I apologize very very very much for how long it took to update. SORRY! Please accept these free pieces of blackberry pie as a symbol of my sorryness. (It's nice and fresh, and I picked the berries myself! ^.^) No seriously, I did. There's a blackberry pie in my fridge, honest. If any of you are stalkers you can check it out for yourself if you like. Enjoy! *puts out plates of blackberry pies*
Now, as you all know, school is starting. Very soon. That means that my updates will be very slow as a result of homework and whatnot. I'll aim for at least 1 chapter a month. Not much, I know, but it's something.
Thanks to the people that have given me cats to use. I will use them later, I promise! But they won't be mains... I have those already. But they will be included! Any other cats are welcome, but please, if you are taking the time to send me a cat, could you leave a review as well? Thanks!
Now then, could anyone that reads this story pretty please leave a review? I have hardly any for the chapters I have, and more reviews might motivate me to update faster! (hint hint...)
R&R! (pwease?) :)
"Mouse dung!" Goldenpaw let out a hiss. The flutter of wings above her head indicated that the sparrow had reached safety.
"Bad luck!" Fernpaw's voice called from somewhere on her right.
"It's not bad luck." Goldenpaw lashed her tail, stirring up the sticks and twigs that littered the forest floor. "If I didn't keep stepping on these things, I'd have had that sparrow in a few more pawsteps."
Fernpaw's tail landed lightly on her shoulder. "You're not the first cat to scare off prey by snapping a twig. Besides, it's just a sparrow."
"And the squirrel, and the mouse." Goldenpaw snapped. "If I had been able to see the sticks, I'd have had those too."
"Wishing you could see won't help you regain your sight." Fernpaw reminded her. "Besides, I've caught enough prey for the both of us."
Goldenpaw caught the scents of a rabbit and two mice lying nearby. "You're right. Let's go back before it gets too dark. Is it near sunset?"
"Almost. Here, you take the mice, and I'll take the rabbit." Fernpaw's mew was muffled, as if she already had the rabbit in her jaws.
Goldenpaw picked up the two mice, holding them carefully so they didn't bleed. "You lead," she grunted around the mice. With the prey in her jaws, it was difficult to scent anything else.
Fernpaw said nothing, but let her flank brush Goldenpaw's, leading her around the worst of the brambles and roots. Goldenpaw accepted the silent guidance, her mind drifting away. If I was back in FireClan and had no prey to add to the fresh-kill pile, I would be going hungry tonight.
Goldenpaw bumped into Fernpaw, who apparently had stopped dead.
"What's going on?" Goldenpaw hissed, still holding the mice.
"There's someone at our den already." Fernpaw whispered back.
What? Goldenpaw dropped the mice at scented the air. Sure enough, there was cat scent coming from somewhere up ahead. "It smells familiar," Goldenpaw whispered.
"That's what I thought too. I think it must be a rogue from the group around here."
"There's a rogue group in the forest?" Goldenpaw mewed worriedly.
"Yeah," Fernpaw murmured, "but they're far off, and I've never gone to investigate."
Goldenpaw took another sniff to identify the stranger. "It's a tom," she whispered, "and I think he's on his own."
"Let's attack him, then." Fernpaw shifted beside her and Goldenpaw felt her muscles bunch. "Before he realizes we're here."
Before Goldenpaw had time to agree, Fernpaw's pelt vanished from her side, and Goldenpaw heard pawsteps rushing away from her. She sprang forward as a yowl sounded ahead. Unsheathing her claws, she leaped towards the sound of fur swishing ahead of her. With a wave of satisfaction she felt cat's fur beneath her claws and she grabbed on.
"Wrong cat!" Fernpaw's voice yowled from directly below her. "Let go, Goldenpaw!"
Fernpaw! Goldenpaw quickly sheathed her claws and jumped off. Stumbling to a halt as she landed, she turned her attention to the fight next to her.
"Get off me!" A strange voice grunted. Fernpaw must have him pinned. Goldenpaw sprang forward and helped Fernpaw hold the tom down, making sure she had the right cat this time.
"What are you doing here?" Goldenpaw hissed.
"This is our den." Fernpaw added.
"Easy, easy!" The tom struggled beneath her claws. "I didn't know, alright? I'm just looking for a place to rest. If you let me up, I'll leave!"
"Don't you already have a place to stay?" Fernpaw asked. "With your rogue friends?"
"I wouldn't call them friends." The tom continued writhing in an attempt to free himself. "Besides, I'm on my own. For now, at least."
"Why?" Goldenpaw mewed. "Did you run away?"
"No. Chased off. When kits are seven moons old, the leader sends them off on their own. When they're twelve moons, they can come back. But not before then." The tom had stopped struggling now, lying limp underneath her paws. Goldenpaw relaxed and took her paws off the tom.
"What happens if the kit can't live on its own?" Fernpaw asked.
"They die." The tom didn't sound sympathetic. "The way our leader sees it, if the kit dies, it was weak. Only the strong have a place in her gang."
Goldenpaw gasped. "That's awful!"
"I know. Even when I am twelve moons, I don't know if I'll return. I don't like such a harsh lifestyle." There was a scrabbling of claws and fur; the rogue must have gotten to his paws. "Are you two rogues as well?"
