Starlingpaw felt the cold mud of the graveyard envelop her paws as she watched the sun peek over the horizon. The dandelion-yellow monster lay a few tree-lengths away from where she sat side-by-side with her Clanmates, Birchpaw nestled beside her.
She glanced down at him with a smile, happy to see his large patchy frame breathing slowly and steadily. A warm buzz rushed through her, making her paws feel tingly. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening with her and Birchpaw, but it made her happy regardless.
Tawnystripe signaled to her from where she sat a mouse-length away. Starlingpaw turned her attention to the ginger she-cat. "What is it?" she whispered, trying not to wake the sleeping tom at her flank.
"Nothing, just wanted to see how the mated life is going for you two," Tawnystripe said with a wink. Starlingpaw felt blood rush to her cheeks, though she wasn't sure why.
"Very funny," she replied, her words dripping with sarcasm.
Tawnystripe let out a soft giggle, her muzzle scrunching up as she did so. "I feel guilty, joking in the middle of a stakeout."
The apprentice she-cat shrugged. "It's one way to stave off the exhaustion."
"And the hunger," Tawnystripe added, her words punctuated with the growl of a nearby cat's stomach.
As Starlingpaw glanced around to find who had made the noise, her eyes trailed across the whole of her Clan's able-bodied cats where they gathered around the monster. About a third of them were sitting up like Starlingpaw and Tawnystripe, their gazes carefully trained on the yellow monster. "I'm still surprised that Blizzardstar agreed to this," she whispered, gesturing with her wobbling head toward the surrounding cats.
Tawnystripe nodded her agreement. "Yeah. It's really unlike him to respond to danger with any level of maturity."
Starlingpaw almost smiled, but she felt a twinge of anger at the memory of her leader's cowardly surrender that had set this entire mess into motion. If not for him, she might have been in a warm den right now, her belly full and her brother by her side. Blizzardstar truly was the most immature leader she could imagine.
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Starlingpaw caught sight of a white paw at the entrance to the monster. She jolted upright, accidentally causing Birchpaw to stir.
"Did you see something?" he muttered drowsily, rising to his paws.
Starlingpaw nodded vigorously and took a few steps ahead. It was hard to move her limbs in the first place, and the stiffness from such a long stretch of sitting didn't help, but she managed to hobble her way forward. She heard Tawnystripe rise from her other side, and soon enough most of the cats around her had begun to wake and advance on the monster.
The Clan had circumscribed the golden corpse with the barrier of their numbers, so anything exiting the monster would have to pass through their ranks. The little white cat walking out of the monster seemed to notice this with a jolt, and briefly disappeared back into the beast.
Starlingpaw's ears pricked upward as she realized who the cat was. It was the intruder from the night before, who had led Starlingpaw into the monster where she and Birchpaw were subsequently attacked. Now that the ranks of her Clan stood by her side, Starlingpaw didn't feel quite as alone, but the terrifying memory of her near-death at the fangs of that great gray cat still sent an uncomfortable shiver down her spine.
She shook her head, clearing it of any fear, and looked back at the Clan to find a distraction. To her absolute shock, she caught sight of Blizzardstar leaving the ranks of the warriors, hurrying closer to the monster and away from the protection of his Clanmates as if he had some sort of death wish.
Birchpaw and Tawnystripe seemed equally as confused, and the three friends exchanged glances with each other.
"Did something possess him overnight?" Tawnystripe offered, her tone only partly satirical. The fur on the back of the ginger warrior's neck was bristling, her strong claws unsheathed as she slowly advanced with the rest of the Clan.
"Yeah. Something here feels off," Starlingpaw growled, a sense of unease settling over her shiny pelt of fur.
Birchpaw nodded, his wide shoulders shifting as he took another step forward. Starlingpaw felt herself become very distracted at this movement and quickly cast her gaze back to where her cowardly leader was stepping into guaranteed death, or at least assault. The rest of the Clan seemed to be noticing his reckless advance, and confused glances and murmurs were exchanged through the crowd.
"Blizzardstar!" Ashscar hissed suddenly. He had been preparing to jump into the monster, so at this exclamation, he had to skid awkwardly to a stop. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?"
The fluffy white tom to whip his head to face her. "I'm… nothing, it's just…" he replied, casting a mysterious glance back to the mouth of the monster. His voice was uncharacteristically soft, and Starlingpaw could barely hear him. "I just wanted to get a better look at the monster."
Ashscar shot him an irritated look. "You can see perfectly fine from back here, where your safety won't be at risk." She said the last part with a dangerous undertone, clearly fed up with her leader's confusing behavior.
