Yaaaaaay! I can hardly believe I'm on Chapter Ten already! By the way, pay close attention to this chapter, this is where stuff starts getting good.
Ticking Down: 0-0 Omg, you are creepy my friend, very strange. But thanks so much for reviewing!
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own warriors, Erin Hunter has all rights to the warrior world.
Chapter Ten
Russetpaw was woken out of her nap by a paw shaking her roughly. Her green eyes flashed open to find Raventuft standing over her.
"Come on Russetpaw, get up! It's time for the gathering," he grumbled, turning to leave the den when he saw she was awake.
Three quarter moons had passed since Stripedpelt had died. Russetpaw still felt guilty, even as she drew herself out of her nest. She stretched, straining the muscles that were sore from battle training yesterday.
Raventuft seemed to train Russetpaw even harder these days, waking her up extra early to go on the dawn patrol, and then expecting her to hunt for the elders straight after.
I don't even want to go to this gathering… she thought. There were too many horrible things that happened in the past moon and Russetpaw did not want to be reminded of them. Minnowtail and Stripedpelt had died, and prey seemed to be getting more and more scarce as the river froze even more.
Ignoring the small pang of hunger in her belly, the apprentice padded out of her den, pausing to glance at the sky.
What is Raventuft mewing about? The sun hasn't even began to set yet! It's not time to go. She snorted at Raventuft's mistake and picked up a trout from the small heap of fresh-kill, the smell making her stomach yowl. The fresh-kill pile was growing smaller every day because of the cold weather, and the Clan was hungrier than ever.
I guess Swiftfoot, Creamfur, and the kits need it more than I do. Russetpaw padded over to the nursery, purring as she heard the kits rustling inside.
She pushed through the reeds and was greeted by Swiftfoot's kits, who were tumbling around at her feet.
"Russetpaw!" squeaked Splashkit, a blue-gray she-cat. "Is that for me?"
Before the apprentice could reply, a bundle of brown fur pounced on Splashkit.
"It's for me!" Exclaimed Sprucekit proudly, standing up as tall as he could in front of Russetpaw. "I'm the biggest, so I get the trout."
"Maybe I should get it." A quiet, high-pitched mew came from behind Splashkit, and Russetpaw realized that Birdkit was speaking. The small kit looked weak compared to her siblings and Russetpaw couldn't help wondering if there was something wrong with the diminutive she-cat.
Twitching her whiskers to cover her concern, Russetpaw placed the trout down on the nursery's sandy floor.
"We all need to share the prey." Swiftfoot purred from her nest of soft moss and bracken.
Though the black queen sounded cheerful, Russetpaw could tell she was exhausted from caring for her boisterous young kits.
"How about you three go to Shellcloud's den? I'm sure Flamepaw will be willing to play a game with you and share some of his prey," Russetpaw told the kits affectionately. "But don't bother Shellcloud!" She added as she watched them bound out of their den, their tiny tails held high.
"Thank you, Russetpaw. We already ate, so you can share that with another cat before the gathering," Swiftfoot muttered, as she lay her head down and closed her eyes sleepily.
Russetpaw nodded, and saw Creamfur curled in her nest on the other side of the nursery. She picked up the trout once more and then hurried out of the den.
After sharing a quick meal with Gingerflame and and Puddlespots, the clan was ready to go to the gathering.
Russetpaw sat down next to Sparkpaw, waiting to hear who would be going.
"Do you know if you can go?" Sparkpaw asked her, excitement bristling in every hair of her dark ginger pelt.
"Yes. Raventuft already told me I'm going, but I don't really want to," she replied, not matching her friend's enthusiasm.
Before Sparkpaw could ask why, Blizzardstar's yowl sounded across the clearing.
"Cat's of RiverClan! It is time for the gathering. The cats who will be going are Lizardstripe, Mistyfeather, Raventuft, Sunblaze, Acornpelt, Fishclaw, Tidetail, Shimmertail, Puddlespots, Dimfur, Dovesong, Russetpaw, Foxpaw, and Muddypaw."
