Summary: After living the warrior way for a week, Rusty retreats home, not wanting to continue the rough life. But, another kit decided to venture out after hearing about his tales. Will fire truly save the Clan?


Fire Rising

by. Forever A Writer


Chapter Two

The sun was already half way in the sky by the time they had arrived to their destination. Patty had never walked for that long, and her paws were a little sore, but she wouldn't let her tiredness show. On the journey there, to ThunderClan camp, all of Patty's questions were answered. She thought back to what Whitestorm had explained, that him and Longtail were warriors of ThunderClan, and that Sandpaw was an apprentice. They lived in a Clan, ThunderClan, and every cat helped each other. They caught prey to eat, they had medicine to heal them, and a leader that watched over them and guided them.

"Bluestar," Sandpaw had said, eyes widening a little, "she's quite the powerful she-cat."

"Recently she's been a little shaky," Longtail scoffed.

"Can you blame her, Longtail? Her deputy passed." Whitestorm hissed at the fellow warrior.

"Deputy?" Patty had asked, tripping slightly over a root.

"A deputy is the cat who becomes the next leader once the leader losses all their lives," Sandpaw said, rolling her eyes, "Do we really have to explain this again to another kittypet who's going to leave?"

Whitestorm gave his apprentice a hard look and she sighed, mumbling an apology and inching ahead, head low.

"Our last deputy, Redtail, was a great warrior." Whitestorm continued.

"He died," Longtail muttered, "murdered by RiverClan."

"I think Rusty, er, Firepaw told me that," Patty said, "he said he saw you bring a dead tom into camp."

"We morn our dead," Whitestorm said, "pay a vigil before burying them so they can join our ancestors in StarClan."

"StarClan? How many Clan's are there?"

"Four," Longtail said, "ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan. You're lucky you weren't near ShadowClan border. They would have torn you limb from limb, kittypet."

"Enough," Whitestorm growled, the other warrior rolling his eyes before moving faster to join Sandpaw.

"Longtail's right, there are four of us," Whitestorm said, "StarClan is up there."

The tom flicked his tail up to the sky and Patty looked up, eyes wide. "I don't see anything."

"You can see them at night," Whitestorm murmured, "the stars in the skies are all our fallen ancestors. They help guide us in times of trouble and watch over us. They gift us with prophecies and words of wisdom. They also give our leaders their nine lives."

"Nine lives...,"

Patty shook her head, being pulled back into present time. They stood outside of the bramble entrance to ThunderClan camp. Patty could already smell the cats that await inside.

"Are you ready, kittypet?" Longtail asked before sliding through the bushes.

Patty nodded before sliding in as well, the bramble bushes barely tugging at her fur as she emerged on the other side. She blinked a couple of times, taking in the camp. A gray she-cat lay out in the sun, her pale fur groomed nicely. Two toms walked by, mumbling to each other and sent hard glares towards the group that just came in. A squeal came from her side and she looked to see kits playing new a she-cat, another she-cat with a rounded belly laying there as well.

"Whitestorm," a gruff voice came from the far side of camp and Patty looked to see a golden tom with thick neck fur emerging from a large rock formation. Behind him followed a sleek, gray-blue she-cat. Patty's mouth opened a little in awe. She must have been Bluestar, ThunderClan leader.

"Lionheart," Whitestorm said, walking forward and wrapping his tail around Patty's shoulders, "this is Patty."

"Another kittypet?" Someone snorted, Patty looking to see a dark gray tabby tom, one that had glared at her earlier, "Didn't we learn our lesson with the last one?"

"Rusty, ah, Firepaw as you know him, went back to his Twolegs," Patty said, making all the cats in the Clan grumble, rolling their eyes, "but I-I'm interested in Clan life."

"Do you know the dangers that come with this?" Lionheart said, towering over the Clan with Bluestar next to him.

"I-I know that I would have to learn to hunt, and that the Clan comes first," Patty said, eyes looking over the entire Clan, "and I know that I would have to train for moons in order to learn all I need to."

