Cinder

Chapter 14

    Many moons passed. Mudstar had not attacked so openly, though there were still minor skirmishes to keep the cats uneasy and uncomfortable. Cindercloud still spent time with Maplefrost and Ravenclaw, though less frequently.
    Falconstar was on the tall rock, about to make Woodkit and Mosskit apprentices. Cindercloud hoped she would be chosen as mentor, but knew it was not her time yet. Nightsong sat with Tigertail ready to burst with pride.
    "Why can't we be apprentices?" Bluekit wined, running circles around Shellkit, who sat with her tail wrapped neatly around her paws.
    "Because we aren't six moons silly." Amberkit replied, sitting beside her sister. "It'll be our turn soon."
  "Amberkit is right. It won't be long for you now." Morningsun purred, licking each of her kits. Heronwing sat beside his mate and kits, purring.
    "We are here to make two kits into apprentices." Falconstar meowed proudly. Mosskit, until you are a warrior, you will be Mosspaw. Heatherfall, you are ready for an apprentice. You will mentor Mosspaw." Mosspaw bounded over to an excited Heatherfall, who looked just as excited as the new apprentice. "Woodkit, until you are a warrior, you will be Woodpaw. Graystep, it is time for you to have an apprentice. Tigertail taught you well and I know you will pass on your skills to Woodpaw." Splashtail watched as her brother greeted his apprentice. Cindercloud was surprised that Splashtail had no jealousy in her eyes, only pride and a look of sadness.
"Talonpaw is watching us." Cindercloud promised, sitting beside her cousin. Splashtail purred sadly. "And I'm sure you will get one of Morningsun's kits as an apprentice." She added.
"Oh I hope so!" Bluekit meowed, skipping around Splashtail. "I want you as my mentor!" She exclaimed.
"And I want Cindercloud! Mother was her mentor!" Shellkit meowed. Cindercloud purred at the two eager kits. Amberkit, on the other paw, was keeping pace beside Snowfall, her amber eyes wide and excited as she watched the medicine cat work.
"I think Amberkit might want to be a medicine cat." Splashtail observed. Cindercloud purred as she watched the eager little kit. Morningsun was watching her daughter fondly. Cindercloud wondered if she would have a mate and kits one day. Instantly she thought of Ravenclaw, wondering how he was doing.....

   "We will attack ShadowClan at once! They have become to secure in their territory, and we must provoke fear, so that one day they will surrender completely to us!" Mudstar cried. His voice was met with cries of agreement, mostly from his most loyal supporters. The voices raised the loudest were Brokenfoot, Clawheart, Jaggedclaw, Blazeheart and Owlwing. Hazelstream looked uneasy, and Blackpelt shuffled his paws nervously. Ravenclaw did not join in the hype. He felt uneasy ever sense their only elder, Jetclaw, died mysteriously with a gash in his throat. The clan was convinced it was a fox, but Ravenclaw thought otherwise. He knew the elder was speaking of peace and not wanting to fight at the gathering. He felt the fur lift along his spine, feeling uneasy as Switcheye stared at him.
    Firepaw was bouncing around excitedly around his mentor, Poppyflower. Ravenclaw has already been given his first apprentice, despite hardly being a warrior. Sagepaw sat next to him, though she was less eager than her littermate. Daisypaw sat beside Squirreltail, her mentor. Darkstorm had been a little annoyed at having to wait to have an apprentice, but he did not argue.
    "We will attack at once! The warriors coming will be Jaggedclaw, Whiteflower, Blazeheart, Blackpelt, Spottedflower, Darkstorm, Poppyflower, Firepaw, Sagepaw and Ravenclaw!" Ravenclaw felt dread claw his belly at the mention of his name. He felt the clan leaders hard stare on his pelt. Sagepaw looked less excited, but she dared not argue. "Switcheye will also join. Owlwing is in charge until we return!" With that, Mudstar gathered his warriors and headed out of camp, in the direction of ShadowClan. Ravenclaw prayed he wouldn't have to face Maplefrost. He hated the constant battles, but feared speaking against it.
    "I'll be watching you during the battle." Switcheye warned him, walking in step beside him. Ravenclaw padded on without replying. Soon they were at the border. A patrol was spotted right away. Cloudspring was in the lead. Beside him was Ivypelt, Crowflight, Brackenclaw, Smokewing And Sootpaw. Mudstar did not say a word, just ushered the battle cry. Cloudspring let out a yelp of surprise as the leader barreled into him, gripping him in his powerful jaws. Ravenclaw sprang on top of Ivypelt, clawing at the gray and white she cat. Ivypelt slashed his nose. Ravenclaw let out a howl as a burning pain rushed the bridge of his nose. He ducked as she lashed at him again. He ran underneath her belly and nipped her hind leg. She let out a screech of pain and shock, and then he used his force to push up with all his might and throw her across the clearing. She landed with a heavy thump. He was on her in a second, biting hard into her shoulder.
He let out a yowl as he was pulled off of her and met staring into Smokewing's glaring eyes.
"You fox hearts!" He growled, slashing. Ravenclaw blocked his blows, but he landed one on his shoulder and he staggered. Smokewing pounced him and pummeled his belly. He was about to land a horrible blow to his throat when Jaggedclaw pounced onto Smokewing and bit deep into his neck. Smokewing's legs buckled, and he fell limply onto the floor of the forest.
"No!" Ravenclaw yowled, jumping to his paws. He pushed Jaggedclaw out of the way and shook Smokewing, but he would not budge. "You killed him!" He yowled at his clanmate. Jaggedclaw shrugged.
"So what? I saved your pathetic life!"
"You didn't have to kill him!" Ravenclaw exclaimed, appalled.
"You ungrateful fox heart!" Jaggedclaw spat. In that instant, more ShadowClan warriors poured into the clearing. Petalstar was in the lead. Behind her was Frogfoot, Willowtail, Firefoot And Maplefrost. They leapt onto the ThunderClan cats in a fury of claws and teeth. Ravenclaw was bowled over by a calico shape. She struggled to his paws and shook out his head to see Maplefrost standing beside him
    "Your clan killed Smokewing!" She exclaimed, grief stricken.
     "It wasn't my fault!" Ravenclaw cried. Maplefrost shook her head and bounced away, instead attacking Jaggedclaw. Soon, ShadowClan has ThunderClan outnumbered. Soon, Mudstar called retreat, and they pounded away, back to their own territory. Ravenclaw glanced over his shoulder and looked at Maplefrost who exchanged his sad gaze. Heart wrenching, Ravenclaw followed his clan home.

