Yay! Suspense!
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"Stonepelt!" Icepaw cried. She dashed to her mentor's side, shock flooding through her.
"Tell…Cinderstar," the warrior gasped, his chest heaving. His fur was matted with thorns and leaves, as if he'd run through twenty bramble thickets on the way back to camp. "RiverClan has invaded Sunningrocks. There are six of them…" he trailed off as he gulped in another breath.
Panic spreading down her spine, Icepaw darted to the leader's den at the base of the Highrock. "Cinderstar!" she called, hopping up and down with urgency as her voice echoed inside the cave. For a moment there was nothing, and then the lichen screen that shielded the den parted to reveal the slender gray tom, his face smooth.
"What's going on?" he meowed, padding out of the den with his tail waving above his head.
"Stonepelt says RiverClan has invaded Sunningrocks!" Icepaw meowed, hurrying after him. The gray tom loped swiftly to Stonepelt's side and nudged the warrior's shoulder gently.
"Stonepelt? What happened? What did you see?"
Seeming to have gotten himself under control, the dark tabby raised his head and gazed around at the crowd that had gathered around them.
"Leafspots and I were patrolling the RiverClan border when we saw a group of six RiverClan cats cross the stream and enter our territory. I ran to tell you as fast as I could – Leafspots stayed to watch them. We need to take a patrol and fight them off!" His eyes were bright with the prospect of a battle.
Cinderstar nodded to himself, then raced to the Highrock and leapt to the top of the boulder. There was no need to call a meeting as all of ThunderClan was already present. "Tanglethorn, Oakshadow, Stonepelt and Ashfoot, come with me. The rest of you, prepare the queens and kits in case the battle reaches the camp."
Icepaw turned to Robinpaw, her eyes wide. "Could the battle reach camp?" she questioned, horrified, thinking of little Eaglekit and Yellowkit asleep in their nest.
"They never do," mewed Robinpaw, equally terrified, "but if Cinderstar thinks…"
"Robinpaw! Icepaw! Come on, we can't waste time chatting!" someone yowled. The two apprentices stared at each for another second before turning to follow their mentors as the patrol streamed out of camp.
"Have you ever been in a battle before?" Icepaw asked Robinpaw as she ran at Stonepelt's heels towards the RiverClan border.
The ginger she-cat shook her head quickly, leaping over a fallen tree trunk. "No, this is the first time."
As soon as the dry riverbed was in sight, Cinderstar let out a fearsome battle cry that was echoed by the ThunderClan warriors behind him. Icepaw lent her voice to the howl, feeling a new energy hum through her limbs. Sunningrocks loomed before them as soon as they emerged from the trees.
A huge gray cat was curled on top of the tumble of boulders, and as he heard the battle cry he leapt to his feet, the fur along his spine lifting. Five other cats appeared from between the stones, all hissing and spitting defiance as the ThunderClan warriors advanced toward them. Leafspots, a young tortoiseshell, slipped out of the shadows of the undergrowth and joined the ThunderClan warriors, a snarl twisting her face.
"How dare you enter our territory!" Cinderstar hissed at the gray cat, taking a few steps closer to the stones.
"Sunningrocks should have always belonged to RiverClan!" the tom snarled in reply.
"Wow…" breathed Robinpaw in Icepaw's ear as the RiverClan warriors clambered up to the top of the stone heap to join the gray tom. "That must be Stoneheart, the RiverClan deputy. Some cats say he's the best warrior in all the Clans – I wouldn't want to meet him in battle for a thousand mouse-tails. But I'll bet they're scared that Cinderstar came – leaders rarely come out to fight."
Cinderstar glared fiercely at Stoneheart and spat, "This is the last time. RiverClan will never dare step foot on our territory when we're through." With those words, the leader flicked his tail and released another earsplitting caterwaul. All around him, the warriors of ThunderClan sprinted forward, converging on Sunningrocks like a flood.
Hisses and growls filled the air as the cats collided with each other and the battle began. Icepaw and Robinpaw pressed close to each other, searching out an opponent in the sea of writhing cats. Icepaw saw Tanglethorn grappling with the RiverClan deputy, Oakshadow chasing a skinny ginger tabby in circles, and Ashfoot and Leafspots teaming up against a white and gray tom.
Suddenly, a dark figured loomed into Icepaw's field of vision, and she scrambled out of the way as a gray-patched cat lunged towards her, yowling angrily. Recalling all of her battle skills that Stonepelt had taught her, she turned to face her adversary with a snarl. It was a gray-patched she-cat, about her same size, who was probably also an apprentice.
The she-cat circled Icepaw slowly, her eyes narrowed. Icepaw mirrored her every move, keeping their gazes locked. With a screech, the RiverClan apprentice darted forward with an outstretched paw to slash at Icepaw's face, but the white she-cat jumped backward in time, avoiding the blow. Furious, the gray cat charged again, and this time Icepaw sidestepped at the last second, allowing the apprentice to canon past her. She followed quickly as the she-cat raced ahead for a few paces before reining herself in. They were at the edge of the creek now, and the pebbles beneath Icepaw's feet were unsteady, sending a wave of panic through her. If she fell here, she'd tumble into the riverbed!
While the RiverClan apprentice was still getting her bearings, Icepaw scooted back towards Sunningrocks, where the two Clans were still battling fiercely. Growling, Icepaw's opponent followed her, looking very annoyed. Then, as the gray cat glared at her, sudden recognition flooded her gaze.
"Wait…" she hissed, pausing in mid paw-step as she advanced on Icepaw. "Are you…Icepaw?"
Frowning, Icepaw replied, "Yes. Why?"
Realization dawned on the she-cat, and her eyes widened, "Aren't you…a kittypet?"
Later, Icepaw blamed it on the heat, but for now, anger flooded her entire body at the apprentice's words. Wasn't it enough that her own Clan resented her birth? Now a RiverClan apprentice hated her too? When would it end? And then in quick succession, a flood of icy calm combated the fire in her veins.
Icepaw saw it now. She saw what the future held in store for her. At one time she'd figured she'd just be an average warrior, making her way through Clan life just like all the other warriors. Nothing special, nothing amazing – but no. She saw now that this could never be. In order to clear her name, in order to put a stop to all 'kittypet' taunts once and for all, she would have to be the best.
Without a single word of warning, not even a yowl or a growl, Icepaw streaked forward and rammed headfirst into the shocked apprentice's chest. The she-cat wailed in surprise, but her cry was lost in the commotion that surrounded them. They crashed into a boulder, the apprentice's head snapping forward, and then dropped to the ground in a bundle of flashing claws.
Though on the outside Icepaw appeared ferocious and livid as she slashed again and again at the gray she-cat, on the inside she was calm and cool, as if watching from another point of view as her claws scored down the gray cat's flank.
Finally, she backed away, staring indifferently at the apprentice who cowered before her, eyes wide. A trickle of blood dripped onto the dust at the she-cat's feet from a long gash above her eye.
"Look! RiverClan is retreating!" came a yowl, but to Icepaw's ears it seemed to come from far away, maybe even another world. The rhythmic pounding of her heart filled her mind, blocking out all else. Thud, thud, thud…
Step by step, the gray she-cat limped past Icepaw, all the while keeping her eyes locked with Icepaw's, wary. Icepaw's forepaw twitched and the apprentice cringed away from her, fear in her gaze. Icepaw had to smother a chuckle. How pathetic.
Then they were all gone, defeated. Running away with their tails between their legs.
"Well fought," Stonepelt praised her as the ThunderClan warriors traipsed back to camp. Icepaw nodded to him but said nothing, that taste of blood still on her tongue.
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