Starlingpaw's legs shook as she walked to the tallest tree, the weight of the challenge ahead of her pressing down on her shoulders. She was alone; Honeypool had decided it was best for her to tell Blizzardstar about the prophecy by herself.
Multiple worries circulated through her mind. When she told him about the vision that included Blizzardstar himself, would the leader banish her, thinking she was a threat? And, worse than anything else, what if he didn't believe her, and DawnClan was destroyed? Maybe they had misinterpreted the prophecy, too, though Starlingpaw wasn't sure what else it could have meant.
She had to clear her thoughts as she reached the great oak, a lump of white fur sitting in between the long roots that formed the leader's den.
"Blizzardstar?" Starlingpaw meowed as she poked her head in through the largest gap in the den's walls. The leader barely turned his head to address her.
At the sight of the injured apprentice, Blizzardstar flinched and averted his eyes. "Y-yes?" he meowed uncomfortably.
She felt her doubts rise up again, but she began to speak. "I received a message from StarClan, and I wanted to tell you about it," Really, she hadn't wanted to tell Blizzardstar, worried of what he would, or worse, wouldn't do about it, but Honeypool had insisted. Apparently she didn't see the faults of her 'great leader' or whatever the other cats called him.
To her surprise, or perhaps not, Blizzardstar laughed. "I haven't heard that before! A warrior apprentice receiving word from our ancestors." She watched, horrified, as he left the den without another word. What was she supposed to do now?
Intent on finishing the task Honeypool had given her, Starlingpaw trailed after Blizzardstar as he walked through camp. "Wait!" she cried, her voice desperate. "It's the truth! You have to listen to me!"
But her leader took no notice, only quickening his pace so that it was hard for her to keep up with her hobbling gait and sore paws. She fell behind, unable to match his speed, and had almost lost all hope when a voice came from in front of her.
"Now what's all this then?" meowed Mint, standing in Blizzardstar's path. "I hear an apprentice calling out for you to listen to her and you're just running away? What kind of leader does that?"
The ex-kittypet had been carrying a ball of moss to the nursery, but now it sat at his paws, gathering dust and grime. Blizzardstar flattened his ears and arched his back, hackles raised, and hissed, "I don't need a spoiled kittypet to tell me how to lead my Clan!" With that, the leader turned quickly on his heel and sprinted to the entrance of camp, streaking past Starlingpaw with surprising speed. She figured that he had had a lot of practice running away from things.
Mint scoffed and approached Starlingpaw. "That piece of fox dung! I can't believe he just ran away like that.," The silver gib turned to her with a concerned expression on his face. "What was it you needed to tell him? Was it anything important?"
Starlingpaw stared at the ground, scuffing her paws in the dirt. "Oh, it was nothing," She decided that Mint didn't need to know about the prophecy, especially since he didn't know much about StarClan yet. "But thanks for helping me out anyway."
He smiled. "No problem! I learned from Ashscar's example."
"So… how are you settling into camp?" she asked, wanting to continue the conversation. Starlingpaw rather liked Mint; he was kind and helpful, not to mention brave. Few cats ever tried to stand up to their leader.
"Oh, pretty well. I'm staying in the nursery with Fishkit, feeding him fresh-kill by chewing it up first. They were already weaned from milk when I found them, just a few days ago, so I had been catching prey and feeding the kits anyway. It's nice to have a warm den for them to sleep in, though. Fireblossom, Mosspetal, and Tawnystripe are all great denmates."
Starlingpaw listened intently, her stressed mood slipping away as her new Clanmate gushed about his life in the Clan. Suddenly a question came into her mind. "Mint, why did you decide to take the offer? To join DawnClan, I mean?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Well, I was sold at a young age, just over a moon, to a new group of housefolk. I never really knew my kin, since I was usually kept inside, except a few sparse visits. So meeting Vinetail was really exciting. I was actually hunting for the kits when I was caught by some of your warriors. I was hoping to raise them as my own, somehow. It got lonely at my house and I wanted other cats to keep me company. When the opportunity presented itself, I figured it was fate, so I went along with it," As Mint was speaking his eyes gained a far-away look and it took a while for him to snap out of it. "Sorry for rambling," he meowed at last, an apologetic shine in his eyes.
