Ravenwing caught a glimpse of the cat beside him throwing herself into the line of the enemy, and then all he saw was fur as he was engulfed by a rogue cat.
He lashed out randomly with his claws, feeling blood spatter onto his face. The weight lifted, and Ravenwing sprang to his paws to face the opposing cat.
The tom charged again, but this time Ravenwing was ready for him. Ravenwing slipped to the side, then leaped onto the rogue's back as he crashed to the ground.
But the tom flipped at the last moment, and Ravenwing was the one who crashed to the ground.
He loomed over Ravenwing as he tried to catch his breath, and was leaning in to finish him off when Firestripe came to his rescue.
With a quick bite, the cat ran yowling to the Twoleghouse.
"Thanks," Ravenwing panted, embarrassed that he had been beaten so easily.
Nutflower's brother nodded in acknowledgement, then disappeared into the mass of fighting cats.
Ravenwing briefly scanned the battle, then launched himself once more into the fray.
The leader kept his blue eyes fixed upon the forest filled with fighting cats, aware of his Clan's eyes upon him, waiting for the signal.
He had a perfect view. The tree he had chosen towered above the others, its branches the tallest.
The tom sought out Whitestar; he was busy taking on what looked like half the invasion by himself.
He was slightly confused, as he could not find the leading cat of the rogues. Stormyheart, Whitestar had said at the meeting.
The black-brown cat tensed his muscles, preparing to leap down from the oak. He cast a rapid glance towards the trees circling the fight.
Blue eyes stared back at him from the branches. Good, they were ready.
SkyClan was ready.
With a flick of his black tail that shook the leaves around him, the tom sprang from his tree, knowing his Clan would follow.
He revelled in the feeling of the wind rushing through his thick fur and whistling in his ears. It was as close as he could get to actual flight, which was, for now, impossible to reach.
The leader of SkyClan's front paws delicately touched the grassy earth, then his back paws.
The battling cats were extremely close to him, but he did not cause any more sound than that of a breeze winding through the leaves of a tree.
He landed in a low crouch, pelt blending in with the darkly coloured bark of the tree trunk he was in front of.
All around the mass of fighting, black, gray and brown cats were dropping from their trees like shadows flickering in the air. They, like their leader, remained frozen in a crouch immediately upon landing.
They continued to filter in, unnoticed by WildClan or the rogues.
Skybird, is that everyone?
Yes, Skystar.
Commence attack on my mark.
It will be done.
"Put me down!"
The black tom continued to effortlessly drag Nutflower along despite her writhing, unable to reply with a mouthful of her fur.
"Where are you taking me?" Nutflower tried to twist in Thunder's grip, but he held firm.
He was following a dirt path that reeked of monsters, but at least they were headed away from the Twoleghouse.
Thunder pushed his way through the lower branches of a pine tree that grew alongside the path, Nutflower yowling in protest as her fur caught on the needles.
He dumped her unceremoniously on the ground as they emerged on the other side, then slipped back through the row of pines.
A friendly meow of greeting startled Nutflower, and she whirled to face the new cat.
"Calm down!" the speaker was a reddish-black cat with a white star on her chest and yellow eyes. Kits scrambled around her, mewing their complaints.
Nutflower relaxed in relief, recognizing the queen.
Twilight, a loner, had agreed to take care of Palerose's kits along with her own so WildClan's second deputy could resume her duties.
"What brings you here?" Twilight settled down, oblivious to the fact that Nutflower had been captured.
Rage welled within Nutflower once more. "Well, Stormyheart just decided he could abduct me, force me to join him, break our deal, and embarrass me while he's at it!"
The black queen tilted her head, gaze now stern. "Don't disturb the kits. They're still very young."
Nutflower's heart softened at the sight of the six kits crawling over Twilight.
A fluffy black kit resembling his mother toddled up to Nutflower and sat at her creamy paws, looking up at her expectantly with his huge blue eyes.
"That's Thunderkit," Twilight purred.
Nutflower glanced at her in mild surprise. "You plan for them to be warriors?"
"Yes, their father is a fine warrior. If his blood runs inside them, I have no doubt they will serve WildClan well."
The mention of Twilight's mate caught Nutflower's curiosity, but she didn't want to pry.
Instead, the calico she-cat inquired on the matter of the kits. "What are their names?" she meowed, motioning with her black, ginger and white head towards the mass of kits.
"These two are Bubblekit and Nightkit," Twilight picked up two almost identical black kits and set them at Nutflower's paws along with Thunderkit.
"This," the loner continued proudly, "Is Rainkit." A gray kit dashed over and sunk his sharp teeth into Nutflower's tail, catching her completely by surprise.
At Nutflower's yowl of pain, Twilight reached over and lifted Rainkit by his furry scruff. She deposited him gently by his squirming brothers and sister.
Nutflower licked her throbbing tail gingerly, then was surprised once more by the arrival of the last two kits.
These kits were larger than the other four; one was a ginger tabby, the other a light gray tabby.
"Are they Palerose's?"
"Yes, they are," Twilight replied, but her yellow eyes held the same amount of love and affection that was present when she looked at her own kits. "Their names are-"
The ginger kit piped up, interrupting her foster mother. "I'm Sandykit!"
"And I'm Shadowkit!" the gray tabby added.
Nutflower purred at their antics. "Six strong kits for WildClan! We'll have no trouble in battle at all now!"
The kits' mother looked at them sadly. "But I will be sad to see them leave."
"Don't worry!" Sandykit scurried over to Twilight. "We'll visit you!"
Her kit face fell. She looked guiltily back at Nutflower. "If we're allowed, of course."
Nutflower mrrowed in laughter. "Of course you will be! Besides, you'll have to come here if you want to be a warrior!"
Shadowkit bounded directly up to Nutflower, stepping on Nightkit as he passed the mound of now sleeping kits. "Will you be my mentor? Please?"
"Whitestar will choose your mentor, Shadowkit. Twilight, where do you stay at night?"
Twilight flicked her black tail towards a very small Twoleg shack.
"You sleep in a Twoleghouse?" Nutflower meowed nervously.
"No, we stay underneath it. And it's empty. Twolegs really aren't that bad, you know!" the queen replied in amusement.
"Let me show you the hole!" Sandykit grabbed Nutflower's paw gently and tried to pull her to the shack.
"All right," she gave in reluctantly, padding after the energetic little ginger kit.