Warriors: The Darkest Season
Yep, chapter one time! And now we go into ShadowClan territory – keep watch for frogs! Well… um… I really hope you enjoy it!
CHAPTER ONE
It was a quiet day, and nothing stirred. The needles of the pine trees had no wind to move them; in the boggy soil, one lone frog sat, crouched, as if waiting for something. Nothing dared to make any sort of movement at all.
In a flash, something burst from the undergrowth; the frog tried to leap away, but it was too late. Dark brown paws clamped around its body, and sharp teeth quickly sank into its neck. As the frog went limp in the jaws of the deep brown she-cat, another cat padded up behind her.
"Great job, Merrypaw!" the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat purred, her light blue eyes shining with pride.
"Thanks, Frostpool!" the brown apprentice mewed around the fresh-kill that was still held in her mouth, blinking up at the older warrior with dark green eyes. "I used the stalking techniques you taught me last night."
"I could tell," Merrypaw's mentor replied. "You're doing a lot better – I'll never forget the time when you stalked a bird and caught a tree stump!" Her voice was warm with amusement, but Merrypaw didn't find the memory as humorous.
"It's not funny," she grumbled, although she doubted Frostpool could hear her through the body of the frog.
"Come on," Frostpool called, turning and beginning to walk away. "We should find the rest of our patrol and bring our catch back to camp."
"Yeah!" Merrypaw answered, bouncing after her mentor excitedly. "I bet I caught more than Smallpaw!" It was no secret that Merrypaw loved to outdo her brother at everything – be it hunting, fighting, or fetching bedding for the elders.
After they'd unearthed the rest of their prey, the two cats continued on towards the direction of the ShadowClan camp. Soon after passing the Burnt Sycamore, a tree struck down by lightning long before any cat could remember, Frostpool and Merrypaw met up with the remainder of the hunting patrol. Smallpaw, his mentor Badgerfur, and a skinny black-and-white tom named Rushpelt were standing almost impatiently, their jaws filled with three mice, two lizards, and a snake that hung from Rushpelt's jaws like a kit being carried by its mother.
Merrypaw bounded forward and touched noses with her brother, a frog and mouse held between her own teeth. She dropped them on the ground and exclaimed, "I caught more than you, Smallpaw!"
"Did not!" the tiny black tom retorted. "Badgerfur is just holding some of my prey for me. I caught two mice and a lizard, all by myself!"
"Well, I got a frog!" Merrypaw informed him. "You didn't get any frogs, now, did you?"
Merrypaw looked up at Badgerfur, hoping for praise; aside from Smallpaw's mentor, the golden tom was also his and Merrypaw's father. Named for the darker stripe down his back, Badgerfur was a brave and powerful warrior, and Merrypaw hoped to be just like him someday.
Badgerfur, however, said nothing. He simply turned and padded towards the direction of camp, with Rushpelt and Frostpool closely following. Merrypaw was secretly disappointed, but she didn't want her brother to see that; instead, she picked up her prey and bounded after them, with Smallpaw close behind.
For some reason Merrypaw didn't quite understand, Badgerfur very rarely even spoke to her. He seemed to have no quarrels when Stripedstar assigned him to be Smallpaw's mentor, but Merrypaw had a strange feeling that her father would have protested if the Clan leader had given her to Badgerfur as an apprentice. Merrypaw tried to tell herself that it was probably because he and her mother, Birdsong, weren't mates anymore – but the two of them still got along, and Badgerfur enjoyed spending time with Smallpaw.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Merrypaw realized that the patrol was about to enter the ShadowClan camp. Slipping through the bramble tunnel, she winced as a stray thorn scratched her ear.
Once inside the camp, Merrypaw walked towards the fresh-kill pile, which was located near the nursery. After dropping her mouse and frog onto the pile, the brown apprentice prepared to walk away when something pounced on her tail. Merrypaw whipped her head back in alarm, but relaxed when she realized it was only a pale silver she-cat.
"What in StarClan's name are you doing, Thornpaw?" she demanded, whipping her tail out from under her best friend's paws.
Thornpaw shrugged. "I had to get your attention somehow," she pointed out.
"Well," Merrypaw replied, trying as hard as possible not to lose her temper, "did you ever consider calling my name?"
"Well, I did, but that just seemed so boring," Thornpaw admitted; she didn't seem ashamed at all. Merrypaw sighed. It was okay to be happy and energetic, but when would her friend learn to stop acting like a kit?
"Smallpaw caught more prey than me today," Merrypaw told Thornpaw, sitting down and beginning to wash her left paw. Thornpaw sat down next to her, but didn't wash. "And Badgerfur still doesn't notice me."
"That's kind of… wrong," Thornpaw replied. "I mean… he's your father, Merrypaw. He has to pay attention to you at some point – in fact, there should be something about this in the warrior code!"
Merrypaw rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if I'd go that far."
