Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 4

Energy seemed to blaze through Ravenpaw as she hared through the trees with her tail streaming out behind her. Her paws seemed to fly over the ground as though being lifted by the wind.

I feel as if I can win a fight against any enemy! Ravenpaw thought as she dodged around a tree and continued to run toward the border. Soon she could hear the sounds of cats fighting. That's them!

When Ravenpaw got closer, she could see the fighting cats. She made out the shape of Shallowstar wrestling against a powerful dark gray cat. It was Boulderclaw, the deputy of DarkClan. Ravenpaw remembered him from Gatherings. In fact, as Ravenpaw got closer, she saw multiple cats she'd seen at Gatherings!

As she found a hidden spot behind a bush where she could watch the fighting cats without being seen, she saw that Iceclaw was fighting a vicious cat known as Bushtail. Bushtail was known for his ruthlessness is battle, and Ravenpaw had even fought him once before.

A few tail lengths away, Thornfang had pinned down Nettlepaw, a small brown tabby apprentice. Nettlepaw was yowling fiercely, but the young tabby tom couldn't free himself from the powerful warrior's grip.

Shadepaw was fighting two cats at once. One of them was Wolfpaw, a young gray tabby tom with yellow eyes. The other was Wolfpaw's mentor, a small black tom named Flealeap. Wolfpaw kept jumping from behind and raking his claws across Shadepaw's shoulders before jumping back with a yowl of triumph, while Flealeap battered Shadepaw's face with his front paws.

Ravenpaw also spotted Nettlepaw's mentor, Olivewhisker, creeping up on Iceclaw, who was preparing to leap at Bushtail, who was facing him a few tail-lengths away.

Ravenpaw opened her jaws to warn Iceclaw, but it was too late. Olivewhisker launched herself at the white warrior and knocked him to the ground. Iceclaw was half deaf, and Ravenpaw knew he hadn't heard the she-cat sneaking up on him.

Growling, Ravenpaw prepared to launch herself out of the bushes to help Iceclaw fight off Bushtail and Olivewhisker, but before she could even move an earsplitting screech echoed through the forest. Ravenpaw whipped around to see that Wolfpaw had pinned her brother to the ground and was sinking his teeth into Shadepaw's shoulder.

Snarking, Ravenpaw darted out of the bushes and threw herself at Wolfpaw, knocking him off her brother. Wolfpaw grunted in surprise and fell to the ground.

"Ravenpaw?" Shadepaw gasped, blinking in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be resting in the Camp?"

Before Ravenpaw could respond to her brother's question, Wolfpaw jumped to his paws and raked his claws across her flank. Pain instantly tore through her pelt as his claws reopened her infected thorn scratches.

She glanced briefly st Shadepaw. Her brother was fighting Flealeap now. His teeth were sunk deep into the small cat's shoulder, while his claws were digging into his flank.

Wolfpaw suddenly flung himself at Ravenpaw and knocked her to the ground. Ravenpaw cried out in shock as she attempted to free herself, to no avail. Although Wolfpaw was a moon younger than her, which she had learned at Gatherings, he was bigger than her, and very powerful. He had her pinned beneath his paws. Ravenpaw hissed and squirmed fiercely, but there was nothing she could do to free herself.

"You'll regret the day you messed with me, WoodClan scum!" Wolfpaw cried. He plunged his teeth into Ravenpaw's shoulder with a growl.

Agony shot through Ravenpaw's shoulder, and she let out a scream of pain. She stopped squirming and lay there, frozen in pain.

Suddenly, Boulderclaw let out a yowl: "DarkClan, retreat! I think we've made it quite clear who the winners are."

Wolfpaw released Ravenpaw, his yellow eyes glittering with triumph. Ravenpaw just lay on her side, pain shooting through every scratch and bite she'd received from him. She twisted around to look at Boulderclaw and gasped at what she saw: Shallowstar was bleeding heavily from a gash across her chest.

The fighting DarkClan cats broke apart and ran back to their side of the border, yowling in victory. Boulderclaw was the last cat to leave. The DarkClan deputy started running over to the border, then stopped and glanced over his shoulder at the defeated WoodClan cats with satisfaction in his eyes.

"I hope you've learned your lesson," the DarkClan deputy sneered, "Never hunt DarkClan prey!" He lashed his tail once and turned and raced into his own territory.

"Shadepaw," Ravenpaw gasped, "Are you alright?" She scrambled to her paws, hissing with pain as a sharp jolt of agony shot through her shoulder. Her brother seemed to be swaying on his paws, his yellow eyes round with shock.

"I-I wasn't even hunting on their side," Shadepaw's voice came out weakly. Thistlefang padded over to his side, lashing his bristling tail.

"Those fools attacked us for no reason," Thistlefang growled, "You fought well."

"Yeah," Ravenpaw agreed, wincing as pain stabbed at her wounds, "You were great!"

"Ravenpaw, what in the name of StarClan are you doing here?" Iceclaw hissed, making Ravenpaw jump.

"I thought you'd need help fighting those DarkClan mouse-brains," Ravenpaw meowed, "So I came to fight!"

"I thought Shallowstar ordered you to stay in camp," Iceclaw meowed sternly.

"I did," Shallowstar gasped, limping over to join the gathered patrol. The gash across her chest was bleeding heavily, and she had multiple other scratches all along her flank. "Why did you leave camp?"

"I thought you needed help," Ravenpaw meowed, suddenly feeling a little guilt for sneaking out. But she shook the gut away. They were outnumbered! I think I did a good thing helping when I did.

"You disobeyed me," Shallowstar gasped, swaying on her paws. Her eyes were full with pain and she was trembling slightly. Iceclaw pressed himself against her flank to support her.

"We have to get her to Silverflight!" Iceclaw said briskly.

"Ravenpaw, too," Shadepaw mewed, sniffing at Ravenpaw's shoulder, "She got hurt badly!"

"She should've stayed in camp," Iceclaw muttered, beginning to help Shallowstar head in the direction of the camp.

"I will help you," Shadepaw told Ravenpaw, "Just lean against me if you can't walk." Ravenpaw nodded weakly and instantly leaned against her brother for support. Her shoulder was causing her too much pain for her to walk properly.

"Let's hurry!" Thistlefang growled, walking quickly ahead of the apprentices.

Well, I guess I'm not getting help from him! Ravenpaw thought, twitching the tip of her tail.

As she and her brother slowly limped after the others, she leaned close to him and whispered: "Thank you!"