AN: As far as I know, there is no mention of WHERE the Warrior series takes place, I came up with the setting of Southern Canada.
Oh, and I need at least fifteen Clan cats (At least five warriors, three queens, and the rest are apprentices and kits). I'll make a list of the cats I've chosen and the names of the creators. I also have the deputy covered.
And since FlameClan is on the other side of the Twolegplace, opposite side from the four Clans, they'll have a bit different vocabulary, and it will be a bit more human-influenced.
PS: There is nowhere in the books where they how long Warriors can live without fighting, so I'm estimating at around 12 years.
Emberstar
FlameClan Leader
Ginger/Grey Tabby
25 Moons
Emberstar had taken out a patrol to hunt, a rare amount of participation on his part. It consisted of Sparkglow, a tabby she-cat with brown and white fur, her apprentice, Robinpaw, Nightshade, a senior warrior tom, and Cedarsun, a newly-named Warrior who had formerly been Cedarpaw.
Cedarsun was practically bouncing with excitement, this being the young tom's first hunting patrol as a Warrior. He was a talkative cat that immensely enjoyed playing around with kits.
Emberstar lifted his head and opened his mouth, scenting the air. As far as he could tell, there was no prey nearby, but there was a water vole farther north. "I can't believe it! My first patrol as a Warrior!" whispered Cedarsun. "Say that any louder and you'll scare all the prey off the territory," replied Emberstar sarcastically, his whiskers twitching with amusement.
"Or to death," grunted Nightshade in a hushed tone. Nightshade wasn't a very friendly or patient cat, which was why he hadn't ever taught an apprentice. He was completely black, save for his white muzzle, paws, and tail-tip. His eyes were a dark blue, brandishing moons of experience.
"Probably not the last one," pointed out Sparkglow, using her paw to punctuate her point. "Could we please return to hunting before we terrify all the soon-to-be fresh-kill away?" asked Nightshade, a small growl rising in his throat.
Emberstar nodded, padding forward silently. He was slightly worried about Nightshade's eagerness to get fresh-kill, as it could possibly break the Warrior's Code. But, then again, Nightshade was known to be extremely hungry at times.
Probably just my nights' lack of sleep catching up to me, mused Emberstar. It was true – he had been receiving odd StarClan messages which made his rare times of rest feel more like heartbeats then sundown to sunrise. It had been like this for a quarter-moon now, and the only other cat he had talked to about the odd dreams was FlameClan's medicine cat, Steampelt.
Ever since he had been a kit, he had felt something for her. The two were extremely close, but he doubted it would ever escalate from that. After all, the Code didn't allow it. He had learned to ignore his emotions, though.
They crept through the underbrush, Robinpaw glancing around, scenting something. "I smell Ginger Root!" he proclaimed, his tail erect. "Shush!" snapped Nightshade, his head whipping back to face the young apprentice. "But I smell Ginger Root. Before we left, Steampelt told me to be on the look-out for it. She's running low," replied Robinpaw. "Yes, but no need to wake up the whole forest because of it!" Nightshade growled. "Any prey is too far to hear me. I'll just grab it and return to Steampelt," said Robinpaw calmly.
"That is up to Sparkglow," Emberstar gave his two cents, sitting down and inwardly sighing. "Please do – the more we can do to help Steampelt the better," mewed Sparkglow. Robinpaw's eyes lit up, and he scampered off to collect the Ginger Root.
"You have a good apprentice," complimented Emberstar. "Thanks. It means a lot, coming from you," responded Sparkglow, giving her chest fur a few licks to hide her embarrassment.
Emberstar nodded, then suddenly became aware of the very tense Nightshade. "We should continue hunting," he meowed, "lest we return empty-pawed." Nightshade become more relaxed now that they had continued moving.
Emberstar suddenly became aware of Cedarsun's uncharacterized silence. He looked backwards, and noticed that he had disappeared. "Where did Cedarsun go?" Emberstar wondered aloud. He had somehow slipped away, unnoticed by the rest of the patrol. "Here!" As if on cue, Cedarsun walked through a cluster of shrubs, his tail held triumphantly in the air and a plump sparrow clamped in his powerful jaws.
Nightshade's eyes glinted with a small amount of respect. "At least you caught something," he mewed seriously. This merely boosted Cedarsun's pride. He quickly dug a hole and dropped his fresh-kill into it, covering it up to collect later.
"Well done, Cedarsun," he congratulated steadily after he had seen it all play out. "Thank you, Emberstar," the aforementioned cat meowed. The ginger and grey tabby merely nodded, then continued padding forward. "No matter how plump it is, a single piece of fresh-kill is not enough to feed the whole Clan," mewed Nightshade, following Emberstar.
Sparkglow twitched her ears in agreement, following the pair of toms. "Alright. I'll catch more sparrows!" proclaimed Cedarsun enthusiastically. "Except this time, it'll be in our sight, hmm?" Emberstar's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Certainly, Emberstar!" Cedarsun dipped his head, a gesture of compliance.
Emberstar opened his mouth to check for any prey. All he smelled was a couple of small chicks, but they could barely feed a kit, let alone a couple of elders or queens. His sense of smell was suddenly blocked by the abhorrent stench of notail (Human) waste. He wasn't the only one as Nightshade's nose wrinkled up in disgust.
"Fox-dung! Why must they poke around in matters that do not concern them!" growled Nightshade. "Because they believe themselves all-mighty," mewed Sparkglow calmly. Outwardly, she seemed collected and level-headed, but inside, her blood was starting to boil.
Suddenly, a loud roar came from beyond the trees in front of them. The noises scared all the nearby birds, causing them to fly away. Emberstar checked on the remains of his patrol, sawing that both Nightshade's and Cedarsun's fur was starting to bristle, while Sparkglow was focusing on the general vicinity of where they had heard the noise. A low rumbling noise followed.
"It sounds as if it's in our territory," stated Emberstar, his ears perking up and swiveling, trying to pinpoint the sound. "We need to alert FlameClan," mewed Sparkglow. "Agreed," responded Nightshade, sprinting off towards FlameClan camp.
Emberstar said, "While I doubt that they are going to get anywhere near our clan for a moon or two, we can never be too careful," padding off with Sparkglow in tow after Nightshade.
