***Okay...So I guess this my debut in this collaboration. Kikyo and I are switching off the chapters we write (point of views, specifically), so I'm doing this one! -Blizz
Blizzardpaw stretched with a yawn, the moss underneath crackling as it brushed against her thick fur. The apprentice stood and observed the den with a dazed aura. After she had fully awoken, Blizzardpaw exited the mass of brambles and leaves that combined to form the Apprentices' Den. A wave of absence had flooded over Moonclan's camp, leaving Blizzardpaw to ponder what conditions required such a number of cats.
Everyone must be patrolling, she decided with a sigh. Standing on large snowy paws, Blizzardpaw flicked her ears side to side in search of other clan members. An exhale of relief escaped her lips once she heard warriors rustling in their nests. A seldom few of the cats entered the camp clearing, Silverfur among them. Blizzardpaw's heart lept as she spotted her mentor; the small apprentice bounded towards her, glad to have seen a familiar face. Silverfur swiveled around to face Blizzardpaw, flicking her right ear, as if impatient.
"Hello, Blizzardpaw," the warrior mewed. Her apprentice nodded in response and parted her jaws to speak, but a loud yowl interrupted. A group of five loners sauntered into the Moonclan camp, a white tom with black spots in the lead. Fallstar, who had apparently stayed in camp, exited his den and padded towards the foreign group with utter regality.
The ginger tom sat before the lead intruder, showing immense arrogance doing so. "Who are you? What do you wish of us?"
A small huff escaped the white tom's lips. He quickly regained a formal posture and mewed, "I am Comet; my...members and I wish to journey to your Moonfalls. In other words, I wish to create a clan—Cometclan. We also need a chunk of your clan's territory to start off our lives with."
Blizzardpaw was overcome by curiosity as she watched Fallstar's face don an appalled expression. The ginger tom stood abruptly and faced Comet, who stared at the leader impassively.
"I'm not just going to simply give you my territory. Moonclan has worked hard to maintain ownership of this land, and it won't be so easily taken."
"Oh, please. You barely use the area we want, anyways," a red tortoiseshell she-cat besides Comet growled.
"Now, now, Blaze," Comet cooed.
Blaze scoffed and stomped towards Fallstar, looming over the leader as she glared down upon him. A small brown tabby behind Comet mewed, "Should we stop her?"
Comet shook his head. "No, Thrush."
Two of the loner's she-cats piped up, one with cream fur and the other with a white pelt.
"We really should stop her...," the creamy one whispered.
Stars seemed to shine in the white-pelted she's eyes. "Oh, come on, Dream. This will be interesting."
"Blaze might get us kicked out, Mirror!"
The loners continued to argue quietly amongst themselves; the scene amused Blizzardpaw greatly. If a cat can't even control four of his friends, what drove him to believe he could lead an entire clan? Her merriment was soon interrupted as Bluecloud stepped forward, her aged eyes dead-set on Blaze. The elder hissed and glowered at the large loner, her grey fur ruffled.
Bluecloud spat, "An old cat like me wouldn't appreciate what you filth are asking of us. I remember how hard I worked my hind to make sure that land was well-kept, and I'm not going to allow you bunch of mouse-brains to take that well-earned area away!"
Blaze growled and lowered herself to Bluecloud's level; her eyes seemed to glow with hatred at the elder. "If we take this land, it's less work for the warriors here. It'll appease our needs, and it will benefit you labor-wise. So unless you want to lose your eyes, I suggest you back away."
A low growl escaped Blizzardpaw's throat after hearing Blaze's threat. She crouched loosely, prepared to leap in case Blaze carried through with her vow. Many other cats did likewise.
The grey elder snarled and swiped at Blaze, agitation flaring in her eyes. "Leave my clan be, fox-heart."
All of Comet's group hissed and unsheathed their claws at Bluecloud's swipe.