Russetpaw glanced at the newest apprentices, catching glimpses of excitement and a bit of nervousness in their gazes. That's how I felt at the last gathering, but now…
"You're so lucky!" Sparkpaw's envious meow snapped Russetpaw out of her thoughts. "I wish I could come."
Russetpaw shrugged, and nodded a quick goodbye, before padding off to find Raventuft.
"Are you ready?" He grumbled, flicking his tail anxiously.
The ginger apprentice narrowed her eyes. Why is he so keen to go?
Heartbeats later, Russetpaw padded after the dark, tabby tom, stumbling to keep up. The cheerful cries of her clanmates filled the night air as they padded along the riverbank.
Why is every cat so excited? So many things happened in this past moon that we shouldn't be celebrating.
Russetpaw flattened her ears to her head as snow hit her forcefully.
"Hey! Watch it," she hissed, turning to face Foxpaw.
"Sorry!" She squeaked, clearly embarrassed. "That was for him." She flicked her fluffy, white tail tip over to her brother, who was walking next to Dovesong.
The rest of RiverClan twitched their whiskers, while stifling purrs of amusement at the apprentices' scuffle.
Russetpaw was concentrating on getting the Clan eyes off of her, so she stared at her paws, hardly noticing that Acornpelt was walking next to her.
"Hey," He meowed, his eyes full of concern as he watched her. "You've seemed a bit… out of it lately. What's wrong?"
Russetpaw hesitated, embarrassment fizzing up inside her.
"Well…" She didn't know how to start. "I-I guess… um…" Russetpaw trailed off, staring into space and trying to find the words to explain her feelings to Acornpelt. "I feel like it's my fault that Stripedpelt died. If I could have just warned Raventuft sooner, than we could have found shelter," she confessed, the shame and sorrow rushing all back to her, so powerful it almost knocked her off her paws; but at the same time, she felt a kind of peace. Russetpaw had not had anyone to talk to about her feelings for almost a moon, and they had just bottled up inside of her.
Acornpelt's deep amber gaze filled with sympathy as he rested the tip of his tail on Russetpaw's shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Russetpaw. Everything happens for a reason."
His words comforted Russetpaw as RiverClan finally reached the tree-bridge. Up ahead, Dimfur and Puddlespots were instructing their apprentices about the slippery trunk.
Foxpaw went first, obviously overconfident, and raced along the fallen oak. Not minding Puddlespots' warning, she dashed along the log until she hit a slippery, smooth spot, and suddenly slipped off the bridge. The reddish she-cat fell straight into the water, the splash throwing ice-cold water onto her clanmates.
Russetpaw's whiskers twitched as the other apprentice dragged herself onto shore, suddenly feeling happier than she ever had since Stripedpelt's death.
When it was Russetpaw's turn to cross, she didn't waste a second. Leaping gracefully onto the fallen tree, she dug her claws into the soft bark. She padded across, cautious of the freezing water below. She didn't want to make the same mistake as Foxpaw.
Soon Russetpaw reached the other side and jumped down, landing lightly in the snow. The ginger she-cat was about to push her way through the brambles when a voice stopped her.
"Hey Russetpaw!" She turned to see Muddypaw and his sister, Foxpaw, her fur still drenched. "Dimfur said that you can help us meet some other apprentices."
Russetpaw felt her fur tingle with annoyance, but she pushed it away. She knew how excited she had been the last gathering, and she wanted them to have the same experience. Suppressing a quick sigh, Russetpaw nodded and flicked her tail for the two younger cats to follow. The she-cat quickly spotted Screechpaw's dark tabby pelt and Silverpaw's sleek frame next to Lightningpaw.
Russetpaw padded up to them, quickly meowing a friendly hello to Daisypaw.
"Hello, Russetpaw," Silverpaw meowed curtly, still clearly remembering the time they had fought.
Russetpaw nodded stiffly, feeling uncomfortable under the WindClan apprentice's cool gaze.
"Hi, Silverpaw, Beepaw," she meowed, noticing another brown tom that she didn't recognized that bore the scent of the moor. "This is Muddypaw and Foxpaw."
The young RiverClan apprentices greeted the other apprentices excitedly, as Russetpaw introduced them to the cats she knew.
