For the few of you who already saw that I uploaded Chapter 9, that was a mistake. It wasn't the full chapter. This is the chapter in it's entirety.
Chapter 9
Four moons had passed since Reedpelt fell ill to Greencough. He had shaken off the worst of the illness, but his strength had yet to return. He could still hunt but it left him so exhausted Silverstar limited his patrols to one a day. Shadewhisper was still keeping a close eye on him, worried something was wrong. It was unusual for cats to have such a long, lingering effect from Greencough.
The sickness had spread to only a few cats. Wetfoot, Duskflower, Whitepaw had been the first cats to catch it. Wetfoot had regained his strength quickly and the sickness had been cured completely within a half moon. Duskflower and Whitepaw picked it up within a few sunrises of each other and were healthy after a moon.
Bumblenose, the elder, had caught it only a moon ago and joined StarClan that night, in his sleep. Willowshadow, Rockshade and Nighteye, his denmates, had mourned him deeply. And then Sootfall contracted it.
Moonfeather sighed as she remembered the frightening days that left her treasuring each of her brother's heartbeats.
Sootfall had been hunting with Reedpelt, Splashspot, and Shadowfoot. Prey was scare, so they had to stay out longer and still had caught only meager pickings for the clan. Sootfall was cold and tired, so he had been more vulnerable. Shadewhisper suspected he had picked it up from Reedpelt. She didn't tell the deputy, but she did make him take a break from patrols for a quarter moon. It would protect him as well as the rest of the clan.
Sootfall had resided in the medicine cat's den for two quarter moons. Moonfeather's throat tightened as she remembered how pitiful Sootfall looked; His fur was ungroomed, sticking up in untidy tuffs and littered with scraps of moss and reeds. His eyes were glazed with fever, and his nose was runny. His cough sounded like it could split him into two and he looked so weak. Birchpath had been Moonfeather's rock, her support system. He had been strong for her the entire time, even though it pained him just as much.
Galestrike, on the other paw, hadn't been helpful at all. That one gentle moment she saw him share with Birchpath had passed quickly and as soon as Reedpelt had been getting better, he turned back into his new nasty self.
"Moonfeather!" it was Silverstar. Quickly the she-cat shook her head, as if to rid it of all the bad thoughts, and bounded up to her mother. "Will you lead a hunting party please?" The leader asked. Since her deputy had gotten sick, the silver-she cat had been assigning and sorting out the patrols.
"Yes. Who shall I take with me?" The she cat asked.
"Anyone you'd like. I already sent out the other patrols." With an affectionate lick on her daughter's ear, Silverstar called out to Galestrike and Rosedrop. Moonfeather watched her go before padded to the warrior's den.
"Birchpath, Shadowfoot, Sandclaw, will you come hunting with me please?" She meowed, naming a few of the warriors in the den. The three cats get to their paws and the patrol left the den.
"Just when I thought I was going to get some rest!" Sandclaw teased, flicking her tail at Moonfeather.
On their way to the entrance, Moonfeather saw Galestrike and Rosedrop now talking with their apprentices. Whitepaw was waving her tail excitedly and her blue eyes sparkled excitedly. Her paws were scuffling the ground, as if she were too excited to sit still. Flarepaw was more composed, but his eyes still danced with anticipation.
Out in the forest, Moonfeather proposed the idea of splitting up. The forest was till recovering from the harsh Leaf-bare. "It would be easier. Less paws make less noise." She added.
"Fine with me. I'll be hunting downstream." Birchpath said.
"I'm going hunt land prey, gain more experience." Sandclaw meowed.
"I'll hunt by the Sunningrocks river." Shadowfoot mewed.
"All right. Meet back here when you're done." Moonfeather looked at each cat, seeing the agreement in their eyes before she dashed off to her desired hunting area. Birchpath followed Shadowfoot a ways, but then veered off on the well-worn hunting path. Sandclaw would be hunting in the opposite direction, among the willow trees.
Moonfeather decided she too would hunt mice and birds but she chose a different direction than the way Sandclaw would take. Suddenly she froze and listened harder. There! Instinctively, she bent down into her hunter's crouch, raising her tail just enough so it wouldn't drag and keeping her ears back. Carefully she set down each paw, closer and closer and then…pounce!
She mistimed the leap though and the bird unfolded its wings to escape. Determined, she jumped again, up this time, and snatched the creature out the sky. A bite to the spine killed the sparrow. "Wow nice job!" The voice startled her and her mouth gaped, causing the fresh-kill to fall to the ground.
"Flarepaw!" She exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing?"
"My warrior's assessment. But I saw you stalking and thought I could pick up so tips from you. You're a brilliant hunter." Flarepaw said, unashamed.
"Oh, um. Thanks." Moonfeather's ears grew hot with embarrassment.
Flarepaw blinked at her, seeming to soak up as much as her limited praise as he could. The she-cat's embarrassment grew.
"Maybe you should get back to your assessment. Rosedrop won't be too pleased to find you wasting hunting time. It's not how a warrior acts." Moonfeather said to fill the awkward silence and to get away from Flarepaw's unblinking amber eyes that seem to stare into her soul.