Fallstar's face flashed with alarm. "Bluecloud, get away-"
Blaze interrupted the Moonclan leader's order with a vicious swipe to the opposing elder's neck.
A loud squeak escaped Blizzardpaw's lips as blood spewed out of Bluecloud's wound, yells of dismay soon following as the elder fell to the ground. Fallstar quivered with uncontrolled rage, causing him to leap onto Blaze with outstretched claws. Comet and his followers tensed as they prepared to leap. The Moonclan warriors did likewise, Blizzardpaw fumbling to copy their precise actions. Her mentor growled beside her; the growl was genuine and hate-filled, which surprised Blizzardpaw, despite Silverfur's impatient and cruel method of mentoring.
Fallstar's yell rang throughout the entire clearing. "You'll be sorry for murdering my mother!"
The tortoiseshell loner simply sneered and slashed open the leader's chest. And thus a battle ensued.
It was all a blur to Blizzardpaw—a loner and warrior here; Fallstar and Blaze there; flurries of tooth and claw encompassing the area. The puny apprentice leaped onto the nearest loner, who just so happened to be Thrush. His brown fur had a small splash of crimson blood to it, and his fangs were coated with the dark liquid. Blizzardpaw hesitated, which gave the loner an opportunity to scratch his opponent. The apprentice yelped as dull waves of pain flooded over her cheek. Rage clouded her thoughts and she retaliated, landing a decent blow to Thrush's foreleg.
"Stupid runt!" he yowled as he leaped onto Blizzardpaw's back. She crumpled under the cat's weight; an opportunity to attack once again presented itself to Thrush. A yowl escaped Blizzardpaw's throat as the enemy's fangs dug into her upper back, right where her two shoulder blades would meet. Thrush twisted his jaws around, causing the apprentice's agony to increase greatly. The weight of the runt's attacker lifted suddenly, allowing Blizzardpaw to stand on trembling legs.
When she turned to face Thrush again, both trepidation and relief flooded over the apprentice. Silverfur had the loner pinned, giving Blizzardpaw the relief she felt, but the she-cat had wished to prove her worth by defeating Thrush on her own, and thus a great void fell over her.
The apprentice's mentor growled after Thrush slashed open her abdomen. He pushed off Silverfur and returned to Blizzardpaw with an expression of agitation, which allowed him to pin the apprentice with no remorse. She struggled in vain, scratching and biting however she could. An uncontainable desire to defeat Thrush overcame Blizzardpaw as she dug her fore claws into his stomach, grimacing as the loner's blood stained her snowy paws. Thrush yowled with obvious pain, allowing the apprentice to kick him off. As Blizzardpaw ran forward in a tackle, the loner caught her by the scruff and flung her near a comrade of his.
"Trade off, Thrush!" the cat known as Mirror yelled. She grabbed Blizzardpaw's tail and yanked her close, much to the apprentice's dismay. Thrush was smaller and physically weaker than this loner; even then, Blizzardpaw had great difficulty even defending herself. Mirror interrupted the runt's thoughts with a quick swipe to the shoulder, causing Blizzardpaw to stagger. She retaliated with a dive at the loner's forelegs; the apprentice then slashed open her left leg, smiling grimly as Mirror yowled.
Out of nowhere, Fallstar's brassy yowl rang over the clearing. He lept onto a den's top, the blood of his enemy plastered across his sleek ginger pelt. All in the vicinity of the Moonclan leader halted; even Comet's members ceased their caterwauling.
"Leave now, before your friend Blaze bleeds to death!" Fallstar yelled. His booming voice echoed in the eerily silent camp as he gestured towards Blaze. The loner was surrounded by splatters of blood, and a small pool of the crimson liquid had begun to accumulate around her stomach. Comet immediately rushed forward and grasped Blaze's scruff, dragging her away from the small crowd of cats before Fallstar. The ginger tom glared at Comet and his followers with blatant hatred.
"I repeat: leave now or let your friend die."
