Warriors

Prologue- The clans are in danger- The Guardians are called forth again. But the world was not the only one in danger; their hearts were threatening to break apart too. Missing someone so much you collapse, having so much responsibility that you want to kill yourself. The Guardians are having a hard time while the dark forest continues to thrive. Winning only held a slim chance.

CHAPTER 1: INTO THE TERRITORY

Thunder let out a startled yelp as she stumbled on a thorn. It was embedded into her flesh, and she let out a whimper of pain. "Fire, it hurts!" She wailed in distress. Fire, her brother, an orange-brown tabby with striped fur, looking just like her, immediately slowed his steps to wait for his sister. His eyes were full of concern as he whispered, "Are you okay?" Thunder shook her head.

"It really, really hurts. Take it out please, Fire!"

Fire stared at the thorn. Blood was dripping slowly down the sides of the wound, and he frowned. He gripped the thorn firmly in his teeth, accidentally biting into Thunder's flesh, making her wince. Then he tried again, and pulled the thorn out with a quick tug. He spat it onto the forest floor, and looked at his sister.

"Thanks, Fire!"

Thunder's paw was still numb with pain, but it was better now, with the thorn out. They started padding forward again, at a slower pace since Thunder could not keep up with her wounded paw. They continued on, only to realize that their father and brother had gone. Fire growled in displeasure.

"Where's Rock? And Blue's gone too?" Thunder whimpered in fright. She pressed herself closer to her brother. Fire looked around and tried to scent them, but could not detect their scent at all; they were completely lost. They had stopped, standing in a defensive stance under a tree.

A loud, threatening growl sounded from behind them, and they spun around instinctively. They came face to face with five hostile cats, their claws unsheathed, their heads held high. Fire pushed his sister behind him protectively. He growled back boldly, even though he was terrified inside.

These were forest cats, wild and unpredictable; they could kill him with one swipe of their paws. Just thinking of them made him shiver inside. "Touch her and you die!" he spat angrily, his ears flattened. A dark brown tabby stepped out and he glared at Fire.

"Who are you and why are you trespassing?" He asked lowly, his amber eyes narrowed suspiciously. Fire bowed his head as he replied, "I'm sorry, we didn't know there was any cat here. We were just following our father but we got lost." The cat continued to glare at them with a cold, frigid stare. "Oh really? We didn't spot other intruders at our borders. Do not lie to us."

Fire sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "I'm not lying, okay? What do you think two kits can do alone? We obviously need our father!" He spat as if the tabby was a kit. He snarled back, "Fine. But you are coming with us, unless you want to die. Lionstar will decide what to do with you."

Fire and Thunder were hustled mercilessly back to camp. "What are we, hostages?" Thunder muttered crossly under her breath. Fire nudged her and whispered back, "Yeah. It seems that way." Thunder growled in slight anger. "Lionstar! We caught these two kits at our border," the brown-furred tabby cat meowed, dipping his head in respect as another larger and sleeker orange cat bounded down a high rock which jutted unexpectedly out of the ground at the center of the clearing.

He had an aura of authority around him, his posture radiating confidence. The other four cats who had 'captured' Thunder and her brother stepped back to reveal them. Lionstar's eyes glittered as he looked Thunder and Fire up and down. Then he shot a questioning look at his clan mates and another cat explained, "This one," he nodded towards Fire and he let out a soft growl, "said that they were with their father but got lost."

Another cat sniggered contemptuously, "Ha!" He let out a bitter snarl. "Would've got killed by now." The black she-cat beside him snorted in agreement, "Foolish flea-bags! At the rate they're going, their clan would be wiped out in a moon, no more!" Lionstar lashed his tail once. He growled lowly as a warning. "Quiet! We are not to talk ill about the other clans." The she-cat snarled softly, "But you know it's true."

Fire and Thunder, who had listened closely before, both stared at each other with identical horrified expressions on their faces. Fire's eyes narrowed suddenly and he spun around to face his captors. "Watch it. That's my father you are talking about. He won't be killed easily, you hear me?" Fire rasped, his voice slightly hoarse. His eyes flashed with anger.

