Chapter 7
Sunpaw cracked ticks along Gyrofoot's spine as he recalled a story from the earliest Clan suns. "The first leader of SolarClan was a kittypet with a bright ginger pelt and bright yellow eyes. He stood high above other cats and his name was Solaris. At this time, it is said that even StarClan did not exist. His mate, Bright was killed by a fox while they were collecting cats to join them in the large forest.
"They say that she put the first star in the sky. And she led his paws in his dreams and watched over him every day for she was very lonely, one bright star by herself in the night sky. Cats followed Solaris because he was a great leader but eventually their group split into two, the first becoming SolarClan because the sun rose on their side of the forest and for Solaris. The second group became NightClan—where the sun sets.
"Many moons later, a weary group of cats came and SolarClan and NightClan gladly shared hunting grounds, for there was more than enough. Those cats had come from a body of water and swam well. They named themselves MistClan.
"Finally, when Solaris found a new mate, Willowheart and had kits, the three leaders went to Lunar-Vines and received nine lives. Solaris took the name Solarstar, Ferra of NightClan became Feralstar and Ripple of MistClan became Ripplestar. That was when a group of loners found sanctuary in the moors and slowly gained interest in the warrior code. MoorClan formed and Leap became Leapstar.
"Solarstar lived to be a very old cat, he led long past the death of Willowheart and their kits, Brighteyes and Otterclaw. Finally, his last life was taken by fire. His deputy, Whitefang took over the clan but Solarstar was not forgotten, Willowpelt and Bright led him to StarClan and he lives on as the sun."
Sunpaw realized he had stopped cracking fleas and was listening with rapt attention. He had never thought about the founding of the Clan. He felt a small trickle of belief in StarClan through the exhilaration of the wise cat's tale. "Was I named after him?" Sunpaw asked eagerly.
Gyrofoot thought for a moment. "I've entertained the same thought, young apprentice. It certainly seems so—there are certain parallels in your lives don't you think?" He shot Sunpaw a meaningful glance.
Sunpaw wasn't upset when Gyrofoot referenced his kittypet life, he didn't seem to judge him on it. "And did Whitestar lead the clan well?" He asked, still very interested in the story. Smokepelt, who was curled up on the other side of the den snorted disdainfully.
"Yes, she did. But she lost her last three lives all at once to the NightClan leader, who had forgotten his roots. Frozenstar led next, died in time and Redstar took his place. After his seasons passed, Earthstar led and after him, his daughter Moss-star. Moss-star was betrayed by her own deputy in her last life, and so another cat had to step in. That was how Snowstorm came to lead SolarClan."
XxX
That night, Sunpaw's mind floated through dreams of the first Clan leader, Snowstar and NightClan and finally woke when Blossompaw prodded him awake.
"Dawn patrol," she whispered, energy already filling her bright blue eyes and dark face.
Sunpaw and Blossompaw padded out to join Eagleclaw, Boldstripe and Sparrowpaw. He was surprised to see what a large patrol was going. It was usually no more than four cats, three if they were all warriors. They all headed off, jumping off the rock plateau of their camp onto the grass.
Walking next to Blossompaw, he realized even though she was nearly four moons older, he was barely a claw-length shorter than the gentle apprentice, although he had large ears to add extra height. Batting a falling leaf, she remarked, "Leaf-fall is coming faster this year. That's what Mooncloud told me, at least—I was too young to remember last time. I hope this year's not a hard leaf-bare too." Her eyes looked troubled for a moment.
"All the prey doesn't die, does it?" Sunpaw asked, surprised.
"No but they hide in their dens and sleep for moons sometimes and cats get very hungry. And with hunger comes cold and sickness and that's when…" Blossompaw trailed off.
That's when cats die, Sunpaw thought, wishing he'd treasured greenleaf more.
"Yes, but this leaf-bare will be different—I've been training to find burrows and I can climb trees to snatch squirrels from their very nests if I have too!"
Eagleclaw stopped suddenly in front of Sunpaw, tail up in warning. The sound of the river was not far off. "MistClan cats." He hissed. "At least five."
Boldstripe spun back around toward the apprentices and his sharp eyes flickered from Sunpaw to Sparrowpaw. "Sparrowpaw."
"Yes, Boldstripe?"
"Go alert the Clan—bring warriors."
Another cat would've argued. Sunpaw certainly would have—but the small molted brown apprentice was humble, brave and code-abiding and in the time it took to turn to face him, his tail had disappeared behind thick gorse.
