Hey everyone, so here is a nice long chapter for you guys just over 2300 words. I hope this treat is enough to get some reviews out of you guys, for starclan's sake lol. But seriously I have this entire story mapped out already and know exactly what is going to happen in each chapter and none of you will get to see :p until I get some reviews. So please take the time to tell me what you thought of the chapter, what you loved? hated? something lol or ill have no idea in which direction to go.
Anyways ill shut up and let you guys get to the chapter, enjoy
Swiftpaw sat outside the apprentice den, like he always did when Hazepaw left for the half-moon ceremony. He would stay up all night waiting for the medicine cats to return and hear what the others had said throughout the night.
The sky was dark, the star shining brightly and the half-moon glowing brightly overhead.
At the sound of snapping twigs Swiftpaw pricked his ears looking towards the camp entrance. The familiar scents of Thunderclan wafted to his scent glands, but his brother's scent was not among them.
Shimmerlight pushed her way through the entrance, followed by the rest of the Riverclan border fighting patrol made up of Stoneshine, Bluecloud, Drizzlelight and Whitefog. Slinking in behind them was Flowerpaw, her tail was drooping and her eyes were locked on her paws.
Stoneshine and Drizzlelight made gave Swiftpaw a curt nod before trudging sleepily to the warriors den. Shimmerlight trotted past Swiftpaw urgently, her fur fluffed out anxiously, she disappeared behind the nursery and Bluecloud raced after his mate, concern flooding his blue eyes.
Swiftpaw glanced at the camp entrance anxiously before slinking toward the nursery where his parents had disappeared.
"I know what I scented Bluecloud" Shimmerlight hissed, her ginger fur fluffing up all the way down her back, making her tail as fluffy as a raccoon's, "He was here, on our territory right under our noses"
"Calm down Shimmerlight" Bluecloud soothed, placing his tail on her hackles, "You don't know that for sure, he could have just been passing through. The scent crossed over the stepping stones and into Riverclan's territory. He isn't our problem anymore"
"Your wrong" Shimmerlight whispered weakly, her tail drooped to the ground and she stared blankly at the nursery wall, as if seeing something no other could "He promised he would come back, he said that we're not finished and I think he was right"
Swiftpaw crept closer, fear prickling his pelt as he listened, he had never known of anything that could ruffle Shimmerlight this much, nothing that struck this much fear in her eyes.
"I promise" Bluecloud meowed strongly "I will not let Sunvine near you, I wont let him hurt you"
Shimmerlight laughed uncomfortably at her mate's words before speaking, her voice thick with bile "It's not me I'm worried about. It's the kits, Hazepaw leaves camp alone almost everyday, Swiftpaw is always sneaking off and I even fear for Lionstreak" she meowed "If Sunvine is anything like he was when he was banished then he won't rest until everyone I care about is hunting with Starclan"
"Let's not worry anymore tonight" Bluecloud murmured "Let's get some sleep and tomorrow we can check the entire territory for his scent"
Shimmerlight smiled and nodded weakly, twining her tail with Bluecloud's.
Swiftpaw scurried away before his parents could catch him spying. He skidded to a halt as he reached the apprentice den, spotting Whitefog and Flowerpaw in a heated discussion. Both she-cats were bristling and staring each other down, their mouths moved as they argued but Swiftpaw failed to catch the words.
Flowerpaw stalked away from her mentor, towards the apprentice den, her ginger and white fur fluffed out making her look nearly twice her size. Swiftpaw bounded forward, reaching the she-cat before she could disappear into the den.
"What was that about?" Swiftpaw asked standing in front of Flowerpaw, watching Whitefog stalking to the warriors den.
Flowerpaw puffed out her chest "Whitefog was impressed how well I handled myself on the battle patrol. You see Shimmerlight personally asked me to go even though I'm still an apprentice because I had such an amazing battle assessment yesterday"
"Yeah right" Lichenpaw scoffed, stalking toward them towards the den, flicking her sister's face with her fluffy black tail, her bright green eyes glowing in the darkness "She put you on elder duties until after you first moon as a warrior for sneaking onto that patrol, and that's assuming that Amberstar even makes you a warrior tomorrow like she planned, but I don't know after this stunt"
Flowerpaw blushed furiously, her eyes glistening with the wet tears of embarrassment, before charging into the den.
