Dawnstar's Legacy

Chapter 24: Battle

Dawnstar padded into camp, her patrol following farther behind. Stormstar and Clearstar both agreed to help.

Ebonystar was another matter entirely.

She had attacked Dawnstar the moment she saw her. Frostfang defended her, but not before Ebonystar landed multiple blows to her shoulders.

Eventually, the group came to terms. Fireclan would leave Darkclan alone in exchange for their help with the wolves.

Dawnstar jumped when Snowstorm rushed toward her.

“Crescentsky had her kits!”

Dawnstar smiled and happily trotted into the nursery. Copperfang sat beside Crescentsky, a look of pure joy was written across his face. The ginger tom glanced up and smiled happily.

“Hello Dawnstar. Come to see the future of Fireclan?”

Dawnstar nodded and sat down in front of the queen.

“Congratulations Crescentsky! How many kits?”

Crescentsky smiled warmly and moved her tail. Laying beside her were four healthy looking kits. Dawnstar gasped.

“They’re so cute!”

Copperfang laughed and looked down at his kits.

“We chose names for them when you were gone. This is Gingerkit.” Copperfang meowed, pointing his tail toward the tiny ginger she-kit.

“This is Robinkit, Shadowkit, and Cloverkit.”

Copperfang pointed out the different kits. Cloverkit was the white dappled she-kit, Robinkit was a grey and black tom, and Shadowkit was a black tom with a white underbelly.

Dawnstar purred and dipped her head in respect.

“Congratulations again. They really are cute. I’m sure they’ll grow into strong warriors.”

* * * * *

Dawnstar sighed softly and sleepily climbed up onto High Rock.

“All cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath High Rock for a clan meeting!”

Thornpetal stopped talking and walked over to the tabby she-cat. Dawnstar watched her clanmates gather around her.

“Tomorrow morning we will fight the Hoshi and his remaining pack. I want Thornpetal, Nightshade, Honeydew, Frostfang, Foxtail, Ambermoon, Fiercefang, Mistyrain, Nova, Dappleheart, and Copperfang to join me and the other battle patrols to fight the wolves!”

Around the camp, battle cries arose and Dawnstar felt a new rush of courage.

* * * * *

Dawnstar padded to the front of the battle lines, aligning herself with the other leaders. She winced as the snow beneath the paws of the large battle patrols crunched loudly.

“Are you three ready?”

Clearstar and Ebonystar turned their heads and yowled loudly. Stormstar smiled and nodded, ready to fight rogue wolves.

Dawnstar looked behind her, the mass of battle-ready cats waiting behind her. Flicking her tail, Dawnstar turned back around and saw movement in the shadows.

A low, threatening growl came up from her left. Dawnstar whirled around to see a large white wolf snarling a few fox lengths away, his ocean blue eyes flashing with hatred.

“ATTACK!”

Dawnstar ran as fast as she could at the snarling wolf and jumped onto his shoulders. The wolf, being faster than Dawnstar, ran around in circles, trying to either throw her off or kill her. Dawnstar hissed, unsheathed her claws, and began slashing the wolf’s shoulder fur off.