chapter 6
"Hey, Raincloud," Cinderpelt limped out of her den, her fur sticking out of her messily, as though she haven't groomed herself. Firestar bounded out from his den. "Go and groom yourself," he told her. "You look like a kit," he teased. Cinderpelt hissed playfully at him, but did as she was told. "Congratulations, Raincloud," she called over her shoulder. I had to keep my silent vigil, so I flicked my tail in acknowledgement. "You can speak now," Firestar meowed to me. "The sun has risen, so your vigil is over."
I stood up and stretched myself. My legs were stiff from sitting all night, and they yowled their complaints as I made my way to Cinderpelt's den. To my surprise, Brightheart was there, mewing excitedly to Cinderpelt. The medicine cat looked up when she heard me. Brightheart bounded to my side, and a flow of words erupted from her. "Raincloud, congratulations, you're a warrior!" Her news blurted out of her, her green eye shining excitedly. "This morning Cloudtail came to the elder's den to see me, and you know what he told me?" Without waiting for an answer, she squealed like a kit: "He loves me!"
"You're lucky, you know," Cinderpelt told her, her eyes shining wistfully. "You love him, and he loves you back. Some cats can't have that."
Brightheart ignored her sister, and turned to me. "Want to go hunting?"
"Sure," I answered. "I'm looking forward to my first patrol as a warrior." Then I noticed that Cinderpelt was fiddling her herbs, her eyes clouded with emotion, so many that I can't count. "You want to go collecting herbs together later?" I asked her, but I don't think she heard me. Her eyes were unfocused and tears were starting to collect in them. "Come on, let's go!" Brightheart called from outside, and so, casting one last glance at my friend, I padded outside.
"Come on!" Brightheart repeated impatiently. "What took you so long?" Just as I was about to reply, a gray shape running towards us grabbed my attention, and I turned to see Graystripe. "Where are you going?"
"Hunting," I replied, surprised that the gray warrior would take any interest in what two young she-cats were doing.
"Can I go with you?" he asked, his amber gaze fixed on me.
"Okay," I mewed, surprising myself as a warm, happy feeling spread from my ears to tail tip.
"Brightheart!" Cloudtail raced to the white and ginger she-cat's side. "Want to do some battle training?"
"Okay, " Brightheart touched his flank affectionately with her nose. "I'll be in the training hollow in a second. Sorry, Raincloud," she added, turning to me.
"It's okay," I purred. It was natural for Brightheart to want to spend more time with Cloudtail. "I'll hunt with Graystripe."
I padded through the fronds of bracken after Graystripe. Spotting a squirrel nibbling at a nut, I dropped into the hunter's crouch, sneaking up to my prey from downwind. The squirrel suddenly looked up, and saw me. Immediately, I pounced. The squirrel was dead in less than a heartbeat. "Good catch," Graystripe meowed, his eyes glowing with admiration. I dipped my head to him, thankful that the squirrel in my jaws gave me an excuse not to answer, and covered it up with some leaves and dirt.
"Do you scent something?" Graystripe asked suddenly. Surprised, I sniffed the air. BloodClan! The thought came to me, loud and clear. "What are they doing here?" I hissed furiously.
"Who?" Graystripe looked puzzled. "You know whose this scent is?"
"Yes, it's BloodClan," I replied, trying to make out individual scents of my former Clanmates. Bone, Snake, Ice, and… Shade!"We've got to tell Firestar!" I gasped. This could not be anything good, I was sure of it. Graystripe nodded agreement, and we raced back to camp, all thoughts of hunting forgotten.
"You said you scented BloodClan?" Firestar asked me.
"Yes, but they never showed much interest in the forest." I answered. But suddenly, I remembered something my father told me the day he told me about mating Shade and me. We can kill Tigerstar and have the whole forest to ourselves! However, I decided not to tell Firestar about that yet. I didn't want to think about BloodClan conquering the forest; I didn't want to think about BloodClan destroying my Clan. It was as if thinking about it would make it come true.