"My safety's not at—" Blizzardstar began to say, but was cut off as a giant gray tabby darted out of the monster with a flying leap and pinned him to the ground. The newcomer slammed the fluffy tom into the dirt with little effort, the impact making a large thump as his head was knocked against the earth.
All in an instant, the Clan clambered forward, their voices raising in an uproar as they tried to figure out what was happening. Starlingpaw felt herself stumble toward the confrontation along with her Clanmates, but quickly saw a flash of black-and-white dappled fur dash in front of her. Ashscar reached her leader immediately and launched herself at his attacker with dizzying strength, knocking over the cat even though they looked nearly twice her size.
A shrill yowl rose from the newcomer, and the Clan collectively pulled backward to let their deputy restrain the intruder. Blizzardstar was on his feet now, prowling toward his attacker with a growl and an expression that Starlingpaw might have mistaken for valor if she hadn't known better.
The gray cat grumbled, their voice muffled through the fur of the muscular she-cat on top of them. "Get off me, badger-paws!"
Ashscar narrowed her eyes at the slight and drew her unsheathed claws closer to the newcomer's throat. "Either you calm down, or you die."
They obediently stopped writhing, and Ashscar allowed them to get up. Now that Starlingpaw had gotten a good look at the stranger, she recognized her as the burly she-cat from the night before that had nearly killed her. The recognition was not a happy one.
The she-cat whipped around as soon as she was free of Ashscar and growled at Blizzardstar, her ears flattened against her mangy-furred head. "What in the name of the forest is this bumbling weasel doing here?"
"Sometimes I wonder that too," Tawnystripe muttered to Starlingpaw out of the corner of her mouth.
Blizzardstar brought himself to his full height, fluffing out his luxurious, albeit dust-covered fur. "How about I ask why you're skulking inside the rotting corpse of a monster?"
Ashscar looked from one large cat to the other, looking completely puzzled. Starlingpaw felt just as confused. Who is this she-cat?
The great she-cat lashed her tail angrily, looking as if she were ready to pounce again. Ashscar leaned forward, putting herself between her leader and the threat. The stranger opened her mouth to speak, revealing a set of crooked but still horrifyingly sharp fangs. "We happen to live here, something you'd know if—"
Blizzardstar cut her off, lunging forward with unsheathed claws. The she-cat dodged him deftly, taking a quick step to the side. The fluffy tom stumbled forward, and Ashscar rushed to his side to stabilize him.
The great white tom glared up at the she-cat through his mess of now-ruffled fur. "If you open your ignorant mouth one more time I'll—"
"You'll what?" The newcomer taunted with a laugh, a raspy sound as rough as gravel. "Maul me like a hungry dog? Set this pack of overfed, frog-bellied kittens on my helpless form?"
At this, Blizzardstar heaved forward again, and the she-cat responded with a swipe of her unsheathed claws at his legs. Before another fight could break out, Ashscar threw herself directly between the two cats and yowled for both of them to stop. After a few more moments of agitated circling, they finally relented.
"You two are like squabbling apprentices," Ashscar grumbled, her gaze carefully traveling between the she-cat and Blizzardstar. "Why don't we all try acting like the full-grown cats we are, hmm?" She spoke irritably and exasperatedly, and cast a pointed look at her leader.
Blizzardstar flicked his ears in annoyance and settled into a haughty, seated position. "Of course," he meowed. "I was simply… caught off guard by this stranger." He was clearly trying to play off his kit-like behavior, but Starlingpaw—and seemingly Ashscar—were having none of it.
The gray she-cat cast a meaningful glare at Blizzardstar, but she sat down as well. "All right," the stranger agreed, her voice reluctant. "If we're going to handle this maturely, everyone else should join us."
With a quick yowl to punctuate her words, the stranger she-cat was promptly joined by the rest of the intruder cats as they spilled out of the yellow monster. Their mangy pelts ranged from dark gray to tortoiseshell, tabby-and-white to dark brown, even one pure-white she-cat that Starlingpaw recognized from last night's chase. The fur on the back of her neck bristled at the memory.
The newcomer cats placed themselves confidently at the gray she-cat's side, moving with more grace than their ruffled pelts had led Starlingpaw to expect. "Meet my friends and family," the she-cat announced, flashing her jagged fangs as she spoke.
The crowd of strangers exchanged smiles and began to crack their necks and knead the ground with unsheathed claws as if in anticipation for a battle. Starlingpaw rose to her feet at the newly hostile energy in the glen, and saw her Clanmates follow suit.