"Why don't we do what we did with the last kittypet," the dark gray tom snorted, looking to Longtail who huffed and looked off to the side.

"Yes," Bluestar finally spoke and all the cats looked up to her, "why don't we. Darkstripe?"

"Bluestar, you can't-," Lionheart was cut off when the leader raised her tail, silencing the tom.

"With pleasure," the gray tabby stepped forward, rolling his shoulders, "this isn't going to be some play fight, kit."

Patty gulped and her fur ruffled up when Whitestorm nudged her forward. The cats circled and Patty crouched down, watching the gray tabby. They circled each other slowly. She felt vastly out skilled, but she had to calm down and take into account her advantages. First, she was small. She would be able to crawl under and through his legs in order to avoid his attacks when close. Second, she was probably faster then the tom. Third, there was an injury on his shoulder. Patty could see the scratches on his shoulder, not fresh but not fully healed either.

Darkstripe pounced and Patty sprinted forward, crawling underneath the toms belly. He hissed, spinning quickly and landed a hard blow on her back. Patty was thrown forward, tumbling a few times. She hissed and got up, turning around quickly and digging her claws into the ground. The tom's tail lashed and he jumped forward again. This time, Patty moved forward, spinning under the tom so she could face him when he turned around. She jumped before he turned towards her, claws digging into his back. The tom yowled, bucking and trying to throw her off. She struggled to cling on, and leaned forward, digging her teeth into his wound, causing the tom to yowl out in pain.

The tom rolled over, crushing the kit under him. The air left her lung and she huffed, trying to regain her breath. Darkstripe stood over her, a paw to her throat as he stepped down, cutting off her air supply. Patty struggled, claws digging into the tom's leg, trying to rip his paw off, but he only pushed down farther. Her vision was starting to go white and she could hear yowling in her surroundings.

The pressure was quickly released and Patty gasped for breath, squirming away from the ThunderClan warrior. A cat rushed to her side, helping her up. Patty looked to see Sandpaw, the apprentice glaring across the way to Darkstripe as she helped Patty up. Patty looked to see Lionheart growled towards the tabby tom, the warrior cowering back, hissing.

"As we can see," Whitestorm said, looking to Bluestar, "the kittypet can put up quiet the fight."

Bluestar glared down from atop her stones. Her pelt shone blue in the sunlight. The whole clan looked up to her, wondering what their leader would say.

"Sandpaw," Bluestar said smoothly, "take this kittypet to Spottedleaf. Whitestorm, Longtail and Lionheart join me in my den." With that, the leader turn around and disappeared into the den that was within the rocks. The three cats she summoned walked forward, the rest of the Clan dispersing. Another cat rushed forward, a brown tabby tom who was the same size as Patty and Sandpaw, another apprentice.

"Thanks Dustpaw," Sandpaw said gruffly, the two ThunderClan apprentices helping Patty to her paws. "The last kittypet wasn't as fierce as you."

"Yeah," Dustpaw said, "I mean, you are a kittypet and everything, but at least you didn't have one of those silly collars like he did. Plus, Firepaw only landed a good blow on Longtail that gave him his split ear. You on the other paw gave Darkstripe a couple of good scars. Reopening his wound like that? I've never seen a cat do that before!"

"Then again we've only been apprentice for a moon," Sandpaw said smirking to Dustpaw.

They walked over to a darker corner of camp, ferns growing thick and wild. The scent of plants and herbs assaulted the roof of Patty's mouth, making her cringe a little. The scent of a cat was also present, mixing in with all the other smells.

"Spottedleaf?" Dustpaw called as they entered the den. In the back sat a hunched-over, dark tortoiseshell she-cat. She turned her head, revealing a pretty, slender face and soft amber eyes. "Darkstripe and Patty got into a fight."

"So that's the ruckus I was hearing," the she-cat sighed, "come on, bring her closer."

