His mind suddenly raced with questions as warriors clamored over them. Ravenheart, the clan medicine cat, suddenly was beside him and rushing past towards the front of the crowd and the cat who was spreading the news. As he watched the dark-furred cat quickly make his way towards that group of warriors he saw the sky lighten. He remembered old stories elders told about Skyclan, that they were sneaky like Shadowclan, but went in during the day with brute force instead of during the night, catching them off guard simply by the simplicity of their tactics. He doubted any of those elders had lived even long enough to have their own elders tell them the story, but by Starclan did it ever seem so true.
"What do you mean?" Ravenheart asked, his tail waving as he walked towards the cats at the front.
"I saw skyclan cats staging at the border during the dawn patrol." The Warrior breathed, his chest heaved as if he had a run straight across clan territory which he likely did. Frostpaw studied him, he looked distraught clearly and probably needed a couple dozen drinks of water.
"How many?" Ravenheart asked.
"A Lot, like 20 cats I think." The Warrior said.
"Brambleheart, you just saved our camp." Ravenheart said, and Frostpaw mentally slapped himself for not recognizing the Warrior even in his groggy state. Ravenheart quickly ran for Brackenstars den as the other apprentices began to gather around him.
"What's happening?" Dawnpaw whispered to him.
"Apparently Skyclan is gathering to attack our camp." Frostpaw told her, he noticed Graypaw was standing beside them as the other apprentices were quickly making their way towards them.
"What, they're WHAT?" Dawnpaw asked, her voice growing with worry.
"I think you heard me." He said to her, his voice was mostly a tease, although there was seriousness there.
"Well yes I did hear you, although I wish I didn't." She said back.
"Well I don't know much, but Ravenhearts gonna tell Brackenstar about the whole ordeal." He muttered, he looked at the Den and saw Ravenheart and Brackenstar emerge from the darkness of it and run towards them.
"Thunderclan!" Brackenstar said, "Listen carefully! We know Skyclan will show no mercy should this be an attack, so I want every Kit, Elder, and Queen to the Tunnels at once! The Younger apprentices should go with them, all other warriors to us, we will fight for our honor and our future!" Brackenstar said.
"Let us help!" Dawnpaw urged, Brackenstar looked down at her with scrutiny.
"You're too young, you can't go into battle this intense with such little training." Brackenstar said.
"We can fight, I promise!" Dawnpaw begged.
No you can't, Frostpaw thought, he knew with certainty the same warriors who killed a whole Thunderclan would rip her to shreds, and he didn't want that, he didn't know what he'd do if he lost her.
"You can fight, but you can't win." Brackenstar meowed, "Trust me, I want as many cats as possible for this battle, and any future warrior is a casualty I'm not risking."
Dawnpaw sighed, Frostpaw knew she had an idea of the Intelligence and leadership capabilities of Brackenstar, and he also knew Dawnpaw was respectful to authority figures.
To explain the tunnels to anyone with the knowledge of hundreds of moons ago would be a challenge, back then, during the eras of cats of Myth such as Bramblestar, or Firestar, the Tunnels were an unknown area, probably because they had less than 60 moons to get to know them. By now they had 10 times that length to explore, memorize and pass down the knowledge that was the tunnels. Now they were taught to apprentices regularly, and while unstable sometimes they were a good refuge for when bad times came to pass. They hadn't been taught much of anything about the tunnels yet, with the exception that they were places of darkness but also comfort for cats who had been forsaken or endangered, but that didn't go for the queens and elders.
Thunderclan only had one queen at the moment, Foxstep, who was heavy with her second litter. It was strange that Frostpaw never learned the name of her mate, although not all cats chose to tell their pairings. Foxstep was Dawnpaws mother, and shared the same Ginger fur as her. Although she was indeed heavy with her next litter, She was still a swift cat and guided the roughly 8 or so Thunderclan cats who couldn't partake in the battle to the tunnels. This was the first time Frostpaw had seen the tunnels, and he expected a full on entrance the size of the camps, and what he did not expect was something the size of a fox den put into the ground under a tree. It was still big enough to fit all the cats easily, although Viperpaw did get a bit squeamish with all the dirt and roots brushing against his pelt. He chuckled as the Apprentice started moping about how his freshly groomed and shiny pelt, to which Fernleaf, one of the elders, told him if he preferred the battle he could go back and fight. Viperpaw stayed silent for a good while after that.
"Alright everyone, we are approaching where we will stay until the warriors come and get us." Foxstep said. Soon enough they reached a wider area where the ground was covered in pebbles and the roof in roots. Frostpaw looked around the area in wonder, it was dark, but he could see. Dawnpaw had the same expression, although Viper and Shrewpaw looked more reserved.
