Grojcats!

Raggedpaw: The Battle

An orange tom with sleek fur trudged across the marshes, his eyes flickering at every movement that he saw. He saw a white she-cat waiting for him across the trees.

"Sagewhisker." the tom said.

"Flametail." the she-cat replied. "Where is Russetfur?"

"StarClan knows." Flametail muttered. Sagewhisker gave him a look of annoyance.

"We are StarClan!" Sagewhisker huffed. "All three of us need to be here!"

"We can find another former ShadowClan cat!" Flametail snapped. "I'll ask Owlwhisker!"

"She's the deputy, we need her!" Sagewhisker snapped. "One of our cats was reincarnated and we need to find out who!"

Nick felt cats turning beside him, he felt a paw push his nose.

"St-Stop." Nick giggled. "Let me sleep!"

"GET UP!"

Nick got up and tripped in shock, he struggled back up on all four paws to see his mentor.

"Border patrol." Tigerheart growled. "You woud've overslept if I hadn't woke you up, you'll need to learn to wake up early!"

"Sorry, Tigerheart." Nick got up. "I'm ready."

"Good." Tigerheart walked out.

Nick looked and saw Fawnpaw and Hollowpaw had already left for their respective patrols.

Nick stretched and yawned briefly before following his mentor.

As Nick followed Tigerheart, Scorchfur and Snowbird came along.

"Raggedpaw, do you remember what border this is?" Tigerheart asked.

"Er...um..." Nick looked away.

"Sniff the air."

Nick threw his head in a weird notion to sniff the air, causing Scorchfur and Snowbird the snicker.

"ThunderClan?" Nick replied.

"Very good." Tigerheart shot the other two cats a glare. "ThunderClan will always cross the border and pretend they didn't on purpose. They're the troublesome Clan, and they always let in kittypets."

"Kittypets?" Nick tilted his head.

"Yep, they're a nuisance. Most of us consider they're not even a real Clan!" Tigerheart said.

"Then how come they're still a Clan?" Nick asked.

Silence.

"You know what?" Scorchfur said. "That's actually a good question."

Nick heard Scorchfur, Snowbird, and Tigerheart in a heated discussion about the "fate" of ThunderClan. He listened to every bit of it, no matter how silly their words were.

"How would we even kick them out?" Snowbird asked. "They've been a Clan since the dawn of time!"

"They've gone soft though." Scorchfur sneered. "The only reason they've survived all these moons is because they're StarClan's favorite."

"Are we really considering kicking them out?" Tigerheart said. "Because if we are, we need to talk to the other Clans about it."

"Rowanstar's mate is from ThunderClan, Mistystar's mother was ThunderClan, and Onestar and Firestar were practically best friends!" Snowbird protested. "They wouldn't even give it a second thought!"

"ThunderClan cat!" Nick gasped. The scent was too recognizable.

"I smell it too!" Tigerheart growled. "Let's get them! Raggedpaw, go back to the Clan to warn the others!"

Raggedpaw turned tail and ran past the bushes. He was determined to help his Clan.

"When will they become apprentices?"

"Soon, Dawnpelt." Rowanstar licked his chest fur. "I'm still thinking about who should mentor them."

"Grassbreeze can have Hazelkit." Dawnpelt said. "Who will mentor Rainkit?"

"Er...Ferretclaw will." Rowanstar said, lifting his head. He saw a silhouette at the entrance of the cave moving fast. Nick appeared and almost ran into Dawnpelt.

"Oh, sorry!" Nick said. "Rowanstar! We found ThunderClan scent at the border!"

"What?" Rowanstar gasped. "SHADOWCLAN!"

Cats from all directions appeared near the entrance of Rowanstar's den, curious heads looking over the sea of pelts.

"Crowfrost, I want you to lead Owlclaw, Grassbreeze, Ferretclaw, Spikeclaw, Stoatfur, Dawnpelt, Minkpaw, Fawnpaw, and Hollowpaw to the sight!" Rowanstar yowled. Crowfrost lead the army out of the camp.

"What about me?" Nick looked up.

"You've haven't even been an apprentice for a sunrise!" Rowanstar snorted. "Watch Hazelkit and Rainkit for Dawnpelt while she's out."

"OK" Nick sighed, he turned to leave.

"Don't be offended, Raggedpaw. There'll be many battles yet!" Rowanstar meowed.

Nick saw Hazelkit and Rainkit attempting to follow their mother, he ran to them and placed his tail around them.

"Let us go!" Hazelkit protested. "We want to fight!"

"No, you're too young!" Nick said.

"Are not! I'll shred those ThunderClan cats to pieces!" Rainkit growled.

Nick sighed, he attempted to lead the kits away, but they struggled. Nick saw a black she-cat he recognized as Pinenose head over, he plump belly swinging as she rushed to the kits.

She wrapped her tail around Hazelkit and Rainkit and led them away.

"Thanks, Pinenose." Nick said.

"Anytime, hope you're happy here!" Pinenose purred. Nick smiled and took a squirrel to eat.

As he tore off bits of fur, he wondered.

Am I happy here?

Corey smiled as he frolicked through the grass, his paws stretching out towards a butterfly. He heard shuffling.

I suppose it's other Clan cats enjoying themselves too.

"Hello!" Corey purred. He walked over with a cheerful smile and bright eyes. His eyes widened when his smile was met by yellow eyes and cruel fangs gleaming in the moonlight, hiding behind the bushes.

A huge one the color of the night lunged out from the bushes and pinned Corey. Corey yelped for help, he was gasping as he saw crimson red on his blue shoulders. He whimpered as the yellow eyes stared.

"Your Clan will not go unpunished." the black cat snarled. Nine more cats came out and stared him down.

"Get them!" the black cat snarled. The nine cats ran towards the camp. Their eyes like shining daggers in the night, they lowered till they were shorter than the bushes.

Corey felt his heart drop. He struggled to escape.

The black cat let him go, but bit down on Corey's tail. Corey yowled and turned to attack, but the black tom's paw slapped Corey across the forest floor. Corey felt his jaw hurting and felt his vision blur as the black tom ran away.

I've let ThunderClan down! And Laney's back there! I got to get up!