Part one of three. I wrote this story based on one of my characters on the amazon forums. I'm *Jay* Cardinalfeather for anyone that is there. I have the story there, and here, so there is no stealing going on. I thought that this story came out really well, so I wanted to post it here. Hmm...if you have any questions as to the time-line or anything, pm me, and I'll explain in for you. So...enjoy ^^
Frostedpaw's Dream
Wallowing away in her den, Frostedpaw swiped a paw over her nose to swat away a shriveled piece of soiled moss. She had been put on nursery duty, and then elder duty. Two dens was too much for one apprentice.
It seemed like Frostedpaw always got the short end of everything. When she was born, her mother had been a savior of the four clans. She had fought in the Dark Forest battle, and she had once come from what seemed to be another world.
With all of that luck on her side, Frostedpaw thought that life would be wonderful for her, but it wasn't.
From the day she took her first walk outside the nursery, Frostedpaw realized that her life was going to be one tough journey. She remembered the day just like it was yesterday, even though it occurred more that six moons previous.
Sunlight streamed in through the small gaps in the nursery walls, leaving tiny dots of light scattered on the moss and sand. Alderkit had woken up first, and was batting at an orange butterfly that made it's own fate by fluttering into the den.
He stepped backwards, and his foot landed promptly on Frostedkit's tail. She shot up with a squeak of pain, and had to evade his footsteps even further. "Sorry!" he laughed, snagging the butterfly with one milky white claw.
Frostedkit jumped up out of her nest and battered him on the head with her paws.
"Hey!" he protested, and tackled her.
Letting off a hiss of surprise, Frostedkit rolled over top of him until he had her pinned. They were almost a moon old, and Alderkit was now bigger than Frostedkit, giving himself the superior weight to hold her down.
Not giving up, Frostedkit pummeled the soft of his belly with her hind paws, sending him flying off into the newest queen in the den, Starshine. She let off a startled wail that woke up the rest of the cats in the nursery.
Frostedkit darted back over to her mother, and curled up next to her, Alderkit did the same. Bluestone lifted her head, and stared around, wild eyed. "What's wrong?" she hissed to her daughter. "Are your kits coming?"
"No," Starshine breathed, and let her fur lie flat. "I could swear that something rammed into me…maybe I'm just imagining it…" she sighed. The whole nursery was awake thanks to her, no, more thanks to Frostedkit and Alderkit.
The two kits looked at each other mischievously, and Alderkit whispered under his breathe, "Smooth one!"
"You were pretty good yourself," Frostedkit winked, and then put on her best sleepy face. She lifted her head and yawned, "What's going on?" she whimpered.
Alderkit shot her a look, and she wanted to shoot one back, but she still had to maintain her innocent pose.
"Shh, it's alright, Starshine just got a little bit scared, that's all," Bluestone murmured, lapping gently at her daughter's pelt.
Mosskit poked her tortoiseshell head up, "Can we go outside of the nursery today?" she asked, her mew light and delicate.
Bluestone pondered it as four toms rushed into the den; the first was Voyagestorm, followed by Riversplash, Weaselfur, and Jaspersilence. It seemed that whenever a squeak of squeal came from the nursery, those four toms needed to be in there to make sure no cat had died or lost a limb.
"What happened?" Jaspersilence demanded. Frostedkit was surprised at the intensity in his eyes. She had heard from her mother that Jaspersilence was deeply in love with Bluestone's one daughter, Silentbreeze.
When Silentbreeze died, Jaspersilence wanted to be named in honor of her. Meanwhile, though, Starshine had always been in love with him. She helped him get over the pain of losing Silentbreeze.
The two got over it together, and Starshine confessed her feelings to her. He found that he felt the same way about her, and now Starshine was expecting his kits.
Frostedkit admired both of them for it. Jumping back to reality when her father started speaking, Frostedkit began listening once more. "Well I don't recall Bluestone every having dreams that kits were landing on her, but I know my kits very well, and I think that they could've bumped into you by accident, and covered it up very easily."
Weaselfur joined in, "Yeah, Jaykit, Cloverkit, Firekit, Yellowkit, and Ivykit aren't exactly innocent."
Jaykit let off an irritated snort, while Cloverkit and Firekit poked up their heads from where they had been pretending to be asleep.
Voyagestorm shrugged, "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, Starshine, but kits will be kits, and I don't think the fifteen of them in here will admit to anything."
Starshine rolled her eyes, and curled back up in her nest.
