"Things that I said are suddenly swarming."

~•~•~•~•~•~

Before Dimstar could even bat an eye, Archangel's followers had swarmed into the camp. Battle cries and caterwauls filled the air, echoing through the tunnels. Hisses of fury grew louder and louder as the two groups clashed into a battle, forming a tornado of paws and tails.

Dimstar was blinded by the swarm of pelts that flashed in front of his gaze. He was frozen in place as if a blizzard had frozen him to ice. His jaws were gaped in shock at the events that had all happened before his eyes. His claws were unsheathed but no aiming towards his enemies throats. Instead, his claws scraped across the cave floor beneath him as he struggled to stand, his legs trembling with pure apprehension. His eyes were glazed as he was trapped in his thoughts, his ears pinned against the back of his head. Never in his life had the tom felt so lost and afraid.

The leader couldn't get his mind off of the turmoil that had taken place moments before the battle now taking place. If Dimstar had never made the mistake of staying with Peonyflight, would this all had been different? No, it wouldn't. Archangel and his followers would still invade due to the murder of a loyal follow. The question was, what cat was killed? Who had killed the cat?

Before Dimstar could swim deeper into his thoughts, a strong force slammed into him. It was as if the tom was thawed and was now able to move, but he was pushed back by the force. The russet tabby caught himself before he lost his balance and clenched his teeth, his pads sore from sliding across the rough, stone floor. He straightened his tail and regained his balance, his head lifting to face his enemy.

A familiar ginger tabby stood before him, her tail lashing to and fro. The she-cats throat rumbled with a ferocious growl, her yellow-green eyes flashing with overwhelming hatred and rage. She flexed her claws and her fur stood on end as she approached Dimstar slowly, her jaws parted to show her teeth as she breathed loudly.

At the sight of her, Dimstar's heart shattered into a million pieces. It was Sparrowblaze, the mate of Chirpbark's and a she-cat he had tried to push away when she came to the camp for her son. The tension between the two seemed to now increase, but Dimstar did not know why. The two used to be close friends before all of this had happened.

"Sparrowblaze! What are you doing here?" Dimstar asked, not wanting at all to hurt the she-cat.

The ginger she-cat's growl grew louder at his question, taking another step forward. "You should know why I am here! I am here to avenge Chirpbark, your group murdered him in cold blood! What did he ever do to any of you? He only stayed at EchoClan so he wouldn't put himself or his family in danger!"

Dimstar felt as if claws were digging into his heart. They were digging deeper and deeper, blood gushing from the open wounds in his heart. His eyes were round with a mixture of sorrow and shock, his breathing heavy at the she-cats words. Chirpbark had been a close friend of his before everything went to chaos, and to learn that he was the one murdered was heartbreaking.

"Sparrowblaze, I didn't know of this at all. I am sorry-"

"No! You aren't sorry!" Sparrowblaze spat, pressing forward to stand face-to-face with Dimstar. "A long time ago I remember you promising all of EchoClan that you will fight for them all and protect them all. You promised that you would never let another one of us fall. You let one fall! You let Chirpbark die! The worst part of it all is the fact that it was one of your group who murdered him! Perhaps even you!"

Dimstar parted his jaws to respond, but no words slipped off of his tongue at all. He was speechless and had no idea how to respond to the broken she-cat. She was right, and he kept replaying her words in his mind to take them in. He had broken his promise to keep them all safe.

Before Dimstar could release any type of reaction, the she-cat had flung forward. Her claws hooked his left cheek as she swiped her paw across his face. He winced in agony as blood trickled from the new wound upon his cheek. As Sparrowblaze lashed out her other paw, Dimstar jumped back to avoid the blow, his tail lashing.

"I don't want to fight with you, Sparrowblaze! I would never hurt you!" Dimstar hissed, the fur along his spine rising.

Sparrowblaze stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowed. A frown appeared on the she-cats face and she shook her head, a sigh escaping her. "You already hurt me, Dimstar."

