Chapter 2

StarClan's Forest

Thornpaw awaked suddenly. Groaning, she got up, and looked around. The Gathering was in an uproar. Rain poured and soaked her through her ginger fur. Looking up, she noticed the moon was hidden in thick clouds. A passing storm, perhaps? Or a sign from StarClan?

ShadowClan, WindClan and RainClan cats hissed and slashed at ThunderClan cats. A passing ShadowClan warrior recoiled as Thornpaw jumped up at him.

"Mess with Stubbornclaw, will you?" he hissed at her. The big tawny-colored tom grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her away. Screeching at her kidnapper, Thornpaw fought back.

Softwhisker panted from the attack. He tried to fight down a brawny RainClan tom from his back. Around him, screeching cats fought against screeching cats. Duskstar took on three WindClan warriors and sent them reeling into their territory.

"Retreat! ThunderClan, retreat!"

Softwhisker whirled to follow his leader.

He did not bother to call Thornpaw. She was independent enough.

Thornpaw fought all the way back to the ShadowClan camp. As Stubbornclaw dragged her, thoughts whirled about her mind. Kidnapped. Taken away from her birth Clan.

What am I going to do? she wondered.

To her astonishement, Stubbornclaw was the only Warrior in camp. They must have all gone to the Gathering to fight, even the Queens and kits.

"The kits! You sent them into battle!"

"Our kits are strong to fight. They are close apprentices," Stubbornclaw growled.

He pushed her into a dank den. Thorn bushes surrounded the walls and roof.

"Stay in here, apprentice."

Stubbornclaw watched the whole times as he dragged a barrier of thorns towards the entrance. He used it to block her only exit. He grabbed sticks and pushed them into holes in the thick rock to lock her in. Thornpaw realized with a jolt that they had been planning to capture a captive.

"Don't try to escape," Stubbornclaw hissed. He positioned himself underneath thick leaves with a den and sat.

Thornpaw thought she'd go mad, waiting around for ShadowClan to arrive. Had ThunderClan retreated? Or were they still fighting?

Then more ShadowClan Warriors appeared. Shootingstar frowned as he spotted Stubbornclaw.

"We have a prisoner?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. Look for yourself."

Thornpaw heard Stubbornclaw mutter something, then she recoiled as Shootingstar's dark face appeared. His damp breath made Thornpaw want to gag.

"Ah! An apprentice, I see. Good work, Stubbornclaw." He turned to his deputy and snarled, "He does better work than you, Fangclaw. We need a new deputy."

Fangclaw began to snarl, then turned to Stubbornclaw and hissed.

Thornpaw watched in fascination. Shootingstar was a horrible leader. ThunderClan could easily get a few ShadowClan Warriors to join them.

But it would not be enough.

Three Clans against one?

It was just not right.

Softwhisker padded into ThunderClan's camp grudgingly. The medicine cat, Highleg, rushed over to Duskstar.

"What happened, today? Was the Truce broken?"

"In more ways than one." Duskstar sighed, looking worried. He explained everything to his medicine cat.

"This is bad, very bad. I have not been sent anything," the medicine cat meowed.

"You have no apprentice. Times will be difficult."

"Sparrowkit is helping me so much. She is nearing her six moons," Highleg commented. "And with what you said, just now…"

Duskstar nodded and leapt up top the Highledge.

"Let all those old enough to catch their own prey join here for a Clan meeting!"

Before the call Softwhisker was padding around. Thornpaw! That young troublemaker was always hiding from him.

"Thornpaw!" he called.

Her mother, Seapelt, lay comfortably in the clearing, underneath a large leaf. The rain had not disrupted her, but Softwhisker's call had.

"I haven't seen her since the Gathering," she told him. "Something has happened. I feel it in my bones."

Then Duskstar called.

The Clan joined their leader beneath the Highledge.

"It is time for Highleg to take on an apprentice in these dark times. As you should all know, Redstar, Strikestar and Shootingstar have allied against us. They broke the sacred Truce at this Gathering. Highleg will need an apprentice to help heal our wounded."

