Ok, ok, I know. I'm sorry it took so long to post this and stuff. But here's a really long chapter to make up for it.
I got permission from some people on Instagram to use their characters so yay. Those characters will be listed at the bottom.
Imma shut up and let you read now ok? Ok.
10
Rat Attack: Camp Day 1
"Claw, go wake up the rest of the camp. It's time for training." My father ordered, poking me with his claws to wake me up.
"Why?" I asked, licking my paw. "We don't even need to train! You saw how scared those forest cats were of us!"
"If those cats were so scared of us, why do they still plan on fighting?"
"Hm…because their leaders are a bunch of idiotic forest fools? Once we kill off those two leaders, the rest will be easy."
"But still. We need to train. Wake them up."
"But Dad—"
"Wake. Them. Up!" at the tone of Dad's voice, I decided that it'd probably be in my best intentions not to argue with him anymore and to leave the den as quickly as possible to do as told.
The fist den I walked into had quite a few cats in it, one of them being Jaggedtooth. The large tabby was the only one awake; he was just lying there staring at his paws.
"Hey guys!" I shouted "Wake up; time to train!"
"Wha—huh?!" Jaggedtooth exclaimed, jumping to his paws in surprise and accidentally standing on the tail of the black and gray she-cat next to him. With an outraged yowl she woke up and glared at the tabby with piercing blue eyes.
"Get. Off. My. Tail!" she hissed. Jaggedtooth's ears flattened to his head as he got off her and ran out the den. This little argument had also managed to wake up everyone else in the den. "Anyways, what were you saying Claw?"
"Dad wants us to get a bit of training in before the battle in three days." I said.
"Why? We're gonna win anyways!"
"That's what I said! But he said to wake you guys up anyways." I stated before turning around and going to the next den.
"Hey, guys, wake up!" I yowled. The first cat to wake up was a cat with short blue fur and a rainbow colored collar.
"Hello, Claw!" she greeted with a purr.
"Hi, Rain. Dad wants us to train for a little."
"Okay! Don't worry; I'll wake the others."
"Thanks!"
"Claw!" I heard a cat yowl.
"Well, I've gotta go! Talk to you later, I guess!" I said before leaving the den. Everyone that was awake was surrounding the nearly-empty fresh kill pile, fighting over the last few mice. I groaned inwardly. It appeared that we needed food unless we wanted to kill each other fighting for the last morsels.
"Hey, shut up!" I shouted over the crowd. Everyone turned around to look at me. "If you guys could be patient for just a few minutes, Jaggedtooth and I will go hunting. Right, Jaggedtooth?"
"What?! But I never said anything about—"Jaggedtooth stammered.
"Right, Jaggedtooth?" I growled.
"Sure, fine, whatever."
"Ok. Hang tight, and if I find out that you started fighting over these stupid mice again, I'll have all of you cleaning up ShadowClan's dirt from the dirt-place." I said before leading Jaggedtooth out of the camp. Once we were far away enough I turned around and glared at him. "Hasn't anyone told you that you're supposed to always obey an order from me?!"
"They only told me Scourge or Bone or Brick."
"Well, everyone except them follows my orders. No questions asked unless Scourge, Bone, or Brick say otherwise." I growled, looking the tabby straight in the eye. He cringed slightly in fear.
"O-O-Okay." He stammered.
"Anyways, lets hunt." At that, I turned back around and began to explore the territory for a good place to hunt.
I had already known that I wasn't the best hunter in the world, but hunting in unfamiliar territory was harder than I had expected. It seemed like every single time I found a piece of prey, I'd accidentially do something that alerted it of my presence and scared it away! The worst part was that Jaggedtooth was standing smugly next to a pile of about ten pieces of fresh-kill!
"…Jaggedtooth, I need help." I finally admitted.
"I knew you did. Follow me." The tabby said before disappearing in the trees. I walked after him, wondering where we were going.
Before long, we ended up in a fairly-smelly part of the territory in which a bunch of trash and other Twoleg rubbish was piled up. I caught a quick whiff of carrion before Jaggedtooth pushed me into the pile.
"Hey! What the heck was that for?!" I shouted, trying to find a way out.
"You BloodClan cats are good at fighting, right?" he asked.
