**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 2- Poison Clouds

Chapter Three

 Clearly visible above the cliffs, the moon shone valorously down on the rocky terrain, illuminating every spike and deepening every shadow. Palepaw gazed up at it wonderingly from her perch, where she sat on the ledge over the main tunnel that led to the camp entrance. It's only a half-moon tonight, she thought. Is the moon waxing or waning? I would know if I paid attention. I bet Galesong would know, though...

 Her tail lashed once as she thought of how, only a quarter-moon ago, she and her brother had been standing right there. That was the day Graypaw had gotten his warrior's mission. But now, the excitement had long faded and the Clan had much bigger problems to deal with. The two active healers of CliffClan, Galesong and Cyclonepaw, didn't know much about their own practice. They had been visiting the Moonpond almost obsessively, even for CliffClan healers.

 Palepaw was one of Galesong's few friends from his own Clan, and often brought him prey or any cool rocks she found while on patrol with Shattersweep. She had been one of the first to notice that he was sick, and one of his only companions in his time of grief. In less than a year, the three senior healers had died, leaving Galesong to take care of the entire Clan and mentor his sister's apprentice with little knowledge of medicine.

 Even worse, the poor tom was resented by most of CliffClan, especially the two elders Coalstone and Obsidian-eye. Palepaw had listened to his tales of living in ForestClan with his mother, not being immediately accepted by either Clan, and Magpiepelt's strange visions. Especially since his sister had started spending time around crystals, her incredible Sight had flourished. 

 But of course, such power made it hard to get through a night of sleeping without waking up in a panic, screeching about finches and robins and cardinals and chickadees. Galesong, truly, needed a break from it all.

 All this thinking was making Palepaw's eyelids heavy. The moon had barely inched over the rocky horizon, yet she was struggling to stay awake. It didn't help that Shattersweep had been training her even harder lately, ever since the territory disputes with MeadowClan had escalated when Tempestpaw and the MeadowClan warrior Weedwhisker had gotten into a fight over some field birds that flew into CliffClan territory...

 Palepaw's ears suddenly pricked up, and she opened her eyes. Was it the wind howling in the cliffs, or was that the frantic screech of a cat in distress? She scanned the ocean of rocks, but found no source of the high-pitched roar she had heard. But just as she was about to resume her watch over the camp, she heard it again. Not a moment later, a cat broke out of the shadows and charged uphill towards her.

 The she-cat sprang to her paws, unsheathing her claws. Shattersweep had well prepared her for an invasion, and if she fought off an attacker, then surely he would make her a warrior by sunrise. But this cat wasn't an enemy. It was the blue-gray deputy Shardclaw, who had led the moonlight patrol that evening. Behind her, Smokesight and his apprentice Tempestpaw were careening over the stone, with Pebblepelt limping behind. The reddish she-cat had a shallow wound on her shoulder, and her back legs had been bitten deeply.

 "Shardclaw! What's going on?" Palepaw called. The blue-gray she-cat barely slowed down as the other three cats raced past her, and into the tunnel.

 "We were attacked!" she spat hurriedly. "On the northern border!"

 Palepaw leaped down off the ledge, turning around quickly to follow Shardclaw as she charged into the darkness. A few moments later, she joined the moonlight patrol in the cavern. Her eyes were already partially adjusted to the darkness, as she immediately recognized Shattersweep and Glowheart questioning the cats.

 "Tempestpaw? What happened?" Palepaw demanded at the dark gray-and-black she-cat, who nearly blended in to the rest of the cavern. The older apprentice hesitated at first, as if refusing to talk to the one she had bullied for her entire apprenticeship, but quickly discarded their rivalry and began to explain.

 "Me, Shardclaw, Pebblepelt, and Smokesight were on the moonlight patrol when we were attacked by strangers. There was an old black tom with one ear, and a brownish she-cat with one eye. I think they're some of the ForestClan exiles that tried to start a war last leaf-bare." she recounted.

