A Dark War
Chapter 1
Moonlight shone through the trees, casting shadows. A small silver and white tabby she-cat with fatigued dark blue eyes stumbled behind a patrol of three other cats. A pale gray she-cat with blue eyes padded beside a larger gray tabby she-cat. A lean golden tabby tom with amber eyes led the group. The gray she-cat turned, "Ivypaw! Try to keep up, for StarClan's sake!" "I'm trying, Cinderheart!" the gray and white cat who stumbled at the rear called back. "Try harder!" Cinderheart snapped. Suddenly, a twig snapped. The golden tom at the front stopped and perked up his ears. "Can you sense anything, Dovepaw?" he breathed so no one else could hear. Dovepaw focused for a second, and then whispered back urgently, "ShadowClan warriors at the abandoned Twoleg nest!" The tom raced through the trees, surprising Cinderheart and Ivypaw. "Hey, wait up!" yelled Cinderheart as Dovepaw ran after the tom. Ivypaw staggered after Cinderheart. I could've been in the Dark Forest training now! She thought bitterly as she gave chase, Not practicing some useless night hunting! The sight at the abandoned Twoleg nest when she arrived quickly changed her mind.
"Dovepaw, go get Graystripe's patrol to help!" the tom ordered. "Okay, Lionblaze!" she quickly replied before zooming off through the trees. "He's by the WindClan border!" Lionblaze called after her. Lionblaze then turned to face the ShadowClan warriors as Cinderheart and Ivypaw arrived. The sleek ShadowClan pelts cast shadows on the wooden boards of the abandoned Twoleg nest behind them. A ginger tom separated himself from the four other cats. "Lionblaze, we thought you'd like to know that from now on, the clearing, the Greenleaf Twoleg place, and all your territory along the old Thunderpath up to this Twoleg nest now belongs to ShadowClan." "In your crow-food induced dreams, Rowanclaw!" Lionblaze snarled back. With a screech, Rowanclaw barreled into Lionblaze. The other ShadowClan cats charged Cinderheart and Ivypaw, who took two each. The battle had begun.
Cinderheart slashed and clawed, sending a ginger tom apprentice staggering away. Then a tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes that Cinderheart recognized as Tawnypelt leapt onto her. The two were fighting in a whirlwind of fury. Cinderheart barely noticed the minor injuries she was getting every few seconds. Then Cinderheart tripped over a root jutting out of the ground. She fell on her back. In triumph, Tawnypelt called to the ginger tom Cinderheart had wounded earlier, "Come on, Starlingpaw, lets take this ThunderClan scum-" She was cut off as a golden blur slammed into her, throwing her across the length of the Twoleg nest. Lionblaze bore down on Tawnypelt, and forced her back into combat. "Thanks!" Cinderheart called after Lionblaze before rushing to go back to Starlingpaw.
Ivypaw was having the time of her life. She was fighting Oakfur, a small brown tom and the most senior warrior in ShadowClan. His apprentice, a cream and gray tom named Ferretpaw fought by his side. Ivypaw was easily holding them at bay with her training from the Dark Forest. She laughed as Ferretpaw dove at her vainly. Ivypaw stepped aside and let Ferretpaw slide by her. She knocked him on the head with sheathed claws before parrying an attack from Oakfur. Suddenly, Rowanclaw, the deputy of ShadowClan, was beside Oakfur. Ivypaw suddenly found it a little harder to keep the two warriors at bay. Then Ferretpaw leapt back into the fray, and Ivypaw soon found herself cornered against the faded, peeling wooden walls of the abandoned Twoleg nest. Suddenly, there was a yowl, and Dovepaw and a long haired gray tom, Graystripe, started fighting alongside Ivypaw, driving the ShadowClan cats back. Ivypaw caught glances of the dark brown tabby tom Dustpelt and the pale ginger she-cat Sandstorm fighting Tawnypelt. Sandstorm's green eyes flashed as she viciously clawed Tawnypelt's back, leaving deep scratches. Nearby, the golden brown tabby tom Brackenfur was assisting Cinderheart take down Starlingpaw. Lionblaze came to help fend off Rowanclaw and Company. Then Rowanclaw's yowl cut the air, "ShadowClan! Retreat!" The ThunderClan cats stopped as the ShadowClan cats scrambled for their border. "Don't come back!" Lionblaze yowled after them. He turned back and watched the ThunderClan cats lick their wounds. Lionblaze was splattered in blood, but none of it was his. Dustpelt had a torn ear, Graystripe had a front claw yanked out, Ivypaw had a small claw mark, Sandstorm had a longer one down her belly, Cinderheart had a scar around her eyes, Brackenfur had a torn ear like Dustpelt, and Dovepaw was favoring her back paw. Graystripe started to give orders once they had rested for a few minutes, "Brackenfur, Dustpelt, go make sure ShadowClan hasn't stayed in our territory. Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Dovepaw, and Ivypaw, go see Jayfeather. Me and Sandstorm will go make sure no other ShadowClan cats are around." Dustpelt and Brackenfur dipped their heads and headed for the ShadowClan border. Ivypaw sighed and fell into step beside her sister Dovepaw, the adrenaline draining from her system.