She scanned the group of strangers with her eyes, trying to evaluate the threat. There were roughly half as many stranger cats as there were DawnClan cats present, but DawnClan was tired and starving. None of them had had a good meal or sleep since their unceremonious arrival at the graveyard, so Starlingpaw had to admit that a battle between the two groups could be disastrous.
Ashscar seemed to be making the same conclusion. "Careful," she growled at the stranger. "Don't make any choices you're going to regret. You might get hurt."
The gray she-cat had brought herself to her full height, her great shadow casting over Ashscar's limber form in the soft light of dawn. "Are you sure we're the ones who will be hurt?"
Starlingpaw noted a flash of uncertainty in Ashscar's usually featureless expression. The deputy must have grown accustomed to the legend that her name carried, and having to intimidate a cat without the tales of her past victories was probably something she hadn't done in a while.
The black-and-white dappled warrior narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure."
Though Starlingpaw had begun to lower herself into a battle stance, Ashscar's words didn't seem to provoke the strangers. The gray she-cat stepped a mouse-length backwards and studied the deputy with her eyes. "You lead this Clan?" she asked, seeming genuinely curious.
There was an incredulous laugh from Blizzardstar's direction. Starlingpaw almost groaned. She had forgotten about the great white mouse-brain in his silence.
"Of course not!" he sputtered, as if that were the most insane thing she could insinuate. "Haven't you heard of the renowned Blizzardstar? The leader of DawnClan?"
Starlingpaw snorted. "Renowned?"
"That's pushing it a little far," Birchpaw agreed quietly.
"Infamous is closer to the truth," Tawnystripe meowed with a lash of her tail.
"I've never heard of a Blizzardstar," the stranger stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, you're looking at him," Blizzardstar declared with a wounded sniff.
There was an instant of silence before the she-cat let out a burst of hysterical laughter. "Impossible! This bumbling snowball couldn't run a flock for more than a day before it'd crash into the ground."
She's not far off, Starlingpaw thought. Blizzardstar had brought little more than tumultuous ruin to his Clan throughout his reign. Perhaps this stranger was onto something.
The fluffy tom seemed to cringe at the insult. He flattened his ears, and seemed to realize something. "Well, that's certainly longer than you could keep a kit alive," he said with a sneer.
The stranger's expression was shocked for a moment, but in the next, it contorted into rage. Without a single word, she launched herself at Blizzardstar, and the graveyard broke into bloody battle. Starlingpaw had barely a moment to wonder why the tom's comment had affected her so strongly.
As the gray she-cat tore into Blizzardstar, Starlingpaw scrambled out of reach of a nearby tabby tom as he swatted at her. She couldn't turn quickly enough to face him on such slippery, unstable ground, so she chose to speed away from her terrifyingly large attacker as quickly as possible.
Starlingpaw narrowly dodged another blow from the tabby pursuing her and weaved her way through the battling cats. As much as she wished to help her Clanmates, she was well aware that facing a cat that size was nothing but a death sentence, especially with her limited fighting ability.
Just as she was glancing back to see if she had lost him, a large weight slammed into her side, and Starlingpaw was sent tumbling across the muddy ground. She righted herself as quickly as possible, digging frantically into the ground with unsheathed claws, and looked up to see her assailant.
The white she-cat from the night before was glaring at her, her bright blue eyes narrowed to near-slits. Before Starlingpaw could form another thought, the white cat had leapt at her, and Starlingpaw only barely managed to roll away, leaves tangling in her short fur as she did so.
She knew she had little time before the stranger would strike again, so Starlingpaw dragged herself to her paws in a single jerky movement, determined to stay on her feet. The white she-cat was circling her now, looking for an opening. Starlingpaw felt panic rise in her mind as she realized the absence of Birchpaw at her side. There was no way she could hold her own in a fight without him; more importantly, there was no way he could be in a battle environment without her if he had an attack. She glanced quickly at the nearby cats, but saw no sign of his familiar black-and-white pelt.
The she-cat took advantage of her distraction and lunged forward, swiping at Starlingpaw's legs too quickly for her to react. She felt the hot sting of blood on her forelegs as she toppled over from the blow, only barely catching herself with one paw. She felt terrifyingly weak, as her sleepless night and empty belly finally seemed to be catching up with her.
"Birchpaw!" she yowled desperately as she danced away from another swipe of the she-cat's claws. Starlingpaw was too exhausted to be any kind of match against this nimble, apprentice-sized she-cat. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she needed help.
