A Day In The Life Of...
A One-shot by xXSilverfrostxX
There was plenty of reason to be running around this season. There was plenty of reason to be gulping down as many water voles or fish as you can. There was plenty reason for the elders to walk around the territory, enjoying the simple rushing of the streams and chirping of the birds. There was plenty of reason for the leader to be relaxed and calm; walking around with much pride in her step. There was a plenty of reason for the herb stocks to be completely full, but with no cat sick or injured. Why you may ask? It was mid new-leaf, and RiverClan was recovering from a harsh, loosing battle from leaf-bare.
"Gingerleap! You said we were doing battle training today!"
"It's good to know your kits will be healthy when born. How much longer?"
"I caught that squirrel all the way at the top! It didn't stand a chance against me!"
"Patrols are being sent out right now to the ShadowClan border."
"I don't think I call re-call a new-leaf like this. What do you think, Hareshadow?"
"Herbs are all stocked. No cat with wounds or sickness. This seems pretty easy so far."
The regular talking of her Clan-mates soothed Silverfrost very much. It was true what Windseer had to say; even though Silverfrost was just a kit and born after Windseer became a warrior, she had never known an easier time of the seasons. It seemed like StarClan was celebrating something, but for what? Tilting her head, Silverfrost pondered this for a moment before Ravenpaw padded up beside her, her hazel eyes sparkling from the shifting sunlight.
"I'm surprised ShadowClan hasn't made a move into our territory like last new-leaf. You would think they always need more food." Ravenpaw mused, settling herself down next to Silverfrost. "Maybe they have enough frogs and toads for once." She ended that sentence with a mild giggle.
Silverfrost only let out a steady purr, her tail-tip flicking up and down lazily. "Maybe they do. But remember, no Clan has seen this much growth in any territory. Even WindClan seems to be holding their own very well. You saw how plump Runningbird was at yesterday's meeting. The plains have filled up fast with many types of thick shrubs and bushes, and the rabbits seem to like that." She was actually grateful WindClan was doing so well; they had the least cats of all four Clans, and they were always looked down upon. It was about time they had a chance to grow strong again, and this might give them an extra push.
Ravenpaw shrugged, her eyes closing as she laid her head down on the marshy grass. Silverfrost guessed that her apprentice didn't like WindClan very much, for whatever reason. Maybe a skirmish took place or something. Ravenpaw wasn't always a medicine cat apprentice. She had started her training as a warrior under the watchful eye of Owlflight. The hyper-active apprentice would get herself into situations that weren't needed. What had changed Ravenpaw's mind about what path she should walk on seemed to be a mystery to both mentor and apprentice.
Gazing around the clearing, she breifly noticed Wingstar and the RiverClan deputy, Specklepetal, having a close, hushed discussion about something. Both she-cats heads were close, and Specklepetal especially seemed to be worried about something. Her eyes gave away her anxious covering. Managing to sit up, Silverfrost tilted her head, pondering over what could possibly be wrong. Maybe a badger in the territory? Or a litter of fox pups? No Twolegs inhabited this part of the land just yet, so no worries there. She was just about to say something to Ravenpaw when Wingstar suddenly looked up and looked straight at Silverfrost, motioning with her tail to join them.
A bit hesitant, but still very curious, Silverfrost made her way across the clearing, the long grass brushing across her stomach. She paused with surprise as Eclipsekit and Tallkit rolled in front of her, play-fighting of course. Purring slightly, she continued until she took a place next to Wingstar, her eyes searching Specklepetal's expression. "Is there something wrong?" Silverfrost asked.
Wingstar sighed and shook her head breifly, which earned a stern look from the deputy. Now confused, Silverfrost lashed her tail. "Is there something wrong or not?" She wanted to get straight to the point with this conversation, and if both she-cats were hidding something, it would be their problem to fix it. "That's the problem. We don't exactly know. Specklepetal expresses concern for Stonecloud. He has been missing from camp since dawn." Wingstar finally meowed.
