Chapter 42-

Sounds of battle rage in Sagestar's ears, loud and exhilarating. His muscles move, burning with energy as he smashes his paw down on a small Windclan apprentice. He's never seen the small she-cat before, but she smells of Windclan, of hate, of mingled blood, so Sagestar fights her anyways. 

It isn't a fair fight, Sagestar realizes relatively quickly. The Windclan cats hadn't expected the attack, clearly, their patrol small and surprised. Sagestar had brought three Riverclan cats with him, along with a normal patrol size of four cats, overpowering the Windclan cats seven to four. One of those four was an untrained apprentice, clearly panicked and stumbling around like a clueless kit. Sagestar isn't surprised. This is easy. 

The tom moves fluidly, biting, kicking, fighting. Sagestar feels like he is meant to do this, to spill blood that, technically, is his too. But hopefully, all his scrapes have spilled all the blood he's shared with them. 

"Sagesong." 

The voice is cold, disconnected, and Sagestar wheels at the sound of his name. Well, part of it. The cat is calico-furred, her pelt matted with blood, her eyes a sad, deep blue. Sagestar flinches at the intensity of the she-cat's gaze. Lilypaw. Or something else. 

"Sagestar. And it's you. Lily...paw?" Sagestar steps forward, fur bristling. Lilypaw draws back her lip. 

"I thought Aloestar had better sense than to make you leader," the she-cat's tail tip flicks, her lips curled into a snarl. Sagestar flicks his tail. What has he done wrong to Lilypaw? He'd thought of her highly, for a Windclan cat. 

"Aloestar doesn't trust Windclan cats." 

"Bold of you to say. Considering you're part Windclan." 

The battle pauses. Windclan cats stop hissing and yowling, claws still out-stretched and tails still puffed out threateningly. Thunderclan and Riverclan cats stare, some with jaws agape. Sagestar is in the middle of it all, his blood boiling with pure rage, but his face calm and proud. 

Until it isn't. 

Lilypaw clearly isn't expecting Sagestar to pounce on her, eyes widening as she falls with a sickening thump. Sagestar stares down at the she-cat, who wriggles like a worm with panicked screeches, under him. How many cats had Lilypaw told? She can't be allowed to tell anymore, that's for sure. Sagestar unsheathes his claws, surveying Lilypaw's face. Her pupils dilate, her mouth opening in a screech. 

"No! I was kind to you, I liked you! I saved you! I didn't know that you killed Tan-" The she-cat's desperate voice is cut off with a sickening gurgle as the Sagestar sinks his claws into sensitive flesh. Sagestar wants to dig deeper, his anger controlling him now. But he can't. The tom is knocked off, sent sprawling into the dirt. 

A pair of green eyes stares down, already glittering with tears. A pair Sagestar recognizes, but just barely. The pair of eyes is something from the past, something that Sagestar had seen from kit eyes. Something blurred in mystery, misery. 

"You killed her! You killed Lilypatch!" The tom spits in Sagestar's face, "You knew what you were doing! You killed her...because you couldn't handle that she knew!" The tom's voice brings back so many memories, all mingled with a background of sadness. Sagestar snarls. 

"Who are you?" The leader spits, knowing he could die at any moment. He doesn't want to die, not yet. Smoothpearl still has all four kits, he doesn't have a successor, and Sagestar has already decided he won't die like this. He puts his hind paws up to the tom's stomach, ready to kick out. 

"You don't deserve this, you don't deserve to say her name. You never did. Helping you was the worst decision of my life-" the cat's ramblings are cut off by and black and white blur, leaping, paws out-stretched, into the ginger tom. Suddenly the name comes back to Sagestar, loud and throbbing. 

Foxpaw. 

Isn't he a medicine cat, though? 

Why is he here? 

Sagestar scrambles to his paws, fur bristling and mouth curled into a snarl. His protector, who he had already decided was some cat like Frigidcall or Cedarmist, loyal and powerful Thunderclan members. His eyes turn to the small black and white blur, surprise flickering in his chest. The she-cat turns to Sagestar, blue eyes shining as her claws sink into Foxpaw's ginger fur. Sagestar is stunned for a millisecond, before instincts kick in. 

"Get back to your border, Windclan," Sagestar announces into the crowd of Windclan cats, "Unless you wish to lose more cats." The last words come out as a growl, his claws coming out from their sheathes. The Windclan cats freeze at the threat, teeth bared and pelts bristling. The small apprentice eyes Lilypatch, horror clear on her face. 

"What about Foxbounce?" The apprentice whispers breathlessly, her little paws fidgeting like two restless bees. A diluted tortoiseshell nods slowly, large green eyes wide. Sagestar glances at Foxbounce, and pride seeps into him. Pride he'd never expected to feel for his cousin. 

Ivypaw. 

Sagestar nods to the apprentice, and she steps away, teeth bared in a snarl. Foxbounce scrambles up, eyes wild and claws unsheathed. The tom bunches his muscles, teeth bared just like Ivypaw's, but the apprentice scrambles back, back arched threateningly. "I'll claw your ears off. Go home, you coward." Foxbounce growls. 

"I'm staying here," his voice is small, a mere whisper, "Here with..." The tom trails off, a sob escaping from him. Sagestar rolls his eyes. Starclan, he's loud. 

Ivypaw's eyes flash with sadness, understanding, and she glances helplessly at Sagestar. The Thunderclan leader straightens up, puffing out his chest. "We'll bury her. It's only fair, after all." Screams of protest erupt from Windclan, cats leaping forward to scream that it isn't fair, that they'll take her back to where she was raised. Sagestar wants to roll his eyes again. He'll never understand these cats. 

"I won't let you touch her!" Foxbounce lunges, eyes wild and crazy. Sagestar flies to the side, growling and hissing. He doesn't need to kill another cat today, but he will, he will, and Foxbounce should know that. Sagestar forces his fur to lie flat, and his tail to quit flicking. 

"Fine, take that corpse and leave. Go back to your side of the border," Sagestar hisses, a smug smile slipping onto his face, "But, Foxbounce, I hope you know you've started a war." Foxbounce's eyes flicker with realization, with grief, and Sagestar feels almost glad. The tom turns away, eyes surveying his clanmates. They are still, eyes wide and pelts bristling. Ivypaw is the only one showing any emotion except fear and surprise. Pride, maybe. 

And Sagestar is proud of her.