Heheheeh,
Me again! I don't know when this is going up, but I'm writing this right after the last one because OMSC Breezepaw's POV is going to be SO MUCH FUN! Also listening to the theme music for my fav anime... :3 (Fairy Tail duh)
Reply to reviews:
KaiLover911- Trust me, it's not going to go... normally... and here's some Copper relief (Comic relief, brought to you by Copperpaw :3)
Snowcrystal- Of course you do ;). I actually came up with Snowstar before I even knew you existed, but there you go ;) it was destined to be. I have a complete chart of all acceptable prefixes and suffixes for all warrior cats ever, sooooo to anyone who tells me I can't name a cat Plumeyes, go eat some fox-dung because I CAN TOO. Icestorm is a little tribute to Icecloud.
Chapter 10.
"Hey, uh, Breezepaw..." The gray tabby apprentice trailed off as Breezepaw's baleful glare stopped whatever she had been trying to say. "I... would you like to walk with... Palepaw and Rabbitpaw and... um... me?"
He didn't let his glower waver for a second. You are the reason Leopardpaw is in the medicine den, and for that I cannot forgive you! His mind screeched. Forgive... forgive... she must feel awful about it... but she hurt another cat! No. The dog did this. She lied about knowing who my father was! And you believed her. His mind let out a gusty sigh. I must move on. The past is in the past.
Live in the present! His mother's reprimanding mew echoed in his ears. Anything less will prevent your chance of being the best warrior you can be!
"Very well." His mew tightened as he dipped his head.
Jaypaw nodded gratefully, bounding over to join her siblings.
"Breezepaw!" Palepaw's green eyes lit up as she saw him. "We were just talking about what's going to happen at the Gathering! You know, because of the RiverClan scent we found!"
"Yeah, those RiverClan fish-brains don't even know what's coming!" Copperpaw added, swiping her sheathed claws in the air for effect.
"I, for one, would like to know who was trespassing in our territory!" Jaypaw exclaimed, blue eyes gleaming. "I'll shred them!"
"Yeah, right." Rabbitpaw uncharacteristically poked his sister with his paw. "More like you'd get shredded."
"Since when did you grow claws?" Jaypaw shot her brother a half-amused half-surprised look.
"About time." Palepaw joined in, flicking her brother over the ear.
Breezepaw let out a breath, the litter's amiable company loosening a bit of his stress over being in a new place with more cats than he'd ever seen in his life, who were his enemies... No. He chided himself. There's a truce!
"Hey, Breezepaw, what Clan are you hoping to meet?" Rabbitpaw gave him a friendly push that almost knocked him off his paws. "I want to meet ShadowClan! Every cat says they're evil, but I don't think so."
"I'd like to meet RiverClan!" Jaypaw's tail whipped from side to side as she spoke. "More specifically, I'd like them to meet my claws!"
"I think meeting ThunderClan would be really cool..." Breezepaw said. "I wonder what it's like living under the trees? I think it would be cool, like living underground. I wonder what their prey tastes like? I bet forest prey is delicious. Except frogs, ShadowClan can keep those. Yuck."
"I wouldn't mind trying a lizard." Copperpaw licked her chops. "Who knows, maybe they're secretly super tasty."
"I doubt it." Palepaw wrinkled her nose.
"They can't possibly taste worse than fish!" Copperpaw exclaimed.
"How would you know?" Rabbitpaw's eyes sparkled with amusement. "You've never tasted fish!"
"Oh, haven't I?" Copperpaw beckoned the apprentices closer with a flick of her tail, her pale green eyes glimmering mischievously. "Let me tell you..."
"There is no way!" Jaypaw interrupted, staring at the older apprentice in shock.
"Oh yes." Copperpaw dropped her mew to a whisper. "I was patrolling along the ThunderClan border, when suddenly, a tiny minnow leapt right out of the stream! With my lightning reflexes, I plucked it right out of the air!"
"Wow!" Rabbitpaw exclaimed eyes shining.
"Yeah, right." Jaypaw rolled her eyes, but her whiskers twitched.
"Then, I bent down, against all my instincts, and..." Copperpaw trailed off, her eyes gleaming and pelt bushed out as though she was recounting some sort of dramatic battle. "took a bite."
She gasped theatrically, and the younger apprentices collapsed in purrs of amusement.
"And..." Breezepaw gasped for breath, his eyes watering from the hilarity. "How- how was it?"
Copperpaw leaned close, eyes wide and sincere.
"Awful."
The apprentices lost it.
"I can't believe it!" Jaypaw yowled. "We're here!"
"Keep it down." Honeythorn chided her apprentice. "We don't want the other Clans thinking we can't control our apprentices."
