"Nightshade!" Some lynx's- lynx's- voice sounded from the entrance. River and Dawn glanced towards the sound to see someone burst into camp, blood streaking on one side of his face.

"Ash...?" Dawn mumbled.

Ash was the traitor.

River felt a snarl form on her lips as she glared at the male lynx.

"Nightshade!" He called again, and Nightshade emerged.

"You were having doubts," Nightshade growled. "You're not welcome here anymore."

"I'm sorry, Nightshade," Ash dipped his head. "But this is important."

"I don't think so," the leader snarled. "Get out of my camp before I tare you to bits."

"But-"

"No. Get out!"

"Trust me-"

"I trust no one," Nightshade turned and headed back into his den. "Especially you. You have seven seconds to get out of my camp, then my wolves will be after you."

Ash stared at the leader in disbelief, then noticed the circle of wolves slowly closing in on him, and he fled.

"Wait- what?" Dawn hissed.

River wished she could answer. But she couldn't.

"Of course it had been Ash. But what had happened to his eye? It looked like he had been attacked, and the eye definitely looked like it might not even be there anymore.

. . .

"Storm?" Hawk whispered. "Are you awake?"

Storm groaned, opening her eyes slowly. "I am now," she mumbled.

"Sorry."

Whatever. What do you want?" She struggled into a sitting position, flinching in the process.

"I just thought I'd let you know that Moonsight agreed to rescue River and Dawn. He's taking most of us... but he and Leaf both said that you shouldn't come."

"I expected that," the female lynx sighed. "But I do wish I could come. I would love to dig my claws into Nightshade's pelt," she meowed wistfully.

"I know you would," Hawk agreed. "I wish you could come." That was a lie. Hawk was glad she couldn't come. He'd grown close to the not-much-younger lynx, and he could hardly bear to see her injured. He also knew that if she did come, she would be an easy target, and most likely get killed right away. And he couldn't even imagine what he would do if that happened.

"Don't lie to me, Hawk," Storm shook her head. "I know you're glad I can't come."

"Well... yes. I don't want you to get killed."

"I wouldn't get killed!"

"Storm! I know what you're thinking." Hawk blinked. "Promise me you'll stay here, and not try to come."

She hesitated. Then looked down, distraught. "Fine. I promise."

"Thank you." He turned to leave, then turned back, licking Storm's ear comfortingly. "See you soon."

"So," Moonsight started, speaking to the group of lynxes he'd chosen to go. "Hawk will lead group one, which will contain Eagle, Midnight, Foxglove, Lily, Pine, and Brook. You will go to the far side of the wolves' camp, agreed?"

Hawk nodded, and his group stepped to one side of camp.

The elders had decided that they wouldn't be joining the fighting, so they were just watching from a distance.

"Dusk," the leading elder continued, "you will take Blizzard, Golden, Bramble, Falcon, Thunder, and Ivy, and go to the right side of the camp. And I will take group three, Dapple, Oak, Dandelion, Spots, Robbin, and Owl. We will stay at the front of camp, near the entrance, and Leaf, you and Starlight stay near in case some lynx needs herbs. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Leaf said, and Starlight nodded absently, staring into space like she seemed to love doing so.

"When I call, attack from different sides, and make sure they don't escape. We need to let Nightshade see the fear."

That was understandable, Hawk thought.

"Now then, are you all ready?"

"Yes!" Most of the trainees yowled, and the older lynxes nodded.

"Then it's time." He led his group out, followed by Dusk, leading his group, then Hawk.

. . .

Starlight nodded, looking towards the sky as her leader spoke, hardly listening. All she knew about what was happening was that they were going to rescue River and Dawn.

The whispers were loud again tonight, as dark storm clouds rolled in.

The first storm of spring.

Thunder clashed in the distance, at the same time a whisper said storm.

Pfft, Star rolled her eyes. No really. I can see that.

"Storm," it whispered. "Storm!"

I know! I can see that! She hissed in annoyance before realizing that Leaf was calling her name.

She quickly ran after the group, ears flicking, and after a few minutes of walking, she realized what the whisper had meant.

Not the storm clouds, which were slowly approaching, but Storm, Star's best friend.

. . .

