Rat Attack

(By the way, I didn't goof when I said Lightingstar has eight lives. She lost one to Wingshadow.)

There was a scream. Lightingstar shot awake. She ran to the edge of the floor and looked down. The rats had broken through and one of them was attacking Feathertuft. She was putting up a good fight, but she'd been caught off guard. "Rats!" Lightingstar screamed. "The rats are here!" the other cats woke up.

Lightingstar ran down and started attacking. She dove in, aiming for the rat's neck, but it predicted that. She jumped out of range and clawed its side. Then she jumped on top of it and clawed its neck. That was when another rat ripped her side open. She staggered off.

Wingshadow bounded over and helped her. With her helping it was much easier. They fought together, biting and shaking rats. They would also attack the same rat from opposite sides. She didn't even have time to check on the other cats. This time she wasn't going to risk just trapping them in a wall. She would get rid of them permanently. The cats killed rats until they fled. And then Lightingstar chased after them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wingshadow and Blazepelt exchange shocked glances. They ran after her and helped her chase the rats, hissing and striking at them. Lightingstar grabbed one of their tales and ripped. The rat's tail came off. She sat panting, watching the rats run off.

Then Lightingstar turned around and walked back into the horse place, not that there were any horses left. They'd set the horses lose in the battle against the rouge group.

Lightingstar's eyes widened when she saw how badly Feathertuft was hurt. "Ashpelt! Help Feathertuft!" she called.

Ashpelt dashed over with his herbs and started applying. Lightingstar was impressed at his speed. Then she saw his eyes drift to her. "Lightingstar! You're hurt!"

"I have eight lives. Worry about the others first!"

Ashpelt nodded and turned back to Feathertuft. Once he had taken care of all the hurt cats, including Lightingstar, she stood straighter and glared at them. "Who opened that?"

"Wasn't me." Lizardkit said.

"Of course not. We knew not to." Slitherkit added.

No one else said anything. Lightingstar had made her warning announcement rather loud the day before, it was probably true none of them had done it. She sighed. "I'm sorry. It seems no one here has done it. But that means someone snuck into our camp. We should all be on our guard."

There were murmuring agreements to this as the cats went back to their separate sleeping places. There were actual walls here, though Lightingstar hadn't figured out what they'd been for yet. Only horses had lived here, not two legs.

Wingshadow walked up to her. "Do you think one of the other clans did this?" she whispered.

Lightingstar shook her head. "We're all still getting used to being clans. They wouldn't go looking for trouble this early. Besides, I think we already have a reputation as the shadiest clan."

Wingshadow looked amused. "You have a point there." She yawned. "If you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep."

"You don't need my permission to sleep." Lightingstar said. Then she walked over to the hole the rats had come from and sniffed. She had been right, it wasn't one of the other clans. Unfortunately, she didn't recognize the scent. She sighed. Everyone knew to watch out now. She might as well get some sleep.

Stormstar sat in his den. "Stormstar?" he wondered what the prophecy meant. If death was coming how could night save them? "Stormstar?" Or maybe I'm thinking to literally. What else could night mean? "Stormstar!"

Stormstar blinked and turned around. His deputy, Nightwind, was standing at the entrance. "Oh sorry. I was just . . . thinking."

Nightwind nodded slowly. "Well, are you going to help me? You said we'd work on the warrior code today."

"Oh, right." He remembered now. He had wanted to work with Nightwind so she'd become a good leader. "Okay, here's a rule you haven't heard before. Once a moon the clans must join together for a peaceful meeting."

"Where do we meet?"

"The island on the lake."

"But Moonclan's camp is there."

Stormstar blinked. "Really? How do you know?"

"I was at half bridge, you have a pretty good view from there."

Stormstar put his head down. This meant they'd have to find a new place to have meetings by the next full moon. "Well, Moonclan and Lightingclan are the clans most in the middle. Why don't you go to the border and talk to Moonstar about it. I have to train Emberpaw."

Nightwind nodded. "I can do that." she left the den.

Stormstar came out after her. "Emberpaw!"

His apprentice came running up. "Yes Stormstar?" She had a way of always saying his name like it was ridiculous.

"It's time to start training. Now let's go." He led her out of camp and into the forest.

"So, what first?" Emberpaw asked.

"You're going to hunt."

Emberpaw sighed. "Any fool can hunt."

Stormstar tried not to sigh. Emberpaw was always like this, and getting irritated would not help him. "Any fool should hunt. It's important. Besides, I want to see what you can do. There might be room for improvement."

Emberpaw looked thoughtful about this for a second, then she gave a slow nod.