Larkflower shook the feeling that she was being watched and continued padding through the murky forest, walking back home from the Gathering that had recently taken place.
Flickersight, her former apprentice, snuck up behind her and mewed, "I just know something odd is going down with those rogues,"
Larkflower jumped, her fur puffed out, and she breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was only her clanmate. She grumbled, "You scared me,"
"I scared you? The mighty Larkflower? How?" Flickersight joked.
"There's just a lot on my mind right now," she begrudgingly explained. She was still embarrassed that her apprentice—no!—former apprentice—managed to sneak up on her like that.
"I know the feeling," Flickersight agreed. "I wonder what they're doing in RiverClan's territory,"
"What do you mean?" Larkflower mumbled, not listening.
"Well, why would they have chosen RiverClan's territory to infiltrate? It doesn't make any sense. The only explanation would be if the cats were coming from the Horseplace or from behind RiverClan territory," Flickersight explained.
Larkflower had not thought about this. As the WindClan cats streamed out on Adderstar's command, walking gingerly across the tree-bridge that spread across the bubbling river so the clan cats could cross, Larkflower kept pondering.
"That's true," she mewed at last.
"If the cats had come through the Horseplace, then they could be barn cats or from the Twolegplace." Flickersight suggested.
"No, I don't think they're from the Twolegplace. Or even if they are, then they would have to be rogues. I don't think kittypets can fight so well that they can almost drive out all of RiverClan from their own territory." Larkflower pointed out. "Especially since they are providing for themselves. They seem to know how to hunt and fight."
Flickersight nodded and ran up farther ahead to walk with his littermate, Mistspring. Larkflower continued to think about the conversation she had just had with Flickersight and wondered whether or not she was right about the cats not being kittypets.
I mean, kittypets don't usually know how to fight or hunt, but they could have learned their skills from somewhere or . . . someone . . . else.
"Hey,"
Larkflower turned around and saw Brackenstripe. "Hey. I was thinking about those cats. Where do you think they came from?"
Brackenstripe walked on thoughtfully before saying, "I think they could be from the Horseplace or maybe even further on; the mountains, for example."
"That's what I was thinking. If they were kittypets, where would they have learned how to hunt and fight like that? And if they were from the Horseplace, why haven't we seen them before? Cats from WindClan have passed through there recently and I'm sure other Clans have, too."
Brackenstripe and Larkflower walked together in comfortable silence for a while longer until they reached their camp. Brackenstripe marched over to the fresh-kill pile, looking over at Larkflower.
"Do you want to share?" He asked, pointing to a limp rabbit.
"No, thanks," Larkflower apologized. "I'm too tired. But I'll get up early tomorrow to go hunting with you if you'd like."
After Brackenstripe nodded in agreement, he sat down to eat the rabbit and Larkflower padded into her den. She could make our Flickerstripe's body rise and fall with his breath and his sister, Mistspring. Larkflower walked through the tangled bushes that protected the den from weather and settled down in her nest with her mate—Snakeshine.
"What happened at the Gathering, Larkflower?" He mumbled as she lay down next to him, exhaustion radiating through her pelt.
"I'll tell you in the morning. For now, let me sleep." Larkflower felt her eyes start to droop before everything went dark.
Larkflower bolted through the tall stalks of golden grass as she sped after the white hare. She and her patrol had been stalking a strange odour when all of a sudden, a rabbit had leapt out in front of them. Larkflower couldn't resist the sweet temptation of fresh-kill, and she had started chasing it.
Her paws thrummed rhythmically on the soft ground as they hit the soil, her body a streaking white and brown blur against the grass around her. The meadow parted behind her as she broke through the stalks.
Larkflower was so close to the rabbit that she could almost taste it. Her mouth was watering as she took a great leap and pinned the rabbit to the ground, quickly nipping its neck. It dropped to the ground and Larkflower looked up at the late afternoon sky, thanking StarClan for her prey.
"Great catch, Larkflower!" Snakeshine called out to her, a black dot in the distance.
