Chapter 10
The morning was far brighter than Dewstep could've imagined as he opened his eyes to the early morning sun peeking into the den. More of a flash, a blinding moment where he thought he would reawaken in his dreams again, to be terrorized by something he didn't understand. No, the night had been peaceful as far as he was concerned. This was a bright new day and hopefully a brighter and better life that would follow.
Dewstep sat up a bit and very quietly peered out of the den, the clearing below him was filled with cats getting ready for the day. Another cat, a she-cat with dark ginger fur, was issuing orders for patrols for the day. It seemed the first patrol consisted of Graystripe, Dustpelt, Thornclaw and Shadepaw. From the way Thornclaw and Shadepaw acted, Thornclaw was the master of an apprentice who seemed to bounce around a lot.
I don't envy him, I bet Shadepaw is rather hard to keep still on training days, Dewstep thought, remembering how Hollyleaf trained him and his brother. Even during their training, Hollyleaf would leave for several days at a time (As much as four days gone at one point, from what Dewstep remembered) and would return.
Rarely did she tell her kits what she had been doing. But as they got older and understood more and more of the warrior code, Dewstep realized why she had so much information on the clans. She had worked as a spy before they were born, keeping note of everything that happened with a memory that seemed to last forever. No matter how much time had passed, she remembered the little things. Every little thing that happened seemed to go through Hollyleaf, and she knew more than she let on, Dewstep thought.
But watching the clan move about was a wonderful thing. It had filled the air with a sense of order, cats didn't rush around in desperation but with purpose. Kits were playing near the bottom, yelling and tossing a moss ball while laughing. Dewstep smiled softly before looking over. The dark ginger she-cat was done yelling orders, she giving herself the sun-high patrol, and had begun to walk over to Dewstep.
She was pretty, Dewstep had to admit, but he didn't really care much as he tried to sit a bit taller. Always, he always came up short no matter how tall he tried to stand.
"Bramblestar would like to see you," she meowed with a smile. "He has some good news for you, I would like to think." The she-cat purred before jumping down towards the center, speaking quickly with another cat about something as Dewstep looked towards Bramblestar's den. His heart raced with anticipation, ready for the response to be a no, even with the ginger cat's smile and her kind words.
Taking a deep breath, he padded up to the den and gave a gentle scratch to the rocky surface to let Bramblestar know he was coming. A reply of "Come in" greeted him and Dewstep peered inside to see Bramblestar sitting up. Amber eyes stared out from the darkness towards him, though some light had gotten into the den and revealed the large tabby coat.
Bowing his head in respect, Dewstep slowly sat down as Bramblestar's large body loomed closer.
"I will give you a similar speech that Bluestar gave Firestar, clan life is one of the hardest you can imagine." Bramblestar walked outside and onto the ledge, Dewstep following slowly and sitting beside him as Bramblestar sat and looked over the clearing as clan life ran about, doing their daily duties. "Being in a clan isn't for everyone, many rogues like to live alone and being near so many cats can be terrifying. You don't smell of many cats, Dewstep." More respect for his name being said, and Dewstep felt his heart race faster. "You barely have the scent of two, one of them faded so much that it took a moment to notice. You aren't a kittypet, even if you are small, you are strong and don't smell like twolegs." Bramblestar turned his gaze over to Dewstep. "I would have turned back away from the clans if I were in your position, but your mother… Snake, was it? You're doing this for an exiled cat who could never live with us."
Dewstep nodded very slowly.
The tabby looked down over the clan again. "You are allowed to stay. Firestar would have let you in because he hated the thought of leaving cats behind, and he was shown a kind courtesy from Bluestar. She was a leader before he was, I barely remember too much about her now, but she was a powerful leader, that was for sure." Bramblestar looked up towards the sky. "I have a feeling Starclan has been watching over you for many moons, Dewstep."
Dewstep's eyes widened a bit at the news, he smiling more and he gave a polite bow. "Thank you, Bramblestar," he meowed, his tail lifting up slightly as Bramblestar looked down at the small cat. "This is amazing, I never thought I'd be able to get into the clans at all." Dewstep let out a long purr.
"Don't think you'll be welcome by everyone," Bramblestar muttered. "Even I was born into the clans and I wasn't accepted for many, many moons."
"I don't want to be accepted by everyone, Bramblestar," Dewstep replied, the smile remaining on his face. "To at least be accepted by the majority and make a couple friends along the way is all I want."
"You may find that quite easy here, I don't know." Bramblestar finally cracked a smile for a moment before looking at Dewstep. "How much training have you had? The warriors who let me know about you seem to think you may have more training than you let on."
