Skullcrash and the Wisps of the Water

Chapter 2

Skullpaw widened his eyes as he saw a large ShadowClan patrol stalking towards him.

"Clearly SkyClan is too used to the gorge to care about borders." said a tortoiseshell she-cat, who for an unknown reason smelled of crow-food.

Even in his fear, Skullpaw still felt a jolt of anger. "Hey, that's not true! You're the ones that always cross our territory!"

An apprentice who seemed to be Skullpaw's age stepped forward, growling, but the dark tabby tom who seemed to be his mentor narrowed his eyes and didn't stop them.

"Skullpaw!" rang Beetlepaw's familiar voice. "What kind of mouse-brain are you, crossing the border?!"

Skullpaw snapped his gaze away from the ShadowClan patrol to look at his surroundings. There was a cluster of pine trees around him, and a startled frog hopped away. He was in ShadowClan territory!

'Beetlepaw's right.' Skullpaw thought bitterly. 'I should have been looking where I was going.'

"We should teach you a lesson." growled a black tom. "Nobody comes and steals our prey and comes out alive."

"But I didn't come to steal prey! I just-"

"I'm not buying it. That's so typical of SkyClan, to send out a young apprentice with the chance they might be let off the hook." snorted the tom.

"I don't know guys, the trespasser might be telling the truth." meowed an older apprentice."

"Shush, Frogpaw." hissed the tortoiseshell cat.

"Skullpaw! I'm coming for you!" Beetlepaw called.

Skullpaw was surprised Beetlepaw cared and didn't leave him with the patrol, but he shook the thought off, knowing that there were more important matters to think about at the moment.

"Well. Should we get rid of this cat? I'll let you decide." grumbled the black tom to the rest of the patrol.

All of the cats besides Frogpaw yowled their agreement, the young apprentice looking ready to leap on top of Skullpaw.

Beetlepaw rushed forward and blocked the patrol from advancing to Skullpaw, confident.

"Huh, another puny apprentice." mumbled a gray she-cat.

"Oh, I get it now! Dappledstar is trying to get us to kill one of you so she can start a war!" screeched the black tom. "Well, we're not stupid."

"I guess we have no other decision but to let them go?" called a cat in the patrol.

"I just say we just kill them both and let Dappledstar start a war. We all know ShadowClan would win easily, anyway." snorted the tortoiseshell.

Skullpaw was too stunned to speak, but Beetlepaw did it for him anyway.

"No way! We're heading back to SkyClan, war or not. You don't scare us."

The black tom laughed coldly. "Fool. Come with us if you know what's good for you. Aspenheart, go alert Duskstar about what he'll be expecting."

The gray she-cat called Aspenheart nodded and sprinted forward in the assumed direction to ShadowClan camp.

"What if these two are spies? They'll know the way to camp." hissed the young apprentice. "We ought to bring Duskstar here."

"Pah, let them see. Dappledstar has been this way before anyways." replied the black tom. "Here's a little advice, SkyClan cat. You're not in the nursery anymore. You're in the real world. But soon, you'll be in trouble, or if we're lucky, dead."

The tortoise shell yowled an alarm. "What are more doing her-"

"SKULLPAW! BEETLEPAW! WHAT IN STARCLAN ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Frostedpelt.

"More! An ambush!" screeched the black tom. "I knew it, SkyClan has been trouble from the start!"

In an instant, the black tom leaped on top of Skullpaw, pinning him, and hissed in his ear, with his claws raised. "You guys really are a piece of work. But ShadowClan is stronger. Let this be-"

The black tom was knocked backward by Beetlepaw.

Cats from the patrol were yowling either in confusion or anger. So much was happening that Skullpaw was still frozen in place, shocked.

"What is happening here?"