The white she-cat paid no attention to her cry for help and continued to advance on Starlingpaw, darting forward with alarming speed. Starlingpaw sidestepped her movement clumsily, and used the last of her strength to spin around and leap forward, tumbling into the white cat and knocking them both to the ground.
Starlingpaw was scrambling to pin the she-cat down, to little avail, when she heard a familiar set of pawsteps approach. Just as the white-furred cat managed to shove Starlingpaw away, Birchpaw barreled into the attacker with the strength of his large frame.
The stranger was taken by such surprise that she was pinned to the ground in an instant, Birchpaw's claws keeping her from any movement.
Starlingpaw dragged herself up with a rush of relief and joined Birchpaw in restraining the she-cat, placing her sable paws on the stranger's throat.
Before Starlingpaw or Birchpaw could do anything to injure their attacker, a loud shriek sounded from where the gray she-cat was violently fighting Blizzardstar and Ashscar. Though Ashscar had managed to pin her down, the large gray she-cat had twisted around to see the white cat where she lay, writhing, beneath the two apprentices restraining her.
"Stop!" the gray she-cat howled, her eyes staring wildly at the white-furred she-cat. She tried to pull out of Ashscar's grip, but the muscular deputy was stronger. "Don't hurt her! I'll surrender!" she cried desperately.
The surrounding cats glanced at each other in confusion, their claws slowly sheathing and their fur lying flat. The battle ended as abruptly as it had begun.
Starlingpaw removed her paws from the white she-cat's throat, and Birchpaw did the same. The white cat darted away the instant they released their grip, racing toward the large gray she-cat.
Starlingpaw and Birchpaw watched in utter bewilderment as Ashscar released the gray she-cat. The white cat quickly buried herself in the large gray she-cat's fur, and in that instant she seemed like a kit in her mother's warm embrace.
Looking away from the embracing she-cats, Starlingpaw turned to Birchpaw, who sat at her side. He was shaking, but appeared to be conscious.
"Are you okay?" she meowed, her voice quiet. There was a beat of silence before he responded, and in that instant, her mind filled with a thousand different ways he could be suffering inside his own mind as she stood there, unable to help him. She instantly chided herself for being so ignorant in the beginning of the battle; why had she run away without him? Sure, there was a tabby attacking her, but she had simply left him behind in her panic. Now he might be stuck in the grips of an attack all because of her stupid, selfish mistake.
Birchpaw nodded weakly. "No attack. Just rattled."
Starlingpaw breathed a heavy sigh of relief, her worries dissipating, and pressed her pelt against Birchpaw's. The fact that he was safe and conscious made the tension and exhaustion of the entire battle fall away, and for a moment nothing mattered but the two of them as they sat entwined with one another in the rotting leaves.
"I call a truce." The rough, gravelly voice pulled Starlingpaw out of her momentary bliss. It belonged to the gray she-cat, who was standing among her newly bedraggled and bleeding group. "No more fighting."
"I don't really think that's how a surrender works," Blizzardstar pointed out as he brusquely licked the blood from his fur. "You're meant to listen to us, not the other way around."
Ashscar shot the fluffy tom an angry look and turned to the gray-furred stranger. "Agreed," she meowed, completely ignoring her leader's comment. "Let's not fight any more."
The stranger smiled. "I'm sorry for the rude welcome. Your blustering furball of a leader just set me on edge."
"Thanks," Blizzardstar said drily.
"You're welcome," she responded curtly without turning to face him. The stranger refocused her attention on Ashscar. "Look, if you'd like to stay here, we've got no problem with it. I shouldn't have been so unwelcoming earlier, but as I've mentioned…" she gestured towards Blizzardstar again, who grumbled angrily. "It's not like there's much to take around here other than some muddy ground and disease-infested corpses, so we're glad to share."
Ashscar nodded, her chest still heaving from the excitement of battle. "Thank you. I wish our greeting hadn't been so bloody, but..."
The gray she-cat laughed. "I guess sometimes things don't go quite as planned."
"I'm Ashscar. Deputy of DawnClan."
"Good to meet a voice of reason, Ashscar. I'm Gravel, and this is the Graveyard Gang."
/
"This way!" squealed the little brown tabby she-cat that Starlingpaw and Birchpaw had been partnered with. Ashscar and Gravel had decided the best way for the Clan and the Gang to get along was for them to live alongside each other, so each member of the Gang had taken on a Clan cat or two to show around the graveyard.
