Broken Code

Chapter 10

Rainpaw awakened to Flowerwhisker nudging her aggressively. "Rainpaw get up!" She hissed through a bundle of herbs.

"Wha-??" Rainpaw blinked and shook out her pelt.

"Cmon. Grab some marigold and cobwebs! We haven't got time!" The golden medicine cat flickered her fern green eyes in the moonlight. Rainpaw did as she was told and ran out of the medicine den.

"Flowerwhisker where in Starclan are we going?" She panted, the marigold mumbling her words so it sounded more along the lines of "Flow...wh...kuh wuh in Stah-cl- are we go-ing?

"The forest." Flowerwhisker snapped. "There's been a battle."

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Ashpaw flicked his tail and squinted his eyes to help shield their glow from Grassclan. He crouched down, cursing his white pelt against the night sky for being so bright.

"Ashpaw, don't be a hero." Jayscratch mumbled to his apprentice. His fur was so jet black Ashpaw couldn't even see him.

"Yes Jayscratch." Ashpaw flexed his claws, eager to start his very first battle.

"Ashpaw Im serious. You have only had less than a moon of training. Don't get yourself in a situation where you could find yourself hurt." The black tom meowed before crouching down.

"GRASSCLAN ATTACK!!" A mighty yowl was heard and Ashpaw blinked. Grassclan? Suddenly there were cats all around him. A white she cat that resembled himself jumped out at him and hissed, swiping her claws against his muzzle. Blood split through the air, landing on his pure white pelt and vibrantly glowing against it. He flattened his ears as to not get them scratched and hissed back, keeping his weight on his the pads of his paws. Ashpaw quickly darted his paw under the she cats muzzle and aimed a quick swipe to her throat. Not to kill, but enough to wound. The white cat couldn't react in time and as her windpipe got smashed, she ran into the bushes and away from Ashpaw.

Ashpaw quickly jumped on all four paws, searching for his mentor. "Jayscra-"

A tail whipped across his muzzle and his first instinct was to bite it before he scented that it belonged to his mentor.

"Hush Ashpaw. Don't let Grassclan know where we are hiding." Jayscratch whispered under his breath.

"Jayscratch, why is Grassclan attacking us?! I thought we were supposed to attack them?!" Ashpaw blinked his robin egg eyes.

"It was an ambush." Jayscratch panted just as another Grassclan cat leapt onto his back, causing Jayscratch and the cat to roll in a frenzy of dirt and fur.

Ashpaw's heart raced in his snowy chest and he struggled to see despite the shining moonlight. He remembered to keep moving and not sit still for too long.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice hissed from behind him and he jumped, turning around to find a tan apprentice about the same size as him.

Ashpaw let a deep growl escape from his throat and he unsheathed his claws, remembering his training from before with Bluepaw, Moonpaw, and Rainpaw. He circled with the young tan cat and the two of them waited on each other to make the first move.

"Who are you anyway?!" The cat asked him, the hateful glare in his eyes flickering in and out, almost as if he didn't really want to fight Ashpaw.

"Ashpaw." He grumbled, not lowering his guard.

"I'm Badgerpaw." The apprentice flicked his tail.

"So what? You're on my territory." Ashpaw flicked his tail and instantly pushed off the ground and sailed through the night sky, landing square on Badgerpaw's shoulders. The two fought, their hesitation completely disregarded and claws through fur rang through the night. Ashpaw swiped a quick paw through the air and collided with the tan apprentice's muzzle, causing him to stagger. Ashpaw noticed this advantage and quickly kicked out his back leg to swipe Badgerpaw's leg out from underneath of him. He was too late and Badgerpaw easily jumped out of the way, pinning Ashpaw down by his shoulders.