Warriors:
New Life & Danger
Chapter #1Suddenly, the young she-cat tumbled over, back into the apprentices' den.
"Ouch! What was that for?" yowled Snowpaw.
"Gotcha!" mewed Crownpaw, at the opening of the den. The golden tabby tom just stood there, watching the pretty she-cat groom her fur again.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing…It's just that..."
"What, already?"
"There's another gathering tonight."
"Already? Oh yeah, tonight is a full moon." The two apprentices walked out of their den and headed for the fresh kill pile. As Snowpaw sat down, she noticed that she and Crownpaw's fur were touching. She felt her fur stand on end, and padded toward her mentor, Oakheart's other side, with a fresh vole in her mouth, and settled down.
"Are you excited for your first gathering, Snowpaw?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, Oakheart," mewed Snowpaw.
"That's good." meowed Hazelscar. He sat down to eat alongside Crownpaw and Oakheart. "You know, Crownpaw has only been to one gathering so far. But, he could tell you what it's like, if you want, that is."
"That would be a great idea," mewed Oakheart. "How about it, Snowpaw?"
"Ummmm…Sure."
"Good, that's settled then." meowed Thunderstar, with Greystorm right behind him. Crownpaw focused on his mouse, while Snowpaw glanced his way. Why did mentors have to be this way, they both wondered.
"Hello, Thunderstar, Greystorm," meowed Oakheart and Hazelscar at the same time. Snowpaw and Crownpaw were busily eating their food, unable to notice their leader and deputy standing before them.
"Hello everyone, would you all like to go on a hunting patrol right now?"
Both Snowpaw and Crownpaw looked up. "Can we, Hazelscar?" meowed Crownpaw, excitedly.
"Sure we can."
"Us too?" pleaded Snowpaw.
"Of course."
"Yes, that's good to hear," meowed Thunderstar.
"See you later then, guys," meowed Greystorm, as he and his leader padded away towards Thunderstar's den. The other four cats gobbled down the rest of their prey. Snowpaw and Crownpaw were the first to get up. Soon, their mentors finished up, and led the way out of the tunnel and into the forest part of their territory. Snowpaw opened her mouth, just in time to catch the scent of a near by vole. She got into the hunter's crouch, and crept slowly to the vole, carefully trying not to snap any twigs left by leaf bare that were not covered by snow yet. Snowpaw smelled the vole even closer. Suddenly, the vole darted out of the brambles it was hiding behind. Darn it, thought Snowpaw. She ran after it, and caught it with one swift bite to the neck.
"Well done," Oakheart praised.
"Yes, very nice," meowed Hazelscar. Snowpaw buried the vole in the ground and followed her clan mates further into the forest. She watched as Crownpaw dashed off after a squirrel he was stalking. She noticed Hazelscar watching him too. But his gaze was much more proud. Snowpaw thought he should be proud because Crownpaw had killed his squirrel just by batting its head with his claws, even faster than her. She felt a tiny pang of envy, but soon shook it off. She opened her mouth again, determined to catch as much prey as she could for the fresh kill pile. When the patrol had ended, Snowpaw had caught two voles, a squirrel, and a plump mouse. Crownpaw had caught a squirrel, a vole, and a mouse. Their mentors both caught a squirrel and a mouse. As they walked into their camp, Snowpaw felt accomplished inside. She had caught more prey than Crownpaw.
"Hey, Snowpaw!"
"Huh?" Snowpaw flicked her ears toward Juniperpaw.
"Can you do me a big favor?" It was Juniperpaw. "I'm glad you're back! I need your help to collect more moss for Runningstone, Fawntail, and Halftail. I accidentally dropped it in the stream near Windclan. Isn't that funny?"
"Yeah, sure, I'll help," after all, Juniperpaw looked like she needed it, and Snowpaw had nothing better to do. "Real funny."
"Oh, I'll help too." As Snowpaw turned, a sleek, grey tabby sat down next to her.
"Hi, Longpaw!"
"Glad to see you too, Snowpaw."
"Guys, c'mon, let's go get some moss, Runningstone is going to get cranky if he doesn't get his nap today." Snowpaw was just about too bound away, when suddenly; a golden tail grabbed her foot and made her stumble over.
"Hey, Crownpaw, you're getting on my nerves today!"
"I was wondering if you wanted to learn about the gatherings now."
"Maybe later, after I get some moss for Runningstone."
"Ok, see you later then, " He watched her go with Longpaw. Then he padded off to Hazelscar. Longpaw stopped at the camp entrance, to wait for Snowpaw to catch up. When Snowpaw caught up, Longpaw slowed down, and kept pace with her.
"So, we should go down to the stream near Windclan, right?" Longpaw waited for Snowpaw's response.
"Yeah, I guess" When they finally got to the edge of the stream, Snowpaw spotted some moss on the lower trunk of a tree. Longpaw grabbed what remained and headed for another tree trunk. As Snowpaw padded toward the stream, she carefully dropped the moss on the ground, and glanced up. A patrol of Windclan cats came bounding down the moorland-covered hills. Snowpaw couldn't recognize any of them. When they came down to the stream, she noticed one of the cats was holding a juicy little rabbit in their jaws. She remembered the vole she'd eaten this morning. But that was so long ago, and it was sun high already. Her belly started a low growl. It was too low for any cat to hear, though.
"Hello there. What are you doing at the border?" Snowpaw scanned the face of the black and white tom. His words and gaze didn't seem hostile. Snowpaw flicked her tail for Longpaw to come over, but the long limbed tom was already at her side, watching the Windclan cats carefully.