"So can we go outside and explore?" Mosskit repeated to her mother. Bluestone looked at Riversplash, and he blinked at her in approval.
"Oh all right," she answered, and all fifteen kits shot up and out. Bluestone called after them, "Don't disturb any of the warriors!"
A faint reply came back from Faithkit, "We won't!"
In the hollow for the first time, Frostedkit couldn't take in all of the sights. At the center of the hollow was a pile of fresh kill that seemed to be at least five times her height.
Different dens scattered the clearing, and a dark tabby tom at the head of the clearing was mewing to a ginger she-cat. Frostedkit figured that they were Bramblestar and Squirrelflight.
"Hi Frostedkit!" a voice mewed behind her. Frostedkit whirled around, and had to crane her neck all the way back to see whom it was.
Downypaw was standing there. "Hi Downypaw!" Frostedkit purred, and batted at a falling leaf.
"Your first trip out of the nursery, eh? Exciting! I've got to go train now, but I hope you have fun!" Downypaw called to the kit as she trotted over to join her mentor.
Frostedkit saw Willowkit and Mosskit hovering outside of the warrior's den, so she padded over to them. "Why are you guys over here?" Frostedkit asked, "Momma said we should bother the warriors!"
"We're just looking!" Willowkit hissed.
"Wanna look inside?" Mosskit asked Willowkit, and the bluish gray kit nodded vigorously. Frostedkit looked around, worried as the two kits slipped into the den. She poked her head inside, and saw them climbing around the older warriors.
After a minute or so, they got bored, and came barreling out. Willowkit was careless as she was exiting, and she stepped on Dustpelt's tail. The pale gray tom jolted up in his nest, and let off a growl.
Willowkit and Mosskit exchanged anxious glances, and pelted for the nursery. "Wait up!" Frostedkit called, but she had been too slow to react. Dustpelt had exited the den, and was glaring nastily at her.
He scooped her up by the scruff, and carried her right up to Bramblestar's den, dropping her harshly on the hard stone floor in front of the leader. "Please explain why this kit was in the warrior's den, being so careless to step on my tail?" Dustpelt demanded.
Bramblestar looked at Frostedkit, "Explain yourself."
Frostedkit was trembling, "It wasn't me, though! Willowkit and Mosskit were in the warrior's den, I was waiting for them outside. Willowkit stepped on your tail, not me!" she wailed.
"Then why weren't they around when I came out? Surely they couldn't have gotten into the nursery that fast," Dustpelt sneered.
Bramblestar sighed, "I'll leave your punishment up to your mother, Frostedkit. You aren't to go into the warrior's den, do you understand me?"
"Yes Bramblestar," Frostedkit sobbed. After that, Frostedpaw knew that her life wouldn't be a straight and simple path.
Frostedpaw let out a groan, and pushed her paws against the side of her head. She couldn't stand it any longer! Her sister Mosspaw was chattering to the females in the den about how she and Talonswoop had been getting closer.
Willowpaw, Firepaw, Jaypaw, Cloverpaw, Ivypaw, Herbpaw, and Faithpaw were all listening intently. Frostedpaw didn't get how they were so intrigued by the story. Jaspersilence poked his head into the apprentice's den.
Finally, salvation! Frostedpaw thought happily to herself.
"Do you want to check the elder's for ticks?" he asked his apprentice.
Immediately the happiness faded into a thick frown. "Alright," Frostedpaw sighed, and padded out of the den, and headed towards Jayfeather's den. Inside, Sableleaf was sorting herbs.
"What do you need, Frostedpaw?" Sableleaf asked, turning from the herbs she had just been sorting.
"Mouse bile," she muttered, "Jaspersilence wants me to check the elders for ticks." The wretched stench wafted into the den slowly as Sableleaf pulled out the bile and a piece of moss.
Frostedpaw tentatively picked up a stick off of the ground, and scooped up the moss using it. After the moss was thoroughly drenched, Frostedpaw padded over to the elders den.
Inside, Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Mousefur, and Purdy were laying in their nests. Purdy was ranting on about an infamous cat he used to live with when 'Upwalkers' took care of him.
"Ahh, Frostedpaw," Sandstorm purred, and sat up. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the scent of mousebile. Her green eyes had always been dulled over since Firestar died. "I have a tick at the base of my tail, and one on my shoulder."
Frostedpaw nodded, and used a claw to dab the odorous moss at the base of Sandstorm's tail, and then on her shoulder. Both of the ticks dropped off quickly, and Frostedpaw speared them.
