Warriors: A New Hope

Chapter Six

The jumble of cats surrounded the ShadowClan leader, a ripple of shock silencing them. Murmurs rang through them, causing them to begin panicking. “Who did it?” “Is this his final life?” “How long should this take?” All they did was sit there in silence once again until Jayfeather burst through the swarm and leapt up on the Highledge. Shadowpaw looked around, only to see the numerous cats were staring at her instead of Jayfeather. She slowly slipped to the back of the crowd, hoping that they would not fallow her with their awkward and accusing gazes.  Jayfeather yowled for silence, and all of the cats turned towards him. He then realized that some were staring at Shadowpaw, and others focused their attention on Blackstar. The remaining few in ThunderClan seemed to be all ears to Jayfeather, though. He yowled once more, eventually catching their attention to where he was able to speak. His sightless eyes stared at them; he knew he was making them uncomfortable.

“I believe that StarClan has sent us a sign that this battle is not meant to continue!” As he spoke, a loud ripple of murmurs rose. “Bramblestar is also losing a life! This is a sign from StarClan that this fight must end!”

“You’re wrong!” Protested Toadfoot, jumping up onto the high ledge and facing Jayfeather. Tension crackled like fire between the two; they were so close together that their whiskers brushed one another’s.  “All this means is that they both were killed at the same time in the same battle. That’s all!” He snarled and jumped off the High ledge, leaving Jayfeather to stand there speechless.

Anger burned inside of Shadowpaw and she wished she was able to sink her claws into Toadfoot. She had been in the same area as him for less than fifteen minutes, and she already can’t stand him.  “Listen to him!” She yelled, only to be stared at by everyone again.

“You aren’t supposed to speak at a “meeting” unless instructed to do so!” Someone muttered angrily into her ear, and she was too frightened to turn around. All she did was give Toadfoot an angry hiss.

“Shut up you flea-bitten, two-tailed runt! You have no say in this unless you want to have your ears clawed off! Go back to your mother!” Spat Toadfoot as he spun around to face the young apprentice.

“Oh, yea?” She challenged, a fury burning in her that was like never before. How dare he say that to her, that fox-hearted coward! A heartbeat later, Toadfoot was charging towards her and bit down on her tail. He flung her into Sandstorm, and she hissed loudly at Toadfoot.

“What kind of way is that to treat an apprentice?” She spat as she slowly helped Shadowpaw back to her feet.

“ShadowClan, attack once more!” He yowled as the attack began once again. As they flung themselves into battle, Shadowpaw noticed that Blackstar was no longer in the spot he was before. Jayfeather had dragged him into the medicine den!

A voice behind her startled her and made her jump. “Guess whose back!” She turned around to see Cedarpaw racing towards Shadowpaw, his long, black claws outstretched. This time, he used the element of surprise and seized the opportunity to plow into her side. She clumsily stumbled sideways, and eventually fell over. A menacing hiss of laughter rose from Cedarpaw as he bit down on her tail. She yelped in pain as she realized he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. She guessed that this was payback from earlier. She reared up and kicked the dark-gold apprentice in the face, causing him to loosen his grip. She yanked her tail free and clamped her small jaws down on his hind quarters. “Heh… you’re a feisty little one…” he meowed before raking his claws over her shoulder numerous times. He then jumped on her, crushing all of the air out of her lungs as he landed. As she began to feel dizzy, a soft voice rang in her head.

Play dead…

She did as the voice told her, and went completely limp. She purposely held her breath before he got up, just to fool him more. Once she heard him walk away, she got to her feat, crept behind him, and launched herself at him. She scored numerous blows to his ears, shoulders, and back. He screamed in pain as the slashes welled up with blood and began running down his sides. She sank her teeth into his other shoulder; the saltiness and sharp tang of blood filled her mouth, causing her to let go. She spat it out, as well as tufts of his fur. “Don’t come back!” She hissed as he ran off into the woods, his bloody and battered body slowly fading among the bushes. She began limping back to the medicine den; her sides were dripping with blood even though she didn’t feel hurt. But she did hurt her paw on a twist, and it hurt to even move it. As she entered the medicine den, a horrified look took over her face as she looked at her reflection. Her entire face was covered in blood, and her left ear was torn. She also had a few small cuts on her hind legs, which didn’t seem to be bleeding that bad. Where is all this blood coming from?! She wondered as she examined herself even more. At least her entire body wasn’t covered in it, thank StarClan. Just her legs, face, and sides.