Graystripe's claws feel rooted to the Thunderpath as he stares at the cat who has cast a menacing shadow over his whole life. There is no need for any shared pretense of Clan loyalty now as Tigerclaw has been ousted from the clan, an enemy to all cats who follow the warrior code.
The fiery evening sun bleeds through the tips of the trees, its orange rays illuminating the dark pelt of the ex-deputy. Across the silence of the deserted Thunderpath, Tigerclaw sneers at Graystripe, "Is chasing puny cats to their death the best you can do to defend your territory."
Fury consumes him, Tigerclaw has no right to say such things. Whitethroat had been scared, and had blindly ran onto the Thunderpath the moment he saw him. Staring straight into Tigerclaw's eyes as the thundering of another monster stirs his ear fur. Holding his ground another monster roars past, he feels no fear, only fury for the ex-deputy who dares mock him. He had only wanted answers and now he knew the truth. Tigerclaw was involved with Runningwind's death. Another monster is on the heels of the other and in the fleeing gap between them he launches himself onto the massive dark tabby, Tigerclaw's amber eyes widened in surprise.
They roll together across the grass and into the cover of the trees leaving the Thunderpath behind. Drawing strength from the forest-his territory and not Tigerclaw's-struggling wildly, flattening the brittle undergrowth, and gouging deep scars in the ground with their claws.
Having gotten a good grip on the ex-deputy with the first pounce, Graystripe could feel every rib in Tigerclaw's body. Tigerclaw has lost weight, but that did not diminish the dark brown tabby's strength as they continued to struggle, scuffling the earth. Tigerclaw crouches down and suddenly leaps, twisting in midair, flinging him off the tabby warrior and into the hard baked dirt.
Gasping for the air that had been knocked out of his lungs, he struggles to his paws. But he isn't fast enough and Tigerclaw pounces on him, pinning him down with massive claws that seem to pierce Graystripe to the bone.
Yowling in agony, the ex-deputy holds him down, not letting go. Smelling of crowfood, Tigerclaw stretches his neck to Graystripe's ear to hiss, "Are you listening code-breaker? I will kill you and all your warriors, one by one."
A chill crawls through his spine, and he writhes, furious that Tigerclaw would make such a bold statement. His kits have already lost their mother, he could not let them lose their father too. Suddenly he becomes aware of new noises surrounding the forest, unfamiliar paws rustling the brittle undergrowth, along with their unfamiliar scent. They must be the rogue cats Tigerclaw aligned himself with a moon ago to raid the Thunderclan camp.
Desperate, he pushes his hind legs up, hoping for a hold on Tigerclaw's belly. But the massive tabby seems to have underestimated just how much Graystripe has grown, as his grip loosens and he slinks to the ground. Scrambling away from the warrior, he lifts his head in time to see Whitestorm, Sandstorm and Mousefur leap out of the undergrowth and begin to fight off the cats that have them surrounded.
He glances back at Tigerclaw, who has sprung to his paws and is rearing onto his hind legs, towering over Graystripe with his teeth bared and his amber eyes gleaming with hatred. He ducked as Tigerclaw lunges, darting forward and turning to swipe the dark warrior on the nose. Beside him he could hear the yowls and hisses of Whitestorm, Sandstorm and Mousefur as they battle with the courage of Starclan.
But they are badly outnumbered. As Graystripe dodges Tigerclaw once more, he looks around desperately for any means of escape. Claws rake at his hind legs, and he turns to see one of Tigerclaw's rogues grasping him and snarling viciously.
He's skinny and ungroomed like the others, his eyes glittering with spite. Tigerclaw rears up again with a furious hiss. Graystripe is bracing himself for Tigerclaw's blow when he sees a blaze of gray-blue fur. For a moment he thinks it's Bluestar, but when the broad pair of shoulders flashes past, Graystripe recognizes a warrior who was Silverstream's friend. Mistyfoot! The gray blue warrior lunges at Tigerclaw's exposed belly, knocking him backward.
