Like I promised, Chapter 8 was coming to you guys at the time I said. I've decided to start spotlighting a Warriors story that I liked each chapter, just because I believe authors should help other authors out. The story for this chapter is Camp Warriors by The Mighty Silverblaze.

"You've heard of Warriors High, haven't you? Well, have you ever wondered what the Warriors do during the summer? Here's the tale of Camp Warriors, a camp like no other…" I've only read the first chapter, but it already looks like it will be a lot of fun, and it implements characters from POW all the way through OOTS. It's very long, too, being 42 chapters long with about 52,000 words as of this chapter. Check it out! And now on to my own story.

"Holy StarClan".

Thornsting and I gawked in horror at the sight before us. The Twolegs were in our territory - our territory - and were going after our cats. The bodies of our Clanmates lay scattered around the land, with more falling as we stood there gaping. At last, I came to my senses. I shoved Thornsting, and he nodded. Together, we raced off to join our Clanmates.

I sprang at the nearest Twoleg, sinking my teeth into its leg and biting down as hard as I could. The Twoleg shrieked and turned around, slamming its fire-stick into my body. The force of the impact sent me flying. I tumbled down a hill, water soaking into my fur as I rolled to a stop. Staggering to my paws, I saw that I had fallen into the stream that bordered WindClan territory. Growling in anger that my fur was now dripping wet, I stumbled out of the creek bed.

Scrambling back up to the top of the ridge, I lunged for that same Twoleg again. This time, it had one of my Clanmates in its paw- my son, Thunderkit. Not even stopping to wonder why my kit was so far from the camp, I attacked the Twoleg, screeching at him to leave my son alone. Fortunately, the Twoleg let go of my tiny kit and turned on me. I faced him, snarling.

We stared each other down for a few moments before he made his move. He lifted his fire-stick. By the time he used it, I was already gone. I ran circles around him in an attempt to distract him. It worked. The Twoleg couldn't get aim with his fire-stick enough to use it. When I had the best opportunity, I sprang at him with all my might.

I ended up on his chest, scratching and biting. The Twoleg screamed, dropping its fire-stick. It tried grabbing at me with its paws, but I was flinging myself around too much for him to get a grip. I continued biting and scratching, trying to reach his throat. Unlike warriors, Twolegs didn't know any better to tuck in their chins to protect their throats.

I was mere mouse-tail-lengths away from the Twoleg's throat when he finally managed to grab me, fastening a paw around my tail. I yowled in a mixture of anger and pain as he yanked on it, pulling me off of him and out of reach. I squirmed and fought, but he had a grip as tough as stone. I got a glimpse of his chest, and it looked bad. Blood squirted out from numerous bite wounds and claw-marks, soaking into his pelt. Normally, I would have felt awful about hurting someone like that. Not this time.

The Twoleg started carrying me away. I yowled louder in absolute protest, hoping someone would come to my assistance.

No such luck.

It was fairly clear to me just where this Twoleg was taking me as I saw it shine out from beneath a bush. A trap.

The Twoleg made a mistake, as they always do, as he bent down to open the trap. He slackened his grip on me, allowing me just enough room to free myself. He shrieked in alarm as I freed myself from his grip and ran. I bolted into the nearest cluster of fighting, hoping to lose him.

Thankfully, it was awful at tracking. I heaved a sigh of relief as it went in the opposite direction from where I had ran.

My relief wouldn't last long, however. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake, and a deafening roar filled my ears from every direction. Everyone, both Twoleg and cat, came to a grinding halt. I dug my claws into the ground and snarled, ready to face whatever was coming next. The noise made my ears hurt, and sounded a lot like thunder. What could it be?

I soon found out as it came crashing toward us from every direction, tearing down everything in its path. Monsters. And a whole lot of them. They looked hauntingly familiar to the ones that had destroyed the Clans' original home in the forest. I stared in horror at the things as they tore down tree after tree, coming straight for us at blinding speeds.

Finally, my mind kicked into gear. "Run!" I screamed. My Clanmates scattered. I ran toward the WindClan border, scooping up Stormkit as I ran past him. The poor little scrap looked terrified. I couldn't blame him. I was too.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't outrun the monsters. Having no other choice, I jumped and started tumbling down the very slope I'd fallen down before. I held on to Stormkit for dear life, feeling awful as he squealed in pain, rocks scraping against his tender kit-skin.

We both eventually landed in the stream. As soon as we did, I scrambled to my feet, keeping my son's nose free from the water. Thankfully, the monsters had stopped at the crest of the hill and were now backing up and away from us. I sighed in relief. Setting my son down on the bank, I looked at him seriously.

