Author's Note:
Just as a small clarification before we get into Chapter 3, Lionstar only had one life when he ran into Falcon's and Amber's parents. He had lost three lives to a bad bout of whitecough and only survived because of the Thunderclan medicine cat bringing catnip over to the Shadowclan medicine cat. Without Thunderclan's help, Shadowclan would have lost their leader and then their deputy shortly after, leaving the clan leaderless. Also, the loners had their kits at the edge of the Shadowclan territory. Lionstar brought them back to his mate to have his mate care for them.
Ashes of the Rose
Chapter 3
Falconpaw stood at the edge of the Thunderclan and Shadowclan border, peering over at Thunderclan's medicine cats. Tonight was the gathering and Falconpaw was curious if the other apprentices' mentors from the other clans were as cruel-hearted as Amberpaw's and hers. Hollypaw seemed perfectly fine with the strict training and Stonepaw had his warrior ceremony yesterday morning. His name was now Stonestrike and ever since the rough battle training two days before, he had been careful not to let his mentor or Falconpaw's mentor catch them speaking to each other. She turned to look at the older tom as his gray tabby pelt brushed past the bushes nearby. He looked over at the Thunderclan medicine cats and then at Falconpaw.
"If Stormflight catches you, she won't hesitate to make an example of you to Hollypaw and Amberpaw." He whispered right next to the she-cat's tattered ear.
Falconpaw flicked her ear as she leads Stonestrike away from the border and towards the lake. The pebbled shore made it tricky for the young apprentice to keep her footing, but she managed with the help of Stonestrike. She sat down three tail-lengths from the edge of the lake and stared out at the Windclan territory off in the distance across the lake. Stonestrike sat beside her, making sure not to sit too close to the she-cat.
"If Stormflight does try to make an example out of me, I'll take it. Especially if it means Amberpaw won't get injured because of the battle training." She meowed as she looked down at the water lapping at the pebbled shore.
"You can't keep protecting Amberpaw. She has to learn to protect herself sooner or later." Stonestrike meowed as he looked at the young she-cat.
"No, she won't. I'll be there to guard and protect her until we're elders." She hissed as she glared at the tom.
Stonestrike stood, his tail flicking behind him as he looked at her. "You'll die before you become a warrior if you keep protecting her." He meowed, padding into the forest.
Falconpaw watched him disappear into the forest before kicking a pebble with her paw, her tail lashing behind her. I will protect my sister! Falconpaw thought as she looked up at the darkening sky. I can, can't I, Starclan? You haven't turned your backs on me, right? Falconpaw stood as she heard Stormflight yowling her name. Her fur on her back stood on end and she raced into the forest, hopping over small bramble thickets as she ran. She stopped right in front of her mentor, panting from the running and kept her eyes on the ground in front of her.
"What were you doing down by the lake without telling me you were leaving?" Stormflight hissed as her tail lashed behind her.
"I-I'm sorry. I'll tell you next time." Falconpaw meowed as she looked up at Stormflight hesitantly.
Just as she looked up, she felt claws make contact with her muzzle. Falconpaw flinched, blood welling up on her muzzle, close to her nose. Stormflight's eyes narrowed as Falconpaw flinched and she wasted no time in raking her claws through Falconpaw's left ear, leaving a large gash in her ear. Rainmist padded out of the camp with the rest of the warriors going to the gathering and stopped once she saw Stormflight and Falconpaw. Her light blue eyes widened and Falconpaw watched as she stormed over, her pelt bristling as she glared at Stormflight.
"Cloudstar should have told you to stay behind." She hissed as she nudged Falconpaw to the group.
Amberpaw, upon seeing her sister's wounds, ran over and began to clean them worriedly. Amberpaw's shoulder had almost completely healed, but Smokebreeze did have her taking on light chores such as gathering moss, feeding the elders and queens, and getting the ticks off of the elders. Falconpaw winced but did not complain as her sister cleaned her wounds. She spotted Stonestrike padding past, shaking his head. She watched him pass by, glaring at him slightly. Rainmist padded up to the two apprentices, nudging them forward.
