Warriors the Clans Reborn: Enemies Within

Chapter 26

Frostheart narrowed her eyes up at her leader who was currently on top of the glowing rock. After grueling weeks of training hard and working themselves down to the bone, Lightclan and Outclan were finally ready to battle Massacre's clan once and for all and take back their kidnapped kits and apprentices.
Out of all of Leafpelt's kits, only Softkit has been saved during the initial raid. Leafpelt and Darkface were devastated, but Angelkit was there to help them in their grief. Luckily Lightclan hadn't lost any apprentices, but unluckily, Outclan couldn't say the same.
They'd lost multiple of their young trainees, and one of them just so happened to be Maplepaw, the kit that had somehow found her way into getting involved with the plan that Wolftail, Brownpelt, Briarnose and herself had started planning. As Frostheart lay basking in the sun, a thought suddenly struck her that became harder and harder to comprehend as time went on.
If we had just told one of the leaders that we knew Massacre's clan was coming, we could've been better prepared. Frostheart thought in horror. We could've prevented this entire charade all along if we'd just let someone know instead of keeping it to ourselves!
"This is all our fault." Frostheart whispered, feeling her heart beat rapidly. She began to shake. "They were kidnapped, because of us." Looking up, Frostheart searched for her sister Wolftail, yearning to tell her what she'd discovered. Seeing her standing next to Brownpelt, with their heads dipped towards each other in hushed conversation, Frostheart moved to stand up. Gritting her teeth at the pain, she pushed herself to her paws and trotted towards her littermate.
"Wolftail, Wolftail!" She whispered fiercely, getting her attention as she looked up from Brownpelt.
"What is it, Frostheart?" She asked, tilting her head.
Frostheart watched her with sorrowful eyes. "I just realized something terrible, something that's our fault."
Brownpelt took a step closer to Wolftail. "What could you have done that's so bad that you had to come and interrupt us?" He demanded, fluffing his tail. Wolftail gave Brownpelt a look and he shrunk away.
Frostheart tried not to feel hurt as she cleared her throat, shaking her head. "No, it's not a littermate thing, its us, all of us." She looked around to make sure no one was watching them. "Briarnose included."
Brownpelt looked taken aback and Wolftail gasped. "What do you mean?" She asked, blinking.
Frostheart bit her lip. "I realized that if we'd just told one of our leaders, we could've prevented this entire attack on both our camps from happening!" She said, voice raising a little too loud. Brownpelt looked around as heads turned towards them and then glared at Frostheart.
"Keep it down or someone else is going to find out mouse-brain!" He hissed, staring her down.
Wolftail stepped forward, and Brownpelt sighed. "That's something I never considered until now, but there's nothing we can do about it Frostheart. We're in the beginning of a very bloody war."
"But-" Frostheart began. Brownpelt gave her a look that stilled her rampant tongue. Looking to Wolftail, the white warrior waited for her to respond. But Wolftail's eyes were narrowed, cold and calculating.
"Wolftail, what do you think?" Frostheart asked slowly, eagerly awaiting her response.
She opened her mouth to speak but their leaders yowl cut her off. Frostheart grumbled under her breath as Wolftail looked at her sympathetically and then focused her attention to her leader. As Frostheart looked around, she noticed the cat's around her were still chattering like starlings and blinked as she noticed Ashstar looked impatient. When the small conversations didn't cease, she stood taller and glared down at her clan.
"Clan mates, settle down!" Ashstar shouted, fur fluffed in annoyance. A hush seemed to draw over the clan and slowly one by one, the cat's around Frostheart quieted down until it was complete silence. Once Ashstar realized she had control, she cleared her throat. "Cats of Lightclan, friends and family, the time has finally come for us to take back our loved ones and what was stolen from us: our pride."
Frostheart felt the guilt gnawing on her insides.  And this could've all been avoided if we'd just spoken out. Biting her lip, she looked over at Wolftail to see how she'd reacted to the beginning of Ashstar's speech and was surprised when she didn't look one bit remorseful.
