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| - Spottedleaf's POV Everything was dark, even for us here in StarClan. "Where's the stars?" Mosskit squealed. I closed my eyes. The battle was coming. "Spottedleaf…" Bluestar called out to me, "are you sure that you want to fight? You were never trained as a warrior." I nodded fiercely. "I promised Firestar that I would always walk with him." I meowed. "Now it's time for me to fight by his side." As the StarClan battle patrols assembled, we all prepared to cross over. The living world appeared around us, hazy and transparent. I watched as, one by one, my Clanmates disappeared to join the battle in various parts of the forest. Soon, I was the only one standing there. I pricked my ears, listening for the sounds of battle. From a distance, I heard a familiar hiss. Sandstorm! The cat whom Firestar loved. If she was there, wouldn't Firestar himself be nearby? I broke into a run, and Sandstorm's scent, along with the scent of blood, hit my nose. Opening my jaws for a better sniff, I caught a trace of Firestar and the rank stench of the Dark Forest. As I reached a clearing, I saw Mapleshade, one of the oldest Dark Forest warriors, pinning Sandstorm down, ready to slice her throat open. "No!" I yowled, crossing over and throwing myself at the Dark Forest she-cat. A wave of panic suddenly hit me. I had no fighting skills whatsoever, what was I supposed to do? Acting instinctively, I clawed out at Mapleshade's eyes….and missed. She threw me off of her with a yowl, raking her claws across my belly and tossing me across the clearing. Pain shot through my body as my spine connected with a tree trunk. Dazed, I tried to push myself to my paws. My vision blurred and I saw a familiar ginger pelt burst into the clearing, helping Sandstorm to her feet. The also-familiar pang of regret pulsed through my heart as I saw the two of them together. "Why did you interfere?" Mapleshade hissed. "That is the cat who stole Firestar's love from you!" I half smiled, wincing in pain. Did she really think that I could hurt Sandstorm? Did she not realize that I couldn't hurt Firestar? "There was nothing to steal. Sandstorm made Firestar happy!" I retorted, lunging at the she-cat again. Mapleshade slashed back at me, and I flipped over, paws flailing. I fell to the ground, dizzy. "Spottedleaf?" Firestar's meow was the last thing I heard before Mapleshade's claws ripped into my belly and her fangs tore my throat open. "No!" Firestar leapt onto Mapleshade's back, clawing viciously at the she-cat's head until she fled, bleeding, from the clearing. "Spottedleaf? Spottedleaf!" He turned to me, his handsome green eyes clouded with sadness and terror. "No! Please, stay with me… you said that you'd be there to greet me in StarClan!" I shook my head and croaked out through my torn throat, "I'm sorry, Firestar, I can't walk with you any longer." My head felt so heavy. But then my entire body started to feel lighter and lighter as I started to fade. Yellowfang's scent appeared next to me. I couldn't see her, my vision was getting too blurry. "Let her follow her destiny, Firestar," she meowed gently. Firestar…oh, Firestar—I tried to open my jaws, to whisper those last words to him, to tell him how I felt, how I was forbidden to feel; but my body wouldn't respond. Just as my jaws parted, my body faded away and I knew no more.
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