Warriors: Rise of the Shadows (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty

"Catch!" Called Swiftkit, tossing a ball of moss across the nursery towards Starlingkit, who batted it to Cloudkit. Smallkit reared on his hind legs and made an attempt to swat at the moss but missed and landed on his back.

"Oof!" He groaned, shaking the dust from his pelt as he rose to his small paws and trudged over to Pounceheart.

Sweetscent rolled onto her back at the sound of her kits playing and looked at the clear sky that was littered with clouds. 'One of the clearest days this entire leafbare.' She realized, sitting up.

"Whitesnow, Rainshadow, and Honeypelt, try hunting by Towering Pines." Larchwhisker meowed, tail flicking as he sorted out each patrol. "Goldentail! Are you and Sunpaw able to go on a patrol?" The deputy called the golden tabby bathing in the sun.

She sat up and nodded, turning her head to her eating apprentice. She took over Sunpaw's training when Swiftscar retired, and the two got along quite well. "Sunpaw! Finish eating and get ready to leave!" She hollered.

"Cloverbud! Pearpaw!" Larchwhisker called, waiting for the two she-cats to appear. When they did, the black tom sent the three off on the patrol by IceClan's border.

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"Larchwhisker! Larchwhisker!" Wailed a familiar voice. Sweetscent looked up from grooming Sparrowkit and leaped to her paws, racing out of the nursery to see what was going on.

"Honeypelt? What's the matter?" Demanded the alarmed deputy from beside Talonstripe. "What happened? Where is the rest of the patrol?"

The warrior doubled over, breathing heavily. "I-it's Rainshadow!" Honeypelt gasped, eyes wide. "H-he attacked Whitesnow! Sh-she's dead!"

"What?!" Sweetscent yowled and past the frantic warrior, ignoring the calls of her Clanmates and kits as she pushed through the thorn barrier.

Paws thrumming against the ground, the queen sprinted towards the Towering Pines, following a blood trail. Bursting through a line of bushes, she skidded to a halt and saw her brother dragging a limp and lifeless Whitesnow by the scruff.

"Rainshadow!" She snarled, claws unsheathing. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?" Sweetscent demanded, hurling herself at her brother and sending him sprawling into the grass.

The white and bloodstained tom scrambled to his paws, eyes wild. "You don't understand!" He spat at Sweetscent, who stood between him and the dead she-cat. "She attacked me first and I defended myself!"

"Whitesnow would never attack her Clanmates!" Shouted Sweetscent, tail lashing to and fro as she snarled at her brother. Without warning, she leaped at the white tom, catching him off-guard as she rolled with him in a blur of teeth, claws, and fur.

Rainshadow hissed and scraped his claws across Sweetscent's shoulder, sinking his teeth into her neck and tossing her to the ground with him on top. "Fool!" He sneered, tail slashing the air. "This was part of Rockstar's plan!"

Sweetscent gazed up at the face she thought she knew since kit-hood and faltered. How can she kill him? With a snarl of fury, she kicked upward with her hind legs, a move she and the other mentors and apprentices practiced until Sunpaw mastered it. "You're the fool!" She spat, charging at him and ramming her shoulder into his chest. The breath rushed from his mouth and he wheezed to catch his breath.

"Sweetscent!" The call of Poppystar was far away to the furious warrior as she and her brother exchanged blows. Sweetscent kicked the paws from under him and pounced on his back, pinning to the ground.

Her flanks heaved from the fight and her body felt as if a monster hit her on the thunderpath as she held her kin down. Lowering her muzzle to his ear, she hissed. "Get out of my territory, you mangy worm." Sweetscent drove her claws further into his flesh, making him screech in pain. "If I ever see you again, you'll wish you never associated yourself with Rockstar and his filth!" Loosening her grip on her brother, Sweetscent grasped his scruff between her jaws and threw him towards the border. "Get out of my life, Rainshadow." She snarled, glaring coldly at him as he watched in fear. "You do not deserve to be called my brother."