"Blood!" came a wild screech coming from the camp entrance. "The scent of blood covers our territory!"
Aurorastar rushed out of her den, letting out a deep sigh when she saw that it was just Berrypaw. The little she cat's fur was bristled with fear and her eyes were stretched wide.
"Berrypaw, you have only been an apprentice for a half moon," Petalblossom started, her voice soft. "You could have mistaken it for another scent."
"I know it was blood scent," Berrypaw hissed with frustration. She jumped as Playingbreeze rushed to her side.
"It's true!" she called. "The scent of blood covers our territory like a pelt. Danger waits in the shadows like a fox."
Aurorastar was alert at once. "I will lead a patrol out there," she said, trying to make her voice heard over the commotion. "Berrypaw and Playingbreeze will come with me, along with Dragonclaw, Bluemoon, and Fireleaf."
The cats that were called rushed forward, their eyes wide and their claws unsheathed.
"Wait!" a voice called. "Can we come?" Aurorastar turned to see Wolfsong and Honeysplash racing towards them, a bit of a wobble in their steps. They had both recently moved into the nursery, expecting kits.
"Definitely not!" Starwhisper had come to the scene, looking furious. "You would be endangering your kits! You already have been endangering them enough by going on patrols no less than a half moon ago, not even telling me you were expecting!" Woldsong's silver and gray pelt flattened, and Honeysplash's amber eyes lay fixed on her paws. "Back to the nursery now!" The medicine cat herded the two queens back to their new nests
Aurorastar turned to her patrol, gave them a brisk nod, and lead them out of camp.
The scent of blood was thick through the air. Aurorastar pricked her ears, trying not to gag, and wondered if she would hear any signs of a battle, but all was quiet.
"The scent is getting stronger," Dragonclaw growled, his fur bristling.
Suddenly, a faint wail of pain sounded, coming from the far side of SunClan's borders.
"Follow me!" Aurorastar called, racing through the woods and dodging clumps of brambles. They reached the edge of their territory bordering ShadowClan and StormClan, another rival clan. Aurorastar gazed around, and suddenly let out a gasp of shock.
A heap of dark brown and white fur lay motionless beneath a tall oak tree. It carried no scent of a rival Clan, and Aurorastar realized it was a rogue. The rogue she cat's fur was ripped in many places, and a huge slash ran down her side, spilling blood by the heartbeat.
Berrypaw raced toward the she cat and began pressing moss on her wound. The others joined her, and Aurorastar sniffed the rogue's wound, checking for infection.
I am no medicine cat though, she told herself. Suddenly, the she cat stirred, her green eyes flickering open.
"Who did this to you?" Berrypaw asked when she saw the she cat stir."And what is your name?"
"My name... is Cherry," the she cat rasped. "And... you must help my brother. They tried to kill him." The she cat glanced at an unmoving body a few fox lengths away.
Aurorastar rushed over to the tom. His dark brown fur was more torn than Cherry's, and most of it was caked with blood. Aurorastar thought the tom was dead, until she noticed a faint rise and fall of his chest. She grabbed the tom's scruff gently and hauled him over.
"Who would do something like this?" Bluemoon snarled.
"DarkClan would," a low voice said behind them, hinting a growl.
Aurorastar whipped around, fur bristling and claws unsheathed. In front of her stood a huge black tom, his pelt covered with scars. His amber eyes blazed, and his long claws sank into the dirt. Aurorastar recognized the tom at once.
"Darkstar!" she hissed at the ShadowClan leader. "What are you doing on SunClan territory?"
"To bring a message," Darkstar replied, ignoring Fireleaf's aggressive hissing.
"What is it?" Aurorastar growled, lashing her tail. Darkstar was alone, and if need be, they could chase him off.
"I have become the strongest cat in the forest," Darkstar started. "And I will become stronger. To gain power, ShadowClan has taken over RiverClan and WindClan. Their leaders, Owlstar and Snowstar, are our prisoners, and we plan on killing them shortly if they don't cooperate."
Aurorastar stared at the ShadowClan leader in horror. Judging by the silence coming from her patrol, she guessed they felt the same.
"I now rule DarkClan," Darkstar continued. "I will continue to gain power, and destroy anything that tries to stop me. I have started by killing every non pure blood cat I find, which includes rogues and half Clan cats."
Dragonclaw let out a threatening hiss, and Berrypaw and Playingbreeze stood protectively in front of Cherry and her brother.
"I now give you a proposal." Darkstar's eyes gleamed with triumph. "Join DarkClan and live under my command, or I will destroy SunClan and any of the remaining Clans that refuse my proposal.
"Which are who?" Berrypaw asked, her cream colored ears flat against her head.
"SunClan, StormClan, NightClan, CloudClan, and ThunderClan," Darkstar replied, his tail whipping from side to side.
Aurorastar narrowed her eyes, fixing them on Darkstar. He smirked at her, then slowly walked away. "Think about my offer," he said. "You have until the full moon."
Aurorastar stared at her paws. The full moon would rise in three sunrises. She didn't have much time.
"And stay out!" Dragonclaw called when Darkstar disappeared into his own territory.
"Bring the two rogues back to camp," Aurorastar ordered. Berrypaw, Playingbreeze, and Bluemoon helped the rogues as she ordered. Fireleaf caught up to Aurorastar, his ginger fur still bristled with anger and shock.
"You won't join DarkClan, right?" the tom asked, fixing his piercing green eyes on his leader.
Aurorastar shook her head. "Not if StarClan came down and asked me," she said. "But I still need to figure out how SunClan will overcome this."
Fireleaf glanced at the ground, kicking a small rock he walked by. "It's not fair!" he burst out, his eyes blazing with anger. "Darkstar has no right to do what he has done!"
