Chapter 2

A twig snapped underneath Tigerstar’s paws as he walked towards Lilykit. Lilykit spun around and stared at him. Tigerstar stopped padding towards her for a moment. “Guess what I am going to do now?” the little kit suddenly meowed to the Dark Forest warrior.

Tigerstar’s ears twitched as he spoke. “What?” he asked sharply. “Annoy me?”

The kit didn’t notice his harsh tone of voice or the note of sarcasm in his voice. “No,” she replied, calmly shaking her tiny head. “I’m going to kill you!”

Amusement danced in Tigerstar’s eyes, and Brambleclaw heard his father’s muffled mrrows of laughter. Lilykit obviously did not. She leapt at the massive tom with her claws unsheathed. Tigerstar batted her away easily with a sheathed paw. Squealing, the little kit fell to the ground. She rose to her paws and glared at Tigerstar. “My fur!” she wailed. “You ruined my fur! I spent most of the day grooming it, but you just ruined it! I swear by StarClan, you will pay for this!”

If it hadn’t have been for the seriousness of the situation, Brambleclaw would have laughed. But Lilykit was quite angry at Tigerstar for ruining her neatly groomed fur. She leapt at him again and swept her tiny claws across his muzzle. Tigerstar simply shook his head and flung the kit onto the ground. “You amuse me, young kit. I might keep you around a little while longer,” Tigerstar meowed.

Somehow, no cat other than Brambleclaw had noticed that Lilykit was trying to fight Tigerstar. Tigerstar walked up to the kit and shoved his nose into her face, sniffing her fur. “Get away me, you piece of fox-dung!” Lilykit yowled in a high-pitched voice.

“Or maybe I’ll just kill you now and get it over with,” Tigerstar muttered.

Tigerstar sighed and lifted his paw, preparing for the death blow. He seemed to have forgotten that Brambleclaw was watching. Brambleclaw knew that now was the time for interference.

Sending up a final short prayer to StarClan, Brambleclaw charged towards Tigerstar.