Stormy Nights

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

               “Tigercloud, come here!” Prickletongue exclaimed. His white tail was curled angrily over his back, and his fur was bushed out wrathfully. “SparkClan!” He added in a hiss.

               “What’s this? Rabbit bones! There are no rabbits in RainClan territory! Only SparkClan and BirdClan hunt rabbits!” Tigercloud growled. He sniffed the small white heap. “SparkClan! Don’t those mangy crowfood-eaters have enough to hunt without hunting in our territory as well?”

               Minttail appeared, bounding up to stand at Tigercloud’s massive shoulder. “Are those rabbit bones?” She asked curiously. She bent down and sniffed them. “SparkClan!”

               “Personally, I don’t know why you’re so surprised.” A sleek voice hummed. Sparkfire padded calmly from the undergrowth. Five other cats flanked him.

               “Weak Clans deserve to be chased out, so the strong ones can prosper.” A golden tom added smoothly.

               “We’re the weak ones? You’re the ones who came to us practically begging for a home in our forest!” Tigercloud protested indignantly, his deep voice growing shrill and high-pitched with disbelief. A leopard spotted she-cat snickered from Sparkfire’s right shoulder, her whole body shaking violently. The golden tom blinked smugly at the three RainClan cats, twitching his tail tip arrogantly. A dusty brown tabby crouched at the back of the invading cats, his claws slithering in and out eagerly.

               “Leopardpaw! Lionpaw! Fishtail!” Sparkfire told off his warriors. “Claws away! We came not to fight, but to warn RainClan.” He turned back to Tigercloud. “Warn them to leave, or be killed. We are not afraid of killing.”

               “Wa-…” Tigercloud began, his eyes widening with shock. “No!” Turning to his Clanmates, he lifted his black and silver-striped tail angrily. “RainClan, ATTACK!”

~*~

               His yowl carried back through the air and rang around the RainClan camp. Cats reared their heads in surprise, twitching their ears and tapping their tails against the ground. Wolfsong leaped to her paws and let out an anxious call, wishing dearly that Fawnspots was back. Without a medicine cat, they couldn’t afford any injuries.

               “To me, RainClan!" She cried. She signaled with her tail to Rusteyes, Bloodpool, Badgerpelt, Beachwave, Blueflower, Graypaw, and Eaglefeather. The chosen cats raced after their deputy, their pelts no more than blurs of slurred color as they ran. Cats swarmed through the rainforest and to the farthest border; the border shared with SparkClan. That’s where Tigercloud’s patrol had gone, and that’s where the noise of furious battle sounded from.

               The patrol exploded into the fight scene, teeth bared and claws flashing, ripping, and tearing. The pain-filled screams of cats strengthened when a back-up patrol of SparkClan warriors arrived, tails streaming out behind them.

               Graypaw hissed wrathfully, rearing up onto his hind paws, matching the SparkClan apprentice blow-for-blow. His opponent, the stocky golden tom called Lionpaw, twisted down and sank his teeth into Graypaw’s foot. Howling, the young gray tom wrenched his paw free from Lionpaw’s grip and raked his unguarded belly with infuriated claws. Lionpaw screeched in agony and dashed away. The victorious Graypaw immediately pounced on a silver tabby she-cat and the pair burst into battle.

               Meanwhile, Badgerpelt was locked in combat with Callalily, a pinkish-white she-cat. The black-and-white tom and the smaller she-cat had their claws wrapped around the other’s shoulder blades, and their teeth at each other’s necks. Callalily seemed to be toying with the stronger warrior, going in to nip his throat, leaning back to avoid his counter-bite, and then repeating. Her eyes shone with delight at his obvious frustration. Suddenly, when she leaned in to bite, Badgerpelt ripped his teeth down her petty face, narrowly missing her eyes. Thick, warm blood dripped into her blue eyes, and she backed away in horror.