"No problem," Starlingpaw mewed with a grin, and Mint returned it as he picked up the ball of moss at his feet. The two cats dipped their heads at each other and walked off to their respective dens as the sun began to set.
Though Starlingpaw was upset that Blizzardstar hadn't listened to her, she thought it was for the best. What would such an unreliable and cowardly cat have done about a prophecy of doom? Probably not much, she decided. He might have even made things worse.
When Starlingpaw returned to the apprentices' den, she was met with both Larkpaw and Birchpaw lying in their nests, exhausted from their all-day training session. They both looked up when she entered and meowed quiet greetings, then lowered their heads again to rest. Starlingpaw yawned as she passed through the tall grasses and began to settle herself beside Birchpaw.
Just as she was curling herself into a ball, a meow sounded from outside the den and a ginger cat's head poked through the grass.
"Hi!" Tawnystripe said, her voice cheerful and bright. "How are you all?"
Starlingpaw jumped up from her nest to greet her friend, nuzzling her briefly before sitting a few pawsteps away from her. Birchpaw gave the new warrior a slightly less enthusiastic greeting and sat beside Starlingpaw, since he didn't really know Tawnystripe all that well. Unsurprisingly, Larkpaw stayed on his side of the den, making no motion to approach the she-cat warrior.
"We've been pretty good, I guess," Starlingpaw responded, a little confused. It had only been a day since Tawnystripe had been made a warrior, but apparently she already missed her apprentice friends. "How's life with Mosspetal?"
Tawnystripe beamed, her whiskers twitching happily. "Amazing. We have three perfect little she-kits and they're just the sweetest little balls of fur! Mosspetal and I take turns in the nursery, watching over them and getting them fresh-kill, and it's just…" the ginger she-cat sighed, full of content. "I'm the happiest cat in the world."
Starlingpaw was glad her friend was enjoying her new life, but she was worried about how Larkpaw would take the news; so far he hadn't reacted, but his ears were turned toward them, so he could obviously hear their conversation. Tawnystripe seemed to notice her train of thought and cast a quick glance at Larkpaw, but it didn't dampen her cheerful mood.
"I don't really want to bother you too much, but…" Starlingpaw began, absentmindedly grooming her fur. "Could you stay awhile? We could chat, just like old times!" Not really that old, Starlingpaw thought.
Tawnystripe looked briefly over her shoulder before turning back to her friends. "Sure, but I can't be too long, or Mosspetal will start to miss me. What do you want to talk about?"
Birchpaw, surprisingly, was the first one to talk, and together he and Starlingpaw told Tawnystripe about their training session. The ginger she-cat looked happy that both apprentices were doing better with their training, but it was obvious that she felt a bit guilty for being made a warrior before Birchpaw. She shifted her paws uncomfortably whenever either of them made a remark about how difficult their training was and began to distract herself with grooming her fur as Birchpaw spoke briefly about his attack. Soon enough it was time for the warrior to leave, and both Starlingpaw and Birchpaw bade her good-night and turned to settle in their own nests.
As she paced around in her nest, flattening it into a comfortable shape, Starlingpaw noticed that Larkpaw had gotten to his feet, craning his neck to see Tawnystripe walk out of the den. She sighed, worried about her brother, and walked slowly over to him.
"Are you all right?" Starlingpaw mewed quietly, so as to not disturb Birchpaw, who was lying comfortably in his nest. "Did Tawnystripe being here… I don't know, bother you or anything?"
Larkpaw seemed to bite his tongue, holding something back, but then he smiled. It was a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm fine. I just need to clear my head. I'll be back before sunrise."
Starlingpaw stared at him, puzzled, as Larkpaw left the den in the direction of the thicket tunnel, his dark-colored tail tucked between his sable-tipped legs.
She watched her brother leave for a moment longer before walking back to Birchpaw, whose sleep was soon disturbed.
Blackpaw and Skypaw bounded into the den, squealing happily, their branch collars removed. The loops were taken off by the new apprentices' mentors at the end of their first training session, to symbolize that they had begun to learn the ways of the Clan. It also helped other cats recognize during the session that the apprentices were newly named and deserved a bit of slack.
"That was sooo cool!" Blackpaw mewed, her tiny but abnormally loud voice waking Birchpaw from his light sleep.
"I know, right? We have the best territory ever!" Skypaw responded, bouncing on his paws.