"Thanks!" Larkflower mewed, trying to get her breath, her eyes bright. "That rabbit was fast."
Larkflower heard a faint mewl of appreciation from Brackenstripe who was standing a little ways off with his sister, Poppylight. Pebbleslip was standing next to them with one of the other pieces of fresh-kill that they had caught, a limp vole, in her jaws.
As Larkflower started up the hill, she noticed a dark shadow flit across the moorland behind her friends. Her heart jumped, thinking it was an eagle or a dog. Then, the dark shadow started to rise from the hill until Larkflower could see it more clearly. It was another cat.
"Guys," she hissed, beckoning them down the hill. She didn't know if it was a poor stranded kittypet or a vicious rogue. "Get down here."
The Clan cats that were closer to Larkflower started hesitantly down the hill. But the others, Brackenstripe and Poppylight, couldn't manage to walk down the hill from the cat since they were too far away. Poppylight whirled around, trying to see what the others were creeping away from.
Larkflower couldn't see the top of the hill properly, but it started to look like there was more than one cat up there. Poppylight's black fur flashed out of sight and it looked like she was snagged by one of the cats up on the hill and was dragged down.
Larkflower's heart skipped a beat and she started speeding closer to the top of the hill. There was a dip that she had to race through to be able to get to the hill and she couldn't see what was going on when she was that low, but she could hear a high-pitched yowl of pain.
She halted abruptly, terrified, and turned back to see her friends with her. Pebbleslip and Snkeshine were trailing behind her. But that might not help her now. The invaders had the high ground and they could leap down into the shallow dip and fight the WindClan cats off if they pleased.
Larkflower's pounding heart came back to her once she started clambering up the hill. It was harder for her to move around since she knew that she was expecting kits. She finally grasped the last soft bit of earth and tugged herself up onto the mound.
To her annoyance, the cats seemed to be gone. Brackenstripe and Poppylight were laying, wounded, on the ground in front of her. There was a trail of blood leading towards Brackenstripe and Larkflower's eyes widened with fear. What happened?
"Brackenstripe, Poppylight, can you hear me?" Larkflower mewed urgently, her eyes still scouring the lands for the invaders. "Brackenstripe!"
Brackenstripe's tabby fur twitched but otherwise, he lay still. His flanks were still moving up and down, shallow and quick. Larkflower gazed over towards Poppylight, who seemed to be conscious. Her amber eyes were slanted and she breathed in unevenly.
Larkflower noticed her wounds—laced scratches etched onto her thick fur deep into her skin everywhere as if something had grabbed her. She had one large claw mark on her flank, blood welling from the jagged cut in her skin.
"Poppylight?" Larkflower whispered frantically. "Can you hear me?"
There was a slow murmur from Poppylight. "Y-yes." It seemed like just speaking that one word took all of her energy away from her. Larkflower didn't know what to do. If the cats came back, they would need all the help they could get to fight them off and she didn't want to send back a cat to bring back the injured cats, but then again, then needed help, fast.
But looking down at Brackenstripe, Larkflower knew that one cat wouldn't be able to carry two cats. Poppylight may be conscious, but she isn't fit for walking. Larkflower thought.
"We should get Brackenstripe and Poppylight back to camp," Larkflower suggested. "Be careful with them."
As Pebbleslip grabbed hold of Poppylight's scruff and hauled the injured cat onto her back, she started to stumble a bit, soon regaining her balance. Larkflower and Snakeshine each grabbed a limb and carefully placed Brackenstripe between their backs, letting him dangle while they carried him.
Larkflower felt bad, but she couldn't do anything about her swaying friend at the moment. She continued on through the fields, determined to find help for them. The three cats carried the injured ones back towards the camp.
"Wait." Pebbleslip halted, jerking backwards. Her eyes were filled with horror. "If the cats that attacked Brackenstripe and Poppylight are still out there and they follow us . . . We'll have led them straight to our camp."
Larkflower drew back with understanding. If the strange cats were following them, then the WindClan camp would be in danger. That meant kits, elders, the medicine cats, even some of the younger apprentices . . . They would all be in danger of being attacked by unfamiliar, vicious cats.
