Chapter 25, Seashore and Hunterclaw
"From this moment on you will be known as Hunterclaw. StarClan honors you for your hunting skills, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
Ravenstar dipped her head to Hunterclaw and turned to the trembling Seapaw.
"From this moment on you will be known as Seashore. StarClan honors you for your kindness and respect, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
Skyfeather could see her sister's legs shaking so much she thought the silver-blue she-cat would collapse. She knew Seashore had wanted to be a warrior ever since she saw Skyfeather be made one.
"Seashore!" she yowled happily, bounding to meet her sister and giving her a hearty lick.
"I'm a warrior!" Seashore yowled at her, "I've been so jealous since you've been a queen! I can't wait to be a mother! Have you heard? Hunterclaw wants to be my mate!"
"WHAT?!" screeched Nightwind, whirling around from where she was congratulating Hunterclaw to stare at the small silver she-cat.
"I know," Hunterclaw yowled, dashing to his mate-to-be, and giving her a nuzzle.
Nightwind looked ready to explode. "This is not great! This is treacherous! One, Seashore is to ugly to please even the stupidest tom, and two, she's much to old for you…" she trailed away, looking up at the two stony faced warriors.
"To…ugly?" Seashore rasped, in clear shock, "Two ugly to please even a stupid tom?"
Hunterclaw glared at Nightwind.
"Much too old? She's only a moon older then me! Much less then you, I suppose!"
Skyfeather looked at the suddenly distraught Nightwind, and felt a stab of sorrow for her friend. Nightwind had longed for a mate for a long time, and just at the beginning of getting one, he was snatched up. She felt guilty for a second when she realized that she already had three and a half moon old kits.
"Nightwind…" She whispered, padding forth, "I'm so sorry about all this…"
"No you're not!" her friend snarled. Skyfeather had never seen Nightwind so angry. The easy going black she-cat was in a rage.
"Why would you care, when you have Birchoak? Why would any of my friends care? Leafcloud has Thornclaw or some other idiot! And then there's Shadowflight and Rockpool! Why would anyone care when the world is packed with couples? In fact, the fact that I have nobody is because I've been cursed by being the daughter of one evil maniac, a random cat of no importance who has been in BloodClan, and have a grandfather who is such a stinking traitor that he lives in garbage?"
Her friend whirled around and plunged into the burnt warriors den.
WHAT? Skyfeather almost screeched, she knew that Nightwind's parents, Sorreltail and Brackenfur, were not random cats of no importance or evil stinking traitors.
She sighed and looked around the crisp camp. ThunderClan had won the battle at Sunningrocks, and the fire had not proved to be bad. Now, in fact, they were back in the camp, and clearing the dead top of all the plants away in their territory.
A tired Rockpool padded up to her. "Skyfeather," he rasped, "Will you lead the Morning patrol? I know your kits are in the care of Leafcloud at the moment."
"Sure, Rockpool," Skyfeather said, licking the deputy's shoulder.
Thornclaw and Birchoak padded to her, their eyes bright. Yarrowpaw, Birchoak's apprentice, trailed after her mentor.
Seashore padded over to her.
"Can I come with you?" she asked in a pleading way, "It would be my first warrior patrol."
"Sure," Skyfeather meowed, "We'll check the ShadowClan border."
She scrambled out of the gorse tunnel and through the ravine. They headed for the border of ShadowClan.
Skyfeather sniffed a bracken frond, which was crisp and burnt. As she sniffed it, the end fell off, to reveal a healthy plant.
She glimpsed Thornclaw pulling some dead leaves off a huge bush of holly. He padded then over to her, spitting soot out of his mouth.
Skyfeather continued to ShadowClan. Then she heard the pattering off quick, terrified footsteps, and a tiny animal dashed into view, heading right at them. It seemed to not see them, but Skyfeather recognized it instantly, and caught its scruff as it attempted to dash past.
She held it up to get a look at it.
"Whitekit!" she gasped at her squirming kit, who started to yowl. She dropped it at her paws.
