Author's Note: Ehh… I have nothing to say other than enjoy lovelies~
The half-moon's pale gleam graced the granite boulders and pebbles that fell beside the river. The river's black water slapped against the rocks silently. The night was quiet. Not even a water vole could be heard scuttling over the slippery rocks.
A slight disruption in the water caused ripples to flow through the river and make the first noise in the twilight. Large shadows began emerging from the river with water falling off of them. More large silhouettes appeared on the rocks surrounding the river, as if lured to the figures appearing from the water. Claws and amber eyes glinted in the low lighting the moon let off. Everything was silent.
The moon's light shined on the figures as they clashed in a flurry of claws and fur. The large canines erupted in growls and roars of fury. The once silent night was immediately filled with the furious cries of the large hounds. A silent command had unleashed an all-out battle into the midnight hours.
At the heart of the hostile fighting dogs a large German Shepherd was struggling to pin a Redbone Coonhound to the ground. The big reddish dog underneath the Shepherd was putting up twice the fight under the heavier hound, clawing at the looming dog's underbelly and biting at the paws pinning him down.
The larger dog seemed to have enough and lashed out at the smaller dog before letting out a particularly threatening growl.
"Oakheart! How dare your mutts hunt on Sunningrocks? You and your warriors don't belong on ThunderPack soil!" the Shepherd seethed.
The red hound smirked up at the dog hovering over him.
"Foxclaw, after tonight, Sunningrocks won't be a part of ThunderPack territory. Sunningrocks will belong to RiverPack, and RiverPack only," the Coonhound spat out the last bit in anger.
That remark obviously angered the large Shepherd because he reared back to lunge at the RiverPack warrior. Just as he was about to bite down on the rivaling warrior, with what would have been a nearly fatal bite, a shrill shriek from one of his own packmates called out, "Watch out! More RiverPack are coming!"
Foxclaw immediately whirled around and watched as dozens of wet canines rose from the water bringing the telltale scent of wet-dog with them, the scent of RiverPack. The hounds jumped into the battle without a second thought, not even stopping to rid themselves of the water weighing down their fur.
Oakheart, having been let go by the distracted Foxclaw, saw his chance and lunged at the ferocious ThunderPack warrior. Foxclaw dodged at the last second and once against started wrestling with the fish eating river-dog.
"Your mutts may swim with the fish, but you do not belong in our forest!"Foxclaw hissed out after pinning the struggling agile dog.
The large ThunderPack warrior got ready to lunge again before a familiar pain-filled scream reached his keen ears. A few feet away, an Otterhound with his curly fur heavily dripping with water was hovering over a small ThunderPack she-dog, her light brown and white fur matted with fresh blood. Her weak underbelly was exposed to her opponent and the Otterhound had no qualms with getting ready to damage her fatally.
Foxclaw jumped off of Oakheart with a final kick at his opponent before dashing over to his nearly doomed packmate. The German Shepherd pounced on the Otterhound, successfully knocking him off of the Brittany dog.
"Quick Mousefur! Run!" the Shepherd shouted.
The wounded she-dog nodded before wincing from a particularly deep shoulder wound. Mousefur turned and limped away as fast as possible. Foxclaw immediately turned back to the RiverPack canine and began attacking him. The Otterhound was no pushover however, and managed to slice the German Shepherd's nose rather badly. Foxclaw yowled out in pain, momentarily blinded by the searing pain and his own blood flying through the night air.
After regaining his bearings, the large dog let out a frustrated growl and lunged at the nearest limb of the Otterhound. He sank his fangs into the hound, eliciting a high whimper of pain and strong claws trying to break his hold on the other's hind leg.
"Foxclaw!"
The yowl brought the large canine back to earth. He unwillingly let go of the RiverPack member's leg and half-turned away from his wounded opponent to a red Chesapeake Bay Retriever with a particularly bright red tail. Once the canine saw he had the other's attention he called out again.
"This is worthless! There are just too many RiverPack warriors!"
A spark seemed to have been set off within the German Shepherd and he immediately bounded over to his packmate.
"No Redtail! ThunderPack shall not be beaten! Definitely not on our own territory!" Foxclaw shouted at his fellow ThunderPack packmember, ignoring the blood from his cut nose overriding his sense of smell and pooling into his mouth.
"We have lost too many warriors already Foxclaw. ThunderPack will honor your perseverance, but Bluestar would not want us to waste anymore lives to a useless fight. We will seek revenge later," the ThunderPack deputy spoke out evenly.
The two large ThunderPack members shared an amber gaze, one filled with wisdom and regret, and one filled with fury and betrayal.
Redtail turned away and leaped onto a high boulder.
"Halt ThunderPack! Retreat!" Redtail howled.
Most fights came to an abrupt stop. The strong and brawny ThunderPackers fleeing so easily? It was unheard of. However, many ThunderPack warriors drew away from their fights and began toward their deputy. The RiverPackers remained mostly silent until Oakheart jumped up onto another boulder and howled out.
The RiverPack dogs listened to the howl before joining in on the triumphant symphony. The ThunderPack hounds began retreating faster, disappearing into the underbrush and the safety of the trees.
Redtail watched from his perk before he joined his retreating warriors.
Foxclaw stayed back and was the last of his pack to retreat. As he reached the underbrush, he sent one last glance over the battlefield. Amber eyes glinted with fury before disappearing into the foliage.