Glancing at the sky, Silverfrost noticed it was just past sun-high, the only time of day where the sun shone full down into this clearing, turning the marshy water that bathed the grass warm and unpleasant for a few. "Was he part of any patrols?" Silverfrost asked, wanting some more information.
"He joined the dawn patrol by WindClan and according to Hollowrain, he went hunting afterwards. But he has never returned." Specklepetal meowed, her voice clearly strained. Why would she express so much concern for this one tom?
Sighing, Silverfrost rose to her paws, earning a surprised look from Wingstar. "I will bring Ravenpaw and search for him. WindClan has been gaining strength, true, but they have no reason to hurt or kidnap, or do anything to our warriors." She reminded both of the them. There was nothing else she could do to help. Being a medicine cat, she was above all of the Clan's troubles and didn't like to participate in search patrols for mature warriors.
"Thank you, Silverfrost." Was all Wingstar replied with and Specklepetal dipped her head, clearly grateful. Shrugging, she returned to where Ravenaw was napping in the sunlight. A thought crossed Silverfrosts' mind and she wondered if the deputy herself had gone out to try and find him. Well, a walk wouldn't be so bad.
"Ravenpaw, wake up now." She nudged the black she-cat's shoulder and in a few moments, Ravenpaw's eyes fluttered open.
"Ugh, I was having a nice dream too. What is it, Silverfrost?" The apprentice sat up, her muzzle gaping in a large yawn. Flexing her claws, she stretched as well.
"We're going to the WindClan border to search for Stonecloud." Was all she explained as her paws lead her to the entrance and exit from the clearing. Bushes and low-branched trees surrounded a majority of the clearing and the dens, but one space was just covered with a thick amount of tall reeds, much higher than any cats' head. This was the simple way in and out of the camp. If any rival Clan decided to attack, the stench of the reeds would draw them to pass by, or perhaps drive them away all-together.
Ravenpaw followed without a complaint, but the look of confusion of her face was understandable. Why did we have to go search for a warrior was capable of holding his own. If WindClan did possibly kidnap him, it would be simple to report to Wingstar from any warrior. There was no way he would get lost in his own territory.
Passing under the trees, the ground was much dryer, with fewer undergrowth such as masses of ferns or any water plant. Streams and one river passed through the RiverClan territory, but besides that and camp area, everything else was mostly dry. Flooding wasn't much of a problem, but the water level in the camp could rise very quickly if the rain continued for long periods of time.
The border to WindClan was easy to notice. The trees thinned out more and more until all there was were smaller, growing trees, and some bushes here and there. There was no river or stream to be the border, just a lot of scent-markers. Silverfrost paused near the edge of the invisible border, looking over her shoulder to see if Ravenpaw had followed. She had.
Wrinkling her nose, the apprentice sat down. "I don't know why WindClan would want to kidnap Stonecloud." She commented lightly. Silverfrost flicked an ear and narrowed her eyes slightly as she gazed over the open-ish land, filled with small hills and dips in the Earth.
"We do not know for sure if Stonecloud was taken, but for now, we just need to get a hold of his scent." Silverfrost opened her mouth slightly and let the fresh air glaze over her scent glands. She scented prey and the lake water, but no Stonecloud. That seemed even more bizarre because the earlier patrol had taken this route. She could easily distungise all four warriors, but Stonecloud's scent was missing.
Just as Silverfrost was beginning to think that maybe Stonecloud had disgusted his own scent for a reason, a figure appeared at the top of the first hill that Silverfrost could see. Narrowing her ears, she noticed it was defiantly a cat, but the direction of the sun made it hard to make out the color of its' pelt. Its' tail was waving in the air, and its ears were pricked. It seemed to turn for a moment before changing its mind and breaking into a full run down the hill, straight towards the two medicine cats. Stiffening, she wondered if it was a trap. Perhaps WindClan had just been binding their time and was aiming to take over one Clan at a time, for a long history of beatings and taunting. Maybe their target was RiverClan first, as the two Clans were close allies this season. Bringing both medicine cats far away from camp was a good plan if a raid was taking place. A couple warriors could keep them here while the rest of the Clans are in a heated battle.
