Hey, guys! First real chapter of this story! Thanks for reading!
herbalcanine, your review of this story did not show up, because technology. :( Just wanted to let you know.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Warriors series, or any of the characters in it.
Chapter 1
Dustfur padded through the forest and into a clearing. He lay down and licked the morning dew off of his front paws. A rustle sounded from across the clearing. He swiveled his head in it's direction. A russet colored kit poked its head out of the trees.
"Reedkit! What are you doing here? You should be at the camp!" Dustfur leaped over and dragged his tongue down his kit's back, ruffling its fur.
"Aww, but I wanted to be with daddy."
"Nope, not today, I'll have to take you back now. Fox dung!"
"What's a fox daddy?"
"Don't worry about it now Reedkit." Dustfur started to walk, and jerked his head to signal Reedkit to follow.
Reedkit never left his sight, but scampered around, stalking leaves. They reached the stone walls of the Mudclan camp. Dustfur bounded in, herding Reedkit into the camp entrance. He located Cloudface, his mate, and shoved Reedkit towards her.
"Go on, find your mommy," Dustfur mewed softly. Reedkit bounded over, and bowled over a disgruntled Cloudface.
"Mommy!" Reedkit bounced up and down, and pouncing on Cloudface's tail. Dustfur turned to leave, but a shout from the other side of camp stopped him mid-step.
"DUSTFUR, YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!" Cloudface stormed over. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MORNING?" Cloudface flicked her tail angrily, and Dustfur flinched. By now a small crowd was staring.
"Um...Cloudface, could we do this somewhere else," Dustfur whispered, glancing around, with his head down.
"No, we cannot! I am here in camp trying to find my lost son, who has a tendency to wander off and get lost, and Starclan knows where you are!" She paused for a breath, glaring at him.
"Hey, Cloudface, it's okay, I'm really sorry. I was on a hunting patrol," Dustfur said quietly.
"And how come Reedkit followed you; you were supposed to watch him! Oh, and how many patrols did I see leave, none! You could've told me you were going," Cloudface mewed, quieter, and sounding hurt now.
"Cloudface, you should get some rest, I'm sorry I've caused you this much stress. You should rest. You're about to kit anyways,"
"I DON'T NEED REST!"
Hayfeather came over, dropping a bundle of herbs in the elder's den, and twined her tail around Cloudface's. And sternly whispered something into her ear. Cloudface gave up, and followed Hayfeather into the medicine den.
Quillstar emerged from the cave under the Meeting rocks, and made a sign to the flabbergasted cats to move on. She came over to Dustfur, and comforted him.
"She's just stressed, don't worry, she'll forget about it after tonight." She walked away. Dustfur padded over to the plentiful prey pile, and grabbed a vole. He laid down to eat it, seriously doubting Quillstar's words.
"Dustfur! Dustfur!" A small apprentice bounded over, it was Robinpaw, Dustfur's apprentice.
"Can I go on a hunting patrol with Fernpaw and Blacktail?" He asked, hopping from paw to paw with excitement.
"Yes, but don't stay out too long; I want to work on some fighting techniques with you," Dustfur said kindly.
"Okay! I'll be back soon!" Robinpaw bounded off towards Blacktail, a tom with a jet-black tail and underbelly. He excitedly told Fernpaw, Blackail's apprentice, that he could come. The sun caught Fernpaw's dark brown pelt, turning it golden. Robinpaw looked back at Dustfur gratefully. Dustfur nodded to Blacktail, and he led the bouncy cats out of the camp entrance.
Dustfur stood, and padded over to his den, and lay down in his bed, and sighed, he was tired, even though the day had just started. He dreamed of the day they saved Reedkit, only this time the river sucked him back in, then the little kit went under, and never came back.
A paw prodded him in the face, and he woke with a start. Robinpaw was back.
"Dustfur, aren't you going to train me now?" the young apprentice mewed sounding confused.
"Uh…yeah, hang on a second," Dustfur mumbled groggily. He got up and stretched, yawning. Robinpaw was already at the exit when he emerged from his den.
Dustfur padded out with him, and they raced through the forest, some of Dustfur's energy renewed. They reached a light-dappled clearing, and both cats stopped for breath.
