Welcome to the chapter!
Moonpaw's pov
Don't them tear you down.
Moonpaw thrashes slightly in his sleep.
"Moonpaw! Help!"
"Redpaw!"
He growls, which wakes up Redpaw. The ginger apprentice watches as he thrashes around in the nest next to hers.
"We're lost!"
Redpaw stands and pads over standing next to him with concern.
"Moonpaw?"
"Moonpaw. The cats need someone to guide them. That cat needs to be you."
Moonpaw," Redpaw says a bit louder.
"Moon-"
"-paw!"
Moonpaw jumps up, panting, and sees Redpaw standing there, concerned. He breathes out slowly. "Sorry. Bad dream."
"Maybe you should go see Lilystream again. You could still be in shock from the daylight gathering," she says.
"No. I'm fine. It's just a dream," Moonpaw says. "I think I'm going to go go into the clearing.
"Okay. Be sure to come back in and get some sleep, though," she says, watching him walk past her out of the den. She stares where he was for a few moments before sighing and going back to her nest, curling up and falling asleep.
The clans all yowl as the four leaders take their place on the branches of the great tree. "I thought Oakstar was busy doing something only during the daylight gathering," Cloudstar says.
"He actually died the day before. He was hit by a monster. I'm Rippledstar now," the Riverclan leader says.
"I am sorry to hear about Oakstar. Starclan grant you an easy leadership," Seedstar says.
"After today, that is," Rippledstar sighs. Then she stands, calling the gathering to begin. The cats immediately settle down and look up, those being cast out sadly sitting in the center of their clans.
"I have taken the role of leader for Riverclan after the death of Oakstar. I am now Rippledstar and my deputy is Owlstorm," she says. The clans cheer for her and she sits.
The other three clans have no news, and then Graystar looks down. "We agreed on the daylight gathering that we would cast out all unrightful cats in the clans. The cats that don't belong. The cats that our ancestors who made the clans would never let stay. We have drifted to far from our roots, and now we must return to them."
"From Windclan, we are casting out Bushfur, Longpelt, Mudpaw, and Darkpaw," Cloudstar says. The four cats step up to the foot of the great tree, and Darkpaw looks up at his father. The leader does not meet his son's gaze. He just sits again.
Then Graystar stands. "From Shadowclan, Raggedfur and Fernbush."
"From Riverclan, Pebblefall, Patchfur, Deadpaw, Fluffpaw, and Puffkit," Rippledstar says.
"And from Thunderclan," Seedstar begins. "Hazelstream, Mousebelly, Hailstorm, Russetpaw, and Moonpaw."
"Jayfeather too," Cloudstar growls.
"Jayfeather is far too old for this. He could barely make the journey here! I'm already sending a heavily expecting queen! Isn't that enough?!," Seedstar yowls.
"Its not enough. He'll have to last. He is half-clan, and he had powers!," Graystar yells. "Bring him forward!"
The blind elder is shoved forward by Maplepelt and Thistleheart, and falls forward. "Starclan will not be proud of you all!," he yells, being helped up by Bushfur and Raggedfur.
"If they aren't, there would be clouds covering the moon. There is nothing!," Redleaf yowls.
"Which means," Graystar starts. "It is time for you to go."
"Wait!," a cat yowls. The Riverclan cats part and Firetail jumps out, Whitepaw and Needlepaw with him. They pad over to the group of cast out cats and look up. "If they go, we go."
"Us too!," Skypaw yells, running forward with Badgerpaw and Sunpaw behind him. Honeydrop follows.
"And us," Molefur says, padding forward with Nightpaw, Redpaw, Ravenpaw, and Pitchfur.
"Plus us!," Snowpaw yells, her, Ashtail, and Dustcloud running to stand in the group.
"If that is what you wish, we can't stop you," Graystar growls. The cats leaving turn and pad away, very few flinching at the growling cats they pass.
Moonpaw's pov
The group of us wait on the shore as Molefur and Longpelt help Hazelstream over the tree-bridge and Pitchfur and Firetail help Jayfeather across. Puffkit stuck close to Pebblefall and Mousebelly, looking around timidly. I pad over.
"It's alright Puffkit," I say. "Think of this as an adventure. We're all together. It'll be fun."
I doubted that myself, but it eased her mind and she stands up a bit taller, her ears not as drooped. Pebblefall sends me a grateful look and I just nod, padding over to where the other apprentices were.