Dustpaw and Sandpaw helped Patty forward. The injured she-cat sat down, wincing at her wound. Spottedleaf sniffed her wounds before humming to herself. She turned back around, picking something up in her mouth and began chewing it. Patty hissed as the pulp was applied to her wounds. Spottedleaf then covered it with some cobwebs, stopping the bleeding and making it so the pulp would stay on her wounds.

"He also stepped on her throat," Sandpaw said.

"Try speaking for me," Spottedleaf said, turning to the kittypet.

"How do you know what leaves to use?" Patty asked, her voice coming out hoarse and her throat stinging as she spoke.

"I had a mentor, just like the other apprentices," Spottedleaf said, turning to the back of the den, "except instead of hunting and fighting, I learned the different herbs and their uses."

"Cool."

"Okay, that's enough talking for you," Spottedleaf turned back around, a twig in her mouth with a golden liquid dripping off, "honey, it'll sooth your throat."

Patty leaned forward and lick the honey, surprised at the sweetness of it. She cleaned the stick off, swallowing the honey and purring happily.

"Now I don't want you talking for the rest of the day," Spottedleaf said, "also, Sandpaw, if you see Ravenpaw will you send him here? I still need to check on his wound from that battle."

"Of course, Spottedleaf," Sandpaw purred and helped Patty away. Patty flicked her tail in thanks before walking out of the den with Dustpaw and Sandpaw by her side.

Back in the middle of camp, Bluestar had remerged from her den, Lionheart behind her. Whitestorm and Longtail had jumped down from the ledge, nodding to each other. Longtail looked across the way toward Patty and gave her a nod. Patty felt something surge in her chest, pride and excitement, as Bluestar yowled.

"Let all cat's old enough come forward for a Clan meeting."

Everyone returned back to the center of the camp, settling down. Bluestar looked over her Clan, taking one last look toward Lionheart over her shoulder before giving a sigh and straigthen her shoulders.

"Today, we welcome a new apprentice into our Clan," the leader said, "after her battle with Darkstripe, Patty has proven herself to be strong. Also, the RiverClan cats have already spotted her and mistaken her as our apprentice. With a shortage on warriors, and less kits being born, I've decided to accept her into our Clan."

Patty stepped forward when the leader flicked her tail. She dipped her head toward Bluestar, who nodded solemnly.

"From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Morningpaw. Longtail will train you. Meeting dismissed."

The cats went back to their daily routine, some congratulating Morningpaw. Longtail and Whitestorm walked over and the white tom purred happily.

"We told Bluestar how you ran into the RiverClan cats," Whitestorm said, "and considering how close of a pelt pattern you and Sandpaw had, we decided we could play you off as sisters."

"Oh great, sisters with a rabbit pellet eater," Sandpaw snorted, rolling her eyes. Dustpaw gave her a shove and the two snickered before apologizing to Morningpaw. "Spottedleaf says she can't talk for the rest of the day," Sandpaw continued, "because of her throat."

"Fine by me," Longtail snorted, "she seem's like she'd ask a lot of questions."

"She's right in front of you," Whitestorm huffed, cuffing Longtail's ear, "don't forget that you were in her situation only two moons ago."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Longtail sighed, slunching over and rubbing his ear, "why don't you take Morningpaw to met the other apprentices. It's going to get dark soon anyways. Give her a nest or something."

"Sure thing, grumpy paws," Sandpaw muttered, turning around, "come on Morningpaw! Ravenpaw and Graypaw should be getting ready for bed now."

"I have to go make sure the elders are comfortable," Dustpaw huffed, "I'll see you two later."

The three apprentice went their seperate ways, Sandpaw leading Morningpaw to the apprentices den. Inside were two toms, purring with laugher over a joke the she-cats just missed. The two toms looked over, eyes wide.

"Morningpaw, these are Graypaw and Ravenpaw." Sandpaw said, tail flicking to each of them.

"I can't believe that you ripped Darkstripes wound open again," Graypaw said, his fluffy fur getting even bigger with excitement.

"Ye-yeah. That was really cool," Ravenpaw said, eyes wide.

"Oh, Spottedleaf wanted to see you, Ravenpaw," Sandpaw said, "she wanted to check your wounds."