"But one thing they didn't steal from us," Ashstar went on and Frostheart snapped her gaze forward. "Is our justice and our freedom. This supposed clan created by this rising tyrant will be put to an end immediately, we can squash this rebellion. We have trained hard, and now it is time we take action." Cheers rang up and Ashstar grinned victoriously. "Clan mates that are part of the rescue patrol, to me!"
With elegance rippling in her muscular build, Ashstar leapt gracefully down into the grass in front of her clan mates. Staring them one by one each in the face, she nodded once they all dipped there heads and looked to her newly appointed deputy, Smokeheart. The grey warrior had his eyes on the entrance to their camp, but looked in his leaders direcrion once he felt her gaze on him.
"Smokeheart, I trust that you will watch over the camp while our rescue patrol is gone for the next following days." Ashstar said to him, gesturing for him to come closer with her tail. Dipping his head, Smokeheart approached.
"I will Ashstar, no one in this camp shall be harmed while you are away." Quickly touching each other on the jaw, Ashstar faced towards the thorn entrance of camp when running paw steps began to be heard. Maplefur, the guard for the day, came rushing into the middle of camp.
Stopping at her leaders feet, she caught her breath while she panted profusely. "Ashstar, Outclan is here." She whispered, turning to point with her nose. Slowly, Frostheart began to notice multiple spying faces materializing before her eyes, and among their ranks was none other then Briarnose. Frostheart watched him intently, patiently waiting for him to look her way. He never did.
"Lightclan, it is time we move out!" Ashstar suddenly yowled, shaking Frostheart to her core. Looking towards her leader, she watched as she lead the line of warriors out of the camp and into the open, Outclan directing them. One by one, the warriors of her clan disappeared, down to the last striped tail, until they were all gone. Heaving a long and hard sigh, Frostheart turned her back to the entrance and slowly padded away.
"Be safe everyone," she whispered as she disappeared into the warriors den to rest. Padding in sleep circles, she tucked her forepaws into her chest and watched the outside as her eyes slowly drifted shut in slumber.
~
Wolftail padded along behind her fellow clan mates as they headed on their way towards Massacre's assumed territory. Traveling along with her and their leader was Maplefur, Barktail, Blackshade, Greyheart, Dapplepelt and Mistfur. Watching the terrain pass by slowly with narrowed eyes, Wolftail looked to the right. Walking slowly alongside her was Brownpelt, looking a little conflicted. Wolftail nudged him with her shoulder and his amber eyes pierced her with an intensity she couldn't put a name to.
"What's up?" She asked him, tilting her head in question.
Brownpelt snorted. "Nothing, it's just that Frostheart's proclamation is really starting to get to me."
Wolftail looked away. "Oh," she murmured. "How so?"
Brownpelt sighed. "I don't know, doesn't it just make you feel a little guilty?"
Wolftail blinked slowly and kept on walking. "I suppose so." She put out, not saying a word after that. Brownpelt sighed and looked away from his mate as Wolftail trotted forward.
In all honestly, Frostheart's realization was the last thing on Wolftail's mind. All that currently took up her thoughts was getting the kidnapped kits and apprentices back before it was too late. As the sun set over the large group of cats, Wolftail looked forward to see the edge of the lakes territory directly ahead of her. Cresting the hill, her eyes settled on the distant Twolegplace and her heart instantly tugged in sad remembrance of Colby. She wondered if she'd ever see the she-cat again and turned away, facing forwards again.
Slowly, time started to slip as the sun disappeared and moonlight illuminated the traveling cats, turning their pelts silver and white. Walking along passive and silent, Wolftail's ice blue eyes flashed as she suddenly realized something that stopped her in her tracks.
Slowing her pace to catch up to Brownpelt, she got his attention. "Brownpelt, I just had a thought."
His ears pricked, eyes still forward. "What is it?" He asked, sniffing.
"The leaders, and Massacres territory." Wolftail started. "We don't have any idea where it is, so how do we know we're going in the right direction?"