"Can you show me how to sneak attack?" Robinpaw mewed excitedly as he heaved himself up off of the ground, and mimed sneaking up on a cat, pawing at the air vigorously.
"Yes, but first there are a couple of techniques you need to understand," Dustfur said.
"Aww, but those things are boring," Robinpaw whined dejectedly.
"I know," Dustfur mewed, sounding sorry for Robinpaw, "but you will find things easier and learn faster if we do this now." Dustfur walked over, and stood over Robinpaw.
"Show me your stalking," Dustfur told Robinpaw as he walked around him. Robinpaw crouched, ribs pressed to the ground.
"Ah, yes. That's where you're wrong. You need to lift your ribs off of the ground," Dustfur reprimanded, sticking a paw under Robinpaw's middle, to force it up.
"Also, your haunches are up too far. You need to keep your back straight," Dustfur said as Robinpaw lowered his haunches.
"There, perfect. Now walk forwards, slowly," Dustfur instructed while following him around the clearing.
"You lift your paws up too far. Keep them close to the ground, and spread your paws when you place them down," Dustfur commented while demonstrating by walking around with flat paws. Robinpaw copied him, stalking around the whole clearing with an excited gleam in his eyes.
"Now that you've got that down we can work on pouncing and leaping," Dustfur said as he padded into the middle of the clearing.
"Move that rock over here, Robinpaw," Dustfur instructed.
"Is here good?" Robinpaw asked after pushing the small rock to roughly where Dustfur pointed.
"Yes, that's fine," Dustfur said. "Now, back up four fox lengths, stalk towards it like I showed you, then pounce on the rock."
Robinpaw narrowed his eyes and stalked forwards, slowly and perfectly, when he was about a tail length away, he jumped, landing with his front paws on top of the rock.
"Wow! That was very good for the first time, but there are a few minor issues," Dustfur mewed, sounding delighted. "First, you jumped too close. You want to have two tail lengths not just one; second, you need to use your hind legs more on the jump, but save the height for leaping."
"Okay!" Robinpaw backed up four fox lengths again, and narrowed his eyes, again perfectly stalking the rock; when he was two tail lengths away, he pushed off of the ground with his hind legs, and while staying close to the ground, sailed through the air and landed perfectly on top of the rock.
"Very good, Robinpaw. We're done for today, but tomorrow you can definitely start some more advanced things. You're a very fast learner," Dustfur complimented. Robinpaw ducked his head, flattered.
"Now, lets get back to camp before all of the prey is gone!" Dustfur started towards the camp, with Robinpaw behind.
When they got back they each went to the prey pile. Dustfur picked up a fat mouse, and went to sit with Blacktail. Robinpaw grabbed a grouse to share with Fernpaw, and they stared talking about all of their training. Dustfur and Blacktail talked about the approaching leaf-bare.
"What do you think we'll do? We're going to start running low on prey soon," Blacktail asked, worried.
"We'll be fine. We've got plenty of warriors, and some new ones coming soon," Dustfur answered.
"But with snow comes the absence of prey, no matter how many warriors we have," Blacktail protested
"Starclan is sure to help all that they can," Dustfur insisted. They silently thought on the matter as they finished their prey.
"Goodnight, Blacktail," Dustfur mewed sleepily.
"Goodnight," Blacktail responded.
Dustfur padded into his den, and curled up in his small comfy nest. As he settled down, he fell into a deep sleep. Soon he was walking down an unfamiliar path. Then out of the shadows came a mouse. Dustfur stalked it, and was preparing to jump when Robinpaw came and looked at him in horror.
"Dustfur! Your stalk is wrong, look at your paws, they're uneven, and your haunches are all the way up to Starclan! Goodness, you wouldn't trip over a monster, your paws are so high!" Robinpaw bounded over, and started to demonstrate; he stalked the mouse from ten fox-lengths, and jumped, staying level with the ground for at least nine fox-lengths. He landed right on the mouse, killing it on impact.
Do you think I should start playing around with perspectives, or not. If so give me some suggestions!
Also, if you want you can shoot me a quick message with an OC of yours, and I'll try to fit them in. (Tell me which clan too, Mudclan is the equivalent of Thunderclan, Sandclan is Riverclan, Fireclan is basically Shadowclan, and Leafclan is windclan.)
