Chapter Two
Stormpaw padded towards the camp. The cats were huddled, watching Stormpaw. "Murder!" hissed Sheerpaw. "What?" Stormpaw asked. "Robinkit was found dead beside the Windriver," snarled Swooptalon, a dark ginger she-cat. Sheerpaw raced forward and growled, "Dewshine was my mother, and those kits were my kin! You killed them!" Lynxpaw raced forward and slammed his paws against Sheerpaw's face, knocking him backwards. Storm and Foxstar walked forward and yowled, "Stop!" Foxstar hissed and turned to look at Stormpaw. "You shall be outcast since you murdered Robinkit. If you are seen on the territory, you will get killed!" the leader snarled. Stormpaw felt as thought she had fallen into an icy stream. Then she raced away, crying, and swam across the Windriver.
The moon was in a half. Stormpaw raised her head, and she bent lower into the snow. She had been trying to find BlizzardClan camp for ages, and no patrol or cats' scent had warped her nose. Suddenly she saw three shapes padding over the white hill, and walk towards her. One was a young dawn-colored she-cat with a black underbelly, most likely an apprentice, the next was a big brown tom with white/black markings over him, and the last one was a long-haired white she-cat with black ear tips, ears, and feet. Stormpaw croaked and buried her face into her paws. The big tom touched her back with a claw, rolled her onto her back, and looked at her. "Flashstar's daughter," he said. His voice was gruff and deep. The apprentice looked at Stormpaw and asked, "Falcontalon, she looks dead. Should we bring her to camp?" "Dawnpaw, of course," the warrior mewed. Dawnpaw turned and said, "Eclipsefrost will hate this, Snowpelt." "I don't care." is all Snowpelt replied as they dragged her to the camp.
"Stormpaw," said a soft voice. Then another voice, a little higher than the first, said, "She's alive. I didn't detect any frostbite." "Fetch her a hare," the first cat meowed. The second left, and Stormpaw stretched open her eyes. She saw a black she-cat with ginger patches all over her. "F-Flashstar?" Stormpaw asked. Her voice was weak and raspy. Flashstar touched Stormpaw's nose with her paw, and then a gray-and-silver she-cat walked in. "Furzewing, she feels warm," Flashstar said. Getting to her paws, Stormpaw asked, "Is this is the BlizzardClan camp?" Flashstar nodded and meowed, "Yes. You were murmuring in your sleep about being banished from AshClan." Stormpaw slowly tested one paw, and then the silver-and-gray tabby she-cat walked in. Furzewing. Furzewing sat beside Stormpaw and dropped the hare on Stormpaw's white paws. Stormpaw pressed a paw against the hare and ripped it open, enjoying the tasty red meat. "I don't get why AshClan calls you hare-eaters," she said with her mouth full, "Hare is delicious!" Smiling, Flashstar purred, "You like it because you share BlizzardClan blood. That is how you survived in the snow. But, AshClan is very good too. You have your father's fierceness, and the ancestors of AshClan have passed on their night stalking and hunting."
Flashstar showed Stormpaw the apprentices' den, which was a low-hanging branch with moss and snow making walls around it. "This is were our apprentices live," she explained. Stormpaw sniffled and asked, "Do they know I'm the new apprentice?" "Yes," Flashstar promised, nosing Stormpaw in. She was caught by the scents of bracken, snow, hare, and cat. Two she-cats were sitting inside, their eyes closed. Stormpaw recognized the dawn-colored she-cat, Dawnpaw, and the pale-gray-and-cream she-cat. Stormpaw settled at the edge of the den, and suddenly the she-cats' eyes opened. Dawnpaw snorted and said, "Flashstar put you in the apprentices' den. Well, I'm Dawnpaw, this is Daisypaw. Owlpaw is not here yet." Stormpaw meowed, "I'm Stormpaw." Daisypaw growled, "We know who you are." Well, of course you do! My mother is leader of this Clan! Suddenly a handsome dark brown tabby tom with uneven patches of white splashed on his body walked in, his hard muscles rippling under his dark pelt. Stormpaw guessed that this was Owlpaw. "Who is this?" Owlpaw asked. "I'm Stormpaw," Stormpaw said, "Flashstar's daughter." Owlpaw sighed and said, "Well, follow me. I'll show you around." He reminds me of Lynxpaw!
They padded towards the nursery, made of ice staked together with sticks on the top. "The kits might not like you going inside," Owlpaw meowed. Stormpaw asked, "Why?" Owlpaw chuckled and replied with a twitch of his ears, "Because they've been raised on tales that AshClan cats are sneaky and untrusting. You should go to sleep." Owlpaw led her back to the den, and he gave her a soft nest. The feathers and hare fur tufts were soft and bouncy underneath Stormpaw, but she closed her eyes and let the soft sounds of the winds engulf her.
