Hey all. Oh my gosh its been over a month since my last update, I'm so sorry. I was horribly sick with a mix of writers block and laziness that is lol. A big thanks to everyone who reviewed, I will be acknowledging them at the end of this chapter and I plan on doing this with every chapter so please leave me a question to answer or leave some kind words behind after you finish reading this chapter.
So I know I havnt written a lot of meetings between Moonpaw and Swiftpaw and obviously they cant meet every day lol but they do meet a lot, and always at sunset.
This chapter will take place right before the next gathering which Riverclan will attend and Thunderclan will not, but the next chapter will be in Hazepaw's point of view so we will get to meet some of the Riverclan cats. Yay!
Let me know if there is anything you want to see happen in this story or if you have any questions, you can PM me or review them after the chapter.
Anyhoo here is the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it and leave behind a review. I'll shut up now, enjoy.
-Tigerflower08
Half of a Moon Later...
Swiftpaw trotted back into the Thunderclan camp, a limp rabbit in his jaws, slightly ahead of the rest of the hunting patrol. Lionstreak immediately headed towards the nursery entrance where his mate Petalblossom was lounging with Willowfall and Brightwing, sharing tongues. The pretty tabby's stomach had grown larger over the past half moon and the silver she-cat grew more nervous with each passing day.
Icekit and Snowkit practiced battle moves a few tail lengths away while Mothkit watched, her tail-tip flicking back and forth eagerly as she prepared to intercept the battle.
The Greenleaf sun shone brightly in the sky and the heat waves were practically visible if you stared long and hard enough.
Hazepaw and Topazmist relaxed outside the medicine den sorting herbs while the elders rested in the shade of the holly bush. Shimmerlight and Bluecloud were sharing tongues with Amberstar below the high ledge, the protruding rock face provided the aging leader with plenty of shade through the harsh Greenleaf heat.
Swiftpaw slowly made his way over the fresh kill pile selecting three more pieces of prey for the many elders that he had to take care of on his own, at least for another moon until Icekit and Snowkit became apprentices. The heat was almost unbearable and Swiftpaw longed to head to the river and see Moonpaw. When the heat wave had hit, she had promised to teach him how to swim but at the time, fear of drowning had lead him to decline the offer but now the idea sounded almost pleasurable.
Groaning to himself, Swiftpaw headed over to the holly bush where Leopardlight, Rowanflight, Gorsefur, Silverstreak, and Tansystalk were relaxing in the shade.
"Thank starclan someone is doing work around here, about time we got fed" Silverstreak yowled as Swiftpaw set the plump rabbit in front of her. Leopardlight rolled her eyes from her seat beside Tansystalk, the golden dappled elder shook her head amusedly.
"Cut Swiftpaw some slack, he is the only apprentice right now" she meowed, flicking Silverstreak with her tail tip. The silver and black queen rolled her eyes, tearing into the rabbit hungrily.
"We are short on kits this Greenleaf, Lionstreak and Petalblossom's kits will be eagerly awaited" Rowanflight noted as he plucked feathers from a young robin.
"I don't know what was going through that she-cats mind when she chose him" Silverstreak snorted, her fur bristling aggressively.
A sharp hiss from Leopardlight quieted the black and silver streaked queen, the golden dappled elder opened her mouth to speak when sounds from outside the den interrupted her.
Swiftpaw raced out of the den to investigate, just barely catching Silverstreak's grumble about the son of the traitorous Sunvine.
As Swiftpaw left the den he spotted his clanmates gathered around the highledge. Squirreltail stood in the middle, struggling to breath, her ginger fur was fluffed out and blood flowed from a wound above her eyes. Stoneshine nervously paced back and forth beside his mate as Topazmist gently applied a healing poultice.
Finally Squirreltail managed to speak "Shadowclan, they moved the border. Frostflower and I were there, I was hunting and Frostflower just wanted to stretch her legs, they ambushed us" her blue green eyes clouded with grief and she leaned against Stoneshine for support.
"They killed her, Ravenstar did, he told me to come back and deliver a message. He told me to say that they are moving the border to the edge of the forest"
Angry hisses sounded from their clanmates.