Goldenpaw shrugged. "More or less. I'm Goldenpaw, by the way."
"And I'm Fernpaw." Fernpaw added. "And you are?"
"Name's Frost." The tom grunted. "But why do both your names end in 'paw?"
"We used to live in Clans," Goldenpaw explained. "I'm from FireClan and Fernpaw is from ValleyClan."
"All apprentices have a name ending in 'paw." Fernpaw mewed.
"Clans? Apprentices?" Frost sounded confused.
Goldenpaw settled herself comfortably on the ground as she and Fernpaw launched into an explanation of the Clans and their rankings. Frost seemed entirely fascinated by the idea.
"But, why did you two leave?" Frost asked.
Goldenpaw helped herself to one of the mice and let Fernpaw explain their pasts. The air had grown cooler while they had been talking. It must be well past dusk by now.
"It's interesting that cats can be exiled from the Clans as well." Frost meowed after Fernpaw had finished. "I knew there was something weird with your eyes," he added to Goldenpaw, "but I didn't want to say anything."
"They aren't weird." Goldenpaw hissed, heaving herself to her paws. "I'm going to get some sleep."
"It is getting late," Fernpaw agreed. "Frost, why don't you stay here tonight? There could be foxes or badgers about."
"Sure." Frost's pawsteps followed the two she-cats into their den.
"Tonight" turned out to be more than Goldenpaw had expected. Frost had stayed with them for a couple of nights, and had joined them on their hunting expeditions and walks in the forest. Why doesn't Fernpaw just ask Frost to stay for good and be done with it? Goldenpaw thought.
"Goldenpaw!" Fernpaw called. Goldenpaw heard pawsteps thudding toward her.
"Yeah?" Goldenpaw mewed, sitting up.
"Do you want to go out into the forest with me and Frost?" Fernpaw asked, Frost's scent next to her. "We're going to practice climbing."
Goldenpaw nodded and got to her paws. "Sure."
Frost led the way out into the forest, Fernpaw just behind him. Goldenpaw followed, concentrating on the touches of Fernpaw's tail to guide her on the clearest path.
"Here we are." Frost meowed.
Goldenpaw scented the air. The tang of oak filled her nose.
"I'll go first." Frost bounded forward, his paws scrabbling on the earth. Goldenpaw waited, hearing occasional grunts and scratching.
"I've asked Frost to stay with us for good, Goldenpaw." Fernpaw's voice whispered in her ear.
"What did he say?"
"He was excited." Fernpaw purred. "I don't think he ever wants to return to that rogue gang."
"Come on, Fernpaw, Goldenpaw!" Frost's voice sounded from far above.
"Let's go!" Fernpaw purred. Her pawsteps thudded away, before they disappeared altogether. There was more scratching as Fernpaw fought to grip the bark. "Hurry up, Goldenpaw!"
"I can't!" Goldenpaw called up at them.
"What?" Fernpaw's surprised mew answered. "Aren't FireClan cats supposed to be good climbers?"
"Yeah, the ones that can see." Goldenpaw raised her head, hoping to scent the other two. "And I never learned before I became blind."
"Just try!" Frost called down.
Goldenpaw padded forward to the base of the tree and placed her paws on the trunk. The bark felt rough under her pads.
"Good. Now dig in your claws and climb up to the nearest branch." Frost instructed.
"I can't tell where the nearest branch is." Goldenpaw snapped. But she unsheathed her claws and hauled herself up a few tail-lengths. "Happy?"
"Not really." Frost's voice was closer; perhaps he was climbing down. "You've got to go higher."
Goldenpaw shook her head. "This is high enough for me, thanks." She began climbing down, but lost her grip and dropped to the ground, landing heavily. "Oof!"
"Graceful." Fernpaw purred from just above her. "Move so I can get down."
Goldenpaw shuffled sideways, and a weight thudded to the ground next to her.
"Frost, are you coming?" Fernpaw teased.
"If you get out of the way."
Frost landed next to them a heartbeat later. "Not bad. Have you-" He broke off, and Goldenpaw could hear him sniffing frantically.
"I smell cats," Frost growled. "but it's not a scent I recognize."
Goldenpaw parted her jaws and sniffed deeply. The scent of intruders filled her senses. "I do," she hissed.
"What?" Fernpaw asked. "Who- …oh." Fernpaw broke off awkwardly.
"Who is it? Frost sounded confused. "Is it someone you know?"
Goldenpaw nodded and let out a snarl. How dare they come here! Fernpaw rested her tail on Goldenpaw's shoulders, perhaps in an attempt to calm her.
"Well, who is it?" Frost repeated.
The fur on Goldenpaw's shoulders rose. "FireClan."
A cliffie! Well, sort of. So... what will happen? What do the FireClan cats want? What does this mean for Goldenpaw, Fernpaw and Frost? Tell me your guesses in a review, and if you're correct you'll get a yummy Scotcheroo! You know, those Rice Krispie bars with chocolate on the top? My mom's making some right now, so the'll be nice and fresh :)
By the way, what do you think of Fernpaw and Frost?
R&R!
~Autumn
