Warriors - A New Era : After the Fire

Prolog

The clearing was calm and still, nothing but the sounds of a few grasshoppers and a lone owl. The trees on both sides showed the opposing forests, one made of pine with marshy land below filled with frogs. The other was made of deciduous trees and carried many sleeping squirrels in their nests located in the trees. The rival Clans were below the trees and on the ground. Each of them waiting for the signal. There was a new moon above them and the stars against an endless black sky were the only source of light.

The two opposite sides of the clearing held numerous cats. Some about to experience their first battle and some who had been in too many battles to count. Both sides held their ground, not moving an inch. The command had not yet been given to attack. To come out of their hiding places. Their eyes were mere orbs in the distance, only illuminated when they looked to the sky or made contact with another pair. But all of their eyes were wide open. Alert to every twitch and flicker. They were not about to be taken by surprise.

As cats looked across the clearing that would soon become their battle ground they became inpatient. Their tails lashed back and forth with anticipation. Their burning hatred for each other kept them fired up, but they would wait until the signal came. Nothing could make them attack any sooner. These two had one of the longest rivalries the Clans had ever seen, and this battle was but another page in their history.

None of the cats left any shadows against the tall grass and undergrowth. The very air between them seemed to be filled with thunder. Like lightning, they began their attack.

The pine wood dwellers sounded the begin. But the squirrel eaters followed instantly with their own battle cry. They both were swift and equally fast as their charged for each other. Mere moments before they collided the clearing came alive with the sounds of their screeches, hisses, and yowls.

Claws ripped through fur and met skin and blood welled up from the wounds. Fangs sank into shoulders and legs and painful cries escaped many of the fighting cats. Two cats were fighting each other on their hind paws, slashing and clawing like they were from the mighty LionClan. Another pair was tussling against each other in the grass both had blood on their fur pelts.

A large broad shouldered dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes stood in the middle of the fight. He had just sent a black she-cat running away hissing with some real wounds to think about. One of his own, a light brown tabby tom, was being over come by two warriors. One had a dark grey pelt and the other was grey and white. The dark brown tabby tom rushed for his Clan mate and pulled the dark grey tom off of him. He raked his front claws against his shoulder and flung him back in the direction of his territory. He then slammed his shoulder against the grey and white tom. The opposing tom had been taken by surprise and fell right into the paws of a waiting tom with a cream colored pelt, his tail was only a small stump. The cream colored tom bite down the the grey and white tom and the two of them were quick to fight each other.

"Quick Birchfall, run!" The dark brown tabby tom called to his Clan mate.

Birchfall ran away, back into the familiar trees he called home. Blood was starting to flow heavily from his side wound. The amber eyed tom turned to see who else was in need of some help. He turned to only see another of his Clan turning to flee into their tree line. She had multiple wounds and was going to need to be under the care of their medicine cat. Her tortoiseshell and white fur was wild and she had a frantic look in her eyes. "Please let Blossomfall make it back to camp alive." He whispered and glanced at the stars above once she had disappeared from his view.

"Bramblestar!" An angry voice sounded from behind him. Bramblestar turned to see a large white tom with one jet black paw stalking towards him. "Did you really think you could beat us? Beat ShadowClan in a battle?" He asked him with daggers in his voice. The large tom's eyes had a dark evil glare in them, it could make a cat flinch. But not Bramblestar. Not the new leader of ThunderClan.

"Blackstar." Bramblestar spoke with a cold hard chill. "You started this all with crossing the border and taking our prey. It is only right for ThunderClan to attack you." He paused as the other leader inched closer. The four other ThunderClan warriors were still fighting as their leader circled the leader of ShadowClan.

"We will take whatever I see fit!" Blackstar spat back at him. He was an old battle scared tom with a history of violence. Bramblestar could hear that the fight was not going well for ThunderClan. They would have to unleash all of their energy and make this a victory for them. "Now Bramblestar, I will show you what it feels to lose a life" He bellowed and then launched himself at Bramblestar.

But before he could attack Bramblestar, the ThunderClan leader flicked his tail, the signal for the second wave of warriors to join the fight. Six other warriors charged into battle, two of them plowed into ShadowClan's leader. There were three apprentices in this fight, Amberpaw, Dewpaw, and Snowpaw. They were a little of three and currently the oldest apprentices of ThunderClan. Bramblestar had been watching their training before the battle and said that if their mentors thought they were battle ready he did too.

Dewpaw and his mentor Whitewing were charging at Blackstar again. He was going to be overcome with them as well as Ivypool and her apprentice Snowpaw. The four of them were tearing Blackstar to shreds. They were working very well as a team, two of them would go for a fake swipe with a paw while the others actually ripped into him.

