Chapter dos!
I was intending to edit and upload this sometime next week. But then I said "No... Imma do it now. Cuz I can." But really, I just love writing this FanFic ./u/.
So, instead of having two chapters uploaded over the next two weeks, until the OC thing is ever...
I just might do FOUR! .o. Yeah, I update a lot.
Without further ado, Chapter two.
Divertiti.
Applepaw…
Applepaw…
Applepaw woke up with a start to someone prodding her in the ribs. Riotpaw was hovering over her nest, her intense, electric amber eyes baring holes into her skin. "Applepaw, wake up! It's time to go to the gathering!" she exclaimed before whisking out of the den.
Applepaw stood up and arched her back in a stretch. The den was dark. She looked around the nests to see everyone except Rowanpaw missing. He must not be going, she thought. She lightly stepped around the snoring tom's nest, and into the chilly, moonlit clearing outside. Cats were lined up at the entrance to the camp, chattering eagerly amongst themselves like sparrows.
Shortwhisker, a small, dusty queen, was herding, or attempting to herd, her two kits back into the nursery. "But I want to go to the gathering, too!" Thistlekit squealed.
"Yeah!" Kestrelkit interjected.
Shortwhisker grunted in annoyance. "When you're apprentices," she growled.
Applepaw chuckled as she watched. Thistlekit and Kestrelkit reminded her of herself and Skypaw when they were kits. Thinking of Skypaw… Her eyes fell on a blue-ish she-cat walking out of the medicine den, Seacloud following closely behind her. Skypaw was Applepaw's adopted littermate. Her mother had been the queen who nursed her when she first came to ThunderClan as a kit. She bounded over to the pretty she-cat, purring. "Hi, Skypaw!"
Skypaw's brilliant blue eyes met Applepaw's and she smiled warmly. "Hey, Applepaw! Excited for the gathering?" she asked.
Applepaw nodded. "Yeah. Maybe this time we can actually sit together," she mumbled.
Skypaw's shuffled her paws. "Yeah, sorry about that," she murmured guiltily. "But ever since I became Seacloud's apprentice, I've been required to sit with the other medicine cats."
"I know."
The two apprentices walked over to the rest of the waiting cats. Applepaw cared about Skypaw greatly. Being the only apprentice in the clan without a littermate, she learned to appreciate Skypaw more, especially after she left the apprentices den to join the medicine den two moons ago. Applepaw had been lonely, but she quickly became friends with all the other apprentices.
Lionfang was near the front of the group, conversing with Batwing and Peachfall. Cloudpaw and Dancingpaw sat near the edge together, their tails wrapped neatly around their paws and their chins held high. There was never a time when they could be caught slacking.
"So, what are the other medicine cat apprentices like?" Applepaw asked.
Skypaw shook her head. "There's only the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice, Snakefrost. He received his full name last half-moon."
"He sounds wicked."
"He's not as mean as he looks. He's quite nice. In fact, he introduced me to some of his friends a while back."
Are they wicked?"
"Pfft. Shut up."
Pouncestar bounded down the rock fall from her den and into the clearing. The she-cat was stunningly beautiful. She was thin and lean; her golden brown fur was long, silky, and soft. Her blue eyes shone like crystals. She brushed past the two apprentices and took the lead at the front of the patrol. "Let's go!" she yowled.
Applepaw waited for the scrawny tom in front of her, Bitterbreeze, to move before moving into step with the rest of her clanmates.
Applepaw gripped the slippery log with her claws to catch her balance. Behind her, Starkpaw hissed impatiently for her to move. The gathering island was a few tails lengths ahead, after crossing the tree branch. RiverClan and ShadowClan were already in the clearing, and WindClan warriors were waiting their turn to cross. She bunched up her muscles and leaped, landing squarely on her paws and onto the island. Once across, she waited for Skypaw and Riotpaw before moving into the large clearing.
Cats were everywhere! There were short cats with gray fur, tall cats with white, old cats with brown fur… The scene never failed to amaze Applepaw. On the large tree sat Icestar, a sour pitch black she-cat with piercing blue eyes and white paws; ShadowClan's leader. And a few branches below her, sitting with his tail wrapped around his paws, was Lakestar; RiverClan's large, fluffy, muscular tabby leader. He was almost as big as Lionfang, but Lionfang would always be the largest tom in the forest.
