Chapter 18

We thundered through the gorse tunnnel, that is, almost the whole of ThunderClan. My mother ran slightly behind me, I could feel her breath on my heels, and her whiskers kind of tickled. In an unpleasant way. I pulled away and closer to Redwillow.

"Nervous?" she asked.

I looked down and answered, "A little."

"Well, don't feel bad. If I'm not mistaken, this is your first battle- correct?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry, you can use those battle moves Scourge taught you against him."

I thought about that for a moment. Meeting Scourge in battle was unlikeley- I heard from Fawnpaw that there were going to be more cats there than there are in all the clans combined. Which is ironic, since this was a battle between all the clans and BloodClan. Of course, this was all news to me. I just found out yesterday that my first battle would be this important.

My heart began to race as my mind panicked. I could meet Scourge in battle, I could run away scared, My only friend could die because he wouldn't be able to escape fast enough. And on top of it all, I could die.

Would StarClan accept me?

Maybe. But thats not important. What is important, is that we've just arrived at four-trees. I scented RiverClan and ShadowClan. Then felt a breeze and turned to see WindClan pushing through a few trees. Beyond the undergrowth, was their territory.

Peachstar separated from our clan to meet the frail leader from WindClan- Peatstar. Hollowstar and Gillstar padded over, urgency clouding their eyes.

"I'm worried about this. Don't these cats fight to kill?"

I listened as Harepaw, newly apprenticed, fretted. "Are we suppodse to fight like rouges?"

"If you have to." Bloodfur growled.

Suddenly, shapes dotted the bushes like shadows, sithering and sliently pushing through the undergrowth. "They're here!" someone hissed.

I looked for- and quickly found- Scourge. His claws reinforced with dog teeth, he approached Peachstar.

"Do you have your answer?"

I noticed the clearing had quieted, and every cat was on their paws.

Peachstar stepped forward. "We will fight if we have to. But listen- we don't have to shed any blood here. You have one chance to take you warriors, and leave. "

Scourge's eyes glinted with laughter. "You think you can make us leave? BloodClan takes what it wants. When it wants."

Then he backstepped, and called "BloodClan attack!"

Peachstar had just a moment of silence to call "LionClan attack!"