"Hey, do you know when Brookheart will have her kits?" Thornpaw asked suddenly. "I know Foxfang is going just crazy waiting on them."
At that exact moment, ShadowClan's medicine cat, Larkleaf, emerged from the hollow of the nursery. She was beautiful, with golden and white tabby fur and bright green eyes that had given Larkleaf her full medicine cat name. She was still quite young; her mentor, Silverwing, had died not long ago by accidentally eating deathberries.
"The kits are coming soon!" Larkleaf announced, her green eyes shining. "Possibly within the moon, and it could even be today."
"That's great!" Thornpaw exclaimed, leaping to her paws. Her own light green eyes seemed to shine even brighter than the medicine cat's. "I'm going to go tell Smolderfur!" As Thornpaw rushed off to find her mentor, Merrypaw turned to face Larkleaf, a question of her own on her mind.
"Hey, Larkleaf?"
"Yes?" mewed the beautiful she-cat.
"I was just wondering… when Silverwing died… well, how do you accidentally eat deathberries?"
Larkleaf looked down at her paws, and there was clear sadness in her voice when she spoke. "Silverwing was gathering herbs, and not really paying attention to where she was going. She tripped over a root, and, well… there happened to be a deathberry bush right in front of her."
Merrypaw winced. What a horrible way to die! It certainly sounded like Silverwing, though – the former medicine cat hadn't exactly been known for her attention to detail.
"If you'll excuse me, Merrypaw, I need to go and gather catmint," Larkleaf mewed, shaking her head rapidly as if trying to shake out the bad memories. Merrypaw nodded, and as Larkleaf padded away, Thornpaw returned, bounding wildly across the marshy ground.
Skidding to a stop, Thornpaw wailed, "Smolderfur didn't seem to care about Brookheart's kits at all! What kind of a father is a cat like that going to make?"
Merrypaw rolled her eyes again. Every cat in ShadowClan could tell that Thornpaw had a huge crush on her mentor, except maybe Smolderfur himself. The quiet, smoky grey tom rarely showed any kind of emotion at all, much less affection. Besides, even if Smolderfur did realize Thornpaw's feelings, he was a warrior and she was an apprentice – and that was that.
"Thornpaw," she began, choosing her words carefully, "have you ever thought that maybe Smolderfur isn't the right tom for you?"
"What?" Thornpaw screeched, drawing back in alarm. "No way! Maybe to you it just looks like a crush, Merrypaw. But I love Smolderfur, and I'm going to make sure he realizes it!"
"It's a wonder he doesn't already," Merrypaw murmured. Speaking louder, she added, "Have you seen Lionpaw today?"
"Yeah, he's on border patrol with Yellowtail and Stonewing," Thornpaw replied.
"Wow… then, when my patrol was gone, almost half the Clan was missing!" Merrypaw realized. "It's a wonder ThunderClan didn't come and invade us!"
"Don't say things like that!" Thornpaw exclaimed, her fur fluffing up and her eyes growing wide with alarm. Merrypaw couldn't help but purr with amusement.
Her fur lying flat again, Thornpaw let out a sigh. "Well, at least Brookheart's kits are coming soon," she mewed. "Maybe I can convince Smolderfur to come and see them when they're born."
"Typical Thornpaw!" Merrypaw teased. "Your own mother is having more kits, and you use it as an excuse to get closer to Smolderfur!"
"Well, I am looking forward to the kits too, you know," Thornpaw snapped back. "Don't forget, I was the only kit in my litter to survive!"
Merrypaw nodded sadly. "Now if only Frostpool and Stonewing would have another kit," she whispered. "It might help Lionpaw to get over Berrypaw and Clawpaw's death." Lionpaw's sister and brother had been killed in a fire only a few moons ago; since then, the once energetic oldest apprentice had become even more serious and cold than Smolderfur.
"I know!" Thornpaw exclaimed, her eyes shining. "I'll let Lionpaw adopt one of the kits as his little brother or sister! I'll bet that will make him happy!" The silver she-cat reached down to give one paw a lick of satisfaction; obviously, she thought that her idea was brilliant.
"I'm not really sure that will work," Merrypaw replied quietly. "There's no substitute for family, Thornpaw."
Thornpaw opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly stopped as the scent of three new cats emerged from the bramble tunnel. "There's Lionpaw!" she exclaimed. "I'll go tell him my idea!" She bounded off excitedly, clearly certain her idea would be a success.
Merrypaw stood and realized for the first time how tired she was after the hunt; it took most of her energy to the apprentice's' den. Like the warriors' den, it was located under a bramble bush; Merrypaw usually had no problem scrambling under it, but today, she covered herself in scratches in her attempt to get inside. Once she was finally within the comfort of the den, Merrypaw curled up in her nest of pine needles and moss. It had been a long time since she'd last had the den to herself, and within moments, she was fast asleep.
I had fun writing this chapter! I love Thornpaw… I know it's not much, but the story needs a while to be set up. I can't jump into the action too soon, you know!