Haha, I'm such a liar. I have to be perfectly honest that the reason I'm doing this is to practice for NaNoWriMo. ;) So be prepared for this fic to be over 100K and be finished in about two months. I'm going to have no liiiiife! XD
Reviewer answer thingies!
xXBloodpulseXx - Thanks! I wanted to have a really cool word that started with S to match the other two stories in this little trilogy o' mine, and it kinda popped into my head. ^.^' I think I know the way I'm gonna tie it in with the story, though. }:D (Cool new penname, btw!)
xxSnowfirexx - Thankies! I'm glad you like DoD! Me and Fwirl-kohai really turned that one around, eh? :P I tell ya, brainstorming is a wonderous thing.
Lightkit - You're so cool. You review all of my chapters. -hugs- And I didn't necessarily say that they would invade, did I~? -laughs evilly-
And onto the story/allegiances! I think these allegiances are really full, don't you? I might have to...er, alleviate that problem, won't I? :D
Allegiances
Leader:
Lionstar - golden tabby tom with amber eyes
Apprentice, Rainpaw
Deputy:
Graystripe - long-haired gray tom
Apprentice, Hollypaw
Medicine Cat:
Leafpool - light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Apprentice, Jayfeather
Warriors:
Brightheart - white she-cat with ginger splashes
Ferncloud - pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes
Cloudtail - long-haired white tom
Sorreltail - tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes
Apprentice, Amberpaw
Squirrelflight - dark ginger she-cat with green eyes
Spiderleg - long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes
Whitewing - white she-cat with green eyes
Birchfall - light brown tabby tom
Berrynose - cream-colored tom
Apprentice, Redpaw
Hazeltail - small gray-and-white she-cat
Mousewhisker - gray-and-white tom
Millie - striped gray tabby she-cat
Cinderheart - gray tabby she-cat
Poppyfrost - tortoiseshell she-cat
Apprentice, Oakpaw
Foxclaw - reddish tabby tom
Icepelt - white she-cat
Rosefall - dark cream she-cat
Briarpelt - dark brown she-cat
Bumblestripe - very pale gray tom with black stripes
Blossomfall - white she-cat with tortoiseshell patches
Apprentices:
Jayfeather - gray tabby tom
Oakpaw - ginger dappled tabby she-cat with white paws, green eyes
Rainpaw - long-haired gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes
Amberpaw – pale cream she-cat, amber eyes
Hollypaw – long-haired gray she-cat, amber eyes
Redpaw – ginger tabby tom, blue eyes
Queens:
Daisy - cream long-furred she-cat from the horseplace
Honeyfern - light brown tabby she-cat, mother of Berrynose's kits: Faintkit (pale brown she-cat), and Harekit (gray-brown tom)
Elders:
Longtail - pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight
Dustpelt - dark brown tabby tom
Sandstorm - pale ginger she-cat
Brambleclaw - dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes, severely broken foreleg
Redpaw was curled into a small ball of ginger fur, his eyes closed as he breathed in the scents of his littermates, pressed close beside him. A cool breeze tugged at his fur, and he cringed away from it and into the warmth of his sister Amberpaw's warm flank. Too early, he complained internally, pressing his nose deeper into the thick fur of his tail as he tried to drift back off to sleep.
"Redpaw!"
Startled, he jerked his head up, looking around wildly. An amused purr alerted him to another cat's presence, one who's silhouette had blocked out the light coming in the apprentices' den. Scrambling to his feet, he quickly shook off the clinging stems of moss in embarrassment. "Sorry, Berrynose," he apologized to his mentor.
The cream tom's face was set sternly but his blue eyes were gleaming with humor. "I had to call you three times!" he exclaimed. "It's time for the dawn patrol!"
Redpaw let out a gasp. It couldn't be that early already! Stepping carefully, he managed to avoid squashing Hollypaw's fluffy tail as he made his way to the front of the den, stepping out into the bright, cold sun of late leaf-fall.