Graystripe whips around and bites the shoulder of the cat that clings to his hind leg until he feels his teeth scrape against bone. He releases the rogue when he squeals, and spits out the blood that had dripped into his mouth. Astounded, Graystripe looks at the battle that rages around him. Mistyfoot must have brought a whole RiverClan patrol, for now it is the rogue cats who are outnumbered as they struggle against the sleek furred warriors.
He turns to see Mistyfoot twisting free of Tigerclaw's grasp and springs to help Silverstream's friend. Together they rear at Tigerclaw, swiping at him to drive him backward, matching step for step as they drive Tigerclaw away. Then, without even exchanging a glance, they lunge as one and force the massive tabby onto the ground.
Tigerclaw lets out a muffled hiss as Graystripe presses his foe's muzzle into the dirt while Mistyfoot grasps the tabby's shoulders and pounds his flank with his hind legs. Graystripe hears screeches fading into the woods and realizes that the rogue cats are fleeing the battle. Tigerclaw takes advantage of Graystripe's lapse of attention and wriggles free. He flees toward the brambles, spitting with fury, and disappears among the barbed stems.
As the wails of the rogue cats fades away, the warriors shake the dust from their pelts and lick their wounds.. "Is anyone badly hurt?" he gasped. The cats shake their heads, even Mousefur, who is still bleeding from the first attack. "We should return to our own territory," meows Stonefur, who he recognizes as Mistyfoot's brother. "ThunderClan thanks you for your help." Graystripe dips his head respectfully.
"Rogue cats threaten all of us," Stonefur replies. "We couldn't leave you to fight them alone." Whitestorm shakes his muzzle, scattering drops of blood. Whitestorm looks at the Riverclan cats. "What brought you here?"
"Misyfoot heard Graystripe's yowl from Fourtrees, where we were patrolling," Stonefur answers.. "She persuaded us to come and help." "Thanks," answers Graystripe warmly. "All of you." Stonefur nods and turns away into the trees. His patrol follows. Graystripe touches Mistyfoot with his muzzle as she passes, grateful she convinced the patrol to come and help.
"See you, Mistyfoot," he meows. He feels Mistyfoot's purr rumbling through her sleek coat. "See you. But I have to ask. That one rogue we were fighting, it looked like Tigerclaw." mews the gray-blue warrior.
The four Thunderclan warriors exchange a glance and he mews, "Bluestar exiled him."
"Then why did she keep that a secret at the gathering?"
"Because Bluestar made a wrong error in judgment, as he tried to slaughter her in order to gain leadership before she passed. Alling with rogues to raid the camp so he could do it unnoticed. I arrived just in time to stop him from killing her. We've recovered though."
"I see. Any leader would want to keep that hidden. How are Silverstream's kits?"
"Featherkit is just like her, but acts more like me, and Stormkit looks like me, but acts like her. They haven't gotten into too much trouble….."
"Mistyfoot!"
"Coming!" She turns her head back to him, "Sorry Graystripe, I have to go. But they sound wonderful."
She then bounds to where the Riverclan patrol is headed and disappears into the undergrowth. Sandstorm pads up to him, "Did you know her?"
"She was one of Silverstream's friends."
"Oh."
"Don't worry I'm loyal to Thunderclan."
"I didn't say you weren't."
He shivers as the sun finally disappears from the forest. He could see Mousefur's eyes shining in the dark, tense with pain. Feeling a fresh wave of sorrow he remembers the price that had been paid for the rogue cats' attack. Runningwind's body will be growing cold by now. And this is not the only untimely death Tigerclaw has brought to the forest this day.
Graystripe looks at Whitestorm. "Can you, Sandstorm and Mousefur get Runningwind back to camp without me?" The white warrior narrows his eyes curiously but says nothing and nods. Graystripe twitches his ear. "I'll follow you back soon. There's something I must do first."