THUNDERCLAN CAMP
Where...where am I? Bravepaw wondered.
He was in a meadow, the sun was shining brightly high overhead and there was a gentle gust of wind blowing gently, tickling Bravepaw's fur.
"It's good to see you again!"
Turning around abruptly, Bravepaw saw the same energetic young tom he had met at the Moonstone on his and Redpaw's first visit there with Elmfur.
"Am I in StarClan?" Bravepaw blinked his eyes in confusion as he took in his surroundings once more.
Wildtail nodded his head, "Yes, but you are only dreaming. You are still back in your nest at ThunderClan."
Bravepaw's looked around at the open field. "What am I doing here?"
Wildtail looked Bravepaw up and down. "I'm here to give you another message of course!"
Bravepaw was filled with dread. "What bad thing is going to happen to us this time?! That seems to be the only time I ever hear from you is when something terrible is going to happen, like the great wind! Couldn't you have been a little clearer with your message?!"
Wildtail's usual carefree manner paused for a second as he gave a slight frown, "Yes… I wish we could've told you more. But that is not the way things are done here in StarClan."
Feeling slightly guilty at accusing Wildtail for ThunderClan's troubles, Bravepaw meowed, "I'm sorry… I'm sure you did the best you could."
The young tom's mood quickly lightened again as he bounced around Bravepaw in a circle. "I have some other news for you that you should like!"
"What is it?" Bravepaw asked, anticipation beginning to grow inside him.
Wildtail stopped bouncing around and leveled his gaze with Bravepaw's.
"Blood of your own blood survives,
It knows not your name,
But needs you to truly thrive."
Slowly Wildtail began to fade and when Bravepaw opened his eyes again he was in the Apprentice Den, lying next to Redpaw.
I just had another dream from Starclan! He thought excitedly, But what could it mean? Blood of my blood survives? Could that possibly mean my parents are alive! I wonder if Wildtail will visit me again tonight to explain!
More thought on the matter would have to wait. It was dawn already. A vibrant bluebird was whistling its morning song as it greeted another beautiful day.
Willowpaw and Sparrowpaw were no longer in their nests and Bravepaw assumed they had been chosen for either the border patrol or to go hunting.
It sure was nice to sleep in for a change.
Bravepaw let out a huge yawn and then, glancing over at the snoring Redpaw, had an idea. He put the tip of his tail by Redpaw's nose and tickled it.
Redpaw's whiskers twitched as he sleepily opened his eyes and reached out with a paw to bat away what was tickling his nose. "Bravepaw, what did you have to do that for?" Redpaw mumbled.
Bravepaw let out a small meowr. "Come on sleepyhead! Time to get up!"
Redpaw turned around and snuggled in his nest deeper.
"Come on," Bravepaw coaxed as he grabbed Redpaw's tail.
Suddenly Redpaw turned around and pushed Bravepaw playfully away. "Alright, alright I'm awake! Can't a poor crippled cat get any sleep around here?"
Bravepaw jumped up, landing with both his paws on Redpaw shoulders and peered down at him with amusement. "Not if I can help it!"
Redpaw got sleepily to his paws and began licking down his messy fur.
Bravepaw looked triumphantly at Redpaw. "You would sleep all morning if I let you! Besides, your paw is almost better now."
Redpaw gently moved his sprained paw in slow circles. "I know! Ashnose thinks I'll be able to go on a patrol with him later today if I'm careful not to re-sprain my paw again. I've missed out on so much training already, I want to get started right away!"
"I've missed training with you!" Bravepaw meowed.
Redpaw glanced sideways with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "Well, let's see who is still the fastsest, shall we? Let's race over to the nursery. I want to see Briarnut and Sharp-Eye's kits!"
"Let's do it." Bravepaw agreed crouching low into his starting position. "Ready, set, go!"
The two apprentices barged through the opening in their den and charged across the clearing toward the nursery, stopping a few tail lengths away so that they wouldn't disturb the kits inside.
"I won!" whispered Redpaw as they approached the entrance to the Nursery.
"You jumped on me at the end!" Bravepaw protested, "I would've won!"
They both forgot about their arguement as they entered the Nursery and saw the five, small, meowling kittens wobbling feebly beside Briarnut and Sharp-Eye.
Steel was in the Nursery, setting down a large thrush beside Briarnut, who was watching the kits stumble around as they explored the Nursery, Sharp-Eye sitting closely beside his mate.
"I just returned with the hunting patrol and thought you'd like to have some prey." Steel meowed.
"How thoughtful of you. Thank you, Steel."
Bravepaw opened his eyes wide as he and Redpaw nosed their way in. "Is it alright if we see the kittens, Briarnut?"
"Of course," Briarnut smiled. "They just opened their eyes yesterday."