Brownpelt snorted and shook his head. "My guess is that the medicine cat's had a dream the night before that showed them where Massacre's camp is and then they shared it with Thistlestar and Ashstar." He explained simply, blinking.
Wolftail stared at him hard and then snorted. "You're probably right." She said quietly, swishing her tail. A thought dawned on Wolftail and she looked up at the cat's ahead of her. "I think we should tell Briarnose what happened. He has a right to know, considering it came from his mate anyway."
Brownpelt froze and Maplefur shoved past him. Turning to Wolftail, he scowled, "Frostheart and Briarnose are mates?" Brownpelt hissed under his breath when Wolftail nodded, ears flattened. "When did that happen?"
Wolftail sighed. "Apparently a couple moons ago, she told me my first night back." She explained, looking ahead to find him. "Past matters aside, we need to tell him her concerns, and for his sake in general."
Brownpelt snorted and then sighed begrudgingly. "Alright fine, but we gotta do it conspicuously, okay?"
Wolftail narrowed her eyes and smiled. "My thoughts exactly." She whispered.
Looking ahead, Wolftail searched out the black and brown warrior, and finally spotted him, walking at the front of OutClan's lineup.
Wolftail growled and cursed under her breath. "Of course he'd be at the front!" She muttered, rolling her eyes. "What do we do now?" She said, turning to Brownpelt. After a moment of silence, his eyes brightened.
"I've got an idea." He said quietly, motioning her to come closer. Leaning towards him, Wolftail quieted as Brownpelt whispered the plan in her ear. "We could both pretend we need to go and make dirt, and once we sneak away, we can get to the front of the group and get Briarnose's attention."
Wolftail perked. "That sounds like a great idea!" She said, giving him a lick on the cheek. Grinning from ear to ear, Brownpelt smiled at Wolftail and then began walking away from the group of cats, towards the green topped trees. Wolftail following, Brownpelt waited for her to catch up and then turned to answer his clan mates confused expressions.
"Where are you two going?" Maplefur asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"We've gotta make dirt, we'll catch up with the group afterwards!" Brownpelt explained. Shrugging, Maplefur gestured for everyone to keep going and Wolftail and Brownpelt shared a look. Nodding to each other, they ran off into the trees. Looping around the still traveling cats, Wolftail and Brownpelt got a little ahead, and dove into some bushes. Poking their noses through the leaves, they waited for the cat's to come this way. Upon hearing approaching paw steps, they huddled closer together as Thistlestar came into view. Cresting the hill, he stared ahead with cold eyes. Completely overlooking the hiding cats, the OutClan leader walked right on past the bush and two warriors as those behind him followed.
Looking in the direction Thistlestar had come, Wolftail waited for a familiar black and brown pelt to fill her field of vision. Finally spotting Briarnose, Wolftail turned to Brownpelt.
"I see him, he's coming this way!" She whispered fiercely, jutting her chin out in his direction. Brownpelt's lake-blue eyes looked his way and he nodded silently.
When the OutClan warrior was walking directly in front of them, Wolftail whispered, "Briarnose!" Briarnose, and along with all the warriors around him included, stopped and looked in their direction.
"What was that?" Falcontail snarled, taking a step closer to the bush as Wolftail and Brownpelt shied away. Briarnose followed Falcontail's gaze and his eyes widened when he spotted the two perpetrators.
"It sounded like a cat." Shadefoot said quietly, with a little bit of an edge.
"Do you think it could be someone from the camp we're on our way towards, making sure nothing happens to their clanmates?" Falcontail went on, sniffing the air. Nodding to each other, Wolftail held her breath as the OutClan cat's all moved towards the bush in unison. She was relieved when Briarnose's fearful expression lit up as an idea came.
Shoving past his clanmates, he hurriedly stepped in front of the bush, blocking the LighrClan cat's from view.
