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

Echopath looked horrified as she realised that Tigerpelt wasn't the only cat who disagreed with Noblespirit. Lionclaw had also remained, along with Tigerpelt.
"Two cats are unhappy with this plan." Bramblestar called out. "So Lionclaw will be the first to be questioned!"
"The reason I don't want this alliance to happen is because many cats will die because they helped another clan." Lionclaw explained. "I lost my sister in a rogue attack when we came to ReedClan's assistance. I couldn't bear to loose my brother in something similar, or any of my friends. Cats will die in this, and I can promise you that many will be from ForestClan because we joined CourageClan in some stupid alliance!"
"I have seen these rogues before." Noblespirit told him. "They are fierce fighters who will do anything just to see cats suffer. If we don't unite, both clans will fall and ReedClan will reign supreme. StarClan decreed that there would be three clans, not one!"
"You speak from the heart, Noblespirit." Lionclaw meowed. "That is why we all respect you. But I can't go along with this."
"Wait!" Echopath barged past everyone else to the front. "Lionclaw, in every battle fought, we all know that lives will be lost. Brave cats like Lostsong died bravely in battle. We still honour them, but fighting for the clan comes above everything. It mentions in the warrior code that you defend the clan with your life, so why not now?" She gave a little cough before continuing. "Please, do this, for the clan, for Eagletalon, and for me."
"Echopath's right." Eagletalon agreed, stepping forward. "This will save the clans, as Noblespirit said."
"I agree too." Dawnsong stepped forward, beside Echopath. "It is for the survival of two clans rather than none. ReedClan will give in and realise their mistakes."
Bramblestar gazed at the three cats, a hopeful look in his eyes. Echopath shivered a bit. Does he know about the prophecy? She wondered curiously. Does he know that we are meant to bring peace to the clans?    "You make a point, all of you." Lionclaw sighed. "I cannot fight with any of you, though I have had arguments with Eagletalon before. It is time I followed my heart and fought for my clan."
He then stepped away from Tigerpelt, joining his clanmates. Echopath's blue eyes shone in delight and she licked his ear. The golden tabby looked slightly embrassed, but he returned the lick gently.
"Fools!" Tigerpelt spat. "Can't you see that these cats are sending you all to your dooms?"
"Tigerpelt," Noblespirit explained calmly. "I came here in a peace talk. Bravestar wants no claws involed. We are all injured from the previous battle, and you lost more cats than us. With leafbare coming, we can't afford any battles."
"But you are sending us into a battle!" The senior warrior screeched, his amber eyes blazing with fury. His long claws were sheathed, ready to strike the CourageClan deputy. Noblespirit had seen this, and he flexed his claws out, snarling.
"No battle will be fought here!" Bramblestar snapped, growling at Tigerpelt. "Noblespirit, it would be best if you left. Tell Bravestar that I approve of this plan, and I will send a message to her soon."
"Thank you, Bramblestar." Noblespirit replied, dipping his head. He then summoned his clanmates with a flick of his tail and they vanished up the gorge and away, leaving a cold silence.
"Clan dismissed." Bramblestar meowed after a while. Echopath glanced at Eagletalon. "We'd better get back to the apprentices and tell them the news."
"I forgot about them." The older warrior gulped. "Come on, and hurry!"

"..and now we are CourageClan's allies." Eagletalon finshed with a sigh.
"Two moons of peace sounds reasonable." Twistpelt meowed. "We need time to raise kits and train up our apprentices."
Close by, Heatherpaw was testing a new battle move on Morningpaw. The young brown tabby flung herself at the new apprentice, but Morningpaw dodged the attack, sending Heatherpaw into the mud.
"Learn to wait before attacking, Heatherpaw." Spiderleg sighed. "Your enemy could have ripped you apart then."
"Sorry." Heatherpaw mumbled, stumbling up to her paws. Her mentor sighed again. "In battle, a simple sorry isn't good enough."
"Life is not a battle, Spiderleg." Echopath reminded him. "There is more to life than just war. Raising a family is one, and I'm sure you wanted that, didn't you?"
The tall black warrior had been fond of a young she-cat called Icebound, who had died protecting him in the battle against ReedClan. He still grieved her loss, but the only cat he would speak to about Icebound was Eagletalon. The two had devolped a good friendship since they started training Gorgepaw and Heatherpaw.
"I have nothing left." Spiderleg snarled. "My parents are dead and my best friend is dead. You could atleast show a bit of sympathy!"
"My parents are dead, my sister is dead, my kin are missing and my best friend broke my heart." Echopath retorted. "Sympathy is not a emotion I show easily, apart from those who have had worse lives than me."
"My mother died, I don't know who my father is and I think my sister is a murdering sycopath." Foxtooth piped up.
"What do you mean?" Echopath questioned.
All the cats watched as Foxtooth shuffled his paws anxiously before lifting his head up. "Ghostfire killed our mother, and she will do anything to kill. I think she is plotting a plan to kill Bramblestar!"

