CHAPTER TWO
Moonpaw curled up in her nest, trying to sleep. Somewhere in the forest, she heard a bird call, and she silently groaned. That meant it was nearing dawn. She'd be too tired to move her paws in the morning!
She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, pressing her ears flat in an attempt to block out any noise. It was no use, of course – she could hear Brightpetal's kits mewling in the nursery.
Suddenly, as if it had been caused by StarClan, she fell asleep – but it wasn't a peaceful sleep, like the other apprentices'. As soon as Moonpaw fell asleep, she opened her eyes again almost immediately.
She was no longer in the apprentices' den. In front of her, there was a gently flowing stream. Sunlight dappled the surface as it rushed past, throwing up small water droplets. Moonpaw gingerly dipped a paw in the water and let out a small purr as she felt the warm water. She didn't hesitate to leap into the water, drinking in the sweet smell of the sunlight.
Then the dream changed. She felt the sunlight disappear, but for some reason the water became even warmer, and thicker, dragging at the fur on her belly and legs and threatening to pull her under.
She heard a soft chuckle behind her, and warm breath stirred her ear fur. "Look around, Moonstar. This is the future of your precious Clan. How long do you think they'll be able to keep together?"
Astonished, Moonpaw opened her eyes – and gaped at what she saw. The peaceful stream had changed to a river of thick, hot blood. She squealed in fright and tried to leap away, but the current held her fast, tugging at her and forcing her to stay in place.
Looking up, she was even more horrified. Loud yowls and cries of fear and anger filled the air. She could see the shadows of cats fighting among mist. Then she turned to look beside her.
The cat who had spoken to her was a large, dark brown tabby tom. His eyes were pale, cold, amber, and his claws were long and covered with blood. The tom twitched his whiskers, grinning. "My name is Bramblefang, Moonstar. Remember me, and remember that your Clan has no future, wherever they travel."
The dream faded, and Moonpaw was in the apprentices' den again. The bright light of dawn drifted in through the entrance and gaps in the wall. Cinderpaw was asleep beside her, curled up into a tight bundle of fur. The gray she-cat's bushy tail was curled over her nose.
Thunderpaw's nest was empty, and his scent was stale – he must have been awake for a while. Moonpaw groaned and stretched her legs. They felt stiff and sore, as though she had really been caught in the river of blood.
"Cinderpaw, wake up," she meowed, prodding the apprentice with a paw. "It's dawn."
"What?" Cinderpaw muttered. She yawned. "All right, fine. Do you want to see if we're allowed to go on the dawn patrol?" Cinderpaw stood up and arched her back, stretching.
Moonpaw shrugged. "Sure, why not? Maybe we'll catch something." The first chills of leaf-bare had begun to take their grip on the forest, and prey was becoming scarce. Since there were no other Clans, SunClan's patrols were mostly for hunting.
Cinderpaw and Moonpaw padded out to the center of camp where the deputy, Silverfrost, was busy organizing the dawn patrol.
"Honeyshade, Tigerblaze, you can go on patrol with Clawfang." Turning her head, she saw the apprentices. "Moonpaw, you can go too."
Moonpaw glanced at Cinderpaw and flicked her tail in goodbye as she went to join the patrol. Honeyshade looked at Clawfang. "Where are we heading first?"
The black tom glared at her. "We're going to the Oak Clearing. That's where the prey will be headed during leaf-bare."
Honeyshade nodded, twitching her ears. "Is there any chance we'll run into a rogue or loner?"
Clawfang shook his head. "Not likely. The only quarrel we have with them is over who gets prey during leaf-bare. Of course, we will, again. We're too strong for them to face us."
Moonpaw flattened her ears. "Why fight over hunting rights? Isn't there enough to go around?"
Clawfang stopped the patrol and turned to glare at her. "There's never enough to go around. If your mentor wasn't so mouse-brained, you would know that by now."