 "ForestClan!" one of the elders, Obsidian-eye, yowled fiercely from where he crouched at the entrance to the elders' den. "Those leaf-snorting cowards! I knew they'd be the ones to attack us!" His rambling didn't make sense, as ForestClan was all the way across the lake and there had never been serious tensions between the two in particular. If any cats were meaning to attack the moonlight patrol on the border farthest away from the lake, it must have been rogues.

 The old tom was cut off by a scarred, jet-black she-cat with a white chest, who nudged him over with her shoulder. "Would you quit that, grandfather?" she hissed, before striding over firmly to glare around at the moonlight patrol. She glanced at Pebblepelt's wounds for a moment, then turned to Tempestpaw. "So, you say you saw Crowpelt and Twistedbramble? Is that all?" she asked briskly.

 "Yes, Onyx-eye. But there were a few others, who looked like CliffClan cats." the older apprentice said quickly.

 "What's going on out here?" Quartzstar asked hoarsely as he stumbled out of his den in the rock-pile. "The moonlight patrol was attacked by those ForestClan exiles? But why?" he swiveled his head from side to side, examining the cats who had gathered loosely to observe the commotion.

 "Not just the ForestClan exiles," Shardclaw growled, their blue-gray pelt now standing on end. "They've joined up with some rogues from across the river on the other side of the mountain. I think they wish to claim a fraction of our territory, possibly between our camp and the Moonpond, judging by the location of their attack. We were resting by the Moonstream when a pawful of cats yowled at us to get out of their territory, but of course we didn't. What kind of mouse-brained band would attack a border patrol to claim the land?"

 "Those rogues must not be from the Valley, then." Onyx-eye predicted gravely. "Or they just don't respect our rules."

 "But why would ForestClan cats join up with rogues from all the way over the mountain? It doesn't make sense!" Pebblepelt snarled from where Galesong and Cyclonepaw were pressing cobwebs into her fur.

 "Everyone, please settle down." Quartzstar said frantically as the gathered cats started to whisper. Obsidian-eye yowled something about daughters and darkness, and from somewhere across the camp, Featherfur's three kits began to fuss at the clamor.

 "This situation may seem confusing," the leader admitted. "But it'll all clear up once we see the problem in the light of day. Pebblepelt, Smokesight, you can see Galesong and Cyclonepaw in the healers' cave. Shardclaw and Tempestpaw, please tell us more about the attack. As for the rest of you, it would be a good idea to get some sleep. Whitepaw and Opalstone will guard the camp for the rest of the night."

 Most of the cats turned away to whisper among themselves, while Quartzstar waved his tail at the senior warriors. Shattersweep, Glowheart, and Lightshine inched closer to give their opinions on the situation. Palepaw was the last to back off, looking around for her brother. Graypaw was lingering on the edge of the apprentices' den.

 "Graypaw!" she called, bounding towards him.

 "Ugh, what's all this about?" the sleepy tom asked faintly.

 "The moonlight patrol got attacked by some rogues. Isn't this exciting?"

 "Exciting? Why would that be-"

 "Graypaw, don't you see what this means?" Palepaw almost squeaked.

 Her brother narrowed his eyes, too tired to think straight. "Uh, no. CliffClan is going into another war?"

 "I could be getting my warriors' mission!" the she-cat said triumphantly. "They could ask me to go locate their camp, or actually talk to them!"

 Graypaw simply turned around, shuffling into his nest of soft feathers and old prey-pelts. Palepaw followed him closely, still talking about her predictions of her mission. Finally, her brother raised his head to glare at her. "You do know Tempestpaw is the one receiving the next mission, right?" he reasoned.

 "Yeah, but I'm totally on her level!" Palepaw boasted certainly, settling into her scraggly nest. "I'll be a warrior by new-leaf!"

 "Good luck with that." Graypaw sighed, closing his eyes. In just a few heartbeats, he was snoring.