"Right. As soon as I'm a warrior, we'll be able to hunt and patrol together." Before Moonfeather could say anything else, he said, "Goodbye!"
Moonfeather felt relief for the first time since Flarepaw spotted her. "Bye."
After that, Moonfeather threw her mind back into the hunt. She caught another bird and made a quick trip to the river and caught a trout. She recollected all of her prey and set off to meet up with the rest of her patrol.
Sandclaw and Shadowfoot were there already, waiting and discussing their days hunt. Moonfeather jogged over to them and placed her prey down. "How's the hunting?" She asked.
"The prey's coming back. I caught two mice." Sandclaw meowed.
"I got the biggest trout I've ever seen. Tried getting a carp but it got away. How about you?"
" Mouse and two birds." Moonfeather responded, nodding toward her contribution of fresh-kill. "Where's Birchpath?" She asked.
"Hasn't shown up yet." Sandclaw meowed, just as Moonfeather's brother padded up. He carried a rabbit in his jaws.
"Nice catch!" Shadowfoot purred. The ginger brown tom nodded his thanks so he didn't have to put his rabbit down. The rest of the cats gathered up their catches and Moonfeather led them home.
It was past Sunhigh when they returned to camp. Silvserstar was already sitting on Mossrock. Flarepaw and Whitepaw sat at the front of the crowd with their mentors.
Reedpelt sat at the deputy position at the foot of Mossrock. He was gazing proudly at his son. Whitepaw was Galestrike's first apprentice and she had really learned her warrior skills well. Moonfeather's stomach twisted as she looked at Reedpelt. He'll be fine. She reminded herself.
Sootfall was sitting with Vinepaw and Oakheart. Quickly Moonfeather and the rest of the patrol deposited their prey on the pile and sat down with their clanmates. Birchpath and his sister sat with Oakstorm, Sootfall and Vinepaw.
Silverstar waited another moment and then drew her breath to say, "Galestrike, are you satisfied Whitepaw has learned the skills she need to be a warrior? Does she know the warrior code?"
Galestrike stood up and addressed Silverstar evenly. "Yes. She will make a fine warrior."
The silver leader nodded to Galestrike and turned to Rosedrop. "Has Flarepaw learned his warrior skills? Does he understand the warrior code?"
"Yes he has and he does." Rosedrop meowed.
"Come forward you two." As they stepped from the crowd, Silverstar jumoed from Mossrock. Gazing down on the two young cats, she meowed, "I Silverstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down upon these two apprentices. They had trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend them to you as warriors."
"Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend this clan, even with the cost of your life?" Silverstar asked.
Whitepaw's riveting blue eyes sparkled like the stars. Her voice was smooth like honey as she purred, "I do."
"And do you, Flarepaw, promise to uphold the warrior code and defend the clan, even at the cost of your own life?" Silverstar turned to the ginger tom.
"I do." His voice was tough and as he said his vows he turned to look at Moonfeather. Quickly she averted his glance, looking instead at Whitepaw.
"Then, with the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Whitepaw from this day forward, you will be known as Whitesnow. Starclan honors your honesty and carefulness. We welcome you as a warrior." The leader placed her muzzle on Whitesnow's head and the new warrior responded by licking Silverstar's shoulder respectfully.
"Flarepaw from this moment on, you shall be known as Flarestep. StarClan thanks you for your kindness and energy. We welcome you as a full warrior." Silverstar stepped over to him and greeted him. He returned the gesture and stepped back beside his sister.
Far off, in a whole other world, a cat was hunting. This cat's pelt was black with ginger specks and he walked with quiet movements. His ears were back, his head down and his tail was slightly lifted. Using a tree for cover, he scanned his prey.
He waited another moment and sprung. With a bite to the throat, the creature died. It was a quick, clean kill, with hardly any blood dripping out of the bite marks. There hadn't been time for the creature to squeal with fear, which made it all the better. He dragged the large body off further into the woods. The trees become larger, the leaves bigger. Soon the light of the moon and the starts could not be seen. It was as dark as a raven and cold as a snowstorm.
"Hey Boss, how's this?" the black and ginger cat called. A brown and black tabby padded over to him.
"Yes, yes. An excellent first kill." He commented, looking at the prey. The other tom puffed out his chest with pride and glanced around the stinking forest, hoping some other cats could witness his accomplishment.
The dead cat's eyes gazed at nothing.
A/N: Sorry guys. This was supposed to go up yesterday, but a certain someone who was helping me didn't respond until really late. And this morning, the wifi wasn't working. But here it is now. I really liked writing this, particularly the last part. And Flarepaw's so cute. ^_^
What can I do to get more reviews? I mean I really really appreciate everyone who reads but I've only been getting 2 or so reviews a chapter. Should I do like trivia? Ask you a question about this story or Silverkit's struggles and the first one who revoews with the correct answer gets to pick the names of two kits or something like that to go in the story?
On that note, if, when this story is done, you wanna read a cannon story about Hawkfrost and a ThunderClan she-cat, tell me so. That idea has been floating around in my head for a while.