Chapter One
"Ghostpaw! Ghostpaw!" A whispered hiss reached a black she-cat's ears, making them prick and swivel drowsily. The hiss became annoyed and grew slightly louder as the voice came closer. "Ghostpaw… you lazy fur ball! Get up!" Something hard came down and nudged the she-cat in the ribs.
"Oof." With a grunt, Ghostpaw pulled herself to her feet, opening her eyes. She didn't need to; she knew her brother, Rippaw, was the cat that had woken her. "What is it now, Rippaw?" She asked, licking a paw and running it over her ear.
Rippaw breathed in and out slowly, obviously trying to control his frustration with his sister, who was deliberately being stubborn. She knew how much it annoyed him. "Moonrise wants you for the dawn patrol, and your almost late."
With a jolt, Ghostpaw became fully alert, her blue eyes sparkling. "Well then, what are you standing around for? Get out of my way!" With that, she shouldered her way past him, flicking his ears with her tail tip. "Just joking … you long-toothed rat!"
With a mocking yowl she ran out of the apprentice's den, Rippaw just behind her, growling and purring at the same time, resulting in a strange noise. "I'll show you who the long-tooth rat is! I'm only older by a heartbeat!" He pounced, pinning her to the ground. With a heart-felt growl, Ghostpaw rolled, crushing her brother. Springing up, she waited for him to stand before leaping over his head, spinning as she landed and playfully lunging at his hind paws, sending him sprawling all over again.
"Ghostpaw! Rippaw! What are you, kits again?" A deep mew broke the playful scuffle and got the apprentices to scramble to stand up straight. "Ghostpaw, you won't have time to eat, the dawn patrol is leaving." The mew belonged to Moonrise, Ghostpaw's mentor. The strong tom's muscle's rippled underneath a glistening black pelt, and the white moon around his left eye stood out remarkably. Your eyes stand out like that to … Ghostpaw felt proud at the fact that she could be compared to her Clan-famous mentor in some way.
Dipping her head in acknowledgement and respect, she hurried off after the tom, waving goodbye to Rippaw with her tail. Hurrying with her mentor, she joined with the dawn patrol, which was waiting next to the gap in the holly bushes that encircled the camp. "And the great warrior is awake!" Flamepaw teased gently at her, butting his head against her shoulder. She flicked him across his muzzle with her tail, pleased to be on patrol with her denmate.
"Alright, we're going to be patrolling the ThunderClan boarder," Shadowstep mewed to her patrol as they exited the camp. The deputy looked at her patrol with a glint in her eye before mewing, "Now, try to keep up, will you?" Purring slightly, she bolted off through the trees towards the ThunderClan boarder, silent as a shadow. The rest of the patrol kept just as quite as she did, racing through the pine trees with ease as they weaved in and out of undergrowth. Drawing towards the ThunderClan border, they slowed, tasting the air for any intruders.
"It's clear, Shadowstep. We're at the boarder." Moonrise reported, his keen eyesight and nose not detecting any other cats.
"Good," Shadowstep gave one final taste of the air, before issuing her orders. "Now, if we see any ThunderClan flea bags crossing our territory, you all have permission to chase them off by any means necessary." With a growl, she set off through the undergrowth, her patrol spread out loosely so as to get a wider view.
Ghostpaw gazed up at the dawn sky, the milky pink now giving way to eggshell blue. She could just glimpse Silverpelt through the wisps of clouds, rapidly disappearing in the new sunlight. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" She whirled around, hackles raised, only to calm down as she realized that it was only Flamepaw talking.
Setting back on her patrol, she murmured an agreement as Flamepaw drew up beside her. "Yeah, it really is." They set off in silence for a while, stopping to check the scent once in a while. Her eyes picked up a glimpse of dark ginger fur, just a shade darker then Flamepaw's, and she growled as she felt her hackles rise. A gust of wind stirred her fur, blowing her scent towards her enemy, but she didn't need the wind. Somehow she just knew who it was, and her eyes could still see him, even through the dense undergrowth were any cat could not. With a yowl, she plunged into the bushes, yowling, "ShadowClan! ThunderClan warriors are intruding!"
