Battle against BloodClan (TDH)

The battle against BloodClan was an event that took place in The Darkest Hour. Tigerstar brings BloodClan to the forest to take control of all four Clans, however, is killed by their leader, Scourge. Scourge, in turn, gives the Clans three days to leave the forest as he intends on taking the forest for BloodClan. Firestar, Leopardstar, Tallstar, and Blackfoot unite their Clans to face the threat and on the third day, meet BloodClan in battle to defend their territory.
==Summary==
===Premise===
thumb|left|200px|Tigerstar sought out Scourge's help in taking over the forest.
:Tigerstar brings BloodClan to the forest territories to help further his plan of ruling over the forest and the four Clans. Having struck a deal with their leader, Scourge, Tigerstar offers him a share of the territory in return. At Fourtrees, the Clans and BloodClan meet and Firestar reveals Tigerstar's treachery to the cats of the forest and Scourge. Scourge reveals what he knows of Tigerstar's plan and that he was unaware of what had failed, this prompting Tigerstar to attack the tom when BloodClan doesn't follow his command. Scourge kills Tigerstar with a single blow. Before rejoining his cats, Scourge delivers the Clans an ultimatum; leave the forest in three days or meet BloodClan in battle.
===Overview===
:The battle starts when Scourge snarls attack to BloodClan, and Firestar does the same for LionClan. The battle is brutal; many cats are killed or are heavily wounded. Darkstripe is the first known cat to die, killed by Graystripe with a blow to the throat that no cat could have survived. Bone, the BloodClan deputy, kills Whitestorm, ThunderClan's deputy, but Bone doesn't live long after his victory. He is killed by a swarm of apprentices from all four Clans. Firestar is killed once by Scourge, but Scourge, unknowingly, thought he had killed Firestar for good, and is shocked when Firestar regains consciousness. Firestar and Scourge lock into battle again, and Firestar is triumphant in killing Scourge, and BloodClan leave the forest. LionClan, as a result, is disbanded and separated into four Clans once again.
==Description==
===The ultimatum===
:Tigerstar takes over ShadowClan following his exile from ThunderClan for his first attempt on Bluestar's lives. He executes a plan to use a dog pack to drive out his former Clan. However, his plan fails at destroying ThunderClan, although it does end up taking Bluestar's last life, killing Swiftpaw, and seriously injuring Brightpaw. Unsatisfied, Tigerstar merges ShadowClan with RiverClan to create TigerClan and builds an alliance with the Twolegplace rogues, BloodClan, and their leader, Scourge.
:He pressures both WindClan and ThunderClan to join the alliance, however, both Clans refuse the offer. Tigerstar initiates an attack on WindClan to threaten them into joining TigerClan. Both Firestar and Tallstar agree to meet with Tigerstar and his Clan at Fourtrees the next day. There, the Clans are introduced to BloodClan and Tigerstar's deal with Scourge is revealed. Firestar takes the moment to reveal Tigerstar's crimes to all the gathered Clans. Scourge decides that he and his cats would not fight that day, prompting Tigerstar to attack him for being a traitor.
:In a single moment, Scourge severely wounds Tigerstar to the point that the tom loses all nine of his lives. BloodClan's leader announces that he and his Clan will instead be staying in the forest and gives the Clans three days to make their choice to flee or fight.
===LionClan rises===
:In the following days, Firestar and Tallstar agree to fight against the BloodClan invaders. Leopardstar agrees to fight as well with the rest of TigerClan. Firestar merges the three Clans to create LionClan. On the third day, LionClan, led by Firestar and the others meet Scourge and BloodClan at Fourtrees. Firestar and Scourge exchange quick pleasantries before launching the Clans into battle.
:Firestar launches himself at Scourge, but the BloodClan leader dodges to the side and lets a big tabby fight for him. As Firestar fights the tom, the rest of LionClan spring into battle. Firestar tries vainly searching for Scourge, knowing that victory would be easy once the leader was dead, but he was nowhere to be seen.
:Firestar fights his way to the Great Rock, starting to grow tired. He faces another rogue when Darkstripe appears and shoves the tortoiseshell BloodClan cat away. Firestar initially thinks Darkstripe has finally realized his loyalties, but Darkstripe just wants to kill Firestar himself. They fight until Graystripe joins and kills Darkstripe.
:Graystripe and Firestar both see Bone stand over Whitestorm. Bone starts to attack Bramblepaw, who then returns the challenge alongside fellow apprentice Ashpaw. Firestar says goodbye to his dying deputy, and with his last breath, Whitestorm tells Firestar that Graystripe was always destined to be deputy. Firestar names Graystripe the deputy of ThunderClan.