Green ooze always leaked out of the ticks, and Frostedpaw didn't deny that she enjoyed killing them off. They made her paws raw with the revolting smell, so they would have to go.
Once the rest of the cats were taken care of, Frostedpaw padded out of camp, and headed to the stream that formed the border of WindClan and ThunderClan territory. She dipped her paws in to wash the mousebile off of them.
Drawing in a light gasp, Frostedpaw felt a shiver run down her spine, and through her tail. Leafbare was nearly upon them, and Frostedpaw forgot how cold the stream was. As her paws began to grow numb, Frostedpaw's mind became fuzzy.
"You okay?" a voice echoed behind her. Frostedpaw whirled around to face the light gray tabby body of Bravepaw.
"Fine," she murmured quietly. Bravepaw sat down next to her, cracking a twig when his paw crunched it in half.
"Are you sure you're okay? You've seemed rather down lately," he pressed on, his amber eyes narrowed slightly. Frostedpaw wasn't sure if they were narrowed in concern or suspicion.
"I'm sure," Frostedpaw reassured him, pulling her ice-chilled paws out of the stream. Bravepaw's suspicions had been correct, everything wasn't okay in Frostedpaw's life, but she wasn't about ready to pour out her pain to a cat that had barely ever spoken to her.
Frostedpaw blinked her purple eyes, and let off a gentle sigh, her breath coming off in fluffy white billows.
Bravepaw didn't press on any further, but the two sat together for what seemed like hours, gazing up at the deep blue skies. Watching as the cumulus clouds blotched the sky, foreshadowing the coming of new snow.
As had been predicted by the two cats, the next morning, a thin layer of snow coated the ground. Frostedpaw, whose nest was closest to the exit of the den, pressed her paw into the suspiciously cold substance.
Mosspaw and Willowpaw got up from their nests once they had awoken, and bounded around the clearing, squealing if their paws were rested in the snow for more than a second.
Frostedpaw pinned her ears against her head, trying to block out the shrieks and squeals coming from the apprentices. Faithpaw tumbled out of the den after them; her hind paw hitting into Frostedpaw's chest.
Expecting a 'sorry' or 'whoops,' Frostedpaw was greatly offended when Faithpaw gave her a dirty glare before joining her denmates in the early morning romp.
"Don't mind them," Bravepaw murmured, sitting down next to her. "She's always a bit prickly."
Frostedpaw snorted, "Tell me about it." She pushed her paws into the snow, and was surprised when it began making shapes. Making a mound, and flattening it together, Frostedpaw now had the equivalent of a moss ball.
Hooking one claw into it, she flung it at Bravepaw, before galloping out of the den. He let off a yowl of surprise, and then pelted after her. Bravepaw had the advantage of size, so he tackled Frostedpaw easily, and held her down.
Frostedpaw let off a squeal, and tried to wriggle out of his gasp. None of the cats' pelts were Leafbare thick yet, so the cold seeped into her pelt, making her start shaking. Her shaking, though, made it harder for Bravepaw to keep a solid grasp on her.
Sensing an opening, Frostedpaw slithered out of his reach, and sent a shower of snow at him. Frostedpaw bounced off in the opposite direction, and nearly jumped out of her pelt when a stern mew came from behind her.
"Frostedpaw, why are you playing around like this?" The voice belonged to Jaspersilence, her overly strict mentor.
Bravepaw came to her rescue, thankfully, and interrupted him, "Frostedpaw and I were having a bit of fun. We were originally in the apprentice's den, watching Willowpaw, Mosspaw, and Faithpaw squeal and play around. This is our first snow, so we decided to have a bit of fun. I'm sure you remember your first stone, right Jaspersilence?"
Jaspersilence rolled his eyes, and Frostedpaw blinked her eyes thankfully at Bravepaw, who shook his head in denial. "Well, you can at least be useful. It's snowing, we need a hollow for the fresh kill, and fresh kill to fill the hollow."
As Jaspersilence padded away, Bravepaw meowed, "Why don't we get Willowpaw and Mosspaw to make the hollow, and then I can get Talonswoop to take us out hunting?"
"Sure!" Frostedpaw purred, and felt revenge seep over her pelt as the two of them had to interrupt Willowpaw, Mosspaw, and Faithpaw's game of 'avoid the snow.' Mosspaw scowled at them, and Willowpaw grumbled to herself, but they did it.
