Wow. In one hour of posting the prologue, I already have 1 review, 1 favorite, 1 follow, and 5 views. Wow. That has never happened to me before, not even on my old account. Reply to review:
Randomhamster33: Yep. Very ominous.
Enjoy! -Sav
The morning sun slowly rose in the sky, waking Vinepaw up. She blinked open her eyes, and after a quick stretch, began to groom her untidy fur, which was a very pretty tortoiseshell pattern that Vinepaw really liked, even though it was only her fur.
"You're awake." Vinepaw turned her head in the direction of the voice. Her mentor, Jayfeather, was padding towards her from the back of the medicine den. Vinepaw sighed. Knowing Jayfeather, he'd put her to work instantly, without letting her eat, and that particular day, all Vinepaw wanted was to relax. "Yes, Jayfeather. I'm awake." Vinepaw replied to Jayfeather. He sighed. "Lose the attitude. Go make sure the elders are okay before you dash off to the fresh-kill pile."
"Fine." Vinepaw walked out of the medicine den into the sunlight. All around the camp, cats were waking up and beginning their duties, but there was already a small group of cats eating, and the fresh-kill pile was already half empty from its usual size. "At this rate, I'll never get anything," Vinepaw muttered to herself as she entered the elder's den.
Inside the elder's den, the four elders, Sandstorm, Graystripe, Dustpelt, and Purdy, were sitting in their nests, gossiping about things that Vinepaw could care less about. Sandstorm noticed Vinepaw and acknowledged her with a flick of her tail. "Hello, Vinepaw. Can we do anything for you?" Sandstorm asked her. "Well, actually, I'm here to things for you. Any pain, ticks, problems, et cetera?" Vinepaw asked the assembled elders. "Wait, did Jayfeather send you?" Purdy asked. Vinepaw nodded. "We're fine. Seriously. I think the only reason Jayfeather sends you is because he wants to eat his morning meal in peace." Purdy said. Vinepaw stifled a purr of amusement. "Okay, but if you need anything, come find me. Jayfeather says it's good for me to practice." "Okay. See you later, Vinepaw!" Graystripe called out to her, and Vinepaw took that as her cue to leave.
As Vinepaw was walking over to the fresh-kill pile, she saw her mother, Cinderheart, and her father, Lionblaze, sitting near the warrior's den, sharing a vole together, and Vinepaw wondered if she could join them, but she decided that that might be a little rude, so she grabbed a mouse and sat so that she could see her parents clearly, but they didn't know she wanted to be near them.
Vinepaw took a bite of the mouse she got from the fresh-kill pile, which was obviously left over from last night, as it was cold and a bit stale. All the sudden, Vinepaw saw her brother, Twigpaw, running over to her. Even though he was her age, 8 moons old, he still acted like he was in the nursery, always full of energy and extremely childish. "Hi, Vinepaw! I went on the dawn patrol!" Twigpaw squealed excitedly. Vinepaw sighed. He always did this. "I can see that, Twigpaw." she said, a bit harshly. Vinepaw saw the hurt look in his eyes. Feeling bad, she asked him, "Do you want to share this with me?" Twigpaw's eyes resumed their forever happy look. "Sure! Mmm, this looks yummy!" He then went on to hungrily devour the mouse.
As Twigpaw and Vinepaw shared the mouse hungrily, out of the corner of her eye, Vinepaw saw Bramblestar, the leader of Thunderclan, slip out of his den and climb down the Highrock to talk to Jayfeather. Bramblestar beckoned Jayfeather into his den with his tail, a worried expression on his face. Vinepaw wondered what was up, because she knew that Thunderclan had a history of weird prophecies and trouble with other Clans, usually Shadowclan. A few heartbeats later, Jayfeather came out of the leader's den, the same expression on his face.
Vinepaw finished up the mouse, said a hasty goodbye to Twigpaw, who was still eating, and padded over to Jayfeather, curious about what Bramblestar had to say. When she was close to Jayfeather, he turned his blind, sightless eyes that always seemed to look into her soul on her. "Vinepaw. You done eating?" Jayfeather asked her. "Yes," Vinepaw replied, "I know I shouldn't ask this, but I'm curious, so what did Bramblestar tell you?" Jayfeather then became his grumpy self. "Nothing. Well, it's nothing you need to know," he mewed, "Foxleap told me he twisted his leg, so can you please go check it out?" It was one of the first times Jayfeather has ever said please. "Sure," Vinepaw said, before grabbing some herbs and rushing off to do her duty.
