"Today's the day I think," Autumnpaw said, his voice hushed but excited, and his amber gaze flickering up towards the overcast sky.
Frostpaw followed his gaze upwards towards the grey sky, wondering if Autumnpaw was right and the cloud cover would hold into the night, or if the battle would be put off again. It had been three sunrises since Sedgestar's announcement, and until now, the days and nights had been clear. But, today the sky had been dark with clouds since morning, with rain drizzling on and off. Now, as best Frostpaw could guess, it must be around sun-high, but the clouds still stretched from horizon to horizon, without a patch of blue to be seen.
"Maybe," Frostpaw murmured in response, her tail tip twitching nervously as she thought of the impending battle.
"I bet Sedgestar makes an announcement soon," Autumnpaw said, bending his head down to tear a chunk out of the lizard he was eating.
"So the cats chosen to fight can get ready," he continued, mumbling around the meat in his mouth.
Frostpaw looked down at the half-eaten startling at her paws, suddenly not feeling as hungry any more.
"Hey," Autumnpaw said, nudging her shoulder with his muzzle. "Stop looking so concerned! It'll be fine! First of all, we have way more cats than WindClan. Second: it's WindClan! They're small and weak and cowardly. The battle will be a breeze."
Frostpaw just nodded instead of replying, bending her head down, she forced herself to eat the rest of her meal.
"There is tale of a terrible disease," Greytail rasped, blinking her old watery eyes at Autumnpaw and Frostpaw, who listened raptly as they patted the clean moss, pine needles, and feathers that they brought into the elders' den into fresh nests. "That takes root in a cat's mind and drives them mad."
Autumnpaw and Frostpaw finished arranging the moss, but instead of leaving since their chore was finished, they settled down, watching Greytail intently as she began the story.
"Many, many moons ago, there was a ShadowClan warrior that, through a terrible accident, became faceless. That same accident that ruined his face also introduced the disease that ruined his mind," Greytail murmured, sweeping a gaze over the apprentices which was frighteningly intense. "And, thus began the most terrifying period of ShadowClan history. One of our own warriors, turned against his clan-mates, against all cats! He did unspeakable horrors to ShadowClan, and the rivers of blood that soaked the ground during those moons can still be felt to this day on cold leaf-bare nights. When you are hunting alone in the pines, you can feel it sticking to your paws… And, you can almost feel his cold, predatory gaze watching you—"
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Clanrock for a Clan meeting!" Sedgestar's words rang out through the camp, echoing into the elder's den.
Frostpaw jumped in fright at the sudden sound of the leader's voice, torn from the elder's story and back into reality. Autumnpaw's head snapped up, and he gasped.
"It must be about the battle with WindClan!" he said, his eyes alight with excitement, springing to his paws.
"You two young-uns better get going then," Greytail said with a rough purr. "I'll finish the tale about the faceless cat another time."
"Thanks Greytail!" Autumnpaw said, waving his tail at her in goodbye as he left the den. "Frostpaw, come on!"
Frostpaw rose to her paws and with a quick nod to Greytail, she followed Autumnpaw outside.
Autumnpaw and Frostpaw sat down a few tail-lengths away from the entrance to the elders' den. Frostpaw gazed up at Sedgestar as he waited for everyone to settle in before beginning his announcement.
Sedgestar cleared his throat.
"The cloud cover seems to be holding through the day," he began. "If it continues through the night, it will be perfect conditions for our battle. If it turns out that the clouds lift before sundown, I will reevaluate, but for now, we will continue on as if tonight is the night we fight."
There were excited shouts at Sedgestar's words, and he nodded his head with a pleased expression.
"I will now assign cats to the battle patrols. I will be leading the patrol which attacks the WindClan camp. With me, I will take Emberflower, Kestrelmoon, Fogfur, Marshnose, Thornheart, Damppaw, and Dewpaw."
