A paw jabbed into Silverstar's shoulder, waking her up from her sleep. No dreams again, she thought. Her brother Stormheart was standing over her.
The sound of her Clanmates arguing filled her ears and she went outside to investigate. Most of the warriors were gathered near the entrance and and when Silverstar walked closer she could hear that they were arguing over what to do about a fox.
"What's going on?" Silverstar asked as the cats turned to look at her. She blinked a few times in an effort to wake herself up more.
"What's going on is that some cats are being mousebrains!" Icenose said, glaring at Flowershine, who was across from him. The black she-cat's fur spiked up with anger and the two cats continued bickering. Their clanmates did the same, even louder than before.
"Will you all shut up?!" Milkbreeze screeched from the elder's den. "Some cats are actually trying to get some sleep!"
Ivyshade's two kits, Firekit and Boulderkit, had been woken up by the noise by now and their mother was glaring furiously at the arguing cats.
"What are you arguing about, anyways?" Silverstar mewed, finally smelling the fox scent coming from the forest.
"Well, this mousebrain wants to charge right into the-" Shadowpool cut Flowershine off and stepped in front of her.
"What our sister is trying to say is that they were arguing over whether or not to go after that fox from a few days ago, because apparently it showed up again last night."
Silverstar sighed. Ever since she was a kit Flowershine had always made a point to argue with almost every cat in the clan.
"How close did the fox get?"
"How close to what?" Icenose mewed, still glaring at Flowershine.
"To the camp, you foxheart! What else could it be?!" Ivyshade, who had been trying to convince her kits to go back to sleep, suddenly turned back and let out an angry hiss.
"If you have to argue, fine, but some use such insults in front of my one moon old kits!" Flowershine's eyes widened and she nodded quickly.
Ivyshade glared at her for a few more seconds until she turned away and shuffled Firekit and Boulderkit back into the nursery.
"It was just as close as last time." Flowershine said quietly, looking at her paws. Icenose looked at her with wide eyes. He must have been surprised that Flowershine, a very confident cat, was now embarrassed and shy because a queen had yelled at her.
"Right up to the camp then?" The fox was an immediate danger to the Clan. Silverstar personally would take Icenose's side of this debate, but she could see where Flowershine was coming from. "We'll need to decide what to do quickly."
"How about we vote?" Berryfall said, standing in the entrance to the medicine den.
"Everyone that wants to go after the fox stand near the medicine den. Everyone who doesn't go to the elder's den." As Clan leader Silverstar didn't get to vote, but it made her Clanmates feel included in decisions, so she put up with not having her voice heard.
The cats walked to their respective places and even Ivyshade decided to vote. Silverstar quickly counted the number of cats for each side and even rechecked her numbers.
"This side has more cats." Silverstar said, pointing towards the cats next to the medicine cat den. "We will be going after the fox after the next patrol gets back."
A few cats went out on patrol and left the others to wait. The cats who had voted not to attack the fox were allowed to skip the attack, but many of them decided to go out of loyalty to their Clan.
By the time the patrol got back StoneClan was prepared for any outcome. The medicine den was stocked with herbs and everyone had been reminded of basic fighting skills.
They followed the strong fox scent through the forest. They were getting close to the RainClan border and Silverstar wondered if they were also having a fox problem. They hadn't reported anything at the last gathering.
"We're getting awfully close to the RainClan border..." Lionpaw said when the group was a couple foxlengths away from the end of their territory.
"The foxes are a threat to StoneClan's safety. I'm sure Lightningstar will let us cross the border just this once."
The foxscent led directly into RainClan territory and Silverstar took a deep breath before stepping over the border. She hoped she was right to lead her Clan into RainClan territory.
Surprisingly they came across no RainClan cats as they traveled along the scent trail towards Highstones. Surely some cat would smell the many enemy cats travelling through their territory?
They reached a large field and could see that Highstones was where the fox had gone. The scent ended in a cave in the side of Highstones and smelled so strongly of fox that Silverstar had to step a tailength back to get some fresh air.
She was about to send some cats into the cave when almost a dozen cats burst out of the forest behind them. It was RainClan.
"Silverstar? What are you doing here?" Lightningstar mewed, her Clanmates' fur prickling behind her. RainClan had brought less cats than StoneClan.
"Well, there have been several fox attacks lately and we decided to track them down. I hope you don't mind that we're on your territory."
"We have also been through some fox attacks. One of our warriors was killed...Perhaps we can work together to fight the foxes?" Silverstar scanned the group of RainClan cats, but she couldn't figure out which warrior was missing.
"We would have a much better chance that way. Does anyone know how many foxes there are?" There had apparently been at least three attacks, but they could all have been the same fox.
Lightningstar looked at her Clan and had just started to shake her head when six foxes jumped out of the cave.
YOU ARE READING
Warriors: FlowerClan's War #1 - A Clan's Choice
Fanfiction**BOOK 1** On the other side of Highstones, three new clans have begun. StoneClan, RainClan, and PondClan have been peaceful for many moons. A new Clan has come to live with them, but their introduction isn't going as well as the cats had hoped. Can...
