"The world can be a nasty place. You know it, I know it."

~•~•~•~•~

To see his own son pinned beneath his despised enemy, was the most devastating thing Dimstar had ever seen.

The scene was terrifying, and it made the leader's heart pound faster and harder against his chest. His breathing was loud and his jaws were gaped in shock. A shiver traveled down his spine which sent his fur up along the way. He felt frozen yet again, and speechless. Dimstar's world crumbled yet again below him, and he was slowly falling into darkness.

Peonyflight was still leaning onto Dimstar, but moved most of her weight off of him. Her ears were angled forward and her eyes widened at the sight before them all. Cloverpool was still a few fox tails away from Dimstar, and when he turned to look at her his heart snapped. She was still staring ahead, frozen in her tracks as her eyes clouded with tears and her shoulders dropped. Cats were now moving away from their battles, Archangel's followers moving behind him while the rebels gathered behind Dimstar, Peonyflight, and Cloverpool.

Dimstar's gaze snapped back to the scene ahead of him. Archangel was standing tall, his paws placed firmly down on Quailpaw to hold the apprentice down. Quailpaw was struggling to free himself, grunting as he hissed and spat at Archangel. The white tom above him only smirked deviously, his eyes glinting with a bloodthirsty rage.

"Archangel, move away from him now. We can talk through this peacefully. No cat has to die, again," Dimstar spoke up, his ears pinned back and his eyes shifting into slits.

A dark, amused chuckle escaped the tyrant and he rolled his eyes. With a shake of his head, he released a sigh. "Oh Dimstar, what true cowardice you hide inside. Since when do expect anything to be handled peacefully by yours truly? One of you monstrucous rebels murdered one of the most loyalist warriors of mine, and you expect me to move on from that? You expect me to sit down and share fresh-kill with your pathetic excuse for a leader?"

A growl rumbled in Dimstar's throat but he swallowed it back. His eyes scanned down Archangel until they landed on his son once more. Quailpaw had stopped his struggling, and was now staring over at his father. The two locked gazes, and a shiver of pure apprehension and worry washed over Dimstar when he recognized the agony in Quailpaw's eyes. It was if the apprentice was calling out for help, his desperation and fear rising more and more within every moment.

"I didn't say it had to be that way," Dimstar replied, glancing back up at Archangel. "I can help you all, and we can work together to finding out what cat murdered Chirpbark. Then, you can kill that cat instead. Quailpaw is perfectly innocent, he doesn't deserve any harm at all."

Of course Dimstar would offer to attend to that plan instead. He would do anything to keep Quailpaw alive, even if it meant discovering who the murderer was and executing then, despite the fact that it may turn out to actually be a cat within the rebellion. Quailpaw was too young to die, so near to finally becoming a warrior. He wouldn't let his son down at all.

"But what if your son isn't as innocent as he seems?" Archangel questioned with a smug smirk, glancing down at the brown and white apprentice below him. He moved one of his paws to place it on the back of Quailpaw's neck, his claws unsheathed.

Dimstar's eyes widened and he felt his heart's pace begin to pick up speed. He parted his jaws instead but that was when a yowl emerged from the crowd behind him. A black and white tom leaped forward and stood in between Cloverpool and Dimstar. He lifted his head and pulled back his lip in a snarl, his eyes flashing with hatred.

"Get off of him, Archangel! He doesn't deserve to be hurt like you do!" Splashsky hissed, his ears folding back.

Archangel's gaze automatically zoomed over to Splashsky. His eyes shone with satisfaction and he grinned at the black and white warrior. "Why, aren't you Splashsky? I have heard about you multiple times from some patrols and former EchoClan members. You have a close connection to this tom right here, don't you?" Archangel questioned curiously, glancing down at Quailpaw again.

Splashsky clenched his teeth tightly and glanced over at Dimstar for a second. The two held their gazes for a moment, and then the warrior turned back to Archangel. He took a step forward and lashed his tail to and fro. "Yes, we do. I love him with all of my heart, and I would never want to see him undergo any pain."

Quailpaw glanced up at Splashsky, his eyes sparking with tears as he caught the tom's gaze. Splashsky smiled back at Quailpaw, sniffing back his sorrow. The newer warrior then glanced back up at Archangel, his eyes narrowed.

Archangel's visage remained plastered with a smirk. He twitched an ear and snorted in amusement at Splashsky's words. Shaking his head, the white tom sighed and glanced down at Quailpaw.

"None of you can ever come to an understanding, can you? In this world, love never works out."

Before Splashsky could reply, Archangel began to dig his claws into Quailpaw's neck. The apprentice let loose a screech of terror and pain, struggling to escape the white tom's grasp. Blood began leaking from the wound forming slowly in the back of his neck, and Dimstar's eyes widened.

"No! Get off of him!" Splashsky cried, racing forward to stop Archangel from digging his claws deeper into Quailpaw's neck.

Archangel's head snapped up and he clenched his teeth his frustration. He turned his head to eye his followers and spat out a command. "Stop him! Hold all of them back!"

Automatically at his command, multiple cats charged forward, two breaking off from the others and racing towards Splashsky. They surrounded the black and white warrior and stopped him in his tracks. When Splashsky tried to escape them, the two lunged forward and pinned the newer warrior down.