Now Honeyshade was staring at the tom, shocked for a heartbeat. Then her eyes narrowed and she fluffed out her fur. "My brother isn't mouse-brained," she spat.
Clawfang clearly saw that the fight was about to get too far. He straightened up and acted like nothing had happened. "We'd better go faster if we're going to make it to the Oak Clearing in time."
Honeyshade let out an angry hiss, but she followed him. Moonpaw guessed that it wouldn't be a good idea to fight now with Owlfeather's herb supplies running so low, and with leaf-bare approaching. The cold weather would mean whitecough and greencough. Blackcough was rare, but a deadly disease. She'd heard that any cat who caught it didn't have any chance of living.
She hadn't even realized that they'd reached the Oak Clearing until she felt the soft bed of brown leaves crunch under her paws. Clawfang shot a glare at her. "We'll be lucky if you don't scare off all the prey," he hissed, before padding off in another direction.
Moonpaw looked down at her paws, and Honeyshade stepped up beside her. "Don't worry about Clawfang," she murmured. "He's always like this. It's not your fault."
Moonpaw would have thought the she-cat was telling the truth any other time, but she knew that Honeyshade was still upset that Clawfang had insulted Swiftwing. Instead, Moonpaw nodded and padded away, glancing up at one of the tall oak trees.
A thrush was perched on a low branch, rubbing its beak along its wing. Moonpaw carefully began to scale the tree, digging her claws into the rough bark. At the last possible moment, she pounced, paws outstretched. The thrush startled and flew away. Moonpaw landed heavily on the branch, missing the jump and falling sideways. She closed her eyes as she braced for the fall.
Suddenly, pain shot through one of her hind legs. Moonpaw clenched her jaw and shut her eyes, digging her claws into the ground. Then she felt something in front of her, and opened her eyes reluctantly.
A silver-gray tom was standing in front of her, his eyes full of concern. "Are you all right?" He meowed.
Moonpaw shook her head. "I fell," she mewed.
The tom looked her over. "Are there any others here?"
Moonpaw nodded. "I'm here with a patrol from SunClan, but they're hunting somewhere else."
The tom flicked an ear at her. "We'll see about that." He suddenly gave a loud yowl. A sparrow flew away from a higher branch in the tree, and the clearing suddenly grew very quiet. Then Moonpaw heard leaves crunching under paws, and Honeyshade appeared in the clearing. Her eyes widened as she saw the tom.
"Moonpaw, are you okay?" Honeyshade mewed? "Did this rogue attack you?"
The silver tom shook his head. "She fell out of a tree trying to catch a thrush. For some reason she didn't want to call for help."
Clawfang and Tigerblaze came up then. Clawfang's eyes narrowed instantly as he spotted the rogue. "You're not welcome here," he hissed. "What are you doing with one of our apprentices?"
The tom blinked. "I found her injured. I didn't hurt her."
Moonpaw nodded. "He's right. It was my fault for trying to jump at the thrush when I was still climbing the tree."
Clawfang hissed. "Go. Now. You have no business in SunClan's territory."
The strange tom nodded and flicked his tail as he turned to leave. "Do you really expect to live in peace forever?" He called as he left. "Things are changing. Perhaps it's time for SunClan to change, too."
Moonpaw watched him go, confused. His words sounded similar to what Bramblefang had told her in her dream. Was SunClan falling apart? Now that the distractions of hunting were gone, she could dwell on Bramblefang's words. He had called her Moonstar, a leader's name. Did that mean she would lead SunClan one day?
The apprentice shook her head. She shouldn't have been thinking about that now. She had almost forgotten about her leg – until she tried to move, of course.
Honeyshade pressed her nose against Moonpaw's shoulder. "We'll help you get back to camp. I'm sure Owlfeather will be able to fix your leg."
Moonpaw nodded as Honeyshade and Tigerblaze helped support her as she walked. She held her injured leg off the ground, hopping along as best as she could on three legs.
