Okay, so here goes! The journeys starting. Thanks for all the reviews!
Dapplepaw awoke to a paw prodding her side. She batted out, claw sheathed, to met the muzzle of another cat. "Come on, Dapplepaw." Whitewing mewed, and Dapplepaw opened her eyes to the she-cat standing over her.
"What?" she meowed, getting to her paws and stretching out her limbs, which were growing longer with every day. But she still had a while until she was full grown, and until she could become a warrior.
"Jayfeather said to eat, then report to his den. So come on, lets go eat." Whitewing flicking her tail for Dapplepaw to follow, then exited the den.
The young tortoiseshell yawned and then trotted after her mentor. Glancing into the den, she wondered how long it would be until she could sleep in it again. Firepaw and Honeypaw were still sleeping, and Dapplepaw wondered if they would wake to see her leave.
Shaking the thought from her mind, she trotted over to where Brackenfur and Bumblestripe were just digging out prey from the pile and Whitewing was trotting over to join them. Dapplepaw caught up to her mentor, who then pawed her a vole. "Thanks." Dapplepaw mewed, then settled down to eat.
The sky was milky with pre-dawn. The sun hadn't come over the horizon yet, but Dapplepaw could tell it was close.
Once her vole was finished, and the others were finishing then too, Jayfeather had trotted over to join them with herbs in his jaws. "Eat these." he meowed gruffly, and he seemed tired. He must not have gotten much sleep. Dapplepaw wondered why, but the thought was quickly shot to the back of her mind when Jayfeather dropped his bundle infront of the travelers. "I won't make you carry a bundle of herbs around with you, but these are some traveling herbs." he meowed, then turned and trotted back to his den, most likely to get more sleep.
Dapplepaw bent and licked up the leaves, gagging once the taste hit her tongue. She spit the herbs out. "Gross!"
"You gotta eat them." Brackenfur meowed, licking his jaws constantly to get the taste out of his mouth.
"They'll give you strength." Whitewing meowed, licking her paw to get the taste off her tongue.
Dapplepaw let out a long sigh, then chewed up the leaves and forced herself to swallow. Her tongue darted out of her mouth constantly. They were so bitter!
Then the entrance rustled and ShadowClan cats pushed their way through the entrance, led by Snowbird. "Sorry, we thought we might as well just come here and save some time." The white she-cat meowed.
"Need traveling herbs?" Asked Brackenfur, but Snowbird shook her head.
"Flamewing gave us some before he left." Snowbird meowed.
Brackenfur nodded and cats began to submerge from the dens. The ShadowClan cats looked self-consious, and Dapplepaw guessed they left the same way she did yesterday in their camp.
"Ready to go, then?" Brackenfur asked, getting to his paws.
Bramblestar exited his den and leaped down the tumble of rocks at the high-ledge. He bounded up to Brackenfur and the patrol. "Good luck, and may StarClan light your path." Brackenfur and the patrol dipped their heads.
Honeypaw and Firepaw bounded up to Dapplepaw. "Don't forget anything!" Honeypaw mewed. "Good luck!" Firepaw added, before they stepped back and let Hazeltail and Lionblaze trot to her.
"Be safe." Hazeltail murmured, licking her head, and Dapplepaw realized that it was important Dapplepaw returned, or Hazeltail would have lost both daughters. Dapplepaw licked her mothers cheek.
"Don't try to be brave." Lionblaze added. "Listen to Brackenfur." he meowed, then licked her head too. "Be careful.
"I will." Dapplepaw meowed, feeling emotional. As her parents stepped back, Dapplepaw gave one last look at Honeypaw and Firepaw, her two best friends, and Lionblaze and Hazeltail, her parents.
Whitewing was just finishing saying good bye to Brightheart, and Bumblestripe was waving his tail to Graystripe. Dapplepaw realized she was the only ThunderClan cat here with both parents. Sighing, she and the patrol begin toward the entrance, a chorus of "Good-byes!" and "Good luck!" or "StarClan watch over you!" As Dapplepaw padded out of the entrance and into the forest, she felt hollow. Glancing over her shoulder, she vowed to return.
Alright, well there you go. I don't count that as a cliffie, so no cliffies! Yay! And sorry that its taking so long to make the journey, but all the preparations take so long! I'll update soon. Sometime today.