Highleg nodded, somberly, and turned to Sparrowkit.

"Come here," he meowed.

Sparrowkit's eyes widened in surprise, but she obeyed. Duskstar turned to the cloudy sky and meowed, "We are gathered in StarClan's sight to give this kit's apprentice name. Are you ready?"

Sparrowkit nodded.

"Sparrowkit, from this moment on you will be known as Sparrowpaw. As medicine cat apprentice, your mentor will be Highleg."

Duskstar turned to Highleg and meowed, "Highleg, you are a strong and wise medicine cat, beyond your years. I ask you to pass this onto your apprentice."

"Sparrowpaw! Highleg! Sparrowpaw! Highleg!"

The Clan's meows rang through their camp as both mentor and apprentice touched noses.

Duskstar jumped from the Highledge. Softwhisker joined him, nervous and worried.

"Softwhisker," acknowledged Duskstar.

"Thornpaw! She's gone!" the warrior cried. "Ever since the Gathering!"

"ShadowClan," Duskstar hissed. "Only they would disobey their allies."
"What do you mean?"

"During the Gathering, while you were socializing, Redstar, Shootingstar and Strikestar were discussing in whispers. I heard, 'no prisoners' and 'no kidnapping'. Shootingstar cannot be trusted. Those fools! Redstar is struck by ambition and Strikestar power. They are ignorant."

"We must go get her! Duskstar, this is my first apprentice. She must be kept safe. Do you think she is dead?"

"No. I do not," leader soothed warrior. "They are up to something. I do not know what, but stay on guard."

"But we should send a patrol to rescue her!"

"No!" hissed Duskstar, tail lashing. "Don't you see? It could be a trap. While a patrol rescues her, ShadowClan would probably ambush us here. No."

"But surely, we can't leave her there," Duskstar's deputy, Moorstorm, mewed. She had been listening on the conversation. "She is my sister, Duskstar. Remember that."

"We will need to develop a plan. Later. Sleep, now. Tomorrow we will work everything out."

Duskstar's dismissal words annoyed both Softwhisker and Moorstorm, but the two obeyed.

---

"I'm hungry!"

Thornpaw had been in the prison for a little while. She hadn't eaten since that morning, and was now determined to make Stubbornclaw's life miserable.

"Hmm, fine," muttered Stubbornclaw. He left her for a moment. Satisfactorily she stretched.

"Here," Stubbornclaw grunted. He had brought her the smallest vole in their pile. The tawny warrior positioned himself back to his moss pile and sat.

Famished, Thornpaw began to eat. She licked the bones clean and ate almost everything but the bones. She made sure to make big slurping noises to annoy Stubbornclaw. Licking her lips noisily, the apprentice grinned. He'll be complaining in three… two… one –

"STOP EATING LIKE THAT!" Stubbornclaw yelled. "For Hel– StarClan's sake!" Her warden coughed nervously but Thornpaw ignored it. She was satisfactorily grinning when Fangclaw added, "Or I won't feed you tomorrow or the day after that."

She finished her meal and curled up to sleep, dreams of ThunderClan softly floating in her mind.

Sunlight drifted through the barrier of thorns that blocked Thornpaw's only exit, casting long, strange shadows. The light penetrated her eyelids harshly. Blinking, the apprentice awoke, a hard, sticky taste in her mouth. Thornpaw was stiff after the sleep for lack of a mossy nest. Stretching painfully, the ThunderClan cat thought grimly, "If these fleabags of an excuse to StarClan don't give me a nest, I shall have to kill them." For a moment, rage surged through her. Thoughts of herself killing ShadowClan cats made Thornpaw shiver in excitement. "First, I'll tear Stubbornclaw to bits. Then, I'll rip Shootingstar's throat out. After that, ShadowClan will perish."

"Good morning, apprentice."

The leering drawl made Thornpaw growl from deep in her throat. Shootingstar was at the door of her den, grinning mockingly back at her. Once again, the overpowering stench of his breath made Thornpaw gag. She glared at him.

"My, my," Shootingstar continued. "Bad. Bad, angry apprentice. To the back of the PrisonCave! Now or I shall have to punish you!"

