The Clan cats shook off their fear and faced the terrible menaces as they advanced into the clearing. They sprang at their opponents with a yowl of fury. They clawed at narrow yellow eyes, and bit into the ears and paws of the giant bears. SunClan cats fought side by side with MoonClan cats, MysticClan cats with NightClan cats. Emberpaw leapt onto one bears back and bit into its shoulder, but the bear shrugged her off like she was nothing more than a fly. She hit the ground hard and rolled, coming back up into a fighter's position. From the corner of her eye, she saw the tabby pelt of Swiftwind race up the slope and into the forest. Let him be bringing help and not just running in fear, she silently prayed to StarClan as she raced to the aid of Silverpaw.
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Swiftwind had never run so fast before in his life. Sharp thorns bit into his paws, but he pushed on, knowing that every second counted if he wanted to save his Clan. He ran through brambles and bushes, never slowing. He was running so fast, he narrowly missed running head first into trees.
Swiftwind raced across MysticClan territory. Before reaching the camp, he veered off towards the northern border. He soon crossed out of familiar land. Letting his nose guide him in the unfamiliar territory, he put on more speed even though he had almost reached the point of exhaustion. He burst out of the forest into a clearing, and collapsed in a huffing and puffing pile of tabby fur. Swiftwind raised his head to meet the curious and startled gaze of the wolves.
"What's this?" snarled a large brown and white wolf. "A cat has stumbled onto our territory…He will make a fine meal for our pups."
"No!" barked an even bigger black one. He cuffed the brown and white male sharply with one paw. "He bares the scent of MysticClan, who saved my son one moon ago. You will not harm this cat. Do you understand, Whitepatch?" Whitepatch growled low, but nodded and stalked away.
A young gray wolf stepped forward. He looked down at Swiftwind in surprise. The Clan cat stared back, digging through his memory for the name of this familiar wolf. Grayfrost! That's it!
"Father, I know this cat. He is Swiftwind. I met him when our Pack and his Clan were patrolling borders at the same time. He was with Wolfpaw then. I can smell fear on him…The fear of many cats," Grayfrost said, becoming very worried. If Swiftwind was here alone, without Wolfpaw to translate for him, something horrible must have happened to her.
"Goldstreak, fetch this cat some herbs to replenish his strength. Perhaps then he can lead us to help Wolfpaw and these other cats," the black wolf barked to an elderly white wolf with golden stripes of fur on her coat. She quickly did as she was told.
While Swiftwind was eating the herbs (trying not to make to horrible a face at the awful taste), the black leader, as he had deciphered from the behavior of the wolves, issued out orders to his pack. Swiftwind shakily got to his paws. He could literally feel his strength returning. The black leader stepped forward with seven other wolves, including the golden streaked wolf, Grayfrost, and the other two wolves he had met on patrol with Wolfpaw, Snowpebble and Stormcloud.
He was jolted suddenly by how much the wolf Stormcloud looked like the cat Stormcloud, the deputy of MoonClan. If it weren't for the fact that they were of different species, they could have been brothers. They even share the same name! How can this be? He said to himself. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Swiftwind nodded to the wolves, then took off through the forest, with the wolves close behind, back to Four Rocks.
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The bears were proving to be too strong, tossing cats aside with one swipe of their massive paws. Although Emberpaw and Wolfpaw had tried to stay near each other, they had become separated when a bear had attacked them. Emberpaw whirled around and around, frantically searching for her sister.
A shrill yowl came to her through all the chaos, "Help us!" Emberpaw tried to pinpoint where it had come from. She had to find her sister! A loud snarl caused her to whip around. A bear was reaching for her, its claws outstretched and fangs bared, both covered in the blood of cats. Emberpaw was frozen with fear. She could only watch as those horrible teeth came towards her. Suddenly, a dark brown cat slammed into her side, knocking her out of harms way. The bear's jaws closed around it, teeth sinking into the cat's sides. It through the cat away, and as its limp body hit the side of Four Rocks, Emberpaw caught a glimpse of white on its chest. Her heart was filled with fear, grief, rage, and hatred, for the cat that had leapt into the bear's jaws was Wolfpaw.
