Warriors: Crazystar's Greatest Challenge(Sequel to Crazystar's Battle)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

                When Whitefur had entered the Dark Forest the previous night, Thornwhisker had meowed, “You’re fighting Tawnyflame tonight.”

                Before Whitefur could complain, he continued, “Splashheart told her to ‘go easy on you’ last time, so she still thinks she can win. So tonight, he wants you to let her win. She’s going to attack you with her best moves, which aren’t that good, but you can see how she fights. And then tomorrow, you both fight with your best skills and we know who will win.”

                She hardly tears off any fur. It’s much more painful when you train with a real warrior like Thornwhisker or Splashheart.

                She’s too small to actually knock me over unless I let her.

                Her leap? She wouldn’t have cleared my head unless I ducked like I did.

                Her twist is so slow. You can totally see where she’s going.

                And tonight, now that Whitefur was finally allowed to rip all of her fur off, he was going to win.

                Tawnyflame stood in front of him. “Hey, did you come back to get beaten again?” she asked.

                “No, I came to tear you to shreds,” he growled, unsheathing his claws.

                The flame-colored she-cat lifted her head confidently. “Try it,” she challenged him.

                Whitefur tensed his muscles. “I’d be glad to,” he responded.

                Tawnyflame assumed he’d leap and jumped backwards. Whitefur dropped to the ground, rolling forward, and sprang upwards right when he was underneath her head. She staggered backwards, barely getting out of the way in time.

                Tawnyflame regained her footing and lunged forward. Whitefur allowed himself to be pushed back against the river and then grabbed her scruff, dragging her into it. “You mouse-brain!” Tawnyflame snorted. “I’m a RiverClan cat! It’s obvious I can swim!”     

                She tried to climb out but Whitefur leapt at her, crashing into her and sending her tumbling back into the warm, slimy river. The medicine cat waded into it, kicking out strongly despite the tough currents. Tawnyflame looked shocked. “How can you swim? You’re a ThunderClan cat!”

                Whitefur guessed that Splashheart hadn’t given her river training, like Thornwhisker had given him. He grabbed her by the neck again and dragged her underneath the water, holding his own breath as he ducked down beneath the surface. He placed his forepaws on her back, holding her down. He came up for air, gasping for breath. Tawnyflame thrashed desperately, trying to escape.

                Her attempts became weaker and weaker. “Whitefur has won!” Splashheart finally declared. “Now let her come up.”

                Whitefur stepped back and started to swim back towards the sandy river shore. And that’s when he realized that Tawnyflame hadn’t resurfaced.

                “Whitefur! Pull her out!” Splashheart ordered.

                “She’s siding with the Clans! Let her die!” Whitefur snarled.

                “There’s still hope for her and that’s an order, not a question! Get her out of that river!” Splashheart shouted, beginning to march down towards the stream.

                If I don’t pull her out, Splashheart will anyways and I’ll be in trouble.

                He sighed and reached underwater, grabbing Tawnyflame by the scruff and hauling her back to the surface. He swam back, tossing her limp body onto land.

                Whitefur reached up and pulled himself out. He shook himself, trying to get all of the water droplets out of his fur, and watched as Tawnyflame lay there on the ground, unmoving. “Whitefur, you have medicine cat training. Get her to cough up the water!” Splashheart growled.

                Whitefur placed his paws on her throat, knowing it was actually supposed to be her chest. He finally stepped back. “Sorry, it’s not working,” he meowed.

                Splashheart narrowed his amber eyes. “I may not be a medicine cat, but I know that’s a lie,” he grumbled. “You’re just not doing whatever you’re actually supposed to do.”

                He rolled his eyes. I wish they would just let her die…

                Whitefur placed his paws on her chest and pressed down. A shudder passed through her body and she weakly coughed up a mouthful of slimy water onto the ground. Her eyelids weakly fluttered open and Whitefur felt hatred for this pathetic RiverClan deputy.

                Before he realized it, he was raking his claws across her belly repeatedly. He leaned back, raising a paw for the death blow…

                “Whitefur, what is wrong with you?” Splashheart demanded as he knocked the young tom off of Tawnyflame. “She's still is a possible ally!”

                “I don’t know what you see in her,” Whitefur growled. “She believes in that wimpy StarClan and she thinks the warrior code is worth saving!”

                “I see that she’s the deputy of RiverClan, and that one day, she’ll be leader! Don’t you see that she could be valuable if she sides with us?” Splashheart asked.

                “But she isn’t going to,” Whitefur protested.

                Splashheart looked Whitefur in the eye. “Oh yes, she will, one way or another,” he promised with a sinister laugh.