FLAREPAW

Mouse led them towards a tree with a canopy overhanging it but Flarepaw saw with surprise beneath the tree's roots was a hole.
Which is a tunnel, Flarepaw realized.

They were in a large cave, and down below, were battled-scarred cats.

Flarepaw spotted a cat she recognized during the battle, Splash...
Splash was unsheathing his claws, stretching his paw in front of a younger rouge, who looked about nine moons.
He purred with triumph, "I knocked the bat aside and ripped out her throat!" he boasted. "Claw will most likely give me a promotion by next moon!"
He's talking about how he killed Owlpool, Flarepaw thought bitterly.

The younger cat looked in awe of Splash. "You really think so?"
Splash purred as he sat down and put a black paw to his chest. "Yep! And who knows, maybe I'll replace Mouse and be his new second-in-command."

Mouse took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, then blinked. She then nudged Leafeye, "Let's go."
Flarepaw inhaled a sharp, yet quiet breath as they watched Mouse lead Leafeye down to the clearing.

A brown tom, who was the nearest to entrance, was grooming himself. He lifted his head in surprise as he saw Mouse and Leafeye. "Are you serious? You caught the old hag?"
Mouse shrugged, leading Leafeye farther into the clearing, where cats were watching, wide-eyed. "Don't look so surprised, Shrew. I know how to deal with a Clan cat, don't you worry."

Once Mouse caught the attention of all the rouges, Mouse knocked on Leafeye's shoulder. "Look who I caught, sneaking into our territory!"
Splash huffed, one of the cats in the crowd. "You caught her? All on your own?" There was clear jealousy in his mew.

Flarepaw scanned the cave clearing. "Now, where would the kits be..." she murmured.
"Oh, by the bushes nearby," mewed a calm voice.

Flarepaw slowly turned her head around to see Claw grooming his paw friendlily.
He stopped grooming his paw for a moment, and smiled. "Hello again, little fire."

Flarepaw was too shocked to process things as he swung his paw and knocked her into the stone clearing.

Everything went black.

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When she blinked open her eyes, she was in the same snow forest clearing she was in at the Moonstone.
She panicked, looking around for the fire cat.

When she squinted, she saw a real cat, it was a tom, and as he padded over to her, she saw his pelt had stars in them and his eyes glittered like ice.

When he only a mouse-length distance from her, his eyes were sympathetic as he dipped his head
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The hissing of battling cats woke Flarepaw.
Flarepaw sprung to her paws, ready to fight.

Out of the corner of her eye, Flarepaw saw Mouse back away and hide behind a bush.

Flarepaw grasped a silver tabby with her claws, but was shaken loose. She tumbled over and the rouge turned on her and gripped her with claws as sharp as shattering ice. Flarepaw managed to twist and sink her teeth deep into the cat's flesh. The rouge's yowl told her she had found a tender spot, and she bit harder. The rouge screeched again, rippling herself free, and ran off towards one of the bushes.

Featherfall already had Splash pinned to the ground. She gave him a vicious bite and the injured rouge raced away, hiding in the bushes.

An angry screech sounded from in the middle of the clearing. Leafeye was gripping Claw with bloodstained paws. His ears was flattened against his head, and his whiskers were drawn back as he crouched, flattened beneath Leafeye's powerful grasp.

"I never thought you would be harder to kill than Sky and Mole!" He snarled up at her.
Leafeye recoiled as if she had been stung by a bee, her face twisted by grief. She loosened her grip on Claw, and instantly he threw her aside with a twist of his powerful body.
Claw hurled himself at Leafeye, forcing her onto her belly. Leafeye didn't even attempt to struggle against his thorn-sharp claws. She was frozen in shock.

"I should of killed you when I had the chance," he spat at Leafeye. "It seems I must have some of my mother's softness. I was a fool to let you leave my place alive!" He lunged, teeth bared, ready to sink them into her neck.

Flarepaw's own voice rang in her head.
"And hunting! That sack of bones is gonna need feeding up!"

Flarepaw let out the biggest battle-cry she'd ever done as she launched herself at Claw. "NO!"
I'm not that cat anymore! she thought fiercely.

She latched herself onto Claw's side and bit deep into his shoulder.
Claw hissed in pain as he let out a yowl and let go of Leafeye as he flung Flarepaw away.

Flarepaw knocked the ground with the side of her face first, but she got up quickly, her eyes running into slits.

Claw stepped over Leafeye and circled Flarepaw.
She snarled back viciously, ready to fight him to the death if she had to.

