Border Fight

"Lionpaw," Brambleclaw hissed quietly. "You have a try."

Hollypaw watched her brother placed one stealthy pawstep at a time; Lionpaw crept toward the scuffling noise. She held her breathe as Lionpaw let his paws sink slowly on the hard ground, making no sound. As he drew close enough, Lionpaw dropped to a hunting crouch, about to pounce with his tail low.

"Brambleclaw!"

The mouse scuttled out of the leaves and disappeared among the roots of a tree. Hollypaw turned to the cry.

Birchfall exploded from the undergrowth and skidded to a halt. "Shadowclan have moved the border! They've put a new line of scent marks inside Thunderclan territory!"

"Where?" Brambleclaw demanded.

"I'll show you." Without waiting, Birchfall headed away through the trees.

"Where's Dustpelt?" Brambleclaw called after him.

"Heading back to camp to warn Firestar," came the reply.

Brambleclaw turned to Nightshimmer. "Is your apprentice ready?"

"As ready as he'll ever be."

Brambleclaw nodded. He glanced at Ashfur. "Stay near them." Then he nodded to Graystripe. "Come with me."

Brambleclaw bounded after Birchfall, Graystripe following. Lionpaw pelted after them, the mouse forgotten. Hollypaw quickly raced at his side. She could hear the pawsteps of Ashfur, Nightshimmer, and Jaypaw pounding behind. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her other brother weaving through the trees as easily as a sighted cat. Nightshimmer's training must have really helped. She thought in astonishment. She turned back to look ahead.

Birchfall led them back along the Thunderpath before veering into the forest and up the slope that led to the Shadowclan border. He skidded to a halt near the top. "Here!" he gasped, flicking his tail to indicate the line of birches that followed the ridge.

Hollypaw twitched her nose, her lips curled. Shadowclan had marked Thunderclan trees.

"Isn't this the original border?" Graystripe asked.

"No!" Brambleclaw hissed. "The border is there." He pointed his muzzle to the top of the rise where the trees gave way to the grassy clearing.

"Did they think we wouldn't notice?" Hollypaw spat.

Ashfur raced out of the bracken behind them, followed by Nightshimmer and Jaypaw.

Jaypaw's hackles rose. "ShadowClan warriors nearby!" he warned.

As he spoke, three Shadowclan cats stalked over the rise and stood staring down at the Thunderclan patrol.

"Oakfur!" Brambleclaw hissed, staring at the small brown tom who led the trio; Owlpaw and his mentor, Smokefoot.

"A blind kit noticed us before the Thunderclan deputy knew we were here," Oakfur sneered. "How humiliating."

"Is Thunderclan so desperate for warriors that it needs to train even its most worthless kit?" snarled Smokefoot.

Jaypaw rushed forward, spitting. Nightshimmer grabbed his tail in her teeth and hauled him backward.

"A blind kit saved by a former medicine cat," mocked Oakfur. "Thunderclan isn't what it used to be. Filled with kittypets and cripples and worn-out deputies." He glared at Graystripe.

The black she-cat dropped Jaypaw's tail. "Indeed...and if I remember correctly...you were the Shadowclan warrior who was badly beaten from a cripple call Longtail. Isn't that right, Oak...croak?"

Oakfur hissed before a smiled appeared on his muzzle. "Thunderclan is hardly a real clan anymore—it's half kittypet," Oakfur put in. "I'm sure Starclan agrees that only true warriors are entitled to hunt on clan territory."

"ThunderClan has nothing but true warriors!" Brambleclaw yowled. He flattened his ears and stepped over the new marker line until he was only a tail-length away from Oakfur. "If you want our territory, you'll have to fight for every step."

Hollypaw let her claws out, looking between the Shadowclanners.

"Are you sure we won't win?" Oakfur's eyes glittered as more Shadowclan warriors began to appear over the rise, lining up like starlings on a branch.

It looked as though every Shadowclan warrior had come to fight. Their muscles bulged under their pelts, their claws glinting as they flexed them against the hard ground.

Hollypaw blushed against Lionpaw's flank. "We fight as one," she vowed.