"Of course! What made you think we weren't?!"
"Kill as many rats as you can without getting bitten, and bring them out so we can bring them back to camp as food." My eyes grew large at the mention of rats.
"R-Rats?! Jaggedtooth get me outta here!"
"What, you're scared?"
"Do you even know how many cats die from rat bites each season in this clan?!"
"No, how many?"
"Five! Now get me out!"
"Ok, ok, fine, I'm coming; just hang on and don't be scared. Rats can smell fear." Jaggedtooth grumbled. I heard him padding towards the mound of trash.
"There's something on my tail!"
"Calm down; its probably just a piece of trash or something."
"Then why is it moving?!" I exclaimed.
"Kill it!" I turned around to see a large rat climbing up my back. Before it realized I had seen it, I shook it off of me and into the mass of others gathering behind me. Their beady red eyes glistened in the darkness as they surrounded us.
"Oh, dear StarClan, help us." Jaggedtooth muttered before they sprang. "Its either fight or die now!"
"Is running an option?!" I asked, swiping at a rat's eyes before killing it.
"They're blocking the way I came in!"
"What are we gonna do?!"
"Attack!" a voice suddenly exclaimed. Out the corner of my eye, I saw a mass of gray fur run past me, its familiar scent wafting into my nose.
"Concrete!" I sighed in relief.
"And me too!" Skye added as he leaped to my side, attacking a rat who had been getting a bit too close.
"Skye! I've never been so glad to see you two!"
"Just shut up and attack!" Jaggedtooth ordered, clawing away at some rats. At that exact moment, I screeched in pain as a rat bit down on my hind leg. I kicked it away before Concrete killed it.
"There's too many of them!" she shouted as two jumped at her. I knocked one away while the other was caught under Concrete's claws.
"We need to retreat!" I added.
"Lets get out of here, then! Bring all the kills!" Jaggedtooth said, picking up the dead rats near him and running out of the den.
"I've got you guys covered; go!" Skye said. I nodded before grabbing as many dead rats as I could before following Jaggedtooth.
"We'll come back to get you!" Concrete vowed before coming after us.
"Alright, lets—where's the blue kid?" Jaggedtooth asked, looking at Concrete and I warily.
"He was covering us back at the rat den. We were just about to go back and get him."
"You left him behind in a rat den?!"
"Well, now that you say it like that…but he was so sure of himself!" I said. "And plus, he's a BloodClan cat, no matter how shy and awkward he is sometimes! We knew he'd be able to survive a few—"
"That doesn't matter! Even the bravest warriors don't go in a rat den without a partner! Would you like to know why?!"
"Uh…"
"Because those rats can kill cats like us! They knock their victim down to the ground, and they never get back up!" Concrete and I gasped. Was that the fate we had left for Skye to suffer?!
"Lets go!" I ordered Concrete, running back down the half-grassy slope to the den. Once the two of us got back inside, we gasped.
Skye was buried under a mass of rats clawing and biting at his pelt. Other rats were running towards him to join in the 'fun'. He screamed in pain before it was stopped short.
"Skye!" Concrete screamed in anguish. After the initial shock was over, it felt like every drop of blood, every vein in my body, turned to ice. I felt my eyes narrowing as I targeted the biggest of these murderous rats to kill first. With a battle cry, I sprang and attacked it in a flurry of furious claws and teeth. Once it was dead, I attacked the next one and the next one until they were all either dead or retreating back into their homes in the trash. Now it was just me, Concrete, and Skye.
"Skye! Get up; we have to get outta here!" I said. His tail twitched, but he didn't move or respond otherwise. "Skye!"
"Claw, behind you!" Concrete shouted. I whirled around to see the biggest rat I had ever seen creeping towards me, a small entourage of smaller mice following it. Had it been any other moment, I might have screamed, paralyzed by fear. But no. my friend was on the brink of death, and I had to make sure he got out of here alive.
"SCRAM!" I spat at them, every drop of hate I felt for these stinky creatures in that one word. Immediately, they cowered in fear before running to hide in the shadows amongst the other beady red eyes watching us.
"We need to get him out of here, quickly!" Concrete said. I kneeled down to the ground so she could nudge the blue-furred cat onto my shoulders before helping me get him out of the den.