Silverfrost almost cursed under her breath as the figure drew closer, only slowing down to a complete stop a few paw-steps from the border. Looking the cat over, she realized this cat was no taller than her shoulder. An apprentice, no doubt. Its pelt was a mixture of black, orange, and white, and its' eyes were a steel green. Silverfrost had never seen this cat before, leading her to believe this was a very new apprentice, stripped of its -kit ending this moon. Her guess was made a fact as two other forms streaked over the hill-top.
"Hawkpaw!" A call from one warrior, who Silverfrost recognized as Duskpelt, let Hawkpaw to turn and growl. "I caught these two looking over to our territory! They could be trying to steal it!"
A stifle of laughter from Ravenpaw caused Silverfrost to purr as both Duskpelt and the senior warrior Cherryheart came to a stop besides the young apprentice. Hawkpaw turned back to them, narrowing his eyes at Ravenpaw. "What do you think you're laughing about? If you think you can laugh at me, I'll make you regret that!" Cherryheart causally sat down and merely rolled her eyes and that outburst earned a rough cuff from Duskpelt.
"Don't you dare be disrespectful, Hawkpaw. These two aren't even warriors. Silverfrost is RiverClan's medicine cat and Ravenpaw is her apprentice." Duskpelt explained, dipping his head to Silverfrost, which she politely returned. Ravenpaw's laughter turned into a smirk as Hawkpaw's face turned from one of anger to one of surprise. Then Hawkpaw stepped forward, puffing out his chest and narrowing his eyes once more.
"Well, in that case, I'll let you live, but you're from a rival Clan, so I still dislike you." Duskpelt let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head. It was clear he had his paws full with this bold apprentice. Deciding it would be best to just make common conversation, Silverfrost asked how WindClan was doing.
Cherryheart purred. "WindClan had been doing very well. The prey seems to come out from nowhere now. There's so much to spare, I almost forgot how going hungry can feel." Duskpelt nodded and added, "I don't think any cat has seen a new-leaf like this one. But after the chilly leaf-bare, it seems that StarClan decided to reward us."
Doubting that StarClan had control over the simple four seasons, Silverfrost shrugged. "No matter if StarClan had to do with this or not, it's welcomed in every Clan. The past leaf-bare has been hard on every Clan." An explanation from Ravenpaw caught her attention and she glanced to side to see both apprentices nose-to-nose with each other, spiting out random insults. Whatever Hawkpaw had previously said to Ravenpaw seemed to spark the bad side.
Clamping down on Hawkpaw's tail-and earning a yowl of protest in the process-Duskpelt proceeded to drag the apprentice a couple cat-lengths from the border before letting go of his tail. Hawkpaw immediately spun around with another yowl but a stern glare from his mentor set the apprentice to only sit down and sulk. "Well, we've better continue with the patrol." Cherryheart dipped her head again and stood. "It was nice to meet up with you. I'll let Thrushear know you're both doing alright."
Silverfrost smiled and purred in gratitude. "Thank you, Cherryheart." Her voice softened a bit as she added, "Have you scented a RiverClan tom near here recently?"
Pausing in mid-step, Cherryheart looked over her shoulder, thinking a moment before shaking her head. "Missing someone?"
"Yes, Stonecloud. It went on a patrol to this border at dawn, but has not returned." Silverfrost explained simply.
Cherryheart again was silent for a few moments, while Duskpelt and Hawkpaw made their way back to the hill. "No, we have not scented him in WindClan territory, or along this border. If we catch sight of him, we'll let you know." She dipped her head again and was off. Silverfrost waited a few moments to make sure they had really gone, then turned to Ravenpaw, who looked equally concerned.