Shrugging a bit, Dewstep replied, "I would hope all that I would need. My mother taught me how to fight with and against every clan, although her information does have a chance to be outdated. She said that she was born into the clans before the Great Journey." Dewstep looked out over the cats in the clearing, some glancing up at the two before minding their own business. "I do miss my mother, sometimes I wish she could see us now."
"Depending on if her exile was based upon a true crime or not, maybe she is," Bramblestar kept his gaze on Dewstep, almost as if analyzing him.
Dewstep brought his eyes to the sky, his green eyes shining brightly. He knew Hollyleaf wasn't dead, but in a way, he wished she could see him now. To stand tall above the clan with the wind blowing through his thick fur, it was the best feeling Dewstep had. Hopefully Darkfire feels this way in Shadowclan, if nothing else, Dewstep thought as he looked back at Bramblestar. "I was born a warrior, I promise that."
"Ask Squirrelflight for your first assignment, then," Bramblestar's tail flicked, brushing over the dust. "May Starclan light your path, Dewstep." With that, Dewstep gave one more polite bow before looking around, then turned to Bramblestar who chuckled just a slight bit. "She's the dark ginger cat, by the fresh-kill pile."
"Thank you," Dewstep smiled a bit and slowly made his way down, looking around for the cat Bramblestar had described. His green eyes finally found a ginger she-cat, and he blinked a bit. The only ginger she-cat was the one who sent her up to Bramblestar in the first place and his tail flicked a bit as he walked over. No longer did his heart race as he stood before the she-cat. "Bramblestar said you would have an assignment for me…?"
Squirrelflight turned and looked at him, then gave a soft purr. "I have a question first… Why are you so small and yet your mother gave you a warrior name? You look like an apprentice."
The question made Dewstep pause in his tracks, tail flicking a bit. How many cats are going to think I'm an apprentice? He wondered to himself, somewhat in irritation. "My mother was small, if you could see my brother, I'm sure he's just as big as Bramblestar." Squirrelflight laughed. "I'm just small, like H… Snake." Panic spread through Dewstep instantly, but Squirrelflight didn't seem to notice he had made any mistake at all. Mouse-brain! He wanted to growl to himself, hard to call Hollyleaf by a different name so often in one place. It wasn't right.
"Alright," Squirrelflight shook her head. "Go get some new bedding for the elders den and then come back to me before sun-high, you'll take that patrol with me." She turned towards the apprentices den (which Dewstep had assumed because cats as big as him were rough-housing near the front entrance of it) and she called out to one of them. "Firepaw! Get over here!"
Dewstep could barely hear the conversation that followed with the apprentices.
"She's mad, you'd better go to her."
"Aren't you almost always in trouble?"
"I don't know what I did this time." That must've been Firepaw.
"Weren't you the one who had disturbed the warriors in their den?"
"No! That was Shadepaw!"
"He must have blamed you, I know he was assigned to the midnight patrol while he was sleeping, he was punished for that."
"Then wouldn't I have gotten punished then too?"
Squirrelflight seemed to laugh a bit before calling for her again.
"I have to go, sorry guys."
The bright ginger apprentice was far more colorful than Squirrelflight and she bolted over, her green eyes looking up as she tried to act innocent. "You're coming with me and Dewstep to collect bedding for the elders." Firepaw blinked a bit, as if surprised she wasn't getting in trouble for anything.
"Okay!" she responded happily, looking up to the elder's den. "I'd like to hear more of Spiderleg's stories anyways." Firepaw smiled more and stood beside Squirrelflight as she rolled her eyes a bit and began to walk towards the entrance. As they were leaving camp, Dewstep caught two cats looking at him. One had a gray tabby pelt and pale blue eyes, the den he sat near had the scents of many plants, ones that Dewstep hardly recognized anymore from Hollyleaf's training.
The pale eyes rested on Dewstep and he realized the cat must have been blind, remembering Hollyleaf mentioning that the medicine cat of Thunderclan was entirely blind. He saw nothing, but in many ways, it was like he saw everything. Nothing got past the medicine cat, and Dewstep was afraid of that.
Beside the gray cat was a golden one who stood tall, his tail flicking a bit as he watched Dewstep. His brightened golden eyes had a hint of distrust but there was also curiosity. The cat seemed strong, maybe stronger than Darkfire himself, a belief that Dewstep could barely hold onto.
Looking away, Dewstep followed Firepaw and Squirrelflight out of the den, and before either of them could say anything, he spoke. "Who is the medicine cat of the clan?"
An ear flicked from Squirrelflight.
