Dawn: Okay, I decided to give you one more chance. Maybe two, if I feel like it. I need reviews!
Dusk: Please leave a good review if you like the story! She got two reviews yesterday, but she said three. She needs more reviews!
Dawn: And when I said there is a contest to figure out Hollyleaf's warning, I meant 'Beware the Sun's fury. It will be unleashed in blood and darkness, and the lake will dry up'. I will keep Falconkit sent in byNianque, since he guessed the Fourth Apprentice correctly. Make sure to guess, because Brightheart has at least three kits.
Hollyleaf: So R&R!
"This is the Sky Oak, the tallest oak tree in the forest. Cinderheart once tried to climb it to get Mousewhisker down. She fell and broke her hind leg, but she's better now," Sorreltail told the two newest apprentices.
"Isn't Cinderheart your daughter?" Ivypaw asked.
"Yes." Sorreltail looked at the tree in lost memories. "She was born just after Cinderpelt, the medicine cat before Leafpool, died helping me give birth during a badger attack."
"So you named her Cinderkit after Cinderpelt?" Dovepaw asked.
"Yes."
"Sorreltail, we need to finish showing them the territory," Brackenfur pointed out.
"Oh, right," Sorreltail agreed. "Let's go along the WindClan border." The four cats walked a little ways, then stopped at a slightly barren piece of land with some veggitation.
"Onestar tried to give Firestar this chunck of land when they were still friends," Brackenfur explained. "Firestar gave it back so that WindClan wouldn't look weak to other Clans."
"Firestar should've kept it in my opinion," Sorreltail griped. "There are good herbs that grow here."
"Well, what's done is done," Brackenfur sighed. They started to turn away, but were interrupted by an unfamiliar yowl that hurt Ivypaw's ears.
"ThunderClan so near the border? Why don't they stick closer to their own territory?"
"Greetings, Crowfeather, Owlwhisker, Leaftail, and Swallowpaw," Brackenfur meowed smoothly. "We were just showing our new apprentices the border."
"Couldn't you show them the border a little farther away?" the smoky gray cat hissed.
"How are they supposed to recognize the scent markers, Crowfeather?"
"We're not stupid. Firestar sent you to try to take back this piece of land, didn't he?" the dark tabby hissed.
"No," Brackenfur replied.
"We know liers when we see them," snapped the light brown tabby.
"Do you?"
"WindClan, attack!" yowled Crowfeather. The dark gray apprentice leaped at Ivypaw, and bowled her over.
"We'll see how trained you really are," the apprentice hissed, unsheathing her claws and raking them accross Ivypaw's ear. Ivypaw wailed in pain. She heard Crowfeather and Sorreltail hissing and clawing, and Dovepaw yowling in pain, and that gave her strength. She did not want to see her sister hurt.
"Take that," she hissed, leaping up and clawing the apprentice's side. Her small kit claws barely made a scratch in the apprentice's fur, but Ivypaw didn't back down. Suddenly she felt herself fall backward as the apprentice leaped on top of her.
"You fight weaker than a kittypet," the apprentice jeered. Ivypaw felt a sudden burst of energy, but she couldn't get the apprentice off. Suddenly there was a deafening crack, and a branch fell from one of the great oaks in ThunderClan territory. It landed directly on the apprentice's shoulders, and she fell. She didn't move again.
"Swallowpaw!" the light brown tabby wailed. "StarClan, what have you done?"
"WindClan, retreat!" Crowfeather yowled. The dark tabby leaped off of Dovepaw, and the WindClan cats carried the dead apprentice back into their own territory.
"How did that happen?" Brackenfur hissed. "One moment we were fighting, and they were about to finish us off. The next, one apprentice was dead, and they ran off."
"That stupid tree branch," Sorreltail hissed. "That apprentice didn't deserve to die." Ivypaw didn't understand why that made her feel worse. She felt responsible for the apprentice's death.
"That's enough for today," Brackenfur panted. "Let's go back to camp."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"And so the WindClan cats attacked us for no reason. The apprentice who was on top of Ivypaw was getting ready to claw her to death, but a branch fell on top of her and she died." Brackenfur was explaining to Firestar the battle earlier.
"Well, that wasn't your fault," Firestar meowed. "I'm only glad the branch missed Ivypaw. We could've been mourning a death too."
Ivypaw shivered. She hadn't realized how close to death she had been.
"Well, it's been a long day for you four. Get Dovepaw and Ivypaw to the medicine cat's den, and then go have a rest," Firestar ordered Brackenfur and Sorreltail. They dipped their heads, and padded over to the two sisters.
"Firestar wants you to go to the medicine cat's den," Sorreltail said.
"Why?"
"You haven't seen yourselves, have you? Dovepaw has a scratch on her side and tail, and Ivypaw has a nick in her ear and several scratches on her hindquarters," Sorreltail fretted. Ivypaw hadn't noticed the pain because she still felt guilty for Swallowpaw's death. Glumly, she and Dovepaw trudged to the medicine cat's den, not looking forward to seeing Jayfeather.
"Silly apprentices," he purred when he saw them. "Picking fights before you even learn how."
"We didn't--" Dovepaw began, but Jayfeather interrupted.
"I was just joking," he meowed. He looked directly at Ivypaw. "But first, I need to talk to Ivypaw." Ivypaw looked at the blind medicine cat in suprise. "Come to the back of the den. Dovepaw, kindly wait outside." They did as they were told.
"Now," Jayfeather began. "Tell me about the battle."
"Swallowpaw or whatever her name was attacked me. She really was hurting me, so I got really angry. Then I felt this energy building up inside of me, and the branch cracked," Ivypaw reluctantly explained.
"I see," Jayfeather mused. "Ivypaw, you must come speak with Lionblaze and I tomorrow. We have something to tell you." Too tired to argue, Ivypaw nodded.
"I need to stop the bleeding on your wounds," Jayfeather continued. "Come here." He applied cobwebs and a wierd yellow flower to her ear and side, then dismissed her. "Tell Dovepaw to come in."
"What did he say?" Dovepaw asked when she came out.
"He wanted to know what happened in the battle. Now I'm going to get some sleep," Ivypaw told her. She padded away to the apprentice's den, and curled up. And like usual, she dreamed. But again, the dream was different.
Dawn: Left you with a cliffie, didn't I?
Dusk: Cliffies mean more reviews.
Hollyleaf: So review!
Dawn: please? *puppy eyes*
