Silverlight's Virtue #1: Dark Shadows

Chapter 27

  It was a quarter-moon after the Gathering, and Leaflight had created a new training program for LeafClan. The warriors and apprentices were flourishing under the program, and LeafClan's fighting skills were at its peak.

  But Silverpaw still worried. Not about losing the war, but that they weren't doing the right thing. Shouldn't they be trying to make things right with FireClan, rather than train to hurt them? Silverpaw quickly corrected herself - they weren't training to hurt FireClan, they were training to defend themselves.

  The coming war loomed over the LeafClan camp, and was reflected in the eyes of every able-bodied warrior in LeafClan. Tension hung thick in the air at night, but during the hustle and bustle of the day, there was no time for tension - only a time for training.

  Silverpaw was jolted out of her thoughts by Leaflight, who gave her a hard poke in the belly. "Aren't you supposed to be training?" she mewed. Silverpaw groaned. "I trained all of yesterday! And besides, we haven't seen a FireClan border patrol for days!"

  Leaflight rolled her eyes. "That's because they're training for war! When we do see a border patrol, it'll be too late!" Silverpaw sighed and got to her paws, about to head over to the training area, where most of the Clan was gathered.

  Suddenly, the scouts, Birdflight and Kestralhawk, burst through the entrance of the LeafClan camp, flanks heaving. Leaflight rushed forward, concerned. "What happened?" she mewed, eyes wide. Kestralhawk paused to catch his breath, then dipped his head to Leaflight. "FireClan... FireClan is coming." he mewed.

  Gasps and murmurs of excitement rippled through the LeafClan camp, but Leaflight didn't even blink. "How many warriors are they bringing?" she mewed.

  This time it was Birdflight who spoke up. "Every single warrior and apprentice in their camp is on the way here. We have some time to prepare, but not much. They outnumber our warriors." Leaflight nodded slowly, absorbing  the information. Then she leaped to the top of the Oaktree, yowling "Let all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Oaktree for a Clan meeting!"

  The cats had already gathered beneath the Oaktree, ears pricked to hear what plan their leader had for them. Leaflight drew in a breath, looking tense yet perfectly poised for action. "Does everyone remember our plan?" she mewed, her voice laced with authority.

  The cats nodded, exchanging looks of nervousness and excitement for what was to come. "Alright. Remember - we are fighting to defend ourselves, and fighting for what is right. FireClan has no right to invade us, and the Death Tribe has no right to think that they can swoop in here and claim the forest as theirs, killing cats and destroying land in the process. It is very likely that, in this battle, we will be attacked on two fronts. But we have trained for this, and victory will be ours."

  "Birdflight and Kestralhawk, stay here and guard the camp - we're depending on you to protect our kits and elders."

  She turned to Kestralhawk, then mewed, "Do you know where the FireClan cats are attacking from?" Kestralhawk nodded. "They're going to attack from the Bracken Woods." Leaflight's face lit up. "Excellent! There'll be plenty of trees to use our tree-fighting tactics, and the Bracken Woods has lots of space to fight in."

  Sparrowpaw sprang to his paws, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "Come on! What are we waiting for? Let's go fight!" Amused yowls followed his statement, and several other toms leaped to their paws, ready to charge right out into the forest. Leaflight held up her tail, the LeafClan gesture for silence. "We'll engage FireClan in a moment, but according to our scouts, they won't be here for awhile. Does everyone remember all the battle training that we've done over this past moon - the tree-fighting tactics and defensive tactics in particular?"

  Nods and murmurs of assent came from the assembled cats, and Leaflight seemed satisfied. "All right. You all know that I hate giving motivational speeches, so I think we'll be fine going into battle without one. Shadowblaze, lead the tree-fighters out first into the Bracken Woods, and the rest of us will follow up. When the battle comes, take them by surprise."

  "Ground-fighters, you're with me. We'll follow up after the initial tree ambush, and, well... we'll fight!"

  Cheers followed Leaflight's "speech" as the LeafClan cats rose to their feet and headed to their respective groups.

  Silverpaw nodded at Sparrowpaw, who was a ground-fighter. "Good luck. Don't die." Sparrowpaw rolled his eyes, but nodded back at her. "Don't fall out of a tree."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Silverpaw paused to catch her breath, looked up, and found that they were at the edge of the Bracken Woods already. Shadowblaze stopped the cats to give instructions. "I'll find the highest tree and use that as a lookout post to keep an overall view of the battle, and to assist any cats in need of help. Pair up and find a good tree to ambush from - but all of us need to stay relatively close together. Alright, get moving."

  Silverpaw darted up to Birdflight. "Let's pair up!" she mewed excitedly. Birdflight shrugged. "Alright. But I get to choose the tree." She pointed with her tail to a young oak tree on the very edge of the Bracken Woods - they would be the first to ambush FireClan, but it was also a dangerous spot, being that it was on the very edge and they could easily be isolated from the rest of the group and captured or killed.

  "Are you sure?" Silverpaw mewed, feeling uncertainty flow through her. Birdflight bounced up and down. "Yeah! We'll get to be the very first to attack - it'll be awesome! Quick, before someone else claims the tree!"

  She darted off without a second thought, leaving Silverpaw in the dust. She rolled her eyes and chased after her, and saw her bounding up to the highest branch of the tree, and balancing there precariously. Silverpaw climbed cautiously into the tree, and settled on a middle branch, that was good and sturdy and would serve for a good push off the tree.

  Soon, the ground-fighters had arrived and were rolling around in the mud and ferns to disguise their scent so FireClan wouldn't know they were there - LeafClan's fighting tactics relied on trickery and stealth to defeat brute strength.

  Silverpaw had just turned to make a witty remark to Birdflight when she spotted the FireClan battle patrol bounding across the empty, unclaimed field in front of the Bracken Woods, heading straight for them.

  The battle was about to begin.

A/N: I know, I haven't updated in SO LONG! School's got really busy though, and I'm doing my best to update quickly. Don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter! ~Silverleaf