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They were at a standstill, cats from both sides staring at each other. No one made a sound as Tangle and Hollystar began to circle each other. The ginger tom looked about ready to lunge forward but Hollystar stayed calm and collected.
"That was a clever plan, making Whisper believe you were all a bunch of aggressive mousebrains. But, it seems your plan has failed. Look around you, you're losing." Tangle's taunt did not seem to affect Hollystar whatsoever.
"We're not done yet, don't be so quick to dismiss your opponents, it might cost you." Hollystar's voice sounded completely deadpan and it clearly angered Tangle, the tom's tail lashing back and forth with force.
"Just give up and give us what we want!"
Hollystar looked at him and then around the camp before lazily bringing her gaze back to the one angry cat in the middle.
"Well, what do you want then?" She asked, tilting her head slightly but still without any inflection in her tone.
Tangle's eyes gleamed, "your territory, all of it. It looks much better than this dreary place. Leave and we'll give you Mosspaw back."
Hollystar pretended to consider it for a moment and then: "No."
"What? You can't possibly think you'll win this fight?!" Tangle yowled while Hollystar just blinked at him.
The white she-cat began to calmly lick her paw, running it over her ears. She ignored any attempts from Tangle to start the conversation back up, the tom getting increasingly more agitated the longer this went on.
Eventually, he lost his already fragile temper and lunged.
Cats gasped as he collided with Hollystar, the she-cat making no attempt to fight back as claws dug into her fur.
"Fight back, coward! I want a real challenge!" The ginger tom growled in her face and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"That sounds like a you problem," the leader replied, wincing slightly as Tangle had his claws in deep.
The she-cat's indifference did not sit well with Tangle and he bit down harshly on her shoulder, enjoying her hiss of pain. He prepared himself for another bite when something yanked on his tail.
He turned around with a growl, poised to strike whoever had interrupted him and came face to face with a dark gray tom, mushrooms sprouting up all over the cat's body. Several emotions flashed across the ginger cat's face, too quick for anyone to actually see what they were.
"Scrunkles?" He sounded shocked, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Then, his gaze hardened. "This is not the time for you to finally get your head out of the sand and strike back, I'm busy."
"You really do just only care about whatever you can sink your claws in next." There was clear disappointment in Scrunkles's eyes. "Do you actually want their territory or do you just want to fight a bunch of strangers?"
Tangle huffed, "Yes, of course. Are you doubting me?" The idea seemed ludicrous in the tom's mind. He was a genius, why should any of his children believe different?
Scrunkles raised himself to his full height, daring his father to say anything about it. "I doubt you all the time, what was even your plan? Steal one cat and expect no one to come rushing to the rescue?"
"Exactly! Now they're all here for us to fight! My plans are always perfect." The fact that he just contradicted himself seemed absent in the large tom's mind. Scrunkles noticed though and from the angry shout in the crowd, someone else did too.
"Are you serious!?" Came the offended snarl of Bluebell. "That's what you wanted this whole time? I did all the work getting that calico here, thinking we were gonna use aer to scare this group into doing things for us. And all you wanted to do is fight?"
The cream-furred feline pushed her way through the gathered cats, dark blue eyes ablaze with fury. "We could have gotten them to give us prey in exchange for Mosspaw's safety or actually take the territory. It's so big, we'd be set for generations!"
She stopped to take a deep breath, Tangle still stunned silent by her outburst.
"Forget it, I'm out." She turned to head further into the dark woods, away from her family's camp.
Tangle managed to shake himself out of his stupor, calling after her to stay or she'd regret it. It did nothing to deter her, she simply kept walking. Before the heavy mist fully swallowed her figure, she turned her head one last time, gazing at all the assembled cats.
Once she made eye-contact with Tangle, she growled: "Go eat crowfood, old tom. I hate all of you." And with that declaration, she headed into the mist, vanishing completely.
Cats began to whisper amongst each other, though one in particular seemed to have something more to say.
"Father?" Wolf asked tentatively, shrinking down a little when the tom's angry gaze turned to him.
"What?" The ginger feline snapped, unhappy with the loss of a useful cat.
Wolf's ears drooped down, uncertain, but he still chose to keep talking. "I'm gonna be honest, that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. We don't even have a cat with healing magic, we kinda need that if all we do is fight."
"Wrong, I can grow certain mushrooms with healing capabilities, not as good as actual herbs or healing magic but it'll do in a pinch." Scrunkles cut in.
"Wait, you can?" Nettle asked, joining the conversation. "I thought all you were good for was just, growing random mushrooms and nothing more."
"Some of my mushrooms are poisonous,"
Nettle opened their mouth, closed it, and then wisely decided not to say anything else.
Tangle scraped his claws through the dirt, angry but unsure of who to take out his frustration on. Suddenly, it felt as if multiple claws and teeth dug into his body and he yelped in pain. Confused, he whirled around, who could possibly be attacking him? He didn't see anyone!
"Forgot about me, didn't you?" Came Hollystar's voice from behind him, the she-cat having lifted herself back on four paws. Somehow, there were no injuries to be found anywhere on her body.
Tangle's eyes widened. Counter magic.
It was a rare sight, so much so he'd only ever heard of cats who could take any injuries done to them and then force their opponents to take the damage instead. He'd never encountered one before and he realized this wasn't a fight they could win, whatever any cat threw at her, she could just counter and leave herself unharmed.
The ginger tom took a step back and then quickly sprinted away, heading towards the edge of his camp, calling for his children to follow him.
Nettle didn't hesitate to race after their father, Wolf still looking uncertain but choosing to go after his sibling. Dawn looked conflicted, eyes flicking around before deciding to join as well.
"Scrunkles!" Tangle called, waiting right at the edge and looking back at the dark gray tom.
"Absolutely not." Was the reply, Tangle growled but didn't argue, he didn't really care that much anyway.
Whisper made himself visible again, pushing Spidereye off of him and heading after the rest. He didn't look back.
Silence fell over ShineClan, cats wondering whether they really just left or if this was a trap. When nothing happened for a good while, they realized they'd won.
Sunspark dashed forward to check on Mosspaw, relief flooding the mentor now that ze knew the apprentice was safe.
The less injured cats offered support to those with harsher wounds, some even carrying their Clanmates on their backs, begining to trail home.
Scrunkles watched them go, not surprised when Hollystar settled down next to him.
"I'd like to thank you for helping me out there," the she-cat meowed softly.
"You have counter magic, I didn't really need to help."
"But you did it anyway, do you have anywhere to go?"
"No? Are you going to ask if I want to stay with your group?" He glanced up at the ShineClan leader.
"You can stay if you want, if it turns out to not be the place for you, you can always leave again."
He thought about it for a moment, they already seemed so different from his family.
He nodded, oddly feeling like something was lodged in his throat, making him unable to speak.
Hollystar stood up and led him over to Mosspaw who immediately began chattering, causing Sunspark to laugh fondly.
Scrunkles followed the Clan all the way to The Hollow, secretly hoping it could be his new home.