When they finally reached camp, Thrushpaw and Duskheart were returning from an early training session. Thrushpaw immediately darted over as he saw Moonpaw limp towards the medicine den.
"Are you okay?" He meowed, his wide hazel-coloured eyes full of concern.
Moonpaw would have replied, but she could see something else in his eyes too. In response, she narrowed her eyes and flattened her ears, turning away from Thrushpaw and making it the rest of the way to the medicine den. She was too young to get romantically involved with another cat. She'd only been an apprentice for a short time! For a moment, Moonpaw wished she was a kit again, when the only thing she had to worry about was the other kits teasing her.
She looked inside the den. Owlfeather was there, messing with some sort of herb mixture. Moonpaw thought she recognized the scents of borage and juniper berries, but she couldn't be sure.
The medicine cat looked up as she approached. Immediately, Owlfeather's eyes widened and she leapt to her paws, immediately at Moonpaw's side, sniffing her injured leg.
"Are you alright?" Owlfeather asked.
Moonpaw shook her head. "I fell out of a tree while hunting. My leg really hurts when I put weight on it."
Owlfeather helped Moonpaw lie down in a soft nest of moss and ferns, and then disappeared for a moment as she checked her herb store. Then she promptly turned around, dropping a pile of herbs in front of Moonpaw.
Moonpaw sniffed it cautiously. "What is it?"
"Feverfew and oak leaves," the medicine cat replied, turning back to the herbs she was working with before. "It'll help with the pain of your leg and stop an infection from setting in. I'll get a closer look at the injury once I've finished this mixture for Lightsong."
"Why does Lightsong need a mixture?" Moonpaw asked, beginning to chew the herbs.
"She's expecting kits," Owlfeather replied. "She'll have to take borage and juniper every few days to keep up her strength."
"Oh?" Moonpaw swallowed the herbs and swiped her tongue around her jaws. It hadn't tasted all that horrible, despite what she had heard from the other apprentices as a kit. Apparently there were lots of herbs that tasted completely awful.
Owlfeather nodded. "Just let me get the herbs to her and I'll see to your leg." She didn't take long, and when she came to check on Moonpaw again, she was holding a small, thick branch in her jaws. She set it down in front of Moonpaw and sniffed at the apprentice's injured leg, then prodded it with a paw to check for signs of injury.
Moonpaw sucked in a breath as Owlfeather pressed at a spot on her leg. The medicine cat nodded. "I need you to hold the stick in your jaws. Your leg is dislocated. I can fix it easily enough, but it will be painful. Bite down on the stick when it begins to hurt."
Moonpaw nodded, her heart pounding in her chest with worry. Bracing herself as Owlfeather laid her forepaws against her leg, she gripped the stick tightly.
Then Owlfeather pressed down; Moonpaw heard a loud snap and felt the stick break in her jaws as pain lanced through her. Then it was gone. Moonpaw was lying in the nest with her eyes half-closed. Owlfeather placed a few poppy seeds in front of her. "Lick these up," she meowed gently. "You can sleep for now. I'll let Swiftwing know that you won't be training today."
Moonpaw obeyed, swallowing the poppy seeds and closing her eyes. She knew she should regret it, but part of her wanted to see Bramblefang again so she could ask him about what he'd said earlier.
She didn't dream, however. When she did, her thoughts had drifted to the strange rogue she had met in the forest, and what he'd said about SunClan changing.
Moonpaw suddenly jerked awake. The medicine den was bathed in the soft glow of the moon, and she could make out the shape of Owlfeather asleep in her nest at the den entrance. Something about the camp seemed off, but Moonpaw was more troubled with another thought.
The rogue had never said how he'd known about SunClan. At best, rogues would refer to them as just a Clan. Distinction didn't matter to them. And besides, none of the others had addressed him by name – not even Clawfang, who was almost a senior warrior. She'd never heard of him before, either. Granted, she hadn't known a lot during the short time she'd been in SunClan, but she and Thunderpaw had used to go listen to the elders and queens talk about various rogues in the territory when they were kits.
