Acornstar sighed as she watched her clanmates gather under her, ready for her to lead them into battle without a second thought. She wondered if this battle against the frightful DawnClan was worth it.

"Okay. I want Beesting, Sunfeather, Lightfur, Canarysong, Hawksnarl, Vixenpaw, and Harepel-"

"Wait!"

Acornstar turned to Rosevine, who had interrupted her.

"Yes, Rosevine?" Asked Acornstar. Acornstar was surprised; Rosevine was a rather shy and quiet warrior who had never liked speaking in public, with the attention of so many cats. The dark brown molly took a step towards Acornstar, her piercing green gaze meeting the cats surrounding her.

"P-Please don't send Harepelt to this battle..." Rosevine could feel herself shrink as each word escaped her mouth. "Please..." Rosevine mumbled, not meeting Acornstar's gaze.

Acornstar sighed. DuskClan was running out of time.

"Is there a particular reason for that?" Acornstar mewed, her amber eyes glinting with impatience. 

Rosevine opened her mouth, but soon closed it. Her gaze darted to her paws, which were shaking with nervousness. 

Across camp, Harepelt was staring at Rosevine with shock and gratitude. Rosevine would sacrifice herself for him?

"Well?" Prompted Acornstar. "We're short on time, Rosevine. We have to go." 

Rosevine took a deep breath, her eyes trembling with panic. She closed her eyes, calming herself down.

Rosevine opened her jaws-this time, she didn't close it. 

"I-It's only been a few days since Harepelt recovered from his injuries from the border clash....I don't think it would be reasonable to send him into battle," Rosevine murmured. Her green gaze darted here and there, carefully observing the reaction of her clanmates. No cat dared to say the word, as they all glanced back and forth at Rosevine and Acornstar.

After a short moment of thinking, Acornstar opened her jaws.

"Hm..Yes, Rosevine, I do see sense in your words," mewed Acornstar, gazing at each one cat that was settled around the Dusk Branch. Rosevine's eyes imediately brightened. "Harepelt will not join the battle. But that means one less warrior will go into battle." Acornstar turned her head to Rosevine. "Does that mean you will take Harepelt's spot and fight in the battle?" 

Shocked, Rosevine turned to Harepelt, who shook his head, pleading his best friend not to go into battle.

'What if Rosevine became injured? What if she dies? I can't sacrifice my best friend for me and my mate,' thought Harepelt.

"Yes." Rosevine's clear mew pulled Harepelt out of his chaotic thoughts. 

"Then it is settled. Rosevine will go instead of Harepelt. Cats of DuskClan, it is time to go into battle!" Declared Acornstar, her eyes gleaming as the DuskClan cats cheered. 

Harepelt quickly padded up to Rosevine while every cat were engrossed in their conversations. 

"Are you crazy, Rosevine? H-How?" He mewed, his pained and chaotic eyes meeting Rosevine's calm and undisturbed ones.

"I would do anything for you," she murmured. 

"...Thank you...thank you so much," was all Harepelt could utter. The pale brown tabby nuzzled his friend, knowing that this might be their last conversation. 

"Let's go!" Acornstar's impatient gaze drifted to Rosevine and Harepelt. "We don't have all day."

"Good luck." Harepelt sighed. 

"Thanks. Oh! And I'll remember to avoid Dovemoon." Rosevine's quick whisper tingled Harepelt's ear. When he had turned to Rosevine to thank her, Rosevine was already leaving with the patrol.

"DuskClan, attack!" Acornstar's mew rang across the clearing, followed by Maplestar's.

"DawnClan, attack!" 

At each side, the cats lunged for each other, their eyes glinting mercilessly. 

Rosevine felt herself tense as she saw the numerous DawnClan warriors pour of DawnClan's camp. It seemed DuskClan was a lot less on warriors.

Rosevine wrestled a small brown tabby. The tabby was no match for her, with DuskClan's large, muscular body, and DawnClan's small, nimble one. 

