The Warning

Cloudstar struggled to breath. A weight was on his chest, and however much the leader squirmed, it wouldn't budge. I've been beaten. A voice in his head reminded him, though Cloudstar willed it not be true. He begged himself not to return, not to find out what had happened to his Clan, and what lay ahead. I've been beaten! The voice returned, stronger now, and Cloudstar began to resurface, and was welcomed back by his clanmates screeches. "Cloudstar!" One yowl stuck out to him in particular, a very familiar one. Iceshadow? The old tom wanted to ask, but the weight was still heavy on his chest, and only a ragged breath escaped from him.

"Oh? So the old tom is still alive?" A cat sneered and as Cloudstar slowly opened his eyes, he saw a face peering down on him, the eyes icy and unfriendly. "I thought I had you beat." The black tom said flatly, as if he didn't care if the leader lived or not. He released his paw from Cloudstar's chest, but warned him not to try anything with a low, menacing growl. He turned to the rest of the cats who had stopped fighting after their leader had lost a life. "You cats are done here." He snarled. "It is our turn to move in to this territory." Many hisses were delivered to the jet black tom, but he only gazed back with triumphed in his eyes. "We have won your land fairly. Now we will give you a half-moon to move elsewhere, or this won't be last time you have seen us." Flicking his tail, the rogues separated themselves from the clan cats and followed there leader into the dense undergrowth. The Clan stood still for a few moments, shock, bewilderment, and defeat in their eyes. What now? They wanted to all say, though no one spoke a word. Cloudstar stayed where he was, shame hanging over him like a cloud. Cats glanced over at Cloudstar, worry and panic in their eyes.

"What will we do?"
"We can't leave!"
"Great StarClan... How could this happen?!" Were some of the yowls that broke out, until Goldenbreeze was able to calm them, for now.

"I want two patrols to go out hunting, and for some cats to stay and fix up the dens that were trampled!" She ordered, and cats seemed glad to have someone telling them what to do.

Slowly, very slowly, he made his way over to the Medicine Cat den, where Fallenpaw was positioned outside with  Goldenbreeze, as they exchanged worried whispers and glances. As they heard Cloudstar approach, Fallenpaw was the first to speak. "Cloudstar! I should take a look at your wounds..." Cloudstar flicked his tail at the young she-cat.

"Has everyone else been treated?" He asked, and Fallenpaw nodded. "Then I suppose..." His voice trailed off, and Fallenpaw scurried into the Medicine Cat den to get the herbs she needed. "Where is Goldfeather?" Cloudstar asked. "Certainly she hasn't left Fallenpaw to do all the work!" Goldenbreeze looked up from where she was staring at the ground, fear and sorrow clouding her eyes.

"Cloudstar... Goldfeather is dead. And so is Snowfall."

~*~

(Hi guys! I'm back! :D Sorry that this is a short post... I JUST got back from vacation, so it will take a while to get used to things. If you want your cat to die either of the sickness or the battle, just let me know in the comments, or you can RP their death or something. xD And I'm sorry DawnDragon, but my Clan needs an active Medicine Cat... Your other cats will remain sick for a little more time, but after about a week, they will have to go... So please come on and sort things out. Oh! And Stella, would you rather want Fallenpaw to be a full Medicine Cat or still be an apprentice?)

The Outlaws Attack

"Now, you want to make sure you dig at the base of the tree, so that you're right under the roots." Iceshadow instructed. "You want to scoop large pawfuls at a time, so that you're not stuck here forever, remember." He meowed as he surveyed a group of apprentices trying out Shadowsplash's technique of getting water out of tree roots. He was there with Blueflower at his side as they both tried to teach the group of apprentices.

"Like this?" Dragonpaw said excitedly, and started to dig vigorously near the tree, spraying dirt everywhere.

"Well... Yes." Iceshadow meowed, flicking a clump of dirt off his ear with his tail-tip. "But try to do it a bit more slower so that the dirt doesn't go flying everywhere, since we need to cover up the holes after we're done."

"Why?" Dustpaw asked inquisitively, as what he was doing throughout the whole lesson. "Wouldn't it just be easier if we left them open to come back to some other time? If we didn't, we could have to dig the hole all over again!"

