Bramblefang's eyes swirled with emotion. I did not understand, and I had the feeling that I didn't want to know why.

We rushed into the camp and saw what can only be described as chaos. More ShadowClan warriors than I had ever imagined were destroying the dens and attacking us mercilessly.

Stormpaw could barely restrain his gasp of terror. I scanned the blood stained camp and tried to absorb what was happening.

My gaze landed on two fighting cats. One of them was Strikestar, and he looked terribly injured, with claw marks all over his pelt.

"Strikestar!" Bramblefang ran to help his leader as Strikestar's attacker threw him like trash.

Strikestar landed with a loud thud. His body was motionless as more blood oozed out of his wound.

ShadowClan warriors stopped Bramblefang from reaching Strikestar, pinning the powerful tabby down.

The ShadowClan cat that attacked Strikestar let out a yowl, which made every cat to stop fighting.

"Listen well, ThunderClan," he meowed, his voice menacing.

"This is only a warning," his lips were curled into a snarl. "If you simply refuse to surrender, ShadowClan will rage onto your Clan, destroying every cat and everything that dare stand in our path."

He paused to let the message sink in and left the camp. The other ShadowClan cats followed.

I limped to Bramblefang's side and tried to help him up. He shook his head slowly as he got up.

"I'm not hurt," he growled.

"You seem to know that cat," I mewed hesitantly. "Who is he?"

"Fangstar," Bramblefang replied, his eyes darkening. "There is no Clan cat that is unaware of his ambition."

Strikestar began to stir. An orange she-cat padded forward, helping him up to the medicine cat den.

Another she-cat was going around the injured cats, patching up their wounds with what little cobwebs she had left.

Physical wounds can be healed, but other types of wounds can't be healed in a short time, I thought grimly. ThunderClan isn't going to forget about ShadowClan's ruthless attack so soon.

Suddenly, a cat rammed me, knocking the breath out of me. "It's your fault!" I recognised the voice as Greypaw. "You led ShadowClan straight into our camp and they destroyed it!"

"That's a ridiculous accusation, Greypaw," his mentor, Ripplesnow, mewed.

"I have proof!" Greypaw claimed. "I found Frostpaw's scent near the Thunderpath, mixed with the scent of ShadowClan!"

I leaped to my paws, ready to argue.

"Enough!" Strikestar limped towards the crowd that was gathering, his face angry. "This is not the time to fight among ourselves for this matter. Greypaw, have you seen Frostpaw with ShadowClan cats?"

"No, but-" Greypaw protested.

Strikestar lifted his paw to silence the older apprentice. "Then you have no right to accuse Frostpaw like that. I expect an apology."

I waited, doubting that Greypaw would actually apologise to me sincerely.

"Sorry," Greypaw forced out, his dark amber eyes burning.

Strikestar seemed satisfied and limped back to his den with the medicine cat following him.

"This isn't over, you traitorous kittypet," Greypaw hissed as he walked past me. I simply held my tongue as I knew that aggravating the situation was not a wise decision.

Flightpaw, who happened to be Greypaw's littermate, padded to my side, looking embarrassed.

"I want to apologise for my brother's attitude," he meowed. "He is blunt and speaks without thinking about the consequences."

"It's not a fault," I responded. "At least I know that I'm not being decieved. You don't have to apologise to me for him though."

"I'm used to it," Flightpaw meowed. "Anyway, you should see Flamecloud. Your face seems rather scratched up."

"Really?" I tried to feel my face with my paw but I couldn't reach it.

"Medicine cat den is that way," Flightpaw mewed.

I thanked him and headed to the den. As expected, it was piled with neat rows of various herbs. The sharp tang of blood was pungent and it hurt my nose to breathe.

A flame coloured she-cat padded over to me and gestured for me to sit down, looking rather tired. She must be Flamecloud, I thought.

Flamecloud's paws were stained with dried blood and a long, fresh scratch ran down her left front paw.

She patched up my face without a word the entire time, which created an atmosphere of awkwardness.

Once Flamecloud was done treating me, she padded back to the back of the medicine cat to tend to the other injured cat. I quickly left and bumped into Spottedpaw on my way to the apprentice den.

"Frostpaw!" her eyes were wide. "Have you see what ShadowClan did?"

Spottedpaw did not wait for my reply before speaking again. "They thrashed ThunderClan without any effort!" her voice rose in panic. "And they expect us to fight for them!"

My anger rose and I mewed curtly, "What are you trying to say?"

"We should leave," Spottedpaw meowed. "If we stay, we will all die. It's better to leave and survive than stay and die."

I was furious, somewhat disappointed as well. ThunderClan desperately needed help and Spottedpaw suggested to run away at the first sight of ShadowClan.

"If you think being a coward is for the good of all, then go ahead," I mewed coldly, walking away.

Despite my brave words, there was a small part of me that agreed with Spottedpaw's suggestion.

Be brave, I told myself. For this is only the beginning.

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Any thoughts on Bramblefang or Spottedpaw? Or maybe even Flamecloud? I would love to hear them! :)

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