Chapter 35:

Unknown:

Age: 27 moons…

"They're in the camp!" I yowl to my Clanmates. A horrified expression grew on my face as more and more Dark Forest cats poured through the damaged and widened camp entrance. I unsheathe my claws again and rush into them, not caring about the pricking claws and teeth that were about to pierce my thick golden pelt.

"Drive them out!" I could barely hear Firestar's voice through the fighting. I grab a large brown and cream tom and rip his ear to shreds. He lets out a pained shriek and tries to get away from me as my Clanmates jump into the fray by my side.

I was suddenly aware of another scent besides the Clan cats and the dead cats. But I didn't have much time to think about it before I get tackled by two other cats. They struggle to keep my large and well muscled form down.

One of them gets shoved off of me, and it gives me the window I needed to throw the other cat off. After I succeed in pushing him away, I spot the second attacker… She had been grabbed by a younger pure white she-cat that I didn't recognize.

Who is she? Almost as I thought up the question in my mind, another cat steps towards me, baring his teeth and crouching in a threatening stance. He had the same scent.

"Stop standing there and help me, idiot!" The white she-cat snaps, rearing back when she gets hit in the face by an unsheathed claw. The long-furred black tom narrows his eyes at me then turns to help his companion.

I turn instinctively to chase a tabby up the slope towards the camp entrance. I could tell that the fight was almost won. At least.. For now.. Soon, there were only a few stragglers hanging around and cowering.

Firestar steps forward. "You can run or you can die."

They took the chance to turn and run, disappearing outside of the camp.

"Cowards!" Ferncloud scoffs.

But the two newcomers hadn't fled. They were trapped in the corner near the nursery, spitting and hissing at Dovewing, Birchfall, and several other Warriors who were doing the same against them.

"We're not with them!" The black tom glares, his blue eyes narrowed to the thinnest slits I'd ever seen in a cat's eyes.

"Brambleclaw, take Pebblefoot, Sandstorm, Owlwhisker, and Millie and follow them." Firestar orders, flicking his tail to the ThunderClan Deputy. The ginger tomcat then turns to the two new intruders. "You need to leave. We don't have time to deal with loners."

"We want to help. That's why we're here." The tom explains, watching the ThunderClan cats as they went about helping the wounded and guarding the camp from other intruders. "We were led here by a cat who goes by the name Stormfur."

"Stormfur?" Birchfall questions, tipping his head to the side. "Is he here?"

"Yes he's here! He's helping those marshland cats along with my comrades."

Suddenly a smaller than average cat burst through the camp entrance, panting heavily.

"Stoatpaw?" I ask, taking my mind away from the loner incident. "How is the battle going in ShadowClan territory?"

"Blackstar's lost a life! And we've been overrun!" He pants, trying to breathe. "We need help!"

The three ShadowClan Warriors that were in the camp immediately stepped forward, offering their assistance.

"Have you seen Cherrypaw?" Poppyfrost asks.

"Isn't she here?"

Leafpool brushes her pelt with the former queen. "Perhaps she's gone to WindClan looking for her brother."

"How near is the next Dark Forest patrol?" Firestar glances at Dovewing.

The she-cat gets lost in thought, obviously using her hearing power. "They haven't broken into Clan territory yet."

"Lionblaze, go to ShadowClan. Take Graystripe with you." Firestar orders, nodding to me.

I return the nod and so does Graystripe. We both dash off through the entrance and outside into ThunderClan territory.

I'll be back, ThunderClan. Just hold it together for a little bit longer…

(In the marshlands, Flame's pov)

"This mud! Why would this be worth fighting over?" I mutter, half to myself as I trudged through the mud and water.

"RiverClan cats are born and raised in places like this. You'd probably be better suited in a Clan like ThunderClan or ShadowClan." Stormfur sympathizes. After I'd sent Frost and Night off in the direction of the forest, where I'd guessed ThunderClan was, the rest of us set off to the RiverClan camp. Luckly, they were happy to have our help. They would've been pushed out of their camp by these strange rogues if we hadn't arrived. Their Leader, Mistystar, had sent two of her Warriors along with Stormfur and I to the moors. I disliked the over-trusting personality of that blue-gray she-cat... After all, we could've been allied with her enemy.

I could tell by the distrusting looks of the RiverClan Warriors that they thought the same.

"Don't worry." I meow past my shoulder. "The sooner this battle ends the sooner we will be gone."

Stormfur nods. "Who are these cats anyways?"

"Dark Forest cats. They found a way to get through to the living world." A cat by the name of Blackclaw explains.

"Leave it to BlunderClan to keep all of the secrets and warnings to themselves." Another tom that I didn't know the name of sneers.

"Why would they do that?" I flick my ears. "There are four Clans, not one."

"Tell that to their faces." He rolls his eyes. "What kind of Clan has worse logic than a rogue?"

I shrug. "Maybe even they didn't know about it until the last moment. StarClan likes to be vague.. At least in my experiences."

"Wait." Stormfur pauses, forcing the entire patrol to stop. "Can you hear that?"

Hear what? I prick my ears, listening for any strange sounds. True enough, I could hear cats rummaging through the thick heather up ahead. I crouch down and creep forward into the heather, signaling with my tail to the rest of the patrol to keep quiet. I couldn't tell if they were Clan cats or rogues..

I hear one get close to the heather bushes, and unsheathe my claws. I let out a battle cry and pounce, barely able to see what was in front of my eyes. My teeth latch onto fur, digging in almost to the skin. My target yowls, immediately rolling over and sending me tumbling into the grass. Before I could recover and continue my attack, the cat bites into the fur around my neck, getting dangerously close to cutting off my wind pipe.

"Stop!" Stormfur's shouting forces the cat to freeze, and then look up. "Ivypool? Blossomfall?"

"Stormfur?" The cat tips her head to the side. "What in StarClan's name are you doing here?"

"No time to explain." Stormfur growls, gesturing towards me. "He's a friend. We're here to help."

"And you're lucky to have it!" A RiverClan apprentice sneers.

"Quiet." I hiss, sitting up and pricking my ears again. I could hear more pawsteps in the distance. The strong scent of marshes and decayed wood wafted from the the same direction, getting stronger and stronger until it became almost overpowering.

"Traitors!"

Will it ever end?!

I am Flame, newcomer to the lake. The fight continues!