"Hey," Birchpaw said drowsily, and his siblings bounced over to him gleefully, nudging up against his sides and purring loudly. Starlingpaw almost laughed at how adorable the little kittens were, overflowing with energy and excitement.
"Birchpaw, have you ever seen the stump-clearing?" Skypaw asked enthusiastically.
"Or the mushroom tree?" Blackpaw added.
"The great big hollow log near the mountains!"
"And that clearing full of rabbits!"
"Calm down, please," Birchpaw meowed, his voice weak with exhaustion. "Yes, I have seen all of those, and our territory is very cool. But you know what else is great?"
"What?" both new apprentices squeaked in unison.
"Sleep!" Birchpaw answered with a laugh. He nudged the energetic little kittens to the empty nests on the opposite side of the den. "Make yourselves at home, and for the love of StarClan, try not to make any noise," Though his words were harsh, Birchpaw spoke with a warmth Starlingpaw had only ever heard directed at herself. She almost felt jealous, but she couldn't blame Birchpaw for being close with his kin. At least these two kittens seemed to like him, the opposite of Ravenwing.
"Love you, big brother!" Blackpaw meowed, to which Birchpaw responded,
"I love you too, Blackpaw. Get some sleep."
When the young apprentices finally seemed to calm down, the happy spark had left Birchpaw.
"What is it?" Starlingpaw asked, nudging the side of his face with her nose. She guessed at the answer before he said it.
"It's not that I don't like them," Birchpaw started with a flick of his tail at his siblings. "I just… Well, I never thought I'd be sharing a den with them, you know?"
Starlingpaw purred, trying to comfort him. "Hey, don't worry! I'll always be in this den with you, so you're not alone in feeling out of place."
That didn't seem to help. The black-and-white tom averted his gaze from her eyes and stared at the stump of her tail. "You shouldn't have to, though. It…" he trailed off, his eyes swimming with troubled thoughts. "It should have been me."
"What should have been you?" she asked, confused.
"The fox attack."
"That… that was you," Starlingpaw responded, wondering if Birchpaw had forgotten about his past. It seemed very unlikely, which only confused her further.
"No, I mean the fox attack that lost you half of your tail."
"Oh," she said simply, not knowing what else to reply with. How could he blame himself for something that had happened to her when he wasn't even there?
"I mean, really, Starlingpaw, if you hadn't been injured, you'd probably be a warrior by now, or at least soon. If I had been there instead, and I had lost my tail instead, then you could be living happily with Larkpaw and Tawnystripe as a warrior like you've always wanted."
Starlingpaw fell silent, trying to gather her words. Finally, she gave Birchpaw a quick lick on the forehead before speaking. "It's just like you said today, Birchpaw. My injury is part of who I am now. I wouldn't even be happy as a warrior without you at my side. StarClan chose this path for me, and I don't mind it at all if it means you're here with me."
Birchpaw took a moment to process what she said. At last, he seemed to relax, and the two apprentices groomed each other wordlessly for a while before curling up side-by-side to sleep. Starlingpaw drifted off into a pleasant dream full of prey-scent and conversation, and all was quiet in the world.
Starlingpaw woke to the feeling of fangs in her scruff and the sound of a battle cry. She was torn from her nest by a ginger tom, and barely had time to thrash away from him when she heard an angry yowl from behind her. Birchpaw had launched himself at her attacker, flinging his body around the ginger cat's neck, and kicked fiercely at the enemy. The orange tom released Starlingpaw for a moment and struggled to throw Birchpaw off of him, his green eyes blazing with hatred.
Birchpaw eventually faltered and was flung off of the huge warrior, landing a fox-length away on the earth. Starlingpaw yowled in fury and ran forward, her back legs still slightly numb from sleep, and managed to slash her claws across the warrior's face. The tom spat in anger and whirled around to face her.
"Dovepaw! Milkpaw! Get over here!" the orange cat ordered, calling over his shoulder. Two sets of paws came bounding from behind him, and as Starlingpaw ran over to check on Birchpaw, the newcomers surrounded them.
Both she-cats were remarkably pretty, even in the dark of night, one of them arching her back in a battle stance. They had silver fur, though one also had patches of golden fur on her pelt, and were at least partly white. The she-cats were very thin, the shape of their ribs showing through their shimmering moonlit pelts. Starlingpaw shot them an angry glare before turning her attention to Birchpaw; luckily, they didn't take any action against her.
