Chapter I
"RiverClan, fight!" Reedstar yowled, his old voice cracking. Poppyseed gritted her teeth and leaped forward with all her might. A ginger tabby cat from ThunderClan rushed forward at the same time, yowling.
The two cats tussled for some time, and soon the chance came for the RiverClan warrior to send her running. Poppyseed pinned the cat down, and screaming, she ran off. After all, Poppyseed hadn't gotten her name for nothing.
She'd used to be a medicine cat, but when the War came and Reedstar ordered for as many warriors as they could, Poppyseed had made the decision to become a warrior.
Ruthlessly, she fought on. Someone clawed her from behind, forming a big gash in her shoulder. Still, she dithered, wanting her Clan to be victorious.
Poppyseed wasn't entirely vicious. At first she hadn't wanted this War to happen. She'd even tried to talk Reedstar out of it. But the level of the tension just kept rising, and soon they were drowning in this drawn-out, neverending war.
Every day, some cat died, no matter what Clan it was from. It was a bloody War, and as far as Poppyseed knew, it wasn't stopping anytime soon. She turned tail and headed to her former mentor's den, limping in agony.
"Poppyseed!" Tansylight meowed in a pleading tone. The warrior gasped as she entered the den. Warriors lay around her everywhere, covered in red blood. At least they weren't running out of herbs.
"How many have we lost today?" Poppyseed tried to sound authoritative, but her voice came out broken and cracked. Tansylight lowered her amber eyes.
"We've lost our only elder, Curlwhisker." Tansylight didn't stop there. "Waterpelt and… Dusknose."
Poppyseed collapsed on the stony floor of the den. Why Dusknose? Why did she have to lose her only kit? "He was only a warrior for a few days." She murmured, choking. Tansylight meowed at last. "There might be a hope, though. He is still alive, but just barely. I'm afraid he might never be the same again."
The warrior's eyes lit up. "Take me to see him." She pleaded.
#-#-#
Dusknose looked more worse than Poppyseed had imagined.
Marigold was crusted around a big gash from just below his throat to his flank. "I don't think he'll live, Poppyseed." Tansylight whispered softly.
Poppyseed just quietly sobbed into her kit's matted, bloody fur.
#-#-#
The battle was over. For today, at least. Almost everyone was wounded, except for the kits and queens. Kits and queens were valuable to the Clan; they meant new and better warriors for the Clan.
Dusknose was safe in StarClan. Poppyseed wasn't exactly traumatic. This happened to her every day. Even the elders had to fight - not for the Clan, but for the sake of their lives. So her mother had been the first to go. Mossyfoot.
Next was her father. Her siblings had died slowly, first Flightwing, then Pebbletail, then Strikepelt. She was the only one left standing.
It was this dumb War that caused it. It was seasons and seasons since the War started - back when Poppyseed was a young apprentice. No one was even sure what they were fighting about- just that they were fighting every day.
The War was getting worse and worse. The she-cat could feel it in her bones. Every death, every wound just meant that they had to be better, as Reedstar implied.
No Clan even had any allies. They were just fighting for their own beliefs, so Poppyseed thought. Everything was getting worse - and nothing could stop it.
Maybe.
A/N: Hello guys! This is my new story DIVIDED. Hope you like the idea of it! Please review and I will post the next chapter soon (I have a lot of chapters pre-written) Also, if you're wondering why all my other stories were deleted, it's because I didn't want to continue them. I'm starting fresh with DIVIDED, and I really hope it will be better this time!
030 Kay