"Come, we'll report to Wingstar. There's nothing else we can do here."
The walk back to the camp was silent, with no words exchanged. Once the reeds were in sight, Silverfrost felt a chill creep up her spine and shivered in spite of the heat. Ravenpaw cast her a confused glance, to which she didn't reply too. Something didn't feel right. She paused, testing the air. Everything smelled okay. No rival Clans or predators.
Shouldering her way through the reeds, Silverfrost almost bumped into Wingstar. The leader looked like she was on the way out, so Silverfrost stepped aside. But Wingstar just let out a quiet sigh and sat down. Pausing, Silverfrost glanced around the camp. Groups of two or three warriors huddled together near the warriors' den, heads close and whispering quietly.
"What's going on?" It was Ravenpaw who spoke, stepping up beside Silverfrost and giving the camp a confused glance over. Wondering the same thing, Silverfrost sat down, eyeing Wingstar. "Yes, what is going on? Did someone find Stonecloud?" She had almost forgot about the missing tom.
Drawing in a deep breath, Wingstar nodded sharply and when she spoke, her voice was sharp. "Yes, we did. Someone found him by the ShadowClan border, actually."
ShadowClan? What could Stonecloud be doing by their border? Sure, the usual hostile Clan was calmer than last season, but that didn't mean they were not still a threat to any warrior that passed by. Did he join the sun-high border patrol? Glancing around the camp once more, she realized the three cats assigned to that patrol were here. Were they the ones who had come across Stonecloud? "What was he doing by ShadowClan? Hunting?" It was the only reason Silverfrost could come up with. A sudden voice to their right nearly scared her out of her fur.
"Yeah, I wish he was hunting. But you're wrong. Apparently Stonecloud's been hiding a secret from us." It was Owlflight and her hackles were raised like she was sizing up some unseen enemy.
"He's been seeing some ShadowClan scum!" A shout behind Owflight caused all four she-cats to turn their heads and look. Silverfrost narrowed her emerald green eyes at Specklepetal, who instead of looking angry, was quite sad. Almost depressed. The she-cat's normally bright blue eyes seemed very dull and the deputy looked way past her own age. "He's also a father to two kits in ShadowClan and plans to ditch us for them, or rather her."
Not expecting this, Silverfrost's fur began to rise. Ravenpaw's eyes widened and Wingstar just sighed and shook her head. It took a few moments before she could speak again. "How did we not notice this? Stonecloud is RiverClan's most senior warrior. And a good one at that. He's very popular among all the Clans, but to pick a mate in a different one?" Silverfrost questioned.
Taking a mate and even having kits was out of the question for every medicine cat as soon as they took the promise as a new apprentice. But it seemed like despite StarClan's words handed down generation after generation, some still managed to keep secrets hidden away. Usually they ended up with kits they never wanted in the first place, or some were betrayed, and most lost their own rankings within the Clan. However, with warriors, it was always interesting to see what each cat would do. There were many forbidden loves that happened every moon it seemed, and with many half-Clan kits being born, no one really wanted them. ThunderClan was the Clan that took in the unwanted, and despite ShadowClan's harsh teasing, the forest Clan remained strong and agile, with every warrior looking proud. But things really shifted when a loyal warrior turned out to be hiding a secret.
When no one answered her question, Silverfrost dismissed Ravenpaw, who quickly scampered off to the nursery. Her mother, Amberstep, had given birth a moon earlier and with three new toms to watch, Ravenpaw was eager to become the older sibling. Drifting back to the subject, Silverfrost asked, "Where are you keeping him?" There was no doubt in her mind that Stonecloud was being hidden away from glaring eyes and sharp claws.
"He's in Wingstar's den. I just finished talking with him." Specklepetal answered, her tail lashing and brushing the grass. Owlflight, who was still in the battle-ready position, turned away with an angry huff and stalked off, disappearing into the warriors' den, where several Clan-mates soon followed. There was no question that Owlflight had a deep crush on Stonecloud, but apparently this whole time it wouldn't have worked anyway.
