Warriors: The Unknown Threat Series Book #5: Mysterious Newcomers

Chapter 9: Sunpaw

SUNPAW

            Sunpaw walked towards Bramblestar’s den two days after her sister died. Snowpelt’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “We need to speak with you. Outside of camp,” Snowpelt meowed.

            “I will be taking my deputy Lionblaze with me,” Bramblestar said suspiciously.

            Sunpaw could almost see Snowpelt nodding. “Let’s go then,” Dawnleaf’s voice meowed impatiently.

            Sunpaw darted over to the fresh-kill pile and acted like she was choosing a piece of prey. She pretended not to notice as Bramblestar and the SkyClan cats trudged past her. “Lionblaze!” Bramblestar called into the warriors den. “I need you to come with me into the forest.”

            A loud groan answered him. Sunpaw’s father stumbled groggily out of the den. Bramblestar whispered something in Lionblaze’s ear. The ThunderClan deputy raised his eyebrows and glanced at the SkyClan cats for a moment before nodding. Then, they walked out of camp.

            Sunpaw trotted silently after them. “StarClan has spoken to me again,” Snowpelt was telling Bramblestar. “The orange she-cat said that I had to…”

            Suddenly, Snowpelt paused. Alarm raced through Sunpaw’s body. She prayed to StarClan that he hadn’t scented her. She hid behind the nearest oak tree.

            Snowpelt snorted. “StarClan! You honestly believed us when we told you StarClan sent us here to help you?” he sneered.

            He shoved his nose in Bramblestar’s face. “You know why we’re here?” he asked, stepping backwards. “To kill every member of your puny little Clan!”

            Sunpaw’s jaw dropped in surprise. Lionblaze glared at Snowpelt with a look of undisguised hatred. “You and your band of…of heartless creatures killed my daughter!” he hissed.

            Sunpaw watched in horror as her father unsheathed his claws and leapt at Snowpelt. He was quickly intercepted by Dawnleaf, Moonflame, and Hawktail. Snowpelt was taking on Bramblestar by himself. The SkyClan tom was a much better fighter than Sunpaw thought. Bramblestar may have had the advantage in size, but Snowpelt definitely had the advantage in speed. Snowpelt darted in and delivered a glancing blow to the ThunderClan leader’s front legs. He darted backwards, out of Bramblestar’s reach, before the ThunderClan leader could strike back.

            Lionblaze was doing a pretty good job at keeping the other three cats occupied. His invincibility in battle must have helped.

            Bramblestar dashed forward and attempted to rake his claws across Snowpelt’s face. Snowpelt sidestepped and Bramblestar crashed into a tree. Snowpelt charged towards Bramblestar. The ThunderClan leader rolled out of the way just in time.

            Bramblestar rose to his feet and raked his claws across Snowpelt’s cheek. Snowpelt stumbled backwards and Bramblestar continued to push Snowpelt backwards. It looked quite easy to Sunpaw, almost too easy. Soon, Bramblestar had Snowpelt cornered against a birch tree. Suddenly, Sunpaw saw the trap. She stepped out of hiding and attempted to call out a warning to Bramblestar, but nothing came out of her mouth.

            Snowpelt pushed back with his hindpaws, using the tree to send himself flying over Bramblestar’s head. He landed on the ThunderClan’s leader’s back. Snowpelt turned around and quickly sank his teeth into Bramblestar’s neck. Bramblestar fell onto the ground, blood oozing from his neck.

            Snowpelt ran over to help his comrades. Lionblaze was fighting like a TigerClan cat. Suddenly, he saw Sunpaw and the SkyClan cats took advantage of the distraction. Lionblaze fell onto the ground. “Sunpaw,” he choked out. “Run!”

            Sunpaw couldn’t move. “After you kill Bramblestar and I, what are you going to do next?” Lionblaze asked.

            “We will kill the other Clans’ leaders and rule the forest!” Dawnleaf declared.

            “Why do you want to kill us?” Lionblaze asked another question.

            Snowpelt glared at him. “Quit stalling!” he yelled.

            “Before we kill you, where did your daughter go?” Snowpelt asked. “Answer us, if you prefer a short death to a long, painful one!”

            For a moment, Lionblaze didn’t answer. Sunpaw knew that he knew she was still there. “She left,” he croaked. “Probably returned to camp.”

            Sunpaw crept forward. She was almost there! “Kill him now,” Snowpelt ordered.

            Sunpaw lunged at Snowpelt. She killed him quickly. Hawktail leapt at her and pinned her to the ground. She only had one option…and she didn’t like it. There were two reasons why she didn’t like it. She didn’t want her father to know about it and she didn’t want to temporarily blind Lionblaze. “Lionblaze!” she yowled. “Close your eyes!”

            Smoke began to come off of her fur. She glanced at her father, who thankfully had closed his eyes. “Hey!” Hawktail yowled. “Something is scorching my fur!”

            Sunpaw began to glow. Brighter, she thought. Brilliant white light was all Sunpaw could see. It didn’t bother her, but it obviously bothered the SkyClan cats. “My eyes are burning!” Hawktail screamed in agony.

            “I can’t see anything except white light,” Dawnleaf groaned.

            Sunpaw could feel her energy seeping away. Whenever she did this, it seemed to steal her energy. Stop, she thought. The light faded. Sunpaw felt so tired, and she fell to the ground in exhaustion. “Open your eyes, Lionblaze,” she said.

            “Hawktail! Moonflame!” Dawnleaf cried, stumbling around blindly.

            “I’m okay,” Hawktail croaked. “My eyes aren’t burning any more. But I can still only see light.”

            Lionblaze studied the scene. “Sunpaw, what did you do?” he asked.

            Sunpaw managed to lift her head. “Kill them now,” she said weakly. “It won’t last long.”

            Lionblaze killed the three she-cats as quickly as possible. “I need you to carry me back to camp,” Sunpaw meowed.

            “Tell me what you did, and I’ll take you back to camp,” Lionblaze said.

            Sunpaw sighed. “I temporarily blinded them,” she mumbled.

            “How?” Lionblaze asked.

            Does he really need a demonstration? I won’t blind him, I’ll just give him a faint light, Sunpaw decided.

            Wisps of smoke curled off her fur. A faint glow filled the air. Lionblaze gasped. “Did Pondpaw have powers too?” he asked.

            “I don’t know,” Sunpaw said.

            He sighed. “You are my daughter,” he said. “Perhaps I should’ve guessed that you had superpowers of your own.”

            Bramblestar was just beginning to stir. “Lionblaze!” he called.

            “Don’t worry,” Lionblaze said. “The SkyClan cats are dead.”

            Then, he picked Sunpaw up by the scruff and carried her back to camp.