Moonpaw guessed it was close to dawn. It was light enough to be moonhigh, but she could see the change in the horizon. She stretched; her leg was stiff and sore, but she knew it would recover eventually.
A noise from outside alerted her. She looked up to see Mistyfur slipping into the medicine den. The she-cat immediately padded over and crouched beside Moonpaw, giving her daughter's ear a quick lick.
"Thunderpaw told me about your injury," the she-cat meowed, curling her tail around Moonpaw. "Are you alright?"
Moonpaw nodded. "I'll be fine soon enough. Then I can return to training."
Mistyfur's eyes grew sad for a moment. "Swiftwing thinks it'll be better for you to stop training for a few moons, to give your leg time to heal."
Moonpaw flattened her ears in dismay. "What? I'll be behind the other apprentices?"
"I know." Mistyfur smoothed the apprentice's fur with her tail. "It won't be long until you'll be able to practice with the others like normal."
"But what will I do?" Moonpaw meowed miserably. "I can't just sit around and do nothing all day!"
"No, you can't," Mistyfur agreed. "But I'm sure Owlfeather will find something for you to do. You could help the other apprentices with their duties if you want; Swiftwing just wants you to stay out of training."
Moonpaw huffed and rested her head on her paws. "Sure," she muttered. "Why not?"
Mistyfur sighed and rested her muzzle on top of Moonpaw's head. "It'll be fine," she murmured. "You'll be a great warrior someday."
Moonpaw closed her eyes. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but when she woke up Mistyfur was gone and the camp outside was bathed in sunlight. She could hear Silverfrost organizing the day's patrols; Hollowstep, one of the senior warriors, would be leading the dawn patrol, with Blazewhisker, Swiftwing, and Firetail. Moonpaw could see her mentor coming out of the nursery, where he had been checking on his mate Breezecloud. Their kits, Stormkit and Icekit, had been born a moon ago and were already very active and playful.
Moonpaw noticed that Silverfrost hadn't put any apprentices on the day's patrols. She assumed it was because of her accident yesterday – the Clan wouldn't want to risk any more apprentices missing out on their training.
Sighing, Moonpaw managed to heave herself to her paws, wincing as she tried to flex her stiff leg. She would have to ask Owlfeather for some more herbs later. The other apprentices would probably be sitting in camp for the most part, so she decided that she would help them, like Mistyfur had suggested.
However, she didn't even glance at Thrushpaw as she left the medicine den. She didn't want his sympathy. Thunderpaw, however, came right up to her.
"You shouldn't overwork yourself," he meowed, looking her over. "Your leg is still kind of twisted, so you'd better be sure to rest later." Then he left, trotting off towards the medicine den.
"Nice to see you, too," Moonpaw muttered, but she smiled slightly. Thunderpaw seemed very dedicated to helping Owlfeather, and, in her mind at least, it was possible that he could become her apprentice.
She caught sight of Cinderpaw looking mopey and trudging off towards the elders' den. "Cinderpaw!" Moonpaw called. Her friend looked up, her hazel eyes brightening at the sight of Moonpaw.
"You're okay!" Cinderpaw purred, bounding up to Moonpaw. She flicked her tail excitedly. "Do you want to help me look after the elders? Bloodfang doesn't want me training today, so he's decided to let me do all the boring things. It would be more fun with someone to help me." As she said this, she looked pleadingly at Moonpaw.
Moonpaw let out a mrrow of laughter. "Sure. Mistyfur said I should help out around camp anyways."
"Great!" Cinderpaw mewed. The gray she-cat looked happier already. They padded off to the elders' den together, only to be stopped by a loud yowl. All heads in the clearing turned to look towards the nursery, where Brightpetal was standing, looking worried. Moonpaw was stunned by what she said next.
"My kits are gone!"