Applepaw followed Skypaw to a group of ShadowClan warriors. Uncertainty prickled at her paws as Lionfang's words echoed in her ears. "Stay close to your own classmates." She swallowed her fear, narrowing her eyes. Pffft! I'll show him!
"Hi Snakefrost!" Skypaw purred to a smoky black tom. For a medicine cat, he had long, thin, sharp and pointy claws that curled around his paws, and his yellow-green eyes were bloodshot. The tom smiled at her, revealing sharp white fangs.
"Hey, Skypaw. How are you?" the tom purred. To Applepaw, the purr sounded like a seductive sneer. This tom gave her the creeps.
"I'm well. Oh, this is my sister, Applepaw," she mewed, flicking her tail in Applepaw's directions. Applepaw took a seat next to her, feeling the eyes of all the ShadowClan warriors in the group penetrating her skin. "Applepaw, this is Snakefrost, ShadowClan's medidicne cat. And these are his friends, Ashpelt, Wolfclaw, and Raintail." She flicked her tail to each tom in turn. "They're brothers."
Raintail, the lightest, tallest tom, smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine.." Applepaw mewed.
Ashpelt stood to his paws and leaned towards her, giving her a sniff before grinning. "You look like a kit!" he laughed.
Applepaw glowered at him, puffing out her chest. "I'm 10 moons old!" she hissed. This made Ashpelt laugh harder. He flicked her ear with his tail. "Relax, I'm just messing with ya," he chuckled.
Wolfclaw, the thickest in muscle mass of the three, raked his gaze over her body with mild interest. "I haven't seen you before. Who are you?" he asked.
"She's Owltalon's daughter. You know, the half-breed everyone's fussing about," Skypaw meowed.
Wolfclaw's expression remained stoic, though Applepaw could've sworn she saw surprise flicker in those hazel eyes. "I see," he mewed.
Ashpelt locked eyes with her, and she felt herself shifting uncomfortably as she held his gaze. He narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to her face. "Your eyes…" he mewed.
Applepaw choked. It had been a long time since anyone even dared to mention her eyes. Her unusual eyes…
Skypaw drew his lips back and swatted at him. "Stop being so rude!" she hissed.
Ashpelt wasn't fazed by Skypaw's irritation. Applepaw wondered if SKypaw fussed at him often. "Yeah, my eyes…" she mewed.
Ashpelt tilted his head to the side, still gazing at her. "Your right eye is blue, Applepaw…"
"Yeah, I know."
"And your left eye is…"
"Yeah, I know—"
"Amber."
All the cats within the group fell silent.
"Oh. Now I recall," Snakefrost chipped in. "Your mother was that WindClan queen with the mixed eyes. You must have inherited her trait."
Applepaw's eyes widened. Her mother had the same eyes that she did?
"I'm surprised Owltalon managed to actually get a mate!" Ashpelt exclaimed.
"You shut up about my father," Applepaw growled. Ashpelt laughed. Wolfclaw's lips twitched.
"But, for real, your leader is on some dumb shit for accusing ShadowClan of his death," Ashpelt continued.
"His body has your ugly, muddy paw prints all over it," Skypaw teased.
"Yeah right. ThunderClan are just too chicken to admit that they can't swim."
"Neither can ShadowClan!" Skypaw retorted.
Applepaw listened as the cats fussed. She was relieved to see that not every ShadowClan warrior was taking the accusations seriously. The tension in her shoulders eased as she began to relax.
"Did Owltalon have a son, too?" Wolfclaw suddenly asked her. She looked up at the large tom in surprise, meeting his hazel eyes, before shaking her head.
"My brother died at birth," she mewed.
"Ah." Their attention was directed to the great tree as Icestar yowled for the meeting to begin. Pouncestar and Gorsestar had joined their ranks with the other leaders, settling on their own branches.
"ShadowClan has been prospering greatly during this cold leaf-bare," Icestar yowled out to gathered cats. "We have not allowed ThunderClan's kittish accusations bring us down!—"
"Nonsense!" Pouncestar yowled. The clearing exploded into yowls of protest and outrage from ThunderClan.
"Murderers!" Yowled a raspy-voiced tom somewhere off in the back. Applepaw twisted her neck around to identify Bitterbreeze.
"Scum bags!" Shadeowl, a ThunderClan queen, yowled.
