Murderers, that's what they were. Every single one of them. IvyClan had almost wiped out the entire of MarshClan. The only MarshClan cats left were two apprentices.
Iceleap had them both at his mercy.
He could remember the start of the battle clearly, Silverstar's simple flick of her tail, the camp exploding in to battle, everything turning in to a blood bath in heartbeats. Stonestep had fought beside him, defending Iceleap with the fury of StarClan. His father had always been an excellent warrior, part of the reason he had been made deputy. Stonestep had defended Iceleap with his dying breath, loyal to the end.
Sootpaw fluffed up his long grey fur, not to put up an act of bravery, but out of fear. The two MarshClan apprentices were barely six moons old. Neither of them would be able to defend themselves if the IvyClan warrior attacked. Dustpaw hissed at the warrior, and curled her tail around her sister.
Iceleap flattened his ears to his skull, not to act threatening, but to block out his clanmate's murderous yowls. All of them wanted him to kill them. They would have done it in a heartbeat.
Sootpaw and Dustpaw's eyes were glazed with fear. Dustpaw tried to read Iceleap's expression, trying to gain any knowledge of what the warrior was going to do. Iceleap kept his face blank, though he was just as scared as the apprentices.
When Iceleap didn't move, Dustpaw stood up, and faced the MarshClan warriors. "Does IvyClan have no respect?" The young MarshClan cat challenged. "No honour?" She stared at Iceleap fro a few heartbeats, before her blazing green gaze raked every one of his clanmates. She stopped at IvyClan's leader. "Silverstar has won this battle, but at what price? Dead clanmates for some extra prey?"
Dustpaw flicked her tail towards the dead bodies that littered the clearing, and Iceleap felt an all too familiar ache in his chest at his gaze landed on his fathers bleeding body.
Stonestep, Iceleap's father, had been a brilliant and loyal warrior. When Silverstar had become leader, Stonestep had been appointed deputy. All his work and effort had been for nothing.
"MarshClan was weak," Started Silverstar, her mew was smooth and respectful, but Iceleap knew she had no patience for weak warriors. "It wasn't even able to defend it's camp properly. A real clan can take what they want, if they can defend it of course. If MarshClan couldn't do that, then maybe they didn't deserve to be a clan."
Iceleap felt the familiar guilt rise up inside of him, but he forced it back down again.
I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm loyal to my clan. Silverstar might be wrong, but that doesn't mean I am. He glanced over at Silverstar, the she-cat had blood painted all over her fur. She doesn't need to know that though.
"I've changed my mind," Called the IvyClan leader with a flick of her tail. "I want to keep those two... rouges alive. Ashjaw, Bouldersight, gather sticks and brambles and make a small den around them. Iceleap, you guard them."
Iceleap let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He sat down, tail curled around his paws, and observed the two MarshClan cats. Sootpaw was still collapsed on the ground, she hadn't seemed to have moved since the battle started, Dustpaw was licking her sisters grey pelt with rhythmic strokes. The bond between the two cats reminding Iceleap of his own family, of his mother, Pinefur, his father, Stonestep, and of his brothers, Frostpaw and Snowpaw. Both of them had died as apprentices, yet he still remembered everything about them.
While he was lost in thought, Ashjaw and Bouldersight had built a tight den around the two apprentices. The moon was now slowly rising, painting the blood bathed grass, silver. Moonlight shone on his clanmates sleeping form.