Snakeshine dropped his weight of Brackenstripe and nudged the wounded tomcat closer to the camp entrance. "We should leave them here. They need help and a new patrol should be leaving shortly. They'll see Brackenstripe and Poppylight."
"Good thinking. But we also need more warriors." Larkflower pointed out. "Maybe we should wait here just in case. We can hide in the heather over there."
The others nodded and right as they tucked under the purple heather, a few cats pranced out of the camp entrance. They were chatting and laughing, clearly unaware of the danger that was lurking on the moor. But as soon as they stepped a few paces out of the safe camp walls, their expressions suddenly changed.
"Poppylight?" Goldenfur, one of the cats who was walking out to patrol the borders, mewed anxiously. "Are you okay?"
When neither of them responded, the three cats, Goldenfur, Squirrelpounce, and Petalpaw, started sniffing around the cats for signs of danger or life. Larkflower knew that both of them were still breathing since their flanks would still rise and fall every once in a while.
"Hurry, they need help. Let's get them back to Harewing." Squirrelpounce rushed and started to drag Poppylight back into the camp.
"Good. But we also need warriors to help us look for those rogues again." Larkflower mewed. Even though she had always prided herself for being level-headed and strong, she couldn't help but wish she were a kit again, safely tucked away with her siblings in the curve of her mother's belly.
She shook herself, freeing herself of the thought and listened to what the other warriors were saying.
"We need to split the weight. Some of the strongest warriors should come with us to fend off the rogues while some should stay here to guard the camp in case of an attack." Goldenfur was saying.
"Great. Mallowwhisker, Pebbleslip, Heathershade, Larkflower, and Flickersight can take a patrol around to where they were hunting earlier and can try and spot any signs of the cats that attacked them. There should be a backup plan, too. Sunnyheart, Leaffur, Grousefern, and I can take another patrol and hide. If the first patrol needs help, we get out there and save them." Squirrelpounce was roaring. All of the warriors seemed ready for battle.
"But what about the warriors who will guard the camp? There's barely any left after those two big patrols." Larkflower pointed out, engaging in the conversation.
"Sure there are! We still have Adderstar, Goldenfur, Jaysight, Snakeshine . . ." Squirrelpounce trailed off. "Oh. You're right."
"You had a great idea, though." Squirrelpounce looked embarrassed to be gaining the older warrior's praise but Larkflower just continued. "How about I take Pebbleslip, Heathershade, Jaysight, and Mallowwhisker can go back to where we were hunting earlier like you were saying. Then you can take Flickersight and Sunnyheart to go hide in the bushes and attack if we need help."
"Then, Snakeshine, Goldenfur, Grousefern, and Leaffur can guard the camp along with Adderstar and the queens that are able to fight. The warriors that have apprentices can choose whether they bring their apprentices or not." Goldenfur strategized.
"Great. Quickly, though. The cats may be on our tails by now." Larkflower urged, flicking her tail impatiently.
Goldenfur nodded solemnly and sped back into camp. Larkflower could hear his rushed yowls as he quickly explained their current situation. She could hear Adderstar's wheezing breath as he collected his warriors, following Larkflower's instructions.
Larkflower couldn't help but feel a slight tug of pride as her leader used her plan to sort the warriors to attack the Siege. But she couldn't stop to gloat about that now. She had to gather her patrol and head out to battle the Siege.
Her pride did anything but vanish as she saw her campmates march out of the camp entrance. As they pushed through stalks of heather, Larkflower saw their determined expressions and she knew that they would do anything for WindClan.
Larkflower breathed in the comforting scent of her campmates, the cats that she had grown up with and mentored and trained with, and realized that they were all at risk of death. StarClan seemed to be waiting above them, the faint traces of sunset appearing on the horizon across the lake. Larkflower knew that whatever happened that night, her friends may be walking with StarClan soon.
But at least, whatever happened, Larkflower felt strangely comforted, knowing that walking into battle across the darkening moorland, she would always be walking with WindClan.