"They're a beautiful litter," Steel meowed to Briarnut and Sharp-Eye.
In the days Steel had been with the Clan he had already made himself well-liked by many of his clanmates by his kindness.
"How's Beekit been doing?" Bravepaw asked, looking down at the small runt of the litter.
Briarnut nudged Beekit closer in with his littermates. "Elmfur thinks he's might be getting a bit stronger. Hopefully, with time, he'll grow as big as his siblings. We're really starting to worry about Scratchkit though… He hasn't meowled since he was first born. Elmfur thinks he might not be able to talk."
Bravepaw could tell from the look on Briarnut's face that she was a lot more worried for Scratchkit then she showed.
"Sharp-Eye thinks Dewkit looks just like me." Briarnut purred as she rubbed her head gently on Sharp-Eye's shoulder.
"Hey!" Redpaw meowed, "Amberkit has a brown eye on one side and a green eye on the other! That's so cool!"
Briarnut purred. "Yes, Elmfur says that many cats have different color eyes."
"I think it looks neat!" Bravepaw declared.
Suddenly Grayleaf walked into the nursery, her tail lashing irritably, "Steel! You were supposed to be changing the moss for the elders. What are you doing in here?"
"Don't be so hard on him, Grayleaf," Sharp-eye stood up. "He was bringing food for Briarnut."
Steel looked shamefully at the floor, "I forgot, Grayleaf. I'll go do it right away. Goodbye." He then padded quickly out of the Nursery on to do his task."
Briarnut glanced sideways at Grayleaf. "You don't have to be so hard on Steel! He's still learning after all!"
"Well, he needs to learn to do as he's told right away, even an apprentice knows that! It could make the difference between life and death in certain situations," Grayleaf meowed with a tinge of annoyance.
Briarnut rolled her eyes. "Well cleaning the elder's den isn't a matter of life and death."
Grayleaf changed the subject. "Bravepaw, are you ready to go practice battle moves with Redpaw?"
"Redpaw can come!?" Bravepaw could barely believe his ears. His adopted brother hadn't been allowed to to train for a while now because of his sprained paw.
Smiling, Grayleaf meowed, "Yes, I talked to Elmfur earlier and she said his paw was well enough for at least some basic moves."
"Well what are we waiting for then?" Redpaw cried.
Grayleaf's eyes glinted with mild amusement. "We're waiting for you! Ashnose is already in the clearing."
"Oh," Redpaw replied, glancing down at his paws in embarrassment.
"Let's go then!" Bravepaw exclaimed, dashing out the Nursery exit.
(Hours later)
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"Wow! I am so sore after all of that training!" Redpaw licked his shoulder. "I've almost forgotten the feeling."
Bravepaw set a shrew down between him and Redpaw. "This is all there was, besides a pitiful mouse. I wonder when Bladestar will send out the evening hunting patrol, I'm famished!"
Clan life was humming along as usual with the regular routine.
Bladestar wandered out from the Nursey and walked over to the two apprentices. "How was your day?"
Bravepaw looked up from his shrew. "It was great! We did battle training."
Bladestar chuckled quietly. "I remember thinking there was nothing better than battle training when I was apprentice. Dewdrop was certainly a good mentor."
Redpaw took another bite out of his prey. "Well I definitely know what the worst part of being an apprentice is!"
"And what's that?" Bladestar asked, though it looked like the leader already knew what his answer was going to be.
"Cleaning the Elders Den!" Redpaw exclaimed.
Bladestar smiled. He knew it was probably one of the worst jobs for apprentices but he obviously wouldn't tell the two apprentices that. "Well the elders deserve respect for all of the things that they've done for their clan. And after all, a nice clean den isn't too much to ask for, is it?" He looked down at the two apprentices as he added with a grin, "Just think of when you two get older, then it'll be your turn to have apprentices do things for you."
"Huh, I didn't think of that!" Bravepaw meowed.
Bladestar caught sight of Steel looking at the prey pile. "Looks like we're pretty low on prey over there. I think I'll take a hunting patrol out." Calling over to Steel and Sharp-Eye, he asked them if they'd join him for a hunting patrol. They both said yes and Bladestar smiled when he saw how elated Steel looked at being chosen to go on a patrol with the leader of ThunderClan.
As they reached halfway between the clearing, Bladestar sighted Shinepelt and Hazelfur soming out of the Warrior's Den. "Would you two like to join us for a hunting patrol?"
"Of course, Bladestar!"
The summoned cat padded forward and the patrol slipped out of the camp entrance, vanishing into the forest.
Author note/ So the next chapter will probably be at ThunderClan too and not Edgeclaw's group. I just need some parts of my plot over here to progress! But hopefully we will be back with Edgeclaw soon;)
Thanks again everyone for reading my story!:) Hope u r enjoying it!