DawnClan Assignment 2: Time to Go to War

“Come on Owlpaw! Try again, but aim for my legs this time, not my tail haha!”
It’s been a few moons since DawnClan has finally settled down into their territory, and Mossheart had to admit, things seemed to be going pretty smoothly! Almost every cat had learned the warrior code, kits were quickly becoming apprentices, Cinderstar had gotten her nine lives and appointed her as deputy, and prey was plentiful in their forest.

Yup, life was good!

Mossheart crouched low to the ground, facing a young brown-and-gray tom directly across from her. She was currently training with her apprentice, Owlpaw, in the center of their camp. The she-cat figured that since they didn’t have an official clearing for battle training, the spacious camp was definitely the next best thing. “Okay Mossheart!” grinned the young tom as he mimicked her pose. “I’ll get you this time! You’ll see!”

“Well then come on!” the tabby mewed mischievously, raising an eyebrow. “Stop stalling and show me what you can do.” With a sneer, the apprentice dashed towards her with great speed, feinting an attack at her head and skidding around towards her back legs. Just as he was about to lunge at her, a loud yowling erupted from the entrance, and Mossheart bolted upright to see a ginger blur heading right towards her.

“MOSSHEART!” screeched Firepaw, horror clear in her mew. “MOSSHEART! CINDERSTAR’S PATROL- PEBBLE CREEK- SNOWCLAN-!”

“Firepaw calm down!” soothed the deputy, trying to hide the worry in her expression as she bounded towards the apprentice. Owlpaw followed her, padding over to stand next to his mentor. “Take a deep breath and try to relax, okay? What’s wrong?” Cats were beginning to leave their dens and turn their heads towards their three clanmates, their attention locked on the conversation happening in the center of camp.

“What’s going on?” Dustyfur called from the fresh-kill pile, a fresh squirrel dangling from his jaws. “Where’s the rest of your patrol?”

Firepaw shook her head is if she were trying to clear her thoughts, and looked up at Mossheart once more. “SnowClan has attacked Cinderstar’s patrol at Pebble Creek!” she gasped, her chest rising and falling from the run, and possibly the adrenaline. “Crystalstar said that they were going to take what was rightfully theirs, and we’re horribly outnumbered!”

“How many cats?” Mossheart whispered, her leaf-green eyes widening in shock.

“…more than thirty.”

“…fox dung…DAWNCLAN LISTEN UP!”

The deputy immediately spun around, seeing that all her clanmates already had their attention focused on her. “SnowClan has launched an ambush on Cinderstar’s patrol! They are trying to steal our territory from us! This means WAR!”
A caterwaul of outraged yowls quickly filled the air. Warriors, apprentices…even the kits and queens looked angered. Mossheart swiftly began to name cats that would accompany her on the battle patrol, and picked out a few cats that would stay to protect camp.

“Cinderstar needs our help.” The deputy growled, anger, worry, and protectiveness mixing with her emotions. “IT’S TIME TO SHOW SNOWCLAN WHAT WE’RE REALLY MADE OF!” With a loud roar of yowls echoing throughout the forest, Mossheart dashed out of the entrance, the rest of her clanmates pouring after her as she guided them towards the river.
‘Please StarClan…’ she thought, sending a silent prayer to her ancestors. ‘Please protect my clanmates. Guide our paws and give us the strength, and courage we need for this battle.’

With a loud battle cry, the tabby DawnClan deputy burst out of the bushes and launched herself at a nearby SnowClan cat, locking her outraged gaze with their surprised one as she scored her claws down their side. “ATTACK!”
The rest of her clanmates exploded from the bushes like a nest of angry hornets, rocketing forward on powerful hind paws and slamming into SnowClanners by the dozen. Screeches of pain, surprise, and anger filled Mossheart’s ears, and battered...bloodied cats began to tumble over the grass, snarling wildly as they clawed at each other’s faces.

‘StarClan help us all…’