"Whatever it is, I'll go check it out! You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up to you in a bit!" Briarnose said quickly, throwing a glare behind him. Although Wolftail knew he couldn't see her, she gave a guilty grin nonetheless. While his clanmates gave each other curious glances, Briarnose turned and dove straight into the bush without a word, leaving his companions confused beyond measure. Nearly running straight into the duo, Wolftail backed away as best as possible. Narrowly missing Briarnose's hulking body, she gave a sigh of relief when Falcontail, Shadefoot and Toadpelt finally moved on. Looking back to Briarnose, she gulped at his furious demeanor.
Dipping his head, he shook it back and forth while he scoffed. "This has better be worth it, because you two would've been toast if they'd found you first." Briarnose said under his breath, growling. Wolftail shared a look with Brownpelt and frowned. When Briarnose didn't show any signs of looking up, she cleared her throat a little awkwardly.
"U-um well, we just wanted to tell you that Frostheart had something troubling to tell us before we left."
Immediately Briarnose's head snapped up. "Is she okay?" He asked, desperation tainting his voice.
Wolftail nodded. "She's fine, but she had a realization." She looked at Brownpelt and he wrapped his tail around her back.
Briarnose noticed the action but chose not to speak on it. Instead, he flicked his tail impatiently. "Well, what is it?" He demanded.
Brownpelt snorted. "You're not gonna like it."
Briarnose narrowed his eyes. "Whether I like it or not, I need to know." His eyes darkened. "Especially when it comes from her."
Wolftail sighed and shook her head. "Alright, here goes." Closing her eyes in order to gain some closure, Wolftail slowly reopened her eyes. "Frostheart realized that since we didn't say anything to our leaders, we could've prevented Massacre's entire attack, or at least prepared accordingly beforehand so nothing bad could've happened." Wolftail bit her lip as newfound sorrow washed over her. "But we kept silent, and now look what's happened."
Looking up to get Briarnose's reaction, Wolftail wasn't surprised to see a look of shock on the toms face, which quickly turned to sadness. But what did surprise Wolftail was his response.
Sighing, he hung his head. "Yeah, I came to realize that too." Briarnose said melancholily.
Wolftail's jaw dropped. "What? You realized that too?" She gasped, blinking in disbelief.
Brownpelt scoffed and turned away. "Well of course he already realized, those two are mates for a reason." Briarnose frowned angrily at the tom and then his eyes shifted to Wolftail.
"So she told you, huh?" He deadpanned, his eyes downcast. "Why am I even surprised."
Wolftail blinked somberly at the multicolored tom and smiled apologetically.
"I don't care that you two are together," she said. "In fact, I'm happy for you." In the back of her mind, Wolftail was convincing herself as much as Briarnose.
His features brightened as Briarnose perked. "Really?" He asked, ears pricked forward.
Wolftail nodded, a little forcefully. "Yeah, I am." She rolled her eyes as Brownpelt snorted from beside her. "And I'm sorry it's so obvious that Brownpelt clearly disagrees with this whole ordeal." She added, throwing him a glare that he ignored.
He snorted again. "Pfft, you got that right." He confirmed, looking out the bushes front.
"Brownpelt!" Wolftail scolded, swatting him with her tail. He didn't asnwer, just kept staring outside. "The groups gone, we should probably get back." He said nonchalantly, and Wolftail's jaw nearly dropped open.
Looking into Briarnose's conflicting brown eyes, she took a step towards him and softly pressed her nose into his neck as a sign of apology. "I'm sorry for how he's acting, I don't know what's going on with him." She explained, sharing a look with Briarnose as Brownpelt stared straight forward, an ear flicking as a twig snapped up ahead somewhere.
He chuckled. "Don't worry, you learn to get over his hotheaded personality." Briarnose said, a teasing glint in his eyes. But the light demeanor quickly changed to confusion and Briarnose titled his head at Wolftail. "How come your apologizing anyway? It's not like he's your charge or anything." When Wolftail didn't seem to agree, Briarnose frowned. "Did something happen?" He asked simply and Wolftail sighed.
Blinking her eyes slowly, Wolftail refused to meet Briarnose's gaze as she answered him. "Yeah, we're mates now." She confessed, dropping her head.