"Darkpelt will lead the patrol that ambushes WindClan at the border. He will take Dustleap, Larkfoot, Weaseltail, Beeclaw, Swoopstrike, Pinepaw, Poolpaw, Autumnpaw, and Frostpaw."
Frostpaw felt her stomach flip as Sedgestar said her name.
"Grovepelt will remain here and be in charge until I return. The rest of the warriors, Rowanheart, Redclaw, Hootflight, Dawntail, Dappledpelt, and Leafbreeze are to remain in camp as well. Guard the kits and elders from possible WindClan retaliation. Although I anticipate that they will be too busy with us to make it here."
More eager shouts and snarls met Sedgestar's words. He waved his tail to silence them and carried on.
"Those named to be on the battle patrols be sure to rest and eat. We will leave camp just after sundown. This meeting is adjourned, but cats in my patrol, come see me to discuss our attack plans, and cats in Darkpelt's patrol, go see him."
Sedgestar bounded off of Clanrock to take a seat at its base, where the cats in his patrol padded over to meet him. Darkpelt headed over to the other side of camp, closer to the thorn tunnel. Autumnpaw and Frostpaw met up with Poolpaw and Pinepaw on their way over to Darkpelt.
"Why do we have to be on the ambush patrol?" Poolpaw complained, his tail drooping as they padded over to where their patrol was gathering. "I want to attack the WindClan camp with Fogfur! Why were Damppaw and Dewpaw chosen but not us?"
"Because they have been training for like five moons more than we have, frog-brain!" Pinepaw snapped at Poolpaw. "And, Damppaw is a way better fighter than you anyway!"
Poolpaw's brow furrowed.
"Nuh-uh. Damppaw just thinks his a brilliant fighter. But, I bet I could take him," Poolpaw sniffed.
"Stop your complaining," a voice snapped.
Poolpaw jumped as Swoopstrike appeared near the apprentices, evidently having overheard their conversation.
"You should just be happy that Sedgestar decided to pick you at all instead of leaving you at camp," Swoopstrike said, narrowing his eyes at Poolpaw. "So, keep your jaws shut."
"Yes, Swoopstrike," Poolpaw muttered.
With an irritable tail-twitch, the warrior stalked off, taking a seat next to Darkpelt. Darkpelt waited for everyone to gather close before he began.
"We will lay the ambush just beyond the tree-line, a little across the border, in WindClan territory," the broad shouldered warrior rumbled in a deep voice, wasting no time with small talk.
The black tom scored a single claw across the dirt in front of him. Frostpaw peered at the line in the dirt curiously.
"This is the border," Darkpelt explained, nodding at the line when he glanced over and noticed Frostpaw's furrowed brow.
"We will disguise our scents and then hide ourselves in the tall moor grass and wait for Sedgestar's patrol to lure WindClan over," Darkpelt continued. "Our patrol will be split into two flanks…"
Darkpelt looked around at the ground surrounding him and picked out two small pebbles from the dirt. Darkpelt placed the pebbles on one side on the line with a paw-length's distance between the two.
"These two pebbles are our two groups hidden on the WindClan side of the border. We will leave some distance between our groups," he explained. "Does anyone see a twig anywhere?"
Poolpaw found a stick next to him and tossed it to Darkpelt.
"Thanks," Darkpelt said, batting the twig to the opposite side of the line that the pebbles were on, positioning it so it was aligned with the gap between the two pebbles.
"Do you all know where the fallen tree is on the tree-line? That tree will be in the gap between where our two groups are located," Darkpelt said. "Sedgestar's patrol will come running over across the moor, and run straight for that fallen tree, going in between where our groups are hidden to get there. WindClan will be chasing them, so they will follow them to the fallen tree by running between our two patrols."
Darkpelt dragged a claw slowly across the ground, perpendicular to the first line he drew. He dragged his claw in between the two pebbles, across the border line, and to the twig, where he stopped.