Starlingpaw was struggling to keep up with such an energetic cat, her limbs already on the brink of collapsing after the battle, but the prospect of food kept her moving. The little she-cat had chosen to show the two apprentices her favorite hunting spot, though Starlingpaw wasn't sure how anything living was supposed to find its way into the graveyard.
The reek of death and disease completely filled her nostrils, so she barely noticed when a gangly crow fluttered down to land on the roof of a nearby monster. It swiveled its greasy-feathered head from side to side, but before its gaze could land on them, the brown she-cat had launched herself onto the monster and hooked her claws into the dark bird's wings. She finished it off with a quick blow and turned to face Starlingpaw and Birchpaw with a proud expression.
"See? The juiciest birds land here!" she proclaimed, gesturing for them to join her on the roof of the monster. Starlingpaw scrambled her way onto the corpse with some difficulty, though Birchpaw followed right behind her and kept her from falling. The sable apprentice glanced at the crow with incredulity; its thin form seemed very far from "juicy."
Regardless, Starlingpaw was grateful for a mouthful of prey, as the she-cat was generous enough to give them her catch.
As Starlingpaw swiped her tongue over her mouth, cleaning away the last bits of blood, she meowed a muffled "Thank you."
Birchpaw nodded his thanks as well. "I don't think I caught your name?" he said nervously, gesturing toward the brown she-cat with his head. Starlingpaw knew he had trouble speaking to other cats sometimes, so she was happy to see him start a conversation.
"I'm Hazel," said the she-cat, her yellow eyes sparkling with pride. "I was born in the graveyard gang, like Acorn and Night!" She flicked her tail in the direction of the two other young Gang cats, who were walking happily beside Blackpaw and Skypaw. "Were you two born in your Clan?"
Starlingpaw nodded. "Yeah, most of us were." She knew that kithood wasn't something Birchpaw liked to think about, so she tried to change the subject. "Do you stay in the Graveyard all season?"
Hazel laughed. "No way! That'd be horrible!" She looked past the two of them to the land beyond, where the sun set each night and none of the Clans dared to venture into. "We live out there, in the mountains, when it's warm and safe. The graveyard is really just for bad weather or extra shelter. Nobody likes it here, but at least in a monster we don't have to keep moving all the time."
Starlingpaw followed the she-cat's gaze toward the majestic—though terrifying—mountaintops that bordered the Clans' territories. "Why'd you return this time?"
"Gravel thought she saw storm clouds in the distance, so we came back just to be safe," Hazel explained. "I really hope we didn't come back for nothing. It's so stuffy in here."
Starlingpaw could agree. Though she was used to the comfort of treetops above her, in the graveyard the trees felt more like boundaries, keeping the light away from shadowy corners and permanently entrapping the stench of death in the glen.
"So, how long has the Gang existed, then?" Starlingpaw asked as Hazel carefully scanned the area for any more unsuspecting crows to catch.
"Gravel started it herself, so not very long," Hazel answered dutifully, apparently enjoying her exchange with a strange Clan cat. "I was born around when the Gang was formed, so it's about as old as I am." Suddenly, Hazel caught sight of a crow as it landed on a nearby monster, and she took off after it.
Starlingpaw studied the she-cat as she hopped away in pursuit of the crow, her slim body moving with the easy confidence and energy of youth. She looked maybe nine or ten moons old, not much younger than Starlingpaw.
Hazel, with all her overeagerness to help her family and friends, was a reminder of what Starlingpaw might have been if she had been born with a normal gait and a knack for hunting. Surprisingly, though, Starlingpaw found she had no envy for what Hazel had. Of course, she pondered how things might have happened at the DuskClan assault if she'd been more able-bodied. Maybe she could've turned the tide of the battle.
But it was like Birchpaw had said at their training session, a moment that felt like a lifetime ago, though it had really only been a few days. Her condition had decided her future, and though it might be hard to deal with, it made her the cat she was. There was no point considering what could happen if she were an entirely different cat, so there was no point to wondering how things might've gone if she didn't have her condition.
Birchpaw brushed his tail against her flank, apparently guessing her train of thought. "Hey," he meowed softly, with a glance at her half-tail. "You okay?"
Starlingpaw yawned, watching the sun break over the horizon. She settled herself down beside Birchpaw, feeling the warmth of his patchy pelt at her side. After all the exhaustion of the night, she was glad to settle herself at his side and listen to his calm, slow breathing. She was glad, more than anything, that he was safe. Even though her Clan was captured, even though her paws were weak, they were together.
Finally, she said, "Yeah. I think I am."