"Sweet as sugar, hard as ice, hurt me once and I'll kill you twice. "
~~~~~~~~~~
Froststar. Leader of ThunderClan. He stopped at nothing, and will continue to, to be in power. Don't get in his way.... he won't hesitate to kill you. Embrace his few...
"Bloodpaw! Marshpaw! Bloodpaw! Marshpaw!" The Clan cheered. During their half moon before apprenticeship, the Clan had begun to get used to ShadowClan kits in the Clan. Some cats even began talking about taking WindClan kits to teach them a lesson, and Froststar had instructed his loyal followers to encourage this. It was still green-leaf so prey was plentiful, but sooner or later cats would start muttering about "too many mouthes to feed." But, as always, he had a plan for that.
Froststar had given Bloodpaw to Shadeblossom to mentor, and after some thought and consideration, Marshpaw to Thrushfeather. Fortunately, Larktalon didn't seem to be jealous that his brother was given an apprentice.
"Let's go explore our territory," Bloodpaw said. Froststar noted with satisfaction that she said 'our' territory.
"Yeah. We've only been inside ThunderClan territory, not anywhere near the borders, and that's where the action is," Marshpaw added, raking his claws through the dirt.
"I don't see why not," Thrushfeather said.
"The sooner they know the territory, the better. Apprentices, do you know what to do if a cat attacks you?" Shadeblossom asked. Bloodpaw and Marshpaw nodded.
"Froststar taught us some defensive moves. We're not helpless," Bloodpaw said, giving her reddish fur a shake.
"Good, because this Clan doesn't tolerate helpless cats," Shadeblossom retorted, and lead the way out of camp.
Froststar watched them go, then looked around until he spotted the two cats he was looking for. "Silverpaw! Quickpaw!" he called. The two sisters looked up at him from their crouch positions on the ground. They had been practicing stalking. Froststar beckoned them over with his tail. The two she-cats scampered over and sat in front of him obediently.
Froststar took in their size. They had grown since they were just new apprentices who lost their mother and father. Both of which was your fault.
I know, I know! But I'm a much better father than Splashstar was.
I thought you had your own kits.
You know what I mean! Froststar stopped talking to Sageweed in his head and brought his full attention back to the two apprentices.
"I have something to show you. Fernclaw!" Froststar called to the closest cat to him, which was one of his supporters. The gray tabby tom was eating a shrew. "If you see Ivyclaw and Honeyflower, tell them I'm with their apprentices." Fernclaw nodded and Froststar looked back down at the she-cats. "Follow me."
The sisters trotted after Froststar as he lead them out of camp and into the forest, taking a different route so he wouldn't bump into Bloodpaw and Marshpaw and their mentors. "Where are we going?" Quickpaw asked, trotting up beside him.
"The training hollow. Do you know if anyone is there?" he responded.
"Nope," Silverpaw said, trotting up on his other side. "Amberpaw is busy picking ticks off the elders."
"Good, then we'll have it all to ourselves," he said. They reached the training hollow, which was empty. Silverpaw bounced over to it, silver fur flashing as it caught a ray of sunshine.
"Are we going to learn a battle move?" she asked.
"Correct," Froststar replied. "I'm going to have-" he stopped himself right before he said 'dark forest' "-advanced moves be part of passing your assessments. Both of you, attack me. One from behind one from the front. Go on," he said when they hesitated. Silverpaw positioned herself behind him, and Quickpaw in front. Silverpaw lunged first, so Froststar kicked out with his hind legs, catching her in the shoulder. Quickpaw attacked next, but Froststar reared up on his hind legs, raking his paws down her face and chest (claws sheathed), then ducking into a roll. When he got up, Quickpaw and Silverpaw had amazed expressions on their faces.
"That was cool," Silverpaw said. Quickpaw nodded.
"Are you going to teach us that?" Froststar smiled.
"That's why we're here."
~~~~~~~
Breezestar paced her den, her deputy Runningfoot beside her. Stonefoot's injured patrol had just returned. "They clearly want to provoke us, which I don't want to give in to. But if we keep letting them do what they're doing, things are going to get worse," she said.
"I think we need to attack, but not openly like we did before. We need to sneak-attack them," Runningfoot said.
"I think you're right. The Gathering is in a few days, we should attack tomorrow. They won't be expecting us to attack so close to the truce," Breezestar said, coming to a decision.
"Should I tell the Clan?" Runningfoot asked.
"I'll tell them," Breezestar replied, and padded out of the den to go tell her Clan the news. I feel this will either be the death of us, or save us.
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