Warriors: Divided Loyalty

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nightshrike watched her apprentice stalk a mouse, his tail twitched slightly and Nightshrike sighed softly. Goldenpaw tensed, his shoulders wiggling ever so slightly as he prepared to pounce on the mouse.

Nightshrike smirked, placing her paw on a dry leaf and making it crumble. The mouse's head shot up, as did Goldenpaw's and he watched as his prey scurried away faster than he could run.

"Hey!" Hissed Goldenpaw, tail lashing. "I had that!" He turned on his mentor, eyes flaring with anger. "What was that for?"

Nightshrike flicked her tail, chuckling. "You need to be quicker when you hunt, Goldenpaw." She meowed, gazing at him with amusement in her amber eyes. "Come on, let's head back to camp."

Without waiting for an answer, Nightshrike spun on her heels and padded towards the camp. Goldenpaw followed her, his eyes sharp and ears erect. Suddenly, he stopped and Nightshrike looked back at him in confusion and annoyance.

"Goldenpaw, let's go." She meowed sternly, seeing her apprentice look around. "Have you got bees in your brain? I said, let's go!" Nightshrike lashed her tail. "Fine, you're on tick duty for the rest of the day until you learn to follow orders."

Nightshrike padded towards her apprentice, her patience thinning. "Nightshrike to Goldenpaw!" She meowed, smacking his nose with a paw. That seemed to snap him out of his trance as he blinked at his mentor. "Come on, mousebrain." She rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

Suddenly, weight crashed into her and she lurched forward with a yelp of surprise. Goldenpaw had tackled her and she frowned. What is this idiot doing? Opening her mouth to reprimand him, she didn't get the chance to speak as a voice, smooth like honey began to speak.

"Well, well, well," Nightshrike froze. Uh oh. "What do we have here?" A dark ginger tom with blazing yellow eyes approached them, his tail snaking after him.

"Rowantail," growled Nightshrike as she rose to her paws. "Get off my territory before I get my apprentice here to get more warriors." She threatened, glaring at the exiled tom.

Rowantail chuckled, sitting down with his tail wrapped neatly around his paws. "I'm sure you'll do that regardless of what I do, Nightshrike." He purred, making Nightshrike cringe. "You see, I have friends in your Clan. And surely you don't want your Clanmates to be punished for getting me exiled."

Nightshrike bared her teeth and unsheathed her claws. "Goldenpaw," she murmured. "Go get Iceleaf and a few warriors. We need to get him out of here before he tries something."

Too late, Rowantail had already leaped at Nightshrike. The black warrior shoved Goldenpaw away and reared on her hind legs, bracing for the weight and force of the tom to knock her off her paws. Rowantail crashed into her, making her gasp and fall on her back.

The tom sneered. "Go on, little apprentice. Fetch help and leave her to die a painful death." Rowantail put his paw on Nightshrike's throat and unsheathed his claws. They dug into her neck, making her wince.

Her eyes shifted to her apprentice, who looked nervous. "Go," she croaked. "Get help and leave me." Goldenpaw looked at his mentor. "I can handle him." Nightshrike gave him a small nod and kicked up with her hind legs and sprang at Rowantail.

Her claws struck his nose and she heard him yelp in pain. Dodging a slow blow to the shoulder, Nightshrike heard Goldenpaw fleeing paws race away behind her. A paw raked across her shoulder and she hissed in pain, returning the blow with her clawing his chest. Rowantail growled and sank his teeth into her shoulder, tossing her against a tree.

She groaned as she hit the tree and struggled to her paws, legs trembling. Nightshrike heard Rowantail snickering and she shot him a glare, facing him in a defensive crouch once more. She charged, aiming a fake blow to his face before leaping to the side and slashing his flank.

Rowantail snapped his head around and bit into Nightshrike's tail, dragging her back. His forepaw made connection with her head and she hit the ground, grunting and groaning. "Had enough yet?" He sneered, raking his claws against her flank.

Nightshrike hissed and closed her eyes. She heard a grunt and leaves being crunched and she opened her eyes to see Rowantail being pinned down by a very furious Gorsewhisper.

Nightshrike's father slashed Rowantail on the face, chest, and head many times before stepping off the tom, eyes narrowed. "Why are you here, Rowantail?" He snarled and Nightshrike saw Rowantail flinch.

Vixenpool, Amberpaw, and Mistyflake hurried over to Nightshrike and looked down at her with worry. The world spun and Nightshrike groaned, trying to sit up but failing.

Vixenpool nosed her way under Nightshrike and heaved her onto her shoulders with a grunt of effort. She turned to Mistyflake. "Go help Gorsewhisper. Amberpaw and I can get Nightshrike back to camp." She told the she-cat.

"Too late!" Sneered Rowantail and Nightshrike looked up to see the tom standing on Gorsewhisper's body, blood gushing from the same wound that killed Deerstripe. "Run while you can, you cowards!" He taunted and turned tail and sprinted off into the forest.