Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. It belongs to Erin Hunter.
'Thoughts' Dreams Memories
Sandpaw snarled as Lionheart carried her to the medicine den, Tigerclaw was not to far behind, holding Ravenpaw as gently as he could. The two mentors had tried to send Whitestorm away, since well, he couldn't do much but the white furred warrior refused.
"Sandpaw is my apprentice, I have to be there for her." the large tom said, standing his ground and lightly glaring at the two demons who lowered their heads and relented.
Inside the medicine den, Spottedleaf was sorting herbs but when the group came in and Lionheart explained what happened, the healer sighed and flattened her ears. "I told her this would happened. She refused to listen. Alright, fine. We're out of options, we'll have to force her. The meat I had is no good now, we'll have to get some more fresh" the medicine cat then looked over at Whitestorm and the other two apprentices, narrowing her eyes.
"You all have to leave, Whitestorm, I know you care but...this is a sensitive matter. You can't help us. Tigerclaw, can you scout around for me? You told my brother and I once you knew the best places to hunt. Lionheart, can you carry Sandpaw? We'll need to be quick. But first," Spottedleaf let the den and came back with Willowpelt. The gray molly then curled up next to Ravenpaw, saying how she would protect him.
After that, the apprentices, Graypaw especially, were quick to leave, and Spottedleaf watched as Whitestorm reluctantly left them too. She then turned to the males, nodding to them. "Let's go."
Tigerclaw nodded and Lionheart picked up Sandpaw, who hung limply in his jaws before he maneuvered her on his back. He hoped that she would stay unconscious throughout the whole journey. He only hoped that it wasn't too late to help the young cat.
Tigerclaw led the way swiftly, picking his pace brisk but also allowing for Lionheart to not fall behind either. The group trekked quickly through Tallpines, barely stopping when they heard a Twoleg voices drifting towards them. Tigerclaw led them towards to the edge of the forest where there was rows of fences showing the boundary towards Twolegplace. Tigerclaw stopped here and sniffed around.
Spottedleaf and Lionheart also sniffed around, scenting quite a few cats around. Claws extended, they both started to follow a certain trail before before Tigerclaw called then back, his gaze sympathetic.
"There are normal cats that live in those tiny spaces, they seem to be looked by the Twolegs, their little toys. The Teolegs seem to care about them enough they would angry if anything happened to them. We have to go elsewhere."
Lionheart and Spottedleaf both looked at each other, then to the gardens behind the fences. The scent of cats was strong in most spaces and the pair felt the urge to hunt despite Tigerclaw's words. Tigerclaw saw this and narrowed his eyes, unsheathing his own claws. His fur bristled for a few moments before forcing himself back into calm and taking a deep breath. They would need guidance, they couldn't let themselves fall completely into their instincts. He would have to reign them in.
"Let's go!" he said, putting a bit of force into his voice, catching the pair off guard and putting their attention back on him. "It's not safe to hunt here, follow me and I'll take you to a much better area."
Lionheart growled softly before turning and following as Tigerclaw began to move, Spottedleaf following a second later. As the trio walked, back at camp, things were just as tense.
XxXx
Graypaw was telling all who would listen about Sandpaw's brutal attack on Ravenpaw, though she mostly kept it to the demons of the Clan, a few non demons listened in as well. One was Longtail who stayed in the back of the group then slipped away to tell Bluestar. He was certain that the leader would want to know about this, if the demons were attacking each other, perhaps this would be a good opportunity for them!
Darkstripe was just coming back from hunting, a rather big rabbit in his jaws. As he deposited his catch in the fresh kill pile, Graypaw;s voice drifted towards him. The dark furred warrior perked his ears and raised his head, catching snatches of what the younger cat was saying.
Battle training going wrong, Sandpaw attacking Ravenpaw and going way too far? The deputy lowered his head and closed his eyes. Sanpaw and Ravenpaw were at quarter demon and half demon respectively. He didn't know much about demons himself to deduce why Sandpaw who attack Ravenpaw, though he did know that lately the pale molly had been acting strangely and rather aggressive.
He had enough trouble trying to get normal cats to allow the demons to eat from the fresh kill pile and sleep in the dens. It still lead to fights over food and the demons still slept outside. Darkstripe tried talking with Bluestar, to get her to see what her Clan was turning into. But to his shock, Bluestar would only dismiss his worries, likening them to a simple rough patch that her Clan would soon get through.
