Mossfire's Rebellion

Chapter Seven

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the high ledge for a clan meeting!"

The call woke up Mosspaw, who was still in the medicine cat den. She stood up and stretched, noticing that her shoulder was hurting a lot less than yesterday. She followed Fuzzytail out of the den to the clearing.

She noticed that most of the cats were already out and waiting. Mousetail and Weaselclaw were sitting next to each other. They were siblings, you could tell becuase their light brown pelts were almost identical. Duskpaw and Cedarpaw were sitting next to their mentors and looking up expectantly at the leader. 

Her littermates ran up to her immediately, all wanting to ask questions. She knew that Leafpaw and Oakpaw wanted to know how she was doing. However, before either could ask, Smallstar started talking.

"As many of you already know, Blackscar's patrol ran into three badgers yesterday. Sadly, Flowerpelt died bravely, fighting like a true warrior."

Mosspaw saw many heads bow in grief, and a sob escaped Ashcloud's lips. She knew that the she-cat had already been buried and that the clan had grieved while she was resting in the medicine cat den. However, she knew the true story. She knew that Blackscar had started a battle that could easily have been avoided. He had made the clan believe that the badgers attacked Flowerpelt out of nowhere.

The clan all saw Blackscar has a hero. He told the clan that he sent Swiftpaw off to get help, and that he was the one that stopped the badgers from reaching the camp. She was curious as to how the whole clan would react if they knew the truth. They wouldn't see Blackscar as heroic as they do now.

"I am going to increase patrols around where the badgers were found. Ashcloud will lead the patrol since she knows where they went. Until we make sure they are gone, I don't want apprentices, elders, or kits out by themselves."

Mosspaw heard Cedarpaw huff from where he was sitting beside his mentor, "If I see any badgers, I'll claw their eyes out. I'm not afraid of them." Mosspaw rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Smallstar.

"We also cannot forget the threat from Windclan. They are threatening to attack us if we don't let them hunt on our land."

Mosspaw heard plenty of growls from the surrounding cats and could see their fur bristling.

"Let's attack them first! Show them that we are not to be messed with!" She heard Stonefoot call out from the crowd.

"Yes! That'll teach them not to threaten us!" Blackscar added, jumping to his paws.

The crowd of cats seemed to rally around the two toms, their tails lashing. Mosspaw was surprised to see how many cats seemed to agree with the toms. She noticed that many of the cats that attended the gathering seemed to back off. They saw how frail and scrawny the Windclan cats were, and probably felt as bad as she did.

"Windclan looked desperate at the gathering!" Russetflower called out from beside Swiftpaw. The young she cat nodded in agreement, "They only had like five cats at the gathering! They seemed really hungry!" She was hushed by Russetflower's tail covering her mouth.

Smallstar hushed the crowd with a lift of his tail, "We will not be launching an attack on Windclan today! We are still grieving Flowerpelt and have wounded cats." Smallstar looked up to the cloudless sky with a sigh, "Surely Starclan will send the rain we need soon."

Smallstar then looked down at the clan. "I want Weaselclaw to send a patrol along the Windclan border. Remark the scent lines but do not cross them or start a fight." Smallstar looked at the brown tom, who nodded.  Mosspaw noticed that Weaselclaw started choosing a few cats from the crowd, and he was smart to chose the more level minded cats such as Russetflower, Feathershine, and Mousetail, "This meeting is dismissed." Smallstar said before exiting to his den.