Chapter Four
Froststar's call to battle echoed in Rainpaw's head. His heart began to pound.
Rainpaw leaped into action. He heard Froststar's voice boom above the yowls of cats as he bellowed orders. Beside him, Pinewind seemed frozen with fear, unmoving even as a huge tabby bowled her over. Rainpaw slammed into the tom's side and sent him sprawling.
"Go! Get the attack force!" His yowl cut through the scout's panic and seemed to register in her green eyes. Rainpaw's eyes followed her as she dodged nimbly through the fray. He was barely in time to evade a powerful spring from one of the GrassClan cats. Rainpaw cursed himself for his inattention and slashed the tom across the muzzle. The blood droplets glistened in the bright sunlight as they flew through the air. The tom staggered back and let out a feral hiss of pain, but Rainpaw didn't give him the chance to retaliate. Tigerfrost's training in mind, Rainpaw sidestepped and sunk his claws into the tom's side, slashing a long wound down his flank before he could react. Then he wheeled around and jumped on the GrassClan cat's back, slashing his hind claws through the tom's fur. When Rainpaw finally let go, the tom scrambled away, bleeding heavily.
Rainpaw's blue eyes scanned the knoll quickly. The fighting was thickest at the peak—if one could call it that—of the rise, where his father's white pelt shone from amongst the dingy grays and browns of these grass cats. The seven OneClan cats were fighting viciously, but they would be overwhelmed soon without reinforcements.
The gray apprentice leaped for the top of the knoll and rejoined the fray again, slashing, biting, leaping and dodging until his claws were stained red with blood and his pelt spattered with it. These isolated cats didn't know how to fight the OneClan warriors, but even so, they managed to score some long shallow gashes along Rainpaw's sides through virtue of sheer numbers. He hissed in fury and leaped on them once again.
A high pitched yowl split the air a few feet away. Blinking blood out of his eyes from a cut on his forehead, Rainpaw glanced in the direction of the noise and saw a pair of GrassClan cats leaping on a she-cat with a white pelt. Moonstream, Rainpaw realized. A stab of panic shot through him. He swatted away his opponent with a powerful forepaw and leaped on the medicine cat's attackers.
One of them was the amber-eyed tom Nettlesting. Rainpaw sunk his teeth into the tom's scruff and heard his yowl before he tossed the GrassClan cat away. Rainpaw tried to ignore the burning in his neck muscles as he did so, slashing with outstretched claws at the other cat, a cream colored she-cat. His claws met empty air and he stumbled. The air whooshed out of his lungs as the pale furred cat's heavy weight dropped on his back.
Moonstream was scrambling away, the terror in her eyes canceling out her reason. She backed away and yelped as her hindquarters slid into a concealed hole. Dens, Rainpaw thought dimly as his attacker pressed his nose into the dirt. They live underground like frightened prey.
"I'm not going to be beaten by some rabbit-breathed coward," he hissed, then surged upward with all his strength, his muscles complaining painfully. The cat on top of him grunted in surprise as she slid off his back. Rainpaw turned and leaped on the pale furred she-cat, sinking his teeth into her shoulder and locking his jaws together as she yowled in pain. He swiped his claws mercilessly down her belly.
A heavy weight slammed into his side. He looked up into green eyes and his own blue ones widened. "What in StarClan do you think you're doing?" he hissed, grunting as the she-cat kicked out and managed to free herself. Moonstream's angry, frightened eyes captured his before he could chase the cream cat down. Rainpaw felt a twinge of guilt, seeing the blood that marred her pure white sides. He met her eyes once again at her angry hiss.
"She's beaten already, Rainpaw, go fight some other cat," she returned, her voice trembling. Rainpaw growled.
"Moonstream, I promised to protect you, not these GrassClan cowards. Either let me fight or get out of here, I don't care," he spat. Moonstream's eyes widened.
Rainpaw glanced around again, not waiting for her reply, and felt anger and irritation surge up inside him. He had somehow made it back down to the bottom of the knoll. "Come with me," he barked, disgust for their backwards progress dripping from his voice like venom.
Rainpaw leaped up the rise with Moonstream in tow, slashing out at the cats who tried to get in his way. Moonstream stayed quiet, though when he glanced back he could see her compassion for the cats as they limped away. He sighed quietly. I should ask Froststar to not bring medicine cats along for a battle next time, he thought wryly.