:Bone manages to struggle free from Ashpaw and Bramblepaw, but more apprentices appear, including Featherpaw, Stormpaw, and Tawnypaw, who all overwhelm Bone and kill him where he stands. Jaggedtooth attacks Bramblepaw, but drops him when the other apprentices attack, and flees with the apprentices charging after him. Firestar looks around and realizes they are losing, and searches again for Scourge, finding him at the base of the Great Rock.
===Firestar and Scourge===
:Firestar leaps across the clearing towards Scourge, and Scourge jumps at him. Firestar rolls with the impact on top of the BloodClan leader, but Scourge easily wiggles away. Firestar ignores the pain from his reinforced claws and leaps forward, flinging the small tom into the Great Rock. Scourge is stunned at first, but then gets up, and strikes the death blow on Firestar, taking his first life.
:The ThunderClan leader opens his eyes and realizes he is lying on the grass of Fourtrees, the cats that gave him his nine lives in front of him. Whitestorm is there too, and welcomes Firestar. The StarClan cats inform him he has lost his first life. Firestar is impatient when the StarClan cats tell him he must wait so his body can heal before returning to battle. Soon, Firestar awakens to see Cloudtail fighting Scourge. Firestar shouts for Scourge to face him. Scourge is shocked, and Firestar sees a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. Firestar immediately understands that without belief in StarClan, Scourge cannot receive nine lives, and has only one life to lose.
:With his body healed, Firestar charges at Scourge with all of StarClan running besides him and dodges the killing blow that took his life before, raking his claws at Scourge's side. Scourge flings himself at Firestar, trying to use the same move that killed Tigerstar. Firestar draws back just in time and manages to grip near the base of Scourge's tail, and both cats became a rolling tumble of teeth and claws. When they separate, Firestar realizes that blood is spilling out of his body, and needs to finish the battle soon.
:Firestar thinks of an old trick and crouches down as if defeated. Scourge lets out a triumphant yowl and leaps at him. Firestar leaps at his belly and sinks his teeth into the small cat's throat. He keeps pummeling him until the cat's thrashing grows weaker. He raises his paw for the death blow, but realizes that Scourge is dead. Two BloodClan cats realize Scourge is dead, and as the panic rises, the BloodClan cats flee, ending the battle.
==Aftermath==
:As the BloodClan cats flee, Firestar spares a glance to the Clan cats around as he watches many gather around their medicine cats for treatment. He sees there is no longer any need for LionClan and officially disbands it, allowing the four Clans to coexist once again. Leopardstar and a group of RiverClan cats walk up to Firestar and thank him and also tell him that they are returning to their camp to treat their wounded and grieve those who were lost. It is also revealed that Mistyfoot is the new RiverClan deputy and that both Stormpaw and Featherpaw would rejoin their home as the Clan would need new warriors.
:Blackfoot is the next cat to congratulate Firestar and answers the tom's question that he would take ShadowClan home and prepare for his nine lives ceremony. As the ShadowClan cats take their leave, Firestar looks for WindClan's leader, Tallstar, and fears the worst when he doesn't immediately find the black-and-white tom. The other leader soon appears from the bushes, panting hard from a chase. The ThunderClan leader demands to know what was happening, fearful that BloodClan had returned. Tallstar tells him not to worry as it was WindClan that had chased them off, past the Thunderpath. The WindClan leader also thanks Firestar as he takes his leave to rejoin his remaining warriors in the clearing.
:In the following moons, BloodClan once again decides to attempt taking the Clan's territory. While Graystripe is left in charge of ThunderClan, BloodClan's new leader, Fury decides to attack them. However, ThunderClan is prepared due to the help of a cat named Gremlin, and manage to drive off the invading cats once again. Upon Firestar's return, some BloodClan cats still linger on the outskirts of ThunderClan territory in Twolegplace, stealing prey from hunting patrols that edge the border.
==Legacy==
:Seasons after it was fought, the battle against BloodClan was remembered by the Clans due to its lasting effects on those that fought in it. The battle would become a cautionary tale for warriors to recall to those too young to remember it. It serves as a moment of unity and strength and is recalled as such by ThunderClan's warriors. As time goes on, slowly it becomes less apparent as fewer cats fought in it, and recollections of it, become mentions of BloodClan's leader, Scourge only.
