Warriors: 9 Lives of TERROR

Chapter thirty-three- Blood streams down my whiskers like rain...

The words "kill, kill" are carved in my brain.

Mistfeather watched her kits tumble around in the clearing from the nursery entrance. Except for, they weren't really tumbling anymore. If she watched closely, she could see battle moves. She shifted her gaze to Robinflight's kits: Leopardkit, Specklekit, and Treekit. They hovered near her kits, but never tried to engage in a game with them. They seemed uncertain, even the outspoken Leopardkit. It's because they're Froststar's kits- the leader's kits. And they're old enough to understand that now.

Mistfeather stifled a sigh. It was getting harder for her to ignore the fact that Froststar was changing. He was becoming more cold-hearted by the day. Is he changing, or has he always been that way? She didn't want to think about it. But, of course, being cooped up in the nursery gave her plenty of time to think.

Part of her still loved him. She still saw him as the loving, playful tom she first fell in love with. The other part was a constant hiss in the back of her mind, telling her he was an evil cold-blooded killer that didn't deserve to call her his mate. So sometimes she considered telling him she would no longer be his mate. But a larger part knew that since they now had kits, there was no going back. If he really was evil, he would threaten her by threatening their kits.

But would he really do that? She didn't know. And she didn't want to find out. Mistfeather focused back on her kits, trying to think happy thoughts as they wrestled each other. But it was hard. Her mind kept returning to Froststar and how he was off exterminating WindClan.

The least I can do is keep my kits from becoming like him. But how? He has so much influence over them. He's the clan leader- why wouldn't they want to be like him?

She feared for Darkkit and Tigerkit. They were so innocent, but the look in their eyes when Froststar described battle to them was frightening. Sprucekit and Dawnkit might be able to hold onto goodness. Especially Dawnkit.

She didn't favor one kit more then the others. But.... Dawnkit was the most like her.

Tension zapped the air like lightning, and Mistfeather knew why. The ThunderClan patrol burst into camp, with Froststar in the lead. Her heart filled with dread as she saw his eyes shining, head held high and proud. He's done it. He really has. The other Clans won't be far behind.

"We have successfully driven out WindClan! The moor is ours!" Froststar yowled. Cats cheered and hollered, but as Mistfeather looked around she saw behind their yowls and bright faces. She saw the emotion in their eyes that made her insides shrivel with despair.

Fear.

They put on a front for their leader, because they knew if they didn't they would fall like WindClan. They would fight to the death if they had to. Because they were terrified. Mistfeather squeezed her eyes shut, turning away. Oh, Froststar. What have you done?

~~~~~~~~

3 Moons later

Sageweed paced the line of Dark Forest cats, their eyes glittering with eagerness. Froststar stood apart from the others, proud as ever. He had always ranked well among the Dark Forest cats, but his defeat of WindClan brought him just under Sageweed's rank. Basically, he was her living deputy.

"After seasons of brooding in dark corners, we have finally begun to succeed again. We will not fail the way we did when we attacked the Clan cats during the darkest hour. There will he no Firestar or petty prophecy cats to save the Clans this time," Sageweed spat, going about her usual rant. This time, however, Froststar would speak.

"WindClan has been defeated, and because we can no longer see them means they are far from clan territory. RiverClan and SkyClan will fall next," she said, giving a slight nod to Russetstar. The ShadowClan warrior had managed to wrestle nine lives from StarClan. Apparently, they refused to grant him nine lives because they didn't want to make the same mistake they made with Froststar. However, he threatened to kill every Clan kit he could get his claws on, along with all of ShadowClan. Some cats broke and agreed to give him lives. Froststar and Russetstar agreed to start attacking RiverClan and SkyClan before they announced their alliance.