"We've already kept Lionstar waiting," Berrynose informed him as they made their way to the thorn entrance tunnel.
"Lionstar's going?" Redpaw asked, confused on why his father would feel the need to make it onto the earliest patrols.
Berrynose's eyes were clouded with anger. "It seems like WindClan's been scent-marking on our territory again. With this weather, though, who could blame them?" He gestured up at the thickly-clouded sky.
Redpaw's eyes widened. "Will it snow?" he asked in awe, thinking of the stories that Sandstorm told him and his littermates about the icy coldness that came when the sky turned so dark like this.
"Not yet. It's still leaf-fall, after all." But Berrynose's voice betrayed more worry than he admitted.
Redpaw greeted Lionstar happily as they began to head over to the WindClan border. Rainpaw, an older and rather more serious apprentice, padded along his side silently, his dark eyes clouded with thought. Redpaw always loved to torment the older apprentice, seeing how long it took before his careful mask was broken through.
"Hi, Rainpaw!" he mewed cheerfully, moving over to walk next to the gray tom. "Are you excited to be on this patrol?"
"Yes," Rainpaw answered slowly. "It's very important to guard our borders from enemies willing to take more than they deserve."
Redpaw frowned. Why is he always so stiff? he wondered. It can't be because of Lionstar...maybe he's just really serious. "Do you think we'll run into WindClan?" he asked in a low voice, looking at Berrynose and Lionstar walking ahead, their gazes fixed on the path in front of them.
Rainpaw looked down at him in surprise. "Why should we? If they know the warrior code, they won't pass by it."
"Oh. But haven't they passed it before?"
"Only when Hollystar was still our leader," Rainpaw answered. "Since that time—it must have been almost three seasons ago now—no cat has trespassed on another's territory. We've had peace for a long time now; since I've been an apprentice, there hasn't been any issues."
"Do you remember Hollystar?"
Rainpaw frowned, squinting his eyes. "A little bit," he admitted. "Barely anything, though...but I do remember her death. She tried to unite the Clans but it failed miserably. Now all the Clans are grateful to Lionstar for...er, getting rid of her."
Shivering, Redpaw pressed closer to Rainpaw, wanting to know more about his father's sister. From the stories that Sandstorm and Dustpelt told him, Redpaw knew that she had been a tyrant, a cat to be feared by all during her reign over the Clans, but for some reason, Lionstar and Jayfeather refused to talk about their sister. Redpaw had pestered his father for information until he had finally told him only one thing: "She was a brave cat and deserves respect for her leadership."
But why would she deserve respect if she was a tyrant? Why would Lionstar and Jayfeather still think she was brave if she tried to take over the forest and all the Clans? Does that show bravery? Redpaw's mind buzzed with questions, but he knew better than to try and go to Jayfeather for help: the prickly medicine cat apprentice would box his ears is he annoyed him too much.
"Hurry up, you two." Berrynose flipped his head over his shoulder to glare at the apprentices. "You're holding us up."
"Sorry, Berrynose," Rainpaw apologized immediately, scurrying forward to pad beside Lionstar.
Redpaw let out a soft laugh at the older apprentice's placating attitude as he quickened his own steps to walk next to Berrynose. He sure wants to please everyone, doesn't he? Redpaw looked from his father's face down to Rainpaw's and suddenly got it: Rainpaw wanted to be like Lionstar. Twisting his head to look at his own mentor, Redpaw tilted his head to one side. Should I do that, too? Is that what Berrynose expects of me?
He was just in the process of trying to hold his chin up when a yowl sounded across the WindClan border. Giving up on his struggles, Redpaw glanced eagerly across the small stream that separated the two Clans, seeing a small party of only three cats trot right up to the edge of the stream.
"Greetings, Lionstar!" one, a gray she-cat called.
