Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in FOREVER, I have been sooo busy lately! I went camping for a week, and then I only had one day at home before going to Vegas for the weekend. So I pretty much wrote this chapter while I was gone. I also have been working on my fiction, Red Rain, or 19
Icepaw prodded Silentpaw and Ghostpaw awake.
"Lets go." she breathed. Ghostpaw yawned and stood, shaking dust from her silky coat. She grabbed Silentpaw by the scruff and pulled him up after her.
"Are we going to bring those two cats with us?" she asked. Icepaw gazed doubtfully at the sleeping figures of Jake and Davey, and then nodded.
"I guess." she mewed. "If they really want to be part of our clans, I guess they should come." Silentpaw nodded.
"Which clan will they go to?" he asked. Icepaw gazed down at the two slumbering toms.
"I'll take Jake back to my clan." she mewed. "Davey can go with you. If they have a different opinion, they can ask." Silentpaw nodded, and prodded Davey and Jake with a sheathed paw.
"Hey you two!" he hissed. "Get up! We're leaving." The two toms slowly opened their eyes, then jumped to their feet almost in unison.
"Good morning!" Jake greeted cheerfully. Icepaw nodded.
"We're leaving now." she mewed. "Do you really want to leave your clan to come with us?" Davey nodded.
"Yes." he mewed. "We've wanted to leave for some time now."
"Okay." Icepaw mewed. "Let's go talk to Bane. I'm sure she will want to know that you will be leaving with us."
"Okay!" Jake mewed excitedly. "There she is now!" he danced over to where the beautiful black she-cat was sitting on top of her black ring pile.
"Good morning, Bane." he mewed, bowing down to her. Bane leapt down from her perch, touching her nose to Jake's and then Davey's in turn.
"Good morning." she mewed cheerfully.
"Bane, we wanted to ask you a question." Jake mewed. Bane nodded to him.
"Anything!" she mewed. Jake nodded.
"Well, Icepaw and the others are leaving today, and…" he trailed off. "We were wondering if we could go with them." For the first time, Icepaw saw the cheerfulness in Bane's eyes leave.
"What?" she mewed. "No! You can't leave!" she sat down, as if it would make the decision final. Jake approached her and rubbed his face against her rigid neck. Bane sighed, and looked to Davey.
"Is this what you really want to do?" she mewed, her eyes dull. Davey nodded, and Jake pulled away from her.
"Yes Bane." he mewed. "We will miss you." Bane licked him between the ears as if he was a little kit, and he flicked his ears in embarrassment.
"If you ever want to come back, you can." Bane mewed. She looked to Icepaw. "I hope you had a great stay here." she mewed, some of the cheerfulness entering her voice. "I hope we will see you again someday." Icepaw nodded.
"I hope to see you again too." she mewed. "Goodbye, Bane. Goodbye Rocket." she nodded to the huge tom that had just crawled out of the fighter's den.
"Goodbye new friends." he mewed. "We will miss you." Icepaw bowed her head and flicked her tail to the group of cats behind her.
"Come on." she mewed. "Let's go home." She grew excited as she thought of all that she missed back at the clans. Tanfur would be waiting for her, his green eyes wide with worry and maybe even love. She had just realized how much she had missed him.
The five cats slowly made their way out of the forest and onto the hot, dusty landscape. The sun had risen above the mountains in the distance and burnt the ground, so every paw step was agony for the five cats.
"The ground is too hot!" complained Ghostpaw, stepping gingerly from one paw to another. "We'll have to reach the forest soon or I think I might die!"
"We should be back to the clans soon." mewed Icepaw. "I think I see the forest already!" She squinted her eyes to make out the line of trees that was appearing on the horizon. Silentpaw sniffed.
"That's it!"
he mewed. "I can smell WaterClan!" Icepaw sniffed. Silentpaw was
right! She could smell all four clans!
"I smell lots of
different cats!" observed Davey, his mottled nose raised to the
sky. Icepaw noticed that both former kittypets were still wearing
their strange, studded collars.
"You might want to take those off." she mewed, nodding to the collars. "I don't think the clan cats will accept cats wearing collars." Jake looked down at his.
"I've had it all my life." he mewed. "May I keep it, even if I take it off?" Icepaw sighed.
"Maybe." she mewed. "You'll have to ask Jadestar about that."
"Who's Jadestar?" mewed Davey.
"Jadestar is the leader of MoonClan." sighed Icepaw. She knew she would have a lot of explaining to do. "There are four clans in the forest; Moonclan, IceClan, Fireclan, and WaterClan. Each clan has a leader, and the leader has a deputy, a kind of second in command. Each clan also has a medicine cat, who heals injuries and speaks to Starclan, our warrior ancestors. Get it?" Jake nodded.
"Mountainstar is the leader of our clan." mewed Ghostpaw. "Davey, you can come with us to WaterClan, and I think Jake should go to Moonclan with Icepaw."
"Will we ever see each other again?" mewed Davey anxiously.
"You will." mewed Icepaw. "Each moon, all four clans meet at a gathering to speak of clan life. You can see cats of other clans there." Jake nodded.
"We think it would be best if you were in separate clans." mewed Icepaw. "That way you will become accustomed to clan life easier."
"I understand." mewed Jake. "We can make new friends in our new clan." Icepaw nodded.
"Good." she mewed. "Look, we're almost there!" The three cats sighed in relief as the crossed into the cool forest, and felt refreshing dirt underfoot.
"We're in FireClan territory still." mewed Ghostpaw. "You must never cross into another clan's territory, or you will face their claws."
The five cats kept close to the border as they made their way through FireClan's territory. Finally, they reached the edge of WaterClan.
"Well, this is where we say goodbye." mewed Icepaw. She had become attached to both Ghostpaw and Silentpaw on their journey. "I'll miss you two."
"I'll miss you too Icepaw." murmured Ghostpaw, her eyes glistening. "I'll see you at the next gathering." Icepaw touched noses with her two friends, then with Davey.
"I hope Mountainstar goes soft on you." she mewed good-naturedly. "I'll see you at the next gathering."
"Goodbye Icepaw." he mewed. "It was nice meeting you." he turned to Jake.
"Goodbye, old friend." he mewed. "It'll be fun, meeting new cats." He touched Jake's nose. "See you soon."
The three WaterClan cats crossed into their territory. Icepaw lowered her head as she watched them help Davey swim across the river.
"We're almost the MoonClan now." she mewed, distracting herself from the sorrow as she watched her friends leave.
The two cats drank from the river. Then, they began to make their way through the forest until they crossed the MoonClan border. Icepaw began to feel her paws tingle and she picked up the pace a little bit.
She heard some bushes rustle and she halted, raising her nose to drink in the scents of the forest. Before she could make out the scent, two tan cats leapt out of the bush.
"Icepaw!" the larger cat yowled, bowling the smaller she-cat over as he covered her with licks.
"Tanfur!" chortled Icepaw, closing her eyes and allowing the handsome tom to wash her dusty coat.
"I've missed you so much!" he mewed, a purr swelling from his chest. "You've grown as well!" He was right; Icepaw could see she was still much smaller than Tanfur, but she had grown a lot. Tanfur didn't seem so humongous in comparison.
Icepaw turned her gaze onto the smaller tan cat.
"Rabbitpaw…" she murmured. The wiry apprentice didn't turn his gaze on her. Instead, her glared at Jake.
"Who is that?" he growled.
Awww! Cute!!! Next chapter shall be the last!
Review!
Jadeclaw