"The edge of the forest!"
"We need that territory, we need that prey"
"Foxhearts!"
"How dare they"
"Let's tear those flea-pelts apart" Shimmerlight yowled, sheathing and unsheathing her claws.
Amberstar quieted her clanmates down before speaking "I will organize a patrol to go out and fight them" the brown tabby leader meowed strongly as she turned to look at Topazmist seriously "You and Hazepaw had better prepare. I fear we will not make it out of this battle wound free"
Topazmist nodded solemnly, signaling with her tail for Hazepaw to follow her into the medicine den.
Amberstar turned to face her clanmates, thinking carefully before choosing her patrol "Shimmerlight, Birdstrike, Drizzlelight, Flowertail, Mossdapple and Swiftpaw will come with me"
"What about me" Lionstreak growled, kneading the ground with his paws "I want to fight too"
"You will stay behind with the rest of the clan and guard the camp, I wouldn't put it past Ravenstar to send a second patrol to attack the camp"
This seemed to quiet the eager tom as he paced back and forth from his place beside Petalblossom, the pretty tabby continually switch from flicking her tail nervously and licking her feather soft belly fur. Stoneshine helped Squirreltail into the medicine den while Bluecloud gathered Lichenfur and Skyshine to guard the camp entrance.
Swiftpaw sheathed and unsheathed his claws in anticipation, excitement coursing from his whiskers to his tail tip, he trotted over to the entrance positioning himself beside Drizzlelight and her brother Birdstrike as the patrol made their way out into the territory.
As the patrol got closer to the edge of the forest, near the clearing where Squirreltail said Shadowclan would be waiting. Swiftpaw wrinkled his nose in disgust as the harsh stench of Shadowclan his the roof of his mouth and as the patrol emerged into the clearing they were met with a line of Shadowclan warriors waiting for them. Five Shadowclan warriors sat in a line, smiles tugging at the corner of their mouths, their eyes glinting triumphantly. Ravenstar sat slightly a head of his five warriors, a limp white body beside him. Frostflower!
"What is the meaning of this Ravenstar" Amberstar hissed, her hackles raised as she stalked closer to the small black tom.
"It's quite simple really" Ravenstar stated calmly, his tail tip flicking back and forth "I want this territory, and I'm taking it. We have already moved the border to the edge of the forest so you may go now, back to your own territory"
Swiftpaw bristled, unsheathing his claws, "how dare he tell Amberstar what to do, as if she were an apprentice" Swiftpaw thought, a deep growl rumbling in his throat.
"You have already murdered one of my clanmates, and on the day of the full moon at that" Amberstar snarled "Now leave before I am forced to return the favor"
Ravenstar rolled his eyes, taking a step closer to Amberstar "Are you sure you want to do this, would it be wise to fight, to have an all out war on both of your borders?"
"We need this territory" Shimmerlight hissed "It is ours. Now leave" she stepped up to Ravenstar until she was almost touching noses with the small black leader, her white teeth glinted dangerously and her hackles were raised.
"If you insist on a fight, you will have one" Ravenstar meowed calmly.
"I insist" Amberstar hissed, unsheathing her claws.
An evil grin crept up Ravenstar's face, his eyes glinting as he unsheathed his claws "So be it. Shadowclan attack!". At the battle cry the Shadowclan warriors lunged forward in a flurry of tooth and claw.
Swiftpaw yowled in surprise as he was bowled over by a larger gray tom. Before he could react the larger tom had him pinned down, one paw on his throat the other was raised to deal a blow. Swiftpaw closed his eyes, struggling pointlessly to escape the tom's grasp, suddenly the toms weight was thrown off of him and as Swiftpaw scrambled to his paws he watched the flash of ginger and white as Flowertail chased the Shadowclan tom deep into Shadowclan territory.
Glancing around quickly he spotted Mossdapple struggling with a lithe black she-cat, the Shadowclan warrior was clawing at Mossdapple's back while the Thunderclan warrior struggled to shake her off, shaking her body back and forth. Swiftpaw raced over digging his claws into the black she-cat's back, yanking her off of Mossdapple.