Talonswoop agreed to their plea to go hunting, and Jaspersilence was fine with it, because he could spend more time with his precious Starshine. Frostedpaw let off a small bounce of delight as they exited the camp.
"Why don't we head towards the ShadowClan border?" Talonswoop suggested, not really asking, more of telling. The patrol made their way towards the border, and Frostedpaw felt calmly subdued, the lulling sound of their light footsteps along with the light patter of snow hitting the ground was very peaceful.
The patrol came to a halt, snapping Frostedpaw out of her daze. Bravepaw branched off to one side, while Talonswoop padded ahead. Frostedpaw shifted her focus towards the abandoned twoleg nest.
Even though the snow was coming down in thick globs, the twoleg place was very sheltered, and the pine needles that scattered the ground had never felt so comforting to her half-frozen paws.
Frostedpaw closed her eyes, pricked her ears, and drew in a deep breath, letting the scents around her tickle the scent glands at the roof of her mouth. There was stale mouse scent, but shrew was fresh.
Taking in another breath, she tried to pinpoint where it was, but hunting in the snow made all her sense cluttered and awry. She padded lightly forward, and heard a light scuffle behind her.
Slowly, she turned around, and saw the small brown body of the shrew. Thank StarClan, yes! She thought to herself happily, and dropped into a hunter's crouch. She had been training for three and a half moons, so she had already been given the lectures of how a mouse would feel you and a rabbit would hear you.
Frostedpaw slid forward, not making a sound. Her mouth watered and she could almost taste the salty tang of blood on her tongue. One more step, she edged herself forward, and then pounced.
The shrew didn't see it coming, and didn't have any time to react, no time to squeal, before it was dead. Content, Frostedpaw pulled some nettles over her catch, and turned back to the dilapidated nest.
She was very curious as to what was inside. As she placed one paw on the first wooden step, she cringed as it let off an ear-splitting creak. Frostedpaw didn't like the fact that no matter how light she stepped, some whine or split would have to echo through the den.
Inside, Frostedpaw wrinkled her nose in disgust, the stale tang of greencough held high in the air, and made Frostedpaw feel like she was going to be sick.
She shook off the feeling, and began exploring. Everything was teeming with activity, a mouse scurried across here, and a spider built its nest there. Even though the nest was built by twolegs, there was no scent of them to be found.
The first floor was interesting, but there was another flight of steps leading up to a second area, "That's strange," Frostedpaw muttered under her breath, and cringed as she padded up them, creaks and all.
At the top, Frostedpaw let off a gasp of amazement. A shiny see-through surface let light into the den, and all of the different spider webs inside reflected off of one another in such away that the whole place glittered.
Frostedpaw backed up to take it all in, and then blinked, greenish blue spots now clouding her vision. Having enough for the day, Frostedpaw left the den, and managed to catch an old sparrow.
Talonswoop had a very large, but gaunt rabbit with him, and Bravepaw had caught two mice. The hunting patrol had been a success, and they returned to camp. Inside, Willowpaw was wailing about how cold her paws were.
Frostedpaw let off a light laugh of amusement, and dropped her prey into the newly built snow store.
Snow continued to fall sparingly throughout the next few days. Every cat seemed to be springing his or her winter coat early, including Frostedpaw. Rationing was also occurring.
Jaspersilence had her go hunting every single day, and sometimes she caught two or three pieces, but others one or nothing. All she ever got was criticism, though. The first day she had found a semi-plump mouse and a shrew.
Instead of congratulating her, Jaspersilence snorted 'you could've caught more, nothing for you tonight. Give those to the elders, they need it more than you.'
The comment left Frostedpaw utterly confused, and she just had to fluff up her fur, and live with a grumbling stomach. Fluttering her eye lids open one day, she was surprised that the scent of fresh snow didn't bombard her senses.
Getting up to her paws, Frostedpaw realized she was the first one awake. The sun was shining over the horizon, sending its warming rays directly into the pit of the camp. Cold light slowly made the depths of the camp come to life as the cats began stirring in their dens.
"Figures," Frostedpaw murmured to herself. It was the night of the gathering, and even StarClan wouldn't punish them with the white and fluffy substance that clogged their paws on the night of such a sacred peace hold.
Frostedpaw was overly tempted to take a piece of half-frozen prey from the snow store, but she'd most likely be scolded later, so she didn't. Her stomach growling with protest, Frostedpaw left camp.
The cat on guard, Rockfall, was returning to his den to alert the next cat to take their position. Seizing her opportunity, Frostedpaw snuck out of camp, through the entry tunnel.
