Chapter 7

A piercing yowl broke the silence as Gingerpaw slept. She jumped up and headed outside. Suddenly she realized the ground was shaking!

The cracks in the ground were growing larger! Gingerpaw ran to the nursery. She saw Cotton dangling over the edge of a crack, Blizzard in her jaws. The crack was getting wider and the two cats nearly tottered over the edge.

Gingerpaw grabbed Cotton's scruff and pulled her back just as the ground gave way.

Cotton panted, "Thank you,"

Gingerpaw ran to the apprentices' den to see a wide crack ran right threw the den. At the bottom of it were Flamefur and his apprentice, Silverpaw broken and bruised. Flamefur's neck was snapped in half, insuring his death but Silverpaw had broken limbs alone. She was breathing heavily and wailing in pain.

As the quaking stopped Gingerpaw hopped down a ledge and then to the bottom of the crack. Gingerpaw started licking the younger apprentice until she calmed down. Leafpool peered down at them.

She and Silverpaw's mother, Rosepetal, stared down at the two apprentices. Squirrelflight ran down behind them, rushing to her dead son.

Leafpool and Rosepetal followed her. Snowpaw, Leafpool's apprentice followed last.

Leafpool tried to lift Silverpaw but she cried out in pain. "We can't move her, she'll start bleeding more or break more bones. We'll have to leave her here till she can move." Leafpool explained.

"You're going to leave my daughter to rot in a pit?" Rosepetal hissed. Maplefur, her mate, padded to her.

"Rosepetal," Leafpool let her tail rest, on the young she-cat's shoulder. "We won't leave her to die but if we move her she will die."

Rosepetal sighed and mewed, "Then I'm staying down here too." She hopped up and grabbed some moss from the apprentices' den. She padded over it and tried to make a nest for Silverpaw.

Snowpaw and Leafpool looked at each other, "One of us has to stay near here, and the other has to look after the other cats." Snowpaw mewed.

Leafpool mewed, "You stay here. You know what to do if Silverpaw needs help. I'll look after the other cats."

Snowpaw nodded as she grabbed some moss and stayed at the top of the crack.

"Should I get some poppy seeds for Rosepetal?" Gingerpaw asked.

Leafpool nodded, "And some marigold if you know what it looks like."

"You got it Leafpool," Gingerpaw was about to head to Leafpool's den when the medicine cat mewed, "Give some poppy to Icepaw while you're there."

Gingerpaw nodded. She ran to the medicine cats den. She saw the poppy sitting on a crack on the wall. She grabbed a couple seeds and headed to the corner of the den that the sick cats stayed in. She heard the little pool of water trickle in drops from the high wall that a stream cut through the side of the cliff. Icepaw sat in a nest of sand and moss. Icepaw had scars and scrapes all over her fur but looked fine otherwise. Icepaw smiled and her tail shot up when she saw Gingerpaw pad in.

"Hi Gingerpaw!" she mewed hoarsely. Her voice was very excited, no matter how sickly it sounded.

"You okay? You were worried about me dying on you and you go and get hit by lightning!" Gingerpaw mewed.

Icepaw smiled as she lapped up her poppy seeds. Gingerpaw too Rosepetal's poppy seeds and the marigold back to the apprentices' den to see Snowpaw waiting for her.

"Thanks Gingerpaw." Snowpaw hopped down to the two she-cats and gave them the herbs.

"Hey Snowpaw?" Gingerpaw called down.

Snowpaw hopped up and mewed, "Yeah?"

"Where are we supposed to sleep?"

"That's a good question. Someone must have asked Brackenstar." Snowpaw mewed.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Gingerpaw heard Brackenstar call. She headed to the entrance of the apprentices' den.

"Unfortunately, the earth quake has caused quite some destruction. There is a large crack in the center of apprentices' den. Silverpaw is injured down there so we will start repairing the other damages and the apprentices will stay in the nursery.

"The nursery? I was hoping we could stay in the warriors' den." Gingerpaw muttered.

She padded off to the nursery, her new home. She had no one to go to, Icepaw was sick, Silverpaw hurt, Starheart busy and Cotton and Blizzard were talking with Brackenstar.

Talking with Brackenstar…?

Gingerpaw padded over to the three cats.

"Are you sure you would like to join ThunderClan?"

"If Ravenpaw's willing to stay here I sure am." Cotton mewed.

"I don't mind, I get to spend time with my sister now." Blizzard put in happily.

"Then I'll hold a ceremony for you and you'll receive your new names. Welcome to ThunderClan."

Gingerpaw looked at the two new ThunderClan cats and meowed, "You're really going to stay in ThunderClan?"

Cotton nodded, "Of course. Ravenpaw was very important to us. After Barley died my brother and I came upon Ravenpaw's barn. I was pregnant with my first litter of kits, you and Blizzard. I had stayed with Ravenpaw ever since then. And my brother took you away when you were a young kit."

Gingerpaw had never heard this story and was shocked. "Please don't tell me your brother is a black and white tom."

"He is, why?" Cotton asked.

Gingerpaw remembered the strange cat that had brought them the news of Ravenpaw's arrival. If he had been here since she was a little kit then where did he go? How did he know of Ravenpaw's and Cotton's arrival at The Cave of Rushing Water? Why would he only join ThunderClan now?

Gingerpaw could scent the tom and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Cotton seemed to recognize the sent too. She padded over to the tom, an angry glare on her face.

"Cotton! What are you doing here?" the tom mewed. There was a rough but silky tone to his voice. What was he playing at?

"Scar," Cotton spat the name in rage. This was her brother? What could have caused her to hate him so much?

"Actually here I am called Burntail." He flicked his tail that was an ashy colour, like burning soot.

"I don't care what they call you, you still carry on your treacherous past!" Cotton hissed.

Burntail pounced on her and placed a paw on her throat. He slid out his claws slowly as the pricked at her neck.

Gingerpaw ran and knocked him off of Cotton. She scrapped the tom across the face.

"Keep out of this apprentice."

"You better watch how you treat my mother!" Gingerpaw hissed with rage.

"Little Robin, so you didn't drown in that retched pool? My, how you've grown." Gingerpaw watched him circle her, carefully watching his pawsteps. He jumped and she rolled to the side and gripped his shoulder in her teeth. He pushed her off and held his unsheathed claws at her neck.

"Think you can defeat me? Think again." He tried to scratch her neck and barely missed.

"That's enough!" Cloudtail and Brackenstar padded toward them.

Gingerpaw felt she could breathe normally as Burntail's claws were sheathed. He pushed her to the side and padded over to ThunderClan's leader and deputy.

"That apprentice attacked me, I have no clue why." Burntail growled as Gingerpaw slowly made her way to Brackenstar and Cloudtail. Cotton made it first.

"I have no clue how you can even think of trying to protect yourself. Brackenstar, you have a traitor in your ranks!"