The rabbit gave a shrill squeal, and went limp. Tigerclaw clutched it neatly in his jaws and raised his head triumphantly. His brown tabby coat glistened in the late moonlight as he dug a slight dip in the ground and carefully placed his catch inside. A rabbit in ThunderClan territory! I must be the luckiest cat alive.
"Excellent catch, Tigerclaw!" The brown tabby turned his head to see Whitestorm padding up to him. The snowy cat's tail was kinked over his back in delight as the rest of the patrol: Redtail, Mousefur, and Tigerclaw's apprentice Ravenpaw, appeared. Mousefur has a large thrush, Redtail had a plump vole, and Whitestorm had a family of mice delicately held in his teeth.
"I hate dawn patrols!" Ravenpaw spat. Tigerclaw suspected he was sulking because of his lack of prey. "We should still be sleeping!"
"Let's head back," the deputy suggested, crimson tail wavering. He ignored Ravenpaw. "Bluestar will be-"
"Hold up," Mousefur growled, narrowing her eyes at the nearby bushes. Tigerclaw's breath caught in his throat. Very close by, at Sunningrocks, he guessed, there were cat scents- from RiverClan.
"RiverClan is taking over our territory!" He hissed. "Come on!" Mousefur, Redtail, and Whitestorm nodded eagerly. Tigerclaw turned to the one cat who hadn't spoken. "Ravenpaw?"
"Why should we risk our necks for water?" The small black cat mumbled, only just audible to Tigerclaw. "That's RiverClan's specialty, not ours."
"There are mice in the rock cracks," Mousefur retorted. "And mice are our specialty, not theirs. Come on!"
Tigerclaw bounded through the brush without thinking twice or making sure Ravenpaw was following. He unsheathed his claws, ready for the anticipation of battle, when he stopped dead.
"Mousefur?" Redtail queried, turning towards the brown warrior. "Are you sure you scented RiverClan on our side?"
"Of course I did," she responded breezily. Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes.
"There's obviously no cats here," Ravenpaw loudly complained, stomping towards the bushes. Tigerclaw resisted the urge to tear his own ears off at how shrill his apprentice's voice was. "Let's head back before our prey is eaten by cro-"
"No, wait," Tigerclaw added, "I smell them too." Whitestorm leaned forward, listening. There was only the murmur of the river and the song in the reeds, but only RiverClan's stale scent remained.
"Tigerclaw is right," Redtail agreed, "but the scent is quite old."
"It might as well be a trap," Ravenpaw groaned, plopping down on his haunches. As if signal, The water gave a slight ripple, and sleek, water-drenched heads appeared. Tigerclaw saw Redtail open his mouth, but there was a screech from Mousefur and cats leapt up from the water, yowling.
Almost immediately, Tigerclaw was rolled off of his paws by a burly, reddish-brown tom. He flexed his claws and snagged his across the ear, splitting part of it down the middle. The tom hissed and staggered back. As he shook his head, Tigerclaw leapt at him and landed on top of him.
"Oakheart!" he realized, recognizing the RiverClan deputy from past Gatherings. "What reason does RiverClan have to hunt on our territory? Sunningrocks belong to us!"
"Ha!" spat Oakheart, cutting off in a cough as Tigerclaw dug his claws deep into his chest. "You're outnumbered!"
More and more sleek cats were swarming from the river until they looked more like a pack of ants than cats. Tigerclaw felt a wave of exhaustion overwhelm him.
"RiverClan may be plentiful in cats, but they are no match for ThunderClan," Tigerclaw snapped. Oakheart only replied with a smug grin as a she-cat gave a shrill scream. Mousefur! Tigerclaw groaned and released Oakheart without waiting for a reaction. The brown she-cat was pinned down by a skinny yet well-muscled tom, jaws eerily gleaming in the moonlight.
Tigerclaw leaped, claws catching on drenched fur. The tom rolled over with an angry yowl, and the two writhed on the stone ground.
