Warriors: Crazystar's Battle

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Crazypaw forced herself to open her eyes. Her mind was filled with thoughts over her dream. Great StarClan, could it actually be true? Is Thunder just a cat who wants to kill because of an ancient grudge?

Stonepaw still was motionless beside her in the sand, but his breathing looked steadier. Three cats marched across the grass towards them. Crazypaw recognized one of them as Icewhisker, the white-furred warrior Troutstar had announced the previous night. One of the others seemed like an apprentice due to size and had reddish-orange fur and white paws. The final cat was the biggest of all, and had a shiny black pelt. She believed it was he who had delivered the typical warning given to all trespassers of another Clan's territory.

It was all she could do to lift her head. "This apprentice I chatted with last night followed me when I tried to swim across the lake. We didn't know how to swim or anything, and we both nearly drowned. We were trying to swim to our own territories, but I guess we accidentally went to RiverClan. We'd return to our own territories, but we're in no condition to go anywhere," she explained. "Could you please send a message to Cloudstar and Rabbitstar?"

The black tom narrowed his eyes suspiciously while Icewhisker simply looked thoughtful. "Few cats were able to force their way onto the tree-bridge. Many non-RiverClan cats drowned trying to swim across the lake, and the majority of those who didn't attempt to swim the distance were consumed by the fire. All of the leaders except Troutstar lost a life, but she didn't because she could swim! We lost the fewest warriors because of our unique ability to swim," the new warrior told Crazypaw. "You two are lucky to have survived though. Mosspool, what should we do with these cats?"

Mosspool, the muscular black tom, thought about it for a moment before replying. "Take them back to camp until they're well enough to travel back to their own," he answered. "You and I will journey back to camp and get a few other warriors to help carry them back, since I doubt they can walk. Meanwhile, my apprentice will stay here and guard them to make sure they don't try to escape."

"Mosspool, I highly doubt they're going anywhere on their own anytime soon," Icewhisker commented.

Suspicion still lingered in Mosspool's light green eyes. "We must be sure," he insisted. "They could be spies! WindClan and ThunderClan could've formed an alliance against us!"

Icewhisker rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he snorted. "Salmonpaw, stay with them for now."

The small red-furred she-cat bounced happily over to them as the two warriors walked away. "Hi! I'm Salmonpaw!" she declared loudly. "What's your name?"

Even in her weakened state, Crazypaw felt amused by her enthusiasm, excitement, and friendliness. "Crazypaw," she responded.

"Cool!" the young apprentice shouted, and rushed on before Crazypaw could say anything. "Did you hear about the lightning bolt and the fighting at the Gathering yesterday? I wish I'd been there! A real fight, and I could've seen what fire looks like! I wonder what it's like to walk across the tree-bridge and..."

"I was there," Crazypaw interrupted. "And trust me, you should be glad you weren't there. Stonepaw and I nearly died."

"How?" Salmonpaw asked curiously. "All you had to do was swim across the lake!"

Before Crazypaw could formulate a reply, Salmonpaw yelled, "Watch this!"

She leapt into the water, sending droplets of water flying through the air and making Crazypaw's fur wet again. The RiverClan apprentice splashed around happily in the water, kicking out strongly with her hind legs and swimming in circles.