As he padded along, Hawk kept glancing back, making sure that everyone was still following. A light drizzle of rain was coming down, and he could feel the snow melting under his paws.

Luckily, the whole group could walk silently, thanks to their big feet. It was a good advantage to have, since they needed to sneak up on a lot of coywolves.

In the open field, it was raining much harder, and Hawk was soaked within a minute.

Lightning flashed, and thunder sounded soon after. The snow was almost gone from the field by then, and it was getting very dark. But they kept going. This was something Hawk had been waiting for for a very long time, so he didn't want to mess anything up.

The pine forest provided little shelter, he soon realized, as the water slipped through the branches of needles easily. But it was better than nothing.

Moonsight twitched his ears, signaling for them to stop before he said anything.

"The camp is just ahead," he whispered. "Hawk, go around to the back. Dusk, lead your group to one side. Everyone else, follow me. Leaf, you two can find a sheltered place where you can wait and see if you're needed. Starlight," he saw that she was staring at the sky again and shrugged. "Starlight," she glanced at him. "You may not be of much use for fighting, since you seem distracted by... the clouds... so you can stay with Leaf."

Star nodded absently, staring at a small break in the clouds, her ears twitching as she listened to nothing and everything like she did quite often.

The lynxes separated, going different directions around camp, and Hawk positioned himself on a slight cliff above camp, ready to jump down.

Moonsight gave the signal, and, heart thumping, Hawk led his group into the wolves' camp.

. . .

River could hear a slight rustle in the bushes as she crouched, glaring through the steady downpour of rain at the two guards sitting at the entrance of the thorn den.

"Dawn..." she began.

"Hmm?" Dawn looked at her.

"I feel like something's off," she said after sniffing the air. "Wait," she sniffed again, opening her mouth to let the scent flow in. "I know that smell!" She lowered her voice. "I haven't smelt it in a long time, it seems. Dawn, Moonsight's here. So is the whole group."

"What?" Dawn whispered, checking to make sure none of the coywolves heard her, then opened her mouth to draw in any scent. "You're right. They're all here."

"What you talk about?" The female guarding coywolf snarled.

"Nothing," River said quickly- too quickly.

"Not lie to me, lynx," she started walking towards River. "You get punished if lie."

River sniffed again. The lynxes were approaching. "We were talking about none of your business," she growled.

"Don't-" The wolf was cut off as a yowl sounded, and lynxes came streaming in like a tidal wave. "What?!"

River leapt at her when she was still staring in shock, knocking her to the ground and tearing at her back with her hind claws.

Around her, wolves and lynxes fought, yowling and hissing.

"River!" A lynx yowled. "Dawn!" River and Dawn turned to see Moonsight. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," he apologized. "I thought you were dead," he dipped his head. "I'm sorry."

You should've listened to Starlight! River wanted to yell, but instead she just nodded.

Dawn spoke. "I guess even the leaders need to learn how to listen to trainees that know what they're talking about."

Moonsight didn't answer. He just spun around to dig his claws into a large brown coywolf, who was trying to get to a smaller lynx- of whom River recognized as Thunder.

. . .

Starlight blinked the rain out of her eyes as she looked around for any herbs that may have started growing since it got warmer.

With the rain from the thunderstorm, at least she could see the ground, because most of the snow was gone.

With any luck, she'd find some goldenrod, or horsetail, which could be used to stop bleeding. And that would be the most useful if there were going to be any injuries. She heard a yowl- marking the start of the battle, and knew that it wouldn't be long until she'd need the herbs.

Luckily, she spotted some goldenrod a little farther off, and went to gather it quickly.

"Oh good it's just you," Leaf rushed out from under the low branches of the one pine tree they'd chosen that wasn't far away from the coywolves' camp. "The fighting just started. Make a neat row of that goldenrod against the trunk of the tree, where it's beside the small nest I scraped together just in case."

Star nodded, ducking past the herb-trainer and to the back of the sheltered area. "I'll go look for more," she offered. "We may need more than this."

Leaf nodded and turned her head to look in the direction of camp as another scream sounded.

This time, it only took Star a few moments to find more, since she knew where to look. But as she turned, all the herbs fell out of her mouth as she stared in shock.

"Storm?!"

Sorry it's been a while. I've still got MAJOR writer's block.