Jayfeather sighed and rinsed Lionblaze off with water from the pool in the medicine den. As the blind medicine cat, he was always under much pressure. "Lionblaze, couldn't you just get hurt on purpose so no one finds out about your powers? Cinderheart came in a few days ago and asked why you're always splattered in blood that's not your own and you are never injured a few days ago." "So I'm supposed to go up to my opponent and let him beat the StarClan out of me?" Lionblaze asked sarcastically. "Yes," snapped Jayfeather, "how else can you do it?" Lionblaze was so taken aback he simply shut up. Jayfeather finished cleaning him up and thrust him outside the medicine den into an unamused Cinderheart. She sighed, "Jayfeather, why is he never hurt! It's so weird! Shouldn't he have at least something!" The gray tabby tom replied, " I'd be grateful that my friend was so good at not getting hurt, Cinderheart." He flashed Lionblaze an I-told-you-so look, his blind blue eyes glittering. Cinderheart rolled her eyes and padded away.
Firestar, a ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt, and the leader of ThunderClan, listened intently as Lionblaze finished his report. Behind him, Brambleclaw, a dark brown tabby with amber eyes, and the deputy of ThunderClan, paced at the back of Firestar's den. Firestar was silent after Lionblaze stopped talking, but Brambleclaw was furious, "How dare they try to take our territory!" he snarled, tearing at the floor of the den. Lionblaze stared as the cat he once thought was his father until recently vent his anger. It wasn't too long ago that Lionblaze found out that Brambleclaw and a certain dark ginger she-cat with green eyes named Squirrelflight weren't his parents. His real parents were a light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes and Crowfeather, a dark gray WindClan tom. Leafpool, his mom, was the former ThunderClan medicine cat. The truth came out finally, and with terrible consequences. Brambleclaw, who had always thought Lionblaze and Jayfeather were his sons, broke up with Squirrelflight and had never communicated with her since. Having love with a cat from another Clan was forbidden, and medicine cats were forbidden to love as well, so Leafpool had to step down as a medicine cat. She was now the weakest, least confident warrior in ThunderClan. Crowfeather, who had found a new mate in Nightcloud, a black WindClan she-cat, now had quarrels with her, and Breezepelt, a black tom with amber eyes, and the offspring of Crowfeather and Nightcloud, was embarrassed, his life ruined. Worst, Hollyleaf, a black she-cat with emerald eyes, and Lionblaze and Jayfeather's sister, couldn't bear the the truth, and tried to escape through tunnel network that ran underneath the Clan territories to start a new life. Lionblaze had discovered the tunnels as an apprentice with Heathertail, a light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes, and Lionblaze's former love. Now Lionblaze and Heathertail hated each other after Lionblaze broke it up. Anyway, the tunnel entrance collapsed on Hollyleaf as she had run in, and she died. Now Lionblaze and Jayfeather hated Leafpool more than anyone else, and Squirrelflight came second on their hate list. Back to the story, Firestar finally spoke, "We need to increase border patrols on the ShadowClan border, and I'll mention it at the next Gathering." "Is that enough?" Brambleclaw challenged, "They took a huge slab of territory! Increasing patrols is too mild an action!" Firestar met Brambleclaw's glare, "If their is reason to take more drastic action, I shall do it. For now, increasing patrols is enough." Brambleclaw cursed and stormed out of the den. Lionblaze stared after him, an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Firestar shared his uneasiness.