Chapter 3
The sun had barely risen and the whole clan had heard about the rouge attack last night. They had attacked Silkshade and a SunClan cat had saved her. Together they drove off the rouges.
Cats had been surprised when they saw a SunClan cat in camp. Wingstar ended up having to tell the whole clan to calm them down. She told us not to go out alone right now as well, but cats weren't too interested in that. Duskpelt found himself surrounded by cats wanting to go on dawn patrol. He ended up choosing cats who weren't driving him crazy. That's how Boulderfang and I got to go on border patrol and take Snakeheart to the border.
It didn't take long for a patrol of SunClan warriors to show up.
"What do you want?" the warrior leading the patrol asked.
"Hello, Grasstail. We wanted to send this warrior of yours back to camp. She saved one of our warriors last night. We send our thanks with her," Duskpelt said. "She's injured so we figured it would be better to let a patrol make sure she gets back to camp safely."
"Whitefoot, take her back to camp," Grasstail instructed. "I have a couple of questions myself."
"I suppose you can ask them," Duskpelt said.
"Who did she save?" Grasstail asked.
"Silkshade," Duskpelt answered hesitantly.
"You mean that kittypet daughter of yours? This isn't the first time I've heard she's needed rescuing," Grasstail said. "Honestly, she sure shows her kittypet side more than her warrior side. At least a rouge can fight."
"Most cats can't take on five cats at once," Duskpelt said, irritated.
"Murderscar sure can. I'm not sure that kittypet of yours could take a kit on and win," Grasstail commented.
"She would never take a kit on. You know as well as I do warriors don't attack kits," Duskpelt said, starting to get mad.
"From what I've heard this is at least the fifth time she's been rescued, fourth time from rouges," a different cat commented.
"Really, Coldclaw? That's more times than I've ever heard of, especially with a cat as young as her. Has she ever won a battle?" Grasstail sneered.
"After your warrior saved her life they drove off the rouges together. We all need a little help now and again. That's the point of clans. To help those weaker than you," Duskpelt said, anger rising.
"I remember the time Silkshade saved Silentstorm when she got stuck in a badger set after it collapsed," Pineclaw mentioned.
"Digging! That's your idea of a big rescue!" Grasstail laughed. "You wonder why we all don't have kittypets in our Clans!"
"Listen here," Duskpelt growled. "My daughter has been raised a warrior. She has fought and trained as hard as any other cat in NightClan. She is an expert at catching prey. And she is much better than the flea-ridden likes of you!"
Boulderfang put his tail around me and drew me closer. "If this results in a battle run and tell Wingstar," he whispered.
"So much better than me?" Grasstail growled. "I don't remember being rescued once. And last time I checked I'm not some stupid kittypet."
"How about we continue our patrol?" Pineclaw suggested.
"We probably should," Duskpelt said, glaring at Grasstail.
"Maybe we would've all been better off if Snakeheart hadn't come along," Coldclaw said, making sure he was loud enough for us to hear.
"Maybe? Surely we would," Grasstail said.
"Let me rip their pelts off," Duskpelt muttered to Pineclaw.
"Sorry, but I'm not letting you start a war today," Pineclaw said. "I can't blame you for being mad. If anybody said anything like that about my daughters it would take all my self control to keep myself from harming them."
"I think they're trying to start a war," Duskpelt said.
...
We arrived back in camp. Duskpelt stormed through the entrance into the warriors den. Pineclaw sighed and went to the medicine den, probably to tell Dawnfur.
"How was the patrol?" Wingstar asked.
"A complete disaster," Boulderfang answered.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Nobody physically attacked. They just openly insulted Silkshade," Boulderfang answered.
"That explains Duskpelt's behavior," Wingstar said. "I suppose Pineclaw thought it would be good to let his sister know. If any cat can calm him down, it's her."
"Stupid SunClan!" Silkshade yowled from inside the medicine den.
"It sounds like he's not the only one who's mad," Wingstar said. "We might have to start preparing for war." She went into her den.
"Come on," Boulderfang told me. "I'll teach you how to hunt."
We walked back out the entrance. I wondered why they thought insulting Silkshade was a good idea. Is there going to be a war?