(~This Chapter is Dedicated to xXPetals_InsideXx)

~
Clans:

Thunderclan:
Leader;
Copper'star: A sleek brown she-cat with darker brown dapples.

Deputy;
Small'hiss: Skinny she-cat with slick brown and white fur.

Medicine cat:
Torn'foot: A dark golden tabby she-cat with lighter golden markings. She has a injured foot, showing her toe bones, giving her the name she got.

Warriors;
Evening'slip: A golden tabby she-cat with darker brown stripes

Smoke'flower: A grey she-cat striped with white on her paws, muzzle, chest and underbelly, tailtip and ears.

Sunbreeze: A pale, golden she-cat with deep blue eyes.

Minnowstreak: A dark brown tom with amber eyes. He has dark black stripes down his back and sides.

Goldenblaze: A deep golden tom with darker golden stripes down his body. He has bright blue eyes, like the river.

Apprentices;
Nightpaw: An inky black tom with white markings along his pelt.

Breeze'paw: A slick, blue-furred she-cat with darker blue, almost black, dapples.

Queens;
Dewtail: A slick white she-cat striped with darker grey stripes and spots.

RiverClan:
Leader;
Storm'star: A sleek blue she-cat, stripes of white on her fur.

Deputy:
Otter'stalk: A slim brown she cat with some light blue spots on her fur.

Medicine cat:
Ice'whisker: A skinny she-cat, pure white. She looks like an albino, if it wasn't for her slight blue tinges.

Shadowclan;

Leader:
Mouse'star: A scraggly brown tom.

Deputy:
Dawn'cloud: A slick red and white tortiseshell she-cat.

Medicine cat:
Twisted'echo: A smooth-furred she-cat. Her main color is black, although her muzzle is a different shade of grey, and even a lighter shade of grey. Along with her ears, eye splotched and eyebrows. Under her neck is a grey color, that goes to her underbelly. Her legs are the grey color to her toes. Her toes are pure white, giving her a snow-like color. Her tail starts as black, fades to grey, then to white near the tail tip.

Windclan;

Leader:
Fieldstar: A golden and ginger tom. Tabby.

Deputy:
Gingerleap: A ginger tom with some markings of white and a lighter ginger.

Medicine cat:
FallWings: A bright golden tom. He has the colors of early leaf-fall, a bit struggle with hunting.

Cats outside of clans:

Bat'leap: A scar-riddled rouge she-cat, deep brown fur. A regular visitor to thunderclan.

Jess: A black kittypet she with white markings on her tailtip, around her eyes and chest fluff.

