Nightfang
"My Daisyfern is dead, my sweet Daisyfern." Weaselfur cried into the golden tabby fur of his mate whose eye were dull and empty of life, her blood pooled around her from a large bite in her throat. I stared speechless at the sight, Windclan gathered around the scene at the nursery unsure of what to do.
"Move aside, come on move!" Harespring pushed the crowd aside to let Onestar through, "Weaselfur, what happened?" he spoke firmly to the weeping warrior. "I wasn't even gone half an hour, I went to catch her another vole and they were all asleep when I left, then when I came back I see her like this!" Weaselfur wailed and Kestrelflight came through with Featherpool at his side with poppy seeds.
The whole nursery reeked of fear and confusion mingled with the distinctive muddy smell of Shadowclan cats. "How could they do this? Why would they steal my kits? Why Onestar?" he pleaded as Featherpool pushed poppy toward him but he kept his face firmly stuffed into Daisyferns fur. Harespring and Emberfoot investigated the nursery while me and Breezepelt looked around the outside. Onestar bellowed orders to the other warriors to give chase and stay alert.
Sniffing the edges of the nursery I found tufts of black and white fur, Crowfrost; he must be behind this. I also found paw prints but no signs of a struggle, "How could they have gotten in and out without us knowing?" I asked aloud, I knew it was late and most were asleep at the time but unless Daisyfern was ambushed before she could scream, I cant imagine no cat herd anything. "Who knows, Shadowclan is sneaky that way. I can see they pulled the grass aside here and slipped in." he pointed to a small hole in our woven barrier.
Inside the nursery Harespring found more paw prints and blood that belonged to a Shadowclan cat. "They must have planned this, if Weaselfur hadn't come back so soon we may not have noticed until morning." Harespring said with Emberfoot nodding in agreement. I grew frustrated, how in Starclan could this of happened? "Who was on guard duty?" I asked and Harespring gestured over to Gorsetail and Larkwing who both were being examined by Onestar.
"I promise sir, we didn't hear anything!" Larkwing wailed, "We were at our posts and all we herd were crickets and Slightbreezes snoring" Gorsetail added, "This is no time for jokes Gorsetail! A warrior is dead and three kits stolen!" Onestar shouted and both warriors crouched low in fear. I have never seen Onestar raise his voice like that before, even my blood turned cold.
"Onestar, we found a scent trail but it goes past Shadowclans border." Crowfeather yowled as he and three other warriors rushed through the entrance. I bounded over to my grandfather and listened intently as they explained that a strong scent trail coming from our camp back to the forest was fresh and they couldn't have gotten far. "We must go after them!", "They have to pay!", "For Daisyfern!" yowled the clan, "Wait! It might be a trap!" I yelled above them all, Onestar turned to me and the voices lowered to a whisper, "They stole the kits for a reason right? They know we will come after them, if we rush in in then they might be planning to ambush us or they may even hurt the kits." I continued and the anger rose in every cats faces at the assumption. This sent every cat into a new round of accusations and ideas, all leading to the same decision; war.
"Nightfang is right, we cant just charge in." Onestar said finally and I looked up in surprise, "What! They killed my mate, I want my kits back!" Weaselfur screamed and many other cats agreed with him. "I understand that Weaselfur and your kits our the top priority here, however we have to go about this rationally." Onestar pleaded and despite his pleas the warriors would not be silenced. "Listen everyone!" I called and ran to stand on the rock I spent many days on, "You are right, we need to get the kits back and demand justice for Daisyfern's death. We need to ask Thunderclan and Riverclan for help." I finished and more angry yowles followed, "We don't need their help!" "Windclan can handle its own business!", "We need to hurry, the kits could be in danger!"
"I agree, Windclan is strong and deserves to be feared, however if we get the other clans behind us and go into Shadowclan territory with every cat behind us then there is no way they can resist!" I shouted and finally they calmed down and began to listen, "If we storm there now we will only have us, if we have everyone then we will have all of Starclan behind us!" I continued and the rage died down to understanding as I turned to Onestar for his confirmation, "Don't you agree?" I said and after a moment of thinking he nodded.
He made Gorsetail and Larkwing stay with Kestrelflight and Featherpool as Onestar led us into Thunderclan territory, I saw the sun begin to peak over the horizon and I hoped that Morningdew was ready for what was coming.
Morningdew
Scorchflame had his tail wound around mine and I was worried about waking him as I nosed it off delicately. He had crept in while I was asleep and was currently deep in slumber, probably about a battle with Shadowclan. Finally I was able to pull my tail away and I stepped as quietly as possible over my sleeping clan mates, I almost stepped on Dovewing's tail and I had to freeze mid step to make sure she didn't wake up. Nothing, I let out a breath and quietly stepped out into the frosty morning air.
Cherryfall and Bumblestripe were on guard duty that night and I nodded to them as I lied about needing to make dirt. I walked cheerfully through my territory as I made my way to Nightfang and my meeting spot. The sun was barley beginning to rise and usually I was greeted with the songs of early birds but today I was met with only silence and cold, a cold that seeped through my fur and I suddenly had a bad feeling creep up my paws. Something was wrong, I stopped and lifted my head to sniff the air, just the forest. I shook the feeling away and pushed forward, I was close to the border now and stopped as I herd the distinct sound of paws steps, many paw steps.