Outside of camp, a light breeze shook the naked skeleton of the trees. If there was snow still on them, it powered who or what was underneath of it. Frostedpaw headed down towards the lake.
It always seemed to be a bit warmer down there. The endless snow gave way to soppy undergrowth that was bent and brown. Frostedpaw let off an involuntary shiver, and sniffed around for any traces of prey.
When nothing hit her scent glands, she padded down to the lake. It never froze over; at least that's what the nursery queens had told her. Yet there still seemed to be some ice crystals spawning near the edges.
Frostedpaw tentatively poked a paw in, and let off a squeal when it turned out to be colder than even the snow. Deep inside the water lurked shapes, fluttering and turning shapes of fish.
She had to just wonder if the clan would eat them if she somehow managed to catch one….
Having to follow her instincts, Frostedpaw crept forward, not sure if the fish could feel vibrations or smell things that were on land. She placed herself comfortably on the shore, and leaned backwards so her shadow didn't dare to dip into the churning dark lake.
Frostedpaw's brow furrowed, as she was trying to make out if there was a way to evade the ice while catching one of the slippery creatures. Nevertheless, Frostedpaw squinted against the cool sunlight, and unsheathed her claws.
A fish was swimming very close to the edge, come on, just a little closer! Frostedpaw urged it on in her mind. As it neared, Frostedpaw flashed in a paw, and sent it flying out of the water.
Although slightly unbalanced, she would have been perfectly fine. A cat had been behind her, though, and snapped out, "What do you think you're doing?"
It startled Frostedpaw, and she flew off balance, and toppled over into the lake. It was absolutely frigid in the water. At once, Frostedpaw's limbs grew heavy, and blackness began clouding her vision.
She wasn't even able to recall the voice of the cat that had startled her before her consciousness faded into blackness.
A swish of green passed in front of Frostedpaw's face. She blinked, and pawed at it, letting off a squeak, as it felt slimy on her paws. Her eyes widened as she noticed that she couldn't hear her own squeak, and that bubbles exited her mouth when she tried to exhale.
Was she…underwater?
As if to answer her question, fish swam around in front of her. Frostedpaw was now excited, not only was she underwater, alive, but she was also able to breathe!
Frostedpaw sunk down to the bottom of the lake, and pelted around on the ground, sending up a spray of sand and muck. She closed her eyes, and added a slight bound to her step.
But the peace came to a sudden stop when she slammed into a squishy creature. Two amber eyes glared maliciously at her, and a giant mouth with sharp teeth, each the size of a paw, opened.
Frostedpaw turned tail, and tried to flee, but it was too difficult, and she was being brought down. The massive jaws closed over her, and she was crushed in one foul swoop.
Frostedpaw jolted upright in her nest, shivering all over. "You're alright," the gruff voice of Jayfeather echoed from behind her. Her vision slowly adjusted, and she turned around to face him.
Spasms racked her body, and Frostedpaw bent over into a heap, and vomited just in front of her nest, specks of red covering it. "What are those?" the gentle mew of Sableleaf whispered to Jayfeather. "I've never seen red specks in vomit before."
"Deathberries," Jayfeather answered, keeping his voice low. "Some cat definitely tried to kill her, but I don't know which cat did it."
Relief washed over Frostedpaw, but she didn't know why. Her voice was raspy and rough when she meowed, "What happened to me?"
Jayfeather shook his head, as if to try and clear it of the memory. "From what I heard, Robinwing was out on a hunting patrol, and he branched off from the rest of the group. He smelled blood, so he headed towards the WindClan border, wondering what happened. When he found you, he said that there was blood coating your body, and that you reeked of deathberries."
"Where…" Frostedpaw gulped, feeling as though she was swallowing thorns, "Where was I?"
"He said that you were washed up on the shore of the lake, right where the border stream flows into the lake," Jayfeather answered, and then disappeared into his herb stores.
Sableleaf padded over to her, "You're safe now," she purred, obviously trying to comfort Frostedpaw.
Frostedpaw didn't take it very well, and bristled heavily, "No, I'm not safe!" she spat, and vomited once more. She wasn't able to finish her sentence, because she collapsed into a heap in her nest, but if she was able to, it probably would have been along the lines of, 'a cat tried to murder me, so how can I be safe?'
End of Part one. There will be two more parts, and then an epilogue. Please drop a review, and then I'll post part two tomorrow (maybe, I might be busy then...)