A Moonlit Path - Chocolatemeerkat (read with me .txt) 📗

"Who's that, Mother?"
"That's Sandtail. She's Bramblestar's deputy and she will become leader if Bramblestar happens to die."
"Wow! Will I become a leader one day?"
"Maybe, little one. We'll see what happens."
"You won't be leader Stormkit, because I'll beat you to it!"
"Well, Stormstar sounds better than Honeystar!"
Dawnsong purred in amusement as her kits battled out who would be a better leader. Since they'd opened their eyes, they were very hyperactive and it was hard to calm them down, but they were all still cute in their own ways.
"Maplestar is the coolest!" Maplekit declared, bowling Stormkit over. "And Stormstar is a terrible name!"
A small whimper came from behind Dawnsong. Turning round, she spotted Brightkit's light ginger fur curled up beside Flashkit, who was batting a leaf in her paws.
"Keep it down, little ones." Dawnsong told her kits. "You're disturbing Brightkit."
"But she's boring!" Stormkit protested. "She never wants to play with us!"
"That doesn't mean you can exclude her." Dawnsong scolded him. "How would you feel if I kept excluding you all the time?" She then turned to Honeykit and Maplekit. "That goes for both of you as well. You've got to learn to get along with Brightkit."
As the light grey tabby she-cat settled down in her nest, Specklenose stared at her sympatheticly. "I know you're angry about Ghostfire revealing your parents, but you don't need to take it out on your kits. They've done nothing wrong."
"How would you feel if everyone treated you differently because of your heritage?" Dawnsong challenged the older queen. "I once had the trust of all of the Clan, and now barely anyone can look at me because they're so disgusted that I never told everyone!"
Silverleaf poked her head up in suprise, blinking her bright blue eyes. "Keep your voice down." She murmured. "I've got a terrible headache and you two bickering isn't helping." She then dropped her head onto her paws quickly and nudged her two kits over with her tail. Specklenose let out a small sigh. "She doesn't look well to me." She commented to Dawnsong. "She's had a constant headache for a little while now and she's been coughing a fair bit. I'm worried in case it's greencough."
A memory played itself in Dawnsong's mind. It had been when she was a young apprentice and a outbreak of greencough arrived in the Clan. It had killed many cats in the Clan, most of them she couldn't remember the names of. Her brother Crowpelt, Crowpaw at that time, had nearly died, but luckily he had been saved by Oakpelt.
"Do you want me to watch your kits?" Specklenose offered suddenly. "You look exhausted, Dawnsong."
"That would be a massive help." Dawnsong purred. "Thank you."
As the old dapple grey she-cat watched over the four young kits, Dawnsong wrapped her tail neatly over her nose, sleep claiming her almost instantly.

