Sorry for the late update! D: I've had a mayor Writer's Block and hadn't been able to write :/ I'm sorry if the last chapter wasn't good T.T but I hope you'll love this one better.
Chapter 9
Tigerpaw padded through the pine woods, his mind was filled with thoughts of what had happened just a few moments ago…
"Ah, Tigerpaw, good to see you." A tom hissed at Tigerpaw as he padded out of the place where the prisoners were held. "We have a job for you." Tigerpaw looked up, startled. They knew I would try to escape! "Don't look so surprised, we knew all along." The tom hissed. "We are going to let you and your mother go, on one condition."
"What do you want?" Tigerpaw growled.
"Oh, it's quite simple." The tom snickered. "We need you to go and tell Lightningstar that we have his son, and that if he wants him back he'll have to give us hunting rights on their territory." Tigerpaw's amber eyes widened. "You can't do that!" he hissed.
"Don't forget to tell him that, if he doesn't do it, we'll kill his precious son." The leader of ShadowClan mewed. "If you don't obey, I will kill your mother and then you."
Tigerpaw swallowed hard, whipped around and rushed out of camp in a flash. The only thing in the background was Darkstar's wicked purr.
Tigerpaw shook his head; he needed to think of something quick. He couldn't just let Lightningstar give those pieces of crow-food hunting rights! He relaxed once he was over in ThunderClan territory. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the way back to camp.
The brown tabby padded through the forest, parting his jaws to scent for the camp. "Great, where is camp?" he muttered. "I...don't remember."
He sighed, I have to hurry up. He thought.
He went through the forest weaving around the trees in search of the ThunderClan camp. The small tabby, for the first time, wished Blazeheart were somewhere near so he could take him back to camp.
A rustle in the bushes alerted the small tabby. He turned his head sharply to face the noise. It was a patrol. Tigerpaw recognized his mentor along with Rabbitpaw and another warrior he didn't recognize. "Tigerpaw!" Bramblefur mewed and padded over to his apprentice.
"Quick! Take me back to camp." Tigerpaw mewed at the cats. "I need to speak with Lightningstar." Bramblefur gave him a puzzled look but nodded.
After they arrived at camp, Tigerpaw rushed for the leader's den. "Lightningstar?" He spoke, his voice a bit shaky. "Ah, Tigerpaw, come on in." Lightningstar mewed. Tigerpaw hesitated for a moment but finally stepped inside the den. He settled down in front of Lightningstar and Blazeheart, whom he later noticed was there.
Tigerpaw twitched his ears nervously, feeling Blazeheart's green stare piercing through his fur. "Go on." Lightningstar prompted calmly. "What is it you wish to tell me?"
"I, um…" he started, unsure about how to tell him. "Wolfpaw is being held prisoner at ShadowClan's camp." He blurted out. Tigerpaw glanced briefly into Lightningstar's eyes for a sign of anger or rage but his eyes looked calm although his hackles where staring to rise.
"We got captured after Wolfpaw came looking for me at my old nest…in ShadowClan territory…" he confessed.
"What were you doing there?" Blazeheart interrupted. "You never told us your Twoleg nest was in ShadowClan territory!"
Lightningstar gave Tigerpaw a look of surprise for a moment."Go on." He ordered. "We'll talk about that some other time."
"I…wanted to see my mother, but she wasn't there. I thought it was strange and that's when I saw Wolfpaw." Tigerpaw answered, flattening his ears against his head. "Then, a ShadowClan patrol spotted us and took us to their camp."
…
Tigerpaw looked at his leader, his eyes wide with sadness and fear. "And that's what happened." He finished with a barely audible voice. Lightningstar held the young apprentice's gaze for a moment before he dismissed him with a flick of his tail.
Tigerpaw backed out of the den, tail dragging in the dust. He padded just a couple of tail-lengths from the den and could barely make out what the leader was saying to his deputy. He pricked his ears and swiveled them in the direction of the den to hear better.
"We must attack at once!" Blazeheart mewed. "I'm not about to lose my apprentice to those mangy pieces of crow-food!"
Lightningstar sighed. "Blazeheart, Wolfpaw is my son and I also want him back as soon as possible, but should we really risk all our warriors in a battle we might not win?" the leader mewed.
