Hope you enjoy! R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspects of Warriors that you recognize here.
"Dawnpaw, hurry up before you fall too far behind," her mentor's yowl pierced the usually tranquil ambiance of the ThunderClan forest, shaking Dawnpaw of the weariness that dragged at her paws so early in the morning. She blinked her leaf-green eyes and padded after Sorreltail and Squirrelflight, yawning as she went. Her mother touched her shoulder with the tip of her shoulder with concern shimmering in her eyes.
"Are you alright? What did you do all last night to prevent you from getting a good night's rest?" Squirrelflight asked and Dawnpaw shook off her tail, not wanting to explain her troubled sleep to her mother.
She'd had nightmares all through the night and of the exact same thing, constantly waking her up. The swarm of teeth and claws that descended down on her Clanmates was always the part of the dream where she would awaken to the safety of the apprentices' den, panting heavily as if she had run all the way to the lake and back.
"I'm fine," Dawnpaw shook herself lightly, flicking the tip of her tail. "Just a few nightmares." Sorreltail and Squirrelflight exchanged a suspicious glance that poured frustration into Dawnpaw. What do they think I was doing? Chasing squirrels that late at night?
"Alright then," Sorreltail meowed, sounding as if she didn't believe a word that came out of her apprentice's mouth. She turned away and took the lead of the patrol, trotting along the path toward the WindClan border. Dawnpaw took up the rear. She straightened and lifted her chin, determined to show them that she wasn't going to drop unconscious while on patrol.
Her muscles ached as she lengthened her stride to keep up with the older she-cats. After the hard battle training session with her siblings and the other apprentices the day before, it didn't help that Sorreltail seemed to be testing her endurance as well as agility. Dawnpaw ducked under a branch that the other two had leaped over, being too small to do what the warriors had done without stumbling over her own paws.
Skidding to a stop as she spotted Sorreltail and Squirrelflight suddenly freeze ahead of her, Dawnpaw nearly bumped into them. However, she dug her claws into the compact dirt under her paws and slowed herself. Confused at their actions, Dawnpaw opened her mouth to ask them about it but a mouthful of her mother's fluffy tail fur muffled her voice.
Even more bewildered, Dawnpaw craned her neck to peer around them and she followed her mentor's gaze. She resisted the urge to release an outraged hiss at the sight of the few WindClan warriors snooping around on ThunderClan territory. The cats seemed to be having trouble finding safe passage through the undergrowth. One of them, a dark tom growled softly to himself as he stepped on a thorn. Dawnpaw registered with satisfaction that they were probably going to be going home with cuts marring their mangy pelts.
"Mouse-brains," Squirrelflight hissed under her breath, her whiskers twitching slightly in exasperated amusement as she watched the struggling WindClan cats. With a huff, she stepped from the bush into full view of the enemy warriors. Sorreltail immediately followed her lead and Dawnpaw quickly slid in beside them, following their lead. "What are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" Squirrelflight growled, the fur along her spine rising threateningly.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like they aren't getting too far," Dawnpaw meowed mockingly. Her bad morning had left her with the need to express her frustration, even if it was a quarrel with a cat from another Clan. She flicked her tail. "I don't think that they're much of a threat, though. They're too clumsy in the undergrowth."
Sorreltail sent a sharp glance her way, silencing her. The tortoiseshell she-cat narrowed her eyes at the leader of the patrol, a tabby tom that Dawnpaw recognized as Tornear from Gatherings, and he glared back with a reproachful gaze.
"It seems your daughter has inherited the trait of not being able to keep her mouth shut when she is supposed to, Squirrelflight," the dark gray tom meowed and Dawnpaw bared her teeth in a snarl. She glanced at her mother, but Squirrelflight ignored the jab, focusing instead on Tornear. Dawnpaw's frustration deflated and she swallowed the oncoming growl rising in her throat and her tail twitched agitatedly. If she wanted a fight, it would do no good to go looking for one with WindClan.
"I think it would be best if you left ThunderClan territory now," Sorreltail meowed, her muscles tensing for the possibility that the cats would not return to their own territory without a fight.
Tornear let a soft hiss escape from behind his clenched teeth and he lashed his tail. "Fine, we won't make do with this bramble-infested patch of land anyway," he meowed, turning immediately and heading back in the direction of WindClan territory. A light brown she-cat, most likely his apprentice, followed after him without hesitating, unlike the gray tom who now seemed to have a far-away look in his eyes, almost dazed. Twitching his ears and his gaze clearing, he gave the ThunderClan warriors one last scornful look before turning his back on them.
Squirrelflight and Sorreltail were still tensed, even as the WindClan cats stalked away. Dawnpaw watched her mother closely, waiting until the dark ginger she-cat had relaxed the rippling muscles under her well-groomed pelt. Sorreltail sighed in relief as the warriors were swallowed up by the undergrowth and she turned to her apprentice. "You really shouldn't provoke them, Dawnpaw. You know how grumpy those hare-brained cats are, especially Crowfeather."
"The dark gray tom? Yeah, I noticed," Dawnpaw flicked the tip of her tail. She glanced at Squirrelflight again. "Are we going to follow them to the border?" she asked.
