Empty Peace

## Prologue:

Stormstar gasped from breath as he emerged from the surface. Battle cries filled his ears. All around him there was fighting. Cats from both HeatherClan and IceClan raged on, fighting to the death. Within the struggle, he spotted the pelts of Sunnose, Wildtuft, Rainsong, and his mate Heatherwish. He hauled himself out of the water and ran towards the battling cats. The IceClan warrior Flamespirit leapt for him, but he knocked the she-cat to the side with a low growl. She glared at him silently before charging towards a struggle between the two deputies Wrenpoppy and Jaggedice. Stormstar continued to walk forward, fur bushed out. He heard a cat call out his name, and a few heartbeats later Ashfire appeared at his side, gasping.

"Stormstar.... I think it's time we retreat.... we're heavily outnumbered by IceClan cats, plus we're losing already-" Stormstar turned on her, snarling.

"This is *our* territory, Ashfire! We aren't going to give it to some other Clan!" Ashfire flinched slightly, but held her ground.

"Stormstar...." She said tiredly. "I know that you don't want to lose you're entire Clan over a blade of grass." Stormstar bristled, about to retort, but Ashfire continued.

"Besides, the territory we have is clean and healthy. What more would a leader want for his Clan. We've fought against IceClan long enough, Stormstar. This isn't going to end until one of us submits. How many more cats are we going to lose in battles because you haven't yet figured out how to sallow you're own pride. I might not be you or Wrenpoppy, but if I were, I would call a retreat." Stormstar sighed.

"If we back down now IceClan might highly think about try to steal more of HeatherClan territory." Ashfire shook her head.

"Can we try not to think about that now. I believe we have something more important to tend to." She pointed her muzzle towards Sunnose and Vixenblaze, who were surrounded by five IceClan cats, then Rushcreek, who had a gaping wound going from his neck to his belly. Ashfire turned back to Stormstar, brows raised. Stormstar held her gaze for a second, before lifting his head to the sky.

"HeatherClan! Retreat!"

## Chapter One:

"No Leopardpaw! That's not how you do it!" Leopardpaw skidded to a stop, fur prickled.
"Sorry, Sunnose." She mumbled. The yellow she-cat came up to Leopardpaw.

"It's all right, but I know Rushcreek taught you the hunters crouch already." Leopardpaw rolled her eyes. Rushcreek has her old mentor, but he died in the battle against IceClan the previous moon. Stormstar made Sunnose her mentor, and to be honest, Leopardpaw liked Rushcreek better.

"Well, that's the way Rushcreek taught me it." She meowed, crouching down while Sunnose fussed over her. Her gaze traveled towards the border. She spotted a few IceClan cats marking their side of the border. Leopardpaw lifted her head, forgetting that she has practicing her crouch. Sunnose growled loudly, but fell silent when she followed Leopardpaw's gaze. Then the warrior sighed. "Let's get back to camp. I think we've done enough training." Leopardpaw nodded softly, following her mentor into the trees. Behind her, she heard the IceClan start to yowl. They clearly spotted her and her mentor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jaggedice step forward, eyes narrowed. His apprentice Whorlpaw stood next to him, watching her and Sunnose.

"I hope you're not thinking about trying to get any of out territory Sunnose!" The IceClan deputy yowled. The yellow cat bristled. Panic flooded into Leopardpaw's chest as her mentor turned, fangs bared.

"How about you don't worry about that mouse-brain!" Sunnose snapped. Walking towards the border. Leopardpaw flinched as Jaggedice's eyes grew hard. Leopardpaw walked forward, following Sunnose down the slope hesitantly. She looked towards IceClan cats. Other than Jaggedice and Whorlpaw, there were two other cats. She lowered her head nervously. The two cats finally stopped. While Leopardpaw hung back, Sunnose came up to Jaggedice until the two cats were standing nose to nose, tails bushed and claws out. She looked away, fur prickling. A few moments later she got a sensation of a cat staring at her. Leopardpaw lifted her gaze, flinched as Jaggedice suddenly lunged forward, knocking Sunnose off her paws. The yellow she-cat screeched. The fur along Leopardpaw's fur rose and she crouched, readying herself to pounce on Jaggedice's back. But Skypath and Milkbird got to the two cats first, pinning Sunnose to the ground. Panic flooded her mind. Her claws slid out as she leaped towards them. Before she reached them, she felt teeth tug on her tail. She squealed in pain as she hit the ground. Before she had the chance to get the chance to get to her feet, the cat started dragging into the trees. After a few heart beats of struggling and rolling over to break free, the cat grabbed her by the scruff with a low snarl.

"Let me go!" Leopardpaw snapped, eyes narrowed. She twisted, only causing the cat to stop and shake her. After a while she fell silent, listening to the echoes of Sunnose's cried. At last the cat let her go. Without a moment's hesitation, Leopardpaw got to her paws and whirled around, claws out. There was a flash of gray fur, and the next moment Leopardpaw was back on the ground. The cat had it's paws on her shoulders.

"Do you act like this every time you train?" The cat snapped

## Chapter two:

Whorlpaw stared at the orange furred apprentice, curiosity prickling in his paws. She glared at him.
"And just what do you wish to speak about at this time?" She asked him coolly,