The brown tabby seemed to notice that too. He ducked from her claws and fled, with a larger pale gray she-cat taking his spot.

Rosevine flinched at the familiar heather scent-Dovemoon.

As soon she regained her senses, she found a huge white paw striking her cheek, knocking her backwards.

She let out a feeble scream as blood trickled down her cheek. A flash of golden rushed to her rescue, swiping at Dovemoon who fell to the ground.

"You okay?" Sunfeather glanced at Rosevine, who staggered up.

"Thank you," she mumbled after a nod.

"I'll handle this one. You go help Acornstar just in case," ordered Sunfeather.

"Actually, I can handle her." Rosevine stepped in front of Sunfeather. "I'll go help Acornstar later."

"If you insist." Sunfeather shrugged before running to a different cat's aid.

Rosevine turned to Dovemoon, who was recovering from Sunfeather's swipe.

Rosevine's green eyes met Dovemoon's amber ones, which were glowing with rage.

The resilient she-cat quickly stood up and lunged at Rosevine, who slid to the side, trembling with fear.

"S-stop, Dovemoon, don't you remember me?" Rosevine whispered frantically.

Dovemoon didn't seem to have heard Rosevine's words. The pale gray she-cat leapt onto Rosevine, mercilessly pinning the brown tabby down to the ground.

"Dovemoon, don't to this to me..." Rosevine pleaded, hoping with all her might that Dovemoon will come back to her senses.

"You DuskClan cats dare attack us for nothing we have done?" Hissed Dovemoon. 

"What?" Rosevine frowned. "DawnClan did steal prey!" She hissed.

"DawnClan is a noble clan that follows the warrior code, unlike DuskClan." Dovemoon growled. Dovemoon raised her huge white paw-now streaked with blood-and let her claws shine in the bright moonlight.

"Stop! No, Dovemoon! Don't do this!" She frantically whispered. However, Dovemoon ignored it. Rosevine could see that there was no way out without hurting the gray she-cat. "I'm so sorry," She muttered before closing her eyes tightly and raking her opponent's soft belly with her claws whilst she slid out of Dovemoon's loosened grip. She knew she couldn't fight Dovemoon by just avoiding every move.

She didn't want Dovemoon to get hurt by other warriors-but she couldn't risk her life doing that. Determined, Rosevine fled from Dovemoon. She was glancing back at the molly when she knocked into the small brown tabby she had fought earlier. 

She quickly bared her teeth, hissing. However, the brown tabby did nothing, as he stared blankly across DawnClan's camp.

So did every other cat in camp. The atmosphere that was originally filled with screams, shrieks, hisses, and the tang of blood was now silent, as no cat dared speak a word. Every cat was frozen to their position, all staring at one place.

Trembling, Rosevine slowly turned her gaze. She couldn't suppress her shock as she found the limp body of Acornstar.

Acornstar's striped reddish brown fur was now mostly ripped out, showing her soft flesh beneath. Her soft fur-or what was left of it-was now sticking together with fresh streams of blood pouring out. Her yellow eyes were now lifelessly staring into the sky.

"But she has more lives!" Rosevine blurted out. "She must!"

"It was her last one." Sunfeather shook his head.

Mothstar padded to the center of the clearing, standing proudly next to Acornstar's lifeless body. "Get out of here. Take your leader and flee. And never, ever blame DawnClan for what we haven't done."

Quietly, a few DuskClan cats ran to their leader, with the others padding back to DuskClan's territory, their shoulders drooping. 

Rosevine felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. Only if she hadn't put up with Dovemoon, only if she had went to help Acornstar sooner, Acornstar would be alive.

Now, she had neglected her loyalty and duties as a warrior of DuskClan and had sacrificed the life of her wise leader just to prevent her friend's mate from getting hurt. 

It was all her fault.

So...here you go! I'm not sure I did well lol

Hope you like it!

Word count: 1231(with prompt), 1187(without prompt)