She learned the WindClan tom's name, which was Stagpaw, she met Nightpaw, from ShadowClan, and a lithe gray tabby from SkyClan named Streampaw.
After Foxpaw and Streampaw started a conversation and Muddypaw was drawn into a talk about hunting with Stagpaw, Screechpaw, and Beepaw, Russetpaw was left alone. She wanted to talk to Daisypaw, but she was busy being pestered by Nightpaw.
"Do you go on the dawn patrols? I do, but sometimes I think my mentor wakes me up way too early. I hunt, too - I caught this huge squirrel yesterday, my mentor said it could feed half the Clan - ooh, is that a frog? We eat frogs, too, I was pretty reluctant to try one, but they are actually really good. Kind of squishy, though…"
Russetpaw then padded around the gathering, briefly chatting with the young, ShadowClan warriors, Darkripple and Honeydrop. Then she spotted Acornpelt and went to sit next to him and a SkyClan tom, Hailspots.
"Hi," She meowed. "I'm Russetpaw. How's SkyClan been this past moon?"
"We've been pretty good. Prey is getting scarcer, but we manage." Hailspots replied.
Russetpaw nodded, believing him. SkyClan, as well as ShadowClan, looking pretty healthy, despite the harsh leaf-bare weather.
"Cat's of the Clans! Let the gathering begin!" Amberstar's raspy voice called from the Great Oak in the center of the island. Russetpaw thought the ThunderClan cats looked even worse than last moon. Now they were even skinnier than WindClan.
The ginger apprentice listened to her report, which was simply fibs about how plentiful prey had been the last moon, when something caught her eye in the corner of the island.
A group of cats were huddled together in the shadows, their muzzles close in quiet whispers. Russetpaw recognized Snaketail, the ThunderClan deputy, as well as Flashtail and a few other warriors.
A stocky dark tom was speaking and the others were nodding along with what he was saying. Russetpaw strained her ears forward, trying to hear what they were whispering about.
There was something about the slant of the tom's shoulders that seemed familiar, and with a shiver down her spine, Russetpaw realized who it was. It was Raventuft.
Glancing quickly around to make sure no other cats were watching her mentor, Russetpaw caught Shellcloud's eye. The silver tabby was sitting with the other medicine cats next to the Great Oak. Shellcloud's eyes shimmered with fear as her gaze flicked back and forth between Russetpaw and Raventuft's group.
The medicine cat let out an inaudible gasp when she realized Russetpaw was watching and quickly wrenched her gaze away.
What's going on? Russetpaw wondered, uneasiness churning in her belly. What is Raventuft doing with those cats and what does Shellcloud have to do with it?
"And I'll finish with RiverClan's report." Blizzardstar's husky meow brought Russetpaw back to the Gathering. "We've gotten along well this moon. Let's thank StarClan that we have enough prey to support everyone in our clan. I would also like to welcome two new apprentices, Foxpaw and Muddypaw."
"Foxpaw! Muddypaw! Foxpaw! Muddypaw!" RiverClan, ShadowClan, and SkyClan called happily into the air, but Russetpaw noticed ThunderClan and WindClan held back, sending hostile glances toward the RiverClan cats.
"With happy news also comes sad news, however. My deputy, Minnowtail, made the journey to StarClan recently." Murmurs of sympathy rippled through the ShadowClan and SkyClan cats. Blizzardstar paused for a moment, glancing at the silent ThunderClan and WindClan leaders, especially Aspenstar. "But we welcome the warrior Tinywave as our new deputy!" The white tom added, shooting another glare at Amberstar and Aspenstar, who again didn't cheer.
"Clans dismissed!" Blizzardstar yowled before jumping gracefully off of the tree, beckoning RiverClan with one wide sweep of his tail.
Russetpaw followed her clanmates, not even meowing a goodbye to the other apprentices, for her thoughts were too far off.
I wonder what Raventuft was doing. And what about Shellcloud? Then, of course, there's ThunderClan and WindClan. Surely they can't attack. They are practically starved!
Russetpaw's mind was buzzing with questions, all of them dark and anxious.