Later that evening, after most everyone in the pack had went to sleep, an old Shepherd took her leave. The nighttime darkness surrounded the lone canine and her fur was occasionally ruffled by the wind. She was just staring up at the stars. To her, they seemed to be blinking in and out at her; winking at her. But she couldn't make out a message from the stars.
The only sound she could make out was the light breathing and snores from her fellow packmates in their dens, slumbering away their problems. Was it that easy? Could one just sleep their troubles away? She wasn't sure herself.
Paws steps came from behind the hound, leaves crunching loudly through the night. The old dog's ears picked up slightly to show she knew the other was there, but made no move from watching the stars.
"Bluestar."
The worried whisper finally roused the English Shepherd from her musings. Bluestar looked over at the slightly smaller dog before her. The Australian Shepherd's brown marbled coat was absolutely beautiful in the moonlight but her amber eyes shined in absolute anxiety.
"How is Mousefur?"
"Well…," the Medicine Dog began scuffling her paws and staring down at her paws, "Her wounds are rather deep. Those RiverPack warriors don't jest in the slightest during battle…"
She frowned down at her paws and received a forlorn expression from her leader.
"However," she said, looking up at Bluestar with a small reassuring smile, "Our warriors don't play around either. She is young, there is no doubt in my mind that she will recover quickly Bluestar."
The English Shepherd let out a heavy sigh of relief. She had been rather worried for the small warrior's health after she had limped so pitifully into ThunderPack camp with the others.
"And everyone else…?"
The Australian Shepherd smiled lightly at her leader once more.
"They'll be fine as well."
Bluestar let out another sigh of relief before looking into the other she-dog's eyes. She smiled gratefully at one of the dogs in her pack she trusted the most.
"We are in debt to you, Spottedleaf, for the lack of death of our warriors during this battle. This was a truly hard battle, and StarPack knows we couldn't handle any more deaths. Thank you Spottedleaf." Bluestar whispered gratefully to the smaller canine.
Spottedleaf scuffled her paws with a kind smile once again. The other Shepherd let out another sigh before going back to look at the stars.
"I am worried though, Spottedleaf. ThunderPack has not lost any battles on it's own territory since I have been the leader." Bluestar grimaced, her own insecurities starting to flow into her mind along with the heavy feeling of dread from the overall outcome of the battle. There had been so much blood… As soon as the patrol walked into camp, Bluestar had been assaulted with the smell of blood. They were truly lucky to have not lost any warriors this time.
"And not only that, but ThunderPack itself has been doing poorly as of late. There are few pups and little prey. Training our young takes many many moons to accomplish, moons that we just don't seem to have. ThunderPack will need more warriors if we are to survive." Bluestar spat out almost hopelessly.
A calming wet brown nose nudged into the leader's shoulder. Amber eyes looked up into her friend's light blue. "Everything will be fine Bluestar. It is only Newleaf after all. Once Greenleaf comes, everything will be fine once more. There will be more pups and prey. ThunderPack will survive."
"Maybe…," the reply from the English Shepherd was but a whisper and she went back to wistfully staring at the stars.
"Are you… Are you asking StarPack for answers?" The young Medicine Dog asked, slightly surprised.
The older canine nodded. "At times like these, we need the knowledge and advice from our ancestors the most."
The younger dog nodded as well and followed her leader's example and searched the starry sky.
"Have you received any messages from StarPack recently Spottedleaf?"
The young dog's eyes widened slightly at the question before she went back to scuffling her paws in shame.
"Not… Not for some moons Bluestar." She admitted embarrassedly taking a quick look at her leader from the corner of her eyes before looking back up at the sky.
A bright light lit up the black nighttime sky. Amber eyes widened and a loud gasp escaped the Australian Shepherd. The shooting star shone in brilliant hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and even whites. Spottedleaf's fur bristled and the scene of the forest on fire entered her mind. It should have been burning the forest to the very ground, but the flames seemed to lick up the trees harmlessly. The trees seemed to even grow stronger and livelier from the fire's finicky flames. And then it was all gone. Spottedleaf was left staring at nothing but the starry sky, but she couldn't shake the image from her mind.
Bluestar had seen the comet and Spottedleaf's severe reaction to it. She looked over to her packmate in concern and waited for her to recover from whatever it was that was ailing her.
"It's a message from StarPack. Fire alone can save the pack." The marbled Shepherd whispered wistfully while looking dazedly at her leader.
"Fire?" Bluestar asked incredulously, "But… Fire is feared by all packs. It can only destroy. How can it help us?"
Spottedleaf shivered, remembering how the fire had rejuvenated the forest so quickly in her vision.
"I…," Spottedleaf whispered, "I'm not sure Bluestar."
Spottedleaf looked absolutely crestfallen and let some fur cover her eyes in shame.
"All I know is what StarPack has shown me."
Bluestar looked at her Medicine Dog, still slightly miffed, but calming down rather quickly. Who was she to question what StarPack had chosen to show to Spottedleaf? If StarPack had given the Medicine Dog the message then it must be true.
"You have never failed me before, Spottedleaf," Bluestar began, comfortingly touching the younger hound's shoulder with her own black nose, "If StarPack has chosen to show you that message, then it must be so. Fire will save our pack."
Both dogs stood in the deserted clearing, the light breeze ruffling their fur in the dead of the night. Whatever would happen from then on out, ThunderPack would be prepared. They would survive.
End Note: I hope you all enjoyed, and I would love if you reviewed. I'm sorry about the length. But it was only the prologue. I didn't really have much to work with. See you all later lovelies~