"But, once the last WindClan cat makes it through the passage between our patrols, I will yowl the signal to attack. At that point, Sedgestar's patrol will turn to fight WindClan. Our groups will then flank WindClan and attack them from both sides and from behind, cutting off their route of escape back into their own territory," Darkpelt said, shoving the pebbles towards the twig with his paw. "And with Sedgestar's patrol fighting from the front, the WindClan patrol will be completely encircled."
Darkpelt paused, looking up from the pebbles and lines he drew on the ground to scan the faces of the cats around him. Frostpaw's eyes were wide as she tried to visualize the layout of the battle that he was proposing.
I didn't realize battles involved so much planning…
"Any questions?" Darkpelt asked.
"Who will be in what group?" Weaseltail asked.
"Larkfoot, Beeclaw, Poolpaw, and Autumnpaw can be with me," Darkpelt meowed. "And, Weaseltail, Dustleap, Swoopstrike, Frostpaw and Pinepaw can be the other group."
Darkpelt turned to look at the group of apprentices.
"I know you four haven't been training long, but Sedgestar thinks this'll be a good opportunity for you all to get your first tastes of battle," Darkpelt said in his rumbling voice. "However, that doesn't mean that you need to take unnecessary risks. We have the numbers on WindClan, so there is no need for any of you to fight alone. Poolpaw and Autumnpaw are to stay close to each other. Beeclaw will be responsible for keeping an eye on you both. And, Frostpaw and Pinepaw will be paired and will be watched by Swoopstrike. Understood?"
Frostpaw and the other apprentices nodded. Frostpaw shot a look at Pinepaw out of the corner of her eye, her gaze uncertain. Would Pinepaw really have her back in the battle? Frostpaw wasn't sure that Pinepaw would disobey direct orders from Darkpelt, and indirectly, Sedgestar himself, but the she-cat did seem to detest Frostpaw an awful lot. Pinepaw's expression was unreadable as she gazed up at Darkpelt, and Frostpaw looked away.
"Good," Darkpelt said. "That's all. Now rest and eat like Sedgestar said. We'll meet back here in the middle of camp at sundown."
As the group dispersed, Redclaw and Weaseltail padded up to the group of apprentices.
"Remember your training and look out for each other," Redclaw said, bending her head to nose Poolpaw's fluffy black and white side a little roughly.
"We will Redclaw," Poolpaw huffed, a bit of exasperation in his voice as he shied away from his mother.
"We've been training non-stop for days for this," Autumnpaw added.
"Yeah, we can beat WindClan. No problem," Pinepaw meowed, raising her chin.
Redclaw nodded.
"Good," she said a bit curtly. "Go on and eat then. Good luck to all of you."
Autumnpaw, Pinepaw, and Poolpaw headed off for the fresh-kill pile, chattering together excitedly about the battle, but Frostpaw lingered near Redclaw and Weaseltail. Frostpaw saw that Redclaw was watching her kits walk away from her with a slightly pained gaze. Frostpaw studied her eyes. She got the sense that deep down Redclaw wished that they hadn't been chosen to fight, but she wouldn't admit it out loud.
Because Redclaw must know that she can't stop her kits from growing up and facing the dangers of the world.
Frostpaw's tail drooped slightly, her thoughts turning to May.
May wasn't even around long enough to have this conflict with me.
Frostpaw hesitantly padded over to Redclaw's side. Redclaw's ears pricked in surprise as Frostpaw gave a soft, comforting purr and rubbed the length of her body along the warrior's.
"Everything will be okay, Redclaw," Frostpaw meowed in a quiet voice.
Redclaw blinked big green eyes that welled with sudden emotion at Frostpaw.
"Thank you, Frostpaw. You always were my sweet one," Redclaw murmured, gently touching her nose to Frostpaw's ear. "You should go eat too though. I'll be fine."
Frostpaw nodded and padded off to join the others. As she walked away, she heard Weaseltail murmur to Redclaw from behind her.
"I'll watch out for them," he said.
"I know you will," Redclaw whispered in reply, giving a small sigh.
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Frostpaw. It was one of the least eventful that she'd had since she began training. After Sedgestar's announcement she ate, then she slept.
