And I'm back with our second chapter! Yayyy!
Disclaimer: Uhh..NIGHTKIT!
Nightkit: Sky does not own Warriors! That goes to Erin Hunter, and, plus, Sky writes wayy too sucky to own Warriors.
Sky: *grabs Nightkit and throws him as far away as possible*
Why is our deputy an idiot? Amberstorm wondered as she trudged through the wet, squishy grass and muddy ground. She knew that her pelt probably wasn't golden-brown anymore. Just plain brown. The mud clumped in her fur, the rain washed it off, and more mud clumped her fur. Perfect. Just perfect.
"Didja catch anything?" she called to her partner, Ivypool. Ivypool was called to lead the hunting patrol, and her apprentice, Rockpaw, tagged along. Amberstorm was also thrown in for the ride because she was the only one lying in camp and lazing her butt off.
"I got a mouse~oomph!" Rockpaw let out a wail of pain as the mouse in his paws let out an angry chatter, wriggled out, nipped his nose, and scurried away.
"Seriously?" Ivypool mewed, purring. "What kind of apprentice gets beaten by a mouse?"
"The awesome kind?" Rockpaw offered, his eyes glimmering playfully.
"Try again," Ivypool replied dryly.
Rockpaw was actually around Ivypool's age, but he still had his apprentice name due to the fact that he wasn't Clanborn. His father was Ravenpaw, and his mother was Fern, a loner. He had decided to join the journeying cats' group while they were sheltering there.
"So, did any of you get anything?" Amberstorm repeated, a bit of impatience flowing in her. Amberstorm was a short-tempered cat, and had the strength to match it. Part of the reason, actually, was because she trained in the Dark Forest, which, in turn, made her stronger.
"Of course not, Amberstorm," Ivypool replied politely, to which Amberstorm narrowed her eyes. Ivypool had never really liked her, for putting thorns in her bedding and siding with Rosepetal when it came to Foxleap. So Amberstorm wasn't surprised when Ivypool continued. "Why, with all the trampling noises you're making with your fat body, how could we catch a thing?"
Amberstorm glared at her, appalled. How dare she? Amberstorm thought furiously. Doesn't she remember I was one of the cats who gave up their fresh-kill for the queens and elders when prey was short?
Amberstorm opened her jaws to yell at her, but Ivypool was already padding away. "I'll tell Lionblaze," she called. "That the prey was all hiding in their holes. And I won't mention the mouse, okay, Rockpaw?"
A loud sigh of relief for Rockpaw.
Returning to the camp, Amberstorm padded inside the warriors' den and shook herself as dry as she could, then curled up in her warm nest of moss and feathers. Outside, she spotted Lightningpaw and Windpaw, talking and laughing. They sat especially close, and their eyes gleamed. Amberstorm felt warmth glow in her heart, and a purr rumbled in her throat. I used to be like that, with Snowclaw.
Speaking of the white tom, he was outside, talking to Whitepaw. Duh, Amberstorm sighed. She missed the warmth of his fur, and his company. She missed the heart that had once been all hers.
Beside them, Rockpaw laughed at Silverpaw's joke. Her heart ached even more. Them, too.
"Amberstorm?"
Amberstorm blinked at looked up at the cat that had snuck up on her. White fur, amber eyes. Snowclaw.
"Yes?" she asked, sounding icier than she had intended to. She imagined that he wanted to lead another hunting patrol with him, her and Whitepaw.
Snowclaw blinked, hurt clear in his eyes. "You know what?" he mewed bitterly and softly. "I give up." he turned around and amber eyes locked. "I used to love you, Amberstorm. You were perfect to me. But then you ran away with Marshlake, only to come sobbing back to me after he died. I became friends with Whitepaw when you were with Marshlake, and now you're trying to work your way into my heart again. I tried to give you a second chance, a benefit of the doubt, but clearly it doesn't work that way. I'm sorry, Amberstorm. I guess we were never meant to work out." he turned around, prepared to exit, when Amberstorm called, "Wait!"
Snowclaw turned around, hesitating.
"Come sit," she mewed, patting her nest with her tail.
Reluctantly, Snowclaw padded over and lay down next to her. Lying down next to Snowclaw~even if he was all stiff and rigid~seemed a luxury now. Their pelts brushed, golden-brown stark on white.
"You misunderstood what happened with Marshlake," she mewed softly but calmly. "I found Blackstar's body on ShadowClan territory, ventured over, and Burnetheart, Heavypelt and...M-M-Marshlake," her voice shook a bit as she mewed Marshlake's name. "found me. They told me about what Ratstar was plotting, so I had to go and meet with them to help. And we were meeting again when Marshlake...well, you know what Marshlake did."
"But then why were you two alone?" Snowclaw asked.
"Because Burnetheart and Heavypelt were on a mission along with Ratstar to recruit rogues."
There was a moment of silence, then Snowclaw mewed, "Oh. Well...this is awkward."
Yes it is, Amberstorm agreed quietly.
"Well then.." Snowclaw slowly stood up. "I guess I'm leaving."
Amberstorm's heart sank. All that for nothing? Her eyes squeezed shut as she prepared to fire her last resort.
"Oh, and Snowclaw?" Amberstorm asked. There was a pause, and then Snowclaw mewed, "Yeah?"
Amberstorm took a deep breath. "I know this is long overdue but...I just wanted to tell you that I love you."
Poppyfrost had blackcough.
It had started when her greencough was slowly but surely being treated with catmint, until Leafkit moved in with her unique sickness. After that, Poppyfrost's greencough had began to disappear, only to veer off into blackcough. Already she was retching up greenish-black fluids, while stumbling back to her nest in a daze.