"Where are Arrowkit and Stonekit?" She demanded.
"O-over t-there…" muttered the little she-cat, pointing her head at the direction of the ShadowClan border, "W-we wanted t-to help the Clan and w-we went on a p-p-patrol to S-ShadowClan…But there were the-these huge hungry cats w-walking along…"
Skyfeather felt a thrill of fear for her young offspring. She looked up as her two toms smashed into the patrol.
"Hey!" hissed Birchoak, pulling an angry Arrowkit off his chest and dropping his beside Whitekit. Stonekit slunk over, and all three kits bent their heads at their mother's glare.
"You brats!" Skyfeather hissed, "Is what Whitekit says true? That you decided to patrol on your own?"
"Yes, mother," Stonekit muttered, but Arrowkit looked right up, his violet eyes wide with indignation.
"Leafcloud's kits are so boring!" he whined, "All they do is drink milk! They haven't even opened their eyes! And Stalkkit and Silverkit were all snoring away like dormice, and Leafcloud said not to wake them!" he paused, looking angry, "And Batkit could be really fun to play a game with! He could be the evil Brokenstar, and we could fight him by hoisting our paws under his shoulder and turning him over…"
Skyfeather felt a tiny flame of pride, knowing that her kit would be an excellent fighter one day. But she knew she must scold them.
"This was very idiotic of all of you! You just decided on helping your Clan without knowing that you were breaking the warrior code!"
Whitekit's long white fur fluffed out with embarrassment. She glanced up at Skyfeather, then quickly looked away.
"Get back to camp," she snarled, "And I want you to stay right beside Leafcloud and not make a peep! And you must NOT wiggle!"
The kits trooped off, ears back and tails low, in a straight line of red, white, and grey.
Skyfeather growled at their backs then trudged to the ShadowClan border.
"Hey…" Yarrowpaw mewed cautiously after only about thirty seconds of walking, "Are you sure you know where you are, Skyfeather? You crossed the border, it's right here."
"No it's not," Skyfeather snapped, cracking the spine of a mouse between her teeth.
"No, smell this, Skyfeather," Birchoak said cautiously.
Skyfeather padded over. She looked over to where the border always was. It was still about fifty fox-lengths away. Of course she hadn't passed the border!
But still she sniffed the bush Yarrowpaw sat by. It was wet, and it stank of a fresh ShadowClan marker.
"What?" She screamed, leaping a little ways along to smell another marker. After another foot there was another one. ShadowClan had moved the border fifty one yards into ThunderClan territory.
She sniffed the ground. The smell of ThunderClan rose from it in a heavy reek, but it was masked by a light smell of ShadowClan. She saw a hunting place, where blood was on the grass, and even a small place cleared of grass to make a resting spot!
"ShadowClan is invading out territory!" Thornclaw snarled, standing beside her. "This is stupid!"
Skyfeather tossed some grass back into the cleared place. Then she stopped, sniffing the air.
A ShadowClan patrol slid into view.
"What are you doing?" demanded Rowanclaw. She sniffed the marker. "This is ShadowClan territory! Move out! The border's right here."
"No way!" Shouted Skyfeather, "You moved it! You've been hunting on ThunderClan territory!"
"No…" Rowanclaw faked puzzlement. "The borders been here for generations."
"ThunderClan wouldn't have survived if it was here. This makes ThunderClan have very little hunting space, and ShadowClan have tons."
Rowanclaw blinked innocently.
Skyfeather padded to the place where the old border had been, and smelled the faint line. "Smell this," she told them.
Rowanclaw sniffed at a bush. "I smell nothing," she meowed.
"Don't be crazy!" Snapped Skyfeather, "ShadowClan have always been respected for their sense of smell!"
"This has been the right territory for ages," Rowanclaw meowed, "I think that ThunderClan is so blinded by the weakness it holds from all those Kittypets that it can't sense a border. Get off our territory!"
Five cats appeared behind her.
"Attack!" Skyfeather screeched.