"Sunpaw, this is your first battle, you've trained but I've never struck a blow against you. You might be in pain but keep fighting…or call for me."
That's all he could say before a patrol of MistClan cats came from the underbrush, pelts pull with river water. A gray tom charged at Blossompaw, who was at his side and when he went to pull him off, he felt some cat pulling his tail. Frantically, he spun around with a snarl, digging his claws into the cat's rugged shoulders. The MistClan warrior used a front paw blow across his face, stunning Sunpaw and causing him to stumble. Angered, he let out a sharp hiss that startled the tom—it was loud and sounded like an angry snake. Around him, a couple other cats glanced over in surprise before continuing to fight.
Sunpaw was too fired up to notice. "Get off SolarClan territory!" He warned, arching his back above his head so he was closer to the tom's size. The warrior's eyes betrayed fright and Sunpaw tested him again with another hiss. His enemy took a step back and Sunpaw saw his chance to spring onto his back as he would a rabbit, he sunk his large fangs into the cat's shoulder and the cat yowled and bucked underneath him. Just when he thought his victory was ensured, jaws grabbed his hind leg tightly and dragged him off the other cat as he struggled out of Sunpaw's paw-hold. The attacking cat pulled him, flipping him onto his back and Sunpaw thrashed wildly as he felt the red cat's teeth sink deeper into his leg.
Sunpaw realized he knew this cat—it was the striped ginger cat who had made fun of him during the Gathering!
"Ears-cat!" Sunpaw gasped, momentarily stopping his struggle. A flash of recognition showered in the apprentice's eyes. Sunpaw pulled his body up and struck his head with both paws. His back foreleg was wrenched painfully from Ears-cat's teeth, causing spots to float around his vision. Without thinking, he pulled himself back onto his paws. When his sight cleared, he saw the cat had waited for him.
"Don't call me Ears-cat—it's Vicepaw."
"I'm Sunpaw," Sunpaw heard himself say, crouching low to the ground, avoiding putting weight on his wounded back leg, "And I'm sorry but you can't stay." Sunpaw swiped out a foreleg, knocking one of Vicepaw's legs from under him and head-butting the side of his neck. He felt claws rake across his ear when he was unable to back up quickly enough.
Mousedung, I can't move around on this leg! He realized as he felt blood drip down his paw pad. Slowly, the clearing was emptying around him. He saw Blossompaw bolt into another cat, knocking him away from her mentor. Sunpaw secured a couple claws into Vicepaw's side just as a yowl sounded. SolarClan cats! Sunpaw thought, relieved, as he picked up the familiar scent. Snowstar, Whitetail, Lightningstorm, Adderpaw and Sparrowpaw ran into the clearing slashing with their claws enough to create panic within the MistClan ranks, who were now severely out-numbered. They hadn't counted on a cat slipping away to warn the others. Snowstar signaled for the warriors to stop as the MistClan cats, including Vicepaw, ran across the rocky shore into the chilled water.
Sunpaw didn't take his eyes off the cats until they pulled themselves out of the water and hurried further into their own territory.
"Sunpaw?" Adderpaw's eyes were round like the moon—this had been his first battle too, luckily, he only had a shallow scratch on his shoulder.
"Yes?" Sunpaw responded.
"Are you okay to walk back to camp?" He asked tentatively. Sunpaw looked around, the recently arrived cats were sniffing their clanmates and slowly filing back towards camp. No one seemed to be badly injured, as expected, Boldstripe and Eagleclaw were the two best fighters in the clan, next to Snowstar, he had been told. And Blossompaw was sweet-natured but determined and very strong.
Sunpaw pushed away his distraction and answered Adderpaw's question. "Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a border-skirmish—" Everything went blurry for a moment when Sunpaw took a couple steps forward and he felt vaguely nauseous.
Adderpaw's ears flattened anxiously. "Your leg is a mess. Silverleaf isn't going to be happy." He said, nudging his friend's shoulder.
Boldstripe approached the two of them, sporting a collection of shallow wounds but nothing bled heavily beneath his dense, striped coat.
"Adderpaw's right to be worried, that apprentice certainly didn't hold anything back. Adderpaw, just walk slowly with him, don't worry about catching up. I need to watch the border to make sure MistClan doesn't come running back with new warriors now that we've been wounded." Something flashed in his mentor's eyes. "Bring him straight to the Medicine Den, just in case."
Adderpaw and Sunpaw nodded and his black and white friend pressed his body to Sunpaw's bad side and they carefully made their way back into camp. And Adderpaw tried not to notice the blood trail his friend was leaving.
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