The patrol to the gathering consisted of Cloudstar, Stormflight, Spidershallow, Willowtail, Smokebreeze, Rainmist, Dewpool, Stonestrike, Hollypaw, Amberpaw, and Falconpaw. Spidershallow kept glancing back towards the camp, obviously nervous to leave his mate behind while she was in the nursery and not due for at least another moon. As the Shadowclan cat's neared Riverclan territory, they headed down to the edge of the lake, the warriors padding across it like they were used to the slippery pebbles. Falconpaw had a difficult time walking over the slippery pebbles and just as they neared a giant tree that sat against the island in the lake, she fell into the lake. She thrashed her paws around trying to find her way up, but she had no luck. She felt the water around her move and teeth digging into her scruff.
As she was pulled from the lake, Falconpaw coughed up water, looking at the cat who saved her. The cat was a red-brown she-cat with white paws. Falconpaw recognized the warrior from a border patrol the day before when the Shadowclan patrol and Riverclan patrol crossed paths while patrolling the border. The she-cat's name was Foxpelt. She looked down at Falconpaw with an exasperated sigh, her green eyes focusing on Smokebreeze. Smokebreeze looked at her, his ears flicking slightly as he looked away.
"Are you okay, 'paw?" Foxpelt asked.
"Y-Yeah." Falconpaw meowed, wincing as she realized just how much the water stung her wounds.
"First time at a gathering, huh?" Foxpelt purred with amusement.
"Yeah. How can you pad across the pebbles with so much ease?" She asked, flicking the water off of her tail.
"Practice." She chuckled.
"I don't think I'll ever be used to padding across pebbles."
"Well, the pebbles are sharp in some places. I wouldn't be shocked if your soft Shadowclan pads were all scratched up after slipping on a few sharp pebbles back there."
Falconpaw stopped and sat down on the pebbles to look at her pads. She stared at her paws with a bit of confusion. There were no scratches on her pads, almost as if her pads were built for padding over sharp stones. Foxpelt flicked her ear as she looked at her paws, her ears perking in curiosity.
"Strange. Shadowclan normally can't stand on sharp pebbles." Foxpelt meowed, flicking her tail towards Stormflight with padded around a patch of sharp pebbles.
Falconpaw flicked her ear and stood, padding straight for the sharp pebbles. Foxpelt's eyes widened and she immediately pushed Falconpaw away from the sharp pebbles, her tail lashing behind her. Falconpaw looked at her with a frown as Smokebreeze padded over, his ears perked with interest.
"Is Falconpaw giving you trouble, Foxpelt?" Smokebreeze asked.
"She's trying to pad along sharp pebbles. Not even Riverclan cats can handle a bunch of sharp pebbles like that." She hissed.
"Falconpaw, why don't you run on ahead and get across the tree-bridge with your mentor?" Smokebreeze meowed sternly.
Falconpaw knew well enough to not aggravate the warrior unless she wanted claws raking through her pelt again. She pelted up to Stormflight and leaped as Stormflight whipped around with a glare. Falconpaw immediately lowered her head, glancing up at her mentor warily.
"Don't ever communicate with the other clans. They aren't your friends. They're your enemies, even under the truce. They'll talk to you just to get some sort of information out of you." Stormflight hissed.
"I'm sorry Stormflight." She mumbled as she followed her mentor to the tree-bridge.
"This is your first gathering so you better be on your best behavior. Start climbing. I'll follow behind." Stormflight growled.
Falconpaw wasted no time in leaping onto the tree-bridge. She noticed immediately that the bark of this tree was slippery. She dug her claws into the tree as she padded across warily, her tail flicking behind her. She could feel Stormflight's glare on her as she crossed. She waited until Stormflight was across before nudging the bushes out of her way. She stared at the clearing with wide eyes as cats began to padded into the clearing. She couldn't wait for the gathering to begin.