"Kill Bramblestar?" Eagletalon echoed, his jaws wide open in horror. "But that's impossible! He still has five lives left!"
"He may have five lives as you say, but Ghostfire will kill to get what she wants." Foxtooth retorted. "And her desire is to be leader of ForestClan. She was furious when I was given Fernpaw as my apprentice, despite she's a better hunter than me."
"There will be more chances to have a apprentice!" Twistpelt growled. "The next kits to become apprentices are Specklenose's! It's not like Poppyfoot's kits were that special!"
"We are special!" Toadpaw protested. Echopath flicked the apprentice's ear with her tail. "Continue your training. This has nothing to do with you." She hissed.
"Speaking of which, we better get back now." Eagletalon piped up. "The apprentices haven't seen the whole territory yet, so we'll give them a tour tomorrow."
"Yay!" Gorgepaw squealed, his amber eyes lit up in delight. Eagletalon motioned with his tail for everyone to gather round. He then turned to Foxtooth. "Thank you for telling us this infomation. If you hear anything that Ghostfire plans to do, please tell me or Echopath. Seeing as we are training apprentices too, you'll see us a lot."
"Alright." The ginger tom replied silently, his voice thin and hard to hear.
He obviously didn't want to tell us about his sister. Eagletalon realised. Like all siblings, he wanted to be loyal to her. This is really hard on Foxtooth, if his sister gets exiled.                                                                   "Lead on, Eagletalon." Spiderleg called from the back.

It was moonhigh by the time the ForestClan cats returned. Eagletalon had noticed that Echopath looked thinner than usual, so he decided to try and hunt for a bit. Yes, he was tired, but that wouldn't stop him. He had pretended to go and check out the CourageClan border, just so no one was suspicious.
A blackbird appeared from the sky, peaking at the ground for worms. Eagletalon dropped to a crouch, knowing that prey was still scarce during this begining of leafbare. He started to stalk the bird, which was unaware of the white and gold warrior. Soon after, he leapt onto the blackbird and gave it a swift blow to the neck, killing it.
"Nice catch!" A voice called. Eagletalon spun round and realised that he was near the border with CourageClan. Crowpelt was there, standing guard with the newly-named Hollyberry.
"Thanks, Crowpelt." Eagletalon meowed. Hollyberry just let out a snort. "Don't you have enough cats in CourageClan to be talking to?"
"Just to remind you, Hollyberry, I am half ForestClan, so I have a right to speak to old clanmates." Crowpelt growled. "Why don't you go and moon over Thunderstrike?"
"I'd rather moon over crowfood!" Hollyberry exclaimed in disgust. "Thunderstrike is just a denmate, nothing more!"
"Are you sure?" Crowpelt questioned, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "I thought I heard you going on how great he was the other day, just before your warrior ceremony!"
"Erm, I haven't got time." Eagletalon gave a dry cough. "By the way, your sister's kits look like they'll be great warriors, Crowpelt. I'll tell you about them at the next gathering."
"May StarClan light your path!" The black tom called. "And thank you!"
Eagletalon padded futher away from the border, his green eyes glancing round for any more prey. He wanted to catch something for his clanmates to enjoy, not just Echopath.
A rustle startled him. The white and gold warrior spun round, the blackbird hanging limply in his jaws. He smelt something horrid, something frightening. There was defintely something wrong.
A squeal pierced the air afterwards, followed by a yowl. "No!"
Great StarClan! What's happened?                                                                                               Eagletalon darted through the bushes, but heard another rustling. Something had escaped before he had even found what happened.
As he approached the clearing, Eagletalon caught the strench of blood. A strong memory of Willowstream flowed into his head, as he had heard similar things just before her death. He had found Willowstream in the same place, but this time there was no fur on the ground.
A gasp of horror escaped him as he got to the clearing, dropping his prey in suprise. Two cats were there, both covered in blood. One was barely breathing on the ground, while the other gazed up at Eagletalon, her blue eyes clouded with sorrow.
"I couldn't save her." The she-cat choked out, her words full of pain. "I was too late."
The cat close to death was Flowerpaw, and the cat standing over her body was Echopath.

"What happened?" Eagletalon demanded, his green eyes terrified.
"I-I couldn't save her." Echopath repeated. "I was too late."
Before any more could be said, Eagletalon bounded over and pressed his muzzle against Echopath's neck. The silver she-cat gave her friend a lick on the cheek.
"You're shivering." Eagletalon murmured, stepping back. "Tell me what happened. Calmly."
"Flowerpaw said that she went collecting herbs just as I got