As Starlingpaw nudged her friend's pelt with her nose, the orange tom from earlier shot into the apprentices' den, and there was a loud squeal from the grasses. Starlingpaw tried to ignore them, focusing solely on Birchpaw in case he was having an attack.
Luckily, with Silverpelt shining down on them, StarClan kept Birchpaw safe and calm. He got to his feet slowly and shook himself, still reeling from the attack. Her fears about his well-being quelled, she sniffed the air and the cats beside her to figure out what was going on. The thick smell of DuskClan filled her nostrils, and she was surprised she hadn't smelled it before. What was DuskClan doing in their camp, dragging cats out of their nests? She stood tall and looked out at camp to see what was going on, her neck fur bristling in fear and her half-tail tucked between her legs.
The camp was filled with DuskClan cats, twice as many warriors as there were in DawnClan, many of them crowding at the thicket tunnel. Others sprinted into dens, pulling out DawnClan cats, and still others ran back and forth to give orders. She saw two toms standing outside the warriors' den, one of them light brown and white with a jagged scar and the other a cream-colored tom with dark brown patches. They nuzzled each other affectionately and then rushed into the warriors' den, poking their heads into the fallen log and dragging out a black cat that Starlingpaw guessed was Sootpelt. Her heart dropped into her stomach- DuskClan was attacking their camp, and there was nothing DawnClan could do about it. They were hugely outnumbered, and no cat could take on more than one enemy and still win. She felt Birchpaw press closer to her, crouching low on the ground and curling his tail around her, trying to find a touch of comfort and stability. The young DuskClan cats that guarded them stood with their fur fluffed out, trying to intimidate the older apprentices. Starlingpaw longed to leap at them with her claws outstretched and slash at their sparkling pelts, but Birchpaw seemed too shaken to attack. Instead, she stood by his side and hissed at the other apprentices until they took a step back from her. Satisfied, she gave Birchpaw a quick lick and went back to observing the attack, trying to gather as much information as possible.
With a gasp, Starlingpaw saw a great sable shape being dragged past her by the teeth of a silver DuskClan warrior, flailing around nearly breaking out of her grasp, only to be smothered by a large calico tom leaping onto his shoulders. Starlingpaw had never had great affection for her father, but seeing Thornflame being attacked by enemy cats sent a stroke of fear through her body. He was one of the most fierce cats in DawnClan, and if he could be restrained by two DuskClan warriors… she gulped in fear and turned to look at the rest of camp, helpless to do anything against their attackers.
Suddenly she caught sight of a white shape walking toward the thicket tunnel, his long fur still shining brilliantly in the moonlight. A mottled red and brown DuskClan warrior was by his side, his bright amber eyes shining gleefully, visible even from a distance. A large brown tabby with dark paws stood beside the two cats, watching coldly and making Blizzardstar flinch by yapping something every few steps. Starlingpaw realized with a jolt that the huge tom must be Rippletide, the DuskClan deputy. Though gatherings were few and far between in DawnClan, since DuskClan usually refused to come to them, Starlingpaw had gone once as a young apprentice. She had seen the intimidating deputy as well as the DuskClan leader, Featherstar.
Another squeal came from behind her, and the two younger apprentices emerged from the apprentices' den, sprinting with all their might. She heard Birchpaw cry out their names, but they didn't hear; Blackpaw and Skypaw ran straight into a reddish-brown tom, who was close enough that Starlingpaw could smell him. The tom grabbed Skypaw by the scruff and shook him wildly, throwing the young cat a small tail-length away. Skypaw landed with a whimper and Birchpaw surged forward, trying to reach his brother, but the DuskClan apprentices blocked the way.
"What are you trying to do?" one of them growled.
"Oh, come on, Milkpaw," the other meowed, then turned to face the reddish-brown tom. "Hawkstrike, don't be so rough with them! They're just little apprentices, they won't put up a fight!"
Hawkstrike let out a huff of frustration and snatched up Skypaw in his teeth again, sprinting to the entrance, where many DawnClan cats were being herded. The silver she-cats exchanged a look and moved to flank their prisoners. Starlingpaw recoiled from them in fear, wondering if they were going to attack, but they stood still, their gaze fixed on Blackpaw, who was running to the back of camp in an attempt to escape.
