CHAPTER ONE
Sagepaw stuck his head out of the apprentices' den and breathed in deeply. The air was crisp and fresh, and though it carried a chill, the cloudless dawn promised another warm day. Sagepaw knew the Clan would be thankful for the new arrival of Leaf-fall, anyway. Greenleaf had been largely humid, and there was very little relief from that heat in SkyClan's gorge.
"What are you trying to do, inhale all the dust in the air?" came a muffled meow from behind him.
Sagepaw rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder. "Shut up, Mottledpaw," he fired back at the tortoiseshell she-cat. She was still curled in her nest, her tail over her nose, but her green eyes glared halfheartedly up at him.
"Really, Sagepaw. Do you always have to be the first one up?" meowed Mintpaw, who was slowly rising from her bed of leaves and feathers. His sister stretched laboriously before glancing his way, amusement in her eyes.
"Early bird catches the worm," he replied pridefully, puffing out his chest.
"Oh, so you're a bird now?" Mottledpaw yawned. "Great, go fly into the forest and catch me something. Preferably not a worm."
A purr of amusement came from Aspenpaw. Sagepaw glanced over to see the white tom with gray stripes sitting up in his den, giving his chest a few quick licks. "Don't be so lazy, Mottledpaw."
Mottledpaw muttered something else, but Sagepaw didn't hear her. He'd already looked back towards the mouth of the den and out into the bottom of the gorge. "I'm not the first one up," he meowed to Mintpaw, motioning with his tail to the clearing. "See? Sharpclaw's organizing patrols already. I wonder if we can go? Come on!"
Without waiting for Mintpaw's response, Sagepaw dashed out across the rocks and over the small river towards the warriors clustering in the clearing. Standing around the SkyClan deputy were Minnowtail, Sparrowpelt, Robinflight, Badgertooth, and Tinywing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Patchfoot and Rockfur padding down the slope from the warriors' den.
Sharpclaw turned when he saw Sagepaw approaching. "Ah, good. Sagepaw, why don't you join your mentor on a border patrol? You too, Mintpaw," the deputy added as Sagepaw's sister came up beside him.
Sagepaw looked eagerly at Badgertooth, but his mentor didn't seem enthusiastic at all. The black and white tom still seemed to have the glaze of sleep in his yellow eyes. Sagepaw briefly wondered why some of the newest additions to SkyClan, including Badgertooth and Mottledpaw, weren't so eager to perform Clan duties. They had been in the Clan for at least a couple moons now; shouldn't they have been used to the routine?
"Minnowtail, Sparrowpelt, and Rockfur, you'll be one patrol, with Mintpaw and Aspenpaw tagging along. Then we'll have Patchfoot, Badgertooth, and Tinywing, along with Sagepaw and Mottledpaw. Robinflight, you'll go with…"
Sagepaw didn't listen to the rest of Sharpclaw's words. He had turned his attention to Patchfoot, who was padding up to him. "We may as well do some hunting while we're out, hmm?"
Sagepaw nodded eagerly, suddenly aware of his empty stomach. As assigned, Badgertooth and Tinywing also padded over. Sagepaw looked over his shoulder, amusement in his eyes as he watched Mottledpaw walking slowly – very slowly – from the apprentices' den.
"Look who finally joins us," he meowed jokingly. "Whatsa matter, you got rocks tied to your paws?"
Mottledpaw flashed him a look as she came up beside him. "Yeah, and I'll be flinging them at your head if you don't keep quiet."
The patrol made its way towards the top of the gorge, briefly skirting Twolegplace before starting down to where the forest met the rocky bottom of the gorge. They hoped to encounter fruitful hunting once in the shelter of the trees. Sagepaw was excited to impress the warriors with some hunting skills he'd been practicing.
"I don't see why we still do border patrols if there's no other Clans around us," Badgertooth grunted as they approached the trees. "I mean the other four Clans have problems to worry about, since they're all clustered together, but us… we're all alone out here." Sagepaw heard a murmur of agreement from Mottledpaw.
Sagepaw liked doing patrols; it made him feel important. There were usually no threats encountered, but it was exciting thinking about the possibilities. "It can get kind of boring out here," he agreed. "Sometimes I wish there was more going on. I'll bet Firestar and his Clan get to have battles all the time!"
Patchfoot, walking ahead of him, looked back. "A disturbance in the peace is nothing to wish for, Sagepaw," he gently reminded him. "Battles lead to blood being shed. We don't need or want any of that here." He and Tinywing shared a meaningful look.
Sagepaw could have guessed they were thinking about the rat invasion that happened just before Firestar and Sandstorm of ThunderClan left. Sagepaw had been a kit then, and didn't remember much, but he did vaguely remember blood and death. Patchfoot was probably right, things were better off how they were now. But then, when would he get to test out the battle moves he learned during training?
I'll just be extra skilled when I do need to finally use my claws, he thought proudly. And something in the back of his mind told him that this peace wouldn't linger very long.
There we are, chapter one, complete with some foreshadowing. By the way, all of this is taking place before the prologue. You'll know when it starts to take place after the prologue.
Little bit of a slow start, and I apologize for that, but it's all building up to when things really start goin' down. Stick with me! As a side note, Sagepaw and Mottledpaw's relationship is going to be important. Why? You'll just have to keep reading! And please review, so I know I'm doing something right (or if I'm not, I'm always open to constructive criticism!).
Another side note; I'll probably get some comments about the gender of Sagepaw. The whole confusion in Firestar's Quest was that Sagepaw (then Sagekit) was a tom in the allegiances, but written as a she-cat. I decided to go with the allegiances and make him a tom. But I am aware of the discrepancy. And who knows how they'll write him in SkyClan's Destiny? I guess he'll be another magical gender-changing cat like Rowanclaw. Oh, those Erins!
Next chapter: Mottledpaw's backstory.
Until next time!
- Lionsong