Briarnose blinked as a playful smirk began to play along his muzzle. "Oh so it finally happened, huh?" He teased, eyes glittering.
Wolftail snorted. "Don't even start." She warned, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
Briarnose quirked a brow. "Start? Oh believe me, I haven't even began yet." He said, licking his lips. Wolftail flattened her ears but was relieved when Brownpelt came to her rescue.
"Hey," he suddenly snapped from the front of the bush, turning to glare at Briarnose. "Quit picking on my mate, will ya?" Brownpelt's blue eyes were filled with malice as he stared the other tom down. Briarnose just grinned wickedly and the LightClan warrior hissed.
"The group is only getting farther away the longer we sit here and dawdle, so I suggest we do as I said earlier and move out, they're gonna wonder where we are." Brownpelt said sharply, and then leapt through the bush without another word. Sharing a glance, Briarnose smiled largely at Wolftail and only received an eye roll as she too jumped trough the bush.
As soon as Briarnose met them on the outside of the foliage, they said their goodbyes and then he was on his way, back to his place in the front. Wolftail and Brownpelt also made their way back to their group as the seemingly endless night dragged on. Days slowly blended together as the two clans pressed on continuously, never stopping for long except to eat and get minimal rest. It soon became a routine. Stop for the night to catch up on sleep, get up early the next morning and continue on, and stop to eat when absolutely necessary. The cat's were all exhausted; no amount of sleep could rub the amount of fatigue away that rested on everyone's shoulders. Nevertheless, they kept going. Day after day, night after night, until finally, they reached Massacres camp on a particularly warm midday. Panting and barely feeling any of their paws, the leaders both decided to wait until nightfall until the raid, and many were grateful.
Hearing the pair of cats moving forward in unison, Wolftail looked up as Thistlestar and Ashstar sat side by side in front of the group from atop a small hillock to address.
"OutClan and LightClan, the time has finally come, for us to take back what was rightfully ours." Ashstar began, tail sweeping.
Thistlestar took a step forward and Ashstar not so discreetly wrinkled her nose in disgust at his upfront behavior. "Our kidnapped clanmates will suffer no more." Thistlestar continued, large claws reflecting the sunsets warm glow. "It is time we show them their freedom."
Ashstar stood taller next to Thistlestar, clearing her throat. "It's time we show this rebelling fox-heart who he's truly dealing with." She said, and cheers rang up. "It's time we take our clanmates back by force, by using the concealment of the night." Wolftail's smile drooped as she heard this news. Looking around, she could tell by the facial expressions around her that she wasn't alone in not agreeing with this plan of the leaders. The excitement from before died down immensely, and angry retorts and squabbles soon rang up, creating a sour atmosphere.
Wolftail turned to Brownpelt as he snorted in confusion. "They want us to do a silent raid, I'm calling it right now." She complained, ears drooping.
He flicked his ears. "Why would they role us up if we're attacking passively?" He looked at her with a neutral expression and then snapped his head forward when the leaders moved.
Wolftail narrowed her eyes. He has a point, she thought, then looked back up at the leaders.
Thistlestar stepped forward and silenced the argumentative audience with a warning hiss. "Clanmates, we don't know how many cats that this group has in their camp, nor how strong they are, so we're going to attack silently, and get our stolen kits and apprentices back without alerting any of their own." His brown eyes scanned around as more whispering sounded, but Wolftail couldn't tell if it was good or bad.
Turning to Brownpelt, she whispered under her breath, "told ya."
Eyes narrowed, the large OutClan leader went on, not hearing the black and white warriors comment. "If their numbers are larger than ours, then having them know we're here is suicide. If we don't do this quietly and flawlessly, we will surely fail." Thistlestar explained, wisdom alit in his eyes.
