"Moonstar, we all know how much MoonClan is suffering these days." Dovesong continued, "We must help them rid the forest of Swoopstar. He had brought the dogs to their territory. I'm almost positive they had less than ten warriors to protect them."
DawnClan warriors let out yowls of strong approval. Moonstar still didn't look convinced. Then she let out a long sigh.
"I can obviously see that you agree with Dovesong," Moonstar meowed, "And I trust every one of you. Shimmerlake, what do you think of DawnClan's decision?"
Shimmerlake dipped her head, showing her approval. "I think our warriors are strong enough to kill the dogs, and rid the forest of Swoopstar. If appropriate, kill the mouse-brained fool. We do owe them for saving the lives of Rowanheart, Rivertail, and Thornbristle."
Rowanheart sat up a little higher at the mention of his name. He even purred a little, showing he was definitely fully recovered. He would be ready for battle when the time came. Squirreltail, his closest friend, shoved him, and teased, "Stop showing off, Rowanheart."
Rowanheart smiled and shoved his friend back, but then returned his gaze to Moonstar. She was still silent and then she continued. "Then it's settled. We will leave at moonhigh."
When she lifted her tail, the clan was dismissed. Rowanheart padded back to the warriors' den for some extra sleep before the battle. He'd been feeling a bit tired from his restless night last night.
He was aroused when it was nearly moonhigh by some argument going on in the clearing. He padded out of the rocky den and sat down on the ledge. Moonstar, Shimmerlake, and Spottedstorm sat looking at each other, though Shimmerlake looked relaxed. Spottedstorm looked quite embarrassed and upset. Moonstar her eyes were burning with sadness. Something had happened to Spottedstorm. She was Moonstar's closest friend, and had been since they were kits.
"Moonstar," Spottedstorm meowed, sounding much more confident than she looked. "I want to leave DawnClan to help rebuild MoonClan. These kits…"
Spottedstorm paused and then continued more slowly, "Don't belong to DawnClan."
Moonstar looked horrified and slightly betrayed. She kept her eyes burning into Spottedstorm like a fire.
"Their father is Stormtrail. He is and always has been." Spottedstorm meowed. "I didn't mean to fall in love with him, but it just happened that way. After my brother died, he lightened my days, reminding me so much of him… I'm sorry Moonstar, but this is my decision. I want to be with Stormtrail and bare my kits in his Clan."
When Moonstar was silent, Shimmerlake meowed, "It's your decision Spottedstorm. We will miss you terribly. If this is what you please, we would never hold you back."
Spottedstorm leaned forward and touched noses with Shimmerlake. "Thank you, Shimmerlake."
Moonstar shook her head, as if to clear it, and looked away from Spottedstorm. "It is finally moonhigh! Let's get moving!" She turned to the cats of her clan and yowled, "Dogwhisker, Honeydew, Smokyheart, Lightningclaw, Buzzardpaw, and Thornbristle, stay behind and guard the camp. The rest of you are coming on the attack."
Buzzardpaw let out a yowl of disapproval, "Why does Sunpaw get to go and I can't?!"
His mentor, Lightningclaw whispered to him, "What if the dogs come here and the rest of the clan is away? What will happen to the elders and Shimmerlake with no cat to defend them?"
After brief hesitance, Buzzardpaw nodded.
Rowanheart leaped down from the rock to join the battle patrol. He joins Squirreltail and Willowtuft as the patrol starts out of camp. We race through the forest after Moonstar, until we come across the trench. The fallen tree is our only aid across and we must go one by one. Moonstar starts off, followed by the rest of the clan. Rowanheart didn't even feel scared as he padded across the thin log. He'd crossed the log so many times, it seemed natural.
Soon enough, they were in front of the MoonClan camp. Rowanheart could see the dogs at the edge of the camp, looking like they were having a conversation with one another. It just sounded like a bunch of barks and yips to the cats. No cat was in camp except Swoopstar and Fishleap, who he'd probably forced out of the den. They were having a heated conversation, their fur bristling. My breath stopped as I saw the fallen heap of fur from Fishleap's mentor, and the MoonClan medicine cat, Firegaze. His eyes were shut tight and he was bleeding from the side. Compared to Swoopstar, both of the cats looked small and frail. Swoopstar must be the only fully fed cat in their clan.
