Chapter 28

The night was thick with moisture, the clouds sinking to the ground, when they came. The ShadeClan cats held a moonlight patrol, but most cats preferred to stay in their dens to sleep away the difficult night. Shapes slid over the ground, more silent than most ShadeClan cats would expect, but they were indeed detected over the conflicted territory. The cat to burst into the camp was the deputy, Oaktail, his ears flat and eyes stretched wide. "They've come!" he yowled, a scratch on his forehead seeping blood into his face and his whiskers. "MistClan is attacking!"

This yowl sent the cats jolting from their nests, springing up, claws unsheathing and glinting. Birdpool struggled to keep the kits from racing out of the den at the excitement as their father or uncle called the cats together, barely managing to keep track of all of them. It was in this that one of the kits managed to slip out: Starlingkit. His dark pelt kept him from being seen in the shadows, and, being smart enough to discover this, he managed to escape Birdpool's eye. The queen was horrified when she discovered this, racing out of the nursery and looking around in fright. "Starlingkit!" she shrieked, praying that StarClan would watch over her son. There was only Bramblestripe and Brackenpaw in camp, and they looked at her with fearful eyes. Brackenpaw took up the task and raced out of the camp before Bramblestripe could get a word in. So, Birdpool and Bramblestripe were left to keep the kits in line, staying in the nursery together, for they could not risk sending Bramblestripe out to retrieve either young cat.

Starlingkit's breathing came short as he ran; the moisture made it hard to run like this. He wondered what it must be like to fight in a battle like his father! He could imagine the thrill in his claws and the ferocity of his Clanmates! His mission was to assist in the battle. He felt like he must prove himself before the other ShadeClan cats so that he could be apprenticed early. In other words, he was trying to get what he wanted, which was to become an apprentice. He, unfortunately, chose the most naive fashion possible to achieve this goal, and he never would become an apprentice early, anyhow. Poor Starlingkit, however, didn't know any better, and so he chased this fantasy, marveling in his head at the heroic fierceness in his blazing amber eyes and his scarred but sleek black pelt, his Clanmates cheering, "Starlingpaw! Starlingpaw! Starlingpaw!"

What the battle was, however, was not as he had imagined. It was not heroic, and it wasn't nearly as thrilling. It was simply frightening. He skidded to a halt just outside of the shelter of a hawthorn bush, staring in horror as blood sprayed in his direction from the wound of his Clanmate, Wingbreeze. She was tangling with a gray-furred warrior, whose blue eyes were alight from adrenaline. Their claws glinted in the moonlight, but so did the dark liquid of blood, which shone on their muzzles and their chests, lining their claws and teeth. Wingbreeze's lips were drawn back in a snarl as she clawed viciously at the tom's shoulder. "Trespasser!" she screeched furiously. The two warriors tumbled, and Starlingkit barely managed to leap out of the way, their larger bodies nearly crushing his own.

Starlingkit panted, watching, mesmerized, as the gray-furred tom latched his teeth into her chest, throwing her off of him. Wingbreeze rolled away but soon regained her paws, darting at him before sliding to the side, whipping her tail in his face. Then, she lunged and clawed at his leg, and he heaved himself on top of her, crushing her under his weight. Starlingkit backed away, but he was no longer beside the hawthorn bush; he had needed to move away from it when the two cats almost flattened him. He had already realized this was a bad idea, but now that he was in the situation, there was no getting out of it. Starlingkit was still big enough to be noticeable, and ended up being worthy of taunts from the MistClan cats.

"Hah! It seems Darkstar has decided to start training under-aged kits!" exclaimed a gray and white she-cat who owned a pair of frighteningly sharp, yellow eyes. Her fur was bristling along her spine, making her look two times her size, and her tail lashing angrily behind her. She then lunged at Starlingkit, her jaws opening to bite down on the kit. Starlingkit squealed in fear as she grabbed hold of him, pain slicing where she had punctured his flesh. Suddenly, a flash of gray tabby fur knocked the MistClan cat away from Starlingkit, who screeched as her teeth dragged away from him. He huddled down, trying to make himself small, not hardly thinking of his savior, who was now struggling to hold off the larger cat.

He had recognized her, though: It was Dewpaw. He was upset that it wasn't Brackenpaw; the apprentice would've brought him to the camp! Starlingkit just wanted to get out of here. He wanted this all to be over. The fighting in the battle was nothing like what he would have ever expected; there were screaming cats everywhere; blood flying in the sky; scary cats laughing and taunting! Realizing there was another he could find, his eyes quickly began searching through the struggling cats for his father. "Daddy!" he yowled, hoping Darkstar would hear him.

He repeated his yowling, but quieted once he found this had drawn more attention. This time, a brown tabby tom with white paws lunged and knocked him over, slicing his claws across Starlingkit's leg. This time, however, Starlingkit was not held down, and he managed to escape the MistClan cat, racing through the crowd of battling warriors. He ducked past Ravendust and a black and white tom and Oaktail with a gray-brown tom, and finally he spotted Darkstar. The dark gray tabby tom was fighting a pale gray cat who seemed to be lacking a tail from this perspective. Normally, Starlingkit would think on that, but he wasted no time to sprint toward his father, even if Darkstar was fighting. He repeated his yowl, and this time Darkstar heard him. He shoved away the pale gray tom and snatched Starlingkit in his jaws.

"What is this?" taunted the pale gray cat, who seemed to hold some position of authority. Perhaps leader? "That kit looks more like a worm!"

Darkstar snarled, "Even you wouldn't betray StarClan's laws and harm a kit in need! Let me go, Shortstar!" Starlingkit trembled in his father's jaws, curled up slightly, his tail tucked between his legs in fear.

Shortstar narrowed his eyes, glaring at him with a glint in his eye. "Perhaps not, but you can't use that kit as an excuse forever! You'd better hurry back, or he might die." Darkstar turned and started running, leaping this way and that as he avoided his brawling Clanmates. When they came across Brackenpaw, Starlingkit and Darkstar were both relieved.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Darkstar!" whimpered Brackenpaw when he saw Starlingkit's bloody self.

Darkstar snapped angrily, "Just shut up and get him back to camp!" Brackenpaw nodded and took Starlingkit, racing away toward the camp, and Starlingkit, although it hurt, welcomed the feeling of being carried back. He had definitely learned his lesson! He'd make sure to tell his littermates, too. He'd hate to hear their story of horrific events if they went into battle early!

"You've caused a lot of trouble," Brackenpaw's voice brought Starlingkit from his thoughts, and reminded him of the discipline that would occur when he got back. "Birdpool and Darkstar aren't going to be kind to you on this one. You scared us all half to StarClan!" Starlingkit gazed at the ground as it raced past them, shamed by Brackenpaw's words. The young cat was right about this one. Starlingkit had made a wrong move, and he was going to have to be prepared to pay the price for it.

When the two came into camp, Birdpool raced up to her son, relieved and horrified by him, grabbing hold of him and setting him down, licking his wounds anxiously. "Oh, Starlingkit, you're hurt!" she wailed worriedly, but Starlingkit was hardly listening. That battle was so vicious... how would their father look when he came out of it? He had only been in the battle for a short time compared to how long it looked like it was going to last. These MistClan cats were fighting beyond the code! This wasn't just a normal battle anymore. This was a violent, brutal, bloody war!