She hadn't thought she'd be able to rest when she first curled up in her nest, with the incoming battle looming over her, but, strangely, Frostpaw didn't feel the whole stressed of it yet. She figured that the reality of the situation must not have fully set in. And, so as soon as her eyes shut, sleep rolled over her like a dark wave.
When she awoke, it was nearing sundown. Frostpaw silently groomed herself in her nest; she and Dewpaw, who was still sleeping, were the only apprentices left in the den. After Frostpaw's pelt had been flattened to her liking, she padded out of the apprentices' den, and headed to a puddle at the edge of the camp to lap up some water that had collected from the rainfall today. It wasn't raining now, but the sky was still cloudy as it was earlier, albeit darker, since the sun must now be sinking towards the horizon.
Frostpaw raised her head, licking the last of the cool water droplets from her lips. An unusual amount of cats were milling around camp for the time of day. The cats chosen by Sedgestar to stay in camp had returned from the patrols they had gone on earlier, and the cats chosen to battle hadn't yet left. The mood felt quiet and subdued; Frostpaw saw cats only spoke to each other in hushed tones. Gazes and expressions were serious. Frostpaw's ears pricked as she noticed Elmclaw padding over to her, carrying some herbs in his mouth. He dropped a few leaves on the ground in front of Frostpaw.
"Eat. They will give you strength and keep you from getting tired," the medicine cat muttered around the leaves still clutched in his jaws.
"Thank you," Frostpaw murmured, obediently bending her head to lap up the bitter tasting leaves.
When Frostpaw raised her head back up, Elmclaw had already moved on to give herbs to the next cat.
It wasn't long until Sedgestar emerged from his den with Clearstream. Sedgestar departed from the medicine cat with a head dip, striding into the center of camp, where he paused. Conversations stopped as cats crowded around him, eyes alert and ears pricked.
"Ready?" Sedgestar meowed, his gaze sliding across his clan-mates.
Firm nods greeted his answer, tails raising. Frostpaw's stomach flipped with nerves as she sought the cats in her patrol out in the crowd, moving to stand next to Weaseltail and Autumnpaw. Autumnpaw gave her an enthusiastic bump in the shoulder, his amber eyes gleaming.
The patrols started to form out from the crowd. Frostpaw's group clustered around Darkpelt, and Sedgestar's patrol gathered near him. Frostpaw spotted Dewpaw in Sedgestar's patrol, quickly choking down herbs after being roused from her long nap. The cats that were remaining in camp hung further back. Frostpaw saw Redclaw there, watching her mate and kits with a carefully unreadable expression.
Grovepelt padded through the crowd over to Sedgestar. Sedgestar gave him a confident nod as the deputy approached him.
"Protect the camp, Grovepelt," Sedgestar meowed.
"Of course I will," Grovepelt replied in a quiet voice.
Grovepelt padded up to the leader's side, resting his thin pale brown tail on Sedgestar's shoulders.
"And, you stay safe, Sedgestar," Grovepelt murmured.
Sedgestar blinked his amber eyes affectionately at his former mentor.
"Don't worry about me, old friend," Sedgestar said with a quiet rumbling purr. "I have many lives left. You won't have to take my place just yet."
Sedgestar looked away from Grovepelt, sweeping his powerful gaze over all of the cats in camp. He raised his chin to address his clan.
"ShadowClan! To me!" Sedgestar shouted, waving his long brown-striped tail before turning and charging out of camp through the thorn tunnel.
The cats that were to remain to guard the camp as well as the queens and elders raised their voices in a supportive cry, cheering the cats chosen to battle on as the patrols streamed out of the camp in a single file line through the tunnel.
Before it was Frostpaw's turn to run through the tunnel, she cast a final glance back at the camp. Everyone was still cheering, their heads tilted back in the yowling cry. Everyone expect for Grovepelt, who still stood in the center of camp. He watched his departing clan-mates with his chin held high in a proud expression, but his old, deep-green eyes were tinged with sadness.
