This is the third round of POVs! Yay! Let's all eat cake!
I don't have too many more chapters to post until I actually have to start writing more... I am enjoying my days of laziness.
Pleeeeeease review and follow!
Disclaimer- I DON'T own Warriors.
Chapter 9: Ivypaw
Ivypaw crouched down in the tall grass, her eyes and ears fixed on the squirrel at the base of the tree. She slowly crept nearer and nearer, until it was almost under her paws. Ivypaw lifted one paw to deliver a death blow to the unsuspecting squirrel.
"IVYPAW!" A red-brown blur leaped out of the bushes and slammed into the other apprentice, sending them both tumbling over.
"Cherrypaw!" Ivypaw spat. "That squirrel was practically in my mouth and you scared it away!" The tortoiseshell apprentice shoved her friend off of her and gazed up at the tree, where she could see a climbing chattering squirrel, unaware of its close call with death.
"Sorry, Ivypaw," Cherrypaw had the decency to look ashamed, though the apology didn't go very well with her happy expression. "But guess what?! Indigoshade told me that Foxtail spoke to Fernstar about us going to the Gathering. AND SHE SAID YES!" Cherrypaw did a kind of happy dance all around the woods. Ivypaw stared at her,
"Really?" she squeaked. "Foxtail recommended us? And I don't even have a squirrel to thank him with!" But Ivypaw no longer really cared about the squirrel.
"Are Sparkpaw and Mudpaw coming?" she asked. "I hope Sorrelpaw isn't!"
"I don't know," replied Cherrypaw. "Let's go back to the camp and see." The two apprentices bounded off, side by side until they reached the underground tunnel that indicated their camp.
"Move your butt!" meowed Ivypaw irritably, for Cherrypaw's lower half of the body was poking down into the tunnel as she struggled to get out. That was the problem with the tunnel - it always caused a blockup at the other end, when the cats all tried to burst into camp at once.
"Move your face!" retorted Cherrypaw, but she scrabbled for a hold on the dusty ground and hoisted herself out. Ivypaw followed and made a beeline for the apprentice's den. Pushing aside the bushes, they burst into the apprentice den to find Sparkpaw and Mudpaw talking in whispers,
"Oh, it's you," remarked Mudpaw, looking relieved. "We were just wondering if Sorrelpaw is going to the Gathering."
"Are you?" Cherrypaw asked him.
"Yes," Mudpaw replied, "But poor Sparkpaw isn't. He made a big mistake when he was on elder duty and told old Hollybreath she could clean her own den right under Greycloud's nose!"Mudpaw's whiskers twitched in amusement.
"Well, Hollybreath was asking for it," hissed Sparkpaw furiously, "The furball actually told me she would be keeping an eye on me. When I asked why, she said she knew that I was putting fleas into her fresh moss on purpose!"
Ivypaw and Cherrypaw purred with amusement as Sorrelpaw came bursting into the apprentice den.
"Guess who's going to the Gathering!" she meowed ecstatically. Ivypaw, Cherrypaw, and Mudpaw groaned. Sparkpaw looked much happier.
"Have fun with her!" he meowed gleefully.
Ivypaw skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest. Beyond the treeline she could see a circle of white birch trees, their branches stretching toward the sky while around them milled cats of all different Clans.
"Wow," whispered Cherrypaw softly. "All those cats! And I thought that RainClan had a ton of cats." Ivypaw nodded and followed her mother (Fernstar) into the circle, in which a huge smooth rock jutted out from the hard, dirt-packed ground. Before leaping onto the rock along with the other leaders, Fernstar leaned towards Ivypaw and hissed:
"Stay with RainClan always. DO NOT go talk with other apprentices from different Clans. Stay with RainClan!" Ivypaw cast a doubtful glance at the white and brown she-cat before scurrying off to meet Cherrypaw who was several mouse-lengths away. Cherrypaw had taken no notice that she was gone, and thankfully didn't question Ivypaw. Instead, she started ranting on about what Rabbittail had told her about the Gathering. Ivypaw scarcely heard it. She was too busy staring at the BreezeClan, FogClan and StormClan cats. Her mind was also buzzing with questions.
Why are the BreezeClan cats so lean? And why are the StormClan cats so muscular? And why do the FogClan cats have such soft pads? And WHY do none of them have water-sleek pelts?
"Um, are you okay?" asked Cherrypaw, looking concerned. "You looked a little bit dizzy for a heartbeat."
"I'm fine," stammered Ivypaw. "Come on, let's go meet up with Mudpaw; he's over there with all those BreezeClan cats." As they made their way toward Mudpaw, Ivypaw whispered, "All these cats are so different from Rainclan! They don't have water-proof fur or smell like fish!"
"Yeah!"agreed Cherrypaw under her breath, "They smell so …exotic." They were shouldered aside by a large orange StormClan tom. "Wow!" whispered Cherrypaw, "That must be Lightningflash, StormClan's deputy! Sparkpaw talks about him all the time!"
"Whoa," gasped Ivypaw softly. All these intimidating cats were making her head hurt. Right then, one of the leaders -"that must be Jaggedstar!" whispered Cherrypaw- bounded onto the rock and yowled loudly.
"We are wasting Moonlight! Let the Gathering start!" At once, all the cats fell silent and Jaggedstar proceeded in speaking the news of FogClan. Squinting, she could barely make out a grey tabby, who looked no older than a newly made apprentice, inching away from Jaggedstar, as if he was breaking a rule by doing so. Ivypaw's ears pricked up. He must have had the same instructions about staying near your leader!
"-And we are pleased to welcome Swiftpaw-" the grey apprentice stopped moving and raised his head, "Emberpaw, Cloverpaw and Icepaw to the apprentice's den," concluded Jaggedstar. "And as a further note, the prey on the RainClan border is running low. Our kits are weak and scrawny, and our warriors are exhausted from hunting so often yet finding so little. We would appreciate it if RainClan," the black tom dipped his head towards Fernstar, "would be so kind as to let us hunt on their territory for as long as necessary." Fernstar looked outraged.
"NEVER!" she spat, "RainClan territory belongs to RainClan and RainClan only! Go hunt on your StormClan border for all we care! RainClan has not shared their territory for years and is not going to start now." Ivypaw was shocked at her mother's hostility. She had never seen Fernstar like this; her back arched, fur bristling, and teeth bared. Jaggedstar narrowed his eyes at her.
"Then I'm afraid FogClan will have to do things their own way," he decided, every word tense. Never had Ivypaw listened to a louder silence. Suddenly, a darkness enveloped them all. Ashstar looked up and his green eyes filled with worry.
"The Gathering has come to an end! StarClan has covered the moon!" shouted another voice, which Ivypaw recognized as Miststar, leader of StormClan. Ivypaw growled in annoyance. Why did StarClan make my first gathering so bad? she wondered. Ivypaw pushed her way through the crowd of cats, not paying particular attention to where she was going until she stumbled into a certain grey tabby apprentice.