"Why were you and your littermates away from the camp?"

The little kit couldn't meet my eyes. "They came to our camp. Mother, s-she said that we should leave. S-so we did."

I exhaled through my nose. I knew why Squirrelflight had done it, but I still felt like she could have waited until I came back. Fought until I came back. Scooping up Stormkit again, I headed away from the thunder of the monsters and toward the outskirts of Clan territory. My only hope was that my Clanmates would have the same idea.

My son stayed perfectly still as we walked. I could tell he was traumatized, as I had been expecting him to be. No kit went through something like this and came out just fine. I could only hope that he would recover once this threat had passed. If it passed.

I picked up my pace a little as I reached the border between ThunderClan and unknown land. I made a semi-circle turn so that my paws were aimed toward my supposedly Twoleg-infested camp. I hoped all of the Twolegs had left there to join the battle down near the lake.

Finally, my luck caught up to me. When I got to the camp, it was silent. Not a Twoleg to be found. However, it was in ruins. The bramble barrier at the entrance had been torn down and trampled. What few trees were in the camp had been ripped out of the ground and lay destroyed. The dens had been trampled, and Leafpool and Jayfeather's herbs were scattered and blowing around the camp. A single cat body lay still in a pool of blood just outside the non-existent nursery- Cloudtail. Bramblestar felt a lump in his throat when he saw the white warrior he had respected a great deal lying dead. His only consolation was knowing that he was happy now with Brightheart in StarClan.

A sound behind him stirred him back to reality. Whipping around, he immediately unsheathed his claws, expecting to see a Twoleg. Instead, Lionblaze poked his golden tabby head out. "Bramblestar!" He hissed. "We're at the border. Our captured Clanmates? I rescued them."

I blinked in surprise. "What? How?" I asked, my voice muffled by Stormkit's fur.

"Thornsting told me how to open the traps. Come on!" He disappeared.

I raced out of the camp, heading for the border. I occasionally saw his golden tabby fur flashing through the trees, thus telling me I was going in the right direction. Sure enough, when I finally reached the border, my beloved Clanmates were waiting for me. Squirrelflight, Thornsting, Sunflight, and Firelight rushed up to me, nuzzling Stormkit and I and purring loudly. After our lovely reunion, I stepped away from them and looked to see which of my Clanmates had survived that horrible bloodbath. There weren't many. Berrynose, Hollyheart, Lionblaze, Blizzardpaw, Dewdrop, Ivypool, and Cinderheart with her only remaining kit, Quailkit. All of my family had made it out, except-

"Wait, where's Barkfoot?"

Squirrelflight's eyes suddenly widened. "Barkfoot!" She yowled. "Oh, StarClan, where's my baby? Oh, they've got him, I'm sure of it! And- where's Leafpool! And Jayfeather? Why aren't they here? Where are they?"

I scrambled toward my distraught mate, pressing myself against her. "It's okay, Squirrelflight, we'll-"

"It's not okay!" She shrieked. "I need my family!" She rushed forward, eyes wide. "Lionblaze, are you sure you got all of the cats who were trapped in that place?"

The golden tabby hesitated. "Well, I-I don't know, actually."

She whipped around. "Then they must be there!" She bolted away.

"Squirrelflight!" I snarled. "Stay here and protect each other." I ordered my Clanmates. Hissing in annoyance at my mate's impulsiveness, I raced after her.

I crashed through the woods at a blinding pace, desperate not to lose sight of Squirrelflight's fire-red fur despite knowing where she was going. We reached the ShadowClan border way faster than it felt like we should have. We crossed it, almost immediately heading into the Twoleg's territory. The wooden place where the trapped cats were being kept loomed up like a monster before us, threatening to swallow us whole.

Despite all that was going on, there were no Twolegs to be found patrolling their territory. I guess they were all still down at the battlefield. I finally caught up to Squirrelflight as she skidded to a halt beneath the entrance to the den.

I stepped in front of her. "Just what in the name of StarClan do you think you're doing?" I hissed.

She stared at me defiantly. "Rescuing my family."

"We don't even know that they made it out of the battle alive!"

"How can you say that? They're our family!"

"Just because they're our family doesn't mean they're safe from dying! The Twolegs in that battle seemed interested only in killing us, not in trapping us."

"They had traps set up all over the place, especially near the battlefield."

