CLANLIFE
This is an account of all the stories (in correct order) that have happened to the cats of ThunderClan. These tales will begin just after a great flood that has destroyed most of ThunderClan and RiverClan. In these times the Clan leader Greystar was sick with greencough and sent his deputy, Lionheart, to the gathering instead. That day the Clan was struck with a massive flood and the cats could not return from the Gathering. When they finaly were able to get back they found everyone who was left in the camp to be dead.
ACROSS THE BOARDER - Thunderpath - Mid-Afternoon
Mudpaw stared across the path, clearly shocked by his newfound duties. "I can't believe we're going to have to go over there..." He said quietly. Darkpaw simply kept the same somber expression she had assumed upon informing him of their mission. "The others should be here soon." Continued the Siamese apprentice. He turned as he saw Patchpelt and Mistyfur coming towards them. She introduced them to Blood and Flash, two loners who were going to help them on their mission.
There were five cats in total; Blood, Flash, Darkpaw, Mudpaw, and in the lead, Patchpelt.
"Good luck." Said Mistyfur quietly, touching noses to each of her warriors and nodding her head to the loners. "Find out as much as you can."
Patchpelt turned to the Thunderpath. As the only full warrior of the group it was her duty to go first. Swallowing, she set off across the black surface. it felt unnatural beneith her paws, but then again, it was unnatural. She froze as a roar started up in the distance as soon as she regained the ability to move she darted across.
It wasn't long before the four other cats appeared behind her. They all looked solemn and frightened, like they were going into war. Patchpelt knew she looked the same way.
"Alright. First we're going to go along the boarder. If they see us, we scatter and try to meet at Mothermouth. If they catch us, we fight. If you catch any signs of ShadowClan inform me immidiently. Understood?"
"Yes, Patchpelt." Came their reply. Their solemness was getting to Patchpelt. It made her want to scream at them, "Cheer up for StarClan's sake! You all look like someone died!" But she didn't. ShadowClan was gone, and for all they knew, someone had died.
So the group set off along the Clan boarder, following the more recent marks made by BoneClan over the pervious ones by ShadowClan.
The sun was setting when Darkpaw finaly broke the silence. "We're near Carrionplace. It smells strange."
Patchpelt nodded. "It does." She hadn't expected Carrionplace to smell so... sick. She's expected something more like crowfood. "Let's go look at it."
The other cats exchanged worried glances, but nodded anyways and followed Patchpelt towards Carrionplace.
She stopped abruptly, peering through the gaps in a bush. "There are cats there!" She whispered, surprised. There were two cats guarding the entrance to Carrionplace. One was a scrawny white tom and the other a big, heavy looking blue-grey tom. The little white one looked pathetic in comparison.
"Obviously they have something to guard." Said Flash quietly. "Something they don't want anyone to find out about."
"Then we'll have to go find out what it is." Said Blood, unsheathing his needle-sharp claws. Patchpelt nodded. "Distract the guard. Darkpaw and Mudpaw will get in and find out what's going on."
So the five cats set off, sneaking closer to watch the battle. Blood and Flash waltzed out from behind their bush. The two cats attacked immediately and Patchpelt leaped in to help them. Without a word the two apprentices slipped into Carrionplace.
Darkpaw couldn't help but gasp at what she saw. Mingled with two-leg trash were the bodies of cats. Some were recognizable as ShadowClan, others too mangled to make out. In the middle, sitting up top on a large poll, was the rotting corpse of another cat that made the apprentices want to gag. Some of the bodies even looked half-eaten, as if the cats of BoneClan had feasted on them before throwing them here.
"Why?" Squeaked Mudpaw suddenly. "Why do they do this?"
Darkpaw shook her head and padded up to one of the cat bodies to inspect it. She gasped again, then opened the cat's mouth. "Mudpaw, come look! They have no claws or teeth. Come to think of it, even their bones are gone."
Mudpaw looked, and indeed she was right. They couldn't understand why these vile cats would do this. It made no sense, as far as they could figure.
There was a sudden yowl from outside and the apprentices turned to see that two more CarrionGuards had joined the fight at the entrance. Without hesitating they threw themselves at the black tom and the black and white she-cat who were endangering their friends. They were thrown off easily. From where she stood fighting the small white tom, who had turned out to be a worthy opponent, Patchpelt called; "Scatter! Run! Get out of here!"
Flash and Blood immediately abandoned their battles and fled. With a quick glance back, so did the apprentices. Their hearts were pounding, but they just ran and ran until they could run no more and collapsed to the ground.
-----
The topic in the Warriors den that night was Metalstar. Not her Clan, and not really the cat herself, but her claws. They were metal and, as the had all seen, she couldn't sheath them. Other cats had observed that some of her warriors had claws that appeared to be made of bone. Cloudysky hadn't noticed anything. He'd been too busy being hostile towards them to pay any attention to their claws, but now he realized how stupid he'd been not to even make an attempt to observe anything about the other cats. Greysong seemed to be thinking the same thing, although with a mute you could never be sure. At least having such a big cat as a friend was reassuring. But where had she gotten her metal claws?
Coldpelt grinned as he padded into the den. He hadn't come to the Gathering, but due to his injuries, Mistyfur had sent him back from the battle before it had ended. He hadn't spoken to her since and seemed to be angry with her. Coldpelt always took battles very seriously, but he was a highly respected warrior, as Cloudysky had often been reminded as an apprentice. "Metal claws, you say?"
"Yes." Said Tigerstripe seriously. "Lionstar sent Darkpaw, Mudpaw, Flash, Blood and Patchpelt into BoneClan territory to find out more about them."
"So we're finally going to have a quiet night!" Said Flamecloud happily. This got him a paw-slap across the muzzle from Tigerstripe.
"This is not a laughing matter. BoneClan is a serious threat to ThunderClan, and with Amberheart's news of WindClan things are getting even worse." He snarled. Flamecloud shrank back. Cloudpelt decided now that it would be best to lie down between Cloudysky and Tigerstripe, which was exactly what Cloudysky was hoping he would not do. Coldpelt didn't seem to notice his discomfort, but went on chatting with Tigerstripe and the others long into the night. Finally, after Tigerstripe, Greysong and the others were asleep, Coldpelt turned to Cloudysky.
"Get used to it. You need to keep up more current with the news of the forest. If only I could 'ave been your mentor you might appreciate this a bit more." Snapped Coldpelt, then tucked his nose under his paw and fell asleep.
Cloudysky lay awake for a while longer. Coldpelt had been Greysong's mentor before. His friend had never said anything about the old tom, although there wasn't much that he could say. Only simple gestures to indicate what he wanted or to give quick commands. He was a big, powerful cat though. Then Cloudysky's mind wandered off to Featherpaw and he was finally able to sleep.