Well, this is like a warm up chapter, I can't wait to write the next one!

Chapter 19: Rising tension

Wolfpaw stared up at the night sky, the hues of purple, blue and black filling his pupils, along with the glitter of the silent stars. The Greenleaf night air was cooler than the day but still was stifling, the air was so dry Wolfpaw thought he would choke. He was standing guard on the high ledge, he had the first turn until moonhigh and then he would be replaced by Lilystream for the second watch, since he was an older apprentice of nine moons he was capable of being a look out. He wasn't really in that much danger, the highledge was safe inside the camp and he had an advantage against any intruders by being so high, he would be able to spot them immediately. Outside the camp entrance sat Squirrelflight and Brackenfur, two of the most senior warriors in thunderclan who could be trusted to keep watch throughout the night. Below him lay Dustpelt, covered in blood but covered in remedies of sweet smelling lavender to hide the scent of death. Spiderleg, Birchfall, Foxleap, and Icecloud gathered around him along with Sandstorm and Greystripe who were good friends with the warrior. His sons and daughters mourned his death in silence, they would be laying there the whole night, whereas the rest of the clan had their final goodbye with the old warrior earlier. To be honest, Wolfpaw thought that Dustpelt should have become an elder by now since Sandstorm and Greystripe who were about the same age as him were elders. But the tabby tom had kept serving his clan to the end of his days, there couldn't be no greater amount of loyalty than that.

Wolfpaw's stomach growled he hadn't eaten anything yet, no one had except the elders. Even Cherryleaf who was expecting Bumblestripe's kits was going hungry. The clan was worried sick, with the threat of more murders carried out by Darkclan and the clan's extra defence it didn't take long for the story of Dustpelt's death and the cause for the huge boost in security to ravage through the clan.

Hunger was making Wolfpaw tired, but determination kept his eyes open and he forced himself to sit straight and hold his head high, scanning for any movement in the forest. Movement did catch his eye, but not one he was concerned about. He spotted a familiar black she cat melt out of the shadows of the apprentice den. Wolfpaw stared at her, wondering where she was going. Her green eyes flashed at him and Wolfpaw gulped as he watched her climb up to him. She scrabbled at the rocky ledge, trying to get a paw hold, looking quite comical in the process, her face scrunched up in concentration clearly looking annoyed and embarrassed.

Wolfpaw rolled his eyes and took a step towards her. "Need any help Ravenpaw?"

Her green eyes were bright despite the dark and her body was a vague shape due to the darkness. "No." She growled.

Wolfpaw sat down again, mocking her by looking at her with one raised eyebrow. "You sure?"

Ravenpaw was slightly smaller than him, so the climb was much harder for her. "Sure as Darkclan is stupid"

Wolfpaw chuckled and knowing she would be taking her time he lifted a paw to clean the dirt between his claws what was stuck between his paw pads. Eventually he heard a puff from Ravenpaw and glanced up at her. One ear up and the other down. She frowned at him and sighed. She sat on the lower level keep in her eyes on her paws. Wolfpaw knew she surrendered and while she scrabbled up the rocks once again he grabbed her scruff and helped her by taking some of her weight.

Soon she was safely on the highledge. "Thanks" she mewed, somewhat grouchy. Wolfpaw shrugged. There was a moment of silence, it was the first time they had spoken since their argument in the tunnel, and if he told the truth, the two had been avoiding each other since. "Look after what happened in the tunnel.." Wolfpaw began.

Ravenpaw pricked her ears.

"Should we just forget it and be friends? I've missed messing around with you." Wolfpaw asked quietly.

Ravenpaw nodded. "Of course, how about you, me and the other three all go hunting tomorrow?"

Wolfpaw's mood lifted at the prospect but he suddenly remembered the orders Bramblestar had given about apprentices leaving the camp. "We can't, Darkclan?" he growled reminding her.

Ravenpaw's ear twitched and she nodded sadly. "oh yeah.."

