Warriors: Rise of Three

Chapter 5

(a/n): I FORGOT AGAIN!!!!! Allright guys… this is a big chapter… maybe some unexpected visitors… pretty intense. Also, some fluff!!! Chapter six will be very sad, and don't flame me for it when it comes… It's all necessary.

"WindClan! Retreat!" Onestar yelled above the howls of agony and anger. Turning his head to face Firestar, he hissed viciously, his mouth overflowing with hate, "This isn't over, Firestar. WindClan will take what is rightfully theirs. We will be strong!" It took a matter of seconds for WindClan to run out of the camp, met by Winterpaw, Brackenfur, and Brambleclaw. Squirrelflight ran up to Brambleclaw and led him to Leafpool's den. There, the distraught medicine cat applied dock and poppy seeds to exhausted warriors. Once the dust had cleared, Squirrelflight sat next to her sister.

"What's wrong?" she asked gingerly.

"Crowfeather and I aren't getting along very well… We argued about the… kits…" Leafpool trailed off and bolted from her den, spinning around desperately in search of Winterpaw. Where was she? The patrol was back. Had she followed WindClan?

Sure enough, Winterpaw was crouched in the thick bramble of the WindClan border, waiting to see if Crowfeather and Featherpaw would stay for a moment.

"Featherpaw!" she whispered. Onestar's head whipped around, and he jumped into the bush, pulling her out by the scruff. Though what she said was inelligible, WindClan knew the medicine cat apprentice from the battles raged in ThunderClan camp. Crowfeather and Featherpaw froze, terrified of the unknown fate of their kin. She struggled with Onestar, flinging dirt into his eyes. Two warriors grabbed her and held her up to Onestar.

"Ah, we have a ThunderClan spy, don't we? Take her to the camp. Make sure she doesn't escape. If ThunderClan wants their precious apprentice back, they'll have to pay."

Night settled over WindClan, and Winterpaw never felt more insecure. She was being guarded by two warriors, the same who had caught her earlier that day, in the center of camp. All she wanted was to go home. Back to ThunderClan. That night, while the guards were changing shifts, Featherpaw and Crowfeather approached Winterpaw quietly…

"Winterpaw… isn't this great?" Featherpaw mewed excitedly, her fur standing on end. Her eyes gleamed happiness, but Winterpaw knew she couldn't lie to her sister about wanting to stay in WindClan.

"Great? Great that I'm away from my Clan?"

"WindClan's great!"

"ThunderClan is my home, Featherpaw."

"What's so great about ThunderClan? Why don't you guys live here… with me? You'd like it, I promise. We could still visit ThunderClan. It's not like your leaving anything behind…" Featherpaw was pleading with Winterpaw, begging for her to stay with her. Winterpaw couldn't bare it.

"I have to. ThunderClan needs me."

"I do, too…" Featherpaw sulked off to her den again. Why stay when ThunderClan was so great? Why did she have to be the only one of her siblings that lived here? Two could stay, and Winterpaw could stay here in WindClan. It's be even. It'd be fair for everyone.

Crowfeather looked around cautiously and began whispering to Winterpaw. He bit off the thorns attached to her fur.

"Look, I'm getting you home. Hurry, I'll hold them off. Tell Leafpool I'm sorry, and that there is another attack planned in three days."

"Another attack!?" she meowed; too loud. The guards saw Crowfeather whispering. Something was being schemed, they knew it.

"Run!" Crowfeather cried, shoving her to the open moor, and he spun around, teeth bared to fight his Clan. The warrior code was broken. He had to protect his daughter at all costs. With one nimble jump, he leapt onto the guards, yowling viciously.

Winterpaw sprinted out of WindClan, not once looking back at her father's hopeless battle. He was strong, she decided. He'd be able to fight them off long enough to escape with her.

Maybe I should get help!

No, too risky. The Clan was tired from the battle, and it was best to leave them be. Surprisingly, when she reached the cliff, the Clan surrounded her and brought her into camp, each asking what had happened, where she had been. She shook her head and ran to Leafpool's den.

"Leafpool! I was captured by WindClan. Crowfeather helped me escape, and he told me there was going to be another battle in three days!" she gasped for breath.

"No… how'd he…? Never mind, is your father allright?"

"He was fighting them. The guards, I mean. They saw me running…"

"Crowfeather will be fine. Let's get these scars cleaned up. What did you do, lay in a nest of thorns?"

Rosepaw sat behind the apprentice den, Sootfur beside her, both looking up at the stars hovering over ThunderClan. Were these same stars hanging over RiverClan? WindClan? The infamous sun-drown place? Did Silverpelt shine over them all? Or was StarClan only watching them? Was there a StarClan behind Silverpelt? Would Rosepaw someday have a star to herself?

"One of those stars is Willowpelt's…"

Willowpelt. Sootfur's mother.

"One of those stars will belong to me someday…" Rosepaw said dreamily, captivated by her own thoughts.

"Hopefully someday is a long way away…" Sootfur said, stretching his front paws in front of him with a big yawn. Sitting back down, he flicked Rosepaw affectionately with his tail before turning to go back to the warriors' den.

"G'night, Rosepaw."

"Night…"

A few moments later (what seemed like hours), Rosepaw returned to her own nest right by Shadowpaw for a well-earned rest.

"Hello…?" Rosepaw asked as she gazed around the starry forest surrounding her. Everythign was drenched in moonlight, dripping it from their points, Beautiful. So beautiful that Rosepaw didn't want to leave… ever.

However, before she could ponder where she was, a silver tabby approached her. The she-cat had something about her that frightened Rosepaw in a way she couldn't explain. She was powerful, yet serene. Her essence overed around her in an invisble wave of memories.

"Hello, Rosepaw."

"How … how do you know me?"

"StarClan knows everyone that sits beneath Silverpelt."

"Does this mean I'm dead?" Rosepaw wondered if "someday" had come. What about ThunderClan, her star, her life?

"No, not at all. I need to speak with you, Rosepaw. Your decisions are becoming reckless, impulsive."

"Are you calling me a mouse brain or something?" Rosepaw felt angry at this cat. How dare she! Her decisions were for her own good!

"Don't let soot cloud your mind…"

Rosepaw woke with a fright.

Don't let soot cloud your mind...