Suddenly a long-furred, golden she-cat ran over from near the warriors' den and blocked Blackpaw from freedom, yowling after the reddish-brown tom as he left. "You left an apprentice, Hawkstrike! Almost reminds me of something else you did!" Hawkstrike made no response to this.
"Starlingpaw, do you think we could make a run for it?" Birchpaw suddenly meowed, his gaze fixed on his siblings, standing terrified at the entrance to camp as their attackers set them down roughly.
She shook her head and spoke in a low voice so the silver cats couldn't hear her. "You saw that golden cat catch Blackpaw. Besides, there's no way I could outrun them."
A rush of wind came from beside her as the orange cat from before ran past them to the warriors' den, leaping onto a struggling DawnClan warrior. Starlingpaw shivered at this cat's ferocity; surely not all of DuskClan was so ruthless? All she could hear now was yowls of pain from DawnClan warriors as they were subdued and dragged to the thicket tunnel. One DuskClan cat, at least, would have some empathy?
It seemed she was correct. Now that she was actively searching for it, she saw multiple kind DuskClan warriors. A ginger tom was slowly walking Honeypool to the thicket tunnel, helping her carry a large bundle of herbs. She sighed in relief at the sight- if they were bringing herbs, DawnClan wasn't heading to their deaths. However, the thought that DuskClan was only capturing her Clan made even less sense. What would they do with so many cats?
Starlingpaw noticed another gentle warrior by the nursery, his black-and-white mottled fur shining under the moon. He was carrying Fireblossom's kits out from under the tree roots, setting them down with a kind lick of their fur.
Her heart stopped for a moment when a burst of ginger fur came out of the nursery behind the mottled cat, responding to the sound of a she-cat's cry. Starlingpaw turned to see Mosspetal beneath three different DuskClan warriors, fighting tooth and claw, bleeding badly from one leg, and staining the earth with it. Tawnystripe leaped forward, trying to reach her mate, but a large black tomcat thrust his way in front of her and blocked her path. The ginger she-cat leaped onto him, bowling him over with immeasurable strength, and kicked angrily at his underbelly, scratching out clumps of fur. Though she was winning the battle, another warrior, his fur cream and brown tabby, jumped into the fray. Tawnystripe emerged from beneath the cats, hissing and spitting, her flank sporting a new bite mark. She retreated back to the nursery and grabbed one of her adopted kits.
A fear overtook Starlingpaw. Why was DuskClan doing this? Surely this was against the warrior code, to invade a Clan's territory and tear them from their homes. What had made DuskClan break the ever-important tenets of Clan life?
Her gaze stayed fixed on the nursery as a new cat bounded up to her, a white she-cat with blue eyes. She mewed something quietly to the silver cats and the three DuskClan she-cats nudged Starlingpaw and Birchpaw to their feet, slowly moving them toward the entrance. Starlingpaw saw a bright flash of silver-and-black fur and squinted her eyes, trying to make out who was at the nursery's entrance.
Mint pushed his way out through the nursery roots, Fishkit hanging from his jaws, and walked nervously to the thicket tunnel, a white-and-brown apprentice beside him. The apprentice carried one of Tawnystripe's kittens, and as he was padding his way to the DawnClan crowd, just a fox-length in front of Starlingpaw, a solid black she-cat emerged from the crowd and hissed angrily.
"Eaglepaw! What are you doing, helping these selfish rats?" the she-cat spat, arching her back and puffing out her tail. Starlingpaw felt a stab of hurt. What did she mean, selfish? She began to think that something big was going on between DawnClan and DuskClan, something she knew very little about.
Eaglepaw set down the kit warily and backed away to sit beside a ginger tom with a black chest. The black she-cat that had hissed came forward and grabbed the kit roughly, placing her in the crowd with little to no caution. Starlingpaw flinched at her rough treatment of the young kitten, appalled that a cat could hurt something so tiny and incapable of harming anything. Tawnystripe came sprinting forward from the nursery, another kit in her mouth, reaching her kitten in a few moments. She gently placed the other kit on the ground and then whirled on the black she-cat, hissing insults.
"Get your filthy paws off of my kit!" Tawnystripe yowled, her voice full of venom. She herded the two kits close to her, wrapping her tail around their shaking forms, and watched angrily as the she-cat scoffed and turned to sit beside a cream colored she-cat.
