Dawnberry's Escape

Chapter 7

  Splashfoot immediately dashed out from Brightstar’s den, followed by the leader. “Attack?” He demanded. “Where?” 

  “By the ShadowClan border! They crossed our border, a huge group of them! They’ve been stealing prey. We have to go help them, they’re being shredded!” Whitepaw gasped, panting hard. 

  “Who’s on the patrol?” Brightstar mewed urgently. 

  “Sandpelt, Fishfur and Carppaw!” Whitepaw reported, eyes wild. 

  “RiverClan!” Brightstar yowled. A few warriors came out from their dens, and Minnowpaw, who was given a sleep-in, padded out sleepily, but her eyes flew open when she saw her bloody sister.

  “We are being attacked! Splashfoot, you will go with Darkstorm, Rainfeather, Maplefang and Carppaw! Now!” Brightstar ordered. "I will take Stormheart, Stonestripe and Ivywater for back up. Go!" 

  Streamlight hissed, “Bluekit, Dawnkit! We have to go back to the nursery, just in case the camp is going to be attacked. Now!” She forgot about Dawnkit's swimming. 

   Dawnkit slipped into the nursery, disappointed becuase she wanted to defend her territory from those mangy ShadowClan cats.

  “But I want to fight!” Bluekit wailed, echoing Dawnkit's thoughts.

  “Well, you can’t! Nursery, now! I’m going to find Morningkit.” Streamlight sprinted to the medicine den. 

  Dawnkit and Bluekit reluctantly arrived at the nursery, still listening to Brightstar giving out orders. 

  “What about me?” Minnowpaw had complained. “I want to fight too!” 

  “You, will be looking guarding the camp. I can't guarantee that ShadowClan won't attack the camp. ” Brightstar ordered. 

  “Okay.” Minnowpaw sounded disappointed in missing a battle, but still she darted into the entrance, keeping a lookout for any intruders.

  “Nettlefur! Feathernose! Breezethorn! Help me defend the camp if necessary! I’ll be back quickly.” Brightstar hurried to the elders’ den, then to the nursery. 

  “If ShadowClan comes here, Mistpool, Streamlight, you help defend the camp. Nightleaf will be here soon. Keep the kits safe.” Brightstar commanded, then dashed back outside. 

  “I want to fight!” Bluekit and Sunkit protested. 

  “If any intruder comes into the nursery, you can defend the nursery.” Mistpool promised. 

  “I’ll protect the nursery from any intruder! Frog-brained ShadowClan! RiverClan is the best!” Sunkit mewled. Mistpool licked him fondly. 

  After a while, cats started coming back into the camp. Bluekit’s fur bristled, but it laid flat after finding out that the cats were just RiverClan warriors. 

  Maplefang cheered, “We beat the ShadowClan cats. They think we don’t have back up, but we do!” 

  Nightleaf hurried out from the nursery, quickly examining each cat. She went back to the nursery. 

  “I need all the help I could get. There are so many wounded cat. Streamlight, would it be okay if I get Morningkit to help out? She knows the basic herbs and skills to fix these cats up.” Nightleaf asked. 

  Morningkit’s eyes shone. “Yes! Please, Streamlight!” 

  “Okay, okay. You may. I’ll go out with you. I hope Stormheart is okay... Stay here, kits!” Streamlight, Morningkit and Nightleaf trotted out of the warm den. 

  “Mistpool, it’s so boring to stay in here after a fight! I want to see what happened!” Pebblekit whined. 

  “Please, Mistpool? I want to go outside!” Graykit pleaded. grea

  Finally Mistpool gave in. “Fine, fine. Let’s go outside. Don’t distract Nightleaf or Morningkit, and definitely don’t bug the warriors into telling you about the battle yet!” 

  “Streamlight told us to stay here, but it’s unfair. Could we come too? Please?” Bluekit  begged. 

  Mistpool sighed. “You won't let me go if I don't allow you to, won't you. I’ll explain to Streamlight. Come on out.” 

  Dawnkit saw the bloody warriors, and some of them looked bad. Sandpelt had a long, but thankfully light, gash on her stomach; Foxwing had a torn ear and a bloody paw; and Stormheart had a deep cut on his cheek and several bleeding scratches on his back. 

  She listened to what Splashfoot was telling Brightstar. “...placed their scent markers onto our side. I think they want our territory. There were around six or seven cats. Even Pineclaw was there. It wasn’t an accident, it was done on purpose. Don’t they have enough land? What use is RiverClan land if they can’t fish?” Pineclaw was the ShadowClan deputy. 

  Brightstar replied calmly, “They probably want to give us a warning that ShadowClan could do whatever they want, which they can’t. Hopefully this loss has made them realize that RiverClan will fight to defend our territory. Did you put the scent markers on the right spot after the battle?” Splashfoot nodded. 

  “Good.” Brightstar meowed. “If they continue to put scent markets on our land, we will go over to their side and talk with Newtstar. If they still continue to do this, we will battle.” 

  When all of the wounds have been treated, the hunting patrol came back, jaws filled with prey. 

  “What happened?” Oakclaw’s surprised meow inquired. 

  “ShadowClan trouble. They set their markets on our land.” Foxwing replied, his wounds being sealed by cobwebs. 

  “Good, we have prey.” Brightstar leapt onto the Skyrock, and summoned the Clan. Dawnkit and Bluekit sat near Stormheart and Leafshade.  

  “I’m sure you all know about the battle so I won't elaborate on it. If this continues, we will pay a visit to Newtstar. If they still do this after the visit, we will fight. Right now, the cats who fought should get something to eat. Nightleaf will decide if you need rest. Splashfoot will organize a hunting patrol so we can have more food. We will patrol the ShadowClan border more often now.” Brightstar, upon finishing, disappeared into her den.