Firepaw was the first to answer. "That would be Jayfeather! He's really irritating sometimes, but he can be fun too! Sometimes I think he can see us because of how he seems to look around the camp!" Firepaw was very energetic, and Dewstep chuckled a bit. His eyes remained on Firepaw for a moment before looking ahead. "Some of the clan says Jayfeather can peek-"
"That's enough, Firepaw, no need to be so hasty with all the information we have," Squirrelflight laughed a bit. Dewstep could tell she was trying to stop Firepaw from telling a secret that he didn't know. But I do, Hollyleaf knows that Jayfeather can see into the minds of others, and if I am correct, then the golden warrior is Lionblaze. He can't be defeated in battle. Hollyleaf… Why do those two have these abilities you spoke of once? Dewstep thought to himself before he realized Squirrelflight was speaking. "-And Firepaw can be a bit rash at times."
"Hey!"
"It's true." Squirrelflight laughed more and looked back towards Dewstep. "She's just like Firestar, I can imagine her being leader one day. If she ever learns to be quiet and stop messing around." Squirrelflight glared at Firepaw, who looked up innocently before she noticed the patches of moss where they gathered their bedding. "I assume that since your mother made you into a warrior, you know how to gather moss?"
Dewstep nodded lightly. "We didn't have to do it often, since there was only three of us, but yes."
"Three?"
"My brother, Darkfire. He believes Shadowclan is Snake's ancestor, not Thunderclan. But with her, it was always hard to tell what she was talking about." Dewstep used his claws to begin gathering chunks of clean moss. "I'm many moons older than you think I am," Dewstep stated, looking at Firepaw. "Just because I'm small, it doesn't mean I'm an apprentice. I probably know more about fighting than you." He grins playfully.
Firepaw stuck her tongue out at him and growled. "We shall see about that."
"I'd like to see your fighting skills, Dewstep," Squirrelflight spoke now, rolling her eyes and batting Firepaw to the side. "And you aren't going to fight him. Not unless Bramblestar says so." Firepaw's tail drooped and brushed against the ground. "Don't worry, you'll probably fight him first if you beg Bramblestar enough."
The idea didn't seem all too bad to Dewstep, fighting to prove he had skill of any sort. It would be somewhat easy, since he was trained to fight against all the clans. Thunderclan's weaknesses lied within speed, they were built to be strong but if Dewstep were to be faster (making his small size a huge advantage) then he could beat almost anyone thrown at him. The warriors may still be fast, however, and Dewstep knew he would have to analyze patterns in fighting styles. Not everyone would go down the same way, and even one slip up would have to be an advantage taken or he would lose battles consecutively.
"Come on, let's get this to Spiderleg and we can talk to Bramblestar to see if we can schedule a practice for tomorrow. Dewstep is a part of the clan now, I hope he can stay. He's interesting, to say the least, right Firepaw?" Squirrelflight smiled as she picked up the moss.
"Right!"
The den was cold and lonely without the brothers, Hollyleaf sitting alone and sighing a bit as she looked at the old bedding. Taking in their scents, Hollyleaf's tail flicked slowly as she glanced at each one. "Hopefully their mission is exceeding my expectations," she whispered to herself, feeling her hatred boil at her blood. "The only ones who can stop them are my brothers… Jayfeather better keep his head to himself while my sons are there." A growl rose in her throat.
Turning away from the beds, she began to tear at her own in anger. "I am the third. Starclan's prophecy has failed, I cannot be there to complete their stupid prophecy. If they needed me, they would have searched farther than their territory. No, they don't care."
As Hollyleaf slowly calmed down, she heard the sound of pawsteps outside, her ears perking up slowly. I have visitors, it seems, Hollyleaf thought as she turned around, trying to listen to the voices that were outside. Pawsteps moved around quietly, the sound of rain surrounding them. Hollyleaf couldn't tell how many there were, but she could tell there was as many as maybe ten others. But there was a chance towards lesser, maybe four or five at least.
"I know you're here, Snake," another voice carried through the clearing above her. The den was dug out into the ground a little further than it had been, and it made the sounds of rain at night calm Hollyleaf. "Or should I call you Hollyleaf? Which do you prefer?"
The voice was familiar, Hollyleaf remembered it from somewhere, but the moons had been long past since she last saw him.
Looking up and peeking her head out of the den, she watched cats walk around the clearing with their pelts bristled, thunder and lightning crackling through the sky. "Come on, Hollyleaf, it's me, and I think you owe me an explanation." Turning her gaze, she screeched as someone grabbed her by the back of her throat, dragging her out of the hole. Turning, she tried to claw but found nothing but air as she was tossed aside.
Coughing and glaring at the cat, she watched as his gray pelt became more familiar and his yellow eyes glowed as lightning broke the sky behind her.
"I think it is time for you to tell me where our kits are."