Grovepelt's words echoed in Frostpaw's ears.
"It becomes harder to sharpen your claws before battle when you can't help but wonder what friend won't be coming home afterwards."
Frostpaw shivered slightly, but she still turned and ran out of camp.
ShadowClan crept through the dark pines. The forest had quickly turned pitch black as the last of the sunlight which had spent the day fighting the clouds finally surrendered as it became night. Sedgestar's and Darkpelt's patrols traveled together for a little while. Sedgestar led his clan to some toadstool patches that every cat took turns rolling in to disguise their ShadowClan scents.
"WindClan will be very surprised when they realize that they're being hunted by a bunch of mushrooms," Sedgestar said, and the patrols purred with amusement.
Soon enough though, it became time for the two patrols to part. Sedgestar's patrol was heading to the tunnel to enter into the heart of WindClan territory undetected, but Darkpelt's patrol had to finish the journey through the forest to the fallen tree at the WindClan border.
"Keep your eyes bright and your claws sharp," Sedgestar meowed to Darkpelt's patrol.
Although Sedgestar was only a few tail-lengths away from Frostpaw, most of his shape was lost in the deep shadows under the pines; Frostpaw could only make out the slight glint of his reflective eyes.
"I will see you all very soon."
Sedgestar turned and led his patrol away, the cats quickly vanishing into the darkness.
The rest of the journey to the moor was done in silence. Frostpaw padded closely to Autumnpaw, comforted by the occasional brush of his flank.
After a little while longer of walking, the trees started to thin, and soon Frostpaw could see the moor grass waving gently in the warm night's breeze between the trunks of the pines. She could also see the fallen pine at the edge of the moor, the location that their ambush plan rested on.
Darkpelt led the group to the fallen pine, where he paused under the cover of the trees. He split their patrol with a flick of his tail. Autumnpaw gave Frostpaw a small nod before heading over to join Darkpelt's group, while Frostpaw went over to Swoopstrike and Pinepaw and her group. Darkpelt gestured with his tail towards the moor indicate for them to take their positions hidden out in the grass. Darkpelt led his group to take up position on the right of the fallen tree, leaving the group Frostpaw was in to take the left. Frostpaw crept out into the moor grass hesitantly, sucking in a quiet, hissing breath as her paws crossed the strong scent markers at the edge of the moor and entered into WindClan territory. Weaseltail led their group into the correct position in the grass, leaving the required amount of space between their group and Darkpelt's. Darkpelt's very shadowed form nodded at them from a few boulder-lengths away, approving their positioning before lowering his tail to gesture them to get down. Frostpaw and everyone else crouched down in the tall moor grass, and the ShadowClan patrol disappeared from sight.
Frostpaw felt tension thrum through her as she waited, her form easily hidden by the tall, dense strands of grass. The night was totally still and silent around her. The dark clouds swirled soundlessly above, and every so often, only the sound of an owl hooting would break the stillness that hung over the night. Frostpaw could almost imagine that she was the only cat on earth, lost in a sea of moor grass, which stretched as far as she could see in the darkness in every direction around her. But, Frostpaw knew that many other cats were hidden in the grass with her close by, some might be as close as a tail-length away, although she had no way of telling. Just as Sedgestar wanted, the cloud cover meant it was very hard to see through the grass with such little light, and the toadstools that the ShadowClan patrol had rolled in was doing a great job at disguising their cat-scents.
Now all that was left to do was wait for their carefully planned trap to be sprung.
The sound of faint, furious yowling echoing across the hills was the first sign of the approaching patrol. The yowls grew increasingly louder, and they were soon joined by the sound of pounding footsteps. But, from Frostpaw's hidden crouch, she still could not see any of her clan-mates through the thick blanket of moor grass that surrounded her. It wasn't until the retreating ShadowClan patrol was only a few tail lengths away that she could make out the dark forms of cats streaming through the tall grass. Sedgestar's patrol ran through where Darkpelt's patrols were hiding, with WindClan prey clutched in their jaws, spiriting towards the fallen tree at the tree-line, just as planned. Sedgestar himself was the last cat in the ShadowClan patrol. Frostpaw could just barely make out his deeply shadowed head, shoulders and back peeking out from above the tall grass as he ran. A WindClan hare hung from his jaws, and he twisted his head over his shoulder to shout behind him without slowing his stride.