Her paws met dark fur, and she was rewarded with a painful yowl from her enemy as she was shaken off. Whirling around, her opponent faced her, and she growled louder as her suspicions were realized. Eaglestrike, the ThunderClan deputy, was staring right back at her with hate in his eyes. Cats flocked to Eaglestrike's painful yowl, and Ghostpaw recognized the two stronger jet-black warriors, Ivyears and Vinegrip, their huge muscles rippling, and a smaller yet still big apprentice with dark brown fur, which Ghostpaw recognized as Bearpaw. Next to them, a black she-cat with ginger spots sneered at her. Ghostpaw remembered Flamepaw describing her from a gathering as Flamesoul.
Snorting, Vinegrip relaxed and started laughing slightly. "You shouldn't make such a fuss next time Eaglestrike, it's only an apprentice! And a young apprentice from ShadowClan at that!" Growling, Vinegrip sneered at her as Flamepaw rushed to her side. "Oh, two ShadowClan apprentice's, I'm so scared!" Laughing, the five ThunderClan warriors advanced, growling at the two apprentices.
Flamepaw growled fiercely at them, backing up towards the trees, but Ghostpaw stood her ground, feeling fire burning in her veins. She wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into any of their pelts, but she had to wait first. "What are you doing on ShadowClan land?" She kept her voice low, but her eyes glared at Eaglestrike, and some fire from her body seemed to seep into her eyes, locking him in place.
He froze, glaring right back at her. "This is our territory now! And you'll pay for getting in my way, you little freak piece of fox-dung!" Before Eaglestrike could attack, Ghostpaw screeched and clawed at his face, her long and powerful claws gouging deep in his cheeks, drawing blood. Roaring, Eaglestrike lunged at her, and she dodged, rolling to the side and leaping up, clawing his side as she leapt. Yowling, he spun around and the five warriors cornered Ghostpaw. Hissing, she clawed at Flamesoul, immediately wiping the sneer off of her face. Screeching, Flamesoul leapt onto Ghostpaw and the two she-cats rolled around in a ball of screeching fur. Ghostpaw bit into her shoulder and threw her off, but immediately Ivyears and Bearpaw leapt at her, pinning her to the ground. Ivyears held down her shoulders while Bearpaw clawed at her. Hissing, Ghostpaw rammed her head into Ivyear's jaw, stunning him. Taking advantage of her free shoulders, she leapt up and bit into Bearpaw's tail, running her claws down his sides. Eaglestrike threw her off quickly with a grab at her scruff, but not before she tasted blood and scraped away pawfulls of flesh and fur. The five cats ganged up on her, pelting her with attacks for a little longer. Where is Flamepaw!
Just as she thought it, the clearing burst to life with four fresh screeching cats. Moonrise crashed into Vinegrip, who was just about to bite her throat, and started clawing at his shoulder's and ears, ripping through fur and flesh. Kinktail, Flamepaw's mentor, leapt onto Flamesoul, pinning down the she-cat and scratching her haunches while Flamepaw went after Bearpaw. Shadowstep burst into the fighting and dragged Ivyear's off of Moonrise. Jumping to her paws, Ghostpaw immediately sprang at Eaglestrike, clawing at the dark ginger tom's ears, ripping the right ear to shreds. Yowling, the deputy swung at Ghostpaw, scratching her just above her eye. Shaking her head, she faked a jump and, while clearing her eyes, dove under the huge tom's belly, clawing at his stomach while she did. He was slow spinning around, and she jumped onto his back, biting deep into his shoulder until she felt bone. Yowling in pain, Eaglestrike threw her off and took off towards the ThunderClan border, yelling, "ThunderClan, retreat!" Stopping just after the borderline, he swung around and glared at Ghostpaw. "This isn't over, you mewling little kit. ThunderClan will have this territory! And I will get you back for this!" With that, he spun around and raced toward his camp as quick as his injured shoulder could manage, his shredded ear bleeding heavily.