Windclan, and from the looks of it, all of Windclan was coming and coming fast. I hissed as Onestar came over the horizon followed by Harespring and Crowfeather, "Onestar, I respectfully asked you to halt." I called hoping I didn't sound as nervous as I felt. "I mean no harm to Thunderclan young warrior, I need to speak with Bramblestar immediately." He responded but didn't stop, him and his clan stepped around me like a river through a fallen stick. Nightfang stopped in front of me and whispered, "There isn't much time to explain, just lead us to Bramblestar. Shadowclan is moving quicker than we thought."
My heart dropped and without a word I turned tail and rushed forward to warn my clanmates. I let out a warning yowl and hoped enough cats were stirring to hear it. I burst through the barrier and almost ran into Bumblestripe, "Whats wrong Morningdew? Why do you smell like Windclan?" I rushed passed him, "Windclan is coming, Bramblestar!" I called and right as I saw our leaders dark head appear from his nest, Onestar stepped through the opening and was met with warning hisses from Bumblestripe and Blossomfall.
"Onestar? Whats wrong?" Bramblestar spoke boldly and waved to calm his warriors who were now pouring out of their nests just as Windclan poured in. "I apologize for waking your clan Bramblestar but we have a huge problem." He began as every cat began to settle, our camp never seemed small before but with over 50 cats clustered around I could see nothing but a sea of fur. "Whats the problem?" Bramblestar said settling on his perch with Squirrelflight next to him.
"Shadowclan has stolen three kits and murdered a warrior in the process. I need your help to get them back." Was all he said and heads turned and gasps of horror rose and Bramblestar had to hiss in order to get silence, "Of course we will help, this is intolerable! What do you plan to do?" he responded and Onestar signaled Nightfang forward. I beamed at him and how tall he stood as addressed Bramblestar, "We plan to get Riverclans help as well, if all of us storm the camp at once than there is no way they will resist and we can get the kits back with little to no bloodshed."
His voice was deep and filled with confidence, my heart melted in that instant and I had to look around to make sure no cat noticed. Bramblestar agreed and began to pick warriors to go on the mission. He and Squirrelflight were going of course as well as Thornclaw, Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Spiderleg, Birchfall, Dovewing, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Scorchflame, Berrynose and myself. He stationed the rest of the warriors at the borders to insure that we were not left defenseless. I saw Leafpool and Jayfeather scramble to gather herbs just in case of an emergency. I saw Crowfeather looking at them as they went but a hard nudge from Nightcloud brought his attention back to the mission at hand.
"Can you believe it? We are going to get to stick it to Shadowclan!" Scorchflame said coming up beside me as we filed out of camp and in line to the Riverclan border. His golden eyes were shinning despite the sun barely being over the clouds. He stayed close to me as we crossed Riverclans border and startled a dawn patrol led by Reedwhisker. "Great Starclan, what is this!" he hissed at the sight of our massive party and once Onestar and Bramblestar requested an audience with Mistystar he reluctantly let us pass. He had Mintfur, Mosspelt, Heronwing and Shimmerpelt with him who followed us closely and whispered to us about what was going on.
"Shadowclan has done it this time, we are going to teach them a lesson for sure." Scorchflame said to Mosspelt who blushed a bit as his gaze. I was expecting to feel a bit jealous but I didn't and my gaze searched for Nightfang you was easy to spot with his long stride and sleek tail up ahead behind Harespring and Squirrelflight. I longed to push ahead and walk with him, to compliment him on how brave and handsome he was but I held back not wanting to raise and suspicions. When we arrived to Riverclans camp most of us had to wait outside as we couldn't all fit.
We all strained to hear the conversation as Onestar delivered his plea and I wondered if Nightfang was going to speak again, I craned my ears to hear him but Scorchflame nuzzled my neck, "Don't be nervous, I wont let them hurt a single hair on your beautiful head." I pushed him back frustrated, "I don't need protecting Scorchflame, I can fight better than you." I didn't mean to sound so harsh but he has been treating me like a frail kitten the last few days and it was getting on my nerves, "I know Morningdew, I am just making sure you know that I will fight by your side always." He purred a little taken back but as he beamed at me I felt my self soften for my clan mate, I let him touch his nose to mine before he went over to talk with Berrynose and Spiderleg about they attack.
I let out a huge breath, I was going to have to tell him I didn't want to be his mate but it never seemed like the right time. Nightfang appeared out of thin air and startled me, "Sorry, I didn't want to be seen" he whispered his tail touching my flank. I purred at the touch, "I want scared silly, I was just thinking about the fight." He didn't laugh but I could see the smile in his eyes, "Hopefully there wont be one. I was hoping to scare them into submission. I don't want any more cats getting hurt, this rebellion has to be stopped." He said and I looked into his orange gaze, my fur heated despite the morning chill and I longed to bury my face into his like we did last night.
"Its an amazing plan. I think your right, Shadowclan wont fight us all." I whispered back looking at the number of cats and thanking Straclan we weren't the ones on the receiving end. I herd yowls as the Riverclan warriors rallied around the cause and I saw Mistystar and the other leaders burst through the camp entrance with Riverclan warriors behind them, "Come warriors, we must save those kits!"
Nightfang and I surged along, our pelts brushing as we ran in one massive raid Riverclan, Windclan and Thunderclan stormed the forest, the likes which have not been seen in clan history as we all ran united into Shadowclan territory side by side with my true mate, I felt invincible.