Tale of War

Chapter 2

Two apprentices padded silently through the forest by the Shadowclan border to the twoleg territory. The wind and leaves were still, and the only movement came from the cats. A tan she-cat with brown splotches spoke to break the silence that was between them and the woods.

"So. Hunting patrol I guess..." she murmured. Echopaw padding next to her nodded and the she-cat, Slashpaw, cocked her head at the other cat. "Still can't talk? Weird." The silent apprentice nodded again. Suddenly, Wolfpaw ran in with a dog. Slashpaw watched as the gray canine, Wolfy, wagged his tail happily. Wolfpaw's power was to summon a wolf to him in battle.

"Guys, guess what, I'm an apprentice now! Yay!" Wolfpaw exclaimed happily. Slashpaw mrowed in amusement. 

"Yes, I guess you are. So, what have you learned so far?"

"Watch this! Wolfy, attack Slashpaw!" Wolfpaw commanded the wolf that sat beside him. Wolfy rolled on the ground absent-mindedly and batted at a butterfly. "WOLFY!" Wolfpaw yowled impatiently. Wolfy looked away from the pretty insect and gave his master a long stare. He shook his head, and seemingly making up his mind, he leaped onto Slashpaw's back, only to be thrown off seconds later. Slashpaw facepawed.

"Watch. Echopaw, attack me," She ordered, and Echopaw instead climbed a tree, ignoring her. 

Wolfpaw frowned, confused, but recovered and rolled his eyes, "And how is that better?" Slashpaw climbed after Echopaw, who then jumped off the branch, tugging Slashpaw off with her. Both cats went tumbling down the tree. Wolfpaw blinked. "That is, uh, I guess better?" he mewed though still confused.

Suddenly, Kiwipaw, a small tom with a spotted coat, emerged from the bushes, shooting kiwis at them all while laughing like a maniac. Slashpaw gagged and wiped some green juice off her face all while glaring at the apprentice. Kiwipaw giggled. "I can't believe that actually worked!" Mid-sentence, he got tackled by Rowenpaw. 

"Ha! I got you, Kiwipaw! Never underestimate the many apprentices in Shadowclan!"

Nightpaw leaped down gracefully from the trees and turned to glance at the other apprentices. "Yup, There are a lot of cats."

Suddenly, a siren blew and a cat caterwaul rang across the territory without warning. All the apprentices gasped as one and glanced at each other nervously. That sound - that sound meant the thing all cats had been fearing for a while. 

Shadowclan was under attack. 

Slashpaw gritted her teeth, The Dark Forest probably decided that Shadowclan was its greatest threat, so they decided to take the preemptive strike. She dashed towards camp, not waiting for the other apprentices, and came to a stop to see that all the cats from the Dark Forest had appeared to fight. Slashpaw raced in after her just as Eaglefrost darted towards Viciousbee's throat. The dark warrior swung out with his claws, snarling furiously as a swarm of bees arose from around him. Eaglefrost winced. I need to get back to Berrycloud, he growled to himself and swiped at the bugs. Viciousbee took this chance to pounce on Eaglefrost's exposed neck and dug his teeth in as far as he could.

A loud screeching drew their attention to Nightpaw and Moonlight battling Glittervoid. Lights flew as their powers swirled around each other, but the ShadowClan fighters made quick work of Glittervoid. Turning to Viciousbee, Moonlight landed a killing blow as Eaglefrost trembled. Bleeding badly, the tom stood on shaky paws. He dropped to his side, panting heavily, blood pooling out onto the rough grass. Slashpaw raced over to him, standing next to Nightpaw and Moonlight. 

"Leave me," Eaglefrost huffed to them, knowing his fate. "It's time for me to join StarClan." With that, his head slumped down and Slashpaw watched as the light faded from his eyes.