Wormnose's Cruelty

Part of the Stars (Series).

Wormnose's Cruelty
“Leafsky!” A light brown tabby she-cat called out, her voice slithering through the trees in which she stood.

A tortoiseshell she-cat with a white chest and white paws looked up from the mossy forest floor on which she was sitting, licking her paws.

“Poppytail?” called Leafsky uncertainly into the trees.

The cat hissed, sneering, and dropped down from the trees, landing squarely on Leafsky’s back.

“Think again,” she hissed into the she-cat’s ear. Leafsky rolled over, flattening the cat on the ground, whipped around so their bellies were facing each other, and began to batter her enemy’s soft underbelly with unsheathed claws.

The intruder yowled. More cats streamed in from the tree-filled forest, and Leafsky stiffened.

Another yowl split the air, and Leafsky’s own clan flooded through the trees, leaping onto DawnClan. Leafsky took up her battle with the light brown tabby, whom she identified as Wetblade of DawnClan.

A DawnClan warrior was pummeling Riverflight of DayClan, and she screeched as he nipped her ears. Grassflight, another DayClan warrior, leaped on Riverflight’s attacker and flattened him, biting his ears as he had done Riverflight.

Meanwhile, a white she-cat with blue eyes was being flattened by a pink-gray tom, who was scratching her back with his hind claws, and raking her head and ears with his front claws. She yowled in protest, but the tom bit down hard on her scruff, silencing her as she silently wailed in agony.

A small, cream she-cat came hurling into the tom attacking Littlefeather, but her weight barely made a difference.

“Birdpaw,” gasped Littlefeather. “Behind you—”

Her words were lost in a snarl as Birdpaw jumped up, sending her attacker bowling into the tom pinning down Littlefeather. The two tussled, scratching each other and biting, before realizing they were both DawnClan and advancing on the other she-cats who had begun to leap back in the fray.

Wormnose, the pink-gray tom, nodded to the light gray tom that had smashed into him. Wormnose nodded towards Littlefeather, and murmured to his companion, “Get the apprentice, Mistyclaw, then drive them towards me so we can use the same move they used on us.”

Mistyclaw gave a short nod, then leaped onto the cream-colored back of the petite apprentice, who whirled around under his outstretched claws and began to scratch at his face. He yowled in pain, and bit her ear hard, so that blood began to flow out of it. Birdpaw scratched above Mistyclaw’s eyes, making blood stream into his unharmed eyes, blinding him so he let go of her. She was able to wiggle free, and dash to aid Littlefeather who was becoming more and more limp under Wormnose’s gnashing teeth, and the claws at her belly.

Birdpaw bit down hard on Wormnose’s scruff as she landed on top of him, and she raked his ears, her claws slicing one of them ¼ of the way down, and sending him yowling in pain towards one of his own cats, who, again, began to tussle with him, thinking he was one of the DayClan cats.

“DawnClan!” cried a shocked voice. “Retreat this instant!” The attacking cats slunk towards a pale pink-gray she-cat who was standing, glaring at DawnClan, her mouth still parted in shock.

“On what circumstances do you attack DayClan on their own land, without any provocation?” she demanded.

Wormnose muttered something indistinct.

A new voice rang through the trees. “Dewstar? What are you doing here?” Brightstar asked curiously. “And…your strongest warriors…hang on,” understanding dawned in her clear blue eyes, “you haven’t been attacking us, have you?” Dewstar hung her head.

“Yes, Brightstar. My warriors have been attacking DayClan,” she murmured.

With a yowl, Wormnose jumped at the calm DayClan leader, and began to claw her underbelly.

“Stop, stop!” commanded Dewstar, but Wormnose continued to claw Brightstar until Littlefeather bowled into him, knocking him off her feebly stirring leader.

“Brightstar?” A light brown tabby padded up to his leader, and licked her ear encouragingly.

“Brightstar, are you all right?” asked Littlefeather, accidently nudging the tabby aside.

“Lightwing, let Littlefeather be with her mother,” mewed a light brown she-cat gently, and Lightwing, nodded respectfully at Littlefeather, who shrank away from her deputy’s gaze, until she realized that there was a tender look in his eyes. But Wormnose wasn’t done with DayClan. He leaped on a light brownish-cream she-cat who was looking sympathetically at Littlefeather and Brighstar. She let out a loud shriek, and tried to wiggle away from his claws. Leafsky leaped onto Wormnose, trying to pry him back, but four dark black cats leaped on top of her, and five more yellow cats leaped onto the other cats, who yowled and began to claw them off. “DawnClan!” shrieked Dewstar. “DawnClan, stop! Wormnose, STOP!” But Wormnose didn’t heed his leader, he yowled encouragement as the black and yellow cats pummeled DayClan.

“The elimination of the weakest, scrawniest clans has come! LightningClan will rule the forest!” he shouted. The black and yellow cats, rogues from the look of them, yowled in agreement.

DayClan was overwhelmed, and they disappeared under the rogues and Wormnose. Brightstar was being dragged by her scruff out of the battle area by her faithful deputy, her own apprentice scurrying after the injured leader. A red she-cat was trotting from the direction of DayClan camp, stopping dead when she saw her injured leader.

Littlefeather was taking on Wormnose herself, her blue eyes glaring into her enemy’s own blue ones, and she took a swipe at his muzzle. He drew back, hissing, and leaped on top of her, flattening her against the ground. She wailed as he dug his claws into her back.

A small white-she cat was nipping a yellow rogue’s hind legs, while her mentor, Shorenose, a light brown and white tom, clawed his ears and scratched his back.

“Whitepaw!” yelled Shorenose. “Behind you!”

