Flowerpelt walked along the border behind Nightwing who led the patrol, Fernsong, Rockfall, Brightclaw and Leafwhisker were also a part of the patrol. Flowerpelt walked in silence, taking in the warm afternoon. It was nearly greenleaf and it couldn't come soon enough, Flowerpelt wanted to sunbathe and hunt in the warm weather. Leafwhisker and Fernsong were having a conversation about Rustkit, Barkkit and Snakekit becoming apprentices, which would happen in the next few moons.
SunClan still didn't have any apprentices, but they would soon. They would get three apprentices very soon and Willowkit wasn't far behind them. Flowerpelt had also noticed how some cats were looking very close, namely Jayflight and Frostclaw. Flowerpelt wouldn't be surprised if Frostclaw moved into the nursery soon.
When the patrol reached the AshClan border, Flowerpelt noticed that there was a very strong scent, stronger than usual. She tensed up, last time this happened AshClan attacked. She looked to the rest of the patrol, they seemed to have scented it as well.
"Are AshClan testing the border again?" Leafwhisker questioned, Nightwing twitched her ears.
"I think they are." Nightwing sighed. "I swear those cats get bored and decide to fight us." She looked to the patrol. "I'm going to report this to Foxstar, we may have a fight on our paws."
Flowerpelt tensed, she didn't she had ever fought in a battle. The only one that took place was when she was an apprentice and Owlfoot sent her back to camp. She really didn't want to fight, but she would if she had to.
When they reached camp, Nightwing immediately went to where Foxstar was talking with Mallownose outside the SunTree. Flowerpelt went to Stormwind who was talking with Cloudstorm and Crowfur.
"How was the patrol?" Stormwind asked cheerfully when Flowerpelt sat down beside them.
"AshClan's scent was really strong, like they were taunting us." She flicked her tail. "Nightwing thinks they want to fight again."
"But why?" Crowfur tilted her head. "Things have been peaceful between us, why would they would want to start a fight."
"Because Goldenstar likes to fight." Cloudstorm snorted. "I fought the last time they attacked and she said it was just because she wanted to show that AshClan is strong, I guess peace means weakness to her."
Flowerpelt groaned, what a mousebrained concept. Peace meant friendly gatherings, no battles and happy lives. Why would it ever mean weakness? "I just hope that Goldenstar has a tiny bit of sense to her, she's gonna get a cat killed with that attitude." The other she-cats agreed. Flowerpelt continued her conversation with Stormwind, Crowfur and Cloudstorm. She couldn't help but notice how different being a warrior felt.
She had the freedoms to hang out with her friends, she could go on patrols and hunt as she pleased. Flowerpelt loved training under Owlfoot, but was glad she had a lot more freedoms.
The next day, Flowerpelt returned from hunting with a hefty caught of two squirrels and two mice. She deposited them on the fresh-kill pile and admired her work. It was a beautiful day and the cats of SunClan were relaxing. She looked over at the nursery and saw Fishtail laying on the ground while four kits ran over her, batting at her ears and tail. She just let them, purring the entire time.
Flowerpelt let out a purr herself, Fishtail loved kits. She may be stubborn towards apprentices and other warriors but Flowerpelt knew she had a huge weakness for the kits. Even with Snakekit but her ear she didn't complain. The queens were sharing tongues in the sun while Fishtail kept the kits busy, Flowerpelt felt her heart warm up at the sight of it.
Near the drinking pool, Leafwhisker and Briarheart were sharing tongues while Sunstream and Honeywing had a conversation beside them. SunClan was happy, it was such a nice day and Flowerpelt was glad her Clan could enjoy the peace.
Then she heard a wail of pain.
The cats of SunClan were instantly on alarm and turned to face the camp entrance where they saw Briarheart standing in shock, he had a deep wound on his shoulder and his entire foreleg was covered in bright blood. "AshClan...attacking!" He breathed heavily, voice clearly twisted with pain. He collapsed on the floor and Honeywing was instantly bounding over to him.
"SunClan cats!" Flowerpelt and the rest of SunClan turned their gazes to Foxstar who was standing in front of the SunClan. "We must go to the AshClan border! Hurry!" Most of SunClan's warriors bolted out of camp, running as fast as they could. It wasn't long before they neared the border and Flowerpelt could hear the hissing and wails of battle.
Almost all of AshClan was there, overrunning a small SunClan border patrol. Frostclaw had a long wound down her hind leg and Flintstripe's ear was shredded, bleeding heavily. The rest of SunClan didn't hesitate as they swarmed the AshClan warriors.
Flowerpelt spotted a ginger she-cat named Hazelfern battering at Rainears's belly. Letting out a yowl, Flowerpelt jumped on the AshClan she-cat's back, digging her claws deep into her shoulders. Hazelfern let out a cry of alarm and lost her balance. Both Hazelfern and Flowerpelt tumbled to the ground. Flowerpelt got to her paws, hissing at Hazelfern.
Hazelfern jumped forward, slashing at her muzzle. Flowerpelt stumbled backwards, just barely avoiding her claws. With a hiss, Flowerpelt jumped forward, landing on Hazelfern's shoulders and clawing them. After a struggle, Hazelfern bucked Flowerpelt off, she hit her side hard. Slightly dazed, Flowerpelt struggled to get back up.