"And you call yourselves the fastest cats in the forest?!" Sedgestar's taunting voice rang out, yowled from around the prey in his mouth.
Frostpaw's muscles tensed. She felt a deep, instinctual urge to move to attack at the sound of her leader's voice, but she forced herself to remain motionless.
We're waiting for Darkpelt's signal, remember? she reminded herself.
A furious snarl met the sound of Sedgestar's taunt.
"Don't let those fox-hearts get away!" Rabbitstar's voice yowled.
More shadowed shapes flashed past Frostpaw, and a wave of WindClan scent rolled over her, but the enemy cats took no notice of the ShadowClan patrol hidden right under their noses as they charged for the tree-line.
As the WindClan warriors ran past, Frostpaw thought her heart was going to hammer out of her chest as she leaned forward, feeling like every muscle in her body was straining. She was a branch straining under the pressure of a storm, just waiting on that final gust to snap…
"NOW!" Darkpelt's voice thundered.
Frostpaw threw herself forward.
The hidden ShadowClan patrol exploded out into the night, charging at the back of the WindClan patrol with an eerie chorus of howling battlecries. Frostpaw panted as she ran as fast as she could. The moor grass painfully whipped her face, making her eyes water and sting, but her gaze was fixedly locked on the back of the nearest WindClan cat.
For a heartbeat, the confusion of the WindClan cats was palpable, like a dense fog had descended over them. The WindClanners came to a jerky, stumbling halt as the patrol they were chasing suddenly threw down their prey and whirled on them. But, also their ears pricked and heads swiveled backwards in shock at the sound of Darkpelt's patrol from behind—approaching them from their own territory. Frostpaw saw Weaseltail reach a WindClan cat and throw himself at the enemy warrior; the two of them going tumbling in a screeching ball of fur. The noise seemed to jar WindClan back to life.
"WindClan attack!" Rabbitstar screeched.
The night devolved into shrieks and chaos, as WindClan met the waves of ShadowClan descending on them from all sides at the edge of the moor. Swoopstrike reached the WindClan warrior Frostpaw was charging at before she did, swiping at the WindClan she-cat's face. The WindClan cat dodged back, dodging his blows, hissing at Swoopstrike. The she-cat's gaze darted from side to side, but with ShadowClan all around, the WindClan patrol was trapped, grouped tightly together, and there was no where for her to flee.
We cut off WindClan's room to run! Just like Grovepelt said in training! Frostpaw thought as she closed the distance between her and Swoopstrike with a few more bounds.
Swoopstrike didn't look at her, but she noticed his ears flickered towards the left. Frostpaw immediately understood the command, and she feinted left, swiping at the WindClan she-cat's side. The grey WindClan warrior was too quick though, and she dodged away with Frostpaw's claws only slicing through air. But, Swoopstrike had already moved to the right side, and the grey she-cat practically bumped into him. Swoopstrike gave her a rough cuffing around her ears, and grappled with her short pelt to try to pull her to him as she tried to struggle away. Seeing the enemy warrior occupied with Swoopstrike, Frostpaw seized the opportunity to pounce at her, clamping her jaws around her tail to give a sharp bite. The she-cat spat, lashing out with her hind-legs, one of them kicking Frostpaw in the face, dislodging her.
