River of Blood (A Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter One

"SunClan, attack!"

Honeykit was barreled into by her brother, sending them both to the ground in a turmoil of flying tails and paws. She kicked him to the side, sinking her barely-there teeth into his shoulder fur. He cuffed her ear with a paw, and she sank her teeth in harder, only stopping when he said, "okay, okay!  You win."

She got off him, letting him lick his ruffled chest fur. Honeykit grinned. "You have to do better than that if you ever want to be an apprentice."

Adderkit rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should try sheathing your claws next time."

"How can I ever learn that way?" Honeykit meowed. "We aren't going to go into a real battle with sheathed claws."

"Except this isn't a real battle," a familiar voice interrupted. "He's your littermate."

Honeykit lowered her head. "Hi, Aspenspring," she mumbled.

Aspenspring was their father, and Honeykit was all-too aware of how similar she looked to him. If it wasn't for the hazel of her eyes, they would look identical.

Then again, she thought, that wasn't all true. He was tall and powerful, and she was not. Even if she got bigger, Honeykit knew she would never grow to be as big as him. Aspenspring was intimidating, and loomed over them like a pack of badgers. She swallowed, nervously.

"You need to learn to play nicer with your Clanmates, Honeykit," Aspenspring warned. "A battle-hungry kit makes for a battle-hungry warrior."

"Yes, Aspenspring," she said quietly. She turned to Adderkit. "Come on, Adderkit. Let's go find the others."

When they bounded off, Honeykit swore she could feel her father's gaze burning the back of her head. But when she turned around again, he was gone.

-

Spiderkit and Patchkit were throwing around a moss-ball in the nursery when the two finally found them. Their brother, Wolfkit, was small and sickly against the belly fur of his mother, his tiny body shuddering with another cough, and Tawnybrook was sleeping, her tail wrapped protectively around her swollen belly. Finchflower raised her head from her nest in the corner of the den, greeting her kits.

"There you are, you two," she purred. "Where have you been? It's nearly Sunhigh."

"Outside," Adderkit mewed. "We were wondering if Patchkit and Spiderkit wanted to play."

Spiderkit nearly jumped out of her fur when she heard the word play, almost knocking over Wolfkit who just squirmed and squeaked feebly. "Yes! Please mother," she begged, making her eyes big and round as moons.

"Spiderkit, be careful!" Hollystripe scolded, pressing her son tighter against her belly. "If you want to play, fine, but be back before the sun goes down. And don't come back before you learn to play carefully around your brother. He's small, you know."

"I want to go, too," Patchkit butted in. "But only if I don't have to be the bad guy again. I'm always the bad guy."

"Okay, come on, then," Honeykit said. Her whiskers twitched. "And you're only the bad guy because you fit the role so well."

Patchkit pounced on her, and they went rolling outside. Behind her, she could hear Finchflower's voice, thick with amusement. "You two better break them up before they end up underneath the paws of every single warrior."

They were eventually broken up, but only because they were interrupted by the familiar words of Hawthornstar, SunClan's brave and respected leader. "Let all cats old enough to run around the moor gather around the Fallen Willow for a Clan meeting!"

Suddenly, the camp was alive with stirring cats. Spottedclaw could be glimpsed sorting herbs through the overhanging lichen of his den, but quickly joined the elders' Lilypond and Hemlockfoot, who were busy sharing tongues in a patch of cool shade. In front of the apprentice's den, Wildpaw and Rainpaw were practicing their hunting crouch, only ceasing when their mentors' Mossydawn and Gorsefall called them over to sit beside them in a group of senior warriors. The deputy, Orchidsplash, yawned as she left the warrior's den, her fur still warm with sleep. She joined Hawthornstar on top of the Fallen Willow, resting her tail delicately atop her paws.​​ Turtlesnap, Cloverpath, and Elmflower pushed the remains of their rabbit to the side, and Heronheart joined them, licking the blood off his lips from his own baby shrew.

Honeykit watched Hawthornstar, admiring her rippling muscles and her eyes, alight with wisdom from seasons of living, and suddenly, she could see herself sitting on top of the Fallen Willow, with her Clan gathered below her, sharing news and basking in the attention. Suddenly, that's all Honeykit wanted.

"Once more, PineClan repeatedly crosses the border, stealing prey and marking our own territory," Hawthornstar said. Honeykit could already see the ruffling fur of the cats below her. Next to her, she could hear the voice of Nettleburr whispering to Shellbright, "we should show those PineClan cats a lesson and rip off their fur." Honeykit silently agreed.

"I will not allow PineClan to make a mockery of us," Hawthornstar continued. "The next time they cross the border, or attempt to take what is ours, we will fight."

Yowls erupted from the crowd.

"Show them what happens when you mess with SunClan cats!"

"Rip off their teeth!"

"Feed them to a pack of wild dogs!"

"Nobody messes with SunClan!"

Turtlesnap shifted uneasily. "Don't you think this is a little far?" she murmured to Elmflower, who was seated next to her and already licking her lips at the prospect of battle. "I mean, we should at least give them a chance to back off before we rush into battle."

Elmflower rolled her eyes. "We gave them a chance at the last gathering. They're basically asking for it now," she whispered, raising her voice to be heard over the noise of the other warriors, "let's teach those fox-hearts a lesson! Nobody messes with SunClan!"