That afternoon, Vinepaw finally returned to the medicine den to find nothing else to do, which was a relief because all through the morning and into the afternoon, she was tending to cats who were sick or injured, tending (or gossiping?) with the elders, gathering herbs, sorting herbs, and making small talk with cats who just wanted to talk to her. She found a place in the sun to sleep, and curled up into a ball, enjoying the warm greenleaf sun on her pelt. The soft chatter of the warriors, the bird's songs, and the buzzing of insects melted together into a noise that lulled Vinepaw into a doze, and she felt peaceful and relaxed.
Suddenly, a loud rustling noise was heard, and Vinepaw sat up straight, fur prickling, and a dark gray cat rushed into camp. He had a large gash down his right side, and his amber eyes were large and insane. "Don't trust them! Just don't trust them! Don't trust the Mogodorians! Don't trust the tall, white Twolegs that hold miniature monsters! Don't trust them! If you see one, run! Just run!" The rogue fainted after he yelled those words. Some cats snickered, and Vinepaw heard Daisy say, "Poor cat must have hit his head pretty hard." and Graystripe said, "Cat must be crazier than Goosefeather."
Vinepaw ran up to the tom and quickly sniffed his injury. "He's injured! Quick, I neec some cobwebs and marigold!" Vinepaw yelled to the clan. Brightheart ran towards the medicine den to fetch the herbs. "Wait! Stop!" Jayfeather yelled, and Brightheart stopped in her tracks. "We don't know this cat! Plus, he must be insane!" "Well, maybe he was scared! And the warrior code says that we help kits and young cats, regardless of situation." Vinepaw retorted, determined. She hated to see cats suffer, even insane rogues, and that was one of the reasons she became a medicine cat. "Fine." Jayfeather sighed, defeated. "Bramblestar, is this okay with you?" "Yes. We will let him stay for as long as it takes for him to get better, then we will let him go." Bramblestar replied from the Highrock, where he witnessed the whole thing.
Vinepaw took the tom by the scruff of his neck and pulled him into the medicine den, careful not to let his injury touch the ground. Brightheart had already made him a nest, and Vinepaw carefully lay him down in it. Vinepaw noticed that his fur smelled like the night sky with a very faint trace of Twoleg scent. Vinepaw put some marigold into her mouth and began to chew it up, while Brightheart and Jayfeather began to put cobwebs on the tom's wound. The bitter taste of the marigold stung Vinepaw's tongue, but she told herself that it was all for the injured cat. Because of her efforts, the cat would be relieved of pain. "All for the injured cat," she mumbled as she applied the marigold to the cat's injury. "All for the injured cat."
An owl hooted, making Vinepaw more alert. Because it was she that wanted to help him in the first place, Jayfeather made her stay up the entire night to watch the cat. She was unaware of the amount of time before dawn, but her instincts told her it was around moonhigh. Crickets chirped, providing a lullaby that made Vinepaw feel sleepy, and she fell into a doze.
A groan awoke her, and Vinepaw turned around to see the tom lift his head. In an instant, she was beside him. "Hey. Are you okay?" Vinepaw asked him, concerned about him. "W-where are we?" The cat spoke in a weirdly accented voice. "You're in Thunderclan's medicine den." Vinepaw told him. "You're lucky you didn't end up in Shadowclan's camp. They'd shred you to pieces." Vinepaw said, trying to be funny. The cat muttered something. "What?" "Nothing," he replied. Vinepaw saw that he winced as he sat up. "Are you okay? That cut looks painful." "It hurts. Really bad. Can you do something about it? " the cat said as he clenched his teeth in pain. "Yeah." Vinepool quietly snuck to the back of the den, where Jayfeather was sleeping, and retrieved the marigold.
After applying the marigold, the cat sighed in relief. "Ahhh. Thank you. That feels nice." "You're welcome." For a while, the two cats were in an awkward silence, but Vinepaw broke it. "When you ran into the camp, you said something about...Mogodorians?" The cat nodded. "Yes, I did." "What are they?" "It's kinda complicated. They're large, white Twolegs, but they aren't Twolegs. They're evil ones. Most Twolegs have good intentions, but sometimes they cause trouble and suffering. But Mogodorians have bad intentions, and they are never, ever good. They're pure evil." The cat explained to Vinepaw. "So Twolegs are like Shadowclan, and the Mogodorians are like...the Dark Forest?" Vinepaw asked the cat. "I think, but I don't know what any of those are." "Okay."
The cats went back to their own thoughts, and silence filled the den, but that time, the tom broke it. "What's your name?" "I'm Vinepaw, the medicine cat's apprentice." Vinepaw pointed with her tail to the sleeping Jayfeather. "And that's Jayfeather, the medicine camp. He's blind and extremely grumpy, trust me. You don't want to get on his bad side, trust me." The cat stifled a purr of amusement. "Do you have a name?" Vinepaw asked him. "I don't really have a name, but you can call me Eight."
