Moon Of Warning - Warrior Cat Fanfiction

Chapter Eight

Moonpaw sat in between Leafnose and Morningflame. Twistsnout come out of his den, grumpily muttering that it had better be important. Duskpelt stopped with his drawing, and went with Marigoldheart to sit in the clearing. Herontail, Treeclaw, Myrtletail, and Whiskerear stepped up to the front, each of them looking somewhat... defiant. Moonpaw jolted. Did they break the warrior code? Did they fight with Laurelstar? A bunch of questions pushed around, trying to get to the front of Moonpaw's mind. The other apprentices were scattered through the throng of cats, and all of them looked just as confused as she was. Shadepaw looked more confused, if that was possible. It was his mentor after all. Every cat looked up at Laurelstar, each had the same question written on their faces, What happened? The gentle Thunderclan leader didn't look very gentle right now. She looked more on the verge of positively murderous. "Shadowclan! At the gathering, I protested a bit stronger than the others, so Cypresstar chose us as his first target! Herontail was smart, he smelled them and came back as quick as possible. They are waiting on the Skyclan border, they must have snuck across to get to us. They are still there, because Herontail found them this dawn. From how it sounds, they plan to attack soon. Very soon. We must train harder, and faster. He has brought most of his clan to attack us. We don't have many cats at this moment, and he does. We must retaliate, and show him he cannot get the best of my warriors!" She yelled, stamping her paw at the last word. She looked down at the small group of cats at the foot of the rock she was standing on. "This meeting is at an end." Her eyes still on the four cats, she walked away. Starlingmist ran to Moonpaw as the others began to disperse. "Moonpaw. Get the other apprentices and their mentors. Now. We need to train." Moonpaw nodded and ran to the first group of cats she saw. Herontail's group. "Herontail! Starlingmist wants us to train! Please get Shadepaw!" She yowled, and she ran for Tulipheart and Slightshadow. She called them out as well. When all four mentors were gathered at the training clearing, Starlingmist started to pace. "Shadepaw, Litchenpaw and Sharppaw. You have great battle skills. But Moonpaw has difficulty with the moves you three have perfected. I want each of you to choose a move that is hard for her, and help her practice them. Then, after she has those down, move down the list. We will train until the sun sets." Moonpaw growled lightly. Her stupid paws! They were so small and always getting in the way! She glanced at the sun. It had risen up, and it was just before sun-high. It was going to be a long training session. She started with the least difficult, and moved up onto harder moves. She practiced first with her brother, because he knew her moves like his own tail. Then Litchenpaw, because she was the most difficult to deal with. She was meant to enrage Moonpaw, and she had to admit, Litchenpaw did a pretty good job. She flicked her paw over the other apprentice's ear, and tried to distract her. Litchenpaw was not distracted very easily. She taunted Moonpaw, commenting on the crescent moon on her head. "Wonder why that thing was on your head? Me too. Maybe it was because even the moon- that isn't even a living thing- is smarter than you?" Even if it was a weak insult, coming from Litchenpaw it made her as mad as if she had just called her a kittypet-groveling mulch-eater. Moonpaw lunged for her throat, and accidentally made the right move. Starlingmist called a halt. "Good job Moonpaw-" Moonpaw interrupted. "I don't even know what I did!" She growled. Starlingmist nodded. "I know. That's why it was good. You try too hard, Moonpaw. If you lose yourself, then you can't do that. So you let your anger lead instead of your thought of being wrong. It was much better than your other tries." She turned, and let Sharppaw come forward. "This time, you will not be angered. You will have a fair fight, and try to use the Upright lock. You have always struggled with this one, and you can never get enough power. This time, pretend your brother was just fatally wounded by Sharppaw. That should give you power." Starlingmist stepped back, and called, "Let the battle begin." Sharppaw lunged for Shadepaw, and swiped with his paw- claws sheathed- and let his paw miss Moonpaw's brother by a whisker. Shadepaw pretended to slump to the ground, and it made the picture much more realistic. Moonpaw hissed, and butted Sharppaw out of the way. She continued to knock the air out of him repeatedly, and when he finally stumbled, she leaped up. She squished him flat against the ground. She stepped back off of him, and looked back at her mentor. "Good. Now we run another circuit with different moves." Moonpaw practiced and practiced, and soon she could do each move fairly well. Starlingmist looked at the sun. "Now let us go home and eat. We will need our strength." They trekked back to camp, every cat thinking about their warm nests. They were greeted at the entrance, and every thought of comfy bedding vanished at Twistsnout's words. "Glad you could make it. Shadowclan is advancing!"