Lichenpaw let our a mrrow of laughter at her sister's expense, and wrinkled her nose as more Thunderclan scent wafted into the camp.
Swiftpaw turned to see Topazmist and Hazepaw trudging back into the camp. Topazmist disappeared into the medicine cat den and Hazepaw slowly padded over to the apprentices den, his icy eyes heavy with sleep.
Swiftpaw flicked his tail back and forth, something was obviously bothering Hazepaw, thoughts burned through his mind. He opened his mouth to speak as Hazepaw reached him but his brother cast an icy glare, silencing him, before simply pushing his way into the den.
Hurt stung Swiftpaw and angrily he stalked into the den, stumbling over Mosspaw's sleeping figure and stomping over to one of the nests near Flowerpaw. Taking a deep breath he flopped down into the nest, closing his eyes, drifting off into emptiness.
Swiftpaw blinked, wide awake in the early morning, excited to get up and get out of camp. "Today is the day" he thought "The day I get to leave camp and resume my training".
He sat up, giving his pelt a thorough washing, determined to make a good impression today.
Hearing his clanmates stirring outside the den, he scurried out of the den, the dim light of the sunrise casting a glow though the camp. The air was still cool and crisp and the grass along the ground as damp.
He trotted over to where his clanmates were gathered around Shimmerlight, waiting to receive their daily orders.
"Flowerpaw, Lichenpaw and Mosspaw, you will all have you final assessments today. If all does well you will be warriors by sundown"
The three apprentices tore their way out of the camp, followed more slowly by their mentors.
"Stoneshine, take Drizzlelight to the Shadowclan border and remark the scent lines" The shaggy gray tom nodded before leaving the camp, followed by Drizzlelight.
"Squirreltail take Petalblossom hunting, I'm sure the apprentices will bring back plenty of prey from the forest so head over near the owl tree"
"Bluecloud your coming with me to check on the rest of the territory" she shared a knowing glance with her mate as the gathered cats parted.
Swiftpaw stomped up to his mother "What should I do?" he asked, excitement coursed through his veins, his punishment was over, he could leave camp.
Shimmerlight turned away, not meeting his eyes as she spoke "You will clean the elders den" before he could protest the deputy bounded out of the camp, followed by Bluecloud.
Swiftpaw turned to look at the elders den bristling with anger, he spotted a flash of white and brown tabby fur as Snowkit, Icekit and Mothkit barreled into the elders den in search of a good story.
Grumbling to himself, Swiftpaw dragged his feet as he slowly slunk to the den.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the den he spotted Icekit, Snowkit and Mothkit crouched beside Rowanflight who was in the midst of telling an elaborate story.
Swiftpaw padded past them quietly as he began to gather the dirty bedding.
"And then I make it back to the battle and the only thing I see is Leopardlight struggling underneath the largest cat I have ever faced" he paused for dramatic effect "Hawkclaw"
The kits squealed with delight as the story grew more and more riveting.
"Hawkclaw had her pinned, there was no one else around to help, he pinned her down and raised his paws for the death blow"
"Filthy Shadowclan" Icekit spat, "I'll make those crowfood eaters squirm" he dug his tiny thorn sharp claws into the mossy bedding he was sitting on.
Snowkit rolled his eyes dramatically and Mothkit giggled.
"I'm sure you would send those flea-pelts running for the hills" Tansystalk purred, running her tongue over her black and white pelt.
"Anyways" Rowanflight paused, tilting his head to the side "Where was I? Oh yeah, so right before he was about to deliver the blow, I launched myself at him and chased him off the territory"
Mothkit bounced up and down cheering, her light brown pelt downy and kit-soft.
Swiftpaw pushed the dirty bedding outside of the elders den and returned to check for ticks.
"Alright anyone got ticks?" he asked.
Silverstreak snorted "You're supposed to look for them yourself"
Rowanflight rolled his eyes "Don't mind her, I think she had a thorn in her nest all night" the dark ginger tom waved Swiftpaw over "I think I have one right by the base of my tail that I just cant seem to get"
Swiftpaw nodded appreciatively.