"Right," Ravenpaw muttered, eyes glazing over as he got up and dragged himself out of the den.

"Ever since the battle, he's been pretty shaken up," Graypaw said, "he saw Redtail get murdered by Oakheart."

"Easy Graypaw," Dustpaw's voice hissed from the front of the den, running his tail over Sandpaw's shoulder as he entered the den. The ginger she-cat looked down to her paw sadly and her dark tabby friend gave her a lick on the ear before settling into his own nest. "Morningpaw, Longtail's old nest is still in here. You can sleep there for the night and we'll change it out in the morning."

Morningpaw looked to see the empty, stale nest next to Dustpaw and nodded, walking over and settling down. Sandpaw's nest was on the other side of the tom and she curled up, already falling asleep.

"At least the den doesn't reek of kittypet like that other one," Dustpaw snorted.

"Firepaw wasn't that bad," Graypaw huffed, looking a little hurt.

"Well I'm sorry your kittypet friend was too much of a coward to stay in ThunderClan, unlike Morningpaw."

"Both of you shut up," Sandpaw hissed.

"Sandpaw's still a little sour because our old deputy, Redtail, was her father," Graypaw whispered, "and he was Dustpaw's old mentor. You bet up his new one today."

"Shut your bile mouth," Dustpaw hissed, "Redtail's death was hard on all of us."

"Geez, I'm just updating her on Clan news," Graypaw huffed, moving around in his nest.

"Well we aren't sharing tongues. Night time is for sleeping, not gossiping."

"Sorry," Ravenpaw appeared again, a new cobweb on his shoulder, "I hope I didn't wake anyone."

"Not at all," Dustpaw sighed, "now let's all shut up and go to bed before one of the warriors come in and claws our ears off for being loud."

"You worry too much," Graypaw yawned, "watch, soon we'll be the warriors and the young apprentices will be scared of us."

"Yeah, scared of a big fluff ball," Ravenpaw snickered, making the others purr with laughter.

"For the last time," Sandpaw hissed menicingly from her den, "all of you shut up. I swear, WindClan could hear you from their camp with how loud you're al being."

"Alright sleepy kit," Dustpaw rolled his eyes, settling down, "Sleep well."

"You too," Graypaw and Ravenpaw answered.

Morningpaw watched as the other apprentices all quickly fell asleep. The smell of the wild surrounded her, the sound of crickets chirping just outside of the den lulled her to sleep. She knew that this was where she was suppose to be.


ThunderClan

Leader: Bluestar - blue-gray she-cat with silver tinged muzzle

Deputy: Lionheart - magnificent golden tabby tom with thick fur (Apprentice: Graypaw)

Medicine Cat: Spottedleaf - beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat with dappled pelt

Warriors:

Tigerclaw - big, dark brown tabby tom with long front claws (Apprentice: Ravenpaw)

Whitestorm - big white tom (Apprenice: Sandpaw)

Darkstripe - sleek black-and-gray tabby tom (Apprentice: Dustpaw)

Longtail - pale tabby tom with black stripes (Apprentice: Morningpaw)

Runningwind - swift tabby tom

Willowpelt - very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Mousefur - small dusky brown she-cat

Apprentices:

Dustpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Graypaw - long-haired solid gray tom

Ravenpaw - small, sleek black tom with white dash on chest and tail tip

Sandpaw - pale ginger she-cat

Morningpaw - small red-golden tabby she-kitten

Queens

Frostfur - beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes

Brindleface - pretty tabby

Goldenflower - pale ginger she-cat

Speckletail - pale tabby, oldest queen

Elders

Halftail - big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear - gray tom with very small ears

Patchpelt - small black-and-white tom

One-eye - pale gray she-cat, virtually blind and deaf. Oldest cat in ThunderClan

Dappletail - once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat

Cats Outside of the Clans

Smudge - small black-and-white kitten who lives in a house at the edge of the forest

Rusty - fiery ginger kitten who lives in a house at the edge of the forest, used to be Firepaw