Suddenly something dense slammed into Bramblestar. Pain flared up on his shoulder and he immediately went onto the offensive side. He recognized his attacker to be Tigerheart, his sister Tawnypelt's son. Even though they were kin Bramblestar would give him some good wounds to think about. With one large stride he swiped Tigerheart's legs out from under himself and the other tom was ready. He rolled as Bramblestar went to claw at him but he was already rolling away. Bramblestar arched his back and prepared himself to pounce on the younger tom. He was careful not to let his eyes betray where he would land. Tigerheart bunched himself together and Bramblestar saw that he had a scratch on his flank already. Bramblestar launched himself forward but not into the air. He used his powerful hind legs to propel himself forward with great speed. He dashed straight for Tigerheart. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Amberpaw leap into the air.

Her pale ginger fur landed squarely on top of Tigerheart. She sank her teeth into his scruff and her thorn sharp claws dug into his pelt. He let out a yelp and Bramblestar torn his claws into the warrior's flank and made his previous injury a whole lot worse. Bramblestar then spun on his front paws and lashed his back two out and kicked Tigerheart hard in the side. He turned his head over his shoulder to see Amberpaw jump off of the ShadowClan warrior and land safely on the ground.

Bramblestar scanned the clearing. There was some blood that had been spilled on the grass and it looked as if ShadowClan was about to be beaten. They only had two warriors standing and their leader. The eleven ThunderClan cats had them almost surrounded, leaving only the ShadowClan border side open.

"Leave Blackstar. Take you and your patrol home." Bramblestar growled at him. "The clearing is still yours but if we find any ShadowClan traces on our side of the border we will have to rethink giving you this stretch of land." He hissed.

"It was Firestar who gave it to us! You have no right to take it back." Blackstar countered, he stood in the middle of his two warriors. All three of them looked tired.

"If you cannot defend it or keep on your territory we will challenge you for it." Bramblestar replied cooly.

"Yes, you and your wretched Clan. ThunderClan is nothing but bad blood. Its all kittypets and cripples. And that's never going to change, so why should you be allowed to hunt on Clan-" Blackstar was cut off by Bramblestar raking his claws across his muzzle.

With that Blackstar glared one last time at Bramblestar and then he turned away with his two remaining warriors and headed back to their camp. Bramblestar was the first to let out a victory cry. He hollered high into he sky will his head tilted back. Greystripe and Sandstorm were quick to follow and Bramblestar noticed that they were looking incredibly frail. They both had a few clumps of fur missing and they looked out of breath. Bramblestar had a feeling that this would be their last battle as warriors. The three of them were joined by the rest of their patrol.

After a few minutes of their yowling Bramblestar turned to face them and stood in front of his patrol. It had gone quiet again, but there were no grasshoppers or owls heard in the distance. He looked over his warriors and few apprentices. They fought well and he knew that one day they would have to fight ShadowClan again about them crossing the border and taking prey.

"Now, if you are not in immediate need of seeing Leafpool or Jayfeather please stay here so we can remark the correct border." Bramblestar spoke to them. He saw only Mousewhisker and Bumblestripe turn to head back to camp. They both seemed to have large gashed on their shoulders and flanks. "Spiderleg, Amberpaw, Ivypool, and Snowpaw, start here and work your way down to the lake mark every plant along the way twice. I don't want them having any excuse for not smelling it." he said to them. The four of them turned and headed on their way. This left Greystripe, Sandstorm, Whitewing, and Dewpaw. "The same goes for you four but head along the opposite direction." He instructed. They soon left and there was only himself standing in the clearing. Far off he could hear one lonely owl hooting.

Bramblestar turned his head skyward once more and looked up at the stars. He knew one of them was his mother, he hoped he had made her proud. And another was the leader before him, Firestar. He had been one of the greatest leaders the Clans had ever seen. Bramblestar hoped he could be just at least half great as he had been, then ThunderClan might see some peace.

He stayed in the clearing for a few more minutes. His mind was thinking about the Dark Forest battle. The Clans were still showing their signs of unease and pain from it. ShadowClan had more elders then warriors and ThunderClan hadn't had a kit in moons. WindClan had suffered too, over half of their camp had been torn apart. Leaving them wide open to cold and an attack, though it would not be from ThunderClan. RivenClan had lost many cats in their Clan, several apprentices and elders. Which left ThunderClan with possibly the biggest lost, their leader. The battle hadn't even been two moons ago and they Clans were still suffering. Bramblestar just prayed to their ancestors in StarClan that they could get through this and recover.