CHAPTER 13-War

Most of the Clan had left for the Gathering, and I anxiously waited for them in the apprentice's den.

Luckily, Bramblestar had chosen me as one of the cats who would stay and guard the camp while they were gone. I shuddered at the memory of my first Gathering.

I was the only apprentice who didn't go, so the silence was stifling.

It felt good to be alone, though. I could have all of the thoughts to myself.

I traced the outline of the obsidian underneath my nest and gazed up at the silver-lined moon.

The whispers of the lost spirits echoed in my ears. They wanted me to save them, somehow. But from what? The Darklings? What were the Darklings, anyway? And the Boneyard…?

The whispers of a possible war murmured in my fur. What would Blackstar say when Bramblestar asked him about the prey-stealing?

I was beginning to nod off to sleep when the Gathering was over. The apprentices slinked into the den and curled up on their beds. However, they were much too excited to fall asleep.

Amberpaw shuddered. "I never knew Blackstar could look so frightening when he's angry."

Lilypaw nodded. "I sure don't want to mess with him."

I quickly sat up and asked, "What happened?"

Amberpaw looked at me and explained, "Well, when Bramblestar accused Blackstar of stealing prey, Blackstar got pretty mad. He growled and said that Bramblestar was talking nonsense and that he didn't know what he was talking about. They got into an argument then, and the other cats got into a riot. Luckily, StarClan covered the moon soon after that, and no one was hurt. Blackstar sort of left in a huff."

"Oh," I murmured.

Dewpaw flexed his claws. They glinted silver in the light of the moon, and I flinched when I imagined them rip into flesh. He mewed, "I hope there's a battle! I'd like to try out my fighting skills."

All of the other apprentices seemed eager too, but I was nervous. My sleep that night was dreamless and uneasy.

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The first time ShadowClan stole prey, Bramblestar didn't really pay much attention to it. However, the second, third, and fourth times were different.

The ThunderClan patrols found more half-eaten carcasses of dead prey. They all reeked of ShadowClan.

Whenever a warrior reported another carcass, Bramblestar would scowl and his amber eyes would narrow and darken. He would look like a gargoyle then, crouching down with his jaws parted and his eyes forming a hardened stone glare. I made sure to keep away whenever he looked like that.

A ShadowClan apprentice was seen crossing our border one time. He was chasing a squirrel, and even though he had been too far away to recognize, the ShadowClan smell from him was strong. He dashed back across the border before the warriors could catch him.

The Clan began to grow antsy and restless. The warriors flexed their claws and sharpened them on old logs, and the apprentices wrestled with each other and practiced their fighting moves. Snowpaw and I had stopped going to the secret place. It was dangerous to try. There might be foxes there, or maybe a ShadowClan warrior who had been brave enough to cross the border.

Finally, one dreary morning, Bramblestar had decided that he had had enough. He made up his mind to go over to ShadowClan and have a talk with Blackstar. The tom chose five cats to go with him: Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, Dewpaw, Sorreltail, and me.

I was surprised when he chose me. He told me that he wanted me to come so that I could have experience.

We headed out of the camp and began to journey to the border. As we neared it, I saw mangled bodies of the prey that the ShadowClan cats had neglected to eat. I wrinkled my nose as the familiar stench grew stronger. The soil gave way to crumbling, dark moss, and numerous pine trees dotted the horizon. Pale-skinned mushrooms poked up from the earth.

A rat chittered at me from the undergrowth and glared at me with a bloodshot eye.

Finally, Bramblestar ordered us to halt, and we waited at the edge of our border.

Dewpaw was restless. He bounded around in excitement until the leader snapped at him to stop. Even then, the grey apprentice wiggled from ear to toe and could hardly keep still.

A twig crackled on the other side, and Lionblaze mewed, "They're coming."

A patrol of three cats appeared. Their whiskers twitched when they saw us, but they didn't say anything. I took a step backwards and shivered. They looked fierce and hungry, and I didn't want anything to do with them. I wanted to go back to the camp where I was safe. Brackenfur laid his tail across my shoulder and blinked at me kindly, as if he sensed my fear. I ducked down and shuffled my paws awkwardly.

Oakfur, the small brown tom, sighed wearily and mewed, "Alright then. What do you want, Bramblestar?"

The ThunderClan leader stood up stiffly and swept his tail over the dead bodies of prey. "ShadowClan has been stealing our food," he hissed coldly.

Toadfoot leaped forward and yowled, "How dare you accuse us! How many times do we have to tell you? We didn't do it!"

Brackenfur replied calmly, "Don't deny it. They reek of your scent."

Bramblestar said, "I need to talk to Blackstar." He lashed his tail impatiently.

The black tom, Smokefoot, flexed his claws against the soft moss and snarled, "No. You'll have to get through us first."

Dewpaw fluffed out his fur and bounced forward. "There's five of us, and only three of you. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."

Oakfur narrowed his eyes. "Why you hairy little furball," he growled, and advanced one step towards the apprentice.

Dewpaw gulped and dove behind Lionblaze. Bramblestar twitched his ear. "Silence, Dewpaw," he mewed sternly.

Toadfoot eyed us wearily. He exchanged some words with his Clanmates, and then meowed, "The apprentice does have a point. We will escort you to our camp, then."

Oakfur warned, "Don't try anything."