Silverfrost nodded and without speaking another word to Wingstar, she padded to the leaders' den, which was a hollow rock thought to be carved out by Twolegs generations ago. No one questioned its original use as it was a great source of protection now. Shrugging through the small entrance, Silverfrost let her eyes adjust to the darkness before spotting Stonecloud huddled in the back, hunched over. She felt a slight pang of sympathy for the tom, but shook it away. It wasn't her place to judge others.
"I heard about your secret."
Eyes that looked like shards of ice just blinked back at her response. "Everyone knows, now." His voice was taunt and full of hidden emotions.
Not bothering to approach the tom, Silverfrost sat down where she was, blocking the entrance. "Is this what you want?"
There was a long silence. Stonecloud's figure shifted and he seemed to grasp onto some invincible confidence. His stance straightened and he was now longer hunched over as he was grieving for a lost warrior. "I choose my path and destiny as soon as a began meeting with her. I don't regret a single moment of it. She is who I love and watch over now, and no one will take that away from me." His voice was bold and sharp, and his eyes bore into Silverfrost's as if daring her to challenge those facts.
They'll be able to take that away if they exile you, she thought. There was truth in his answer, however, and Silverfrost couldn't argue with that. He was old enough to watch over himself. "Then we'll keep you close to us, despite your absence."
Turning, Silverfrost slipped out of den. Wingstar was waiting, pacing back and forth as if having to make a tough decision. Upon her arrival, the leader looked up and meowed, "Should we keep him here?"
Silverfrost almost snorted. Keep him here? Was she actually considering it? "No. He has already chosen his fate. It's punishment enough to be leaving your birth-clan. He'll be fine where he is. He has a family to look after now." Silverfrost explained. "It's best if we let him go in peace."
Apparently the warriors who were crowding the den had come out of hiding and she could spot Owlflight ready to make a protest but a head-butt from Shadowleaf kept her quiet. She merely looked away, eyes narrowed. Wingstar paused and was silent but after a few more moments, just nodded. "Shrewfire and Heavygaze will escort him to the border at dawn tomorrow."
That made sense. Shrewfire, Heavygaze, and Stonecloud were all from the same litter. With no parents alive, it was the only family Stonecloud had ever known up until this point. Maybe his decision had altered when he realized just how little he had left in his birth-clan.
Dipping her head, Silverfrost watched the leader walk off and the other warriors begin to disperse. Specklepetal, who had since remained silent, took over her duties and began assigning the next batch of patrols to head out. She turned and headed back to her the medicine den. With the sun only beginning to set, there was still plenty that could be done, but for now, Silverfrost would rest until dusk arrived. She began to fix her bedding; some moss and reeds had come un-woven since the previous night. With Ravenpaw visiting her mother and new siblings and no cat sick or inquired, it was a fairly peaceful day so far. Despite Stonecloud's sudden change of heart, which was understandable now, the only main event this past moon was the rare flooding in ShadowClan territory. Everything was too peaceful, it seemed. She knew that was bound to change in the coming days, as Clans got bolder and stronger.
Settling down in her bedding, Silverfrost closed her eyes with one question in mind. What else was in store for RiverClan in the future?
AN : My first one-shot! I was not expecting this to be as lengthy as it currently is. I'm fairly surprised I managed to type that much up. Anyway, this is a one-shot that I typed for a challenge. I'm not fully accepted into the group currently, but I think it would be fun to see what I could do.
This was made for WillowClan's monthly writing challenge.
Also, yes, if I had to choose one of the four Clans to be apart of, I would choose RiverClan. I have actually used Silverfrost in a number of RPG's and she's usually always the medicine cat, if I can snag that rank fast enough. So she's my main OC. The other cats mentioned were randomly created by me. I might keep the names and such if I decide to type out an actually story.
Please, R&R. Thank you.
:)