"Run, Mousefur!" The brown tabby managed between swipes. He didn't see Mousefur's response, but in the next instance she was gone.
Suddenly Tigerclaw felt a stinging pain. The RiverClan tom leaned back, pleased. Tigerclaw curled his nose, only to feel the shocking realization that it had been sliced open. He snapped out, blinded by pain, and managed to grab his enemy's hind leg. He bit down until he was close to snapping the bone. The tom squealed, and Tigerclaw let go.
"We can never win!" came a thin wail from a Redtail. Tigerclaw turned around. For the first time ever, he saw the ThunderClan deputy looked defeated. His tortoiseshell fur was patchy and flaked with drying blood, and parts of his pelt were ripped off. His tail no longer looked the bright color it usually was.
"Of course we can!" Tigerclaw insisted, nearly wincing at the fake in his voice.
"Stop trying to convince yourself," Redtail scolded, tail drooping. "It's four warriors and an apprentice against a whole Clan. We have to-"
Before he could finish, a large shape bowled him over. Tigerclaw jumped in without a second thought. He recognized the split ear, still dappled with blood. Oakheart, you pathetic fish.
The tabby warrior reached out with a claw to give Oakheart another scar to remember, when another cat hooked onto his pelt and pulled him away. Tigerclaw twisted around to face his attacker, when there came a loud rumble from a nearby, ancient stack of boulders. Both Tigerclaw and the RiverClan cat released and backed away, wide-eyed. Other cats stopped fighting as the rumbling grew and the rocks began to shake. Tigerclaw scanned the clearing quickly, trying to pick out his Clanmates. There were only three RiverClan cats left that Tigerclaw could see. Only Ravenpaw remained from ThunderClan, and was well into a fight with a pretty silver apprentice when he broke apart. Whitestorm and Mousefur had most likely been injured and had to retreat. That left…
Redtail! Tigerclaw caught sight of the scarlet-tailed deputy, still locked intensely with Oakheart in battle. They were so caught up in the fight, that they didn't notice the trembling rocks near them.
"Oakheart! Watch out!" warned a RiverClan she-cat. Either Oakheart didn't hear her or he didn't listen.
"Redtail!" Tigerclaw bellowed, darting forward. "The rocks! They're going to fall!" Redtail, startled, stumbled back at the last minute. Tigerclaw leapt towards him, but a shower of rocks fell in front of him and debris flew up into the air. Tigerclaw stumbled backward, coughing and shaking out his fur.
"Redtail?" he rasped. There was no reply. The deputies were both invisible beneath the rocks. Ravenpaw appeared Tigerclaw, his heart beating just as fast.
"Is he alive?" the apprentice whispered. A pebble rolled away and landed by Tigerclaw's paws. Beneath the rubble, a red paw hung limply.
"He might just be shocked," Tigerclaw replied. "Come on, let's dig him out." Ravenpaw didn't respond, but grimly nodded and began digging at the stones. The three remaining RiverClan warriors exchanged a glance and leaned over to do the same for Oakheart.
Soon they head cleared enough so that Redtail could be seen, back facing them, eyes closed. Tigerclaw grasped his scruff in his jaws and hauled him out. Bits of rock and debris fell from Redtail's mangled pelt as he was gently placed to the ground. Tigerclaw rolled him over with one paw and gently prodded him. There was no response.
"He's dead," Tigerclaw announced, his voice as hollow as an empty log. Ravenpaw bristled and took a step back. Tigerclaw closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. He's never seen death before.
He barely heard Ravenpaw intake a sharp breath and turn and flee. Delicately Tigerclaw grasped Redtail's scruff in his jaws and dragged him across Sunningrocks. He wasn't far into the forest when he heard the cries of RiverClan as they found Oakheart had met the same fate.
Oakheart is dead, Tigerclaw thought grimly. But so is Redtail.