Dawnsong's eyes flew open as she heard a twig snap. In horror, she realised that she wasn't in the nursery with her kits. She was at Three Rocks, the sacred place where the Clans joined together for Gatherings.
Why am I here? She wondered, strolling round the large boulders.
Almost instantly, three starry cats appeared. Dawnsong knew Lightleaf and Galewind, but she didn't reconise the final cat, a tortoiseshell she-cat with leaf-green eyes.
"We meet again, Dawnsong." Lightleaf purred, dipping her head respectfully. "But before I can go on, I have someone for you to meet."
The queen watched as the tortoiseshell she-cat padded forward, her eyes friendly and warm. "Greetings, young one. My name is Lovebird. I was Noblespirit's sister."
"I'm Dawnsong." Dawnsong greeted herself politely. "It is a honour to meet you."
"But it's a greater honour to meet you, Dawnsong. You have no idea how important you are." Lovebird told her. "How is my brother, anyway?"
"He's doing great. Bravestar chose him as CourageClan's new deputy a moon or so ago since Clawedear died." Dawnsong meowed, twitching her whiskers. "My Clan have formed an alliance with them to defeat some rogues that ReedClan have recuited."
"Yes, yes, we know all about that." Galewind sighed. "One of ReedClan's former leaders, Breezestar, went to Fishstar in a dream last night and tried to prevent this madness, but he wouldn't listen. He claims that his Clan need more territory, and CourageClan are the weakest Clan anyway due to the illness."
"Bravestar is very weak." Lovebird continued. "I knew her well, she was one of the best friends I could ever have. When StarClan came calling for me, she was deputy at the time. I granted her one of her nine lives and I try to guide her as much as I can, but as I said, she is weak."
"Anyway, we've got something to show you." Lightleaf butted in, flicking her cream tail in the direction of ReedClan camp. "Follow us."
Dawnsong followed the three StarClan warriors, and eventually the soft grass underfoot turned into marshland as they approached the ReedClan camp. Two cats, Minnowtail and Antpelt, sat guard outside camp. They were whispering to eachother and Dawnsong strained her ears to try and find out what they were discussing.
"We don't need to eavesdrop on that conversation." Galewind told her, flicking her ear with his tail. "Keep going."
Eventually, the four cats reached the heart of ReedClan camp. Applewhisker was talking to the apprentices about fighting techniques, while Fishstar was in deep conversation with a red tabby cat Dawnsong's didn't reconise.
"So it's settled." The elderly silver and white tom sighed in relief. "Our plan begins tonight."
"My cats will meet yours at Three Rocks tonight." The red tabby cat agreed, flicking a fly off her ear. "Those puny cats won't suspect anything until we deliever a blow so deadly that they'll be too afraid to even blink!"
"That's good, that's very good." Fishstar nodded in approval. "Territory's as good as your's once we've removed CourageClan."
Dawnsong let out a little gasp of horror and she stared at Lightleaf in shock. "Surely StarClan can't let this happen?"
"As Galewind told you, StarClan are unable to prevent this." The cream she-cat reminded her. "Cats will be lost in this as a result, but maybe Fishstar doesn't know that yet."
"He should!" Dawnsong protested. "Fishstar is the oldest leader in the forest, he should know when a cat will die because of battle!"
"Hush." Galewind scolded her. "You need to listen carefully."
As the red tabby she-cat left the leader alone, Grassnose, the ReedClan medicine cat, darted over to the elderly tom. Her green eyes were clouded with concern and worry. "StarClan have spoken to me."
"What do they want now?" Fishstar snapped. "They won't leave me alone!"
"StarClan sent me a sign." Grassnose went on. "An omen. They showed me our camp, but there were dead cats sprawled all over the place and you couldn't see the ground because it was completely covered in blood." She was trembling now like a lost kit now, but she continued. "If you continue this battle, you will pay a terrible price."
"I don't care what our precious ancestors think." Fishstar growled. "CourageClan have treated us like dirt, acting like ReedClan are their slaves. They killed your mother, so I don't see why you're against all of this."
"There are more reasonable ways to settle this rather than driving a whole Clan out with a group of battle-hungry rogues." Grassnose retorted. "StarClan will punish you for this!"
"You cannot let them destory my Clan!" Lovebird murmured to Dawnsong, her eyes frightful. "Please, make sure that your whole Clan will defend CourageClan!"
"I will." Dawnsong promised the StarClan she-cat. "This is just disgusting. Even the most ambitious cat wouldn't do this!"
"We will leave you now to reflect on what you have seen, little one." Lightleaf replied, touching her nose to Dawnsong's. "Good luck, little one."

Eagletalon crouched down, his eyes fixed on the pigeon that pecked at the ground just in front of him. He'd found nothing until now, and he knew that he had to catch it, because Echopath was observing him.
Carefully, he placed one paw forward, taking care not to rustle the leaves beneath him. He then sprang, claws outstreched. However, the pigeon had heard him and had taken flight, just dodging the tomcat's sharp claws.
"No!" Eagletalon yelped in suprise as he fell into a thorn bush. The sharp plants dug into his fur, making him clamp his jaws shut so he wouldn't yowl out in pain.
"Eagletalon!" Echopath cried out. "Where are you?"
Summoning up the last of his strength, Eagletalon dragged himself out of the bush and let out a small yelp. It wasn't very loud, but it was loud enough for Echopath to hear him.
The gold and white warrior watched as the pretty silver tabby she-cat gave his fur a few licks, soothing his wounds where the thorns had stabbed him. He let out a quiet whimper as she pulled out a thorn from his shoulder.
"I caught your pigeon, by the way." She told him. "Lucky you've got me here, aren't you?"
"Perhaps." Eagletalon murmured softly. "But there again, I could have-"
Eagletalon was cut off by a loud snarl. He instantly sprang to his paws, lashing his tail. "Show yourself!"
Suddenly, three cats leapt out of a tree and crashed onto Eagletalon, bowling him over. Echopath darted over and dug her claws into one cat's shoulder. "You again! I told you to never come back!"
"You really think I'd listen to you?" The light brown tabby tom hissed, delievering a blow to Echopath's leg. "Well, you better think again!"
While Echopath dealt with him, Eagletalon tried to throw off a tortoiseshell she-cat and a small blue tabby tom. Both cats were thinner than him, but they were a powerful fighting force. Eagletalon managed to bite down on the blue tabby's leg and score his claws down it, yet he was still loosing badly.
Suddenly, as if StarClan had sent help, the rest of the hunting patrol appeared, which consisted of Pigeonwing, Heatherpaw, Floatingcloud and Foxtooth. Pigeonwing rushed over to help Echopath, while the rest of the patrol came to Eagletalon's assistance. Foxtooth fastened his jaws around the blue tabby's scuff and hauled him off, while Heatherpaw nipped at his back leg. The rogue yelped in pain, terrified of the ForestClan cats.
With one cat out of the way, Eagletalon could now focus his attention on the tortoiseshell she-cat, who was bewildered and confused. The ForestClan cat lashed out on the rogue's face, leaving