A Misty Path (A Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

"I thought you said they were here!" Spottedface growled.

"They were." Mistpaw was close to sobbing. "I - I don't know where they went! They should still be here - "

"You'd better not be tricking us, Mistpaw," Spottedface. "I don't appreciate apprentices wasting my time!"

"Guys!" Leafsplash called out. "I can smell them!" She sniffed a flattened clump of grass. "Hm, that's strange."

"What is it?" Jayclaw padded over.

"ShadowClan as well..." Leafsplash noted.

"What?" That would explain why there were so many of them, Mistpaw thought.

"We have to go, now!" Iceshine ordered. The cats all nodded and Leafsplash led the patrol, her expert tracking skills picking up the intruders' scent. They hurried along the RiverClan moorland for a while before Mistpaw realised they were headed in one direction: towards camp. Cold dread filled her heart, chilling her pelt as if she'd been thrown into ice-cold water. The rest of the patrol seemed to realise too, and anxiety hung over the group as they ran. Beetleshell slowed to dash alongside his daughter and gave her a reassuring lick.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," her father assured her. But Mistpaw wasn't so confident; where was the patrol? And why were the trespassers heading towards camp? They needed land, not a whole other territory! And what happened to Dewspeck and that ThunderClan  she-cat Daisyfur? She hadn't seen them resurface, but surely they hadn't drowned... right?

Finally, they could see the gorse barrier ahead of them, and Mistpaw almost cried out in terror. The barrier that protected the camp was strewn with blood and bits of fur... ThunderClan and ShadowClan fur! "They've forced their way in!" Iceshine darted past the rest of her patrol and rushed into the entrance, her snow-white fur snagging on the thorns as she struggled to hurry in. Her patrol was right behind her. Mistpaw could hear screaming and battle yowls inside. Without thinking she hurried past Beetleshell and into the camp.

When she reached the camp entrance, however, she choked back a yelp of distress. Within the RiverClan camp, the safe haven for the Clan to sleep, eat and relax, had turned into a war zone. Cats were on top of each other, ripping out chunks of fur and tearing pelts and dens apart. Blood covered the entire camp as the overwhelmed Clan found two battle-ready bloodthirsty Clans upon them. The four young apprentices, Mossypaw, Snowpaw, Whitepaw and Willowpaw, were yowling fiercely as they charged at any enemies that were unfortunate enough to come in front of them.  Frostspike was defending the elders' den, her fur fluffed up aggressively but her eyes wide with terror. Sandycove alone had driven away almost a dozen warriors, her pale orange flanks heaving but her eyes gleaming with a ferocious light. Mistlefrost and Speckledpaw were guiding injured cats out of camp, as the medicine den was torn apart and crawling with deadly enemies, destroying the supplies Speckledpaw hadn't managed to gather up. Palestar was fighting off at least three warriors, his swipes lessening in strength as he began to weaken from the injuries and exhaustion. With a furious yowl, Iceshine launched herself at the attackers and drove them away from her leader. Minnowfall and Jayclaw were already backed into a corner, but were growling fiercely at the cats in front of them. Spottedface, Leafsplash and Beetleshell rushed past the shocked Mistpaw and they too entered the fray.

Mistpaw looked around, terrified. Perchscale, Mudpaw and Sandpaw weren't here! She could only hope they, and Dewspeck, were on their way, but she doubted the possibility. And where was Cloudpool? Her mother was supposed to be here too! She shook her head. She couldn't worry about that. Right now, her Clanmates needed help.

She had barely taken a step into the camp, however, before a ShadowClan warrior, who was clearly younger than his companions, launched himself at her. "Ow - " she hissed as he bit into her silver tabby pelt. Her claws tore his dark red fur, and he hissed in fury.

"You stuck-up RiverClan kittypets are have it lucky! You probably don't know it feels to starve!" The dark ginger tomcat's fur spiked up in rage. "You don't need all this land, you only need the river to eat!"

"And what happens when the river freezes over?" spat Mistpaw, remembering Beetleshell's tales of the frozen river and a starving Clan. The other Clans probably thought they were so privileged, lounging around and sleeping all day. The tom didn't answer, so she flipped him over and pinned him down. "What happens when we do starve?" Leaning down, she bared her teeth in his face. "You don't know the first thing about being a RiverClan cat, so stop pretending!"

The ShadowClan warrior hesitated, but suddenly Mistpaw was thrust up and thrown off him. He pounced, and she reared up to meet him, but at the last moment he dropped down, scraping at her exposed underbelly. She shrieked in pain, and prepared for another blow as she fell down, but the dark shadow was lifted away. She looked up and gasped in joy and relief.