Squirrelflight shook her head. "No, I trust that they will know better than to hang around in ThunderClan territory. We'll report back to Firestar when we get back to camp after scouting the rest of the border," she meowed and Dawnpaw nodded, satisfied, for now.
The patrol continued with their circuit, reinstating the border line with fresh ThunderClan markings. They found no more WindClan warriors on their territory and so they turned back, returning back to the camp just after sunhigh. As the patrol cleared the entrance tunnel, Squirrelflight and Sorreltail immediately padded to where Firestar had been sharing a mouse with Sandstorm while Dawnpaw was allowed to have the rest of the day for herself.
Dawnpaw happily made her way to the apprentices' den, where she had spotted her brother and sister, Redpaw and Birdpaw, sharing tongues with Berrypaw and Mousepaw. Birdpaw looked up with gleaming amber eyes as Dawnpaw neared. "You're back early," she commented. "Did WindClan cause any trouble for you?"
"Of course they did, if I know those rabbit-chasers," Berrypaw snorted.
"Actually, we found them inside the border, on our territory," Dawnpaw meowed almost casually, giving her paw a lick and then bringing it deftly over her ear. She was about to repeat the action for her opposite ear when she realized that her companions were all staring at her in surprise. "What?" she asked, slightly confused as to why they were suddenly interested in her and she wanted to know.
"How can you say it like it wasn't a big deal?" Redpaw questioned, incredulous. "There were WindClan cats in ThunderClan territory! They could have posed a real threat to the Clan."
"Honestly, they weren't exactly a threat to us. If they would have even tried to attack a patrol, any cat with half-decent hearing could have heard them tramping around in the undergrowth like a fish out of water, completely uncomfortable of their surroundings. It didn't help their prickly attitudes either, especially one of them Squirrelflight called Crowfeather," Dawnpaw told them, returning to her grooming, smoothing down a hard to reach grubby patch of fur on her shoulder.
"Still, I don't like the thought of WindClan cats in our territory without us knowing." Birdpaw shuddered at Redpaw's words, seeming to agree with him as she nodded along with Berrypaw and Mousepaw. Dawnpaw paused from her washing and she shrugged, pushing away the memory of her patrol's confrontation earlier that morning. She wasn't very interested with the day's events so far. She'd rather be curled up in the apprentices' den, taking a nice nap to catch up on her sleep.
"Is Bravepaw out on patrol?" Dawnpaw asked, changing the subject to her other brother. Bravepaw was small for his age, smaller than Dawnpaw. Squirrelflight had shared with her kits the story about their kitting all of the time. Dawnpaw sympathized for her brother, but she never showed it around him—Bravepaw was sensitive about how other cats felt or thought about him.
"Stormfur took him out hunting with Cinderpaw and Cloudtail," Hazelpaw meowed, sitting beside Dawnpaw as she arrived. "He looked almost sick though. I was about to order him to Leafpool's den before he went out."
"He wouldn't have listened anyway. Bravepaw doesn't like to be told what to do," Redpaw mewed and Birdpaw nodded in agreement. Hazelpaw murmured in a half-hearted agreement, her mind completely someplace elsewhere.
"What are you apprentices doing around gossiping in the middle of the day when you could be hunting for the Clan?" Mousefur's indignant call caused most of them to startle. Berrypaw, having recovered quickly, turned to the elder with a disbelieving grunt.
"I went hunting earlier this morning before dawn, while you were still in your nest, snoring away!" he hissed and Mousefur's eyes narrowed dangerously. Longtail, her fellow denmate, laid a comforting tail on her shoulder, but she shook it off almost immediately. However, before she could give a retort, Berrypaw's mentor, Brambleclaw, bounded up, his amber eyes flashing.
"Berrypaw! Respect your elders. Mousefur has served her time for the Clan and she has a right to boss you around whenever she pleases. Besides, all you caught this morning was a measly finch. Perhaps she's right. You'll be going on a hunting patrol with Honeypaw, Sandstorm, and Brook," Brambleclaw meowed and Berrypaw had enough sense to look ashamed as the ThunderClan deputy scolded his apprentice.
Dawnpaw felt a moment of pride to be Brambleclaw's daughter. Of course she and her littermates were well-known for being the deputy's children as well as Firestar's grandchildren, but her father was everything that she wanted to be as a warrior; strong, intelligent, a swift thinker, as well as a fierce fighter and resourceful hunter. There was no doubt why Firestar had chosen Brambleclaw to be his deputy, and Dawnpaw couldn't imagine any other cat to be in his place.
"Alright," Berrypaw muttered, staring at his paws while his ears flattened to his skull. Brambleclaw, looking pleased, dismissed his apprentice with a flick of his tail and Berrypaw slinked off to where his hunting party was waiting for him. Mousefur smoothed down the raised fur along her spine and dipped her head to Brambleclaw gratefully before she sat back down beside an amused Longtail.
"He had it coming. Some cat needs to teach him not to be so prickly," Redpaw snorted, finding amusement in Berrypaw's scolding. His voice was brimming with mirth. Brambleclaw sighed disappointedly, watching as Berrypaw sulked after his Clanmates. The large dark tabby turned to the apprentices after the cream tom had disappeared into the tunnel.