Frostpaw hissed in pain. She had been scratched across her forehead, and she blinked hard as a few drops of blood ran down her fur and into her eye. But, as Frostpaw swiped her blood from her gaze, she noticed the grey warrior looked much worse for wear than she did. She had been distracted by Frostpaw's bite, and Swoopstrike had used that distraction to get his claws properly into her. And, now he held the smaller cat mercilessly in place as he tore paw-ful after paw-ful of fur from her sides, leaving her pelt a torn, bleeding mess. It wasn't until she wailed in surrender did Swoopstrike release her, and she went fleeing into the surging crowd of the battle, her form quickly getting lost in the darkness, the tall grass, and the confusing, writhing masses of battling cats.
Swoopstrike bounded up to Frostpaw, his eyes practically glowing with excitement and blood-lust. His sides were also covered in scratches that the WindClan warrior inflicted as she tried to escape his clutches, but Swoopstrike didn't seem to even notice them. Swoopstrike stopped in front of Frostpaw, reaching a WindClan-bloodstained paw towards Frostpaw's face. He used it to tilt her chin up, inspecting the cut across her forehead.
"The blood is already clotting. You'll live; it's shallow," he said, dropping his paw from her chin. "Now you should go find Pinepaw, and help her out. I'll be a yowl away if you need me."
Frostpaw nodded, and Swoopstrike was gone, throwing himself back into the fray. Frostpaw scanned the area around her, searching for Pinepaw's black pelt. She saw her a few fox-lengths away, facing off against a snarling grey WindClan tom. Pinepaw let out a high pitched screech as the enemy warrior clamped his jaws down on her tail. She was struggling futilely to free herself, and a golden-brown WindClan cat was rounding on the pinned apprentice, unsheathed claws raised. With a growl, Frostpaw went bounding over to Pinepaw, springing onto the grey tom's back, digging her fore-claws into his shoulders and her hind claws into his spine, and giving his ear a hard bite.
As the salty tang of blood filled Frostpaw's mouth, the grey tom yowled in pain, releasing Pinepaw's tail from his jaws. Pinepaw shot forward, falling on the golden-brown tom in a flurry of hisses and slashes. The grey tom under Frostpaw bucked, twisting and snarling as he tried to shake her off. Frostpaw gasped as she lost her grip and was thrown to the ground. She landed on her side, letting out a yowl of pain as her hip slammed against the hard-packed earth. The grey tom whirled on her, but Swoopstrike suddenly appeared, barreling the smaller WindClan cat over. Frostpaw scrambled back to her paws and watched her mentor pin the smaller cat to the ground, give the WindClan warrior's side a solid raking with his claws before releasing him and sending the bleeding tom fleeing away with a final parting swat.
Frostpaw turned to check back on Pinepaw, and saw her still locked in battle with the golden-brown tom. Frostpaw ducked down, stalking up to the golden-brown warrior from behind, her form mostly hidden in the grass. Frostpaw saw Pinepaw's gaze flicker to her for just a heartbeat as she spotted her in the grass, before the black she-cat quickly looked away, not wanting to give away Frostpaw's position. Frostpaw watched as Pinepaw looked deliberately down at the tom's paws. The tom danced away from Pinepaw, thinking she was going for his feet, but Frostpaw understood the silent request. Frostpaw shot forward, sweeping the tom's legs out from him with a powerful wack of her forepaws. The tom let out a yelp of surprise as he stumbled, trying to turn towards Frostpaw's attack, but before he could, Pinepaw had sprung onto his back and was raking her hindlegs down his spine with several kicks, clawing up golden-brown fur and blood.
The tom howled in pain, trying to shake her off, but Frostpaw darted forward, raking her claws down the tom's face, clawing his muzzle. The tom snapped blindly, and Frostpaw hissed in pain as his fangs scraped her paw. Pinepaw sprung off the tom's back and landed next to Frostpaw before she whirled back towards the WindClan cat. Pinepaw and Frostpaw advanced towards him side by side, hissing, tails lashing and fur bristling. The tom shied back a few tail-lengths, looking uncertain if he wanted to take on both apprentices again.