I sighed irritably. "You aren't going to give up until you know, are you?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, fine." I gave in. "We'll-"

I was interrupted as another one of the entrances swung open. Cursing under my breath, I tackled Squirrelflight behind the corner of the den. I hissed as a jagged edge of the wall caught my ear, tearing it slightly. Just my luck. I felt even more irritated as I felt warm, sticky blood slowly trickle down the back of my ear.

Three large Twolegs stepped out of the den, each carrying two traps each. My eyes widened in horror when I saw that in two of the traps sat Jayfeather and Barkfoot, hunched over and terrified. Squirrelflight tried to lunge forward, but I grabbed her just in time, shoving my tail in her mouth to keep her quiet.

We watched as the Twolegs carried the traps toward a sleeping monster that was waiting several tree-lengths away. Lots of traps were already stacked up in the monster. I had flashbacks of when Graystripe got captured during the destruction of the forest, realizing then what they were going to do with those cats. And I could tell Squirrelflight knew it too.

They were going to take them away.

"Bramblestar"

Squirrelflight and I both jerked around, finding ourselves mere tail-lengths away from Rowanstar. He was joined by his deputy, Crowfrost, and Tigerheart. Quickly and quietly, we made our way over to them.

"What are you doing here?" Rowanstar demanded. "Where are your Clanmates?"

I looked straight at him. "The Twolegs invaded our camp. We came here thinking that the family we lost had been trapped, and we were right."

Rowanstar spat a few insults about Twolegs. "StarClan curse them. They attacked our camp, too. Terrible casualties." His voice caught a little at the end. I think that was the first time I'd ever heard it do that. "The three of us are the only ones who made it."

The ground dipped below my paws. "What? You mean everyone else is dead?"

"Yes. ShadowClan is a Clan no longer."

"Don't be ridiculous." Squirrelflight snapped. Rowanstar jerked his head toward her. "You're still a Clan." She growled. "You just don't have the same amount of cats as the other ones do. Besides, it's not like Clan size matters much these days."

Before Rowanstar could respond, I interjected. "Do you know anything about the other two Clans?"

The ginger leader nodded. "WindClan is a mess. Their camp wasn't attacked, but their border patrols were. The Twolegs slowly picked them off, trapping each and every one until Onestar had no choice but to lead his warriors against them. They lost, as I'm sure you figured. Onestar was killed."

The ground dipped again. "He's dead? He was on his last life?"

"He was an old leader, Bramblestar." Crowfrost snapped. I opened my jaws to retort, but I didn't need to. The stinging glare he got from Rowanstar was enough. Rowanstar twitched an ear, looking solemn for once. "Yes, Onestar was on his last life. He fought hard, but he got hit by a fire-stick. It wasn't immediately fatal, but there was nothing WindClan could do to save him, especially since they lost their medicine cat to the traps." He twitched his whiskers. "In a rare act of kindness, I decided to invite them to come and stay in our camp, so they would be closer to the traps and could help us keep an eye on them. They were there when we were attacked yesterday. When my Clan was... destroyed."

I didn't say anything for a while. At last, I responded with, "How many WindClan warriors are left?"

"A few. Leaftail, Emberfoot, Featherheart, Oatstalk, and Breezepelt. Harespring, too. He's leader of WindClan now that Onestar's dead. He was just about to leave for the Moonpool when we were attacked. He was skimmed by a projectile from a fire-stick. Still recovering. Hasn't gotten his nine lives yet."

"And RiverClan?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard from them in ages. They don't even bother patrolling their borders anymore. It's not like we even have enough warriors to fight them, anyway."

I glanced at Squirrelflight, and a mutual thought passed between us. Surely RiverClan hadn't been completely wiped out?

All of a sudden, Tigerheart bristled. "They're gone!"

Rowanstar immediately bolted forward, shoving past Squirrelflight and I. Crowfrost and Tigerheart were on his heels, and we soon joined them.

We all entered into the den, which was dark despite it being the middle of the day. Most of the traps were gone, with only a few small piles here and there. I scanned the faces of the cats, not recognizing any of them. Clearly the Twolegs were fond of capturing rogues and loners, too.

Finally, I saw someone I recognized. Lizardleap of RiverClan. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw confirmation that not all of RiverClan had been lost. I moved toward the trap in an attempt to free him, but was stopped by Rowanstar.

"My warriors and I have a lot of experience freeing cats from traps. The two of you can just wait here and keep an eye out for Twolegs. We'll take care of the rest."

I nodded, turning toward Squirrelflight to see if she had heard what he said. But she wasn't looking at me. Her eyes, bright and excited, were focused on something. I followed her gaze, and felt a sharp stab of happiness.