"So, this is it," Badgerpaw says, sitting down. "The life of exile."
"Hey. At least we all kept our promise. Nobody stayed behind," Needlepaw says.
"But we've lost our homes," Whitepaw sighs.
"And we will find a new one," Pitchfur says, padding up. "We may not know where, it we have a home out there somewhere. We will survive."
"First we need to figure out who will be in charge," Firetail says.
"I say Molefur should. He is one of the oldest," Patchfur says.
"But wouldn't Raggedfur suit that role better? He knows how to fight pretty well," Fernbush says.
"I think it should be Bushfur. She knows what's good for all of us," Hailstorm says.
"How about we find a place to sleep first. We have young cats, a heavily expecting she-cat, and a blind elder here," Jayfeather says, slowly padding forward. Everybody agrees immediately, though I had a feeling it was just because they didn't want to get on Jayfeather's bad side.
"This will have to do for tonight," Molefur says, looking around the sloped earth behind the Windclan and Thunderclan border. "Everybody should get some sleep. Who knows what we will have to face tomorrow."
He settles down behind Hazelstream while the rest of us find a spot to lay down. All of the apprentices and I lay down at the to of one hill, partially to look around until we fall asleep and partially to keep a lookout for danger, since we had two queens, an elder, and a kit with us.
"I can't believe this happened," Redpaw sighs, laying next to me.
"You didn't have to leave, you know. You could've stayed in Thunderlcan," I sigh.
"Well, I wanted to stay with you and Russetpaw. We all promised to stay together, anyways," she says, looking at me.
"Well, thanks for that," I sigh, turning to her. Our noses touch and we freeze for a few moments before I pull me head back. "Uh... let's get some sleep."
"Y-yeah," she stutters. For a few moments she shifts around before she sighs and stands. "Uh... I think I'll go sleep with my littermates. See you tomorrow."
She pads away before I can say anything, and I sigh again, shaking my head and laying my head down.
"Everybody up," I hear Molefur yell.
I groan, opening my eyes and yawning. Bushfur looks at Molefur. "We need to make hunting patrols. How about we have three apprentices per warrior."
"That could work," he says.
"I'll go with Deadpaw, Ravenpaw, and Nightpaw," Firetail says.
"And I'll go with Skypaw, Badgerpaw, and Mudpaw," Patchfur says.
"Okay. Once you all get back, we need to talk about the training for the apprentices. A few still have their mentors, but we need to decide on who will train the others," Raggedfur says.
"He says it like we're not here," Needlepaw comments. I nod, watching Hazelstream walk around a bit. The heavily expecting queen pads over to Molefur and says something, and then they walk into the trees.
"Hey," Snowpaw says, and I turn to her. "Watch out. Jayfeather is coming this way."
"Would any of you mind coming to walk with me. I need to stretch out a bit, and I don't know this area," he says. When none of us responds, he continues. "Moonpaw. How about you?"
I sigh. "Okay, Jayfeather." He pads off and I stand, getting up and running after him.
"How are you handling this?," Jayfeather asks on our way back to the temporary camp.
I stop in surprise and look at him. "What?" When I see that he isn't stopping I run after him.
"Hey. I may be an elder, and may have been grumpy as a young cat as well, but I still care."
"Uh... I don't know. Good, I guess?"
"Good. Now. I need to ask you something," he says, stopping and sitting down again. I stop and stand, waiting for him to ask me.
"What is it?"
"You need to train to be a medicine cat."
"What?!," I yowl. "Just because I was brought to Starclan with you once doesn't mean that I have to be one!"
"Our group needs a medicine cat. We have very few warriors, a kit, and more kits on the way from an expecting queen. I may have been trained, but I am an elder. They need a young cat who can travel easily. I see great potential in you."
"I'm sure there are other cats in the group with potential. Why don't you choose one of them?"
"They don't have it like you do. You were marked. That's why you have the moon on your head."
"Well... I'm not going to be. You'll just have to find someone else."
Who knew that Jayfeather was gonna be one of the cats cast out? Just curious.
And also, I wanna know what you think their warrior names are gonna be! I've already decided on them, but I wanna see if any of you can guess their names. You can name as many as you want, and don't have to, but I'm also curious about that!
Bye!
Ttyl
-TheRealDigiGal