Warriors AU: Skyclan's Destiny

Chapter 10

Poppystar reached the top of the gorge and crept into the undergrowth, flinching as thorns scraped along her pelt. The moon had already set, but the stars shed enough light to show her, as she glanced back, the dark outlines of her Clanmates slipping onto the cliff top. The first glimmer of dawn had yet to show itself above the rocks.

Five sunrises had passed since Clovertail's patrol had found the mound of Twoleg waste in the forest. Every cat had practiced Haze's battle moves until they could do them in their sleep.

And I have. Each night Poppystar's dreams had been full of thin faces and glittering, malignant eyes, the squeaking of rats and the stench of blood. Now is the time to end it.

A cool night breeze rustled the leaves above her head as Poppystar headed toward the rat heap. Cherrytail and Haze had pressed up beside her, the other warriors following. Every cat kept low, gliding along the ground, their paw steps making no more noise than raindrops dripping from branches after a shower.

Suddenly a sharp snapping noise broke the silence. Poppystar jumped, her heart beginning to pound.

Cherrytail whipped around. "What was that?" he hissed.

Every cat had halted, their neck fur bristling, their gazes flicking warily to the shadows. Shrewtooth looked frozen with fright.

"Sorry." Bouncefire's voice came from the darkness at the back of the patrol, sounding embarrassed. "I stepped on a twig."

"Great!" Tinycloud grunted. "Now the rats know we're coming!"

"It doesn't matter," Haze assured him. "All the rats will do is hide deeper inside their nest. And they'll soon find out there's nowhere safe in there."

As Poppystar's heartbeat slowed, she waved her tail as a signal for the patrol to move on. She could feel the tension in the air now, like the sparks before a storm broke.

This is the first time I've led my Clan into battle. Starclan, please give us strength and bring all our warriors home safe.

The first faint light of dawn was filtering down into the forest. Poppystar's nose twitched as the breeze carried a foul stench toward her. A few fox-lengths ahead, the waste pile was just visible through the trees, pale in the half-light. Even if the rats had heard the patrol approaching, there was no time to change their plans.

This is it.

Poppystar signaled with her tail for the patrol to halt and turned to face her Clanmates. Cherrytail turned with her; his eyes blazed with a green light and his tortoiseshell and white fur bristled. Poppystar could almost taste his desire to avenge the death of Petalnose.

"You're sure you remember the plan?" he demanded, his gaze raking over the patrol. "We block most of the holes, then frighten the rats so they try to escape through the holes we've left open. And then..." He bared his teeth, giving Haze a glance to make sure he had repeated the loner's plan accurately.

Haze replied with a curt nod. "They won't know what hit them."

Poppystar began to feel more confident as she listened to her deputy and saw the determination in his eyes. We can win this battle!

She could see tension mounting even higher in the listening cats, in their twitching tails and flexing claws. Fear-scent came from the senior warriors, those who had battled the rats before, in spite of their struggles to hide it. The younger warriors picked it up, too; Shrewtooth was visibly trembling.

It's time to get on with this, Poppystar decided. Before some cat starts to panic.

"Tinycloud, you led a patrol here yesterday," she mewed softly. "Did you locate the exits from the heap?"