Darkstripe knew that while there has been no fights yet, blood shed would soon come and he did not know what he could do to stop it. The deputy knew that something would have to give and he had to do his part to help mend the Clan of the rift that had formed. And to start, he would pull Graypaw away from her storytelling.
As he walked over the to budding storyteller, he found Willowpelt already speaking with Graypaw, after taking her away. The smaller gray cat was sitting with her head bowed and her shoulders hunched, Willowpelt's fur bristling and her eyes narrowed into angry slits.
"You shouldn't go on telling what has happened between Sandpaw and Ravenpaw! Things are tense right now, we don't need to give the other half of the Clan more reasons to think that we are nothing but savages! I know you are having a hard time with Sanpaw, but you must get over it, persevere, my dear. She's...just going through a rough time. Please understand that. You don't have to like her, but making her look bad to the others isn't the best way to handle it." Willowpelt then gently cuffed her kit then sent her out to hunt, nipping at her tail. Graypaw went running, a slight embarrassed smile on her muzzle as Willowpelt then turned back to guard Ravenpaw.
Darkstripe watched Graypaw go but soon noticed the new apprentice, Firepaw, sitting alone staring at her paws. Tilting his head, seeing that the molly looked bored, Darkstripe decided to try his paw and take the fire colored molly out for a hunting mission.
Darkstripe walked over to Firepaw, telling her of his plans and while the green eyed demon was skeptical of his intentions, she followed him anyway. Hunting with Darkstripe proved not to be so bad, the black and gray warrior seemed calm and praised her when she caught a sparrow already in flight.
The pair had wandered over towards the Thunderpath and Firepaw, scenting the rank air coming from it, crept closer. "Hey, what are you doing? Get away from there!" Darkstripe caught on to what Firepaw was doing and tried to call her back but the younger cat wouldn't listen.
Firepaw slinked up to the Thunderpath, hearing the distant rumble of a monster to her left side, good, it was still far away. With Darkstripe stomping towards her, Firepaw held out her paw and touch the Thunderpath. It was warm and some sticky but as she withdrew her paw, the apprentice happened to look up, on the other side of the forest on ShadowClan's land, a pair of eyes was watching her.
Firepaw stared at the eyes and watched as they blinked slowly and turn away, back into the shadowed forest. Firepaw didn't even mind when Darkstripe pulled at her scruff and dragged her a few paces away. It didn't matter to her, she had gotten to see her first ShadowClan warrior!
After that, Darkstripe herded Firepaw away from the Thunderpath and they continued hunting. The flame furred molly got to see ThunderClan's tree walking skills in action once more when Darkstripe chased after a squirrel, keeping up with it nimbly and finally batting it to the ground where t lay stunned until Darkstripe jumped down to finish it off.
"When do you think I will learn to do that?" Firepaw asked, looking up into the trees and sitting up on her hind paws when she saw another squirrel ran past. Darkstripe followed her gaze and smirked. "I was only a young kit when I climbed my first tree." he muttered with a tin smile, a small note of arrogance shining through, though Firepaw seemed to shrug it off. "You will learn in time, Lionheart and Tigerclaw are good mentors. Learn all that you can from them. Their wisdom is very vast."
At this, Firepaw turned to look at Darkstripe, who was now burying his kill and sniffing around, probably for more prey. The demon narrowed her eyes and stood on all four paws, her gaze darkening. "Do you truly believe that? Even though they are demons?"
The ThunderClan deputy paused, his face turned away from Firepaw before he moved to face her. "I believe that there is good, evil, and wisdom in all of us. Whether a cat is born a demon or not does not matter." Darkstripe said, his voice never wavering. Firepaw walked closer to him, not afraid.
"So, you don't fear us? You're not afraid of what we could do to ThunderClan?"
Darkstripe shook his head, snorting a humorless laugh. "Right now, you and your kin are the only noble light shining in ThunderClan. There is a darkness brewing in the others. For them, it's all dark, no light anywhere." He bowed his head for a moment before giving his pelt a shake.
"Well, come on then. Can't leave you lot unfed." Darkstripe said, going to fetch his other kills before coming back for the squirrel. Firepaw watched before picking up her bird and seeing a bit of sunlight shine down on Darkstripe. She tilted her head and let out a soft chuckle before following after him.
"At least there is one ThunderClan cat who still has light within them." she said to herself softly.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the ultra late update. Work has been really putting me through the wringer with a lot of my co-workers calling out and me having to pick up their slack. I hope everyone is staying safe though. This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest but I still enjoyed writing it. As always, please enjoy.
