The Heart of a Lion

Chapter 15: War Between the Clans

Lionblaze had his chance for revenge at last. It came crashing through the gorse tunnel as if StarClan was approving of his devious plan. It came in the form of the dusk patrol, returning earlier than expected. Brambleclaw came thundering through the entance, followed by Cloudtail and Whitewing. Lionblaze knew there was something wrong and joined the circle of cats that were already milling around them.

"You won't believe this!" Cloudtail sputtered. "It's WindClan! They are at the border, standing and ready to fight!"

Murmurs of alarm swept through the ThunderClan cats. Lionblaze stumbled on the word WindClan. His thoughts quickly flashbacked to Heathertail, the cat who betrayed him after all they went through and Breezepelt, the mangy snake who stole her away from him. There were no positive memories left to associate with WindClan.

"Are they attacking?" Honeyfern asked in alarm, casting a worried glance at the leader's den. "We must tell Firestar right away."

"That's the thing," Brambleclaw corrected. "They aren't attacking."

Before he could further explain, Firestar emerged from his den, followed closely by Sandstorm. Realizing there was tension in the Clan, Firestar intercepted the patrol and let them explain to him what happened. Lionblaze listened intently, determined not to miss a single word of it.

"Onestar has an army of cats waiting at the ThunderClan border. Their claws are unsheathed. They are clearly looking for a battle, but they haven't crossed into our territory. I don't understand it," Brambleclaw meowed.

"What do they want?" Lionblaze added, joining in the debate.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good. I need all the cats around me right now to come with me to confront Onestar at the border. If he has an army of warriors with him, I will match them in numbers," Firestar declared bravely. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Lionblaze bunched his muscles, more than ready to go confront WindClan. He could imagine battle in his mind, finding Breezepelt in the throng of cats, attacking him, and watching the light die from his cold, merciless eyes in the short few second it would take for him to die. During the battle would be perfect, and he would have his revenge. His thoughts were turning to such darkness, but he couldn't control the rage that fueled him.

Firestar led the way, running briskly through the forest to the WindClan border. Lionblaze ran right behind him, his claws tearing up the earth as he ran. He felt like he would never run out of energy, and soon the moorland stretched out in the distance. And across the little stream was the border. There was Onestar.

The dusk patrol wasn't lying. Onestar had a slew of cats with him, probably over half of WindClan. They are in an offensive row a whisker from the borderline, although no one strayed across. They stood rigid and watched ThunderClan arrive. It was clear their wait was over.

Firestar stood tall and met Onestar face-to-face. "Onestar, I hope you have an explanation for this."

"I do. I think it is time for WindClan to have what is rightfully ours. We are moving the border across the stream to the trees on the other side," Onestar meowed, his voice thick with hostility.

"Not those trees again. We agreed when we got to the lake that this is the border. You can't go about trying to change it now," Firestar growled.

"I thought you might say that. I am prepared to fight for it right here right now. We will settle it to see who is more suited to this land. You can back down now or fight. I know how much you like to scamper back to camp and hide behind words, but that isn't the case this time." Onestar's eyes glowed as if he already won the battle that hadn't even started.

"I am not afraid," Firestar answered. "ThunderClan, attack!"

The cue made both Clans clash in teeth in claws. As for Lionblaze, his course was directed toward his prime target. Near the back of the cloud of fighting cats was Breezepelt.