"Good question." Blueflower replied this time. "We have to cover the holes so that cats don't fall in, and wrench their shoulder or something. Though it might be easier to leave the holes open, it is safer to cover them." The apprentices nodded, then went back to work on the large oak tree.

As Iceshadow went about the apprentices, giving them some hints and tips, a strange scent traveled through the clearing they were in. "Huh. Blueflower, do you smell that?" He said quietly to the she-cat, not wanting to disturb the apprentices.

"Yeah... A bit. I think it's coming from over there." The she-cat pointed to the other side of the hollow, and Iceshadow nodded.

"Alright, Blueflower and I are going to do hunting while you continue to dig up the tree roots. We'll be right back, we just spotted a juicy rabbit nearby, that's all." He informed them, cautiously following the scent trail. "It smells like cats... But not StellarClan or DuskClan..." So who must it be? Giving a worried glance towards Blueflower, he crept on, making sure that the wind didn't draft their scent over to the potential trespassers. As he crept around a holly bush, he started to hear voices.

"There's no water here, either." A dark, husky voice sounded. "Why don't we try over there?" Iceshadow saw the tip of his dark tabby tom flick over to DuskClan's side of the border.

"Mouse-brain! Do you know how flooded that territory is? Plus I heard from Chip that they had a huge battle last sunrise or something. I'd rather not get tangled up in that." Iceshadow could see this tom more clearer than the other one. He was a scrawny, dark ginger and white tabby with ragged fur. "There's plenty of prey over here, why don't we settle here?"

"Are you all a couple of dumb rabbits? There are cats everywhere, can't you smell them?!" A low hiss sounded from a burly, black tom who crept out of the shadows. "And I thought you were some of my best cats." He lashed his tail, his amber eyes dark. "But yes... We could use this for a while. But we'll have to chase out those runts that already live here. It seems easy, though. Seeing that there is hardly any water here... They are probably just a bunch of weaklings. Come on, we're going back to the others to tell them the plan." One by one, the cats emerged from their hiding place and followed their leader, and Iceshadow's eyes widened as big as moons.

"Blueflower! Go back and get the apprentices, I'll get back to camp and inform Cloudstar!"

~*~

"Rogues?! On our territory?!" Cloudstar snarled, lashing his tail. He had fully recovered from losing his life which was just a few sunrises ago. "How many?" He demanded as Blueflower and Iceshadow sat in his den, with Goldfeather nearby.

"Well, we only saw three. But by the way they were talking, we should be suspecting a lot more." Iceshadow replied, recalling the cats."Their leader is this big, muscled, black tom." Cloudstar nodded, letting the information sink in. 

"So that's what I smelled!" Goldfeather exclaimed, her eyes wide. As the three looked at her with curiosity, she explained. "When you informed me that Cloudstar had lost a life, I scented something out of the ordinary... But since we were in that situation at the time, I had no time to think about it. And by the way they are describing the scent, I believe it was the same one I smelled." Cloudstar nodded, listening intently.

"Okay. I want the apprentices out for battle training, just in case. These rogues sound fierce. I also want the fresh-kill pile-" His meow was cut off by a screech, and then hissing and snarling.

"Rogues!" Iceshadow recognized Mistyfur's yowl.

"What?! How are they attacking so quickly?" Iceshadow barely had time to think before he was out in the camp clearing, battling with a broad-shouldered gray tom. Great StarClan! This is much more cats than I had imagined... He looked over to the nursery, seeing that Shadowsplash had just sent a calico tom running. Even the Queens are fighting... He looked over to the Medicine Cat den, and saw that even his sick clanmates were fighting. StarClan be with us today...

The End?

"Cloudstar, Sparkfire has fallen ill." Cloudstar nodded, not facing the Medicine Cat as he sat in his den, facing the hard, stone wall.

"That makes six, then." He murmured, his eyes hollow while he thought of Hawkeye, Ravenpaw, Birchfire, Riverfang and his mate, Snowfall. "How's Snowfall?" He meowed, pricking his ears.

"She's alright. I can't do much for any of them though, unless we have water." Goldfeather meowed softly, realizing how fragile Cloudstar seemed right now. Cloudstar nodded, still not caring to face the Medicine Cat.