"Come on, Breezepaw, let's be the first to explore the island!" Palepaw encouraged him, charging towards the fallen tree.
"Wait for me!" Purring, he hurtled after the pale brown she-cat.
"Slow-slug!" Rabbitpaw called over his broad shoulder, passing Breezepaw easily.
"Who are you calling slow?" Jaypaw teased her brother, whipping past both of them so fast Breezepaw swore he felt her ruffle his pelt.
"No fair!" Breezepaw increased his speed, relishing the feeling of the humid air against his golden pelt.
"Hurry up! ShadowClan's going to beat us!" Jaypaw called to the rest of the Clan.
Honeythorn and Spottedstar exchanged amused looks. The rest of the Clan purred, watching the enthusiastic apprentices race each other to their first Gathering.
"There's the log! I'm going to cross first!" Jaypaw yowled in excitement, taking a flying leap onto the wet bark.
Breezepaw watched in awe as she charged confidently across, as easily as though it was the open moor.
"Simple as eating a rabbit!" The tiny gray figure of Jaypaw caterwauled in delight from the other side.
"My turn!" Rabbitpaw called, jumping onto the log.
He wobbled for a second, and Breezepaw felt a prick of worry that he would fall, but he reagained his balance easily and hurtled across the fallen tree.
"Breezepaw, you go next!" Palepaw told him, backing up a tiny pawstep.
"O- okay." He gulped.
Well, think of it this way. He told himself. If you fall in, you get to try swimming, just like you wanted to.
The thought pressed back his fear a little, and he hopped up onto the sodden bark.
Not wanting to be outdone by Rabbitpaw or Jaypaw, he hopped along the tree, doing a strange little routine as he crossed.
Encouraged by Palepaw's soft purrs of amusement from behind him, he bounded across the end of log.
"No!" A shriek split the air behind him as he hopped down from the log.
He whipped around to see a dark form sliding off the tree, splashing into the water, shattering the clear reflection of the moon.
A strange feeling fuzzed through his body, like he was being hit by lightning.
His world narrowed to encompass only the tiny form sinking down in the black water.
His vision dropped away, the whole world going black except for the shape.
Then he realized it was because he had launched himself into the water.
He couldn't feel the cold.
He couldn't feel the water.
All he could feel was the intense feeling of how important it was that he save this cat, here and now.
He snatched the cat's scruff in his mouth, not acknoledging the strange silver reflection that seemed to follow his movements.
He propelled them up, towards where StarClan shone, the moon hanging in the sky.
Surprised at how easily they moved, he glanced to the side, where the silver cat was also churning their paws as though they'd been born for this moment.
Their heads burst above the water.
Barely even registering how fast his heart was beating, he glanced at the cat who had fallen in.
His head felt as though it was exploding and shrinking at the same time.
He thought Palepaw's light brown pelt was pretty. This cat had a lustrous, dark brown coat with shimmering, jagged white stripes across it.
He had thought amber eyes were nice. This cat widened her pure, shining golden ones in wonder.
"Wow." He breathed. "Are you alright?"
He turned slightly as the silver cat asked the same.
"I... I think so..." Breezepaw shivered as the beautiful cat spoke. "Thank... thank you."
His fur suddenly feeling hot with embarassment, he turned towards the Gathering place.
"Let's go back to the island." He sucked in a long breath, suddenly feeling shy and unsure.
"Yeah." The long-furred silver tom added, cutting easily through the water towards the trees.
You going to leave me to help her alone? He thought, glancing at the tom, who was already almost at the island. Not that I mind...
"Here, I can support you." He blinked at the cat, and before he could second-guess himself, he pushed his shoulder under her. "I'm Breezepaw, by the way."
But why would such a beautiful cat care? His conscious whispered.
"That doesn't sound like a..." Her mew cut off abruptly. "RiverClan... name."
"I..." He trailed off, turning his head towards the island, wondering if he should lie. "WindClan..."
"Sorry? Didn't quite catch that. Coulda sworn you said-" He shifted so she didn't fall off.
"WindClan." He burst out. "I'm... I'm from WindClan."
"You swim remarkably well for a WindClan cat!" His fur warmed at the praise, his heart speeding up tiny bit as her golden eyes shone up at him. "Where did you learn that?"
"I..." He trailed off as he realized the answer. "just sort of... figured it out on my own."
"That's amazing! You saved me!" Her muzzle touched his ear and a tiny fizzle ran through him.
Trying to hide his embarassment, he turned towards the island as his paws touched the pebbly lake floor.
"We're here. You can, uh, get down now." The words pained him.
She slid off his shoulders.
"I'm... I'm Breezepaw." He shifted his paws nervously, realizing after the words had left his mouth that he had already said that. "Uh, what's your name?"