With a yowl of pure fury, Emberpaw sprang at the bear. She landed on its face, and she slashed down with one paw, claws unsheathed, into its eye. The monster roared with pain and swung its head around, but she hung on, clamping her teeth into the beast's ear. The bear shook his head furiously, dislodging Emberpaw and throwing her to the ground. The landing knocked the wind out of her. She laid there gasping for air and the beast approached her. It raised one paw up into the air. StarClan, this is it! I'm finished!
Just as the bear started to bring his paw downward, a howl rang through the clearing and a gray form latched onto the bear's throat, knocking it backwards. Her heart leapt with joy. Grayfrost! The wolf bit down hard, instantly killing the bear. Blackfire and several other wolves raced past and into the fray. A she-wolf with golden streaks stopped to stand beside Emberpaw. She seemed to give off the same calmness that Solarwind did, and Emberpaw instantly labeled her as the wolf version of a medicine cat. Emberpaw flicked her tail at Wolfpaw, indicating that the wolf should help her first. The wolf got the hint and loped over to the fallen cat.
Frostpaw was already there, trying both to defend Wolfpaw and take care of her at the same time. Frostpaw looked up at the wolf and wondered how she could tell her what happened when their eyes locked and a voice spoke to her. 'Do not fear. I am Goldstreak, healer wolf of FirePack. SpiritPack told me I should help the blue furred healer.'
The voice seemed to come from inside her head instead of coming from around her. It was almost as if the wolf, Goldstreak, was thinking this to her. 'Stay here and defend Wolfpaw. I need to get her something,' she thought back to the wolf, who nodded and turned to face the nearest bear.
Frostpaw raced out of the clearing, narrowly escaping the snapping jaws of a bear. She knew what she had to find. It wasn't something that Solarwind had taught her about, it was something that she knew would save her sister in her heart. She ran to the stream in MysticClan territory and along it until she came to a bush that was 5 tail-lengths tall. It was the pokeberry, something she had been warned to stay away from because their berries are poisonous. But something told her that the leaves from it were safe. She carefully avoided touching the deep purple berries and grabbed a few leaves, along with a cobweb that was in it. She whirled and raced back, briefly stopping to grab some marigold. Then she continued on, hoping she would arrive in time.
With the arrival of the wolves, the odds seemed to turn in favor of the Clan cats. The wolves worked perfectly as a team, snapping at the heels and noses of the bears. The cats quickly picked up on this technique and started to fight in groups of four or five instead of alone or with only one other cat. The bears were driven back by the wolves and cats towards the forest.
Suddenly, the largest of the bears charged forward at Stormcloud. The MoonClan deputy couldn't get out of the way fast enough. The bear was about to kill him when a black and white wolf sprang at the bear, latching onto the bear's paw. Both the wolf and the cat froze, as they experienced the feeling of looking into a mirror. Just then, the bear buried its teeth into the wolf's neck. A yowl rose from the cat at he launched himself toward the bear's nose, raking his claws across it. The bear let go and aimed his next attack at the MoonClan deputy. He brought a massive paw down onto the cat the same instant as the wolf swung his head around and bit into the bear's throat. The bear let out a choked roar, and fell. Its sharp claws fell onto the cat, while its entire body landed on the wolf.
Cliffhanger! Yippee!!
By the way, above I wrote about pokeberry bushes. They do exist, and they are highly poisonous. Do not under any circumstance eat anything that you don't know what it is. The berries are extremely poisonous, and the only time that the leaves are safe to eat is when they have had all the toxins boiled out of them. I may have used them here as a medicine, but that doesn't mean they're safe. Please do not eat anything that you find in nature and don't recognize, and don't go trying out any part of the pokeberry bush to see if I'm right. If you don't believe me, then look it up on Wikipedia or any other search engine!