"No one ever said we can't win." Blazeheart objected.
Tigerpaw padded away before he could hear any more. He felt as if this was his fault; he scraped the earth with a fore-paw and made his way over to the apprentice's den. He slumped in his cold nest, which was next to Wolfpaw's, and closed his eyes for sleep to come. He soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
…
A sharp nudge on the shoulder made Tigerpaw wake up. He groaned. "What is it?"
"Get up." A voice hissed. "Lightningstar called a Clan meeting." The brown tabby opened his eyes to see a small, dark gray she-cat with blue eyes staring right at him.
With a groan, he got to his paws and followed the she-cat out. "Hurry up or we won't be able to get good seats!" she called as she dashed away. Reluctantly, Tigerpaw followed the dark gray she-cat around the cats to a nice spot in the middle with a great view of the Highledge. He sat down beside her.
He looked at the she-cat curiously for a moment. "What's your name again?" he asked, feeling embarrassed for not knowing all of his clanmates' names yet. "I'm Skypaw." She mewed, giving him a warm smile before shifting her head to see their leader. Tigerpaw nodded, registering the name in his brain and looking up to listen to Lightningstar.
"Cats of ThunderClan!" Lightningstar started, his voice ringing all around the clearing. "One of our apprentices has come to me with bad news." Meows of shock rose from the assembled cats but Lightningstar silenced them with a flick of his tail.
"Wolfpaw has been captured by ShadowClan-" Angry yowls interrupted the leader once again, amongst the loudest were Snowtail's Tigerpaw realized. "They want hunting rights on our territory in exchange for Wolfpaw."
"We must get Wolfpaw back!" Snowtail yowled.
"We can't give them hunting rights!" another cat growled.
Lightningstar's gaze rested on Snowtail. "I will make sure Wolfpaw gets back safely." He assured her. Tigerpaw saw something in the leader's eyes…they were clouded with pain. It was brief but Tigerpaw knew what he saw and wondered the reason.
"I will not give ShadowClan hunting rights to our territory." The leader decided after the shocked and angry yowls of the cats died out. "I will take our warriors with me to rescue Wolfpaw." Yowls of agreement rose from t he cats below.
"I want you all to be full fed and rested by the time we go to ShadowClan." Lightningstar mewed and disappeared to his den, he glanced over his shoulder briefly and added, "I will assign two warriors to rescue Wolfpaw and bring him to camp while we battle." Then, headed inside the den.
Tigerpaw felt anger rise up on his fur. He would be able to get back at ShadowClan for all they had done. After a moment, he realized. What's going to happen with Cross? Lightningstar hadn't even mentioned her! "Are you okay?" A voice said, making Tigerpaw jump. He whipped around and saw it was Skypaw. He forced his pelt to lie flat and gave his chest a couple of licks. "Yeah, I'm fine." He mewed and turned away; his mind began clouding with thoughts and made it hard for him to think straight.
…
Cats slipped through the forest, rushing out towards the pine woods. Lightningstar led his group of cats silently through their territory and towards the ShadowClan border. They crossed it without any second thoughts and stopped for a moment. The golden tabby leader turned around to face his cats. "ShadowClan is probably expecting us, so we'll make sure to stay unnoticed until we reach their camp. We'll use the pine trees to our advantage if necessary." He mewed and, spinning around again, led the cats towards the enemy Clan's camp. The blood pounded in Tigerpaw's ears as he rushed around the pines, following his leader. The darkness of the woods seemed to blind him and sink him in. He kept going forward, feeling his paws scrape the floor with each step.
The sun slowly disappeared through the horizon as the moon slowly took its place. The group of cats was soon fighting in a mass of teeth and claws before they even reached the camp. Tigerpaw leaped to the nearest cat, a small tabby. He hooked his claws around the she-cat's legs and flipped her over. He leaped on her and pinned her down, scratching her soft belly furiously with his claws.