As Hazelfern went after her, Rainears kocked her to the side, now recovered. Her blue eyes blazes and she slashed at Hazelfern's head, scratching the side of her face. Flowerpelt managed to get to her paws and faced Hazelfern alongside Rainears. Hazelfern hissed and turned, realizing she couldn't fight both she-cats. Flowerpelt looked to Rainears and gave her a nod, Rainears returned it and went to go help Sunstream fight Silverstripe, Sunstream had a wound on her leg and Silverstripe was bleeding from a wound on his back.
Flowerpelt heard a cry of pain from Foxstar, she spun around to see Foxstar fighting Goldenstar fiercely. Foxstar was bleeding heavily and clearly struggled, Flowerpelt ran towards her but was tackled by another cat. She felt teeth dig into her shoulders, pain ripped through her pelt as claws dug into it.
Flowerpelt hissed and bit what she could of her attacker, the blue-gray fur revealed it as Riverstorm. Flowerpelt's paws flailed, she dug them into Riverstorm's side, ripping through her fur. Riverstorm hissed and bit down hard into Flowerpelt's shoulder. Flowerpelt couldn't get out from under Riverstorm no matter how much she struggled.
The weight of Riverstorm was suddenly lifted, Flowerpelt looked up to see Stonewhisker throwing the young warrior off. "Are you okay?" He questioned, Flowerpelt struggled getting to her paws. He entire body hurt from wounds and being thrown around, she looked at the wound on her shoulder.
"I'm okay." She nodded, then looked to Foxstar. Goldenstar had him pinned, Stonewhisker noticed this too and ran over to the two leaders. Stonewhisker jumped onto Goldenstar's back and knocked her away, but Foxstar didn't get up. Feeling her chest tighten, Flowerpelt ran over to the SunClan leader, his eyes were closed and blood poured from a wound on his neck. He wasn't breathing. Oh, StarClan no! She panicked. Was that his last life?
A cry from Flowerpelt's father jerked her head towards where he and Goldenstar had been fighting. Another cat had joined the fight, it was Jayclaw. He jumped on Stonewhisker while Goldenstar regained her balance, she had a deep wound on her chest. Jayclaw had Stonewhisker pinned under him, Flowerpelt tried to run to her father to help but stopped dead in her tracks as Jayclaw sunk his teeth into Stonewhisker's throat.
Stonewhisker let out a cry that was cut off by a sickening choking noise, Flowerpelt's breath caught in her throat. "No!" She cried and ran over to the two warriors, throwing her body into Jayclaw's and knocking him away from Stonewhisker. She didn't stay to fight, she just ran to her father. "Stonewhisker!" She cried, his amber eyes were open wide but were glazed over. Her heart twisted, she spun around on Jayclaw. "You killed him!" Her eyes went to Goldenstar who looked somewhat alarmed. "And you killed my leader!" Flowerpelt's legs gave out, her world was spinning. This isn't happening. This can't be happening!
She fell down beside Stonewhisker's unmoving body, trembling. Suddenly she was a kit again, the forest was too big, too scary. She buried her nose into Stonewhisker's gray fur, let out another cry.
"Goldenstar." Flowerpelt heard a deep voice, she looked up to see Foxstar standing up, his eyes were exhausted but his wound was closed. It wasn't his last life. The ginger leader stepped towards Goldenstar. "Have you proven your point? Leave our territory." He growled.
"You're right, Foxstar." Goldenstar narrowed her eyes, not even looking guilty. Anger boiled inside of Flowerpelt, but she held her tongue, just burying her nose in Stonewhisker's fur once more. "AshClan! We're leaving!" The sounds of battle died down, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Flowerpelt swear she could hear her heart breaking. What are Stormwind and Dovewish going to think?
"Flowerpelt." She heard Foxstar's gentle voice beside her ear, she didn't look up. "I'm so sorry that your father had to die." He didn't have to die. She dug her claws into the ground. He shouldn't have died. "Let's go, we need to get his body back to camp."
Flowerpelt struggled to stand, her legs trembled as she did. Foxstar called over Rockfall who was nearby. He looked at Stonewhisker's body, dropping his head. "Help me carry him back." Foxstar told the warrior and Rockfall agreed. I have to tell my sister and mother. Flowerpelt looked through the group of cats, Stormwind was talking to Alderfang, she was barely wounded. Flowerpelt let out a sigh and slowly padded up to her sister.
"Flowerpelt!" Stormwind bounded over to her. "I'm glad you're okay!" he blue eyes scanned over Flowerpelt's body, looking for wounds. "That shoulder wound looks kind of bad." Flowerpelt didn't respond, she kept her eyes cast on the ground. "What's wrong?" Stormwind's ears went back slightly.
"Stonewhisker is dead." The words didn't feel real, she looked up at Stormwind whose blue eyes were wide and full of pain.
"What?" She spoke in disbelief. "H-How?"
"Jayclaw killed him after Goldenstar took one of Foxstar's lives." Flowerpelt felt exhausted. Stormwind let out a whimper, then pressed against Flowerpelt. Flowerpelt buried her face into Stormwind's silver fur and Stormwind did the same to her. "What do we do now?" Flowerpelt's voice trembled, she felt broken.