A loud yowl interrupted the fighting, ringing across the battlefield. Frostpaw, Pinepaw and the WindClan cat all turned to look towards the noise. A few boulder-lengths away from them, Frostpaw saw Sedgestar standing over a ginger-furred cat in a patch of moor grass that had been violently flattened to the ground from the struggling cats. Sedgestar's striped head and tail raised high. Frostpaw blinked as she recognized the ginger cat that Sedgestar had pinned to the ground as Rabbitstar.
"This is where the border is, Rabbitstar!" Sedgestar snarled, shoving the ginger tom's muzzle into the dirt with a large paw. "And, don't you forget it!"
Sedgestar sprung off of Rabbitstar, and the WindClan leader stumbled to his paws, spitting dirt from his mouth. The ginger tom whirled, snarling at Sedgestar, seeming like he was going to attack him again, but Sedgestar just gave a low, rumbling, warning growl, his tail lashing behind him. Rabbitstar's gaze flicked around. Frostpaw saw that the ShadowClan warriors were creeping closer, tightening the snare around the WindClan cats, pushing them more tightly together. It was clear that WindClan was trapped and sorely outnumbered, and Rabbitstar seemed to realize that.
Rabbitstar gave a low, furious growl.
"WindClan! Retreat!" he yowled.
The ginger leader turned and shoved himself between the still snarling and swatting Darkpelt and Dustleap, breaking free from the circle of ShadowClan cats to flee across the moor. The trapped WindClan cats attempted to follow, shoving up against the circle of ShadowClan warriors.
"Let them run, but make sure they remember the sting of our claws!" Sedgestar shouted, throwing his head back to let out a thundering caterwaul of victory.
The rest of ShadowClan followed suit, raising their voices in exhilaration. WindClan fled with ShadowClan letting them pass by, but being sure to send them off with parting swipes and snaps. Frostpaw watched as Pinepaw sprung at the golden-brown cat they had been battling, giving one of his hindlegs a nip as he turned and ran, following the rest of WindClan. And, soon all of the WindClan cats were streaking away from the ShadowClan patrol, sprinting through the tall grass.
Frostpaw's heart pounded. The feeling from the ShadowClan cry was infectious, and Frostpaw couldn't stop herself from throwing her head back and adding her voice to theirs. ShadowClan's chorus of triumphant yowls echoed across the moor; their victory shouted up towards the dark night sky.
Author's Note:
Whew this chapter was a beast. I had planned to include the after battle scene in it, but as I was writing it, it ended up being really long for just one chapter, so now it's been split in two. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
And, fun fact! That story that Greytail is telling Autumnpaw and Frostpaw before she gets interrupted by Sedgestar's announcement is actually an idea for a warrior's fan-fiction that I want to write! It'll be a horror story (about a cat that contracts rabies,) and I've got the whole plot outlined already, but I just haven't had the chance to actually write it yet. I expect it to be a shorter story like maybe "Silk's Reign" in length. And, although Greytail tells Autumnpaw and Frostpaw that she'll finish the story later, unfortunately, that's all that it'll be mentioned in Frosted Heart because I don't want to give away the whole plot haha (and Greytail's version of the story has been a little warped and exaggeration by time)
Reviews:
Clearsight1010: Thank you so much! Haha I don't want to give anything away but I'm sure Paledusk's scheming is going to come back to bite him eventually ;) And I'm happy to have you reading!
Kitty-Guardian Dorothy: Yeah, it really frustrates and annoys me when characters don't realize something obvious just so the writer can create more ~drama~! There will still be plenty of drama in this story without any of the characters having to be painfully oblivious or obtuse lol.
Jay0609: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're liking it :)
Brian.H.H: Thank you sooo much! That makes more really happy to hear! And, haha yep Frostpaw was on the ambush patrol. I really wanted to include her in the battle, but since she hasn't been training long, I felt like she'd be more realistically be put on the kind of less dangerous patrol instead of attacking the camp. And, yeah, you're totally right about Pinepaw. I'm excited to continue to explore her and Frostpaw's (evolving) dynamic and dive a bit more into why Pinepaw seems to have such a grudge against her.