"Get back to camp and tell Firestar to bring help." Graystripe's hissed near Lionpaw. "Now!"

Her brother turned and pelted away into the trees.

"Stop him!" Russetfur yowled. Two Shadowclan warriors streaked after him. Graystripe had launched himself onto one of the cats. The Shadowclan warrior yowled and the air exploded as the two clans charged screeching into battle. Hollypaw ducked as a Shadowclanner pounced at her. She darted away from him, clawing at his side. The tom hissed and spun on his paws, clawing at her muzzle. She yelped in pain, stumbling backwards.

Hollypaw bumped into another cat. She turned to see the dark ginger she-cat lunging for her. Too late, the Shadowclan deputy grabbed her scruff and shook. Hollypaw felt dazed with all the shaking and was thrown away from Russetfur. A grey streak flashed before her, snarling at the deputy as he slashed at her.

"Get away from her!" Graystripe growled.

Hollypaw shook her head, clearing the dizziness. She quickly returned to battle, jabbing at Russetfur. Now outmatched, the Shadowclan deputy backed a bit, stubbornly holding her ground.

Hollypaw ducked under Graystripe and shot out from beneath him, nipping the Shadowclan deputy on her hind leg with ferocity. Russetfur snarled and turned to her. Hollypaw prepared for a slash. Nothing happened. Hollypaw turned to see Lionpaw had hurled himself at Russetfur and slashing her nose. The Shadowclan deputy howled in pain as crimson blood welled beneath her eyes.

"Nice work!" Graystripe called.

As he spoke, two Shadowclan cats slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. The larger of the pair, a black tom, pressed him to the ground, while the smaller white she-cat reared on her hind legs, flexing her long claws, ready to crash down on Graystripe's head.

Orange fur blazed past Hollypaw as Firestar flew at the white warrior. He threw the Shadowclan warrior backward and slashed her cheek with a well-aimed blow.

Lionpaw leaped onto the black tom who was pinning Graystripe to the ground. He dug in his claws and bit hard into the tom's shoulder. The warrior let go of Graystripe and reared backward. At once Hollypaw darted behind him and knocked the tom's paws out from under him. Lionpaw leaped off as the warrior crashed down.

"Great move!" Lionpaw called to Hollypaw.

"He's not finished yet," she warned, watching the Shadowclan tom.

The black tom was already on his paws, hissing ferociously, but Lionpaw and Hollypaw faced him side by side, jabbing and slashing with their forepaws; they drove him back toward the border until he was panting and streaked with blood.

"Can you manage by yourself?" Lionpaw suddenly screeched to Hollypaw.

"I'll help her," Graystripe growled, leaping in beside her. The tom growled as Hollypaw felt Lionpaw had gone somewhere in battle. Both the apprentice and former deputy darted in, landing blows on the surprised Shadowclan warrior. The tom let out one last growl and ran back to his side of the territory. An angry screech teared the air.

"Milly!" Graystripe yowled and raced to save his mate, leaving her alone in battle. She suddenly faced a Shadowclan warrior.

Hollypaw hissed at a tabby warrior. They circled each other. Hollypaw flicked her ears worryingly, as she is an inexperience apprentice. No, she is an apprentice, there will always be a cat better at a certain set of skills. But she will be a warrior.

The tabby rushed at her. Hollypaw ducked her head, knocking the tabby's forepaw from under her with her muzzle. She was so low to the ground that it was easy to roll onto her side from there and thrust her hind legs in a powerful kick that sent the tabby flying. Hollypaw rolled back to her paws.

"Watch out!" Lionpaw gasped just as another Shadowclan warrior pounced on her. Hollypaw growled and wiggled, trying to get out of the warrior's grip. The heavy weight was pulled away from her. Hollypaw jumped to her paws as Graystripe wrestled Smokefoot to the ground and pummeled his belly with his thorn-sharp hind claws. Lionpaw darted to Hollypaw's side as Smokefoot yowled in pain, and Graystripe let the tom flee across the border.

"Drive the rest into the brambles!" Graystripe ordered.

"What?" Spiderleg yowled in disbelief.

"That'll only make it harder to fight them!" Birchfall called.