Dimstar growled when another yowl emerged from Quailpaw. The russet tom was filled with determination to save his son and may Archangel pay for laying a claw on Quailpaw. Charging forward, Dimstar kept his gaze focused on Archangel and Quailpaw.

Suddenly, a black she-cat slid out in front of him. She lifted a paw and swiped it out at Dimstar, but the tom still charged her way. Before his blow could land, Dimstar ducked under her paw and slid past the blow. Once his posture was straight again, he jolted to the side to shove the she-cat out of his way.

Dimstar hastened his pace as he began to near Quailpaw and Archangel. Suddenly, a force slammed into his side and Dimstar yowled in surprise, tumbling to the ground. He rolled until a cat leaped over to pin him down, it's force strong and heavy. The leader glanced up to eye the cat who pinned him down.

It was a pale, ginger she-cat with luminous, green eyes. She had a muscular build, and her eyes were flickering with hatred and rage at the sight of Dimstar. "Oh Dimstar, trying to be the hero, for once?"

Dimstar growled and tried to lift himself up and her off of him, but she applied more force to him to keep him pinned down. "What do you mean? Why are you even siding with Archangel! He is only using all of you to get what he wants!"

"What do I mean? Well, I thought you were the type of cat who decides to jsut stand there and watch as others suffer. I would know from my own experience," The she-cat whispered in a cold, menacing tone to Dimstar.

"What did I do to you-"

"Stop your struggling and yipping. Don't you want to watch as Archangel murders your precious son?" The loyalist snickered, placing a paw on Dimstar's forehead to turn his head to face Quailpaw and Archangel.

Dimstar's eyes stretched to full moons as he watched a pool of blood begin to form around Quailpaw's neck. Blood began to stream from his wound and down the side of his neck, dripping off the edges of his fur like rain dripping off of leaves. His claws began to scrape across the cave floor as he found it hard to fight back, his life source practically slipping loose from him slowly. Archangel had dug his claws further into the back of his neck, but not fully. Quailpaw glanced Dimstar's way, the frantic look in his eyes calling for help. He was calling for help, loudly and clearly, but Dimstar couldn't save him.

Before anything else could occur, a loud yowl emerged from the crowd. Every cat froze in their tracks and glanced in the way of the source. It wasn't a yowl of agony from Quailpaw and a cry coming from Splashsky, but instead it was a yowl to gain every cat's attention.

Dimstar's gaze followed Archangel when the rogue leader stopped and gazed in the yowl's direction. The rebellion leader's eyes widened when his gaze landed on Flamepaw, the she-cat standing in the center of the crowd. Her ears were perked and she was gazing Quailpaw's way, her eyes brimmed with tears. Archangel growled loudly in annoyance at the apprentice's disturbance.

"Flamepaw! What do you need? Can't you see I am tending to something important," Archangel spat, his tail lashing like a snake lunging for its prey.

Flamepaw's ears pinned against the back of her head. She shook her head rapidly and glanced down, hesitating. "I-I...Don't kill him! He doesn't deserve this! I-I...I am..-"

"What! Spit it out already!" Archangel demanded impatiently.

"I-I..."

"Come on! I don't have all day!"

"I am the one who killed Chirpbark!"

Silence rippled over the crowd at Flamepaw's sudden announcement. Dimstar gasped out in shock, his heart pounding in his chest. Was Flamepaw the one who actually murdered Chirpbark or was she lying to save Quailpaw from certain death?

"You're lying," Archangel spoke up, his eyes flashing with vexation at the apprentice.

"I'm not lying," Flamepaw growled back through clenched teeth. "I went out a night asking Chirpbark to assist me in investigating the border, saying that I scented something strange there earlier in the day. While he was distracted, I managed to pin him down. One, fatal wound and I murdered him. It was all me."

Archangel's eyes narrowed and he scanned his gaze over Flamepaw. Dimstar could tell by the look in his eyes that he still did not fully believe Flamepaw, but the tom sighed and released his claws from Quailpaw. He stepped off and beckoned the she-cat that pinned me down and a tom forward to Flamepaw.

"Let's get out of here, the rebels learned their lesson. We're done causing enough turmoil in their camp and most likely wasting our energy for no reason. You two, keep watch over Flamepaw as we move back to camp. EchoClan, let's go home!"

The white tom flicked his tail and led EchoClan away, the rebel crowd clearing a path for them all. The she-cat who had Dimstar pinned down released her grip from him and raced off. Dimstar glanced after them and once they disappeared, he instantly scrambled back up to his paws and glanced over in the direction of Quailpaw.

Splashsky was already at Quailpaw's side, and Cloverpool was rushing over with Peonyflight following. Dimstar felt his eyes grow wet with tears and he raced over to his son, mixed emotions consisting of sorrow and worry twisting up inside of him. Once at his harmed son's side, he sat beside Splashsky and pressed close to the black and white tom to comfort him.

Quailpaw wasn't dead but he was obviously suffering. His flank rose and fell every other minute, and his eyes were fogged with agony and melancholy. Splashsky began to cry softly beside Dimstar, and the russet leader wrapped his tail around his son's lover.

He sighed and hung his head, shaking it back and forth. They had all failed Quailpaw, especially Dimstar.

Now he was dying slowly, but so was Dimstar's heart.

~•~•~•~•~

A/N: 2065 words of pure hurt and sorrow.
Sorry guys but I have no extra tissues. I used them all while writing this.