Chapter 9
When they had finally pushed through the bramble outer wall and into the camp, Firestar turned to Sorreltail.
"Please take this kit to the nursing den. I'm sure Ferncloud has room for another kit." Sorreltail gingerly nodded and padded off towards the den, the kit swinging from her mouth.
"As for you," Firestar meowed to Darkstripe, who was trying to slink away unnoticed, "where do you think you're going?"
The dark warrior turned around and spat angrily. "I don't need a kittypet to tell me what to do."
Firestar's eyes narrowed. He paced around Darkstripe in a circle. "What do you mean? Are you itching for a fight?"
By now, some cats had gathered around their clan leader and Darkstripe. There were a lot of excited mews about what was going on. They grew silent as the situation reached its climax.
"Anytime, kittypet!" Darkstripe snarled, placing a special emphasis on the word 'kittypet' before launching himself at Firestar, claws unsheathed.
Fortunately, Firestar knew what was coming and neatly side-stepped, causing Darkstripe to land in the dust. Gasps of horror arose from the watching crowd.
"They're fighting!"
"Shove over furball, I can't see!"
Firestar pounced on the dark warrior's back, holding on with his claws. Darkstripe let out an agonized screech and tried to turn over. He managed to land a scratch on Firestar's flank, but Firestar nimbly twisted and delivered a bite to his opponent's tail. Darkstripe flailed madly and Firestar managed to hold him down with a paw.
"Had enough yet?" he meowed calmly.
The fight in Darkstripe drained away suddenly. "Yes," his voice was muffled by the ground. Firestar released the panting warrior and snarled at him. "Listen Darkstripe, if you know what's good for you, you'd better not challenge me."
He then headed to his den as Darkstripe shook away dust from his fur and slipped away, embarrassed by his defeat. While padding towards his den, Firestar could feel the stare of his clanmates on his back. They were probably surprised to see their normally composed clan leader acting so aggressively. Even Firestar himself was puzzled by his behaviour.All thoughts disappeared from his mind as he curled up in his den for a short nap.
Firestar bounded out of his den, refreshed by his nap. The first thing he did was to head over to the warrior's den to look for Sandstorm. She was still huddled up in one corner.
"Hi," he meowed softly in her ear. She twitched, shook herself awake and stared up at him with round eyes.
"I heard that you fought with Darkstripe just now. What happened?" Firestar smiled. If Sandstorm could ask that kind of question, it meant that she had gotten over the fact that she was barren.
"Nothing much actually," he said hastily. "I wanted to tell you that I found a kit in the woods today." He gulped nervously. "T-that kit could be ours, if you don't mind."
He had nothing to worry about. Sandstorm sprang up, eyes shining. "Where is it?" she breathed in anticipation.
"Let's go," Firestar happily purred as they made for the nursery.