The Heart of a Lion
Chapter 3: Anything but This
Lionpaw was sleeping soundly when heard the sound of pounding paws as a patrol re-entered the camp. He twitched his ears, hearing their rapid footing and slipped out of the apprentice den, worried something was wrong.
Sandstorm leaped up to Firestar's den urgently, her green eyes darting around with anger. The rest of her patrol waited at the foot of Highrock for their leader. Firestar came out in his masculine fiery glory and leaped down to join the rest of the patrol.
Lionpaw inched forward to hear the news.
"We spotted a WindClan patrol on our side of the border carrying our prey," Sandstorm spat. "Disgusting trespassers."
Firestar's fur bristled. "Are you sure? They could have hunted it in the woodland on their own territory," he reasoned.
Thornclaw hissed with annoyance. "The cats had ThunderClan scent all over them. I think that is enough proof to accuse them."
WindClan? Why would they do that? Surely Heatherpaw would have told him if her Clan was having problems feeding themselves.
"This is the second time this moon, not to mention the sneaky tricks they have been pulling off last leaf-bare. Those scoundrels don't respect Clan boundaries, and it is about time they started to," Firestar meowed and Lionpaw leaned in forward.
"But…maybe…" He faltered when the cats were staring at him probingly. "Maybe it isn't their fault. There could be a reason," he suggested.
Sandstorm nodded curtly. "Yes, that makes sense and it is a possibility, but you are just an apprentice and should listen to matters like these instead of disagreeing with them."
"Of course," Lionpaw mewed with embarrassment and backed out of the circle.
By now most of the Clan had heard something was wrong and milled around the clearing, waiting for Firestar to announce the problem which was soon to come. Lionpaw wandered aimlessly around, anxiously thinking about what Firestar planned to do about WindClan's little caper. Would there be a battle? And if there was, how could he stop it? How could he not stop it when his love was over the border, an innocent victim of the attack, and he was the only one who could tell her before it happened?
Hollypaw intercepted him. "Hey, do you know what all this is about. I heard that it involves WindClan."
"You heard correct," he answered, trying to replace the grim anxiety in his voice with false excitement for a battle he hoped wouldn't happen.
Firestar leaped up on the Highrock and yowled his usual summoning for his Clan to gather beneath. Lionpaw stayed with Hollypaw and sat close to the back with the other apprentices. There was a tension in the air, and Firestar did not keep the cats waiting.
"Sandstorm's patrol have reported WindClan cats over our border again carrying our prey back with them," Firestar announced. "They have openly stolen prey from us for once too many times. I am afraid the only way we can teach them not to is if we pay them a visit."
Lionpaw's heart raced. A visit?
"I say we find a patrol and deal with them, and they can spread the word to the rest of their Clan."
His hopes sank. Why did it have to be against WindClan? He would have been eager for a fight if it was against any other Clan, but he just couldn't find the urge to be excited when he figured out it would be against Heatherpaw's own Clanmates, and there was nothing he could do about it.