Lionstar stepped forward. "Greetings, Ashfoot. We're simply checking this border. I've received word that a WindClan cat was caught on this side of the border." His tone was still conversational, but Redpaw could see a hard glint in his father's eyes.
Ashfoot's eyes narrowed. "An apprentice's mistake, that's all. She has been punished." She turned to quickly glare down at a white-speckled brown tabby at her side. The she-cat—surely the apprentice in question—glared back at her with a fierce gaze.
"It wasn't my fault," she growled. "I didn't know it was the border. There wasn't any smell of ThunderClan!"
"Silence, Splashpaw," the other WindClan cat—a golden tom—hissed irritably. "Don't argue with the deputy."
Deputy, huh? Redpaw looked more critically at the she-cat, seeing how flecks of white were sprinkled around her muzzle. Not for long, looks like.
Splashpaw narrowed her eyes furiously. Redpaw was startled to see the color of them—a strange hazy pinkish-blue. "Sorry," she spit out, sounding anything but sorry.
Ashfoot sighed tightly, turning to Lionstar. "I'm sorry, Lionstar. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Of course," Lionstar said lightly, already turning away. "See you at the next Gathering!"
The WindClan deputy mewed a quick goodbye, already turning to the apprentice to repremand her.
Redpaw tilted his head as he flipped his head over his shoulder, watching the apprentice—Splashpaw, he reminded himself—argue with her deputy, her eyes flashing angrily.
"Watch out," Rainpaw mewed quietly, startling Redpaw out of his musing. "There's plenty of she-cats in our Clan for you."
Redpaw's jaws gaped. "What?!" he demanded. "I was just looking!"
Rainpaw's blue eyes were strangely smug. "Gotcha," he chuckled softly. "Looks like your own tactics work against you, too, isn't that so?"
Redpaw ground his teeth together, cursing himself for being so jumpy. "Whatever," he growled, looking away. "I'll just get you back later."
Rainpaw laughed. "Sure, of course you will," he said patronizingly, speeding up to walk next to Lionstar again.
Hissing under his breath, Redpaw dashed after him as the patrol disappeared into the undergrowth.
- - -
"You're finally back, huh?" Hollypaw yawned widely as Redpaw padded up, three mice dangling from his jaws. "Took you long enough."
"Nice catch," Amberpaw praised, her dark eyes glowing. "You did a great job!"
Redpaw dropped the mice at his sister's paws. "I got enough for each of us," he mewed, curling his tail over his back. "You should have seen Berrynose's face when I caught them. I caught two at once!" Settling down, he pulled one of the mice towards him and took a big bite. "I'm such a great hunter."
"Not as good as me," Hollypaw argued at once. "I caught a squirrel the other day."
Redpaw scoffed, his mouth still full of mouse. "Two mice are better than one squirrel," he retorted.
"Since when?" she demanded. "I had to climb a tree! You probably just got lucky—they were probably asleep!"
"Please," Amberpaw cut in. "Let's not fight, okay? Redpaw, what did you see on the patrol?"
Glaring at Hollypaw, he answered, "Nothing much. Although we did find out who was on our border. It was just an apprentice."
"Oh, well that's good." Amberpaw took a dainty bite of her mouse. "If it was anything worse than that, though, you could have handled yourself, I bet!"
"Of course!" He puffed out his chest. "I'm going to be a warrior to rival Lionstar!"
Hollypaw sighed loudly. "Then I'll always be there to be an even better warrior," she said mischievously, her amber eyes narrowed and her fluffy gray pelt askew like always. "Putting you in your place."
"As if," he snorted. "Let's see you try right now!" Without warning, he launched himself at his sister, bowling her off her paws with a startled squeak. He pummeled her belly with his hind paws as they rolled over and over again, right into the dozing flank of Foxclaw.
"Hey!" the reddish tabby tom protested sleepily. "Watch it!"
"That's enough, you two." Amberpaw stepped forward, grabbing Redpaw's scruff in her teeth. "You're being pests."