"Now," Moonstar whispered, "Thistleflame, Birdscreech, Shellfur, you will help me defeat Swoopstar. Whiteberry, Reedtail, lead the cats out of the camp. Make sure that the kits, queens, and elders are safe. Take the warriors with you too; it looks like none of them are in any condition to fight. Stripeclaw, Minkfur, Rowanheart, Squirreltail, Willowtuft, Sedgetuft, Breezepool, Badgerstripe, Waterlily, Sunpaw, Splashtail, Hawkfeather, and Dovesong, attack the dogs, take out the big ones first. Got it?"
The warriors around Rowanheart, and he joined in, adrenalin raced through his fur. He clawed at the ground as he waited. "Let's go," Moonstar meowed. She obviously didn't want to frighten the MoonClan cats.
Moonstar turned and pounded into the camp, closely followed by every other cat. Yowls of battle rung out around Rowanheart as he raced toward the dogs. The cats around him leaped on the two larger dogs, the smaller ones attacking from the sides. MoonClan started to rise and let out cries of distress. Rowanheart heard the furious howl of Swoopstar as he got attacked.
He caught sight of Whiteberry leading the elders out of their dens and sneaking out through a hole in the camp border.
Rowanheart attached to the large dog, ripping at its fur with his claws. He was almost immediately splattered with the dog's blood. The huge brute barked in protest and anger as the cats attacked. Rowanheart sliced its ear and it squeaked like a small kit. Then it immediately fought back, grabbing Rowanheart by the neck and throwing him off. Pain shot through his fur as he landed on the ground about two fox lengths away. He got back to his paws and ran back into the battle.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fishleap and another MoonClan cat carry Firegaze out of camp while Swoopstar wrestled with the four cats. Swoopstar grabbed Moonstar by the throat and threw her a foot or two, her blood splattering the grass.
"Moonstar!" Rowanheart yowled and leaped to his leader's aid. He raced over to Moonstar, her eyes were closed and her breath was shallow. Her breath slowly became hoarse and she stopped breathing. She was losing a life, or worse, all of them. Birdscreech had realized now, and started battling harder. He almost immediately ripped his throat and his ear. Swoopstar fell limp and collapsed on the grass.
One of the larger and smaller dogs had fled into the forest, bleeding heavily. Now only a large black and brown pointy-eared dog and a smaller fluffy golden one with floppy ears remained. The large one was putting up quite a fight for a dog. It was bleeding everywhere, but so were the MoonClan warriors.
"Take care of her, Shellfur," Rowanheart mewed as Shellfur padded over, "I have to help the others." Shellfur dipped her head and started to lick her leader's wounds to clean them. She nudged her face a little to arouse her, but nothing happened. Feeling sympathy, he padded away then broke into a run after the larger dog. By now, the smaller one was fleeing, and only the big one remained.
Rowanheart bit down hard on its lard tail, making in yarp in pain. Dovesong and Hawkfeather both went for its eyes as a plan while it was distracted. Its eyes got flooded with blood as the two cats clawed them. It shook off the remaining cats and pounded into the forest after the others. Rowanheart let out a yowl of triumph, followed by every other DawnClan camp.
"Go find Whiteberry and Reedtail, and bring them back to the camp," Dovesong ordered Badgerstripe, who didn't have a scrape on him. He nodded and bolted into the forest after their scent trail.
Before we knew it, every MoonClan warrior was back in their camp. Stonewing, the deputy, was in the head next to Reedtail and they were talking.
When Stonewing caught sight of their dead leader, who'd lost every one of his lives from a bite to the neck, he almost looked like a large boulder had been lifted off his shoulders. "H-He's dead…" He whispered, "Thank you, all of you; you did something we were too afraid to do."
"We lost our own leader in the process," Rivertail's voice was nearly a squeak as she mentioned her mother's death.
"I'm so sorry," Stonewing meowed, "We really are grateful, though. She was young, and she didn't deserve to die because of us. I'm so terribly sorry…"
"It's okay Stonewing," Dovesong whispered, "I know Moonstar. She would've fought just as hard even if she knew what was going to happen. She would've still sent a battle patrol to save your clan. We're not warriors if there are only three clans. The forest was never meant to have only three clans."
"Thank you," Stonewing paused a moment, "Dovestar."
Dovesong looked a bit surprised, as if she forgot she was to become leader. Then she relaxed again. "You're more than welcome, Stonestar."
Stonewing dipped his head.
"Dovestar! Stonestar! Dovestar! Stonestar!" The two clans coursed.
Rowanheart joined in to welcome the two new warriors to the clan. The only thing he wasn't expecting was to be named deputy when they returned to camp.