Dawnstar's Decision

Chapter 6

Dawnpaw raced in with her sisters and Featherpool, ready to fight at all costs. Cats were fighting everywhere, fiercely clawing at each other. As Dawnpaw raced to help defend the nursery, an apprentice tackled her, sending her to the ground with a thud.
He was larger than her and easily held her down. It had knocked the breath out of Dawnpaw, and she struggled helplessly under his weight, "You are so pathetic!" He laughed, lightening his grip a little, "Even a kit could beat you!"
Anger pulsed through Dawnpaw, and the second he lightened his grip, thinking she was done, she flipped him over just as Longfang had tought her to do. She knew that she couldn't let him down again, so she scratched the apprentice with all her might, making him yowl in pain and throw her off. She hit her head on the thorn barrier and watched the cat run away, blood dripping from the wound in his leg. She slowly got up, shaking her head to clear out the dizziness she felt. She ran back into the battle.
She could barely hear anything over the loud ringing of her ears. She saw Speckledpaw trying to fight a large warrior and rushed over to help, jumping on his back. She dug her thorn sharp claws in and the cat screeched in pain. Speckledpaw exchanged a grateful glance with her sister and went back to fighting. The warrior, now very angry, rolled over before Dawnpaw could get a chance to move out of the way. She felt like she had been flattened to the ground, as the warrior got off of her and ran to fight again, "Why am I so terrible at fighting?" She cried, and then remembered all those times with Bear. She never remembered to do her training, and was too small to do any damage to any cat. She sighed, feeling defeated. She looked around, feeling the blood dripping from her forehead, and saw the leader of Sea Clan watching the cats fight. She knew that she couldn't take him down alone, so she found Longfang fighting fiercely with another warrior.
"Longfang!" She called, moving by his side to help fight the warrior, "We need to fight the leader, Then he will make everyone retreat!"
He nodded in agreement as he gave one final blow to the warrior who quickly ran out of the camp. She could see that he was limping lightly and she offered him support. Dawnpaw and Longfang snuck behind the unsuspecting Pinestar and both lept at him at the same time. He shrieked in surprise and turned around to meet his opponents.
"You filthy prey stealers!" He growled, puffing up his fur.
"We never stole any of your prey! Why would we steal fish?" Longfang retorted.
He hissed, "No, mouse brain! Ice Clan stole a vole from the marsh!"
"We wouldn't ever want to come in your territory!" Dawnpaw spat, lashing out her claws.
Longfang jumped on him and they got in a hissing, spitting, wrestling match. Dawnpaw watched with terror in her eyes, wondering if Longfang would actually take one of his lives. She watched as the large warrior grabbed the leader's tail and bit down as hard as he could until Pinestar made a run for it calling, "Sea Clan retreat!"
She sighed in relief as warriors immediately ran after their leader, tails down. She looked at her mentor, realizing what an honorable warrior Longfang was. She hoped that she would be like that too one day. She didn't have much time to daydream, though, because a sharp wail split the air and she saw two cats hovered over a fallen warrior.
Head throbbing, Dawnpaw made her way over to see what had happened. Her eyes filled with grief and regret as she let out a loud wail. Speckletail had died. Firepaw and Nightpaw, the newly made apprentices, hovered over their father. Firepaw stared down, his eyes glazed over with sadness. She could tell that he was trying to hide how upset he really was, while Nightpaw didn't seem to care as he cried out loudly. Lilysong rushed from the nursery and almost fainted when she saw her mate.
Dawnpaw took a step back; this was all her fault. She shook her head in dismay, "No! No! no! Speckletail!" She wailed, hardly able to stand because of the wound on her head. The other warriors' grief stricken faces seemed as if they were just a blur, as she swayed back and forth until she finally fell into darkness.
She woke up with a start in what seemed like Star Clan's hunting grounds. She looked around, starting to freak out, "Am I dead?" She gasped.
Her father appeared out of the undergrowth, "No little one," he soothed, "you are just unconscious."
"It was my fault wasn't it?" She whimpered, "Speckletail's death?"
He sat down by her, "Not every bad thing that happens is your fault, Dawnpaw," he sighed, "sometimes they just happen."
"So... it's not my fault?" She asked, hope in her eyes.
"No," he answered, "now you must calm down. You will wake up soon."
As he slowly started to dissapear, Dawnpaw felt peaceful as she drifted back into darkness.
She woke again back in the medicine cat den. Her head was still throbbing and when she tried to get up, she flinched in pain and immediately sank back down. She could hear Featherpool and Lilysong talking.
"Will she die?" Lilysong asked worriedly.
"She'll be fine. Don't worry," Featherpool assured her, "she just needs a lot of rest. Ashkit, why don't you go check on her?"
Ashkit! She purred, lifting her head a little, then putting it back down. She opened her eyes a little more and saw her sister hobbling towards her, "Hey there, runt!" She teased in a soft voice, "How are you feeling?"
Dawnpaw sighed, "Well, I-" she gasped in pain after trying to talk.
"Never mind," Ashkit quickly told her, "you look a little better."
"Are you, g-going to be made an apprentice soon?" She managed to mumble.
Ashkit looked away wearily, "Ummm, well actually, why don't you get some sleep? I-I think I hear Featherpool calling!" She changed the subject as she limped quickly out of the den.
Dawnpaw was too tired to think about what she had told her, and she drifted back into sleep.