When Jaggedtooth saw us, he stifled a gasp, his eyes wide. "This is all my fault…!" he murmured.
"You bet it is!" Concrete hissed, venom thick in her voice. "What were you thinking, pushing Claw into a rat den?! Now a cat is severely injured because of you!"
"He was my best friend, and now he's gone!" I snarled at him, trying to hide the sadness I really felt.
"Not was, Claw; is! He's still breathing! But we need to get him back to camp now!"
"R-Right," I said. Concrete took Skye and put him on her shoulders before walking back to camp as fast as she could with the extra weight. I raced after her while Jaggedtooth followed behind slower than a turtle.
Once we got back to the camp, most of our BloodClan warriors were blocking the entrance, looking as if they expected someone to toss them food. But once they saw Skye's body they froze in shock. I heard a mournful wail coming from the back of the crowd, and every cat moved aside as a blue she-cat with bright green eyes ran towards us.
"No! My son!" she wailed. "What happened to him?!"
"He was ambushed by rats. I'm sorry, Vapor; I tried my best but—" I began to say.
"He was my last kit! The last litter I had before Blizzard died, and the only son I ever had! I cant believe he's gone!" Vapor began to sob hysterically.
"What is going on here?!" my father said as he walked towards us. The cats backed away even more as the leader of BloodClan walked in their midst. "What happened to him?"
"Ask Jaggedtooth," Concrete snarled. Every cat grew silent and glared at the dark tabby, who had just arrived at the entrance to the camp.
"What?! It was those two who left him behind!" he exclaimed in self defense.
"Yeah, well, none of this would've ever even happened if you hadn't pushed me into a rat den in the first place!" I shouted.
"You pushed my son into a rat den?! And caused the injury of this cat?!" Scourge snarled menacingly.
"I-I-I—" Jaggedtooth stammered.
"Breeze!" Scourge called out.
"Yes?" a gray cat with golden eyes asked as she walked up to the crowd from the corner of the camp where the medicine cat den was. She took one glance at Skye and gasped. "This cat needs treatment! He needs to come to the den!"
"Jaggedtooth, help Breeze take Skye to her medicine den and report to my den pronto! Claw, Concrete; come with me. We all need to have a talk." Scourge ordered. Jaggedtooth nodded nervously and rushed to the medicine cat den as Scourge walked to the leaders den, Concrete and I following him obediently. Vapor ran after Jaggedtooth into the den, and the rest of the cats began to try to act like everything was normal.
For awhile, Concrete and I sat awkwardly in my father's den as we waited for Jaggedtooth. Scourge was pacing back and forth, muttering incoherently to himself. As soon as Jaggedtooth came into the den, Scourge turned around and scored his claws down Jaggedtooth's flank. The tabby yowled in pain before his ear was nicked near the base.
"What was that for?!" he hissed, turning around to lick at his wound.
"That was for pushing my son into a rat den! Anyone in their right mind would kill you right now!" Scourge snarled. The black cat muttered something to himself as he took a few deep breaths and sat down; something he said too quietly for me to comprehend. My father screwed his eyes shut as if he was trying to control himself. "Anyways," he growled through gritted teeth, his voice getting icy "What happened? Starting from the beginning. Leave out a single detail, and I'll give you a pain worse than death!"
"Okay, so after I woke everyone up for training, we all went to the fresh kill pile. But there was barely any food left from yesterday night's feast, so everyone started fighting each other for the last few mice. I stopped the fight and said Jaggedtooth and I would go hunting and we left." I said.
"Skye and I followed them out without them noticing. Claw was having a bit of difficulty hunting in this territory, so Jaggedtooth took him to a dump and pushed him into a pile of trash. Claw got angry and asked why he did that and Jaggedtooth said that, since he was a good fighter, to kill as many rats as he could without getting bitten. Claw freaked out, so Jaggedtooth went in with him when the rats attacked." Concrete added.
"We were outnumbered, rats closing in on every side. But, right when we were beginning to lose hope in our own survival, this chick and that blue kid—"Jaggedtooth began to explain.
"We have names you know!"
"—ran in and started fighting with us. But we were still terribly outnumbered. So I said we should retreat, and bring all the rats we killed before I left the den."