Despite the chaos, everything seemed to be settling down. Almost all of DawnClan was waiting at the thicket tunnel, closed in on all sides by nearly thirty cats. DuskClan stood mostly silent, only speaking to each other quietly or yowling when a DawnClan cat tried in vain to escape and they had to leap on the poor warrior to stop them. Starlingpaw was shaking, frozen with shock at how sudden everything had happened. One moment she was sleeping peacefully and the next she was torn out of her nest and captured by the enemy Clan with no hope of escape. She felt Birchpaw unnaturally still beside her, but she didn't notice his abnormal movement through all her fear.
A shriek echoed through camp, the strongest battle cry Starlingpaw had ever heard, and the cats turned to watch as a black-and-white she-cat threw a ginger DuskClan cat off of her. It was Ashscar, and surrounding her was a ring of multiple DuskClan warriors, all of them bleeding from scratch and bite wounds. Ashscar was equally injured, but her eyes were filled with such an inferno of rage and hatred that it seemed she would never stop fighting. The ginger she-cat that Ashscar had thrown landed hard on the ground, leaving a streak of blood on the dusty ground. The other ginger cat, a tom, ran to her and licked her pelt furiously. After a moment, the ginger she-cat got to her paws, limping but alive. Starlingpaw felt different feelings swirling around in her head. She didn't want these other cats to be harmed, but didn't they deserve it for attacking DawnClan? Even thinking the words made her feel wrong, though. These cats smelled of fear and desperation, as if their lives depended on this battle. Even still, she didn't think that made it right.
Ashscar slashed her razor-sharp claws across the face of a light gray she-cat, causing a sharp yelp of pain. Angry yowls sprang from the DuskClan cats and a few of them left the thicket tunnel to run at Ashscar, who was fending off three DuskClan cats at once with ease. Starlingpaw almost shivered at the deputy's battle prowess and feared to think where her rage had come from to make her so strong. But with more DuskClan cats joining the fight, Ashscar had to give in, and she limped to the entrance with a determined shine in her eyes.
Starlingpaw buried her face in Birchpaw's fur at the defeat of DawnClan's strongest warrior. DawnClan could do nothing to retaliate against what DuskClan might do to them, and all she could do was hope that they were not going to be killed. She noticed with a jolt that Birchpaw's flanks were heaving wildly in and out; he was hyperventilating. She nudged his side frantically, trying to wake him from the attack, and licked his fur as fast as she could. Nothing seemed to help him. His attacks before had been much milder, but this one was infinitely worse. There had never been such a stressful event before.
"Honeypool!" Starlingpaw yowled, unsure of what else to do. She poked her head above the crowd and saw the ginger medicine cat speaking with the tom that had escorted her. "It's Birchpaw!"
Honeypool showed no signs of hearing her, lost in conversation with the ginger tom. Starlingpaw figured she could go fetch the medicine cat quickly enough, but she didn't want to leave Birchpaw alone.
With a flash of anger toward her medicine cat, Starlingpaw pressed her head against Birchpaw's neck, trying to give him a familiar scent to cling on to. She groomed his ears and head as well as she could, thinking that maybe the sensation would wake him, but nothing seemed to work.
With an angry hiss, she nuzzled her friend one last time before weaving through the crowd to Honeypool, who was still busy with her DuskClan friend.
Starlingpaw, in a fit of rage, cuffed the medicine cat on the back of her head to catch her attention, making the ginger she-cat spin around.
"Starlingpaw!" Honeypool meowed angrily. "What in the name of StarClan was that for?"
The sable apprentice narrowed her eyes and flattened her ears. "Oh, while you were busy with this tom, Birchpaw's been having his worst attack yet. It would be nice if you could help, but I wouldn't want to interrupt you."
Honeypool's eyes widened and she got to her paws, rushing hurriedly through the crowd after grabbing a leafy herb from the bundle of plants she had brought. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Starlingpaw responded sharply, still upset that Honeypool had left Birchpaw to suffer. "I did, you just didn't hear me."
The medicine cat turned to her. "Starlingpaw, I'm sorry that I didn't hear you, but the most important thing right now is Birchpaw. Let me tend to him before you chew me out further."
She felt a drop of remorse, worried that she had gone too far, but that didn't change the fact that Honeypool had kept Birchpaw in his past for a few moments too long.