He was playing with her mind. So, she would play with his power. She advanced and snarled, "As if I'll ever listen to you, Twolegbrain."

"STUBBORNCLAW!" roared Shootingstar, "have you fed this prisoner?"

"Yes," Stubbornclaw meowed, dipping his head.

"Don't anymore. Only water. If she is a nice, calm kittypet -" he grinned at the bristling Thornpaw – "you may feed her half a piece of prey. But come to me first." Stubbornclaw dipped his head. Shootingstar advanced towards Thornpaw, pressed his muzzle against the barrier and said, "I'll have you, kittypet. You and your kittypet Clan!"

Howling in rage, Thornpaw raced towards him and slashed at his muzzle fiercely. Three claw marks were scored in his muzzle and bright droplets of blood oozed out. Yowling in pain and rage, Shootingstar sneered, "Cover this barrier with leaves. WindClan and RiverClan are coming. They mustn't know we disobeyed them, right, Stubbornclaw? Now get to it."

The tawny warrior obeyed. He unlocked carefully the Barrier and stepped inside.

"Do I have to claw your tongue out? If you make noise I will punish you. One of our apprentices, Brownpaw, will stay here with you to assure you are quiet," he growled.

"Brownpaw, get over here!"

A white she cat flecked with brown and black appeared. She had hazel eyes and brown ears.

"Get in, now."

Brownpaw obeyed hastily, narrowing her eyes at Thornpaw. "Make sure she stays silent, got it?" The ShadowClan apprentice nodded. Stubbornclaw hurried outside, locked the PrisonCave and topped leaves to hide them. Just in time, too.

Thornpaw heard a ruffle of numerous cats appear and Shootingstar's greeting.

"Welcome, Redstar and WindClan. RiverClan will be here shortly."

"What happened to your muzzle?" Redstar asked, suspiciously.

"There is a barrier of thorns near one of my favorite hunting place. I scratched my muzzle against it just before you arrived."

"Liar!" hissed Thornpaw, quietly when she saw Brownpaw narrow her eyes.

"To the back," Brownpaw hissed. Growling softly, Thornpaw disobeyed and listened.

" – RiverClan," Shootingstar meowed, "hello! Come with me with your deputies. It is time for an ElementClan meeting."

Thornpaw pricked her ears, and so did Brownpaw.

"Cats of ElementClan! Join here around us for a Clan meeting."

The cats obeyed excitedly. Meows of greeting arose sharply.

"Greetings, fellow cats," Shootingstar meowed. "We are gathered here today for plans with the ThunderClan battle. I trust we have all obeyed the 'no prisoners' rule?"

"Yes," meowed Redstar, dipping her head. "You, Strikestar?" The brown tom nodded.

"As have I," Shootingstar lied. Thornpaw almost yowled out in outrage. The fink! The mouse-brained fool! Did he think he could get away with it? No. Never, ever!

"The Battle against ThunderClan should be the next half-moon," continued Shootingstar. "This gives us a moon, seeing as it is Half-Moon today.

"But we medicine cats must make it to the Moonpool," objected Moontail.

"ThunderClan will," snapped Shootingstar. "Which means they would have no medicine cat nor apprentice to heal their wounds. Then, the medicine cats will go to the Moonpool as planned and kill the ThunderClan medicine cats. We must eliminate ThunderClan!"
"Eliminate ThunderCLan? Are you mad?" screeched Strikestar. "Only Tigerstar has ever tried, and he has failed."

"We will learn from his mistakes," Shootingstar replied calmly. "Tigerstar did not plan carefully enough. If we plan in advance, all that will be left of ThunderClan is just a memory."

"Down with ThunderClan!" screeched Fangclaw. "Down with ThunderClan!"

Hesitating, the cats in the clearing looked at eachother. Then Dewtear continued the chant, and soon the overwhelming cry echoed through the clearing.

Brownpaw grinned satisfactorily.

"You guys are dead," she snarled. "Long live ElementClan!"

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Hi! Second chapter up!

Please review, I'll continue writing!