"Skye said he'd cover us, to make sure none of the rats snuck up and hurt us. So we left and took our dead rats to the top of the slope before Jaggedtooth asked where he was. We told him, and he was all like 'You never go in a rat den alone because they'll attack you, bring you to the ground, and you never get back up'." I stated.
"So we freaked and went back in to get him but he was covered in rats and when we got them all off of him…" Concrete murmured before she began to cry.
"Hm…so you're all guilty." Scourge stated.
"What?!" we all exclaimed.
"Jaggedtooth because he was the one who caused it all to happen, and you two because you left him behind in a rat den. Concrete, I'm not sure about you, but I know I taught Claw better than to do that."
"Yes, sir." I murmured sadly.
"So you all have to clean the dirt place, get the ticks off the elders, replace the moss every day, and hunt until the battle."
"Yes, sir." We all said. At that, we walked out of the den before my father came up with something else to add to our punishment.
"Lets go see how Skye's doing," I suggested to Concrete. She nodded before we headed to the clump of ferns in the corner of the camp.
Inside, Breeze was putting a sort of poultice on Skye's wounds before she turned around and saw us.
"Oh, hello," she said "I already know what you're gonna ask; Skye still hasn't woken up yet, but he's still alive. I'll let you know once he does. I promise. Now go."
"Okay." I said "Thanks, Breeze!"
"No problem!" at that, we turned to leave and begin our chores.
Later that afternoon, everyone had eaten their food and was ready to train. Of course, Dad had sent a few of our warriors to the surrounding territories both to find extra prey and for more news on the clan cats. They all came back unharmed, replying that any RiverClan cat who saw them ran as far away as possible and that the WindClan cats would back off a little and smelled of fear scent at any appearances. I saw my father conversing with the black and gray cat Jaggedtooth had stepped on this morning. She was all black save for her tail, ears, and paws, which were gray.
"Any updates on the forest cats, Night?" Dad asked.
"Well, ShadowClan appears to have moved in with RiverClan after we attacked them. ThunderClan territory was up and running, filled with cats training. Even kits and elders; it was far too busy to try and sneak through, especially since I had Snow with me. Her pelt would've stuck out of those trees like a fox in a group of cats. Anyways, WindClan was mainly using one area of their territory." The cat replied.
"ThunderClan seems pretty serious about fighting us…hmph. Thank you, Night." Scourge said. Then he turned to the rest of us. "You guys find a few partners and train. At least five. Each of you will be a warrior from the different clans. Go."
Everyone immediately scrambled to find their friends for their training groups. Concrete immediately walked over to me with Rain and Night. Another cat followed timidly behind them. She had light gray fur with darker spots, almost like leopard print, and hazel eyes. her collar was red and had a few teeth piercing through it.
"Claw, this is my friend Leopard. She's new to the clan." Concrete said.
"Hello, Claw," the cat said.
"Hi," I greeted "So we have enough for a group. I'll be the BloodClan warrior, and you guys decide who you are."
"Whoa whoa whoa, wait! Why does he get to be the BloodClan warrior and not any of the rest of us?! Who says I don't want to be the BloodClan warrior?!" Leopard exclaimed.
"Because he said so…?" Night said with a shrug. "It might be because he's an authority figure."
"Yeah. Now lets go." I said.
"Ok, but I'm the BloodClan warrior." Leopard stated.
"No, I am."
"Guys, does it really matter?" Concrete sighed,
"Yes, it does. I'm going to be the BloodClan warrior."
"No, I am! You cant just put yourself above us like that! Who made you leader of the Clan?!" Leopard hissed.
"Scourge did! As future heir of this clan, I will be the BloodClan warrior! You don't even know any of the fighting techniques!"
"Just because you're royalty doesn't mean you get to have everything you want, you spoiled idiot!"
"What did you just call me?!" I growled as menacingly as possible. I wasn't spoiled, and I definitely wasn't an idiot! How dare she call me such?!"
"Everyone calm down!" Rain hissed. "Are we seriously fighting over this?!"
Leopard glared at me "He started it! I think, as the oldest cat in this group, that I should be the BloodClan warrior!"
"As the heir of all of BloodClan itself, I object!" I growled.