Just as the medicine cat reached Birchpaw and Ashscar finally joined the huddled group, a cry sounded for the DawnClan cats to be moved through the tunnel. A grey tabby DuskClan tom beside the three cats padded forward and nudged Birchpaw with his nose, confused when he didn't respond.
Starlingpaw quickened her pace and skidded to a halt beside her friend, hissing at the grey tom. "Leave him be!"
The tom looked at her, confused. "What's wrong with your friend?" he meowed in an odd accent, his words flowing together as if he couldn't separate them.
She ignored him, focused only on Birchpaw as Honeypool gently tried to place the herb in his mouth. As the leafy plant was held under his nose, Birchpaw roused from his attack just enough to grab the herb in his mouth and chew it. Starlingpaw let out a deep sigh of relief and sat beside him as the rest of DawnClan filtered through the thicket tunnel. He still wasn't moving, but his shaking calmed a little.
The grey tom beside them moved forward. "You need to move," he ordered, his voice annoyingly haughty.
Starlingpaw jerked her head upward, her eyes blazing. "Stay back or I swear I'll tear your ears off."
He gave her an incredulous look. "You're an apprentice, and you're badly maimed," he pointed out with a flick of his tail, indicating her injury. "I don't think you'd stand a chance. Move."
A growl rose in her throat and Starlingpaw dropped into a crouch. She was hoping that the DuskClan cat would back off since he was probably right about her skill in battle.
To her dismay, the grey tabby adopted a similar battle stance and flattened his ears, creeping toward her. She spat angrily and retreated to where Birchpaw still crouched low on the ground, shaking violently and hyperventilating.
"We have to move," Starlingpaw meowed into his ear, hoping he'd hear her. She nudged his paws with her snout, trying to get him to move, but he stayed put.
"Hurry up," the tom growled from behind her. "There's no time for your friend to be stubborn."
"He's not being stubborn!" Starlingpaw snapped as she whirled around on the DuskClan cat. "He can't move! Stop pressuring him!"
He looked taken aback. "Can't… move? What? Why?"
"It's none of your business," she said finally and turned back to her friend.
Luckily, Birchpaw seemed to be recovering. He sat on the ground, still and silent, his eyes flitting around nervously.
Starlingpaw rushed over and wrapped herself around him, purring. "Oh, thank StarClan," she mewed. "I thought you'd never be back!"
Birchpaw's voice was very frail, as if it could be shattered with the touch of a claw. "Me too."
Slowly, the two apprentices got to their paws and started toward the entrance. Since Starlingpaw wasn't really the best cat to help Birchpaw balance, he leaned on Honeypool as they walked and Starlingpaw kept an eye trained on the impatient DuskClan cats around them. They pushed through the thicket tunnel without any further trouble.
They emerged outside the camp, where a light grey tabby she-cat sat waiting at the crest of a small hill. For a moment Starlingpaw thought it was Rainstar, the she-cat in her dream that was the predecessor of Blizzardstar, but she soon recognized the old cat as Featherstar, DuskClan's leader.
"So it has finally happened," Featherstar started in a raspy voice, her meow just audible enough for both Clans to hear. "DawnClan, the high and mighty, have been defeated. Blizzardstar himself has bowed to us and we control a new territory."
Cheers erupted from the DuskClan cats, sending an unsettling chill down Starlingpaw's spine. Birchpaw sat carefully down on the ground beside her and pressed his long fur against her flat pelt.
"There will be no more hunger, no more starvation. We own DawnClan, and they can no longer stop us from living well!" Featherstar cried, her voice frail but full of power.
"I still don't get why we couldn't have done this nicely," meowed a small voice underneath all of the DuskClan yowls. The white-and-brown tomcat that had escorted Mint was sitting beside Starlingpaw, speaking to a ginger tom.
"Come on, you know why," the ginger tom responded kindly, flicking the younger cat with his tail. "Blizzardstar kept refusing to let us hunt on his territory, no matter how much we asked. The filthy rat."
Starlingpaw's neck fur stood on end. She couldn't believe that Blizzardstar had actually followed the warrior code and kept DuskClan off of their territory, but looking at the starved cats around her, she was unsure if that was the right thing to do.
"Now that StarClan has answered our prayers, DuskClan can fill its potential," Featherstar continued after the pause. "Let us rise and grow, to live without fear or worry, and hunt more than ever before!"