Claw grinned as he unsheathed his claws, clearly battle-hungry and spat viciously. "Don't waste your time, apprentice! I've killed more than you can dream. Do you really think you're strong enough to kill me?" His eyes glowed with confidence and defiance.

Flarepaw snarled, and unsheathed her claws, ready to go into battle.

"Claw, stop!" Suddenly Mouse went in between them, breaking the tension.
Claw raised his head, confused and tilted his head. "Mouse?" He echoed.
Mouse flicked her tail to the rouges. "Claw, please! Our rouges are too injured to continue this battle! If we continue any more, we'll die of all our wounds! We're clearly weakeneded, and it'll be moons before we can truly destroy the Clans!"

When Claw was clearly in thought, Mouse winked knowingly at Flarepaw.
Flarepaw dipped her head with gratefulness. Mouse's the only one who can get through with Claw, she realized.

Claw, finally, let out a snort and grunted. "You better be right about this, Mouse..."
Mouse let out a sigh of relief.

With a yowl, the rouges lined up towards the entrance of the tunnel.

Flarepaw was frightened to see the amount of hate Claw shot at the Clan cats. "This isn't over, don't forget that. You've think you've won. I will always be there to hunt you down, even when I'm not there. My revenge will never be completed."
And then, the rouges and Claw were gone.

Flarepaw was still trying to process that.
Claw wasn't doing this for selfishness or greed. The Clans had done something to him.

Shinepaw padded over to Flarepaw. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you again?"
Flarepaw huffed. "He could try." Sighing, she looked at Shinepaw in the eye. "You do realize you don't need to protect me, right? You know very well I can defend myself. One day, I will be in my own battle and you won't be there."
"I know, but he still targets you. I worry about you a lot, y'know?"
Flarepaw muzzled her sister. "I worry about you too, sis."

Suddenly, they heard mews from a bramble bush in one of the corners of the now abandoned camp.

"Hey, get off me, Wolfkit!"
"The Ice cats is pushing me!"
"Are not! You guys are just taking up all the room cause you're bigger than us!"
"What do you see out there, Riverkit? Is the battle over?"

Flarepaw stared at Shinepaw. "Is that what I think it is..?"
Shinepaw nodded. "I think so."

They padded over as Flarepaw parted out the bushes to see many kits. Nine kits in total.

A small gray kit popped out of the bush.
Flarepaw sniffed his scent.
Wolfkit of SmokeClan, she realized.

Wolfkit looked up at the way bigger cats. "Can we go home now? This is boring and I wanna leaveeeeee," she complained, flopping over dramatically.

A pale blue gray tom kit raced out of the bramble bush and ran in front of Wolfkit, puffing his chest like he was facing an enemy warrior as he glared defiantly. "You don't scare us, IceClan filths!" He spat with his small fur bristling. "This is our bramble bush! Find your own!"
Flarepaw sighed as she gazed at Shinepaw. "Yep. Definitely SmokeClan."
From the scent of him, it seemed like he was Riverkit.

Shinepaw nodded. "Y'know, we can take you home. The bad cats are gone."
Wolfkit tilted her head. "Bad cats? Oh, you mean the big meanies! They told me to shut up but they didn't say it to the other kits so they're just stupid because I'm very quiet."
Riverkit grinned with a teasing tone, "They were only right about that."
Wolfkit looked horrified. "I am the most quietest ever! They just don't like me! They like all the others but they don't like me!"

Riverkit then called to the bramble bush, "Alright! Arctickit, Whitekit, Nightkit! You can come out now! The rouges are officially gone. And you Ice kits too, I guess."
Other kits stepped out, one white, one gray and white, and one black.
The IceClan kits stumbled, one of them a gray tabby, a brown-orange tabby, a russet-furred kit, and a brown tabby.

Flarepaw calmly laid her tail on the kit's head. "It's okay, you're going home soon.. Who is your mother?"
Riverkit huffed. "We are not telling some IceClan scum!"
Nightkit stepped forward eagerly. "Fireclaw! Our mother is Fireclaw!"

Arctickit nodded. "Yeah, our mother is Fireclaw. She said she would let us play all day and skip our nap, and Riverkit chose to play tag outside camp, but the mean cats surrounded us and I didn't wanna go..."
Riverkit lifted his tail. "Well, I wasn't scared!" He then gazed at his littermates. "I told you guys I would protect you!"

Shinepaw smiled. "Well, we'll get you home."

Flarepaw nodded, a sigh of peace flowing through her.
So many things have changed, the dreams, the truth about Dovenose's death, Owlpool's death, Icepaw, Claw... but not all changes were bad.

"Yeah. Let's go home."