"You know I have stories about these tunnels…" Fernleaf said, her old and hoarse voice made her sound the part of an elder, although if she caught you saying that she'd have your prey removed from your plate swiftly. "Back in my day, we used to say these places were haunted by lost spirits, ancient cats who got lost and spent their days trying to get out, they were either cursed for eternity, kept getting turned around in this maze or simply had bad luck. It was a dare among apprentices and Warriors alike to come here, although they always brought a friend along both to feel more secure and to prove they actually did it."
"Anyway." Fernleaf continued, "When I was a young Warrior my Friend Strikeclaw went in here on a dare from Sandsight, and he brought another friend named Thistlebush with him. When he came down here they were on a dare to head to the forbidden section of the cavern, but then got distracted by these voices-"
Frostpaw suddenly froze completely, his heart beating against his chest. Voices? He thought he had been hearing voices lately, was the same thing happening to him?
"...They investigated the voices." Fernleaf said as her voice came back into Focus, "And it led them right here to this very spot, they got close to that wall right over there." She gestured to a pile of rocks on the far side of the chambers, "And when they did it came crashing down on him! All the rocks hit strikeclaw at once, burying him on the other side, away from our help! Sandsight rushed back to camp, and tried to get help to get him out, but he never cried out, and they never were able to move the boulders. They say if you go deep enough into the Caverns that you can hear Strikeclaw crying out, asking for help he never got the chance to receive." She finished the story.
"So you're saying I'm either sitting 6 fox lengths from a Corpse, or a ghost." Viperpaw said.
"That's about it!" Fernleaf said, smiling.
"Very pleasant to know." Shrewpaw said, Viperpaw nodding his agreement.
Suddenly, there was a cascade of tiny pebbles, not a full on avalanche, but a certain inconvenience of them, coming down from the tunnel entrance.
"Where's Dawnpaw?" Foxstep asked.
Suddenly, Frostpaw quickly realized that Dawnpaw had run up and he quickly turned and bounded up the tunnel to the entrance. He heard Foxstep cry out his name, and then say something about holding Viperpaw back. It didn't matter for at his speed and the rate his claws dug into the earth he was out of the tunnel in no time, he turned and saw Dawnpaw running towards the camp.
Dawnpaw no! He cried, he bounded after her, his heart racing as resolve and energy filled him. He ran faster than he ever did before, and as energetic as the She Cat was he simply was more determined, more concise in his movements as he knew he needed to stop her from reaching camp. As he closed on her, and she closed in turn on the camp, the sounds and echoes of battle screeched in the distance. Skyclan had come, and was fighting on Thunderclan's home turf. The Fact Skyclan felt so comfortable filled him with dread, if they felt able to defeat Thunderclan in their own camp then they surely could very well win this battle, this drove him to intercept Dawnpaw quicker and pushed his Paws forward.
He Tackled her to the ground, sending the both of them sprawling onto a tree.
"Get off of me!" Dawnpaw struggled, "I must help!"
"Dawnpaw, get a hold of yourself!" Frostpaw said as he struggled to hold her as she squirmed, trying to break loose.
"But what if I can help save a warrior!" Dawnpaw said.
"Dawnpaw, Listen to yourself! You and I both know you wouldn't help Thunderclan a Bit during the Battle!" Frostpaw said.
"B-But I don't want someone to lose someone else." Dawnpaw whispered.
Frostpaw froze again, he knew she was referencing Rosekit, her lost sister.
"Y-You think you'd be able to spare someone of the loss you suffered by being there in the battle?" He asked.
"Yes, even If I died, that's one less cat who'd be going after another warrior..." She told him.
"Dawnpaw, please…You and I both know Rosekit wouldn't want you to hurt yourself over this, and trust me, of all cats in the clan I know what you're going through the most." He said, "But think about everyone else! Think of your mother, think of your brother! Think of me…" He said, "Please Dawnpaw, come back to camp, I can't afford to lose you or anyone else." He told her with tears streaming down his eyes.
Dawnpaw, with tears in her own eyes, responded with a simple nod.
When they got back into the tunnels, Foxstep embraced her former kit and began to ridicule her. Her brother, Viperstripe, Nodded his Thanks to him. Shrewpaw seemed confused while the Elders just sat there and watched, and he was pretty sure Shrewpaws confusion was caused by Frostpaws wet eyes.
"What happened?" Shrewpaw asked.
"Nothing." Frostpaw said, "I just convinced her to come back."
Frostpaws mind flashed back to their journey back to the tunnels, the battle had still been raging, was it still raging now?
They'll find out soon enough
Sorry for the Cringe Angst, but the next few chapters will be a bit more interesting...