A/N: Yay here's Chapter 19! Only six more chapters and an epilogue until the end! OMG I saw Saw VI Last night, it was amazing! I am now inspired to write my own Verson of Saw VII. I wonder if any of my Warrior fans like Saw, hmmm maybe. Well anyway I'm swiftly trying to finish Terra before Halloween because on the next day I officialy start Zodiac! I finished the outline finally and yall are going to love it! I'll give you a sneak peek of a couple of the main characters names and personalities at the bottom, tell me watcha think? Oh and if I get 5 reviews, I will update again today!
~Leo~
CHAPTER 19
Golden-brown leaves spiraled in the crisp air,falling like petals from a flower onto the frost covered ground. The trees swayed as a chilly breeze shook their branches, making even more color hued leaves fall to the ground.
The streams surrounding RiverClan camp bubbled slowly over the pebbles that covered the bottom all the way into the lake, creating a calming sound as Emberpaw sprawled out next to the Medicine Cat's den.
He watched as cats padded by him going about their daily duties. Warriors were bringing prey back from a hunting patrol, Apprentices look eagerly at their mentors to train. Even the kits were racing each other across the clearing, though their mothers still cautious from the battle only three nights ago.
"Stupid ShadowClan" he mumbled while raising his head.
It had come a shock to most of RiverClan that their own deputy betrayed them all, not to mention he tried to kill Emberpaw. It wasn't exactly the way he wanted to out Lightningcloud, but it certainly worked.
"I brought Leopardspots her borage" a quiet meow came from Sandpaw who padded slowly up to Berryshade.
"Good" he meowed while sorting through herbs, "How are her kits doing? For StarClan's sake you'd think she would have waited to kit, this isn't exactly a great time to be raising kits."
Emberpaw titled his head to the side, was the Medicine Cat speaking of it being so close to Leaf-Bare, or the tension with ShadowClan? Either way he was probably right, the two new editions to the clan would have a hard beginning to life.
"What are their names?" Emberpaw asked, looking at Sandpaw with curiosity.
The light ginger and white she-cat rose her head and blinked, "The tom is named Cinderkit, and the she-cats name is Arrowkit."
"Arrowkit?" Berryshade echoed with a snort, "I swear to StarClan, queens are creating names crazier everyday. What's next, Whiskerkit?".
"There's a Whiskerkit in ThunderClan" Emberpaw mentioned, remembering the she-cat he met at the gathering who spoke of him.
"What?" Berryshade snapped, his hearing has been getting worse every day, it seemed Sandpaw would be taking over soon.
"Let all cats old enough to fish from the stream, gather here beneath the Tall-Log!" the all to familiar call of Fernstar sounded from the center of camp.
"Another meeting?" Berryshade snapped looking suspiciously at the leader.
"She has to name a new deputy" Sandpaw meowed while lowering her head to stare at her paws.
Emberpaw realized she must have loved her father, it hadn't hit him that Lightningcloud had three other kits. Timberpaw and Eelpaw were reacting the total opposite of Sandpaw, they were walking with their heads high and trying to prove themselves now more than ever.
But sadly that also meant that the two brothers attitudes took a drastic decline, Timberpaw was even more of a jerk than before.
"Are you coming?" a small paw prodded Emberpaw coming from the newly named Shellpaw who had only received her warrior name the previous night.
"Yup" Emberpaw stood up, but then almost fell over in pain.
"Are you alright?" Shellpaw bent down to sniff him with her gray muzzle, "Your paw is all twisted."
"I know" he meowed, feeling stupid for forgetting he injured it in the battle, "Let's go see what Fernstar has to say."
The tiny gray and white tabby she-cat padded slowly towards the Tall Log, Emberpaw limping behind. For a moment he wondered who the RiverClan leader would name as her new deputy.
The most eligible were Flametree or Archeyes, but the eldest warrior was old enough to join the elders and most likely wouldn't be named deputy. Foxscar could also have a chance at the duty, he was close to a senior warrior and was definitely worthy of the job.
"Cats of RiverClan!" Fernstar's voice rippled through the cold clearing, "It is time to name a new deputy, although much earlier than I would have expected."
Sharp glares came from brother Timberpaw and Eelpaw, as well as their uncle Shademask who was glaring with hatred at Fernstar.
"They act like its her fault Lightningcloud betrayed the clan" a snort came from Frostpaw, "Oh yes its the leaders fault her deputy is a crazed killer obsessed with ShadowClan." A growl came from an elder telling Frostpaw to shut her mouth, and immediately she turned her gaze back to the gray spotted leader.
"I say these words before the cats of StarClan, that they hear and abide by my choice" there was a short silence as cats wondered who would be named, "Cloudstorm shall be the new deputy of RiverClan!".
Yowls of approval rumbled from the cats of the river, as the large gray tom nodded in acceptance of his new position.