"You're such a killjoy, Amberpaw," he snapped, paws churning in the air as his bigger sister held him up. "Put me down! I'm not a kit."
"Well, you're acting like one." She dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. "Sorry, Foxclaw," she apologized, turning to the warrior. "They were being idiots again."
"Hey!" Hollypaw protested immediately, her amber eyes furious.
Foxclaw's green eyes gleamed with humor. "It's fine. I'm not supposed to be sleeping anyway," he admitted.
"Well, you work hard," Amberpaw mewed softly. "You deserve some rest."
Redpaw rolled his eyes. As if his sister could be more blatantly obvious that she was padding after Foxclaw.
But the reddish tom only purred. "Thanks, Amberpaw. How's your training going? You've only been apprentices for..."
"Two moons," Hollypaw put in, looking bored. "And Graystripe still hasn't taken me to see the WindClan border yet." She glared half-heartedly at Redpaw, and he twitched his whiskers at her.
"I've gone to see it twice," Redpaw said triumphantly.
"Yeah, but you haven't been to a Gathering."
"Only because I sprained my paw!"
"Excuses, excuses, little brother!"
"Don't call me that!" Redpaw flattened his ears. Why did Hollypaw always have to do this?! Why did she think she was better than him? Just because he was the smallest of the litter didn't mean he was the weakest!
"Shut up!" Amberpaw's eyes flared.
"It's fine, it's fine." Foxclaw waved a paw tiredly. "Icepelt and I used to argue all the time. It's just sibling rivalry."
Redpaw curled his lip before stomping away. Hollypaw thinks she's so great just because she's bigger than me! he raged. I'm going to be a better warrior than her, no matter what any cat says!
"Whoa, little one!"
"Don't call me small!" he snapped, wheeling around angrily with his claws already unsheathed.
Cinderheart was watching him, her blue eyes filled with amusement. "Are you going to attack me, Redpaw?"
Sheathing his claws, his ears burning with embarrassment, Redpaw padded up to his mother. "Sorry," he mewed.
Cinderheart just looked at him with soft eyes, giving him a quick lick over the ears. "Don't be like that," she scolded him gently. "Hollypaw doesn't mean what she says. You know that."
"But she does." Redpaw let his mother press against his flank, thankful for her warm presence. "She thinks she's better than me, but she's not. Not at all."
"Well, I don't think that's it at all."
Redpaw looked up at his mother curiously. "What?"
"She's jealous of you so she tries to show you up." Cinderheart purred. "And I think you're a little envious of her, too."
Redpaw hissed. "Not at all!"
Cinderheart laughed again, getting up and flicking him over the ears with her tail. "I have to go on a hunting patrol—think about what I said until then, alright?"
He bristled and look away. "Sure."
Cinderheart licked him across the forehead before standing up, stretching, and padding away to twine tails with Lionstar. The two of them padded out into the forest with their heads close together.
Redpaw sat down hard, his head spinning with anger. "Why does she think I'm jealous of Hollypaw?" he wondered aloud.
"That's what all mothers say." Bumblestripe padded up next to him, a mouse dangling from his jaws. "Wanna share?"
"No, I already ate." But Redpaw padded next to the warrior and settled down next to him, staring off into space as his friend ate his meal. "Were you on the border patrol for ShadowClan?"
"Yeah," the gray tabby mumbled through a full mouth. "Nothing at all. I swear," he mewed, swallowing, "it's so boring with all this peace. I'm itching for a battle."
"But aren't battles a bad thing?" Redpaw asked, flicking the tail of Bumblestripe's mouse distractedly.
"Not if you're the one in them ripping fur." His amber eyes gleamed. "I've only been in one—when I was an apprentice, we fought in a battle against RiverClan. I only got a few blows in when I was delivering a message." He sounded disappointed.
