Chapter 22
Stormstar climbed into the trees and took his place among the other leaders. His clan had been a little late this time, Shadowpaw hadn't shown up and he looked for her. He'd found her taking to Riverkit. He wasn't really sure why, since Riverkit couldn't hear a word she said, but he didn't question why. He just reminded her about the gathering and the clan left.
Ripstar stood up as soon as Stormstar sat down, making it clear he wanted to go first. "Prey has been running well in Wildclan." He announced. "Blizzardwind has given birth to two kits, Snowkit and Thickkit. Also, you may have noticed we have a new member." Stormstar flicked his gaze towards Wolfpaw. Yes, he and just about every cat at the gathering, had noticed Wolfpaw was with Wildclan and not Lightningclan. "Wolfpaw left Lightningclan," Ripstar turned slightly towards Lightningstar, but she didn't give him a response. "He's a welcome addition to our clan." Ripstar sat back down.
Lightningstar got up. "Prey is running well in Lightningclan. Lizardpaw and Slitherpaw have both gotten their full names, Lizardtail and Slitherstep." There were cheers for the warrior and medicine cat. Lightningstar sat back down. Stormstar blinked. She hadn't mentioned Wolfpaw at all.
It was Fallenstar's turn next. Great. Stormstar thought. He'd have to go last. "Prey is running well Fallenclan. However I should mention, Death Trap was sighted on our territory."
There were a few gasps and murmers. Even Stormstar was taken aback. He had not seen that coming.
"That's right." A new voice spoke out, raising their voice to be heard. "I was on his territory." Death Trap stepped into the gathering. A few cats stepped back out of fear. Lightningstar hissed at what cowards they were being.
Then Wingshadow zipped towards Death Trap, ready to attack. She was swung aside by a badger. Death Trap grinned. More badgers and rogues began appearing. The badgers, not ones to be kept waiting, started attacking right away. "Oh, by the way," Death Trap said matter of factly, "the dark ones are coming too."
"Well then let's not just sit here!" Lightningstar shouted. She leapt down and started attacking Scar, the leader of the rogues.
Then someone grabbed her tail and yanked her away. She whirled around to face them, only to freeze.
Moonstar saw who it was too. "Blueblaze?" She whispered.
"What?" Stormstar asked, feeling baffled.
"Surprised Stormstar?" Another voice hissed. Stormstar turned towards the source of the voice, but wasn't fast enough. The cat leapt onto him and knocked him off the tree. His head spun from the impact of hitting the ground. "See some of us really don't like how things are run around here. You never listen to your warriors!"
"Shatterpoint." Stormstar croaked.
"Oh so I do exist." Shatterpoint snarled. "Good to know." Then he smacked Stormstar's head and bit into his neck. The world hadn't stopped spinning, making it hard to fight back. But Stormstar tried anyway. He kicked out his legs, each of them in a different direction. He was let go and he heard Shatterpoint make a grunting sound, so apparently he'd hit his mark.
Stormstar rolled away before Shatterpoint could attack his head again. He lifted himself to his feet. His eye sight seemed to finally be returning, and the first thing he saw was a badger. Stormstar let out a yelp. Then Ripstar leapt over him and kicked the badger in the eyes. It actually seemed to cause the badger pain, more pain than Stormstar ever could've caused.
"Stormstar, my clan can handle the badgers!" Ripstar shouted to him. "Just try to keep the cats off our backs!"
Stormstar gave a nod, and the other cats who'd heard put the effort in too. Stormstar turned towards Shatterpoint again. Shatterpoint swung his claws out, but Stormstar just ducked. He shot his paws out and knocked Shatterpoint to the ground. He looked at the warrior. He had never been the greatest warrior, but he had still been a warrior of Stormclan. This was going to hurt.
(And so the battle begins.)