~Chapter One~

Small'hiss leaped onto another warrior attacking her, tackling the slightly smaller tom to the ground. Her brown and white fur already covered in wounds and matted with blood. The tom below her clawed her under-jaw, causing her to hiss and stumble. She unsheathed her thorn-sharp claws and clawed the tom's side, watching as he collapsed to the ground in pain. She swiftly dug her claws into his soft underbelly and ripped, listening to his gurgled scream as his guts came out of his stomach. His eyes glazed over, and he fell limp. Small'hiss panted, having already killed about three warriors for this test. Her dark brown ear flicked as she heard pawsteps, before the all-familiar voice of her mentor spoke. "Good job, Small. You've done well." The dark grey and black she-cat stepped forward from the shadows, her bright amber eyes gazing over Small'hiss's injured and weakened form. Small'hiss sat down and bowed her head at her mentor in respect. "You've trained well, Dark'heart. I'll be forever loyal to you and the dark forest." She mewed. The deceased cat smirked, bowing her head in return. "Your wounds will be healed once you wake, although, it may sting still." Small'hiss nodded her head in understanding, turning her head and lapping at a small puddle, before she fell asleep once more.
Small'hiss awoke in her nest in the warriors den, a stinging pain in her jaw, shoulders, sides and flanks. She looked down and saw her wounds scarring over, yet, like her mentors words, they still stung as if they were open. She glanced around the warrior den again, and found Bat'leap staring at her from the entrance of the den, her rouge scent in the air. "Come on, get up, Small'hiss. Copper'star went on a mission, you need to help the clan, you're the deputy, you can't be dozing around." She spat. Small'hiss quietly hissed, but shoved herself to her paws and padded out of the den. Instantly, a bunch of warriors surrounded her, questioning her. How loyal are you to be dozing when you have a job? Where've you been? Are you even loyal to the clan anymore? Have you been seeing someone outside the clan? Where's Copper'star? Needless to say, Small'hiss was defensive and stressed, trying to defend herself question after question, but she kept being interrupted. The voice of the medicine cat, Torn'foot, rang out above everyone else, a fearful yowl; Small's name. "Small'hiss! Bat'leap!" The medicine cat called, everyone's attention being dragged over. Torn was bleeding madly, and was carrying an unconscious Copper'star by the scruff. Breeze'paw, Copper's apprentice, had also been attacked, sporting wounds also. Small'hiss rushed over, listening to Bat'leap following behind her. Torn'foot lightly laid down the leader, who was bleeding from the throat, and almost everywhere else. "What happened!?" Small'hiss demanded, nudging her leader softly. "A-ambush-..." Breeze'paw stuttered out, her eyes clouded with sadness. Bat'leap growled, staring down at the leader. Tornfoot panted, rushing to her den before coming back a few minutes later with plenty herbs. She quickly started to apply them to the leader, then to the apprentice, and finally, herself. She put a paw on the leaders sides, and they stopped heaving. Copper'star had lost another one of her lives. A look of grief flashed in the medicine cat's eyes, before she bowed her head in respect and mourning. Quickly, the rest of the clan did as well. About half an hour later, Copper'star started to wheeze and cough. Everyone lifted their heads, looking at the injured leader. Tornfoot flicked her tail, letting Small'hiss come forward. Small'hiss gulped and nodded, padding forward to look down at her leader. "Copperstar, are you okay?" The deputy asked. The leader weakly nodded, pulling herself onto her stomach. "Small'hiss, help me carry her to her den. She needs rest to heal properly. Same goes for you, Breezepaw." The apprentice nodded and rushed over to the apprentice den, the rest of the apprentices worridly asking her what was wrong. Small'hiss gently grabbed her leader, Tornfoot doing the same as they carried her to her den silently. The warriors climbed the ledge to the den, setting Copper'star down as the leader let a grunt of thanks. "Which clan ambushed?" SmallHiss asked Tornfoot. She shook her head and growled. "Mouse'star..." Small'hiss growled, then nodded, running to the highrock. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, please gather beneath the highrock!" She yowled. She watched as the cats gathered around the rock, able to name them just by looking at their pelts. She cleared her throat, and continued to yowl. "Copper'star has been injured in an assault by Shadowclan!" She heard mews of disapproval from the clan, some of them snarling and snorting. She hissed sternly to shush the cats, which they did. "Shadowclan has been attacking our cats for a while now, attacking the leader and taking a life of hers means they wish for war!" She growled. "With Copper'star's approval, we will launch an attack on Shadowclan." She looked to Tornfoot sitting just outside the leader den. The medicine cat peeked her head in and sat for a few minutes, before she looked at the deputy and nodded her head. Small'hiss nodded her head greatfully, then turned to the clan again. "Copper'star has given her approval. I will choose our