Nettlestripe's POV
The silence of the morning was unbearable.
The air was hot and heavy with moisture, and Nettlestripe longed to take a swim in the wide river that cut across Ivyclan territory, or at least sit in a patch of shade. But the river was an hour's walk away, and the clearing he was standing in was bare, and the hot, cracked earth underneath his paws offered no plants with which to lie under. The heat was occasionally cut short by a cool breeze, which made the nearby trees dance and whisper together, but the heat only seemed worse when it returned. And, as previously stated, the silence was unbearable.
But then...
"Birchclan, attack!"
Countless warriors crashed out of the bushes, yowling cries of war. Their eyes showed nothing but cold hatred, and the rising sun glared off of their pelts and gave them the impression of glowing, as they charged at the nearly defenseless patrol. Nettlestripe, in the fleeting seconds he had before battle, only hoped that Cloudstar and the re-enforcements would make it in time. In the hurried rush to prepare for the attack, only Nettlestripe and four others had been ready.
He was jolted back into reality when the attackers struck. The warriors looked strong and battle-ready. And for every Ivyclan warrior, Birchclan had two!
The first to attack Nettlestripe was a wiry black and white she cat, her ugly, rotten teeth bared in a snarl. She tried to leap on top of him, but he evaded her by rolling a few tail-lengths to the left. She crashed to the ground, but was soon back up again, more ferocious than ever.
Nettlestripe was distracted by a loud wail of pain. He whirled around and saw Blackriver, the youngest Ivyclan warrior, being chased by a huge Birchclan tom about twice her size. There was a huge gash in her side, and Nettlestripe could tell that she was near to blacking out.
Nettlestripe's anger blazed. Blackriver had just received her warrior name two days ago! With a ferocious yowl, he launched himself at the Birchclan warrior.
Nettlestripe landed on the huge cat's back, and started to claw and bite him as hard as he could. The warrior turned around in surprise, and Blackriver ran to hide behind a bush.
But now Nettlestripe was the one who needed help. The warrior had obviously not thought to roll on his back, squashing Nettlestripe, but instead he ran around, jumping and kicking, trying to get the Ivyclan warrior off of his back. It would have looked extremely funny if everyone hadn't been so close to death.
Nettlestripe, from his perch on the Birchclan warrior's back, saw that the old she-cat that he had just been fighting was running toward the bushes... the bushes that Blackriver was hiding behind! For a moment his eyes widened in terrible fear, but Blackriver was obviously running away, because the she-cat was sprinting towards the Ivyclan camp.
Ivyclan camp? The cat must be insane! He thought. She'll be attacked by the backup patrol before she even gets there! Then he realized that the old warrior had never been into Ivyclan before. She obviously had no idea where she was going, or how much trouble she would be in when she got there.
For a minute, Nettlestripe felt sorry for the old cat. But he soon realized whose fault this was. It was this mangy fox-hearted fool who had attacked Blackriver in the first place! Nettlestripe had opened some deep gashes in the warrior's pelt, but he refused to get off, even if it killed him. He would not have minded so much if Blackriver had been an experienced warrior, but nearly an apprentice? No, this warrior would pay.
But it seemed he would not. A warrior, out of nowhere, charged up and barreled into Nettlestripe. With a small thud! he landed on the hard earth, flat on his back.
The warrior who had knocked him down charged at him again, and he got a clear look at her. She was small, with soft looking brown and white fur. Her eyes were a soft green, but she looked at Nettlestripe with such hatred that he felt that they were claws, digging into his heart.
The next minute, he really felt those claws. She raked his stomach, again and again, and Nettlestripe yowled in pure agony.
"Stay.. away.. from.. my.. MATE!" she screamed between strikes, in a voice that managed to sound velvety, even when she was trying to kill him. Somehow, he felt sorry, learning that the huge cat was her mate. Was it because he was so cold-hearted? Yes, that must have been it.
Just as Nettlestripe felt like he was going to pass out, he heard Cloudstar yowl, "Ivyclan! Attack!" The re-enforcements had come! And before they even had time to yowl out their battle cries, Shadowstar, leader of Birchclan, called out, "Birchclan! Retreat!"
"Blazeheart, let's go," said the huge black and white cat.
"Yeah, Eaglewing," said Blazeheart, "Let's get away from the slime that dared to attack you." The two twined tails and padded away together.
Just before they were out of sight, Blazeheart looked back at me, a sneer on her face. Nettlestripe expected her to make some insulting remark about his clan, or about his skills in battle. But instead, her hurtful expression melted into one of sincere pity, and Nettlestripe felt that this was his apology. And, to his extreme surprise, he actually forgave her.
Sort of.