We crossed the border towards ShadowClan territory. Oakfur took the lead with us behind him, and Toadfoot and Smokefoot took up the rear.

My paws squelched on the damp moss, and I winced.

The tall pine trees towered above us and looked cold and unfriendly. The sky was a cloudy grey.

As we neared their camp, I could smell the scents of many cats. We were lead past a ravine full of vines and insects, with tendrils that curled upwards like claws, and I looked down at a clearing to see the camp. The cats were milling around, having quiet conversations and looking up at the sky. There was a rotten log next to the apprentice's den, and I guessed that that was where they sharpened their claws. An elder's den was made out of a yew bush, and the nursery was guarded by thorn bushes. A queen watched closely while her kits played nearby.

It looked so much like the ThunderClan camp, I suddenly realized. I was surprised. I expected it to look much different, but its appearance was almost entirely the same. There was a training hollow, a leader's den, an apprentice's den, a nursery, an elder's den, and a fresh-kill pile.

The cats stopped talking and looked at us wearily when we appeared. Smokefoot motioned us to stay, and he dashed away to find Blackstar. Oakfur and Toadfoot stayed to keep watch.

A fluffy kit toddled forward on uneven steps towards me. It was nothing but a puffball, and I had the urge to pet him. I leaned back, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, the mother leaped up and herded him away from us.

Bramblestar stiffened, and I saw that Blackstar had appeared. The large white tom padded slowly and sluggishly down a cliff and halted in front of us. I gazed at his large, jet-black paws. The muscles rippled underneath his smooth pelt, and I was sure that he could crush a cat's skull with a single swipe of his claws.

He sighed, and mewed, "What do you want, Bramblestar?" He sounded more tired than angry.

Bramblestar replied in a firm tone, "Your cats have been stealing more prey from us. We have the carcasses to prove it. And, a few days ago, I saw one of your apprentices on my side of the border. It was obvious that he was chasing a squirrel on ThunderClan territory. He was too far away for me to recognize him, but I could still smell ShadowClan scent on him."

The ShadowClan cats snarled and yowled at us. They hissed, "Liar! Liar! We would never do such a thing!"

Blackstar raised his tail for silence. They stopped yelling, but they glared at us with unfriendly eyes. Their claws scraped the mossy floor and they growled low in their throats. I flattened my ears and looked away nervously. They looked like they would tear us up any minute now.

The ShadowClan leader narrowed his eyes. He said coldly, "I assure you, my cats are not thieves." He turned and began to pad away. "If that's all you came here for, then I suggest you leave. Oakfur, Toadfoot, Smokefoot, escort them back."

The three warriors dipped their heads and began to urge us back.

Dewpaw unsheathed his claws and yowled, "You coward! Why don't you just admit the deed!"

Immediately, Brackenfur slapped his tail against the apprentice's mouth. The ShadowClan cats' eyes widened as they gazed expectantly at how Blackstar would react. The large white tom's fur was bristling, and the amber eyes were narrowed into slits as he eyed the apprentice with a murderous look. I crouched down, preparing myself in case I needed to run away.

Blackstar glared at us, but said nothing. He merely turned and sauntered away, back into his den, leaving us in the clearing.

Smokefoot murmured, "You'd better leave now. We'll escort you back."

Bramblestar opened his mouth, as if he was going to call Blackstar back, but then thought better of it. He hissed a warning to Dewpaw, and the five of us headed back to our territory.

As soon as we were in the ThunderClan camp, I forced my fur to lie flat. I was safe. Amberpaw, Snowpaw, Lilypaw, and Seedpaw swarmed around us.

Snowpaw mewed in excitement, "What happened? What did Blackstar say?"

Dewpaw scoffed, "Blackstar denied it. He's such a filthy liar."

I thought of the large white tom. Blackstar looked so grand and proud, with his fur groomed smoothly and his amber eyes bright. He didn't seem like the cat who would lie. Sure, he was scary and intimidating, but still…

The following day, the Clan was nervous and restless at the thought of an upcoming war. The medicine cats stocked up on extra herbs, and the warriors reinforced the gorse barriers. Bramblestar stayed in his den all day.

For a few days, the number of prey carcasses decreased, and my hopes went up when I thought that ShadowClan had stopped thieving. However, the next day, new and fresh corpses littered the ground, and they all reeked strongly of ShadowClan. The prey-stealing hadn't stopped. My heart dropped.

At the end of the second week, Bramblestar leaped onto the Highledge and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Quickly, we swarmed around at the foot of the cliff to hear what he had to say.

Please, don't let there be a battle, I desperately repeated over and over again in my head.

The dark brown tom said in a strong and steady voice, "ShadowClan has not stopped stealing our prey. It has been two weeks now, and I can't allow it to go on any longer. Leaf-bare is on its way, and ThunderClan needs all of the prey we have in order to survive."

He stopped, and glanced uncertainly at his deputy. Squirrelflight closed her eyes and looked away.

He straightened up again, and even though his voice was steady, I could detect a strain in it. The crowd leaned closer.

He meowed, "I declare war on ShadowClan."

My heart skipped a beat.

The leader continued on talking, but all I could hear in my ears were 'I declare war on ShadowClan'.

War.

War meant people getting hurt.

War meant people dying.

It meant that I could die.

It meant that Snowpaw could die.

No, I thought. It can't be.

I sank down onto the ground with a small hopeless gasp, and thought of why things turned out this way.