"Littlecloud, stand up straight." Tigerstar hissed into the small black and white toms face. He instantly stood straight, his bristling fur betraying the calm in his eyes.
"Shadowtail, hold your head up higher." He hissed to a black tom. Shadowtail instantly held his head higher.
"Spiritpool, get the right herbs together, and don't mess it up." He growled to the brown and black medicine she-cat. She nodded and glared after him, claws digging into the ground.
"And you, Thistleclaw, fix everything about yourself." Tigerstar hissed into my face. I yowled In rage and slashed his muzzle. I would not be made a fool in front of him. Ever since that dreaded sickness arrived at Shadowclan, to many warriors had died, taking our leader and deputy with it. Our last resort was for him to become our leader. He growled and pinned me down.
"If you ever do that again, you'll never see the light of day again." He spat. I glared at him with eyes filled of defiance, but said nothing more. He jumped off me, and continued to mock the other warriors, telling them what and what not to do.
"Now, we will lead two patrols onto thunder clan territory, and then have the third patrol to come in if I give off the alarm. The first patrol will be lead by me, and I will have Littlecloud, Thornpelt, Briarheart, Ambergaze, Sunheart, and Dawnpelt." He announced, glaring at each and every one of his warriors.
"The second patrol will be lead by Nightbreaze, and will take Nightstreak, Tawnypelt, Thistleclaw…" He broke off and let his gaze linger on me for a pasecond before continuing.
"Flametail, Oceanwave, and Sandfur." He finished and looked at all his warriors.
"The third patrol will be all of the apprentices, and led by Blackpaw." He stalked away after letting all the warriors and apprentices get settled into they're groups. Blackpaw was the biggest and oldest of all the apprentices, and had the nastiest bite. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with him once he was a warrior. My fur bristled at the thought of taking ANOTHER clans territory already. Windclan returned, which meant we were no longer aloud to hunt on they're territory, and Tigerstar just wouldn't hear of it. I really didn't want to harm any of those cats, and I knew that Tigerstar wouldn't stop his warriors from killing a kit that had gotten in they're way. A small shiver passed through my pale brown fur.
"Are you ok?" Sandfur asked quietly, his ginger fur glowing in the light of dawn.
"F-fine… I just don't want to hurt any cats right now, not when its been so peaceful… besides, we have enough prey as it is, why drive out another clan so we can stuff ourselves silly with they're prey?" I replied, looking into his comforting gaze.
"I know how you feel… but its not like we have any choice." He hissed back. I nodded sadly, and turned back towards our leader who was just finishing his boring speech about how Shadowclan would soon have all the forest to itself. I rolled my eyes slightly.
"Lets go then." He hissed.
We followed Tigerstar out of the tunnel, the queens, elders, and kits watching after us helplessly. Spiritpool stood by her apprentice Rosepelt, shaking her head grimly. I had a strong admiration to Spiritpools bravery and wisdom. I flicked my ear in farewell to her, and she nodded back. Rosepelt flicked her tail goodbye, and I nodded at her. She was one of my closest friends, aside from Oceanwave, Flametail, and Sandfur.
We neared the tunnel that went under the thunderpath and onto the other side of it. One by one the cats slipped through it and popped out on the other side, finding they're place in the patrols they were assigned to. Finally, it was my turn. I shuddered at the horrific smell of the monsters and dashed through the dark tunnel, out towards the other side. I reached the woods, and crept as far away from the thunderpath as possible. Memories of how Whitethroat died hung in my head, clear as if it had just happened yesterday.
I lifted my head, and checked the air, seeing if any Thunderclan patrols were out. I picked up a trace of they're musky odor, but it was stale. I sighed. Was it wrong to question whether we had enough cats to drive off Thunderclan? I shook my head to clear the thoughts building up in my mind, and waiting for the last apprentice (Redpaw) to climb out of the tunnel. When we had all gathered into our proper groups, we set off at first a trot, which slowly grey to a full on trot towards the thunderclan camp. We crept silently towards the camp when it came into view, the first two patrols setting off on each side of the camp. The process wasn't to just burst into the camp, it was to creep up on them, and take out as many cats as possible before being discovered. I found myself in the apprentices den, and found a single white tom curled up in his moss bed. I watched Sandfur sneak his way into the medicine den, and I turned back to my kill. A swift blow to the neck was all it took to make the small apprentice go limp and stop breathing. A sharp pang of unhappiness hit my heart, but I pushed it away, and continued looking for easy prey. A queen lay curled around her kits behind, what I supposed, was the nursery, and a feeling of regret weighed in my stomach like a stone.
Before I could touch the queen, Nightstreak sank her teeth into her neck and killed her, but not before she let out a wail that echoed through the camp. In a flash, I was in full on battle mode with a black tom twice my size, but not even a fraction of my speed. I scratched and bit his flank and back, twisting and turning away from his bites. He didn't lay a blow on me at all, before I gave him a hard bite on the shoulders that sent him streaking out of the camp.
I had no time to catch my breath before a ginger she-cat bowled into my side, knocking the breath out of me. She stupidly took a second to look me over, giving me time to regain my breath and pin her down. I bit her ear while clawing her now exposed belly. She wailed in agony and tore out of the camp when she could no longer take it. I turned around and saw Brackenpaw fighting a big black warrior, trying desperately to land a blow on him. I leaped onto the warriors back and dug my claws into his shoulders. He let out a yowl of rage and fell limp beneath me. I wasn't fooled. When he pushed up, I was fully prepared, and sank my claws deeper into him, scratching something that might have been bone. He wailed and clawed his way free of my grasp, fleeing the camp. The clan we had attacked was fleeing they're territory, and the numbers we were fighting rapidly grew smaller and smaller, until they're was only one cat left. Bluestar.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the broken leader." Tigerstar growled, standing in front of his tired and injured clan. My leg and flank stung from a couple of claw marks the she-cat managed to land on me.
"You drove out my clan Tigerstar, I will not let you leave this clan unharmed!" She yowled, her fur standing on end, matted down with enemy blood. I felt Sandfurs warm pelt press up against mine, and looked over at him. His eye was swollen shut, and he was walking on three legs. He had been through a lot more then I had.
"Bluestar, don't think I've forgotten how you only have one life left. It'd be a pitty if you lost it." He replied calmly. Fear flashed through the Thunderclan leaders eyes, but quickly was replaced with defiance.
"I would go down fighting." She retorted, raising her hackles.
"Then lets fight." Without another word, the two leaders locked in a ferocious battle, of claws and teeth. I don't know how long it went on, but finally, Bluestar sank her teeth into Tigerstars neck. He went limp in her grasp, and she dropped him on the floor. He now had 8 lives left. Hopefully he would be at 1 soon.
"Looks like your still not very smart." She spat on the leader. His flank began rising and falling again. He jumped up, anger flashing in his eyes. He tackled the Thunderclan leader, and clawed her sensitive belly. She yowled in pain, and surprise. He sank his teeth into her shoulder, and killed her without mercy. A feeling of utter sickness rose in my throat, and I turned to bury my head into Sandfurs neck. He gave me a comforting lick on me ear, and turned to glare at our horrific leader.
"Good hunting in Starclan, Bluestar. Travel safely." I silently prayed. The last ray of sunshine shone on the blue-grey body of Bluestar, answering my prayers.
"Shadowclan, mark your scents along this territory. Its ours now." Tigerstar yowled to his clan. The cats nodded and set out into the forest, beginning to leave they're odor on trees, and rocks.
Starclan, help us!