==Characters==
===Firestar===
:Firestar assumed leadership of ThunderClan following the death of Bluestar caused by a pack of dogs led by Tigerstar. He learns of Tigerstar's plan to try and control the Clans at a Gathering and following an attack on WindClan, agrees to meet him at Fourtrees. There, Firestar reveals Tigerstar's crimes to the Clans and BloodClan. After his greatest enemy's death, Firestar finds himself needing to fight Scourge to save the Clans. He manages to rally WindClan first, and with persuasion, he gains allies in the remnants of TigerClan (the allied forces of RiverClan and ShadowClan). He forms the four Clans into LionClan to face BloodClan on what was considered the final day.
:He leads the attack with the support of Leopardstar, Blackfoot, and Tallstar. Firestar fights triumphantly in battle, however, soon recognizes that if Scourge isn't killed, they would never win. He loses a life to Scourge in an attempt to kill the rogue leader. However, revived by StarClan and given guidance by them, Firestar manages to kill his greatest adversary, ending the fight altogether. As he and the Clans embrace their victory, Firestar decrees LionClan disbanded and that the Clans could once again return to their territories.
===Scourge===
:Scourge had his own personal agenda to deal with against Tigerstar, having been plotting his revenge for years. The chance came to him when the tabby tom came to Twolegplace seeking to make an alliance that included offering BloodClan a share of forest territory. Scourge took the offer and took his Clan to the forest to meet with the other Clans at Fourtrees. It was there that he killed Tigerstar after hearing of the tom's crimes against the Clans and when he foolishly thought he controlled BloodClan. Having exacted his revenge, Scourge sought to take claim of the forest for himself and BloodClan.
:He gave the Clans the choice to leave or to die, giving them three days to make their decision or to meet in battle on the fourth. Scourge led his Clan of rogues against LionClan. He there managed to take Firestar's first life, thinking he had one against the forest cats. However, Scourge soon lost to the Firestar, who used the rogue's lack of belief in StarClan to win the fight. BloodClan is left in shambles in the wake of his death as they are left to scramble back to Twolegplace as the Clans chase them off.
===Tallstar, Leopardstar, and Blackfoot===
:Tallstar from the beginning avoided the alliance with Tigerstar, and his Clan suffered from an attack from the allied TigerClan. He was there supporting Firestar and his decisions the entire time and was ever grateful for what the ginger tom had succeeded in doing. The WindClan leader aids greatly in the aftermath of the battle as he and his warriors chase the remainders of BloodClan from the territory. He also supports Firestar's decision to disband LionClan as he takes his Clan home.
:Leopardstar and Blackfoot, however, were apart of Tigerstar's alliance in the form of TigerClan. Leopardstar having made the decision to do what was best for her Clan and their survival. Following the death of Tigerstar, Leopardstar took the step forward and continued to lead TigerClan as best as she could with her fallen spirit. She made the decision to ally the Clan to form LionClan and fought alongside them with her RiverClan warriors. Following the victory, Leopardstar and RiverClan return home to their old camp to care for their wounded and mourn their deceased. Blackfoot, on the other hand, takes ShadowClan home and prepares for his leadership ceremony to become the official leader of ShadowClan following the past few days.
:In the end, all three of the other Clan leaders supported Firestar's leadership of LionClan as he saved them all from BloodClan's destruction. They all also saw the necessity of disbanding the Clan following the battle, and without question returned home to their individual territories to continue on with Clan life and rebuild.
===Tigerstar===
:Following his exile from ThunderClan and rise to power in ShadowClan, Tigerstar wanted to rule the forest for himself. He secured an alliance with RiverClan to create TigerClan and recruited the aid of BloodClan to further his power. However, his alliance with Scourge and the cats of Twolegplace would be his downfall when he mistakenly believes he has control over them. Despite being killed before the great battle, Tigerstar was the entire catalyst for it to begin with. By bringing BloodClan to the forest and attacking Scourge all those years ago, he unknowingly caused his own death and brought the worst hardship the Clans had seen straight to them.
==Gallery==
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
===Continuity===
*Vicky says she thinks that Deadfoot and Runningbrook died in the battle against BloodClan. However, both cats appear in subsequent books.
==See also==
*The Darkest Hour
**The Darkest Hour/Cliffnotes
*Blackfoot's Reckoning
**Blackfoot's Reckoning/Cliffnotes
*BloodClan
==Notes and references==
cs:Bitva proti Krvavému klanues:Batalla_contra_el_Clan_de_la_Sangrefi:Taistelu Veriklaania vastaan (PH)fr:Invasion du Clan du Sangit:La battaglia contro il Clan Del Sanguepl:Wielka Bitwa (PP)ru:Битва за лес (битва)uk:Битва проти Кривавого Клану
Category:Events
Category:Battles
Category:The Darkest Hour
Category:Blackfoot's Reckoning