He sent her wailing back to her camp. Tigerpaw saw Rabbitpaw fighting with a dark gray tabby along with Lionpaw. Looking to the side, he noticed Blazeheart wrestling with a large tom. The brown tabby glanced around for a certain tabby tom he wanted to claw. He spotted him after a while, he was fighting with Bramblefur. Tigerpaw leaped at the tabby, hissing with rage and clung to his back. Jaggedfang batted the apprentice away and went back to fighting Bramblefur. He fell back onto his haunches and growled, about to leap again.
"Go help Skypaw, she seems to be struggling!" Bramblefur hissed. "I can handle this one."
Tigerpaw looked all around at the mass of fighting cats, he spotted Skypaw quickly. She was wrestling with a she-cat twice her size. He flew at the light gray cat and knocked her off the apprentice. The two apprentices slashed and scratched the she-cat and soon sent her wailing back through the pines.
With a shock, Tigerpaw realized they were outnumbered. ThunderClan was losing. He saw his clanmates struggle with more than one ShadowClan warrior as they fought. Suddenly, a body collided with his and pinned him onto his stomach. Tigerpaw's eyes widened in alarm as another scent hit his nose. WindClan!
"What is WindClan doing here?" he wondered out loud. As the cat that had pinned him loosened her grip, he looked over his shoulder and saw it was a small, white she-cat. She got off him as she realized he was from ThunderClan. "Sorry, we're here to help." She explained and began to head into the mass of fighting cats. "What's your name?" he asked suddenly, not even knowing why he did.
She looked over her shoulder and gave him a brief smile. "My name's Moonpaw." She mewed, and bounded away into the battle. Tigerpaw saw a mass of lithe shapes leap into the battle. The smaller cats began helping his clanmates with the battle. ThunderClan had a better chance now. With more confidence, Tigerpaw leaped back into the battle. He felt as if he had the power of StarClan in his paws.
…
Time passed by like bolts of lightning, Tigerpaw felt his skin sting all over. He had scratches on his flanks and a deep gash over one eye. He was missing some bits of fur and the tip of one ear was torn. His muscles ached as he slowly followed his clanmates back to camp, they had been victorious and Wolfpaw was already waiting for them at camp or at least was supposed to be.
Alarm pricked at his fur. What about Cross? He wondered. What are we going to do with her?
As the ThunderClan cats reached camp and mewed their thanks to WindClan, Tigerpaw looked around for Cross. He thought for a moment. She must be in the medicine den, if she's even here that is...
He glanced at the cats, they all had bad scratches and were still bleeding heavily but none looked too serious or at least he hoped. He padded over to the medicine den. "Moonbreeze?" he called.
"Yes? Come in." The medicine cat replied. Tigerpaw pushed his way through the bracken that lined the entrance. "Is Cross here?"He asked, his eyes wide with concern.
"The kittypet?" Moonbreeze mewed. "I made a nest for her in a small cave by my den."
"Okay thanks." Tigerpaw mewed and turned around to leave, but the medicine cat stopped him. "Let me treat your wounds first." He mewed. The small tabby sat down obediently while Moonbreeze applied some sort of poultice into his wounds.
Tigerpaw decided to go to the fresh-kill pile. He grabbed a big rabbit and headed over to the cave where Cross had her nest. "Cross?" he hissed quietly.
"Jake?" he heard her croak.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course." The she-cat let out a soft purr. She coughed. She's still sick… Tigerpaw thought sadly. He dropped the rabbit by her paws. "Here, I brought you fresh-kill." He mewed, trying to sound cheerful.
Cross smiled faintly at him. "Thank you." She mewed, nuzzling the top of his head.
…
Tigerpaw pulled away after a while. "I…have to go, I'll visit again later." He promised and gave her a lick on the cheek, she purred in return. The brown tabby glanced around for a familiar black and white pelt.
His muscles started aching again as he padded around in search of the blue-eyed apprentice. "I should better get some rest." He muttered. "I can go looking for Wolfpaw later."
He pushed his way through the branches that covered the entrance to the apprentice's den and padded over to his nest.
A thought lingered in the tabby's mind as he fell asleep…
How had WindClan known they had been fighting ShadowClan?
How did WindClan know about the battle? What will happen to Cross? Find out, on the next Chapter of, Warriors: A New Beginning!
I hope you found this chapter far more interesting than the last one. again, I thank my reviewers for all their support...I really appreciate it :D