Harder...ah. "Harder for ShadowClan!" Hollypaw hissed in Lionpaw's ear. "They don't have brambles in the pine forest."

Firestar nodded grimly. "They're not used to fighting in undergrowth!" he called. "Do as Graystripe says!"

"Everyone, spread out behind me!" Brambleclaw's order split the air. He had spun around so that his back was to the Shadowclan border.

The Thunderclan cats drew away from their enemy long enough to reposition themselves around their deputy. Confused, the Shadowclan warriors stared about them. Suddenly they were trapped on the wrong side of their border. Then Brambleclaw charged forward, his warriors flanking him on either side, and they began to press the Shadowclan warriors deeper into Thunderclan territory, where a tangle of brambles covered the forest floor.

Hollypaw hissed and growled, showing a fury of claws at a Shadowclan apprentice. Ivypaw backed away from her and Hollypaw followed, not letting her escape.

The Shadowclan warriors were beginning to trip on the brambles, struggling as much against the thorns that clawed their pelts as against the Thunderclan warriors who were forcing them farther and farther into the bush. Sandstorm's tail lashed triumphantly as a Shadowclan warrior cowered beneath her blows. Beside her, Whitewing nipped at a mottled apprentice as he tried to battle past her out of the clinging thorns. Brook and Stormfur worked together, jabbing at Smokefoot with merciless claws as he struggled farther into the brambles to escape them.

Russetfur stared in dismay at her warriors thrashing helplessly in the undergrowth. "Retreat!" she yowled. The Shadowclan cats scrambled out of the brambles, leaving clumps of fur behind as they pelted past the Thunderclan warriors and fled back into their own territory. Hollypaw watched as Ivypaw gave her one last hiss and raced away, blushing against her thorn-covered pelt.

"Hollypaw!" Lionpaw cried.

"I'm over here!" Hollypaw called out, squirming backward out of the undergrowth, her bushy tail pricked with thorns.

"Is everyone okay?" Firestar staggered out, his muzzle crimson with blood.

"Sandstorm's twisted her paw." Brambleclaw was standing beside the ginger-colored warrior as she licked at a forepaw.

"It's just a sprain," she reassured him.

"Stormfur?" Firestar looked at the gray warrior. "That looks like a bad cut on your shoulder."

"It'll heal," Stormfur replied.

"I've lost a chunk of fur from my tail," Spiderleg spat. "But it was worth it if Shadowclan thinks twice before trying to steal our territory again."

"We need to make sure they're all gone," Firestar meowed.

"I'll check," Brook offered.

"Are you injured?"

"Just a torn ear."

"Then take Spiderleg with you and search beyond the brambles," Firestar ordered. "Make sure no cat went farther into our territory."

Spiderleg and Brook hared away through the trees.

Ashfur flicked Lionpaw's shoulder with his tail. "Thank StarClan you got help so quickly."

"You held out well till we came," Firestar praised him.

"Hollypaw fought like a warrior!" Birchfall commented.

"And Jaypaw never gave ground," Nightshimmer added.

"We couldn't let Shadowclan drive us from our own territory!" Graystripe growled.

Brambleclaw gazed across the clearing where the Shadowclan cats had fled. "We're going to have to do something about Shadowclan before the next Gathering," he vowed.

"Let's start by remarking the correct boundary," Firestar ordered. "Brambleclaw, you stay here with Ashfur and Birchfall and mark every tree twice along the border."

Brambleclaw nodded.

"I'll take the rest back to camp."

Hollypaw padded to Jaypaw's side, following Firestar, away from the battle.

Lionpaw caught up with Jaypaw and Hollypaw. "Did you see me jump on Oakfur?" he mewed proudly.

"I wish I had!" Hollypaw sounded even more excited than he felt. "I was too busy seeing to that tabby warrior. I used a move Cinderpaw taught me the other day. It was brilliant doing it for real!"

"And you showed Owlpaw that he's no match for a Thunderclan apprentice," Lionpaw mewed to Jaypaw. Hollypaw turned to Jaypaw, whose tail twitch uncomfortably.

"Really? All that training paid off then, Jaypaw," Hollypaw mewed. Her brother nodded numbly, his head down.