Ashstar leaned forward, blinking slowly. "We know you're all angry, but this is the only safe and sophisticated way of getting our clanmates back, so we ask that you don't fight us, but fight them, and do this quietly so we can get away unscathed." She pleaded, raising a paw. Planting it in front of her, her claws slid out and sunk into the ground cleanly and Wolftail tipped her head in annoyance. She couldn't change the fact that they were going to do this raid in the dark, but still wished that they attacked instead. To Wolftail, it seemed like a sign of weakness, like they weren't strong enough to take action and take their stolen clanmates back. No matter how much Ashstar sugarcoated it with her fancy wording, they were going to get them back passively, not by force.
Sighing, she laid down and waited for the sun to finally retire, and closed her weary eyes. When the moon rose to its rightful place in the sky, Wolftail opened her eyes as new life rushed into her, more energy and strength flowing in her veins. Blinking, she looked over as the leaders went over the plan one last time, and finally chose to carry it through.
Standing back up, Wolftail shook out her pelt and licked her lips, ready to get a move on. Hearing shuffling, she looked over to see Brownpelt approaching her. Reaching her, he leaned forward and Wolftail touched her nose to his. Feeling her cheeks heat, she pulled away first.
Brownpelt looked into her eyes, looking reenergized. "You ready for this?" He asked her quietly, tilting his head while he awaited her answer.
Nodding, Wolftail stood taller. "Oh yeah, definitely."
"Then let's do this!" Ashstar suddenly said, making her way towards Wolftail and Brownpelt with her eyes narrowed in determination. Nodding to the two warriors, she continued on towards the front of the group once again with Thistlestar meeting her there.
"LightClan and OutClan, friends and family, the time has finally come for us to take back our stolen clanmates from this rivaling tyrant once and for all, and then that we are not to be overlooked." Ashstar said, and clamoring yowls rant up after her words, promising of vengeance.
Wolftail couldn't help an eye roll. Yeah, keep playing it out like we're going to attack, when in fact we're not, she thought bitterly, shaking her head.
Thistlestar stood taller and Wolftail reluctantly looked in his direction as the noise from within ceased. "Again we remind you that we are going to be relying on stealth as our number one attack mechanism for this raid, and we also ask that you do as we say, no matter what happens." He explained as murmurs began to sound. Thistlestar leaned closer to the group of cats, silencing them while they anticipated his next words. "If something goes wrong while we're down there, get the kits and apprentices, no matter what." He said seriously, a stubborn glint in his eye. Ashstar looked at him sympathetically and spoke.
"Were going to leave in four groups intermixed with both clans so we can have different skill sets with different cats." Multiple nods followed her words, and not a single complaint rose up. Wolftail watched with Brownpelt by her side as the cat's around her began to cheer. Claws were unsheathed and lips were curled in preparation for battle. Narrowing her eyes, Wolftail flexed her claws and readied her senses.
Thistlestar stepped forward. "Clanmates and clan cats, the line up for the four groups are as follows: Coldflight, Toadpelt, Maplefur, Blackshade, group one." Thistlestar started, looking out across the sea of two clans. Anticipating the groups that she and Brownpelt would be in, Wolftail looked at him with a longing side glance and twined her tail with his. Thistlestar went on without a moments hesitation. "Falcontail, Greyheart, Briarnose, Brownpelt, group two." He announced, and Wolftail's heart sank. Hearing Brownpelt scowl, she turned and looked as he flared his nostrils.
"Ah man, I already have to deal with my mate not being in the same group as me and now Briarnose too? It's like the world is testing me." He complained, dropping his head. Wolftail placed a paw on top of his as his group began to move off to the side.
"It'll be okay, you can do this without me." She said comfortingly. "And plus you know Briarnose, you know how to get along with him." Brownpelt's eyes shifted to Wolftail with a look that made her heart beat faster.
"That may be true, and I know I can handle Briarnose, but I'm more worried about you Wolftail." He explained, blue eyes anxious. Wolftail stopped and blinked at him. "Since were separate groups, what if something happens to you? What if I'm not there to protect you?" He said, his voice catching. Wolftail stared at him with silent understanding, and stepped forward to run her jaw along his cheek.