Leafpool was crouching in one of the traps, her startled but relieved gaze meeting her sister's. A broad smile spread across my face. At least we still had her. I watched as Tigerheart made his way over to her trap, my eyes then drifting to the outside to keep watch for Twolegs.

Fortunately for us, they didn't come back, and before we knew it we were back on the outside, and tender reunions were being shared. Leafpool shared our utter shock at the announcement of ShadowClan's destruction and Onestar's death.

We were just preparing ourselves to make an attempt at rescuing Jayfeather and Barkfoot when Rowanstar stopped us. "Bramblestar. There's something I think you should know."

I turned to look at him. "What?"

He hesitated before telling me. "I've talked it over with my Clanmates and with the warriors of WindClan, and we have all come to the same agreement. Tomorrow at dawn, ShadowClan and WindClan are going to leave the lake."

I stared at him, not even having a clue on what to say. Here I was, raring to fight, being told that two of the Clans who could help me win this were leaving. "But don't you want to try and fight?"

Rowanstar shook his head. "We've fought, and we've fought. It has gotten us nowhere. This is a war we are destined to lose, Bramblestar. You may believe differently, and that's okay. But Harespring and I both have come to understand that neither of our Clans will survive here. If we stay, ShadowClan and WindClan will cease to exist. I am telling this to you because I want to offer you the chance to bring ThunderClan with us to find a new home, one that is free of Twolegs."

I gaped at him. "You- but, I-" I stuttered.

Squirrelflight saved me. "This is all very nice and all, Rowanstar, but do you understand what you are asking us to do?"

He nodded. "Just think about it. Think about what kind of future your Clan will have if you stay here. If you want to join us, we are meeting at the WindClan-ThunderClan border at dawn tomorrow."

I stared at my paws. What should I do? I knew that Rowanstar was thinking very logically. If we stayed, ThunderClan would get blown apart by these Twolegs. But if we left, the world beyond promised the same levels of danger. Never before had I felt so conflicted.

My time of thinking was cut short as a loud rumble broke through the silence. "Fox dung!" Rowanstar spat. He, Crowfrost, and Tigerheart bolted away. We followed. The six of us raced toward the now-alive monster filled to the brim with traps. My muscles worked harder than they ever had before as I fought to reach my son.

I yowled in despair as the monster began to move, rolling away from us and picking up speed. We chased it beyond the border, desperately trying to catch up to it.

It was hopeless.

At last I collapsed on the ground, panting and sobbing at the same time. Squirrelflight fell beside me, and we grieved for our lost kin. Our beautiful son, destined for so much greatness. Jayfeather, the talented and aspiring medicine cat. StarClan only knew who else.

A harsh sob shook me, making my whole body ache. As I lay there, my wails echoing through the now still air, a single whisper escaped my lips.

"We're dying here."

My Clanmates looked at one another, mixtures of grief and hopelessness crossing their faces. I had made my decision. And though they knew it was what had to be done, they didn't like it. Neither did I.

I sat there silently, listening to the muffled cries of Squirrelflight and Leafpool as they tried to comfort each other over the loss of their sons. Lionblaze, Jayfeather's brother, had left angrily after finding out about his brother's capture, claiming that it was all his fault and that he should have tried harder to protect him. Cinderheart had gone after him, and neither of them were back yet.

I felt numb from head to toe. I had lost my son. My camp. My life beside the lake. It was gone. Just like that. Those two-legged pieces of fox dung had taken my home from me, my life. They were forcing me to drag my young kits out into the unknown, out into a world none of us knew anything about. And the worst part of it all?

There was nothing I could do about it. Nothing at all.

Slowly, one by one, my Clanmates drifted off to their makeshift nests, preparing for a day of travel. Where we were going to go I had no idea. Perhaps the mountains, to join the Tribe? No. It would be too close to the place where I had lost more than I had ever lost in my entire life. In all honesty, I was happy to see the lake go. I was mad about giving up on this fight, even though I knew it would be pointless and stupid to carry on. For the first time since this whole thing began, I admitted the truth to myself. We were fighting a losing battle. StarClan wasn't going to help us. Nobody was. These Twolegs would kill us all if we let them. There was only one thing we could do to stop ourselves from being blown into extinction.

We had to leave the lake.

Like I promised this chapter was much more action-packed! I hope you all enjoyed it. I bet you didn't even think about it, but these past eight chapters have just been the prologue for this story. Consider Chapter 9 the new Chapter 1, the true beginning of the story. Cats will die, loyalties will be tested, tensions will rise, and the Clans will step up to face the greatest threat they've ever known.