Chapter 21: At The Barricade/Eaglestrike's Arrival/Little Warriors
Meanwhile, at the barricade, which was fully built by now, a shout was let out by the warriors. " Now we pledge ourselves to hold this barricade!"
Sparkheart meowed, "Let them come in their legions, and they will be met!" He thrashed his tail, happy that Fawnflower was safe from the battle that was going to happen.
"Have faith in yourselves, and don't be afraid!" Battlefur told the warriors.
Badgerfur then yowled, "Let's give 'em a screwing they'll never forget!"
"This is where it begins!" Snowstorm murmured, his yellow eyes gleaming in the dark moonlight.
Rainpelt then let out a fierce yowl. "And if I should die in the fight to be free, where the fighting is hardest, there will I be!"
Silvertalon growled, "Let them come if they dare! We'll be there!"
Then a sharp yowl erupted the newfound silence."You at the barricade listen to this! No one is coming to help you to fight! You're on your own! You have no friends! Give up your claws - or die!"
Battlefur bristled. "Curse their warnings! Curse their lies! They will see the clans rise!" He snarled.
"Curse their warnings. Curse their lies! They will see the clans rise!" The other cats at the barricade repeated him.
Then a gray tabby tom scrambled over the barricade. He's back!
"Listen my friends, I have done as I said, I have been to their lines, I have counted each cat, I will tell what I can!" The gray tabby tom meowed.
"Better be warned! They have armies to spare and our danger is real! We will need all our cunning to bring them to heel."
"Have faith.." Battlefur started. "If you know what their movements are, we'll spoil their games! There are ways that a warrior can fight! We shall overcome their power..."
"I have overheard their plans! There will be no attack tonight.. They intend to starve us out, before they start a proper fight! Concentrate their force, hit us from the right.." The gray tabby tom meowed, his deep blue eyes closed.
Then a cat yowled, "LIAR!"
The cats turned their heads to a brown tabby apprentice. "Good evenin' dear deputy, lovely evenin' my dear.. I know this cat, my friends, his name's Deputy Eaglestrike!" Copperpaw raised his muzzle proudly.
"So don't believe a word he meows, 'cause none of it's true! This only goes to show what little warriors can do!" He smirked, then continued, "And little warriors know when little warriors fight! We may look easy pickings, but we've got some bite! So never kick a cat, because he's just a kit! We'll fight like twenty clans, and we won't give up! So you'd better run for cover when the kit grows up!"
Badgerfur smiled at his apprentice. "Bravo, Copperpaw, you're the top of the clan!"
"So what are we going to do with this fox in the grass?" Thorngaze snarled, motioning to Eaglestrike, who was surrounded by the cats.
"Tie this cat and take him to the den in there! The cats will decide your fate, deputy Eaglestrike!" Battlefur commanded.
"Take the fox-dung now and shoot him! Let us watch the devil dance! You'd have done the same deputy, if we'd let you have your chance!" Lightningfur spat.
"Kill me now or kill me later! Every warrior to his hunt! Death to each and every traitor, I renounce your cat's court!" Eaglestrike growled, while he was being tangled with thick moss.
"Though we may not all survive here, there are things that never die.." Snowstorm mewed, like a wise cat.
Badgerfur snorted. "What's the difference? Die a warrior, die a deputy, die a spy!"
"Take this man, bring him through! There is work we have to do!" Battlefur snapped.