Warriors Super Edition: Redtail's Path

Prologue

This chapter is dedicated to Nivek321 of Howrse.com. She is a good friend of mine on Howrse and she was really kind and generous to make me this beautiful cover of the book! Please, don't take this cover, or resize it, as Nivek321 spent a long time working on it. Thank you so much!

Hi there! Welcome to my Warriors Super Edition! I am making this book for LionheartPublishing's super edition contest in their Warrior Cats Fan Magazine! There are many Warriors super editions, but I decided to write one for the first ThunderClan deputy in "Into the Wild," Redtail. We'll journey with young Redkit all the way through his life, up until his story has been told. All credit goes to Erin Hunter for everything, as I do not own Warriors, and I will be making chapters with much help from Bluestar's Prophecy and a few of her other books. I apologize if anything in this chapter is confusing- I tried to combine Ravenpaw's version of the battle with the version in the prologue of "Into the Wild," which was actually quite difficult. Well, all credit to Erin Hunter for everything, and I hope you enjoy Redtail's Path!

Prologue

Redtail clambered to the top of a rock bordering the clearing, ears pricked. RiverClan had challenged once again for Sunningrocks, insisting the territory was theirs. He glanced around at the other ThunderClan cats on the patrol, his tail up and ready to signal an attack. The clearing was quiet, almost too quiet, as cats held their breath, waiting. Redtail met eyes with another warrior, Tigerclaw, who looked eager to leap out of the bushes and protect his territory. Tigerclaw's amber eyes shone with ferocity, and a willingness to protect what was rightfully ThunderClan's.

Ripples flashed across the river, indicating an important arrival. Redtail narrowed his eyes. RiverClan was here. A battle was about to continue, one that had been fought many times but never settled.

The battle for Sunningrocks.

Redtail flicked his tail as the RiverClan warriors appeared. ThunderClan cats shot from the dense bushes, falling upon the enemies. Screeches and howls echoed across the clearing as the RiverClan cats struck back, lashing out at the ThunderClan cats. Redtail leapt of the rock and into battle, ready to help his Clan. He saw Tigerclaw's apprentice, Ravenpaw, wounded.

"Ravenpaw!" He called. The black tom whipped around. "Hide in a crack in the rock until you are able to get away! You are too injured to fight!" Ravenpaw's eyes widened fearfully and he started to run. Redtail turned away from him.

"Tigerclaw!" He yowled to the tabby. "This is useless! There are too many RiverClan warriors!"

Tigerclaw sent the RiverClan cat running off, and the tabby warrior leapt to his deputy's side.

"No, Redtail. ThunderClan will never be beaten!" He replied. "This is our territory!" Redtail noticed that he was wounded as well, but would not give up.

"ThunderClan will honor your courage, Tigerclaw, but we cannot afford to lose any more of our warriors," he pleaded, urgency in his tone. "Bluestar would never expect her warriors to fight against these impossible odds. We will have another chance to avenge this defeat." He saw Tigerclaw's eyes flash with defiance, but before the tabby could argue, he jumped back onto the rock and faced the battle.

"Retreat, ThunderClan! Retreat!" He yowled, his voice echoing across the clearing. He sighed in relief as he realized that he had not lost anyone, and the ThunderClan cats backed away towards him, hissing and spitting angrily. The RiverClan cats were surprised at the short battle, but Oakheart, their deputy, accepted the victory eagerly and yowled triumphantly. The rest of his warriors joined in. He could tell that some of the RiverClan cats still wanted to fight, and one jumped in front of Redtail.

Redtail angrily hissed and recognized the cat as Stonefur.

He bared his teeth, slashing at his opponent's legs and sending him crashing to the ground.

Stonefur spat. "Sunningrocks is ours! How dare you try to claim it as your own!" Redtail snarled at him and prepared to sink his claws into his opponent, but suddenly, a brown blur pulled him off of the gray tom. Stonefur dashed off, grateful to be free.

Redtail faced the RiverClan deputy, Oakheart, and spat at him furiously. "Are RiverClan warriors so weak they are unable to fight their own battles?"

Oakheart narrowed his eyes. "No ThunderClan cat will ever harm that warrior."

Redtail howled and leapt on Oakheart, sending both of them rolling off the side of Sunningrocks. Oakheart snarled and slashed at Redtail, but the deputy jumped back and rammed into the RiverClan cat, sending him straight into the side of Sunningrocks. A loud rumbling sounded, and suddenly rocks came tumbling down, collapsing on top of Oakheart. Redtail's eyes widened.

"Oakheart!" It was over. Nothing could be done. You were a brave warrior, and fought well for your Clan. You did not deserve to go to StarClan. He dashed out of the dust from the rubble, his tail sticking straight up. The deputy kept running. The battle had died down and RiverClan was watching them, their eyes full of hatred, as they left. Redtail crashed into something hard, and looked up to see Tigerclaw. The rest of ThunderClan was already returning to camp.

Redtail relaxed, relieved that it was only one of his warriors. Suddenly, Tigerclaw leapt on him, pinning him down.

"Tigerclaw!" Redtail said, astonished. "What are you doing?"

"I am fulfilling my destiny, Redtail. I shall become leader of ThunderClan, and you are in my way," the tabby hissed in his ear. Redtail's eyes widened, and he writhed under the warrior's grip, but he could not get away. Tigerclaw snarled and sank his teeth into the deputy's throat. Redtail felt the pain for a single moment before the world vanished into blackness and he was no more.

Author's Note: So, what do you think? I hope you like it! I just want to say that everything in this prologue was inspired by Erin Hunter's books, because in Bluestar's Prophecy's prologue, it is basically the last event before Redtail dies, just like how it is the last event before Bluestar dies in Bluestar's Prophecy. Also, the ending of this is pretty similar to the ending of the prologue of Bluestar's Prophecy, so I want to give credit to her for that, too. Basically, all credit to Erin Hunter as I said before, but those are two big things I wanted to point out! :) The only things I did were make it all in Redtail's point of veiw, add some of my own dialogue, and a few other things that you can probably find if you read the books. Thanks so much, and see you in Chapter One!

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