Bramblestar had ordered that patrols had to have a least five warriors on each and if anyone left the camp they had to be in a group that large, and apprentices weren't aloud to leave the camp without being in a large patrol filled with warriors. Also the clan was on edge for the dreaded meeting between Bramblestar and Breezestar that would be taking place at sunset today. Bramblestar had not moved from his den since he was told the news of the threat, Wolfpaw presumed he was wondering what he would do to protect his clan. The truth was that thunderclan had been struggling slightly since they had been forced to give Darkclan territory. Breezestar had taken Lionblaze as hostage ad had tortured him to make Bramblestar give him part of Thunderclan's territory. His father still bore the scars of the event to this day, he tried asking him about it but a distant look came to his eyes and he suddenly became prone to nightmares after being reminded of it, so naturally Wolfpaw learnt not to remind his father of the attack.

Ravenpaw was looking out in the direction of Darkclan. "What if they attack Wolfpaw?"

Wolfpaw hardened his amber gaze. "Then we'll beat them."

Ravenpaw shook her head slowly. "Wolfpaw be realistic, these are cats who were trained by Tigerstar. They will go for the kill without batting an eyelid. Do you really think we have an advantage?"

Wolfpaw shrugged. "we have Starclan, and plus Tigerstar is dead, so is Hawkfrost and Brokenstar."

Ravenpaw flicked one ear. "Yeah, but they have tons more cats in there, who knows who's leading it now."

Wolfpaw scented the air, suddenly feeling like he was being watched, but a sniff of the air told him it was only the talk of Darkforest making him nervous. The moon was at its highest, meaning time for him to finally get rest. Gently he cuffed Ravenpaw round the ears, rewarding him with a bewildered frown. "Come on, my shifts over we have to wake Lilystream."

Luckily for Ravenpaw who seemed to only have the tiniest shred of dignity left, she didn't need any help getting down the rocky steps down the highledge. She landed with a puff as she dropped down a tail length or so. Wolfpaw rolled his eyes, she was so dramatic. Like a pair of mice they scurried to the warrior's den, Wolfpaw stared at it in awe. Ravenpaw nudged him with her sleek shoulder. "That will be us some day, come on Lilystream?" Ravenpaw reminded him.

They found Lilystream quickly, she had taken the precaution to sleep near the entrance of the den, her dark tabby fur with white patches was soft and long, her spotted tail of dark brown, white and orange keeping her warm. Ravenpaw gently tapped her with a white tipped paw. Lilystream opened one yellow eye, and groaned as she saw Wolfpaw knowing her time of rest was over. She reluctantly got up and followed the two apprentices to the apprentice den. "Bramblestar better give us some rest tomorrow, or I'll be dead on my paws." Lilystream groaned.

Wolfpaw nodded, letting out a yawn. "I agree, see you in the morning Lilystream"

Lilystream nodded and despite her fatigue she sprinted over to the highledge and leapt onto her spot to guard for the rest of the night. Wolfpaw led the way into the apprentice den and curled up in a bed of thick moss, it had never felt so relaxing before. Ravenpaw whispered a quick goodnight to him. He couldn't help but purr, with is and Ravenpaw's friendship fixed he would sleep better at night knowing nothing had changed between them. Keeping the thought in his head he drifted off and let the darkness of sleep over take him.

Wolfpaw felt a paw nudge in his side, he moaned and rolled over, tucking his tail over his nose. "Wolfpaw. Get up."

Wolfpaw's amber eyes snapped open when he recognised his mentor, Bramblestar's low growl. Normally his mentor was far nicer, but he could understand why he had other things on his mind apart from being nice. Today was the day he would meet with Breezestar and decide if thunderclan was going to give Darkclan more territory. Wolfpaw practically flew out of his nest due to urgency. He followed Bramblestar into the clearing and found cats talking in hushed groups, sneaking glances at Bramblestar and the entrance to the camp. "Go and get something to eat, you're going to need it. I sent out a dawn hunting patrol, thank Starclan they were successful." Bramblestar breathed a sigh of relief, glancing at the fresh kill pile.