"Come with me, kits. Warriors, you can rest now. Have some fresh-kill, there's a gathering tomorrow," Lionstar ordered and turned, padding to a well-hidden nest under the huge rock. Paw steps sounded behind them and Lionstar paused as he waited for the cat to catch up. "Lionstar! I heard about the kits... oh, hey there! I'm Cloudstorm, deputy of Thunderclan." Lionstar's tail twitched irritably. "Come on, then, Cloudstorm."

The four cats squeezed into the den and tried to make themselves comfortable. Lionstar curled his tail over his paws and started, "So, you say you came with your father?" Fire nodded confidently and replied, "Yes. And our brother too." Lionstar continued on. "Your father might have been killed by now. You see, there are four clans in the forest- Thunderclan, Shadowclan, Windclan and Riverclan. They are merciless, especially Windclan now that Lonestar had taken over. We-"

Fire snarled in annoyance and lashed his tail as he spat, "Why are you even telling us this? It's not like we'll ever join you, these heartless mange-pelts!" With that he stalked out of the den, his expression bitter and sad. Thunder padded after him, her tail at his shoulder. "Calm down, Fire." She tried to soothe her brother but ended up unsuccessful. She herself was still trying to get over the fact that they're father was dead. Fire seemed to read her mind and stopped suddenly.

"Do not," He growled, "Think that Rock is dead. He isn't! He can fight!"

Thunder whimpered, never having seen her brother so angry before. She cowered and bowed her head, trying to make herself as small as possible. Fire's eyes softened as he licked her ear apologetically. "Sorry, Thunder. I'm just hurt that they would say such a thing." Thunder's heartbeat returned to normal as she realized that Fire was not angry anymore.

"What are we going to do now, Fire? We can't get out of here; the other cats will fight back. We can't go back to that twoleg place too, I'm scared of Lang. Can we stay here, please? Just for the time being until they find Rock?" Fire frowned at her sister, looking incredulously at her as if she was mad.

"Do you have bees in your brain, Thunder? These are the cats that captured us. You want to stay with them?" Fire tail swiped in a circle, gesturing to the cats around him. "These-These flea-pelts who could kill us? Are you kidding me, Thunder?"

Thunder's tail drooped in disappointment and the light left in her eyes. She settled down and laid her head on her paws. "I'm sorry, Fire. I wasn't thinking. So where do we go now? It's almost dawn already." Fire looked around them- long shadows stretched everywhere, creeping silently towards them. Thunder was right.

Fire sighed. "Hey… you haven't told me your name yet!" Cloudstorm meowed as he padded over to them. Then he blinked, as if he had just realized something. "Oh well, since it's going to be dark soon, why don't you stay for the night? Maybe we can teach you some defense moves so that when you leave-" Fire rounded on him with a hostile snarl as he bared his teeth in disgust. "I am not going to stay so get that into you thick head you stupid furball!"

Thunder's tail tip twitched in annoyance as she finally got up and spat, "Fire, why can't you understand? These cats aren't dangerous unless you provoke them! Can't you see they aren't going to hurt us? We can't go anywhere now! Why can't we just stay?" Fire's eyes widened at his sister's outburst. Then he growled and spun around. Stomping to the entrance of the camp, he left with an angry swish of his tail.

"Since you like it there so much, why don't you just stay?" Fire thought, hurt. How could she say that? Maybe she had not cared about him after all. She only thought about herself, didn't she? Fire was getting angrier by the minute. His mind was not on where he was going, and by the time he scented the other cats, it was too late.

"What are you doing in our territory?" A low growl erupted from his throat after he asked that question. Before Fire could even move a muscle, the cat screeched and the cats beside him yowled and flung themselves onto Fire. His mouth opened to speak but suddenly a large gray tabby leaped at him and clawed his shoulder. Stop! He wanted to scream. But the pain was too great, and he kept his jaw and eyes shut tight.

Sharp pain pierced his shoulder; he let out a whimper as pain swamped him. He swiped his paws feebly in front of him but the pain was blinding. The cats were all over him. His lungs were screaming for air. Get off me! He thought desperately, clawing blindly in the air. Someone scratched his nose, leaving a stinging, burning sensation behind. It felt as if someone was shoving daggers into him. He clenched his jaw in pain.

Suddenly, the weight of the other cats was lifted on him and he could breathe again. He heaved in great breaths of air, but he had lost too much blood. Fire was exhausted. He could faintly hear someone calling out to him. His weak reply was a soft, tired sigh, "I just want to sleep…"