Chapter Three: Battle for the Clan

A few sunrises had passed ever since Starpaw's apprenticeship. Starpaw walked out of her nest in the apprentices' den and yawned, stretching each leg in turn. Her head was buzzing like unsettling bees. I'm part of a prophecy? She thought wonderingly. But I'm too young to pull such a move! She began thinking back to three sunrises ago, when Birchfall had took her to journey around the territory. ShadowClan sure was dark and ominous. No wonder her Clanmates kept their distances from them. She was glad to finally become an apprentice, after her sisters were made apprentices moons ago. Starpaw was the youngest of the litter.

Dawdling by her nest, she looked around to find her littermates Flamepaw and Lakepaw. Lying in a nest beside them was Starpaw's friend Jazzpaw. She wanted to wake her up but decided not to.

Starpaw walked out into the clearing. The cats were busy doing their usual activities. She spotted her mentor, Birchfall. He scurried up to her and stopped at her side.

"Do you want to go on the sunhigh patrol?" he asked.

"Sure!" Starpaw and Birchfall headed for the entrance. Before they could reach it any more fox-lengths, a strong scent had slammed into Starpaw's nostrils. She flared them and bristled, skidding to a halt behind her mentor. Birchfalled had stopped too, almost at the same instant as her.

"ShadowClan are attacking!" yowled a cat from somewhere in the stone hollow, voice shrill with terror.

Paws thudded hard on the ground, a wave of shadowy cats swarming out like rats. Cats snarled and yowled all around her. Starpaw's chest gripped with fear. ShadowClan are invading our camp!

"Don't just stand their," hissed Birchfall. "Come fight alongside me. Try your best to remember those couple of attack moves from last sunrise's training."

Ready, Starpaw gave her mentor a brusque nod before throwing herself into her first battle. This was all such a rush to her; she was made apprentice only a few sunrises ago! How could she protect her Clan like this, let alone herself? Maybe I should just back out of this…

Ducking under a bounding dark tabby tom, who was later bowled over by Graystripe's hefty paw, Starpaw slunk out into the entrance, leaving the stone hollow. The clamor of yowls was faint, yet loud, behind her as she hurried out through the woods. She scurried past thorn bushes and ferns, barely skirting around the thick beech trees. Her heart was pounding, panting hard while her tiny paws thumped on the ground in an endless pattern. Starpaw crashed into a wall of fur and she was knocked over, paws flailing in the air.

Starpaw looked up and saw a large white tom with one of his huge paws being jet-black. He looked down at her from fierce green eyes.

"Out of my way," he hissed, his tail thrashing.

Stunned, and immensely being outsized, Starpaw scrabbled to her paws. "Who are you?" she demanded in her small, defenseless voice.

The white tom puffed his chest out, lifting his chin, his eyes still pierced into Starpaw's fur. "I am Blackstar," he meowed coolly. "ThunderClan has invaded our camp unsolicited about a sunrise ago. They think that they can go away with one move like that?" The ShadowClan leader flexed his claws impatiently.

Starpaw gulped. Great! What have I gotten myself into? But she didn't see any of her Clanmates enter the camp full of wounds, nor did she see them looking suspicious. He's spitting at the wrong cat!

"I don't want to land a claw on you, kit," he growled. "But if that's what it takes you to get out of my way…" He trailed off, lifting an unsheathed paw up in the air gradually. His shadow stretched over Starpaw's tiny, trembling body. StarClan help me!

A yowl came from behind her and a flash of fire soared over her head, knocking Blackstar over. Starpaw stood up and recognized Firestar pinning the mighty ShadowClan leader down with one paw.

"Who knew that ShadowClan cats were such fox-hearts to hurt helpless kits," meowed Firestar coldly, his eyes like the slits of a green forest.

Blackstar tried to budge but his body tensed. "You just don't know, do you?" he sneered. "Your cats can't keep their paws on their own side nowadays."

Firestar perked his ears. "What do you mean?" he hissed.

"Don't tell me you have forgotten?" snarled Blackstar, staring up at Firestar coldly. "You sent your little flea-brains raiding into my camp!"

Firestar leaned in closer, almost too where the tips of his whiskers brushed against Blackstar's shoulder. "Oh, really?" he hissed, his tone as thin as ice. "Tell me who they looked like."

Blackstar shifted uncomfortably beneath Firestar's weighed paw. "One of them was a black she-cat," he grunted. "I couldn't find out the rest; perhaps they have been rogues." Starkit tensed. Is he calling us rogues?

There was a moment of pause. Firestar hadn't said anything until he sharply lifted his paw up, allowing the ShadowClan leader to stand up. "Call your warriors," he meowed coldly. He turned towards the way to the camp and stared in the distance, his forest-green eyes glimmering with graveness. "I'll have a word or two with my cats. Come on, Starpaw." He trodded past the young apprentice, without turning to look back at her to see if she was following him.

Blackstar rose to his paws and glared down at Starpaw, hatred in his eyes. "Oh, he'll have a word alright," he growled. "Make sure that he keeps his kittypet collar on next time!" With that said, he staggered a little and went the opposite way. Pausing for a moment, Starpaw pricked her ears and heard the undergrowth rustle beside her. He must be taking an alternate route to ThunderClan, she thought. With fear gripping her chest, she suppressed a sigh and took off after Firestar's trail.