The warrior spun around quickly striking with unsheathed claws, Swiftpaw suppressed a cry as he felt her claws connect with his cheek, hearing his fur and flesh tear.
Stunned from the blow, Swiftpaw loosened his grip on the Shadowclan warrior, she easily took the upper paw and launched herself forward, slamming her head into Swiftpaw's.
Dazed Swiftpaw fell backwards, scrambling to stay on his feet. Mossdapple shot forward, standing in front of Swiftpaw facing the black she-cat. She bolted straight at the enemy, easily slinking under her, raking thorn sharp claws across the she-cat's belly. The black she-cat stumbled backwards, tripping and yowling in pain as Mossdapple leapt on top of her, raking her claws down her shoulders and clamping her jaws down on the she-cat ear.
As Mossdapple loosened her grip the black she-cat bolted back into the pine forest, disappearing into the shadows.
Swiftpaw shakily stood to his paws panting, nodding at Mossdapple in thanks. The gray and white she-cat nodded back before rushing to help Flowertail fight a large white tom.
Drizzlelight and Birdstrike fought side by side against a dark ginger she-cat and Shimmerlight struggled with the deputy Eaglestripe, a very large cream and white tom.
Swiftpaw raced over to Shimmerlight, stepping up beside her as she struggled to push the tom back towards the original border. Shimmerlight slashed at the tom's face, inflicting more and more wounds with each strike while Swiftpaw lunged at the tom's paws, preventing him from fighting back.
Swiftpaw lunged forward barreling the tom backwards, at the same moment Shimmerlight launched forward, landing on top of the tom, she held him down with her forepaws growling menacingly "Get out of here, if you every cross this border again I will kill you" when she elt the tom up he raced off into the trees, casting a scornful glare back towards Shimmerlight.
A flash of white shot past Swiftpaw, nearly knocking him to the ground, the white tom Flowertail had been facing raced away, bloodstreaked and wounded and the ginger she-cat was close behind him.
Shimmerlight and Swiftpaw padded over to where their clanmates sat, watching Amberstar and Ravenstar locked in battle, neither cat intervened, this battle was between the leaders.
Amberstar struggled to shake Ravenstar off of her as the small black leader dug his claws into her back, Amberstar turned her head clamping her jaws down on his front paw. Yowling in pain Ravenstar loosened his grip and Amberstar was able to slink out from under him, spinning quickly to face him. The black tom lashed out with his uninjured forepaw, slashing it across Amberstar's eyes. Momentarily blinded, Amberstar stumbled backwards, shaking droplets of blood from her eyes.
The two leaders stood facing each other. Ravenstar breathed heavily, holding his injured paw in the air a steady stream of blood flowed from it, pooling int he grass. A long bleeding gash spread from his shoulder to his knee and one of his ears was torn in half. Amberstar stood strongly, blood seeping from a wound above her eyes, multiple gashes criss-crossed through her pelt.
"It's over Ravenstar" Amberstar meowed "Your warriors have been defeated, now get out of our territory"
Ravenstar opened his mouth to speak, looking around at the bristling Thunderclan warriors, "This isn't over, we will see each other again Amberstar, sooner than you may think". Without another word the small black leader limped towards the pine trees, disappearing into the shadows.
As soon as he was out of sight Amberstar collapsed, Shimmerlight raced over, helping her leader stand.
"Lets get you back to Topazmist" Shimmerlight murmured quietly, concern flooding her ice blue eyes.
Swiftpaw watched as his clanmates made their way back to camp, he glanced up at the darkening sky, streaked with hues of crimson and violet. The gathering would be starting soon.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and im gonna get right on the next one so you wont have to wait as long for the next update. Please leave a review on what you want to see happen, what you think will happen or what you like/hate.
Rainwind alias Dazzelspark: Thanks for reviewing.
Riley Dragon: I don't know ;) maybe she is. Thank you for reviewing im glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Mudsky: Thank you! Im so glad you enjoy my stories, its great to hear that someone out there really enjoys them. And thank you for encouraging me to write, I really appreciate it.