OMG I AM SO SORRY I HAVENT'T UPDATED FOR MORE THAN A WEEK! I FORGOT TO TELL YOU THAT I WAS GOING ON VACATION! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Nightstorm: Since Destiny is freaking out about not adding a new chapter for twelve days while some people don't do it for twelve weeks, I will say the disclaimer. She does not own Warriors.
When Midnight saw Lightning and the ShadowClan apprentice racing through the clearing towards him, he automatically knew something was wrong. Lightning was usually a really calm cat, but the look on his face said that there was something out there to worry about. Midnight stood from where he sat, resting from a long night of training, and waited for the two ShadowClan recruits to reach him.
"Lightning, why have you brought Flowerpaw along with you? What if they notice she is gone?"
"I'm more important, Midnight, if anything they'd notice I'm gone," Lightning said between gasps of air. "This was urgent, and I didn't have enough time to tell her to stay behind."
"Fine then, what do you have to tell me?" Midnight asked.
Lightning panted heavily, unable to speak for many moments. "They...ShadowClan..." he gasped, "They know about the attack. In fact they know about everything. That blasted frog-brain, Sunmask has known about this since she joined the Clan. She told everyone this morning. They all began training today, and I believe they're looking for help from the other Clans."
Midnight stretched his eyes wide. He knew the cat he spoke of. It was the cat that barged into his camp with Pouncefoot after trying to chase one of his spies. He knew he should not have forgotten about her, but she had completely slipped from mind, and it never occurred to him that they would share his plans.
"What do we do, master?" asked Flowerpaw.
"You mean to tell me, Lightning, that this cat has known about us for seasons and seasons, and never told her Clan about us until now?" Midnight asked. He laughed, "What an idiot! There's no time for them to match the strength that we have, and if I'm correct, Eagle informed me that the battle the other three having against ShadowClan is official. They won't have enough time to match our power."
"But sir," Lightning said, "Sunmask has connections. She told us all that she has a friend in WindClan, and that means he can convince Ivystar herself to turn this entire thing around. It's too big of a risk to do nothing."
"Ha!" Midnight laughed, turning away from the ShadowClan recruit. "Like one pathetic Clancat can convince the rest of those frog-brains to switch the date of their final attack." He sat and flicked his tail. "We still have more recruits to take on four of those weak Clans."
"You must be joking," Lightning said. "Look, like me, there are many cats of the Clans who have joined to have a real place to belong. I was forced down a path I did not want to take. This is where we got to show our strength where our Clans didn't allow."
Midnight whirled around with his teeth bared. "Are you asking me," he began, voice low and rough, "To make sacrificyou for you? To show you and the rest of my recruits compassion, just to make you feel nice and secure?"
"Sir, I just thought you'd understand..." Lightning replied softly, eyes flicked off to the side.
"Unlike you, I do not spend my time wallowing in my past. If I am to remember the pain that I went through to get me here instead of working with my strength to perform my duty, I might as well consider myself weak," Midnight growled.
"So, you'll do nothing?" Lightning asked.
"I will do nothing." Midnight's gaze flicked to the small ginger she-cat beside Lightning. Her eyes were wandering, admiring the clearing in the daylight, from the training cats scattered around the bloody field, to Midnight's cave across the camp. "I will do nothing about the date of the attack, but I do believe it is someone's first time here."
Flowerpaw looked up at him with wonder gleaming in her eyes. "Are you saying...?"
"I think you should earn your Black Horror name," Midnight said.
Flowerpaw's neck fur bristled with excitement. Lightning nudged her with pride in his eyes.
Midnight led them to the hill of which overshadowed his stone enclosed den. After climbing swiftly up to the top, for all the clearing to see, he let out a loud yowl that caught the attention of the battling cats.
"The time of the battle is coming up very soon," he began, his words earning a loud out roar of ambitious shouts, "And to our luck, we have been able to assemble quite a few cats from the ranks of the Clans themselves. Of course, we have earned only three from the soul Clan of this matter, but nothing will stand in our way with all we have in store for them all."
The recruits down below threw back their heads, yowling and laughing manically.