"We were collecting moss." Still, the tom did not seem hostile.
Instead, he said, "Very well. I'll expect to see you both at the gathering then." Snowpaw and Longpaw watched the patrol head back to their camp.
"I think that was the deputy, Talonscar."
"How do you know?"
"Oh, Crownpaw told me about the other clans. He told me about the leaders and the deputies too." Snowpaw looked back up at the hill in Windclan territory. She hoped she would see Talonscar and all the other clans at the gathering too. Snowpaw picked up her moss and walked with Longpaw back to the Thunderclan camp. As soon as they came through the entrance, Juniperpaw scrambled up to them and literally grabbed the moss out of their jaws.
"Thanks!" she called with a mouth full of moss. Snowpaw watched Juniperpaw disappear into the elders' den. By now, Snowpaw was starving, and couldn't wait to get to the fresh kill pile. She saw her mother, Starlingtail pad up to her with a rabbit in her jaws.
"Thanks, Starlingtail!"
"I thought you deserved it. After all, you were a very good apprentice today. You helped out with collecting moss for Runningstone, and you caught a lot of fresh kill for the clan. I'm very proud of you." Starlingtail licked Snowpaw's forehead. Snowpaw bit into the rabbit and swallowed. Then Starlingtail ate some. After Snowpaw was full, she scampered away to where Crownpaw sat, talking to Longpaw again.
"Crownpaw!" called Snowpaw. Now she had time to learn about gatherings. Crownpaw flicked his tail for her to come over.
"I'll see you later at the gathering." Longpaw got up and walked toward the Elders' den to check up on Juniperpaw.
"Can I tell you about gatherings now?" asked Crownpaw.
"Sure," purred Snowpaw. She sat down and waited.
"In case you didn't know, Windstar is the Windclan leader and Talonscar is the deputy. They're quite similar. They're brothers, both black and white. The Riverclan leader is Riverstar and her deputy is Trouttail. The Shadowclan leader is Shadowstar and his deputy is Tawnyfur. Got it?"
"Yep," Snowpaw spun around just in time to see Thunderstar on the high ledge.
"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey come forward, please?" All the warriors stopped what they were doing and sat down at the base of Thunderstar's den. Snowpaw found an open spot, right behind Morningflower. Longpaw sat down next to her. "The dawn patrol has smelled some badgers near by our territory again.
"Oh great, not again," Snowpaw whispered to Longpaw. She remembered her mother telling her about the old attack on their territory. There were many badgers; several cats died, including the beloved medicine cat, Cinderpelt.
"The scent was stale though, and there are no signs of two-leg danger either. So we're still safe."
"Well, that was pointless," whispered Runningstone, to Yellowpatch. Yellowpatch gave a quick nod, and looked back up at Thunderstar. Snowpaw felt like ripping her claws through their fur. How dare they talk about her father like that?
"Oh, right, we will be leaving for the gathering shortly; so be prepared to go." Snowpaw bounded up to her father. "Hello, Snowpaw."
"I can't wait for the gathering, Thunderstar!" Thunderstar padded down to Snowpaw and gave her a few rough licks.
"I know. Have you had some prey already you must be hungry. I'll come with you."
"Oh, okay." Snowpaw licked her father on the side of his muzzle and headed for the fresh kill pile again, with her father leading the way this time. She shared a rabbit with him until it was time to go. She couldn't wait any more, so she sprinted up ahead. Without noticing where she was going, she bumped into Crownpaw, and took him into the bushes.
"Hey, watch where you're going!"
"Well, sorry! Maybe you should watch you put your behind!"
"Oh, it's you. You're so clumsy you know that? Are you okay? What's the rush anyways?"
"Nothing, I'm just excited, that's all. Yeah, I'm all right. Sorry for bumping into you though." Crownpaw noticed Snowpaw had a thorn stuck on top of her ear. He bent over and picked it up with his jaws. Snowpaw could feel his chest fur slightly touch the tip of her nose, as he sat back down. She couldn't help but stare as his golden pelt shone in the moonlight.
"You sure you're all right?" Snowpaw nodded quickly. "I'll walk by your side just in case. We can't have you missing your first gathering, right?"
"Alright, fine," Crownpaw could remind her of her father sometimes. "You're just like my father sometimes," she purred. But Crownpaw was more handsome. Once they got past Windclan territory, they went to the tree bridge. Snowpaw almost fell off, if it wasn't for Crownpaw. She said thanks, and he asked if she was sure that she was sure that she was all right. She gave him a lick on the ear for reassurance. When Snowpaw got off the bridge, she decided to explore the shoreline a bit before the gathering.
Riverstar was the first to talk. "Everything's fine in Riverclan."
"Yes, Shadowclan are doing fine as well." Shadowstar took his turn right after her.
"I thought this would have been more interesting." Snowpaw whispered to Longpaw.
"Yeah, me too," whispered Longpaw.
"Windclan has a new apprentice. His name is Volepaw."
Windclan cats' yowls broke out, repeating Volepaw's name, "Volepaw! Volepaw!"
As if they hadn't already shouted enough at their ceremony, Snowpaw thought. Windstar nodded to a brown tabby tom, which was sitting with two other Windclan cats. Snowpaw guessed they were apprentices too.
Thunderstar spoke up, "My dawn patrol has scented a badger near by. But it is stale. Other than that, my clan is well taken care of." Snowpaw admired her father a lot. She hoped to be as good a warrior as he once was.
Once Snowpaw was back in camp, she ran to the apprentices' den with Longpaw at her side. Juniperpaw was talking to her mentor, and Crownpaw walked with Stonepaw to the fresh kill pile.