"Ok, how about we all take turns being the BloodClan warrior? It'd make things so much simpler." Rain stated.
"Hmph, fine."
"Alright…" Leopard muttered. "I CALL GOING FIRST!"
"I called it a long time before you did!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah-huh!
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah-huh!
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah—"
"SHUT IT WILL YOU?!" Night shouted. The two of us quieted down, simply glaring at each other. "Since you guys cant seem to agree, Concrete will be the first BloodClan warrior!"
"But—" the two of us began defiantly. A dirty look from the black and gray cat shut us up immediately. "Alright, fine…"
"Good. Now lets find a place that isn't already taken and start." At that, we all began to look around until we found some sort of marshy clearing near the back of the territory.
"So what now?" Rain asked.
"We have a mock-battle, I guess." I said with a shrug.
"Alright then. Hey, where'd Concrete go?" Leopard asked. There was a screech before a gray blur knocked over Night.
"There she is! ThunderClan, attack!" I shouted before we all began to fight, all claws sheathed except mine. I couldn't help it; battles of any kind made me unsheathe my claws instinctively. But when I heard Concrete's yelp of pain I remembered the rules; claws sheathed. With a quick flex of my muscles my claws sank into my paws; except for the dogs teeth.
After a while we had Concrete pinned to the ground. She wriggled around trying to escape.
"If this was a real battle you'd be injured or dead." Night stated, putting a paw on her in triumph. I saw the gray cat smirk, a twinkle in her blue eyes.
"Not just yet, I'm not!" she said before leaping to her feet, shoving Night off of her, before batting her paw against my muzzle. In a split second we were play-fighting again. Concrete tackled me to the ground and pinned me there stomach-up. She slid her paws across my throat, tickling me and making me laugh. "Boom. You're dead." She said before leaping off me and continuing to 'attack' the rest of the training group. I had to stand from the sidelines and watch.
The practice sessions went on like this for a while longer until we had all been the BloodClan warrior and it began to get dark outside. As we walked back to our camp I froze.
"Claw? Is there something wrong?" Rain asked as she noticed I had stopped. I opened my jaws to let some scent in as I tried to single out what was so peculiar.
"There's another cat here, watching us." I finally said "I don't recognize the scent, and I cant pinpoint where it's coming from."
"Really? We should try and find it." Concrete said.
"But what if the strange cat was a threat to us? Then we'd pretty much be walking up to him and saying 'hey, you! Lets play hide-and-seek! The last cat to not die wins!'" Night stated.
"But if we don't investigate we'll lead the cat to our camp and they'll attack us as we sleep!" Leopard said.
"I say we investigate. After all, if this cat has bad intentions for BloodClan, we wouldn't want to lead him to our camp." I said. With a nod, we all split up and began to try and catch a scent trail.
"I found it!" Concrete exclaimed after a moment.
"Lets follow it!" Night said.
"I'll take the lead," I added. Concrete moved aside to let me go in front of her and we began to follow the trail.
After awhile I saw a white blob a bit farther ahead of me and signaled for everyone to stay where they were while I checked it out. Slowly, I crept forward until I was behind the cat before I pounced. With a screech we began to battle. I bit down on her hind leg, and she whirled around to grab my tail between her teeth and clamp down. With a yowl of pain I scratched at her muzzle. She dodged the blow but let go of me in the process.
After a bit of fighting we broke apart to catch our breath.
"Who are you?!" I snarled.
"My name is River. I'm a member of BloodClan." The cat said cooly.
"You are? I've never seen you before. Not that I can remember…" I murmured "Ok, whatever. I apologize for attacking you. Let's get back to camp; we shouldn't be out here at this hour by ourselves. Some of those forest fools might try and ambush us."
"Of course," the she-cat said. At that I walked back the way I had came, with River following me.
It took a bit of explaining, but after awhile my friends accepted her and we took her back to camp. During the trek through the forest we asked her a forest full of questions that she simply didn't seem to feel like answering. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable at all, so we didn't press her too hard.
When we got to camp Brick was guarding the entrance. Her eyes widened at the sight of River, and she stood up to greet her. "River! Where have you been?! Everyone thinks you're dead!" she gasped.