Jayfeather leaned against the herb store and sighed. Herb dust fell into his pelt, but he didn't care. His main worries were for Leafkit and Poppyfrost. And who else was going to get blackcough? With no treatment, Jayfeather was sure many cats were going to die. He closed his eyes, going over the few herbs that were left. Even though it was newleaf, it had harshly rained nonstop, which destroyed many precious herbs. Let's see...we still have daisy, sorrel, burnet, a bit of catmint~not like it's going to be any use~and some thyme. Jayfeather grimaced. This isn't good.
"Jayfeather?" Poppyfrost croaked from the corner. "My belly hurts."
Jayfeather bit his lip. They were out of watermint and juniper berries... "Are you hungry?"
"It feels like a rat is eating me from the inside!" Poppyfrost proclaimed.
"Yup, you're hungry," Jayfeather sighed, poking his head out of the cave, and wind and rain buffeted his head almost immediately. He sniffed, before pulling it back in. "Well, sorry, Poppyfrost, but there isn't anything on the fresh-kill pile. All the prey is probably hiding from the rain." With resignation, he pawed together some sorrel~a traveling herb~and gave it to Poppyfrost. "Here," he mewed. "That should help a bit."
As Poppyfrost chewed the sorrel, Amberstorm stomped in.
"What is it now?" Jayfeather sighed. He had never really taken a liking to the violent and moody she-cat.
"Ivypool has some clawed ears..." her voice trailed off.
"Then why isn't Ivypool in here?" Jayfeather demanded hotly. "I'm busy with two sick cats."
He felt sheepishness rolling off of Amberstorm in waves. "No~actually, I'm just warning you ahead of time."
"Amberstorm! Don't you dare!"
"She insulted me one too many times!" Amberstorm retorted. "It's about time that I got even with her."
"Don't," Jayfeather meowed, shaking his head. "At least not when herb supplies are low."
"That's exactly why I chose this time."
"Amber~"
"Bye! Gotta go claw some ears!" Amberstorm dashed away.
"The little~" Jayfeather hissed under his breath.
Suddenly, his vision returned, and he witnessed his shell falling to the ground, while Poppyfrost cried in alarm. Jayfeather looked wildly around. Why was this suddenly happening?
Then he saw a dark gray she-cat with a broad, flat muzzle. Yellowfang.
"What is it now?" Jayfeather snapped. "I was about to go chase Amberstorm and stop her from clawing Ivypool's ears!"
Yellowfang's eyes glimmered in amusement. "Unfortunately," she meowed. "That will have to wait. Another prophecy from the Orb needs to be given."
The Orb? The last time Jayfeather saw...er..thought of it, it was shoved behind the warriors' den with a few leaves and twigs covering the immense power radiating from the crystal clear sphere.
"Okay." he sighed reluctantly.
"The Battle of Seven shall spill blood, seven and seven, and Transformation shall be missing."
Jayfeather blinked. "That has to be the most cryptic prophecy I've ever received," he confessed. "Do you have any idea what it means?"
Yellowfang slowly nodded. "A bit. Cognitor Omnia Quae told us some useful information." under her breath, she added, "Not enough, though, as always. Anyway, the Battle of Seven has been prophesied to happen for moons~even before my father's father was born. All I know is that seven cats will fight seven cats. You need to find the Seventh, Jayfeather. Or else you won't be able to fight the Battle of Seven."
And with that, Jayfeather was blind again.
"Jayfeather?"
Jayfeather blinked at the familiar sound of his former apprentice. "Huh?" he mumbled, not sure of his bearings.
"Jayfeather, you collapsed on us. What happened?"
"Prophecy...new...prophecy..need to tell the rest," Jayfeather sighed, before plunging into sleep.
Halfsnow took a step forward, her nose sniffing the air. Nothing. Only wet trees and mud clogging up her white-and-gray fur. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. She remembered of a landslide during her first life...
Enough of that. Hunt.
Halfsnow leaned forward, stretching, and sighed. It was hopeless. Not a single mouse was out foraging in the forest. She would simply have to wait.
"Half..." a singsong voice called out. Halfsnow perked her ears and looked around. Nothing.
"Half.." there it was again.
Pawsteps sounded. Halfsnow blinked in fear. What's happening? Who's that cat...?
"Why are you making me wait?"
Weirdly, the voice sent a shiver up Halfsnow's spine. Odd. She could've sworn that voice sounded familiar...
Suddenly, a caterwaul was yelled and Halfsnow was knocked over with a shriek. Her vision was dark, and she heard yelling. She couldn't distinguish it, though. She writhed blindly under the heavy weight, and when she could see again, they were gone.
"What...?" she breathed softly.
Slowly, she stood up and cleaned the mud off of her pelt. She gagged at the taste of mud~her attacker had unintentionally shoved her muzzle in the ground.
"Who's there?" she called. Nothing. She twitched her tail in annoyance. In her panic, she hadn't been able to take a whiff of her attacker's scent.
This time, a different voice sounded.
"Hello, dear Halfsnow. Enjoying this?"
That voice was familiar. Too familiar. With a shudder, Halfsnow turned around to see Ratstar with his rogues, their claws unsheathed, bloodlust gleaming in their eyes.
Vote on the poll on my profile page! I'm sorry, I don't feel like doing the quote for this book. I'll find something else! I promise! AND REVIEW! I have a lot of follows and faves on this who don't review! AEPJWEPOJFALFJA
-Sky