Chapter 14
"Lightningstar!"
Lightningstar came down a few wrungs of the ladder at her deputy's voice. It sounded urgent, and angry. That was never a good tone when it came to Wingshadow. "What is it Wingshadow?"
"What it is, is that Wildclan moved the border!" Wingshadow spat, giving Lightningstar a glare of death. She stalked closer. "What are we going to do about it?!"
"What we're going to do, is move the border back." Lightningstar said. She wasn't yelling, but her own tone was definetly pissed off.
Wingshadow bristled. She looked like she was going to attack.
"This could be a mistake of a reckless warrior." Lightningstar continued. "I don't think they should be punished for that. And if it was on purpose, then we'll fight them." She gave Wingshadow a semi-glare.
For a while, Wingshadow returned it. Then, slowly, her anger receded. She took a few breaths, as if she couldn't believe what just happened. "Of course." She panted.
Lightningstar gave what was almost a smile and nodded to her deputy. Then she walked further up the ladder. "Frostfur, Zipfoot, Wolfpaw, Snakepaw, and Lizardpaw! Get over here now!" The five cats ran over.
"Why are we here?" Lizardpaw asked.
"We're not in trouble, are we?" Wolfpaw wanted to know.
Lightningstar scoffed. "No. If you were, I'd be yelling at you separately. The seven of us are going on a patrol. We have to move our border back, and I want a lot of cats in case it's a trap." Frostfur gave a nod. "Glad we're on the same page, now let's go." She led her warriors out.
They marched to the new Wildclan border. Lightningstar held up her tail for the others to wait. Then she crossed the border on her own.
"Intruder!" Flurrywind shouted. He leapt out at Lightningstar.
Lightningstar had picked up his scent before crossing. She ducked and he shot over her, landing in Lightningclan territory. "Who's the intruder now?" She asked, turning around to face him.
"You're the ones who moved the border!" Wingshadow shouted. She was starting to tremble.
Oh great. Lightningstar thought. She was starting to figure out a life she'd give Wingshadow when she became leader. Patients would be a good. Or control over anger.
"Yeah, we moved the border." Flurrywind leered. "And who's going to stop us? You?"
Wingshadow broke. She yowled and charged at Flurrywind. He swung his claw, flinging her aside with his wild cat strength. Lightningstar leapt onto him and Frostfur, catching on, attacked from below. Then three more Wildclan cats came out. Yelloweyes, Coldsting, and Silverpaw. The two clans broke into battle. Well . . . almost all of them.
Wolfpaw started towards Yelloweyes to attack, then Silverpaw stepped between them in attack position. She growled. Wolfpaw stepped backwards. "Silverpaw, we, are you, we don't have to fight." He stuttered.
"Yes we do." She said back flatly.
Wolfpaw shook his head. "But. . ." He tried to start.
"Wolfpaw, don't make this harder than it is." Silverpaw said. Now Wolfpaw saw the sadness in her eyes. She didn't want to fight him either.
"Silverpaw," Once again, he didn't get any farther.
Silverpaw pounced on him. "You mouse brain!" She shouted. "Fight!" She swung her back at his head and there was a crack. Wolfpaw slammed his eyes shut as blood came from the wound. She must've hit him harder than she'd meant to, because Wolfpaw felt her climb off him.
When he managed to open his eyes Frostfur and Lizardpaw where fighting Silverpaw. She pinned Lizardpaw, but Frostfur bit into the top of her head. Wolfpaw's eyes widened. He tried to get up, but the world spun and he fell down again. He looked up, squinting as his vision spun.
The Wildclan cats were running off. Silverpaw turned around and gave him a look. He couldn't tell what it was saying. It looked apologetic . . . or maybe longing. He didn't get to figure it out, because she turned away and ran after the rest of the Wildclan cats.
Wingshadow bounded over the old border, ready to chase them. "Wingshadow wait!"Lightningstar cried.
Wingshadow whirled around. "Why?!" She demanded.
"Because they're letting us have our territory. We have to be better than them." Lightningstar said.
Wingshadow calmed down again, taking about as the last time. "Okay." She breathed. She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "So, we should get back to camp now?"
Lightningstar nodded.
Frostfur ran over to Wolfpaw. "Wolfpaw! Are you alright?"
Wolfpaw tried to nod, feeling distracted. He hissed at the pain. "I'm fine." He said. Realizing she wouldn't believe that, he added, "I just can't move my head."
"Just? That's serious!" Frostfur said. She continued before Wolfpaw could say anything else. "Stay right here. We'll get Ashpelt or Slitherpaw." With that she started to run away.
Wolfpaw started to lift himself, grimacing with the pain. Frostfur came back. "Stay here." She insisted again, pushing him back down gently. She ran back towards camp again. This time, Wolfpaw didn't follow.