"I don't know how he became so uptight. He wasn't nearly like that when he was kit," Brambleclaw meowed thoughtfully. "Maybe it was because he is the ThunderClan deputy's apprentice."
"I'm Firestar's apprentice and I'm not like Berrypaw! Thank StarClan!" Redpaw breathed a dramatic sigh of relief. Hazelpaw rolled her eyes at Dawnpaw, who just shook her head. Brambleclaw flicked his ears and lashed out a playful paw, cuffing his son's ears. Redpaw dodged, ducking at the last moment and coming up with a triumphant as well as smug expression. "What, it's true!"
"Thank StarClan all my other children are actually sane!" Brambleclaw exclaimed teasingly and Redpaw pretended to look hurt before he launched himself at the bigger cat, taking him by surprise. Birdpaw jumped back with a hiss as Brambleclaw and Redpaw nearly ran into her.
As the two scuffled on the sandy ground, Squirrelflight made her appearance. "Can't you two go one day without rolling in the dirt?" she sighed exasperatedly. The dark ginger she-cat lunged forward to seize Redpaw by his scruff and plop her son at her paws. He was almost as big as she was, but she was still determined to wash the grime from his pelt, flattening the unkempt patches of fur that stood up in random areas.
"Squirrelflight, stop! Let me go!" Redpaw squirmed under her fierce tongue, but he couldn't escape her grasp. Dawnpaw let out a mrrow of laughter at the scene. Brambleclaw hauled himself off the ground with a satisfied gleam in his bright eyes. He sidled over to Dawnpaw and Hazelpaw, watching with obvious glee as Squirrelflight groomed a resistant Redpaw.
Brambleclaw turned around to pad away as Squirrelflight finished Redpaw's cleaning. "Where do you think you're going?" she growled playfully, bounding toward him with one inclined goal. "What made you think that you were so safe from my wrath?"
Dawnpaw watched happily as her mother chased Brambleclaw around the camp until the tabby deputy gave in, allowing Squirrelflight to tackle him to the ground and assault him with licks. Truly contented by the peaceful air of the camp, Dawnpaw shifted her gaze around the clearing. Some warriors were sharing tongues outside the warriors' den or watching their two Clanmates; Firestar was looking down at them with a proud stare; Robinkit, Ferncloud's and Dustpelt's daughter, was playing with Poppypaw outside the nursery while Ferncloud and Brightheart looked on, the ginger and white she-cat's belly bulging with her unborn kits.
A soft breeze blew in Dawnpaw's face and her limbs tensed when she scented the horrifying smell of blood in the wind, her stomach clenching anxiously. It had not been there before and she was momentarily confused at her finding. Moments passed and the scent was growing stronger with every single heartbeat until the entrance tunnel of the camp rustled and a harried-looking Bravepaw stumbled into the clearing.
Dawnpaw leapt to her paws as Stormfur and Cinderpaw followed him, carrying a ragged and torn Cloudtail between them, the white warrior hanging like deadweight between his Clanmates and his underside was stained with scarlet blood. There was a cry of terror as Brightheart pelted from Ferncloud's side to Cloudtail. Leafpool had already appeared from inside her den with her usual calm disposition, and the light tabby medicine cat guided Stormfur and Cinderpaw into her den, Cloudtail disappearing from view, as well as Brightheart.
Firestar bounded down from his ledge and he approached a stricken Bravepaw. "What happened to Cloudtail?" he asked the apprentice while every other cat listened closely. Dawnpaw crept closer, knowing that Bravepaw was likely to speak in a soft tone.
"We were near the ShadowClan border and Cloudtail was stalking a rabbit. When he pounced, though, he overestimated the jump and landed on the fox trap. It closed on his belly and it took forever for Stormfur to dig loose the trap. He and Cinderpaw carried him back to camp," Bravepaw explained in a rush, almost incoherent as he began to shake.
Birdpaw brushed by Dawnpaw and she went to Bravepaw, not hesitating to wrap herself around her brother and comfortingly licking his face. Bravepaw leaned into her as Squirrelflight padded over with wide green eyes. Brambleclaw joined Firestar as the ThunderClan leader began to retreat from Bravepaw. They climbed the tumble of rocks together and disappeared into Firestar's den.
Dawnpaw turned to Hazelpaw. "Do you think Cloudtail will be alright?" the older apprentice asked her anxiously and Dawnpaw blinked, unsure of what to say in response. Cloudtail's wound was certainly life-threatening and she had no idea how much blood her Clanmate had lost in the treacherous journey back to camp.
"I don't know," she answered softly. "But I know that Leafpool will do whatever she can to delay his journey to StarClan."
FINALLY. That's all I can say. I've finally finished this and I hope that you all will enjoy this part at least. So far, I can't give any promises on the next update, but school ends next Friday, so I will have more time to write. Please review! They're what actually motivated me to continue the story.
Edited on 6/30/2016. Fixed several mistakes and added a bit, but the general idea of the chapter remains the same.