"Tough luck," Redpaw mewed. "I've only learned a few battle moves from Berrynose. All I've been doing is hunting, hunting, hunting. I never knew it could be so boring." He sighed, laying his head down on his paws.
"There won't be any for a while," Bumblestripe sighed as well. "All we talk about at Gatherings now is how prey is plentiful and how many new kits are born. Speaking of, have you seen how big Honeyfern's kits have gotten? They're your kin, right?"
"Yeah," Redpaw mewed cheerfully. "My mother's sister's kits."
"You should go visit them since all you're doing now is sitting around and whining." Bumblestripe flicked his tail down his friend's back to take the sting out of his words. "I'm sure it'll make them happy."
"Good idea." It had been a few days since he'd seen them, and he always liked to show off his battle moves to his littlest kin. "See you later."
"Later," Bumblestripe mumbled through a mouthful of mouse.
Redpaw padded over to the nursery, looking around at the hollow as he did. Graystripe was organizing a hunting patrol, and Spiderleg and Hazeltail had already gathered around him. The elders—Sandstorm, Dustpelt, and Longtail—were nestled into a small spot of sun, the only warmth in the clearing. Oakpaw padded by him next to her mentor Poppyfrost, her green eyes wide as the tortoiseshell she-cat explained some hunting technique to her.
"Redpaw!" A pale brown she-kit came hurtling out of the nursery, wrapping herself around Redpaw's white paws. "You came to see us!"
"I always come and see you, Faintkit," Redpaw purred good-naturedly.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up at last." A grayish-brown tom kit picked his way more delicately out of the den, his blue eyes critical.
"Don't be such a grouch, Harekit," Faintkit scolded her brother. "Redpaw's always a bunch of fun!"
Harekit lifted his chin. "I suppose."
"Are you going to tell us stories about the forest, Redpaw?" Faintkit's green eyes were full of excitement.
"Or show us some battle moves?" Harekit suggested, creeping closer despite himself.
"I could show you the hunting crouch again," Redpaw suggested.
"Bo-ring," Harekit grumbled. "Why don't you show us something better?"
"The hunting crouch is very important!" Faintkit protested, reminding Redpaw strongly of his sister Amberpaw. "Feeding the Clan is in the warrior code!"
"It shouldn't need to be: it's common sense. Why do we need a code to tell us we need to eat?" Harekit asked loftily. "Does it tell us to drink water, too?"
Redpaw settled down, rolling his eyes at this little kit's cynicism. "The warrior code tells us how to live our lives, Harekit," he explained. "How to be good warriors for the Clan."
"Good warriors need to have sharp claws. That's all I need to know."
Faintkit frowned at him. "That's a load of mousedung," she growled at him. "You have to know all the other stuff, too."
"Whatever." Harekit yawned widely. "All I'm saying is that ThunderClan's safety should come first."
"You two don't need to worry about any of that for another few moons," Redpaw put in. "You're still kits."
"Only for a few more moons!" Faintkit announced happily. "Then we'll be apprentices! Maybe you can be one of our mentors, Redpaw!"
He laughed. "I won't be a warrior by then."
"You could be if you proved yourself, right?" Harekit asked. "Mother says that a few cats got their name early for bravery."
"She was talking about LionClan, though!" Faintkit argued. "They aren't around anymore. Only the four Clans are here now, and they'll always be here. Right, Redpaw?" She turned her bright gaze up at him.
Redpaw purred and cuffed her gently across the ears. "Of course, Faintkit," he meowed. "Lionstar will make sure that we're safe and sound."
Harekit sighed and flopped on the ground. "I wish I was a warrior. I'll be a great warrior."
Redpaw turned his gaze away, thinking of Hollypaw, and muttered under his breath, "So will I. So will I."
Redpaw came out more like Lionblaze than I intended, huh? Weird. But next up is Amberpaw, since I kinda made her look like a Sue in this chapter, and she's really not. At least, I don't want her to be. :P
R&R~
Shadow