Secrets of the Stars

Chapter 16

  Roanstar stepped out of his den and hopped onto Highfall rock. Through narrowed eyes, he surveyed the camp. His claws unsheathed and dug into the rock beneath his paws. His tail lashed constantly.

He heard pawsteps and Fieldclaw jumped up onto the ledge. "Roanstar, come to the Medicine den please" The dark tabby said softly. Roanstar glared at him. "No! Why should I"? He asked furiously. Fieldclaw stepped back a pace. "I need to check on your wound's from the last battle with Bloodclan" He answered.

"Fine" Grumpily, Roanstar jumped down and padded towards the Medicine den. He nosed away the reeds and stepped inside. Feildclaw took off the cobweb from his shoulder and sniffed his wound. "Its almost fully healed. I'll just put some fresh poultice and cobweb, then you'll be good" Fieldclaw turned away to his herb stock and grabbed some Chervile root between his teeth, and chewed on it. He spat it out on his paw and spread on it on the wound. The poultice juices started to sink in. And although Roanstar  didn't want to admit it, his shoulder started to feel better.

Fieldclaw pressed some cobweb onto it. "There you go. Feel any better"? He asked. Roanstar twitched his whiskers. "Like I'm not going to be okay"! He thought. "How dare you acuse me of not being fine"?! He growled, unsheathing his claws.

"Woah, calm down. I'm not accusing you of that. Here, let me get something to calm you down" Fieldclaw turned away for a moment, and then came back with Chamomile. "Eat this, okay"?

Roanstar stared down at the herbs, hesitating. "Please, Roanstar. It's not a good idea to be running camp while being a cat with no sense and getting angry at everything" Feildclaw pleaded. Roanstar grumbled a response and grabbed the herbs, and ate them. His claws slid back in, and he let his fur lie flat. "Thank you" He answered with a more gentle voice.

Feildclaw dipped his head. Roanstar got to his paws and headed out. He saw cats look towards him with scared expressions. I seriously scared them? I guess I am being a little harsh. Perhaps I'll go apologize.

He jumped onto Highfall. He lifted his head and yowled so that it drew throughout the camp. "All cat old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highfall for a clan meeting"! Roanstar lowered his head and watched as his clanmates took nervous paces toward the Highfall. A moment later, they were all waiting, and staring at him.

"I have seen how wary you all are. And I'd like to apologize for how I've acted. Your all strong Warriors, and I've been too harsh on you all. But no need to worry, everything will go back to normal.  Tommorrow, we have the Gathering. Whoever would like to go, meet me by my den. This clan meeting is over, your now dismissed" He jumped down went to his den.

Pebblefur padded up to him, sitting down. Mudfoot, Silverpool, Ravenstrike, Stonefall, Rollfeather and Skystream all came up to them. "We'll come. The rest want to stay here" Mudfoot said. Roanstar dipped his head. "We'll leave tommorrow" He turned and went imside his den.

The next day

Roanstar finished up his gopher and stood up. "All cats coming to the gathering follow me"! He yowled. Turning, he padded toward the entrance. He heard the pawsteps of his clanmates that were following him.

They crossed over the log and he went up and leapt onto a space on the rock. Rainstar, Icestar, Berrystar and Marshstar greeted him with dips of their heads. "Shall we start"? Marshstar asked.

"Indeed. You go first" Berrystar said to the Marshclan leader. "Prey is running well in our clan" Marshstar said. He looked at Berrystar.

"We have nothing to report" She said. "Icestar"? The white she-cat flicked her tail. "Amberstreak has given birth to three healthy kits. Snapkit, Whorlkit, and Rockkit"

"Snapkit! Whorlkit! Rockkit"! The crock yowled. Rainstar stepped up when the voices died down. "We have three new apprentices. Birchpaw, Fluffpaw and Frostpaw".

The cats gathered around yowled their names. Finally Roanstar rose up. "Prey is plentiful" He meowed. "And that concludes the Gathering. May Starclan light your paths" Berrystar said, jumping down. With a flick of her tail, Fireclan followed her. Roanstar jumped down and gestured to his clan. They started padding back to camp.

Roanstar paused at the entrance. The sound of yowling cats came from inside the camp. He quickly pushed through the entrance and his eyes widened with horror. His clan were fighting viciously against a clan of rogues. And they weren't just any rogues....

Bloodclan! Oh no..... He spotted Barkfall lying on his side, blood pooling from his neck. He saw a battled scarred tom standing over him, blood dripping from his muzzle. Anger surged up inside him. Roanstar rushed towards the tom and sprang, landing on his back. He sunk his teeth into the cats ear. He batted his claws across his face. The tom shook him off.

"Greetings, Roanstar" The battle scarred tom sneered, stalking towards him. "I'm Terror" He sliced his claws over Roanstar's nose. He locked his jaws around his throat. The tortoiseshell batted at him with his paws. And then something rammed into Terror. It was Mudfoot. He snarled and bit down on Terror's spine.

Terror yowled in pain and slipped out of his grip, darting away. Roanstar staggered to his paws, side heaving. "Thanks" He said. He saw all the Bloodclan cats retreat.

"No"! Mudfoot raced toward Barkfall and collapsed beside his clanmate. "Barkfall is dead! That mangy brute killed him"! Roanstar hurried towards them. He looked down at the fallen Warrior. "Oh no....."