Her golden eyes met his green ones, and he felt a strange tugging sensation in his chest. She hesitated, and he felt worry stab the space behind his eyes for a moment. Did I say something wrong? He wondered, heart pricking.
"I'm..." He leaned a little closer, trying to catch every word. "Lightningpaw. I'm Lightningpaw."
A shiver ran down his spine at the name. Lightningpaw.
"It's, uh, very, very nice to meet you... Lightningpaw." He stammered, her name whisking out of his mouth like a piece of cloud.
"It's very nice to meet you, too... Breezepaw." Her mew floated through the air. "Y- yeah."
He stared at her, awkward tension filling the air between them.
"We should, uh, go rejoin our... um... Clans." She said suddenly.
"Yes. Yes, we should." He said, bobbing his head quickly and charging away to join Rabbitpaw, Palepaw, and Jaypaw.
It took all of his will power not to look back at the beautiful apprentice.
"Hey, Breezepaw!" Jaypaw flicked her gray tail across his nose. "Excuse me! Breezepaw!"
"Hmm? What?" He blinked a couple times, trying to remember what she said.
"I said, are you crazy?" She demanded. "Jumping into the water, rescuing a cat you don't even know, what are you doing?"
"I... I had to." He shrugged. "I don't know."
"Who is she?" A tiny spark of something glimmered in Palepaw's eyes.
"Lightningpaw." His head felt a little light as he said her name.
"Well, I'm going to go meet some ShadowClan apprentices." Rabbitpaw said decisively. "Want to come?"
"I'm going to go talk to some RiverClan flea-bags." Jaypaw's blue eyes sparkled as though she was hoping to incite a battle. "Come on, Palepaw."
They trotted off towards a couple of RiverClan she-cats and a tom, who Breezepaw realized was the same one who had helped him rescue Lightningpaw.
"ShadowClan awaits!" Breezepaw turned to Rabbitpaw, shrugging his shoulders.
"Let's go!" They padded side by side towards a large knot of pine-smelling apprentices.
"Hey!" A golden one with black paws greeted them with a friendly tail flick. "I'm Lionpaw! Who are you?"
"And why do you look like her?" A ginger and white tabby with gleaming eyes that reminded him of Jaypaw's, except they were green instead of blue.
"Coincidence." Rabbitpaw shrugged. "I'm Rabbitpaw, and this is Breezepaw."
"WindClan." A gray tom with pale green eyes hissed.
"Play nice, Olivepaw." Another tom, who was clearly his brother, reprimanded him. "I'm Robinpaw."
"Wow, your eyes are so cool!" Rabbitpaw said. "I wish I had eyes like that."
"Thanks!" Robinpaw exclaimed, and Breezepaw noticed that his eyes were different colours, blue and amber.
"Yeah, yeah, you're special." The ginger and white tabby rolled her eyes. "I'm Primrosepaw."
"Jaypaw, I think you mean." Breezepaw whispered to Rabbitpaw.
"Right you are." Rabbitpaw rolled his eyes.
"Care to repeat that?" The tabby's claws slid out, and Breezepaw took a step back.
"Just saying that you reminded us of my sister Jaypaw." Rabbitpaw said hurriedly, glancing at her claws.
"That had better be a compliment, Rabbits." Primrosepaw's green eyes narrowed.
"Ouch." Lionpaw's golden eyes sparkled as Rabbitpaw winced from the nickname. "Primrosepaw, don't be mean."
"Too late." Olivepaw snickered.
Breezepaw glanced around uncomfortably as tension fizzed in the air. His eyes met a pair of dark amber eyes, glittering out of the darkness.
"Hey." He whispered, sidling closer to the tiny apprentice, who was sitting a little ways away from the rest of them.
"Hey." The small she-cat breathed.
"Those your siblings?" He asked tentatively.
"Just the golden one with the black paws, Lionpaw." She whispered. "She looks like you."
"Yeah, I guess." For some reason, as he looked at Lionpaw, he felt the same way as when he looked at Leopardpaw.
They held themselves the same way, moved the same way, even sounded similar. Strange... He thought.
"I think the leaders are starting." The she-cat choked out.
He glanced at her, wondering why she was so quiet. He noticed how weak she looked, her head too large for her body, her tortoise-shell pelt ruffled and greasy looking.
Though he felt bad about it, he was a little repulsed. Her dark amber eyes were the only pretty feature on her, they shone in the moonlight as they stared at him as though she could see right through him into his soul.
"Clan cats! Gather 'round!" The ShadowClan leader called.
"I'm Darkpaw." The tiny tortoise-shell introduced herself quickly, then slipped away.
He watched her go, confused at what had just happened.
