Warriors: The Lurking Darkness (Book Two)

Chapter Four: Preparing

CHAPTER 4

The sun was disappearing from the sky as WindClan's camp came into view. I felt like everyone in our patrol was rushing to get home now. All our paws hurt but being back on the moorland was a relief.

We entered the camp quietly, where Firelily sat making the last patrol of the day. She stood up and when she caught sight of us shelet out an excited yell, "Littlecloud is back!"

Gorsekit and Cherryheart were instantly out of the nursery and bounding towards us, Russetstar had exited the medicine cats den with Mothflower, Dawnpool was purring at Mousefang, Flowerwhisker was talking with Buddy, Whitefang was now in front of me, and Shrewclaw was rubbing her muzzle against Littlecloud's.

"You had a good trip?" Whitefang asked me with concern.

My tail flicked at my mentor immediately. "Of course I did! It was so exciting! I fought off the rogues, hunted a lot, I even met a lot of new cats!" I told him excitedly, but honestly I was so tired.

Whitefang smiled down at me warmly. "Good, good..." he purred. "Tomorrow we'll start training again, but for now you need go get some sleep. You look exhausted!"

I dipped my head at him respectfully. "Thanks, Whitefang!" I bounced to the apprentice's den and entered, lying in my nest comfortable. I curled up and watched Icepaw and Soulpaw enter after me.

My eyes soon got heavy and I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

***

My eyes followed Whitefang, Firelily, and Shadeclaw was we walked along the RiverClan border. I had slept well last night and I was ready to get back to my training. We were already behind since we went to help DarkClan.

Shadeclaw was going on and on about how he'd always sneak off when he was a warrior to this border because it was very beautiful and peaceful and the sounds of the water relaxed him.

Firelily's eyes were focused on the other side of the border though, completely tuning out the warrior. It seemed like she thought the RiverClan warriors were a threat to us.

A loud yowl from the other side of the border caused me to flinch and Voleclaw, Willowstream, a brown-and-white tom, and a gray tabby she-cat came to the border, their eyes flashing at us in warning.

"Hello, Voleclaw," Firelily purred calmly, her eyes dark.

The brown-and-white tom stepped forward, pushing past Voleclaw. I could tell he was older due to the white fleck on his muzzle and he was far more hostile. "Why are you so close to the border, Firelily? Are you planning an attack?" His tail lashed.

I felt Whitefang stiffen beside me and he leaned down to my ear. "The one talking to Firelily is Owlfur, he was my mentor when I was in RiverClan. The she-cat is Featherstorm," he whispered, making sure the RiverClan cats didn't hear him.

As he spoke, another she-cat stepped forward. She looked strong and her pelt was glossy. I wasn't sure who she was but she seemed important. "What's going on here?" she demanded.

"The other she-cat is Softwing, she's my sister, and the new she-cat is RiverClan's deputy, Ottersplash." He was practically frozen in his spot with fear, whispering things into my ear.

Firelily's eyes narrowed. "You're the one crowding my warriors, Ottersplash. Perhaps you're the ones looking for a fight?"

Ottersplash smiled at Firelilly. "Gladly." She turned back to the larger patrol. "Are we all ready to rip these foolish WindClan cats apart?"