strongest warriors to follow with me to attack Shadowclan!" She yowled with pride, her fur fluffing and her claws scraping the rock in excitement to finally try out her moves on some real warriors. Yowls of approval and pride rung out from the cats below, the sharp claws being seen in the glistening sunlight of ending Greenleaf and starting Leaf-Fall. Small'hiss smiled down at the cats, looking around for strong and loyal warriors. "Bat'leap, Evening'slip, Minnow'streak, Golden'blaze, Smoke'flower and Night'paw. You will all come with me to raid Shadowclan. The rest of you will stay behind to protect the clan." The cats yowled in approval once more. Small'hiss opened her jaw to speak before the medicine cat inturrupted her. "Copper'star is healing quickly. She'll be able to attack if they take our camp." Small'hiss nodded, then called out. "Come on!" She called, leaping from the rocks as the cats she called skipped after her. Small'hiss nodded at the warriors before they bounded out of camp. They dashed across the territory, once they started nearing Shadowclan camp they crouched down and started creeping towards the entrance. They could hear several warriors talking and gossiping, along with some kits squealing in the distant nursery. Small'hiss peeked into the camp, no one had noticed them. Her eyes turned to slits, flicking her tail at the cats following her. She crouched down near the entrance, and leaped in with a battle cry. She tackled the nearest cat, a cream colored tom, as she listened to other yowls and hisses coming from around the camp. The warriors had started attacking with her battle cry. She swung her claws on the cream tom, hissing madly as the two tumbled in a ball of fur and claws. She screeched as the tom bit onto her shoulder and flipped them over. She realized her soft underbelly was exposed, and quickly pulled her legs back and kicked the tom in the chest and stomach roughly. She could feel the breath knocked out of him as he fell back a few tail-lengths away. She growled, watching the cat leap at her, aiming for her shoulders. She crouched, and the tom missed her by a mouse-length. She leaped behind her and ripped at the tom's back. He screeched as his back was ripped open, struggling madly. Small'hiss yelped as she felt herself be shoved onto the floor, a red and white tortiseshell above her. She recognized the she-cat as the deputy of the clan Dawn'cloud! She growled, before she felt the deputy's claws dig into her shoulders, her jaw fastened onto her neck. Small'hiss yowled and hisses madly, clawing frantically at the other she as her grip on her neck grew tighter. Suddenly the weight was removed from her, and she saw Sun'breeze attacking the deputy. Small'hiss noticed the tom she was previously attacking was now rolling around with Bat'leap, but she saw Smokeflower being corneered by two larger toms. She ran over and tugged on the tail of one of the toms, a deep black slickfurred tom. His legs fell underneath him and she pounced, ripping at the toms fur. Smokeflower leaped onto the whiter tom, both hissing as they fought. Small'hiss and Smoke'flower fought their best before both toms ran off as the leader called them to retreat away from their camp. Small'hiss growled as she watched the cats flee. She was bleeding madly, and so was the grey and white she beside her. Her head lifted and her ears twitched as she heard mewling, before a young, white and cream tom emerged from the nursery with a dappled queen. They both had a kit dangling in their jaws, fearscent coming from both of them. Smokeflower hissed, but Small'hiss waved her tail to let her down. The cats sat infront of Small'hiss, the apprentice softly setting down the kit he held. A lavender-colored she-kit, squirming and squeaking. He panted as he spoke. "Small'hiss of Thunderclan, right? I'm Timid'paw, a regular apprentice of Shadowclan. This is Dappled'heart, a queen of the clan." The she-cat and Tom bowed both their heads, respectfully. Small'hiss flicked her tail. "What is it you want with us?" She asked calmly, continuing to bleed. Timid'paw winced slightly, before he murmered. "These two kits were stolen from a rouge who was killed a quarter-moon ago. We dont want the two of them to live in this... Dark forest rebirth." He growled softly, surprising the deputy slightly. She nodded her head, letting them continue. "We would like to hand them over to you, you'll raise them better than in here." The apprentice boldly stated. The queen nodded, and Smoke'flower growled in hesitance. Small'hiss stared at both the kits, not knowing how Copper'star would react. She sighed, before nodding. "I'll convince Copper'star to take them in. Set them down and join your clan, we'll take care of them." Timid'paw's eyes lit up, and he nodded with gratitude as the queen set down the cream-golden kit she had in her jaws. "Thank you, Small'hiss." The queen purred, then nudged the apprentice to the exit. The both skipped out, swiftly. "Thunderclan! Back to the camp!" Small'hiss called and picked up the lavender kit by her scruff, followed by the cream-golden kit. They both didn t even have their eyes open, obviously only a moon old or so. She then ran out of the camp with the kits, her warriors following her. They all ran back to camp, Small'hiss having a bit of worry for the kits....

(2230 words)