Chapter 7: BushClan

Icepaw slammed onto the ground, hissing softly as she kicked off the much bigger apprentice, Tumblepaw. The brown and tan tabby she-cat scrambled to her paws, fur ruffled as Icepaw prepared to strike again. Her father's voice rang clear as Blackdapple stepped between them, their fight training had stopped. She was panting, glancing to Tumblepaw who was panting lightly.

"That's enough." Pidgeonstream meowed.

Black dappled nodded as she checked on them with a careful sniff. "You have both done well. Ice paw is catching up to Tumblepaw nicely. I hope the rest will too."

"To be honest, I was worried, but you are mentoring her very well for the first day." her father praised, blinking to Icepaw warmly.

"Well, I am only learning as fast as I can." Icepaw added in, looking to Tumblepaw. "Although, I don't think my blows would be strong enough to take care of a rogue. I know I wouldn't want to face off against Tumblepaw if I was one, hers hurt!"

"Sorry," the brown and tan tabby mewed, "I kind of got carried away. It's been so long since I was able to train with another apprentice."

"It's alright you both did well. Let's go have some prey and rest for now. I'll check in with Morningpelt to see if he has anything planned for us." Pidgeonstream meowed as he began to lead the way back from the training hollow.

Swiftly Icepaw and Tumblepaw followed with Blackdapple bringing up the rear. The training hollow had always been with odd peaty ground and springy spindles of grass and moss. Gorse encircled it for protection, woven together moons before her birth. Ferns grown as well to help practice stalking in undergrowth.

They hadn't explored the territory just yet though. Nightstar had made the orders clear through Morningpelt that they needed to learn to fight well enough to protect themselves before they could hunt and be taught where their borders were. The most Icepaw had been able to see was the bushes, gorse, and ferns that decorated their territory. She even had scent heather and other wild flowers in the air.

Curiosity bubbled to life inside her as she padded into the camp. Tumblepaw was heading to the fresh-kill pile. She wanted to explore further than the training hollow. Looking across the clearing she spotted Turtlepaw and Drizzlepaw practicing fighting move on one another. Flamepaw was watching them before pouncing in on the command of Twilightsky.

With a jolt, Icepaw realized what they were doing. They were having Turtlepaw practice against two opponents at once. Practice of a tactic the rogues might use. Tumble paw padded up beside her with a pair of mice. "Thought I should get you one." She mewed as she dropped them.

"Thanks" Icepaw mewed softly before picking one up. It wasn't very fresh, so she was certain that Tumblepaw dug it out so the elders wouldn't have to eat it. She started to tuck into her mouse when the barrier rustled. She perked up, seeing Gorsethorn coming in first through the ferns and gorse.

Icepaw felt the prey practically catch in her throat. A stranger slipped in after them, thin and scrawny. Long dark tabby fur draped over their frame and wide pale green eyes glancing around in wonder. She blinked, watching the new she-cat who was shoved forward, stumbling over her own paws as the dark ginger and white tom padded inside.

"Move it, prisoner! Why slow down like you never seen so many cats before?" Foxgaze snapped.

"I never have!" the she-cat fumed in return, glaring at the tom as she went on. "I've told you time and time again, I am looking for my littermates! A pair of foxes came and-"

"Silence!" he cut her off. "Nobody asked for your lies!"

"You did ask why she was slowing down and she did try to explain herself." Applemist meowed crossly, ignoring the tom's glare.

"And who asked you?" he snarled.

"Foxgaze, enough." Morningpelt growled, stalking up to them. "Now why did you bring this she-cat here?"

"The rogues might have sent this cat to spy."

"Applemist go get Nightstar." the deputy ordered, without a word Applemist dipped her head and raced by to fetch their leader, as he focused on the she-cat. "Who are you really?"

"My name is Hawk." The she-cat answered, her fur beginning to smooth out. "I was traveling with my brother and sister. We were stopping near the large thunderpath when foxes attacked. I tried to draw them away, but one stayed to go after my sister. Today I went back to try and find a trace of where she and my brother had gone. Instead, I ran into those cats and they brought me here."

Morningpelt blinked slowly, his gold gaze searching the pale green depths before him. Finally, the pale cream tom turned to his leader, who was padding confidently forward. "Nightstar, you need to decide on this."

"What did this flea-bitten prisoner tell you?" she asked, her yellow eyes glaring at the she-cat.

"She claims her name is Hawk and she was traveling with littermates. Allegedly, it was an accident that she ran into our warriors. What do you think?"

Nightstar was silent before snorting. "We'll keep her in the Nursery. We have no kits thus she will be kept hidden well in there. She will not be allowed to leave and I want a guard to watch over her day ad night."

"I can take first watch." Foxgaze volunteered, his dark amber eyes sparkling with malice.

"Very well, but don't harm her." the night-black she-cat ordered.

"If she's smart she won't."

Icepaw watched with wide eyes, glancing around in wonder. Hawk was herded to the nursery. She could only wonder if the she-cat was truly telling the truth. She blinked slowly, there was a high chance it wasn't though. She knew that and so did the rest of the clan. Even if the stranger she-cat was telling the truth, they had to be careful.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" Tumblepaw whispered.

"I don't know." she replied honestly, "Maybe we will find out more soon."

"Remember, Nightstar said that we go to war as soon as the leaves wither and fall."

Icepaw blinked, looking to the brown and tan tabby. Her eyes trained on the nursery, her whiskered twitching with curiosity. She knew that look, her sister often had it when they would sneak out of the nursery at a moon of age. She shook her head. "Tumblepaw, don't-"

"We have to sneak in there. We have to know." her friend mewed, her tail twitching, "What if she really is telling the truth?"

"We'll get in trouble!" Icepaw meowed, exasperated.

"But we have to know!"

"It's not up to us." the white she-cat reminded Tumblepaw. "It's up to Nightstar, so we have to wait. If they react then she has been lying."

Tumblepaw stared back at her in dismay. "And if they don't?"

Silence stifled the air between them. Only the breeze running through the heather, ferns, and gorse had answered them. Icepaw honestly didn't know. Bushstar had told her to trust Nightstar and her choice. That was what she had to do from now on. After a few heart beats, she gave her answer in a soft mew.

"Then we have to hope Nightstar had made the right decision."

Author Note:

This was a hard chapter to power through.
Like always I have a base idea of how it starts, middle, and end.
However, I do not know how to link the events together properly.
I will fight through it and work hard.
May this story come to some conclusion.

Edit: I have tried to update this many times but either it was my internet being
unable to work and/or the site itself preventing me from updating.
So, now it's finally here. Late and all. - NightSky