"SILENCE!" Lakestar spat. His fur was bristling and his tail was lashing aggressively behind him. The outbursts from cats fell to less than murmurs. "This feud between ShadowClan and ThunderClan is absolutely kit-like." He turned to Pouncestar, his yellow eyes ablaze. "Pouncestar. I thought it was cleared up at the last gathering that Owltalon had simply drowned," the tom mewed as calmly as he could.
Pouncestar stood to her paws, her blue eyes blazing despite her calm composure. "Owltalon's body had been found floating on ShadowClan's side of the lake—"
"His body could've just drifted to our side!" Icestar yowled.
"Seacloud has identified scratches on his neck!" Pouncestar spat.
Lakestar sighed. "Pouncestar, I understand that you're mourning your brother's death. But honestly, it does not tie you to causing unnecessary trouble under our truce." Pouncestar frowned.
"I bet he was hunting in our territory and one of my patrols gave him a good tail whopping for trespassing, and he wandered off towar—"
"My warriors know their boundaries!" Pouncestar snapped.
"We don't want your disgusting frogs!" Bitterbreeze yowled.
"Then why has my warriors scented ThunderClan in our territory?" Icestar challenged.
"Your warriors have dung in their noses! You said the same thing about RiverClan!" A she-cat in the crowd shouted. The clearing burst into another fit, and Lakestar tried his hardest to get them to fall silent.
"Your leader needs to get some sleep," Ashpelt muttered to Skypaw. Applepaw and Skypaw exchanged a glance.
"Your leader needs to stop being so proud and actually look into the situation. Maybe one of your warriors is up to something," Skypaw replied.
Applepaw stared at her. Why had Skypaw been so calm around these warriors this entire time? Was it because she's a medicine cat? Applepaw shook her head. Medicine cat or not, thess warriors are supposed to show hostility towards us. Why are they so cool? "Shouldn't you guys hate our guts right now?" she voiced out loud.
They all looked at her. "You know, because our clans are fighting and everything?" she continued.
Ashpelt chuckled. "I was never one to follow the crowd."
Wolfclaw nodded.
"And besides, you haven't given us any reason to hate your guts." Snakefrost smirked. "Yet."
"We understand that your leader's a nutcase. We don't hold grudges," Ashpelt shrugged.
Raintail curled his long tail over his paws. "And a friend of Skypaw's is a friend of ours."
"I never liked you, Skypaw," Wolfclaw mewed.
"I never liked you either," she scuffed, swatting at his ear.
In the tree, the leaders had temporarily stopped their argument to get the clans below to quiet down.
"PLEASE!" yowled Gorsestar for the first time. "This is ridiculous! Can't we hold one gathering in peace?" the skinny tom snarled.
Icestar lashed her tail. "When ThunderClan learns to keep their flea-bitten problems to themselves!" she spat.
Pouncestar bristled. "My medicine cat is certain that Owltalon was attacked right before he died! I will not rest until I figure out who sent him to StarClan too early!" She leaped down from the tree, her eyes lit. "Let's go, ThunderClan!" She yowled.
Batwing hopped to her paws and dashed after her leader. Cats began to murmur as ThunderClan warriors rose to their paws and followed their leader onto the tree bridge.
"Looks like we'll be seeing you on the battle field, Applepaw," Ashpelt mewed. He smiled, his blue eyes alive, "I hope you can fight."
Applepaw huffed and got to her paws. "Better than you can."
"See you at half-moon, Skypaw," Snakefrost called to her.
"Good-bye!" Skypaw and Applepaw called back before reaching the tree bridge and crossing with their clan. Applepaw caught Lionfang's intense stare, and gulped.
Whoops.
Thank you, Wildheart of Windclan, for being the first to submit a OC. Remember guys, you have until the nineteenth of August!
Yeah, yeah, I know. "ARI! WHERE DA FUQ IS DA ACTION?!"
You see, my dear beloveds, I decided to hold back on too much drama. I'd rather have the plotline progress in interest as it continues, not flat out smack you guys in le face with sudden action at the beginning of the story. c: Don't wanna give you whiplash!
LOL!
WHIPLASH!
. . .
I don't know what whiplash is. -Goes to Google.- Oh... that's not funny at all.
But seriously. I promise you: A lot more drama and a lot more of Snakefrost(I kinda see him as this feline version of Jeff the Killer... why?). The story has to progress first, my darlings. And I probably made, like, a million grammar errors and typos. And I will correct them.. eventually. But holding on to this story after I finished it is like holding on to a hundred dollars in the mall and not spending it. Hard as hell.
Au revoir.
~Ari.
