Warriors AU: Rising Storm

Chapter 6

"Starclan grants us safe passage," Oakstar repeated stubbornly.

"Go home!" snarled Mudclaw.

Sandstorm's paws tingled as he sized up their opponents. Three strong cats against him and the unfit Thunderclan leader. They would not escape a fight without serious injury, and there was no way he could risk Oakstar losing a life—not when he knew that she was on the last of her nine lives, which were granted by Starclan to all Clan leaders.

"We should go home," Sandstorm hissed at Oakstar. The she-cat swung her head around and stared at him in disbelief. "We're too far from safety and this isn't a battle we can fight," he urged her.

"But I must speak with Starclan!" meowed Oakstar.

"Another time," Sandstorm insisted. Oakstar's eyes clouded with indecision and he added, "We'd not win this battle."

He twitched with relief as Oakstar retracted her claws and let the fur on her shoulders relax. The Thunderclan leader turned back to Mudclaw and meowed. "Very well, we'll go home. But we will return. You cannot cut us off from Starclan forever!"

Mudclaw flattened her back and replied, "You've made a wise decision."

Sandstorm growled at Mudclaw. "Did you hear what Oakstar said?" Mudclaw narrowed her eyes threateningly, but Sandstorm went on: "We will leave this time, but you will never again stop us from traveling to the Moonstone."

Mudclaw turned away. "We'll escort you back to Fourtrees."

Sandstorm tensed, afraid of how Oakstar would react to the suggestion that the Windclan warrior did not trust the Thunderclan cats to leave her territory. But she simply padded forward, brushing past the Windclan cats as she headed back the way they had come.

Sandstorm walked after her, followed at a distance by the Windclan cats. He was aware of them rustling through the heather behind him, and when he looked over his shoulder he caught glimpses of their lithe, brown and gray shapes among the purple flowers. Frustration pricked at his paws with every step. He would not let Windclan block their way again.

They reached Fourtrees and began to climb back down the rocky slope, leaving the Windclan warriors at the top watching them with hostile, narrowed eyes. Oakstar was starting to look very tired. With each leap she landed heavily and grunted. Sandstorm was frightened the she-cat would slip, but she kept her footing until they reached the grass at the bottom. Sandstorm looked back up the hill to see the three Windclan cats silhouetted against the wide, glaring sky before they turned and vanished back into their own territory.

As the Thunderclan cats passed the Great Rock, Oakstar let out a long moan. "Are you all right?" Sandstorm asked, stopping.

Oakstar shook her head impatiently. "Starclan does not want to share dreams with me," she muttered. "Why are they so angry with my Clan?"

"Windclan stood in our way, not Starclan." Sandstorm reminded her. But he couldn't help feeling that Starclan could have brought them better luck. Speckletail's words echoed through his mind: Sandstorm's naming broke with Clan ritual for the first time since before I was born.

Sandstorm felt his head spin with alarm. Were the warrior ancestors really angry with Thunderclan?

From the surprised murmurs that greeted their news when Sandstorm and Oakstar padded back into camp, Sandstorm guessed that the Clan shared his fears. Never before had a leader been turned back on a journey to the Moonstone.

Oakstar padded unsteadily to her den, her eyes fixed on the dusty ground as she crossed the clearing. Sandstorm watched her with a heavy heart. Suddenly the sun felt too hot to bear beneath his thick coat. He headed for the shade at the edge of the clearing, and noticed Ferncloud padding toward him from the gorse tunnel, Ashpaw at his heels.