"I'll begin." A hefty brown tom that Breezepaw assumed was the ThunderClan leader stepped forwards. "In ThunderClan, we have three new apprentices. Vixenpaw, Slatepaw, and Lightningpaw."
Eyes shining, he completely forgot his strange encounter with the tiny, unkempt ShadowClan apprentice, he called out their names, Lightningpaw's the loudest.
"Other than that, prey is running well in ThunderClan, and we have nothing else to report." The light brown tom finished, looking up at the moon.
"WindClan will go next." Breezepaw felt a shiver of foreboding as his leader stepped forwards.
If he had not known what was coming, perhaps he would not have noticed the tightness in her voice, the way her claws were just barely out, or the way her shoulders bunched.
"We have one new apprentice as well, Breezepaw." Spottedstar announced.
His worry at what was coming next disappeared temporarily as the Clans yowled his name to the sky.
"We have one other thing to report." Breezepaw gulped as Spottedstar snarled, her eyes flicking over to Snowstar as she spoke.
Here it comes...
"RiverClan has been trespassing!" She hissed, pale green eyes flashing with rage.
"What?!" The RiverClan leader's white pelt stood on end as his blue eyes blazed with fury. "Lies!"
"Icestorm," Spottedstar nodded to Breezepaw's mentor. "tell them what you found."
"We found one scent only, and a scrap of white fur on a heather bush." Breezepaw felt a stab of pride towards his mentor as she successfully held the tremble out of her voice as she addressed the Clans. "It was certainly RiverClan scent."
"Certainly? And you concede it wasn't a patrol?" Snowstar countered. "Are you sure it was RiverClan?"
Breezepaw bit back a hiss. Is he claiming Icestorm doesn't know how to tell WindClan from RiverClan?
"Spottedstar, perhaps you should teach your warriors to use their noses." Snowstar snarled, scowling at the WindClan leader.
"What?" Spottedstar's eyes darkened. "Perhaps you should learn to control your warriors! It matters not how many warriors crossed the border! If any did, that's a clear violation of the warrior code!"
"Control my warriors?!" Snowstar sputtered, digging his claws into the branch, glancing at the other leaders for support.
"I... the truce..." The ThunderClan leader mumbled, glancing at Spottedstar worriedly.
Mouse-heart. Breezepaw thought, glaring at him.
"I, for one, think Spottedstar is right." The ShadowClan leader, Ivystar, stepped a little closer to Spottedstar. "Crossing the borders is against the warrior code. It's as simple as that. If you would like to question the integrity of one of the most respected and senior warriors in WindClan, by all means, prepare to meet the tips of her Clanmates' claws."
Go Ivystar! Breezepaw screeched internally, furious with the RiverClan leader. Who does he think he's fooling? He noted with surprise how similar Spottedstar and Ivystar looked as they stood shoulder to shoulder, both black and white pelts bushed out, both pairs of green eyes blazing as they stared down the fluffy white RiverClan leader.
"StarClan agrees with me! Look, the sky is clear!" Snowstar blustered, taking a tiny step back.
"Perhaps StarClan is agreeing with me!" Spottedstar shot back, stepping forwards.
"Snowstar, find the trespasser and stop them." Ivystar declared, her green eyes glowing with fury. "Spottedstar, bring news of any other evidence you find to the next Gathering, and we can discuss further then."
"Very well." Spottedstar sat down.
Snowstar closed his jaws, annoyance flickering in his frosty eyes.
"ShadowClan will share our news next." Ivystar raked her pale green eyes across the cats. "We have five new apprentices; Lionpaw, Darkpaw, Robinpaw, Olivepaw, and Primrosepaw."
Glad that's over. Breezepaw thought in relief.
"Lionpaw! Darkpaw! Robinpaw! Olivepaw! Primrosepaw!" He called.
"RiverClan will report now, if you've finished." Snowstar didn't even bother to glance at Ivystar. "We have four new apprentices; Wavepaw, Ripplepaw, and Briarpaw, and Pikepaw has been apprenticed to Sheepbelly. And Duckpaw has become Duckfeather."
He greeted the apprentices and warrior, wondering which one was the name of the cat who had helped him save Lightningpaw.
Lightningpaw. He sighed.
All done! I actually like the ending, for once. Sorry if it felt repetitive. I mean, of course it did, it's pretty much the exact same as last time, but I hope it wasn't too repetitive. Although it was interesting to write the same events from a different perspective.
We saw Lightningpaw (I literally forgot her name for a heart-beat there) fall again, but I think Breezepaw fell harder, if ya know what I mean ;)...
Poor Darkpaw... You'll see what I mean in two chapters...
I love Ivystar, she's a boss.
That's pretty much it, please leave a review ;)
~Pondfrost