A/N: I REALLY HATE WATTPAD RIGHT NOW!!!!! THEY DELETED THIS CHAPTER SOMEHOW SO I HAD TO RE-POST IT SO I AM SORRY TO GET YOUR HOPES UP BUT THIS IS NOT A NEW CHAPTER.

Chapter 9

Minnowstream flailed around in a panic. She felt a surge of satisfaction as her churning hindpaws connected with her attacker's belly. The tom screeched in fury and raked her claws across her stomach.

Her vision blurred as pain lanced up her sides. She still felt dizzy from her rough landing on the ground. She yowled in agony and thrashed around desperately, trying even harder to escape his grasp.

The tom kept her pinned to the ground. His eyes were dark blue moons of hatred. She recognized that look. She found herself lost in memories...

Sunblaze burst into camp. "They're coming! They're coming!"

Icewhisker, Minnowkit's father, looked at the she-cat. "Who?"

"The Dark Forest!"

Gasps spread through the camp.

Sunblaze opened her mouth again, trembling with fear. "They want to kill us! It's Breeze..."

A lithe brown tom appeared behind her, pulling himself out of the river and shaking his fur dry silently. Water shed from his thick sleek pelt easily. Momentarily, his green eyes flashed black, dark as night. Before any warning could be given, he pounced onto her back and mercilessly raked his claws repeatedly across the young warrior's back.

A stream of shadowy warriors flooded into camp, swimming across the river almost better than the RiverClan cats.

Minnowkit felt Pebblekit and Willowkit stiffen beside her, terrified. Teeth met her scruff and the kit was hurriedly shoved back into the nursery by Icewhisker. Pebblekit and Willowkit soon joined her.

Icewhisker glanced back one last time. "Stay in there! You must survive!"

Minnowkit watched as he leapt on a brown-furred she-cat who approaching the nursery. The camp was filled with the deafening shrieks of battle and the ground was starting to become littered with bodies. There were too many and most of them were RiverClan cats. Falconflight, Leafwhisker, Ravenfire, Aspenleaf....

Minnowkit cowered in fear as a dark gray tom barged into the nursery. His green eyes glowed with satisfaction. "AND NOW YOU'LL UNDERSTAND HOW I FELT!"

She gulped nervously and stepped forward to defend her siblings. She screamed as she felt claws pierce her side and she was sent flying to the other end of the den. The Dark Forest warrior towered over her, poised to strike. As his forepaw fell down towards her neck, a white blur bowled him over.

Icewhisker's blue eyes flashed with fury. "Leave her alone!"

The dark gray tom fell limp, but her father didn't fall for the trick. Icewhisker raked his claws across his stomach but was knocked away by a bluish-gray she-cat. The she-cat embedded her teeth in his neck.

A red-furred she-cat burst into the den, the glimmer of starlight at her paws. She gasped in horror. "No! Icewhisker!"

A brown tom appeared at her side. "Brother," he whispered. "I'm sorry. Come join us."

The Dark Forest warriors spun around upon the arrival of the StarClan cats. Without hesitation, Salmonstar and the brown tom slashed at the bluish-gray she-cat's neck. As one they turned to meet the dark gray tom's attack with a quick swipe across his throat.

Both evil warriors fell to the ground and faded, leaving behind nothing but a dark pool of blood.

Minnowkit scampered over to her father's side. "Icewhisker! No! Please don't leave me!"

Her siblings followed behind.

Icewhisker weakly lifted his head and a thin trail of blood seeped from his mouth. "My precious kits...I couldn't be more proud of you..."

Meanwhile, Pebblekit glanced up at his mother. "Salmonstar! What are you doing here?"

"StarClan will fight in this battle as well." Salmonstar bent down to touch noses with her son. "The Clans do not walk alone."

Willowkit looked up at her mother with wide, frightened eyes. "Can you save our father?"

Minnowkit noticed the dark brown tom flinch at the words father.

Salmonstar shook her head sadly. "No, my dear. I'm afraid even StarClan doesn't have that power."

Icewhisker's eyes clouded and his breathing came to an abrupt halt.

The dark brown tom gazed down at the white-furred tom's body. "StarClan will welcome him to our ranks."

Minnowkit felt too overwhelmed by grief to speak.

Willowkit stared at the tom. "Who are you?"

"This is Hailcloud, Icewhisker's brother," Salmonstar answered for him.

Minnowkit looked up at him. "Did you know our father well?"

Hailcloud's whiskers twitched, as if he had found something amusing in her words. "Yes, I knew him very well."

A faint image of a white-furred tom rose up from Icewhisker's dead body and padded over to stand beside the dead cats.

Icewhisker's eyes glistened. "Good-bye, my kits. I will see you again soon. I promise I will never forget you."

The brown tom charged through the nursery and tackled Hailcloud, pinning him to the ground. "I could kill you, my pathetic daughter. But I think it would hurt you more to see this one die. "

"Breezefur, why? Stop, please!" Salmonstar pleaded.

Willowkit stepped forward. "DON'T MAKE MY MOTHER UPSET!"

Breezefur glared at the kit with hatred gleaming in his eyes. He looked as if he had been wronged somehow, and that killing every cat in RiverClan would be the only way to get the proper revenge.

Salmonstar took advantage of the distraction and knocked Breezefur off of Hailcloud. "THIS MUST END!"

She sliced her claws across the Dark Forest tom's throat. He jerked once and was still. But his eyes were still open and even in death, they gleamed with seasons and seasons of hatred. His body faded away but Minnowkit knew the look in his eyes would stay with her forever.

Minnowstream shook her head and blinked a few times. Everytime she fought, she couldn't help but remember the Great Battle. The screeching of furious warriors, the pools of blood on the grass, the river's water tainted scarlet even...and worst of all, the yowls of agony as brave, noble, innocent cats died under the Dark Forest cats' claws. There were too many casualties on that day.

The look in the black-and-white tom's eyes was almost exactly the same as the expression in Breezefur's eyes. He looks as if I have done something to him, and wants to see me die so he can get his revenge...but what did I do to him?

The tom dug his claws deeper into her skin. "Any last words?"

Suddenly, a ginger cat came out of nowhere and sent the black-and-white tom sprawling. After dealing a few vicious blows, the flame-colored cat watched with satisfaction as Minnowstream's attacker went hurriedly limping away.

Minnowstream struggled back to her paws, her heart still pounding with terror. "T-thanks. Who are you?"

A/N: Sorry that it's shorter than my usual chapters but I decided to keep Minnowstream's conversation with the ginger cat for the next chapter. Most of this chapter is a flashback so I hoped you like this.

SPOILER ALERT!

The ginger cat is a VERY IMPORTANT character to the second and third books in this series.

Anyhow, as always, thanks for reading and please comment with your thoughts! May StarClan light your path! I'm so so SO SORRY for not updating this, I know I haven't updated in forever. I promise to update soon I already have written most of Chapter 10.