Aurorastar rested her tail on Fireleaf's shoulder. "All we can do now is figure out a way to stop him."
Aurorastar lead the patrol back into the camp, ignoring the gasps of shock from her Clan, and leaped up onto Brightledge. Most of the Clan was already seated below, waiting for news on what their leader had to say.
"Cats of SunClan!" she called. "I am afraid we now face our darkest hour." The clearing was filled with screeches of terror and murmurs of confusion. Aurorastar quickly told them what Darkstar had told her. Her words were followed by yowls of outrage and horror. Swiftpaw and Ravenpaw sank their claws into the ground, as if preparing to use the battle moves they had learned on DarkClan warriors. Mistpaw, Skypaw, Tigerpaw, Nightpaw, Cheetahpaw, and older Ravenpaw sat in a group, deep in conversation. Many warriors talked amongst themselves, while a few others kept their wide eyes fixed on Aurorastar.
"We must not falter now!" Aurorastar called. "We are SunClan, and we will fight to the death for our Clan!"
"But do we want to pay the price of death for freedom?" Petalblossom asked loudly, sitting next to her mate, Silverblaze. Her tail was curled around her plump belly protectively. The queen's fur was bristled, and Aurorastar was surprised that the usually gentle she cat's eyes shone with sadness and anger.
"Do you want to join those treacherous excuses of cats?" Leopardsun snarled.
Petalblossom's ears went flat against her head, and her ginger tail lashed. Before the two she cats could get into a fight, a yowl sounded from the medicine den. It was Cherry's brother, up and alert, his reddish dark brown fur torn and bristled and his green eyes piercing.
The Clan stared at him, hostility flashing in their eyes. The tom dipped his head to them respectfully, speaking with a powerful voice, given his condition. "I am Falcon, and I ask for your help. I thank you for offering your hospitality to Cherry and I, but we are in need of other assistance. Our two other sisters, Flower and Oak, are being held prisoners at DarkClan's camp." He suddenly looked pleading, and he gazed up at Aurorastar. "Can you help us rescue them? They will die if they cannot be saved. Flower even has three small kits."
"I will go!" Viperfire suddenly called below, her sleek black fur shining in the sunlight. "Darkstar plans on murdering half Clan cats, and my father was from CloudClan." She unsheathed her claws. "I'll show him half Clan ferocity!"
"I'll go too!" Swiftpaw and younger Ravenpaw exclaimed.
"As will I." Brambleblaze said, his muscles rippling under his brown tabby pelt.
"We are coming as well, whether you like it or not." Falcon stared challengingly at Aurorastar, Cherry at his side. Aurorastar gave a hesitant nod of agreement, knowing she couldn't stop them and had no authority over them. Cherry smiled with pleasure.
"I can lead the patrol if you want," Nightglow offered. Aurorastar nodded in agreement, and watched as the deputy gathered her patrol and raced out of camp.
"May StarClan be with them," a soft voice spoke behind Aurorastar. Eclipsewing padded next to her, licking her sister's ear. Aurorastar purred with comfort as her sister began grooming her fur, and her troubles seemed to disappear for a moment.
"What are you going to do to stop Darkstar?" Eclipsewing asked in her soft, warm voice.
"I am not entirely sure," Aurorastar sighed. "I have an idea, but I do not know if it will work."
"What is this idea?" Eclipsewing asked as she groomed Aurorastar's shoulder fur.
Aurorastar rested her chin between her paws. "Well, I thought that SunClan could make a temporary alliance with the other Clans that also refuse Darkstar's proposal. Then, we have a better chance of defeating them than on our own."
Eclipsewing's eyes sparkled with interest. "That's actually not a bad idea. Maybe you should lead a patrol to each Clan to tell them about it."
Aurorastar began to feel as if she had found her way out of the fog. "I will!" She stood up, getting ready to call cats for a patrol, but Eclipsewing held her tail in front of Aurorastar's chest.
"Wait until tomorrow," she meowed. "You need to rest. Why don't you and I spend the rest of the evening together. I haven't spent any time with you lately."
Reluctantly, Aurorastar laid down, letting Eclipsewing groom her fur once more. She began to the same to Eclipsewing, grooming a piece of unkempt fur on her sister's head.
"Crystalclaw's kits are only a moon old, but they are as mischievous as ever," Eclipsewing said, obviously trying to start a conversation.
Aurorastar's eyes shone with warmth. The popular she cat had recently given birth to kits: Jewelkit, Iriskit, and Dustykit. Two she cats and a tom, and Crystalclaw seemed to think they were purely lovable angels, gifts from StarClan. Their father, Nightclaw, was just as proud, and spent whatever free time he had with his kits.
"Do you know how Redkit is doing?" Aurorastar asked. A far away Clan called HawkClan was lead by Redstar, but the current HawkClan leader had actually spent most of his life living in SunClan. It wasn't until he was called by StarClan to become HawkClan's leader that he had left. He had given one of his newborn kits to SunClan, in hope that his legacy would live on in the Clan he once loved.
"Redkit is doing quite well," Eclipsewing mewed. "He is on prey now, leaving Crystalclaw milk feeding only her own three now."
Aurorastar flicked her ears in approval.
A startling commotion erupted from the entrance of the camp, and Aurorastar watched with pricked ears as the patrol came back, fur bristled and eyes wide. A motionless light brown tabby body lay on Falcon's shoulders, and Cherry wailed with grief.
"Oak was killed!"
Duh duh duuhhh! ^.^ Hope you liked it, I spent a lot of time in this chapter, and it really begins to build up the challenges of SunClan and for Aurorastar.