A yellowish brown tom accosted Rainpaw just before he reached the crest of the hill. Rainpaw's heart leaped with fury. Not again, he thought. I'm not going all the way down the hill again! He didn't wait for the tom to make his move, just sprang at him angrily. It was a stupid move, one for first-day apprentices, Rainpaw realized midway through the leap. The tom's blue eyes gleamed and he surged upward, knocking Rainpaw out of the air. Rainpaw scrambled on the slick, trampled grass but the tom leaped on him before he could make it to his feet. It was only a quick jerk of his forepaw that saved his throat from being torn open by the tom's powerful jaws.
Rainpaw let out a yowl of pain. His paw felt like it was being torn in half. He hoped Moonstream wasn't getting mauled while he sat there with his paw getting torn to shreds. Swanblossom's disappointed face swam in front of his vision. He had to protect Moonstream.
He lunged forward, grabbing the side of the tom's neck in his strong jaws. The tom let out a yelp that turned into a gurgle as Rainpaw sunk his teeth in harder. He felt blood begin to flow around his locked teeth. Blood pounded in his ears, battle rage demanding more.
Rainpaw growled and with a massive effort of will, he unlocked his jaws. Moonstream stared at him with something akin to horror. Rainpaw bent down to check the tom. He was still breathing, but the blood flow was slowing. Rainpaw fought off a shiver.
"Moonstream," Rainpaw barked sharply. "You can't help him right now. We need to get up this hill." The green eyes met his once more and hardened. She nodded, her pelt lying flatter than it had all morning. Rainpaw whirled away, trying not to favor his mangled paw. He could see his father's pelt flashing in and out of the cats that leaped around him. Beside the powerful leader, a giant tabby pelt tossed cats back and forth. Just a little farther, he thought.
A gust blew across the plains from behind him, bringing his nose a medley of familiar scents. Triumph flared in his heart, but Rainpaw still pressed forward, cuffing a few cats across the head and shoulders as they tumbled around him.
The attack force flooded into the camp, their eyes gleaming with battle lust. All around, Rainpaw heard the desperate yowls of the GrassClan cats as their fight battle became hopeless. Moonstream fell behind, enveloped by more familiar pelts, but Rainpaw still didn't stop. He had to reach the fighting at the top; there were too few OneClan to resist all those GrassClan cats.
He could see Blackflash as she darted in and out of the mass of writhing cats, nipping and slashing before whirling away quicker than the eye could see. Froststar batted a cat away with a massive paw and sunk his teeth into another's shoulder. Tigerfrost carved his way through the cats with ease. And yet, Rainpaw's heart sank. Wavestorm crumpled under the onslaught, and Yellowpelt let out a cry as her leg twisted out from under her, caught in a hidden den below the grass.
Rainpaw stumbled and fell. The tide of OneClan cats swept around him, slamming into the knot of GrassClan at the top of the hill and breaking up their concentrated attack. Rainpaw watched as his father and the deputy led the attack, moving as one to vanquish the cats. They would win the battle easily, now that their full force was here. Rainpaw struggled to his feet and painfully continued his uphill battle.
The battle raged, but Rainpaw went still suddenly. He recognized the brown pelt crumpled beneath his father. Rustlestar, the arrogant GrassClan leader. Rainpaw watched in a daze as his father growled a few words into the tom's ear. Rustlestar hissed something back.
His heart missed a beat when his father lunged forward and sunk his teeth into the tom's neck, ripping through with a viciousness and fury unknown to Rainpaw until then. Froststar didn't release his grip until Rustlestar's head had been torn nearly from his shoulders and there was no possibility of the leader's return from StarClan.
He felt a pelt brush against his and saw a faint gleam of white before his legs buckled. A familiar scent comforted him as he drifted into shadows. His pelt was slick with blood. My wounds, Rainpaw realized, his mind fuzzy. A proud white figure stood on the hill above him, face and claws stained red with blood. A roar of victory went up from the strong cats around him.
The battle was over. Rainpaw sighed with relief. Swanblossom's concerned eyes swept over him.
"Come on, Rainpaw," she meowed gently. "Let's get your wounds fixed up."
Rainpaw nodded dumbly and stumbled after her as around him, OneClan began to round up the defeated Clan. Their work had only just begun.
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