"I got separated from everyone and had to try and find my way back. When I go to the new territory some cats told me my father and mother were here." River replied
"Well I am certain that your parents will be overjoyed to see you!" at that, the red-colored cat let us inside the camp.
As soon as we walked in Bone saw us and went to retrieve Scourge. I assumed it was to tell him a missing warrior had been found.
Cats began to gather around River, either repeatedly saying how happy they were to see her, asking her where she's been, or saying how they thought she was a goner. Or wondering who the heck she was, why the heck was she so special, and where the heck she came from like I was pretty sure just about every cat my age was thinking.
Mom ran right up to her sobbing. "Oh, River! Where have you been?! Your father and I thought you had been captured when the Twolegs invaded!"
"Wait, what?! Mom, what do you—" I tried to ask.
"Scourge, look who Claw found!" I heard Bone exclaim as he and my father walked out of his den and towards the mass of cats surrounding Concrete, Night, Rain, Leopard, River, and I. most cats moved aside for him but some were so distracted by the appearance of River that they didn't realize Scourge was even there.
"What is it?" Scourge asked. Then he turned his head away from Bone to find himself face to face with River. "River?!" Dad's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground. He had fainted.
"Dad?!" I said in surprise.
"Why'd you just call my dad 'dad'?" River asked.
"Why are you saying my dad is your dad when he's obviously my dad and not yours?"
"Because he is my dad, you faker!"
"No, he's my dad!"
"Claw, this is your older sister River. River, this is your younger brother Claw." Fang stated, interrupting our argument.
"Older sister?! B-But Dad told me I was his first litter! How could I have an older sister if—"
"You're his second litter. After the Twoleg Invasion, your father tried to forget about River and the rest of his first litter because his grief was affecting the way he ran the clan."
"Oh…I'm sorry…" River murmured.
"A Twoleg Invasion? I've never heard of this." I said.
"Everyone tried to forget about it and didn't want to scare any young kits. It happened seasons ago; before you were even born." Mom stated.
"The Twoleg Invasion began when BloodClan was at it's strongest. There was plenty of food and plenty of warriors to defend our territory. Kits were being born almost every week and rarely ever knew what hunger felt like." River began to explain. "Then the Twolegs went out of their way to try and get rid of us. Nobody knows what could have triggered it."
"Cats began to disappear regularly, never to return. After awhile we discovered that the disappearances were connected to the strange cages that had begun to appear, filled with food. A cat would step inside to eat his fill and the cage door would close down on him, leaving him trapped with no way out. One day our father was trapped."
"The cage had been well camouflaged with leaves that had fallen from the trees with the coming of fall. A patrol of cats were sent to stay with him to try and figure out if there was any way to get him out before the Twoleg's took him away for good. So of course when a group of twolegs came and began to pick up the cages, they attacked. Of course it's impossible for cats to kill a Twoleg, but we scared them enough to make them drop most of the cages, free the cats, and leave for the moment."
"But then enough was enough. A few days later, when we were having the clan meeting in the park as we did then, they attacked. They grabbed random cats and put them in cages we couldn't get them out of. My father and I were separated in the chaos. I ran away to hide from the twolegs, and when I came back everyone had left the Twolegplace. I searched around in hope of finding my clan but I never found our new territory until a day ago."
"Hey! Scourge is waking up!" Brick exclaimed, backing away from the black and white cat.
Almost immediately, everyone crowded around the black and white cat as he opened his ice blue eyes.
"What happened…?" he asked as he sat up. Then he saw River. "River! You're alive!"
"Yes, father, I am." River purred.
"A-Are you ok? Are you hurt? How did you find us?" Scourge began to ask a long string of questions one after the other and River spent the whole night answering them. I just stood there, still shocked by the fact I had a secret sister, until I grew tired and went to the den to sleep.
So yay! New characters for me to borrow yayz!
Night: nightclawfighter
Rain: paintstar_artist
Leopard: infinite_enerjak
River: riverfang
Oh yeah, Breeze, Blizzard, and Vapor are all my characters, along with Claw, Concrete, Fang, Skye, and…anyone else I'm forgetting at the moment.
Scourge, Bone, Brick, Jaggedtooth, and anyone else I'm forgetting belong to Erin Hunter.
So yeah bye for now!