"He's a good choice isn't he?" Emberpaw asked Frostpaw, he hadn't seen much of Cloudstorm, but the tom seemed to be nice and loyal.
Frostpaw shrugged, "I guess so, he's kind of old though. That would be like making Jumpfoot or Shrewtooth deputy." As the apprentice chuckled she didn't notice a very old brown tabby tom sneaking up on her.
"Ow!" she yelped as the elder boxed her across the ears, "That hurt Shrewtooth!".
"Respect your elders" he croaked, his voice raspy from age and sickness.
Frostpaw only glared as the large tom padded slowly away, Jumpfoot and Rosebush helping him back into the elders den. The apprentice did need to learn at least a little respect, Frostpaw was lucky she got away unscathed the night she called Aquashine old.
Looking across the leaf covered camp, Emberpaw looked once more as something peculiar caught his eye. Hollyfrost was on the ground near one of the small rivers, her eyes watery with emotion.
She was looking across the dappled water as it reflected onto her icy blue eyes like moonlight.
Something's bothering her, Emberpaw thought while padding towards her. Wait, I cant just go and talk to her! He barely knew Hollyfrost, the mother of Lightningcloud's three kits, not to mention why would she want to talk to some former loner?
But what if she knows more about Lightningcloud, he thought starting to get anxious, I'll just ask her what's wrong.
Taking in a large breath, Emberpaw padded across the camp and over to the shiny black she-cat.
"Are you okay?" he meowed gently trying not to scare her, or to sound to nosey.
Hollyfrost turned her bright blue gaze and purred when she saw Emberpaw, "To tell you the truth I'm not young one, but I don't want to bother you with any of my problems. Tell me how are you? I hope your paws going to heal" she cast a glance down to his twisted paw.
A bit off guard by her nice attitude, Emberpaw lifted his own paw up to examine it.
"It still hurts but Berryshade says it should heal in time. He's making me swim in the shallow river to exercise the muscles" he shook it off like nothing, although shuddered at the thought of swimming once more, cats weren't supposed to swim!
"I'm sorry for what he did to you" she whispered lowering her gaze shamefully, "That cat caused everyone in his life pain since the day he was born. I should never have trusted him."
Emberpaw perked his ears at the elder warriors statement, what did that mean? Probably noticing his interest, Hollyfrost took a deep breath.
"When I became pregnant with Sandpaw, Timberpaw and Eelpaw" she began, "Lightningcloud had only recently become deputy. But already he showed the true darkness in his heart, he never even spent time with me or helped me when I was expecting his own kits."
Emberpaw's fur began to puff out in anger, how could a tom treat the mother of his kits in such a way? If and when Emberpaw ever had kits, he would help his mate with anything!
"But I soon found out why he was never around" Hollyfrost spoke continuing her story. "One night only days before I kitted, a storm came onto the forest" she paused while gazing at the cloud ridden sky.
"I was on my way to the nursery for some rest when I caught Lightningcloud's scent. He was near the shallow side of the territory as the storm began to strike, and I knew something was up."
The look in the older she-cats eyes was quite peculiar as she remembered the faithful night early in her life. And Emberpaw almost died of anticipation, what had Lightningcloud done?
"He had been meeting with another cat, a kittypet loner, I forget her name. But I could tell she was in love with Lightningcloud as I was, but that wasn't all".
Instantly Emberpaw froze cold in his spot, it couldn't be!
"My kits father was telling this loner that he couldn't see her anymore, that he didn't care what happened to her or her kits. And that if she wanted to keep her life she better leave."
Emberpaw stood there in shock as Hollyfrost continued to talk, but he couldn't hear her.
That loner, his eyes grew wide with realization, Hollyfrost was talking about his mother. She was speaking of Terra.
Heres a little preview of Zodiac, even though I havn't started writing it. Here are two characters of eight characters in Zodiac!
Sprucekit: Have you ever wished when you were on a daily patrol scouting borders that you could just simply tell fox's or badgers to leave your territory? Well Sprucekit can. With the power to not only speak and understand any animals language, Sprucekit can also manipulate anything to do with earth. It may be creating a pathway across a river, or maybe creating a little hole to throw enemies into. But ultimately Sprucekit has a power that should be used wisely, but the question is will she?
Charredkit: This wily little thing called Charredkit is not someone you want to mess with. With the power to manipulate fire, this ball of fire is not someone who should be messed with. But what could fire be used for than anything other than to hurt other cats? This and many other questions will be answered, but not before Charredkit loses control of his power. But hey what's the big deal? He just burnt down part of the forest for StarClan's sake!
Well there you have it, Sprucekit and Charredkit! There are six other little kitties to be created, even though I already know who they are and what powers they have. Anyway I hope you like this little preview of Zodiac, and remember 5 reviews and I update today!