Before anything else as they approached camp, they heard the yowling and screeching.
Faint in the distance, as the sun rose higher into a bright sky behind them, while the two she-cats ran as fast and hard as they could, the sounds of the attack on their camp reached their ears.
They had cut right through Marshclan to get there faster (leaving a baffled patrol in their wake as they utterly ignored them) but Snowpaw's poor pads ached and were going raw from running (why was it always her paws?) … But, she just pushed herself harder. They needed to get there and help their clan. Both she and Heronstar were tired, but right now adrenaline and fear pushed them beyond their limits.
They needed to get there. How long had the raiders been there? What state was the camp in?
Was everyone still okay?
The two burst into camp like a hurricane. Heronstar didn't even take a breath to survey what was going on. With a furious yowl, she slammed into the nearest cat; a dark ginger and white rogue. Righteous fury blazed in the new leader's eyes. She wouldn't stand for this, and frankly Snowpaw agreed with her anger. She was sick of these cats terrorizing the valley!
Snowpaw looked for where she was most needed as Heronstar tumbled past locked in a whirlwind of claws with the rogue she-cat. It seemed that the attack had probably only just started when they had gotten into hearing range of it; most of the combating cats still looked quite fresh. No dens had been torn down. The warriors held the raiders at bay.
She couldn't see any Gorseclan cats. It looked like this was just the rogues. While the fewer numbers were a good thing, the attackers were still a sizable party, and all fearsome and dirty in their approach to fighting… and they didn't have Icestar here to control their bloodthirst in the slightest. She had seen their desire to kill other cats at the lost Gustclan battle… It worried her. Were they here on orders to take prisoners, or to eliminate the clan altogether?
A familiar dark-pointed pelt and slim body across camp drew her eye. While his rogue friends dealt with the cats guarding the entrance, he slipped into the elders den.
Ferretpaw.
Snowpaw, aware no other cat seemed to have noticed him, charged across the camp towards the den, swatting at any enemy that got in her way as they fought her clanmates. Anger surged tired muscles onward. That traitor! That spineless spying scum!
Batear and Waspsting had been protecting the den and were now engaged with a brown tabby and a grey bicolour respectively. Both were fighting fiercely; Waspsting was all but squashing the smaller rogue tom underneath her bulk, while Batear danced around his opponent. In the chaos, Snowpaw doubted they even noticed her.
She had every confidence the two would be okay, and right now, their most vulnerable clanmates, Houndleg and Murkstripe, were under threat.
Closer to the den entrance, Snowpaw heard voices. She crouched and snuck closer, hoping to catch Ferretpaw by surprise.
"So, it's true then…" Ferretpaw's voice; snide and aggressively charged as ever. "Crippled as a bird with broken wings! How very fitting for a punishment!" He laughed cruelly.
"You vile little snot! How dare you-!" A smacking sound of claw meeting flesh silenced Houndleg's indigent croak.
"Shut up, you old bag of fur! I'm taking with my former leader here, it's rude to interrupt…"
After glancing over her shoulder to check she was safe from behind, Snowpaw peeked around the den entrance, holding her body low.
Ferretpaw stood over Murkstripe as he lay in his nest, the two toms staring each other down. He held his front half up, but his hindquarters lay sprawled out and useless. Murkstripe was appearing brave, but he had to be aware of how much danger he was in. Houndleg was hunched further back in the den, having scrambled there after the blow that had left him with a bleeding cheek. Fear and disgust shone in his eyes in the dark of the den.
"Are you proud of yourself Ferretpaw, to betray your clan, and strike a respected elder?" Murkstripe asked evenly, showing no fear.
"Don't call me that!" The pointed tom screeched erratically, spitting into the tabby's face. "I'm Ferretstrike! The name that you refused me!"
"You were held back because you had not yet shown the temperament of a true warrior! I can see now I made the right choice!" Murkstripe growled, with a flash of teeth. "A traitor deserves no warrior name under Starclan!"
"It's all your fault!" Ferretstrike howled. "You and the rest of this soft pathetic clan! I'm strong, and you're weak! You had no right to admonish me!"
Snowpaw narrowed her eyes as Ferretstrike appeared to be about to attack Murkstripe. She bunched her muscles, ready to leap. The idiot was so caught up in his moment that he hadn't even noticed her, but Houndleg and Murkstripe had. The elder nodded his head, just a little, and Murkstripe blinked once, very slowly. A cautious approval of what she was about to do.
"Did your really do all this; betray your clan and family, for just that?" Murkstripe sounded aghast.
"Well…" Ferretstrike hissed with a little smirk, unsheathing his claws and lifting a paw, ready to attack. "That and I just found it fun."
Now! Snowpaw pounced, smacking her forepaws down hard onto Ferretstrike's hips. She dug her claws in as hard as she could, feeling blood well beneath them. The tom shrieked in pain and surprise, trying to spin around to her, but she was powerful enough to drag him backwards and out of the den before he could do anything to stop her.
Her blood raced through her like fire.
"You!" He spat with rage as he whipped around, snapping his teeth together as he tried to bite her while she forced his hindquarters to the ground. He was much smaller and slighter than her. He was faster and more nimble, but now she had him in her grasp she had him beat on brute strength.
"Me." She snarled back quietly.
"Filthy kittypet!" Ferretstrike kicked out with his back legs as he struggled. Claws raked weakly along her belly. She ignored it.
Snowpaw bit into his spine as a retort. Not hard enough to do real damage, but enough to hurt. The yowl was strangely satisfying.
She pulled herself further along his body in order to completely pin him down as he scrambled to escape. She could easily kill him now, if she wanted to. It seemed Ferretstrike was aware of that fact, for his anger was now mixed with clear fear scent. She could hear his heart beating rapidly, out of rhythm with her own pounding in her chest. She brought her muzzle close to his face. "Get out, and don't come back…" The sentence oozed threat. Snowpaw's place was Fieldclan. They were hers to protect, and she wouldn't allow slime like this to harm them again. He'd always been a piece of dogdung, but now he'd shown just how low he was.
She gave one last strong bite to the new rogue's shoulder, then loosened her grip. Ferretstrike slipped out from under her claws and ran. He didn't once look back to check on his new allies, all the way out of camp. Snowpaw huffed in disgust and contempt as his tail vanished from sight. A true coward at heart. And to think, she'd once just sought the vaguest of approval from him! Wanted him to get over his contempt for her origins! How he was littermates with Kiwifeather and Bushtail was beyond her!
As Snowpaw stood there, panting and bleeding slightly from the wounds to her belly, her battle-heated blood seemed to growl in dissatisfaction at the ease of dismissing Ferretstrike.
But there was still more to do to kick out the rest of the vermin yet. All around was still a hissing, fur-flying melee. Waspsting was back in front of the elders den. She gave the apprentice a firm nod, bleeding from a wound to her head, but eyes bright.
Snowpaw charged back into the fray.