Wolfpaw nodded and padded slowly to the pile, still waking up with his amber eyes slightly blurred. The pile was fuller than it had been in days, not anywhere as full as it should have been in Greenleaf but full. It consisted of a sparrow, a blue tit, three mice a rabbit and a skinny crow. He took a mouse, with the intention to share it with someone knowing the prey wouldn't go far around the camp, many cats would still be hungry.

He found the apprentices sitting together chatting away, even Blackpaw and Foxpaw were sociable. Wolfpaw sat down beside Stormpaw and started to share the mouse with his friend. It was tough and stringy but his hunger wasn't choosy and he ate without a problem. However the mouse only sharpened his hunger reminding him of how starving he was, he dug his claws in the ground hoping it would pass.

Swiftpaw flicked her tail on his ear and nodded her head up to the highrock where Bramblestar was now sitting. He didn't need to call the normal words of a clan meeting; the whole clan was out in the clearing waiting for his words.

"As you may be aware, Darkclan has sent us a threat. They say we must give them territory in exchange for the promise that they won't murder our cats."

The clan let out a series of yowls, ranging from scared and in despair to angry and defiant. "I will take a large patrol with me today to give Breezestar my reply."

The clan leader emphasised large, meaning if the meeting went wrong they would have to fight their way out. "What are you going to say Bramblestar?" called Greystripe, his old voice still filled with the young kit like curiosity he had all his life.

"We buried Dustpelt, with the promise of more cats being killed. But if I give one more claw length of territory to Darkclan we will starve. Thunderclan is strong; if Darkclan want territory they can go and threaten shadowclan. No on threatens my clan."

The clan's cries of support filled the air, many of them filled with battle cries. A chorus of cheering lifted up into the air drowning out the faint birdsong.

"Thunderclan I may never really say this but there is no greater danger. If it comes to a battle, fight like you're lives depend on it, only kill if you have to, but fight to survive."

The warrior's battle cries faded like morning mist, the seriousness of the situation daunting them, some cats might not return from a battle with Darkclan. Wolfpaw felt his confidence die, this battle could lead to his death.

"Lionblaze, I shall not be taking you today." Bramblestar growled unexpectedly. The clan gasped, Lionblaze was their best fighter, and they needed him. "If Darkclan takes advantage and attacks the camp I want you protecting the queens and elders."

Lionblaze nodded, looking slightly overcome by the responsibility placed on his shoulders.

"I will take to Darkclan, Squirrelflight,Toadstep, Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Seedfeather, Ivypool, Spiderleg, Birchfall, Berrynose, and Tigerheart." Bramblestar said.

Wolfpaw was shocked, that was defiantly a battle patrol. "Also I will have the apprentices Swiftpaw, Ravenpaw, Stormpaw, Wolfpaw, Blackpaw, Foxpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw. There are many apprentices in Darkclan, they should be you're level to fight." Wolfpaw unsheathed his claws, hoping he would be good enough to beat a Darkclan apprentice.

"Lionblaze, you can keep Leafpool, Whitewing, Cinderheart, Dovewing, Hazeltail, Icecloud, Foxleap, Moletooth, Bumblestripe, Poppyfrost, Daisy, Amberpaw, Songpaw and Rosepetal."

Wolfpaw wasn't fooled, this may only be a trip to talk to Breezestar but everyone knew, even the tiniest kit, that it would not end up peaceful.

Ohhhhhhhhhooooooohhhh... so looks like theres going to be a big battle :D yayz!

Who doesn't love a good battle to read huh?

Thank you for the reviews and views I got last time I updated, (squeals happily)

Yeah, we haven't heard from Wolfy in ages so I thought might as well do him a POV

Till next time!

On holiday so I can update tons!

Best wishes xx

Neon xx