Hidden Mysteries (A Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter 26

The moor rang with pounding paw steps as EarthClan sped toward Mistyfalls. Maplepaw's blood throbbed in her ears as she sped beside Brightface near the edge of the group. She had never helped in a battle with another Clan before. Her anxiety level felt higher than it ever had been. How intense will the battle be? Will cats die? Will I be able to save them?

What if I run into Crowfur?

A shiver swept down her spine. Coldstar had been right when he said Crowfur was more than a medicine cat. She was a warrior. A strong, ruthless warrior. Maplepaw had had no idea until her mentor attacked her. I still can't believe how oblivious I was...

Fresh AshClan scent wafted in the wind.

At the head of the group, Ripplestar came to a halt. EarthClan stopped afterward and drew up beside her. Maplepaw scampered to the front of the crowd, pushing up beside Foxdust.

In front of them, a distance away, stood a line of AshClan cats.

Coldstar was at the front, his glare falling on the EarthClan leader.

"Coldstar," Ripplestar began, "what is the meaning of this?"

The gray tabby lashed his tail. "You and I both know this quarrel has been ignored far too long," he growled. "It's time we settle things."

"I hardly think a battle is necessary for what happened that long ago."

"Do you think I forgot?" Coldstar went on fiercely. "Forgot what your Clan did to me? What your Clan did to us?"

Maplepaw's blood turned to ice as Crowfur stepped up beside the AshClan leader. Her eyes glowed just as maliciously, her tail lashing just as angrily. Her gaze drifted over EarthClan before locking on Maplepaw and the blaze in her eyes seemed to grow.

The medicine cat apprentice shrank backward, switching her gaze to the grass.

"Look!" Lionpaw squeaked. "It's Crowfur!"

Ripplestar snapped her gaze to him for a moment before turning back to AshClan. Her eyes widened as she spotted the medicine cat. Then her lips drew back in the beginning of a snarl. "I always suspected you were keeping grudges," she muttered.

Crowfur only twitched her ear, smirking slightly.

Uneasy murmurs and surprised whispers passed through the EarthClan cats. Breathing shakily, Maplepaw looked from Ripplestar to Crowfur, wondering what the older cats were talking about. What happened before I was born?

"What, being EarthClan's medicine cat wasn't exciting enough so you went and became AshClan's?" Ripplestar demanded.

It was Coldstar who answered. "Try deputy," he spat, resting his tail over Crowfur's shoulders.

Deputy? The herbs fell from Maplepaw's jaws.

"That's fox dung!" Crookedtooth shouted, drawing up on Ripplestar's other side. "Your Clan is a mess!"

Runningflake backed him up. "You think after you took over AshClan you can do whatever you want?"

Took over AshClan? He wasn't deputy before? Maplepaw glanced over her shoulder at Squirrelpaw, but the dark brown she-cat seemed just as lost.

"Enough of this!" The yowl sent Maplepaw through a blur of flashbacks. The roar of the command, the echo of the powerful voice—it almost sounded like Eaglestar.

She looked around wildly, wondering if the former leader had come down from StarClan, until she realized the voice belonged to Coldstar.

She turned back to the tabby, but Eaglestar was still fresh in her mind and she realized for the first time how similar the two toms looked. The posture of Coldstar's stand, the glint of leadership in his eyes. Even the stripes down his pelt, although gray instead of brown, seemed almost like a replica of Eaglestar's pelt. I must be seeing things. Why would an AshClan cat look like my kin? My EarthClan kin?