"And this is the first time one of those ShadowClan recruits is here to see our camp," Midnight continued, flicking his tail at Flowerpaw. "And so, I hereby strip her of her Clan name, Flowerpaw, a name so dainty and weak," he bared his teeth as if to shame the word, "It does not give her the credit of how powerful and poisonous her claws really are."
The Black Horror yowled with approval as the currently unnamed ginger she-cat swiped her claws through the air quickly in a sandy-colored flashed. Midnight smiled enticingly down at the young Clan recruit.
"Poisonous," he said, rolling the word over in his head, "Yes, that does suit her. This new Clan recruit is to be known as Deathberry, for the venom in her soul that feeds her desire for the blood of her enemies." The Black Horror cheered, well, not so much cheered as they snarled her name, as if in some sort of challenge.
Deathberry seemed confused at the hostility displayed in the voices of her fellow recruits. "I don't understand," she murmured, "What...what do they want?"
"You have killed before," Midnight growled, unsheathing his claws. "I am sure you can survive a brutal training before you return back to your Clan for more spying."
Deathberry's eyes went wide as he lunged for her, claws outstretched. To Midnight's surprise, she managed to dodge, nimbly, and lash out at his shoulder. The blow was weak and feeble, and Midnight wasn't distracted as he turned towards her and dove again.
This time, he had her pinned in a flash. His claws slashed down over Deathberry's muzzle, and she shrieked in agony.
"Come you pathetic kit," he snarled, "Fight as if I was that sister of yours that you killed. What was her name...Tinypaw?"
Deathberry peeled back her lips and reached up to snap her teeth over his ear. Midnight pulled back in astonishment, but Deathberry wouldn't release him. He felt a stinging pain as she ripped off the tip of his ear, and fell back onto his spine.
Midnight had been going easy on her, but it seemed as though Lightning's secret training sessions were paying off for the ginger she-cat. He stood up before she could reach him again and tore his claws over her flank, making deep rips in her flesh. She gasped in pain and in shock of seeing the blood trickle to the grass and Midnight rammed into her again.
Deathberry grunted as Midnight sank his teeth into her shoulder. Her face was screwed up, and he could tell she was holding in her word of surrender. "If you want to be ready to face your Clan," he whispered bitterly. "You must never back down, and you must keep practicing." he ran his claws up and down her belly.
Pain coursed over the back of his neck as someone attacked him from behind. He released Deathberry and whirled around, freeing himself, and facing the attacker.
Hollow dodged his punishment strike. "Why do you expect her to nearly best you? She's still practically a kit."
Deathyberry raised her head. "I am not!"
"Yes, you really are," Hollow argued softly before turning back to the questioning glare of her master.
Midnight bristled and stepped forward threateningly. "You were supposed to be training, and instead you stop and interfere with mine? Every cat needs to learn to take on one much bigger than them, and still be able to match their strength." He shoved his scowling face into hers. "If I am correct, you need to work on that."
Hollow stood her ground. Sure, she's gotten used to doing that sort of thing around him, but this time she had a look of confidence like he hasn't seen before. "So you're going to maim one of your recruits before the battle even happens? Plus, she needs to return to her Clan soon, and what do you think they are going to say when they see her like that?"
She kept staring at Midnight as intensely as he stared at her. At last, he emitted a long, threatening growl. "Fine," he said, marking the ground with scars. "You better do wonders in the battle, Hollow, to make up for all of that disrespect you have served me since you got here."
Hollow snorted and stalked away.
Midnight turned around to look at Deathberry, as she tried with great effort to stand. Lightning helped her up and let her lean on his shoulder. "Don't worry sir," he meowed. "I will find a lot of time to work with her. Both she and I will be ready for the battle."
He watched as they made their way through the clearing of battling cats to head back to ShadowClan. At that time, he was worried that they wouldn't be ready.
But then he took a look around. Throughout the entire camp, recruits clawing and biting at each other, making maneuvers that Midnight himself couldn't comprehend. There was square dodging and clean and quick bites that left wounds big enough to be fatal, but these cats could take it. They've been working for moons, after all, under his command.
Midnight smiled menacingly, wishing only that the Clans could see it all. We'll be ready.
Sorry so much for not updating! I will try and crank these out as soon as I possibly can. Btw, I began Caught in Flames, the sequel to Trapped in Ice, so be sure to check that out, and REVEIW!
~Destiny (and Nightstorm)