"Do you think StarClan has abandoned us?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"Of course not!" Goldfeather almost gasped, but kept her fur from prickling. "Just because we have a drought, does not mean that they have deserted us." She meowed, her eyes wide.

"Then why is this happening to us? I am stuck in the middle of a war, Goldfeather." This time he stood up, and turned himself around to face her. "I can't even say hello to a DuskClan patrol without them thinking that we are on their side. We need water, and we can't get it!" So close... Yet so far away. "Have you had any signs recently?" He meowed, waiting for an answer.

Goldfeather swished her tail in nervousness. "Well... No. But that doesn't mean StarClan have left us!" Her sudden outburst surprised Cloudstar, and he eyed her with curiosity. "Why do you think we see Silverpelt every night? Or why that every Kit in the Clan is healthy?" She meowed. "Because StarClan watches over us! They can't stop every bad thing from happening, they don't control these type of things. StarClan will always be with us." She meowed, seeing how Cloudstar would react. The old tom nodded slowly, then turned back to us position facing the wall, flicking his tail to show that she was dismissed.

~*~

"Fallenpaw, is there any goldenrod left?" Goldfeather meowed while sticking her paw through a cleft in the wall, rolling out juniper berries. About four of these are good... I should go out and collect some more, though.

"Yes, plenty." The young apprentice meowed, surveying the supply of herbs. "Though we need more Horsetail and Fennel." Goldfeather nodded, thinking of the best places in the territory which grew them.

"Come on, I'll show you the best places for them." She meowed, already padding out of the den.

"But Goldfeather... What about them?" Fallenpaw looked uncertainly at the three sick cats, Hawkeye, Sparkfire, and Snowfall.

"They're sleeping, and we'll be back soon. Don't worry." She meowed, waving her apprentice over with her tail. "Let's go."

~*~

"Now make sure to only get the perfectly round ones, those ones are the best. The shriveled ones we can leave for the birds. We don't want them to go hungry now." She joked. "But only collect a few, since that's all we need. We'll save some for next time." Fallenpaw nodded, listening to her mentor's advice. They had already gotten the fennel, which grows best near the StellarClan border. 

"Goldfeather, how does this one look?" Fallenpaw meowed, eying a juniper berry. "I can't tell if it's good or not."

"Let me see.." She meowed. "I suppose it's oka-" Her voice was drowned out by the crackling of bracken, and a cat exploding through the bushes. "StarClan's kits! Iceshadow, what?" Goldfeather meowed, her eyes wide.

"Cloudstar's losing a life!" He meowed, his eyes wide with fear. "Please help!" Goldfeather nodded, then turned to Fallenpaw.

"You stay here and collect those juniper berries, and then come back to camp." She meowed, running after Iceshadow. "Be careful!" She turned to the leader's son. "What happened?" She blundered. "He was fine when I left camp!" Iceshadow shook his head.

"I don't know. I entered the den, and I thought he was asleep.. But he wasn't..." He voice trailed off, and Goldfeather nodded with understanding.

"Don't worry - Everything will be okay." As she said that, another scent tickled her nose, but she shrugged it off. We must get to Cloudstar!

~*~

"Well he doesn't have any wounds on him... I wonder what caused this." Goldfeather murmured, mostly to herself. She was in the den with Snowfall, Goldenbreeze, and Iceshadow, though she tried to make Snowfall stay in her nest, she still wanted to see her mate. They hadn't gotten back to camp quick enough to stop Cloudstar from losing a life, so for now, they waited. 

"Cloudstar has been giving up his share of the grass Goldenbreeze and I found, along with what's rest of the stream to the Queens and Elders... Maybe he died-" He stopped himself. "Lost a life because of dehydration..." Goldfeather nodded.

"That's probably it..." She said grimly. "After he wakes up, I want him moved to my den where I can keep a close eye on him, and make sure that he is getting his share of water." She turned towards Goldenbreeze. "And I want a cat assigned to making sure that no one is giving up their water. Though it may be noble, I don't want to lose another cat." The deputy nodded, padding out of the den to find someone. Just then, a cat bounded into the den. "Snowpaw? What happened?" Goldfeather demanded.

"Honeyfrost sent me. The stream is dried up! There is no water..." The new apprentice meowed, panting. Goldfeather felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Great StarClan... This has turned into something more than a little dry spell... Please let OakClan survive!