Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter, not me.
Chapter 1 - Sigh
Mudshadow sighed.
'Now what am I
supposed to do?'
As the wind lightly ruffled the brown and black she-cat's fur, she stood on a small hill on the edge of her camp. Well, what used to be her camp. The SolarClan deputy had gone out to clear her mind of some thoughts in the middle out the night, and came back to see something horrible; suicide worthy even.
A tidal wave had struck the SolarClan camp. All the cats were dead, up in EclipseClan. Mudshadow had arrived back at camp about the break of dawn, when she had heard a crashing noise through the dense forest. She had cried for the heavens know how long. Up at the top of the ravine, Mudshadow looked down on the Armageddon-struck beach where she and her clan used to live, as the wind blew gently through her fur. She had already buried the cats whose bodies had not gotten swept into the large lake around the island. Mudshadow had already planned that she would pay her respects later when she got the energy to do so. Not that she needed that much, but the brown and black cat did not feel up to it just yet; it was like accepting her clan -her whole clan- was actually gone. Not to mention forever, but that's beside the point.
Mudshadow slowly but steadily made her way back down the small hill, back down to the sandy beach. Feeling the sand between her paws gave Mudshadow some comfort, reminding her of when she was still young, when everyone was alive. Staring out at the surrounding lake, the brown and black she-cat barely noticed when there was a small rustling sound coming a little ways behind her, but her subconcious dismissed it as the light breeze.
"Mudshadow..."
The said deep blue-eyed she-cat turned her head to the right, in the direction of the voice. She didn't dare move a single muscle. The voice's owner had come from her life-long best friend, the one since kit-hood, the one who faced harsh treatments with her, the one who was the mentor of her favorite apprentice/other best friend, the one who she believed she had lost.
"Swiftheart..."
"Mudshadow!"
The two cats tackled each other playfully in their happiness that they were still alive. Mudshadow was thinking that at that point, it was the happiest moment of her life. The two SolarClan cats played with one another for what felt like an eternity in both cats' minds, but it was really only about a few minutes. The white and orange form of Swiftheart tackled her to the soft, sandy ground harmlessly, making Mudshadow fall on her back, some sand accidentally entering her ears. Swiftheart suddenly stopped like he just remembered something.
"Get SunClan's medicine cat," Swiftheart meowed quickly, out of breath, his grin disappearing.
"What for? You're fine," Mudshadow replied still laying on her back, also out of breath, but her smile not disappearing. The tabby she-cat shook her feline head in attempt to oust the sand clogging her ears.
"Not for me, for Ravenpaw."
That took the grin off Mudshadow's face as she froze in mid-shake. Ravenpaw had been her other best friend.
"…He's alive?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes, now go, and hurry!" Swiftheart called over his shoulder as he made his way to a fallen birch tree, where Mudshadow guessed Ravenpaw was.
Swiftly climbing back onto all four paws, the SolarClan she-cat charged through the sand that made up their old camp, and into the forest where her clan had hunted. Its large size was usually considered a good thing, but at that moment, Mudshadow was cursing at it for slowing her down. Not to mention that no matter which clan's territory is closer to your territory, all the clan's camps are exactly the same length away, even the opposing clan. Mudshadow guessed that Swiftheart had told her to get SunClan's medicine cat because MoonClan and LunarClan warriors were known to be quite hostile. Not to mention the fact that the SunClan medicine cat was a really good friend of both the SolarClan cats left alive and unharmed.
Passing the volcano in the middle of the island, Mudshadow ignored the large, heated rock formation, passing into SunClan territory. The tabby SolarClan she-cat prayed to EclipseClan that she would not be seen as a threat. Dashing through the SunClan forest, something familiar began to show itself to Mudshadow, but she decided to ignore it, choosing Ravenpaw's life over her own curiosity.
It did not take too much longer to reach the SunClan camp. Mudshadow paused at the entrance to the beach, bewildered that no guards were standing there. Befuddled, the brown SolarClan she-cat pushed her way through the entrance made of undergrowth, out onto the beach where the SunClan camp had been for generations. As she rustled the foliage as she passed through, Mudshadow heard a single surprised hiss coming from the clearing. Finally bursting through the end of the entrance, the she-cat was met with a surprising sight.
The SunClan medicine cat, Spottedwing, was standing at the edge of the clearing, her back arched and her teeth bared. Once she saw that Mudshadow, a good friend of hers, had been the one to surprise her, the multi-colored she-cat relaxed her tense, defensive pose, her head slightly tilted in puzzlement.
"Mudshadow?"
"Hey, Spottedwing," Mudshadow mumbled, uncomfortable with the situation her friend did not know she was in, "This may seem blunt, but -"
Mudshadow trailed off, noticing that there were no other cats in the SunClan camp. She turned her head in all directions, trying to spot at least one set of curious eyes peering at the SolarClan she-cat, but Mudshadow found none.
"Tidal wave," Spottedwing dead panned sadly, answering the tabby's unspoken question.
The brown tabby she-cat was suddenly over-flowing with empathy. Taking the situation in carefully, Mudshadow took a couple hesitant steps forward.
"Spottedwing," Mudshadow whispered urgently, her head slightly bowed, "I'm sorry. I really am, but you need to help me." Desperation swam around in the tabby's deep blue eyes, "The same situation is going on at my camp, but two of my clan-mates are alive. However, one is hanging on by a cobweb. He won't live without your help."
"...Then I better hurry," Spottedwing mewed hesitantly, taking all the information in. The SunClan medicine cat dashed around to a drenched, entangled bush. Mudshadow assumed it was where the SunClan medicine den had once been.
Spottedwing came dashing out of the bush a moment later, charging past Mudshadow instead of waiting for her. The somewhat shocked SolarClan warrior followed on the frantic medicine cat's tail. They took the exact same route as Mudshadow had taken before, but for some reason, it seemed to pass a bit quicker.
When they got to the old SolarClan camp, Swiftheart greeted them with a worried expression spread across his muzzle as he appeared from the fallen tree Mudshadow had noticed earlier. Leading the two she-cats back into the tree, they discovered Ravenpaw's young, black, unconscious body in the middle of a spacious clearing, between the branches, on the soft ground of the beach. Even Mudshadow could tell his breathing was shallow, and if he did not have treatment done on him soon, he was a goner. Swiftheart and Mudshadow stood at the side, both impatiently watching Spottedwing as she applied poultices to the apprentice and coaxed his throat so Ravenpaw would swallow some type of herb that was supposed to help his breathing. When she was done, she turned to the two concsious SolarClan cats, with a hopeful look on her furry face, relieving the two cats, at the side, of their worry. Ravenpaw would be alright.
The last rays of sunlight poured through the branches of the fallen birch tree as Mudshadow turned her head toward her companions.
"You two get some sleep. I'll keep watch from outside," the black and brown tabby meowed softly, turning towards the exit in the branches.
Coming outside of the fallen tree, Mudshadow laid down in the soft sand of her home. Staring out at the lake as the sun's golden rays dropped upon it, she let out a sigh of relief.