Her words were met with a deafening cacophony of cheers, and Starlingpaw noticed how many of the younger warriors had ribs poking out from beneath their pelts. She had never been hungry in her life, at least, not in the way DuskClan probably had. There was always prey in the fresh-kill pile, and while there was less in Leaf-bare, there was never a deathly season when it came to fresh-kill. She had a quick stab of sympathy for these underfed cats before remembering that they had just invaded her only home and roughed up innocent cats in the dead of the night.
StarClan, she thought. What have we done to deserve this?
As she glanced around helplessly, for once looking for a route of escape, Starlingpaw caught Honeypool's eyes. The medicine cat was staring straight at her, her hazel eyes dull and scared. A thought poked through her already numerous worries; was this the beginning of the endless dusk?
The cats began to move, walking toward an unsure future, and for the first time, Starlingpaw realized that Larkpaw wasn't with them.
/
wow.
hah, I thought the last chapter was big...
I hope you liked this! it took forever for me to get it how I wanted it. (writer's block? pshhh. just listen to The Oh Hellos while writing and bam, it's gone)
OCs are introduced but so briefly. I would make a list of who actually appeared but my brain is fried. so ask me if you'd like to know who someone is! No worries, this is only the beginning. (they will show unique personality traits soon! right now all they could do was follow their leader's orders.)
I want to do a chapter with some of your OCs' perspectives, so let me know if you'd be interested in that! I would just need a bit of info about how your character thinks. What is their voice like? I mean, not the literal sound, but what is their perspective on most things? Are they often optimistic, or pessimistic? Do they think deeply about things or skim over complicated thoughts? that would help me out a ton. if you don't really know or mind, though, I could decide some of these myself. I'd just like to represent your OC as you imagine them, you know?
note: this was going to be the end of this book and the start of a book 2. instead, this is the end of part 1. part 2 will start next chapter with a so-far unseen perspective!
Starlingpaw is a burmese mix in case anyone was wondering. she's probably vaguely inbred since her parents were both also burmese mixes and they came from former kittypet parents, so they may have been related. it's possible that this is what could have caused her disease! since often inbred cats have weakened immune systems, and cerebellar hypoplasia is technically a virus, during embryo development? (i think lol it's hard to keep track of this) aaaanyway just wanted to share that since there's no way I'd ever fit it into the story
reviews!
ThatOneVirgo - ack same, blizzardstar is a huge coward and is causing a LOT of problems. thanks for letting me know about your OCs! have a good day :)
Breezepetal - hi! glad you liked the prologue, i realize that i'm answering your review 17 chapters later but oh well. and about the brown eyes, i think brown in the descriptions just means like, dark amber, not true dark brown. I've seen plenty of cats with that color of eyes.
Warriorsfanfiction11111111111 - russetstorm is pretty cute yeah. he's a little arrogant but also very sweet. we'll explore more about him soon... and it is super cool that starlingpaw can help him! they're just so close that it only made sense that he would find comfort in her presence. she's probably the first cat he's ever opened up to, besides like, honeypool. and thanks for telling me about your OCs!
Mossy Clouds - yeah the ship is very cute. and thank you for letting me know about your OCs! hollyfrost was actually the she-cat that ashscar injured this chapter; but she's still very alive and healthy, just a little bruised. she'll stay living :)
succulentsofa - i don't want to say too much, so uhh, i'll say nothing haha. i'm actually like,, overly proud of how dang cryptic the prophecy is. I've had years of training lol. and thanks for letting me know about your OCs! have an amazing day :)
Night Heart The Worm Cat - I loved the ending line too! it was literally magic, i had the exact same realization as starlingpaw as i was writing and the line just came out of nowhere. thanks for the ocs, they've made an appearance this chapter! thanks for letting me know about death ideas.
whew. i'm so glad this chapter actually came out good. all of you, thank you so incredibly much for reading. I can't actually believe i've basically written a (short) book over these few months, and people are actually interested in this? the first form of this story was one chapter, that i posted here as like "inferno" or something, and everything except names have been changed. maybe I'll repost it someday just to see the growth because wow, have things changed (much much much for the better). You're all amazing people. keep watch for part 2, though it might be a while. (i have a lot of planning to do!)
have an amazing week, everyone :)