"I'll be okay, just worry about yourself." Wolftail said, her mates scent enveloping all of her senses. Pulling away, she looked over to see the second group impatiently staring at the two LightClan cats. "You'd better go, they're waiting for you." She said, gesturing to the waiting cats. With a finely goodbye, Brownpelt finally turned away and began walking towards his group and gave Briarnose a welcome nod. Sighing in relief, Wolftail turned as Ashstar picked back up on the line up.
"The third group will consist of Shadefoot, Darktail, Moleclaw, and Wolftail." Ashstar announced, and then stepped back. The LightClan warrriors mouth dropped.
"I'm with all OutClan warriors?!" She hissed under her breath. First Brownpelt, and now this? Wolftail thought in absurdity. Could this whole situation have gone any worse?!
Snorting, Wolftail obediently took her place among the others and felt her ears droop.
Chuckling, the warrior to the left of her leaned close to her ear. "We're gonna have the greatest of times!" Moleclaw said, snickering. Darktail and Shadefoot shared the laugh too and Wolftail flattened her ears further.
"Were gonna have a ball!" Darktail added, chittering. They laughed a little harder, relishing in the fact that Wolftail was uncomfortable.
With the last group being named and put into a group, that left only the leaders to choose which group they'd be joining. Thistlestar nodded to Ashstar and stepped forward, swishing his tail back and forth. "Ashstar and I will be leading separate groups for this specific attack, so dont argue when you get or don't get the leader you want." Wolftail held onto what little hope she had left as Ashstar cleared her throat and stepped forward.
Please lead my group, please lead my group! She pleaded in her head. I need someone else from my clan!
Sitting back down and staring at the cat's below her, Ashstar spoke. "I will be leading group one, and Thistlestar will be leading group four." Wolftail willed her jaw not to drop again and nearly failed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" She cursed under her breath. Shadefoot looked her way and nudged her with his shoulder from her right.
"Looks like your all on your own, little girl." He said quietly, showing his teeth. "But don't worry, we'll protect you." Wolftail shrugged him off and looked back up at the two leaders.
"Now," Thistlestar began again. "For those of you who don't have one of us as your leader, you will have leaders within your group of four." He pauses and looked down at a multicolored warrior. "Falcontail will lead group two."
"And Wolftail will lead group three." Ashstar said while smiling. Wolftail hadn't even realized that she was looking at her until her name had been spoken. Feeling some sense of belonging rush back into her system, she stood taller and blinked when the three OutClan cats snickered from both sides of her.
"Now," Ashstar began and everyone quieted. "We move out! LightClan and OutClan, stay strong, stay true, and stay pure. Group one, to me!" Immediately, the cat's in the first group ran to stand below Ashstar and she swiftly leapt down from the slope to meet them. With one leader still standing, Thistlestar looked down and nodded to Falcontail.
Nodding back, he grinned and made his way to the front, right next to Ashstar's group. "Group two, to me!" Falcontail yowled, and his warriors followed obediently.
With a respectful nod from her leader, Wolftail realized it was her turn to call her warriors to the front. Smiling, she stood up and began to padded towards the front.
Turning and sitting, She yowled, "group three, to me-" but cut herself off when she realized that Shadefoot, Moleclaw and Dawntail were already making their way towards her before she'd spoken a word. Feeling a little awkward, she shook it off and blinked. Hearing the gigging and guffaws, Wolftail was grateful when Thistlestar gave his warriors a warning glare that immediately quieted them, and felt a little better.
Standing taller and more fierce, Thistlestar boomed, "group four, to me!" At once, the remaining group ran to his side, containing Dapplepelt, Barktail, Mistfur and Snowfang.
Finally with everyone ready, Ashstar and Thistlestar shared a look and the LightClan leader smiled.
"LightClan and Outclan, friends and family, it is time we take back our stolen kits and apprentices once and for all." Giving one last long look at the group of loyal clan cats, she faced the woods. On my mark: to victory we go, charge!" She yowled at last, and her voice was lost in the noise of stampeding paws and shouting cat's.