"Tell another" Mothkit demanded.
"Yeah tell another story Rowanflight" Icekit begged.
Rowanflight chuckled "Okay, Okay" he thought for a moment before speaking as Swiftpaw worked the large tick from his skin "Have you been told the story of Sunvine?"
The three kit's shook their heads in unison, all of their eyes as bright and as round as a full moon.
At the mention of Sunvine's name, Swiftpaw's ears pricked and he focused on the elder's story.
"Now where should I start" Rowanflight thought for a moment "Sunvine started out like any other Thunderclan kit, he ran around getting under the warriors paws, poked his nose in places he shouldn't have and tried to sneak out of camp more times than I care to count"
Swiftpaw felt a smile tug at his lips, Sunvine sounded like any other cat among the clan at that age.
"When he was an apprentice he became bossy and arrogant, and constantly competing with Shimmerpaw"
"That's Shimmerlight" Icekit meowed.
"She is deputy, why would Sunvine fight with the deputy?" Snowkit asked.
Rowanflight frowned "She wasn't deputy back then, just an apprentice. Stop intterupting. Anyways they were always getting on each other's nerves and this drove Shadowpaw crazy because she was mooning after Sunpaw. This caused a lot of strain on her and Shimmerpaw's relationship"
"Who is Shadowpaw?" Mothkit meowed.
"If you stop interrupting you might find out" Rowanflight meowed sternly.
The three kits quickly covered their mouths with their tails.
"Alright where was I? Oh yes" Rowanflight cleared his throat before continuing "When Sunvine was just an apprentice he murdered a Shadowclan warrior. He claimed he was simply doing it for the clan and he managed to get away with it. As a warrior he attacked Stoneshine, blaming him for bringing what we now call Panic Fever into the camp, resulting in the death of many of our clanmates including Sunvine's mate Shadowsplash and two of his three kits"
"Wait? Sunvine had kits? Who is the third kit?" Icekit meowed, the white kit yowled in surprise as he was bowled over by Snowkit in an attempt to quiet him.
Annoyed with the kits Swiftpaw spoke up from the other side of the den where he was looking over Silverstreak's pelt "Sunvine's living kit is Lionstreak"
Rowanflight blinked graciously to Swiftpaw before continuing the story "Finally in a fight with Riverclan, Sunvine attacked and killed Reedstar's daughter Mothpetal because he believed that she had killed our deputy Minkstripe. After the she-cat's death the war with Riverclan began and Amberstar banished Sunvine to live as a rouge and Shimmerlight was made deputy instead of him"
The three kits cheered loudly as the story came to an end and Rowanflight gave Mothkit a gentle nudge "Now you three run along, back to the nursery with you"
Snowkit scampered out of the den followed quickly by his brother, Mothkit trotted slowly and daintily out of the den, attempting to look more dignified than her den-mates.
Swiftpaw looked around, the elders had all been dealt with and fed thanks to the kits and all of the dirty bedding had been removed and replaced "Well i'll go now, unless you guys need anything else?"
Rowanflight shook his head, his eyes slowly closing as the worn out elder laid down fro a nap. Frostflower purred from her nest near the center of the elders den "Run along now, I'm sure there is prey to be caught"
Swiftpaw blinked graciously to her, racing out of the den. He looked around the camp, all of his clanmates were still gone. None of the patrols had returned yet and Shimmerlight was no where to be seen, Amberstar was busy playing tag with Mothkit and the queens dozed lazily outside the den, soaking up the day's last rays of sunshine.
"Now is my chance" Swiftpaw thought to himself "If I'm going to meet Moonpaw tonight then I had better sneak out now, while I can"
The small blue tom snuck quietly behind the elders den, slowly climbing up the ravine and pulling himself out of sight. As he reached the top of the ravine he looked back down into the camp one last time before racing off through the territory, in the direction of Riverclan.
Once again please leave me a review. I'm very interested in know what you loved, hated or think should be changed or should happen. Please let me know or no more chapters for you :(