The white loner spat and whirled towards the three remaining intruders. "We're leaving! Mirror, Thrush, help with Blaze."
Mirror and Thrush did so, carrying the delirious she-cat out of camp. Comet and Dream soon followed.
A formerly withheld exhale escaped Blizzardpaw's lips as the loners exited Moonclan's camp. Her puny muscles released their tension, and at that moment she realized that her body was so tense that some of her wounds refused to bleed properly. Yelping, the crimson liquid began to ooze out of her
scratches; however, none were worrying, save for the bite Thrush dealt to her back.
Silverfur located and padded towards her apprentice, observing the she-cat critically. "You should get that bite treated." The warrior herself had been treated; cobwebs were wrapped around her abdomen and right hindleg.
"O-Okay," Blizzardpaw stammered, still shaken, and started towards the medicine den, but when she saw how crowded it had become, she halted herself. About half of the cats waiting were coated with blood, mainly their own, and one required the support of a friend just to stand. "I can wait, actually...Compared to the ones waiting, my injuries aren't serious."
"Okay." Silverfur glanced away, but Blizzardpaw was able to detect slight admiration in her apprentice's decision. A shaky sigh escaped the runt's mouth as she trudged towards an isolated area of camp. She settled with trembling legs, worrisome thoughts whirling around her head. As she lay her head atop her paws, Blizzardpaw heard a joyous yowl emit from the camp entrance. Five cats, three warriors and two apprentices, entered with prey dangling from their jaws.
She recognized Rainpaw's voice the moment it rang: "We bring preeeey!"
Lightpaw, who was hauling a healthily-sized sparrow, joined Rainpaw. "Lots of food!" she mewed happily. Mudfoot chastised his apprentice for announcing as such, following Thunderstorm's example. After a quick reprimand, they both turned towards the camp. The prey they held fell to the ground as the warriors examined their fellow clanmates.
Milkclaw, who had joined the hunting patrol, uttered a yowl as she beheld Blizzardpaw. She dashed towards her daughter, and in turn the apprentice stood to greet the guard. Rainpaw glanced at Milkclaw and, after realizing why she yowled, dashed towards the she-cat. A flurry of questions escaped the two cats, bombarding Blizzardpaw to the point where she became overwhelmed.
"Blizzardpaw, you have blood all over your back!" Milkclaw wailed, nudging her daughter incessantly.
"I'm fine. Please stop doing that..."
"Go get that bite treated right now," Rainpaw growled, eying the injury angrily. Lightpaw soon padded over with a piece of prey. A chunk had already been devoured, and Blizzardpaw assumed her sister had done so herself.
The ginger apprentice dropped her meal and stared at her sister. "What happened?"
Rainpaw jumped and repeated Lightpaw's question.
"A group of loners came and asked to become a clan. Bluecloud...," Blizzardpaw paused as a wave of sorrow hit her, "Bluecloud snapped, and one of the loners killed her. After that, everyone started fighting; it was all a blur."
The three gathered around her paused. Rainpaw broke the silence by inquiring, "How many were there?"
"Five. I only fought one officially, though."
"Were they strong?"
"...Yeah. They were hard to hit."
"How big were they? Did any cats die? When-"
Blizzardpaw exhaled in exhaustion. "I'm really tired, Rainpaw... Can you ask me this stuff later?"
The tom's eyes filled with sorrow for a moment, but he quickly recovered and murmured, "Okay."
As she headed towards the now desolate medicine den, Blizzardpaw reviewed all that had occurred. The memory caused her to shudder and tune out Orangeear's questioning, and only when the medicine cat swiped Blizzardpaw with sheathed paws did she return to the present.
The apprentice exited a few moments later, her paws dragging against the ground. She trudged into the Apprentices' Den and collapsed onto her nest. Thoughts swirled around Blizzardpaw's head, but one profound and ominous question dominated the others:
When will Comet's group return?