Suddenly, a gray blurr flew by and slammed into Sparrowblaze. The two bundles of fur rolled across the cave floor, screeching and clawing in fury. Dimstar's eyes widened and his head snapped to the left to eye the two. A tall, gray she-cat now had Sparrowblaze pinned down, the two growling at one another as the ginger tabby struggled to free herself.

"Peonyflight! What are you doing!" Dimstar called, rushing towards the she-cat.

The medicine cat snapped her gaze over to the russet tabby, her gaze softening. "What does it look like? I am protecting y-"

Peonyflight was broken off when Sparrowblaze's hind legs pummeled her belly. The medicine cat yowled in surprise as she was kicked off of Sparrowblaze, but she managed to land on all fours a few fox tails away. Sparrowblaze scrambled back onto her paws and let loose a battlecry, racing towards Peonyflight.

She can't fight alone! Dimstar told himself. The leader bolted forward, his tail streaming behind him as he advanced Sparrowblaze. Leaping forward, the tom outstretched his paws and released a clamorous hiss. His claws dug into Sparrowblaze's hind quarters to hold the she-cat back from attacking Peonyflight. He never wanted to hurt her, but he wasn't going to let her hurt Peonyflight.

Sparrowblaze tried to wiggle free and tried to spin around to rake her claws across Dimstar's face. Peonyflight hissed and lashed out a paw, her blow successfully landing to slash Sparrowblaze across her muzzle. The she-cat shivered in agony, but reacted swiftly.

The ginger tabby kicked out her hind legs, slamming them into Dimstar's belly. The russet tom felt his claws fall loose from where they were dug into her hind quarters. He stumbled back and Sparrowblaze took the moment to throw herself back at Peonyflight. She collided into the medicine cat who fell onto her back when Sparrowblaze pinned her down.

Dimstar straightened his posture and lifted his head to eye the two she-cats. Sparrowblaze's jaws were fastened around Peonyflight's shoulder, and blood was gushing from the wound as Sparrowblaze held on with all of her might. Rage pulsed through Dimstar and he lunged forward, landing squarely on Sparrowblaze's shoulder. He rammed his hind paws into her side and then released his grip. The ginger tabby's grip was released from Peonyflight's shoulder as she was kicked off of the she-cat.

The rebellion leader stood defensively over the medicine cat as Sparrowblaze rose to her paws to face them. Dimstar and Sparrowblaze locked their gazes for a few moments, both of their eyes narrowed. Finally, Sparrowblaze growled and turned away, racing back off into the swarm of battling cats.

Dimstar stepped back to where he was no longer standing over Peonyflight anymore. He glanced down at the she-cat, who's eyes were shut as she trembled from the pain. There was a large bite mark left from Sparrowblaze, crimson liquid staining the fur around it. Dimstar clenched his teeth and nudged her other shoulder, the she-cats eyes reopening.

"Peonyflight? Are you okay?" He questioned the gray she-cat softly.

The she-cat winced but managed to now lightly back to Dimstar. "I am fine, it's not a fatal wound, it just stings really bad."

Dimstar released a sigh of relief and he nodded back to Peonyflight. He helped the she-cat back to her paws and allowed her to lean on him with her good side. He began to take a step forward as he glanced ahead, but he froze in his tracks at the sight of her.

The brown she-cat stood on the other side of camp, a few scars on her frame. She was panting, clearly exhausted from the fighting she was doing. Her eyes flashed with rage the moment it landed on her mate with Peonyflight leaning onto him. She began to make her way towards Dimstar, her tail lashing back and forth, and Dimstar's ears fell back.

After the incident before the battle, who knew that Cloverpool would say or do to him, especially with the fact that Peonyflight was leaning onto him. He prepared himself for her harsh words that stung like bees and scorched him like fire, but instead she froze in her tracks and their ears perked to a far too familiar yowl that sounded from the back of the camp.

Both him and Cloverpool locked gazes, terror washing over them. Their heads then turned to glance towards the back of camp, and it seemed as if everything froze around them.

"Let's make this equal, shall we? A death for a death."

~•~•~•~•~

A/N: This is getting too intense even for me despite the fact that I know what is happening. Anyway, I would like to also thank everyone again for 600 followers!