"You didn't have to kill him! It was supposed to be a fight to make them fear, not kill!" Ravenclaw exclaimed once in camp.
"If we kill some warriors, then we make them weaker and more afraid of us, hence they give up their territory and surrender." Jaggedclaw was saying as if he thought Ravenclaw was a mouse brain.
"That's against the warrior code!" Ravenclaw exclaimed.
"For the record, Smokewing would have killed you if I hadn't interfered." Jaggedclaw said, sniffing. Ravenclaw felt the fur on his shoulders rise.
   "You should be more grateful to your clanmate." Mudstar rumbled, coming up from behind. Ravenclaw spun around, heart hammering in his chest. "And so what if a warrior died? Soon they will realize it is futile trying to fight us. Soon, they will give in to me and my rule." He added with a snarl. Ravenclaw dipped his head.
    "Yes." He agreed, though he only agreed to save his own skin.
    "Go check on your apprentice." Mudstar meowed with a flick of his tail before padding away. Ravenclaw did that, finding Sagepaw sitting beside Firepaw, blood welling from a scratch on her flank. Redwing was tending to the injured, though he didn't look pleased about it. Ravenclaw could sense that Redwing did not like how Mudstar ran the clan, but he would not dare speak up about it. Ravenclaw often wondered why in StarClan Eaglestar would pick such a ruthless cat as deputy, but perhaps he did not know what Mudstar was capable of at the time. He shook his head sadly.
"I'm okay." Sagepaw meowed, as if sensing what her mentor was about to ask. "Redwing is about to tend to me." She added. Ravenclaw touched her ear with his nose.
"Of course. You fought bravely." He purred before he walked off and sat alone, eyeing the cats around him. Most looked exhilarated from the battle, while others looked weary and upset. Hazelstream sat beside her mate, Blackpelt, staring blankly ahead.  Whiteflower was grimacing from a wound on her shoulder, and Squirreltail was pacing the clearing. Toadpelt and Marshcloud watched with wide eyes. Brokenfoot, their father on the other hand, was crowing about the victory to Jaggedclaw and Clawheart. Ravenclaw shook his head sadly. He looked for Darkstorm, who was sitting with his tail wrapped neatly around his paws beside Poppyflower. He seemed to be getting along well with the pretty she cat, and they were close friends as apprentices. Ravenclaw looked at the She cats in his clan, but none appealed to him. Then the thought of Cindercloud, and a tingle raced through his fur.
    "Something the matter?" Marshcloud padded up to Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw fluffed out his fur.
"I'm fine." He meowed. Marshcloud nodded and padded off. Ravenclaw watching him walk away. He was tempted to sit beside Darkstorm and Poppyflower, but something held him back. Instead he sat alone, a feeling of dread curling his stomach, and he was afraid of what the future would hold...