Tigerclaw

How could the RiverClan leader make such an outrageous accusation? It was Crookedstar who was really sending spies, just like Bluestar said. He shook his head in disgust. What was the forest coming to? The trotted back towards ThunderClan territory, the warriors easily keeping their footing on the damp log. When they reached the other side, Tigerclaw bounded up through the handful of warriors until he was level with Bluestar.

"It's alright," he mewed, "Nobody thinks you sent a spy to RiverClan. He's probably just trying to cover his tracks."

The leader nodded wearily, "Yes Tigerclaw, you're right."

"At least none of the Clans have spotted Brokenstar yet. Maybe he's gone for good."

"Maybe." They walked in silence for a while longer, their paws crunching on the pebbles of the lake shore. They then turned towards the forest, stepping gratefully onto the soft moss and soil. It was then that Tigerclaw stiffened. He raised his tail signaling for the patrol to stop. They all instantly froze. Then Tigerclaw heard a low, barely discernible mew from up ahead.

He whipped out his claws, "AMBUSH! DEFEND BLUESTAR!" The ThunderClan warriors sprang into action, surrounding their leader. Tigerclaw didn't a head count in the blink of an eye. A few of the warriors were experienced, but Fireheart was with them too… He gave a nod to Darkstripe, who understood immediately. He would defend Bluestar, even from within. Then chaos exploded through the forest.

A dozen cats leapt out of the underbrush, yowling at the top of their lungs. They had obviously been planning to catch the patrol by surprise, but they were still determined to attack. One particularly big one dove right at Tigerclaw, but the seasoned warrior simply slashed his claws cross the cat's face, sending him reeling away into the night. He whirled around, tossing another attacker off of Dustpaw, bodily throwing the unfortunate cat into a nearby tree. These aren't Clan cats! Tigerclaw realized with a start. He watched Darkstripe lash out with a blinding flurry of blows, forcing yet another cat to retreat. That's when Tigerclaw noticed that all of the rogues were focusing on one thing. Bluestar! He bounded to his leader's side, crashing into a brown, scarred rogue. The cat took one look at Tigerclaw and scrabbled away wailing. Another gray looking cat leapt past Tigerclaw's guard, tackling Bluestar to the ground. Tigerclaw froze in horror, but Bluestar was no weakling. She kicked up with her hindpaws, sending the cat stumbling backwards. She wasted no time in counterattacking, slashing at the cat with well aimed paw swipes. Both of her strikes connected with her opponent's throat, and dark liquid sprayed across the surrounding leaves as the rogue stumbled backwards a few paces before toppling on his side.

Tigerclaw had no time to think on that cat's fate. Two panicked, bloodied rogues pelted past him, with Mousefur close behind. The yowls of combat slowly began to die away, and any remaining rogues bounded away, obviously regretting their choice of attacking ThunderClan cats.

Panting, the ThunderClan deputy turned to his leader, "Are you alright?"

Bluestar nodded, "I'm fine. Check on the patrol." It didn't take long to realize that the ThunderClan cats had all fared well, the worst injury was a long cut over Dustpaw's eye, but the apprentice claimed that it didn't hurt too badly. He returned to Bluestar to find her and Darkstripe inspecting the fallen rogue.

"I know this cat," Bluestar was meowing, "His name is… was… Clawface."

Darkstripe nodded somberly, "I remember now. He was one of Brokenstar's cronies, wasn't he?" Then his eyes widened, "Tigerclaw, Bluestar, do you think those cats were the ShadowClan outcasts?"

Tigerclaw was skeptical, "They didn't fight like Clan cats."

Bluestar nodded, "Good point, maybe Clawface was the only one."

Darkstripe shook his head, "I doubt it. I thought I even saw Brokenstar himself. Maybe they just got rusty."

Bluestar sat down, a sorrow in her eyes, "I killed him, Tigerclaw. I just killed Clawface."

"Don't worry," Tigerclaw mewed, feeling a little awkward, "It was self defense. We all saw it."

His leader let out a heavy sigh, "Maybe it would have been better if I had died instead."

Darkstripe rolled his eyes, but there wasn't even a hint of humor in his mew, "Bluestar, if I had to choose between killing the leader of ThunderClan, or a kit-slaughtering rogue, I'd kill the rogue any time."

Bluestar let out a heavy sigh, "I'm returning to camp. Tigerclaw, please take a small patrol and make sure that those rogues stay out of our territory." The deputy nodded and motioned for Whitestorm and Sandpaw to accompany the leader.

Then he turned to the rest of the patrol, "Alright, cats. You heard Bluestar, let's go!" They bounded off in the direction the rogues had taken.

The warriors had hardly travelled more than a few fox lengths before screeching once again erupted. The warriors all came to an abrupt halt, looking for the source of the sound.

Mousefur was the first to realize what was happening, "Bluestar's under attack!" The cats all sprinted back towards the source of the sound, not a single warrior wanted to leave their leader to the mercy of bloodthirsty rogues.