors, who give up once a fresh ThunderClan patrol shows up). But after reading the scene, I thought to myself: What if the ThunderClan patrol didn't come, or was too late? And then I asked myself: What if Ravenpaw got caught and taken to his old mentor, Tigerstar? And this is just that!

The first paragraph is basically the place right before where I take over the story. It's a quick recap of what's happened, and has Firestar's exact lines there. It is in Chapter 17 in The Darkest Hour.

Hope you enjoy! ^w^

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"Come on! Hurry!" Firestar yowled, nudging Stormpaw. The apprentice's hindquarters were dripping with the cold water from the river when he had slipped; thankfully, Graystripe had helped Firestar bring the him back onto one of the stepping-stones to continue fleeing the advancing ShadowClan warriors. "Keep going - follow Mistyfoot!"

As Stormpaw hopped past Firestar onto the next stone toward the safety of ThunderClan territory, the flame-coated tom peered through what little light the stars and moon above offered across the stepping-stones. Ravenpaw was on a rock near the center of the crossing with Featherpaw preparing to leap onto the next rock behind him. In front of Ravenpaw, the burly white tom of Blackfoot and another cat he couldn't recognize in the darkness began hopping from stone to stone, much more cautiously than any of the ThunderClan or RiverClan cats as they have crossed this way several times, whereas the ShadowClan cats lived nowhere near the river. He watched as the other four cats formed a line on the RiverClan shore, their eyes glinting menacingly in the night.

His eyes watched Featherpaw urgently. He longed to call out for her to hurry up, but he knew it would only make her more pressured and scared than she already was, and if timing was against them, it would be right when she jumped, causing her to miss the next stone. However, it seemed it would not have mattered as Firestar watched helplessly as the small silver apprentice leaped for the stone, her paws slipping and not even reaching their goal. The only sound heard was the panicked yelp she made before the strong current of the river swept her away.

"Featherpaw!" Firestar yowled in alarm. His eyes scanned the black water urgently for any sign of the young she-cat.

But it seemed Graystripe already had his sights on her. The ThunderClan warrior was on his way to help Ravenpaw hold off Blackfoot and his partner, swimming to the stone after he had jumped into the water to give Stormpaw a boost when he had initially slipped, but as soon as his daughter disappeared underneath the dark surface, he kicked off a rock to shoot him in her direction.

Firestar watched in vain as the head of Graystripe bobbed steadily as he frantically swam after his daughter. Taking a deep breath, the gray tom ducked underneath the water, and to Firestar's relief he reappeared within the next few heartbeats with Featherpaw's scruff firmly gripped in his mouth. The warrior swam strongly toward the ThunderClan shore, his daughter coughing and weakly paddling as she was dragged through the water.