After a quarter of a moon without an attack, Thunderclan was not as tense as it had been the first few days after the gathering. But nonetheless, no cat left camp alone and Darkpaw was overworked from battle training. At least I am the biggest apprentice, Darkpaw thought, picking up a mouse in his mouth. Darkpaw was the oldest apprentice, so he was bigger and had more experience than the others. He was a skilled fighter, and was mentored by Stonecloud, one of Thunderclan's elite fighters. Darkpaw brought his mouse over to Shrewpaw, who looked exhausted from the training. Tinyberry was extremely hard on him, and hadn't let off him all week. And worse than that, Tinyberry would occasionally battle him with her claws unsheathed. Darkpaw could see some blood underneath Shrewpaw's left eye. "Did you see Whitewhisker about that eye?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shrewpaw mumbled, "Whitewhisker's lecturing Tinyberry about it." More quietly, he added, "She's out to get me."

"That's crazy," Darkpaw replied, "She may be a little hard with you, but-" Darkpaw's thoughts were cut short when Icefur and Wildflower abruptly enter camp.

"They're coming!" Icefur shouted.

By this time, Shadestar had come out of her den to see what the commotion was about. "Slow down," she began, "Who's coming?"

"All of them!" Wildflower answered, "All three clans. They're coming to attack us!"

The clan began to panic, but Shadestar wasn't about to let that go on. "Everyone listen!" She yowled. "Are there any cats out hunting or training?" the Thunderclan leader asked. The entire clan was in the camp now, so it would be easy to see who wasn't here.

Stonecloud was the one to answer, "I don't see Blackthroat, Longpaw or Rockfall. They went out hunting."

Shadestar nodded. "They went hunting." She recalled. "Stonecloud, Sageleaf, Bluetail and Goldenpaw, go out and find them. Send Blackthroat and Longpaw back to camp, keep Rockfall with you. Stonecloud, your patrol has to avoid the group of cats until you find the hunting patrol. After that, locate them and try and drive them away."

"That's a big job for five cats." Stonecloud mewed.

"Not as big as you think." Shadestar replied. "They are probably in waves of cats that will attack one at a time. Your patrol needs to take of one them out."

Stonecloud left with his patrol. Shadestar resumed giving orders, "Move all kits and elders in with Brighteyes at the hollow. Thistlefern, guard Whitewhisker's den. All other prepare for battle." The clan broke apart and braced for the invasion of all three clans.

Within moments, the scents of all the clans filled the air, as cats came rushing in, destroying the entrance to Thunderclan's camp. Darkpaw looked around for an apprentice to take on, knowing he was the most skilled apprentice in the forest. He soon spotted Poppypaw, and recalled what Treepaw had told him at the gathering. Let's see if she's so full of herself once I'm through with her Darkpaw thought to himself, as he charged across the clearing towards her. He jumped on her, and Poppypaw let out a loud hiss. Darkpaw bit into her ear to intimidate her, and then released her. Poppypaw turned around to face Darkpaw, and then lunged at him. Darkpaw paw ducked down to avoid her attack then came back up just as she was about to get her claws into his flank. This sent Poppypaw a few tail lengths away. That should finish her off Darkpaw thought victoriously. But to his surprise, the Shadowclan apprentice rose to her feet and slowly moved towards him. Darkpaw crouched to get ready for her next attack, but Poppypaw ran out of the camp before Darkpaw could lunge.

Darkpaw scanned the camp, looking for a well-sized match. He started running towards Haretooth, a young Riverclan warrior. He was about halfway there, when a cat landed on top of him.

It was Clawscar, the Riverclan deputy. How can I defeat such a massive cat? Darkpaw thought. "Do you like the one eye you have left?" Darkpaw challenged. Clawscar saw right through his strong words. He pinned Darkpaw down and prepared to sink his teeth in.

Darkpaw tried to kick Clawscar off, but he was too sturdy. Suddenly, he felt the weight lift off him and saw Clawscar fall to the ground next to him. Darkpaw looked up. Blackthroat! He though, wondering if he would ever know what the tom was going to tell him, as the two deputies engaged in battle.

Darkpaw saw Shrewpaw and Longpaw struggling with Cloudpelt, the Windclan deputy. Shrewpaw was attacking from below, and Longpaw was on the side. Darkpaw charged at them full forced, and knocked the deputy over. Then, the three apprentices beat him until he ran away. One by one the cats left, but more kept coming in. Shadestar aw still fighting Barkstar, and had been since the battle begun.

Rainstar yowled for her warriors to retreat, and Windclan cats flew out of the camp. Almost instantly, warriors from Shadowclan and Riverclan filled their positions. Darkpaw noticed Clawscar again. Did Blackthroat scare him off? He wondered. Then Darkpaw noticed that the Riverclan deputy was going to the hollow where the kits and elders were. Darkpaw looked around for backup, but there was no one but him. He had to stop him. Darkpaw sprinted to the hollow, where he heard shrieks coming from the kits, who were being guarded by the elders. Mudpelt, Hawkblaze and Mousestalker were all batting Clawscar with their paws, trying to prevent him from getting to the kits; the massive tom pounced on top of Hawkblaze. Darkpaw heard a crack, as Hawkblaze lay limp. At that moment, Darkpaw felt a surge of energy like he had never felt before. He rut his front paws on either side of Clawscar's head. Darkpaw dragged the deputy out of the hollow and started attacking him with powerful strikes. Darkpaw had never felt so powerful before.

Clawscar broke out of the apprentice's grasp, and ran out of camp. Darkpaw collapsed. That rush of energy had felt amazing. He couldn't describe the feeling of power he had felt. He could barley move but felt in control. What is this feeling? He thought.