For yet more rogues were streaming into the battle, spotted black and white, brown tabbies, fluffy orange ones, and striped gray cats. They swarmed around DayClan, Wormnose as their leader, and DawnClan watched, terrified, as the band of rogues tore apart the other clan.

“DawnClan!” called Dewstar. “DawnClan, attack!”

DawnClan halted for a second as they surged forward, looking confused. “The rogues!” yowled Dewstar.

Whitepaw was being flattened by an orange tom, but a light gray tom, a DawnClan warrior, hauled him off of her, and together, the clans united, they began to pummel him.

“Littlefeather,” gasped Brighstar, reentering the battle, limping, but alive.

“Littlefeather go to DuskClan and NightClan, tell them to help us, it's the clans against…against rogues and there are too many of them for just DayClan and DawnClan, Littlefeather, please!”

Littlefeather shot like a leaf under a kit’s paws, she dashed across the clearing, weaving between small battles, and dashing towards the DuskClan border.

She raced through the trees, practically flying over the fallen leaves, crossed the foul smelling border of DuskClan, and almost smashed into a patrol of suspicious DuskClan cats.

“Please!” she gasped. “There are rogues attacking us and DawnClan, too many, if you come we still wouldn’t be enough, I need to alert NightClan, please, just come and help us, both of our clans will be eliminated, we need you!”

The startled cats glanced at each other, before a dark reddish brown tom ordered a small, dark red tabby, “Tell Duskstar to send a strong patrol, leave a few of them to protect the nursery in case it’s a plot—”

“It’s not!” interrupted Littlefeather, still panting. “Please!”

The red tabby rocketed off, zooming through the trees towards what Littlefeather supposed was their camp.

“Where is this battle?” asked the dark red tom sharply.

“In the trees, back there, on…on DayClan land, just…just please get there as fast as you can, I’m going to NightClan, please, just go!” Littlefeather pleaded.

The patrol nodded, and trotted off to where Littlefeather’s tail pointed.

“NightClan, please, StarClan, let NightClan join us,” she muttered, as she flew through DuskClan land, her paws barely skimming the now mossy ground as she headed towards NightClan.

Luckily, she was on the narrower part of their land, so the journey was minutes before she was hurtling through NightClan land, blindly lumbering towards where she hoped were their camp.

“NightClan!” Littlefeather yowled. “We’re being attacked!”

She desperately needed their help, so she wailed until she heard the thrum of paws on the ground, and saw dark pelts, sharp in contrast with the daylight, racing towards her.

“In the trees, on DayClan land, go, go, go! Please!” A small apprentice broke off from the group, shot towards his camp, and vanished by the swallowing bushes. Littlefeather ran in front of the NightClan cats, leading them towards the fight.

The NightClan cats cringed as they crossed DuskClan land, then began to breathe hard through their noses.

“Come on!” Littlefeather panted. They raced into battle.

Shadowstar, a black she-cat with green eyes, screeched and leaped on top of a orange tom whose teeth were meeting the throat of a dark gray cat that had just raced into the clearing.

“Thunderwing!” screamed Shadowstar, tugging the orange tom off of her daughter. “Not my daughter, you fox-heart!”

The orange tom backed away into the claws of a black and gray tom with green eyes. The orange tom yowled in pain and leaped away from him. He darted out of the clearing, and Wormnose howled something unintelligible after him.

Tinylight barreled into the clearing to aid his brother, Ivyleap, as a golden she-cat jumped on top of the black and gray tom.

“Ivyleap!” yowled Tinylight. Ivyleap’s eyes widened as the golden cat put a paw on his throat. Tinylight grabbed the cat’s shoulder in his jaws and flung her off his brother.

Sageflight was growing limp under a silver tom’s grip. Patchpaw wailed when she saw her mentor dying, and leaped onto the tom that was three times her size. The tom whipped around, snarling, and Sagelfight had time to drag herself away, bleeding heavily, as Patchpaw cowered.

“Patchpaw! Watch out!” Shortpaw yowled as the tom raised a heavily clawed paw. Shortpaw barreled into the tom, with her mentor, Fogtail, right behind her.

Together, the three of them clawed the tom until he ran away screaming something about mercy and the warrior code.

“Oakcloud!” screeched Leafsky, gesturing with her tail. A black she-cat was sneaking up behind her. The cat was the size of an apprentice, and her eyes widened when the two full-grown warriors bore down upon her.

“No! No, please, please, don’t kill me, don’t hurt me, don’t make me…no, don’t, please, no, don’t!” screeched the she-cat. “Wormy just said that you were bad, he didn’t say we were the bad side!”

The two she-cats halted. “Wormy?” echoed Oakcloud.

“Wormy,” confirmed the black she-cat. She gestured to Wormnose. “Over there.”

“Wormnose? Wormy?” Oakckloud cracked up, and Leafsky laughed along with her.

“Wormy! Wormy! Wormy!” they cackled, screeching with laughter.

All fighting stopped.

“Wormy?” echoed Shadowstar disbelievingly, amusement crackling in her voice.

“Wormy?” She began to laugh, and soon all of the leaders joined in.

“Wormy,” choked Applefrost, who had fallen out of the tree she had been hiding in, dressing wounds. “Wormy!”

“Wormy?” Mistyclaw gasped. “That’s pathetic!”

“Wormy,” muttered Mallowpaw with a grin. “WORMY!”

“Wormy! Wormy! Wormy! Wormy! Wormy!” chanted the clans, all screeching with laughter. The rogues took one glance at the cats writhing with laughter, and then fled, as though fearing the insanity might grip them too.

“I’m sorry…Wormy,” choked out Dewstar. “But you can’t be deputy anymore. I’m sorry, Wormy.”

“WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY WORMY!” yowled the cats, all laughing. Wormnose threw a last disgusted look at the cats, then padded away, shaking his head in disbelief.