I hope I'm doing good so far! Oh, and just so you know, these first four chappys were entered at the same time, so thats why I'm not thanking peeps for making reveiws! But thanks to all you who will in the future reveiw!
Whiskers stared in awe at the proud silver bengal that stood before her. Her eyes glimmered with wisdom in the fading light, and Whiskers could see that everything Smokey told her about the ShadowClan leader was true – Shootingstar even smelled noble.
"Where did you find her?" the she-cat asked Bittentail.
"By the pine trees, near the bog," meowed the spotted tom, his stump-of-a-tail waggling. "She was hunting."
Was not thought Whiskers bitterly, but she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Shootingstar stepped forward and sniffed Whiskers gingerly. "She doesn't have a Clan scent," growled the leader. "What is your name?"
Ummm… "Whitewhisker!" she blurted. iGreat StarClan, I'm in trouble now! What was I thinking/i
"Whitewhisker!" snarled a brown tom. "Never heard of her before. She could have been cast out of a Clan!"
"Quiet, Feralfang." mewed Shootingstar. She looked Whiskers up and down. "Well?" she demanded.
"Um… Yeah… ThunderClan." Whiskers, from this point on, keep your mouth SHUT she ordered herself. Shootingstars eyes narrowed. "Right. What are you doing here?"
Whiskers had to think this one over very carefully so as to not make a fool of herself. "Well… I have four friends somewhere… And… I lost them… And I'm looking for them now. And then your patrol came and… Well, you know the rest."
Shootingstar stared at the lost she-cat in disbelief. "Sounds like she was making it up as she went along." breathed Flametails voice in her ear. She nodded.
Whiskers went on. "Uh… Have you seen… Can you help me look for them?" she mewed, suddenly desprate.
"Fawncloud, Stormypaw, take Whitewhisker to the tree stump over there," meowed the leader. "I need to have a council with my senior warriors." She flicked her tail for Flametail, Petitefire and Docileleaf to follow her into her den. Once inside she turned to face her friends. "Well, what do you think?" she asked.
"It's a trap," mewed Petitefire at once. "Any cat could tell she was making that story up! Somehow she'll give a signal or something…"
Shootingstar nodded. "I think that too. If it is a trap, it's very poorly planned. Flametail, will you send extra patrols? I think I want to keep this cat in camp – For a while at least. Maybe we'll get some information from her."
"What if she wants to get ShadowClan secrets from us, so she can share it with ThunderClan?" Docileleaf suggested. Shootingstar paused. "That's a possibility as well… but…" She paused, thinking. "Flametail, have Comettail take a patrol over to ThunderClan… Find out if this Whitewhisker is for real."
Flametail nodded, understanding glimmering in his eyes.
"Petitefire, see that Whitewhisker has a guard on her at all times. This is an interesting development… I want to find out what is going on."
Petitefire growled, but didn't argue.
Qweenie stared around in amazment at the Clans camp. "This is amazing!" she told Fuzzyfur. Fuzzyfur smiled, despite herself. "Lets go tell Smallstar you're here." She mewed. Qweenie danced on her paws, ignoring Redclouds disapproving glare. Eveningpaw had gone forward to announce their arrival to Smallstar.
Qweenie stopped when she saw the chocolate siamese. He really iwas/i tiny! No bigger then her, in fact. "Hi, Smallstar," she mewed respectfully. Smallstar seemed surprised at being called by name. "Hello. Eveningpaw tells me you were looking for RiverClan, to prove to your friends we existed," he mewed. He gestured with his tail as if to say "Here we are!" Qweenie smiled. "Yes. Um, sorry… I probably shouldn't have.."
Smallstar stopped her with a twitch of his tail. "I was foolish. But The past's in the past now, Qweenie. Have a look around, if you like. You can tell your friends all about his place when you return," he purred. Qweenie looked surprised, then excited. "Really! Oh, Smallstar that's wonderful! Thank you, thank you Smallstar!" She did a little happy dance as she spoke. Smallstar smiled.
"Off you go then, Qweenie. I hope you don't mind that I send Lionheart to look after you." He winked at her. She grinned. With a hastyily mewed "Thanks!", the kittypet dashed off, a faded golden cat padding after her calmly. She turned to her escort. "I know who you are!" she mewed, all bubbly and bright. Lionheart looked mildly surprised. "Huh?"
"Smokey told me all about you! Well, sorta. There wasn't a istory/i about you, but he said that Bloodlust had three kits. You, and two others. I forget their names though. I just remember you because you looked exactly like him."
Lionheart stared at her. "What are you talking about?" he asked, perplexed.
"Oh. Sorry. Smokey is a cat that lives at the edge of the forest. He tells me and my friends all sorts of clan stories! He's how I came to know the clans were here!" she told him.
Lionheart smiled. "Oh, I see. That's interesting. Well, you'll have a story to tell him, won't you?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Qweenie, excitedly. "This is so awesome!"
Lionheart took Qweenie on a guided tour of RiverClan camp and the territory around. They didn't have enough time to explore all of the territory though, before the sun began to fade. Now the warrior and the kittypet trotted easily back to camp.
As the two entered camp, Qweenie could tell at once that something was wrong. "Whats the matter?" she asked breathlessly. The Clan was whispering uneasily amongst themselves in little huddles, and many looked worried. Loinheart shook his head and loped forward to meet Smallstar, who was emerging from his den with Azuresun and Silverpool.
"What happened?" the golden tom asked at once. Smallstar sighed.
"I sent a patrol to ThunderClan asking for permission to escort Qweenie home through their territory… Well, they wouldn't hear us out…" He looked at Azuresun. Qweenie noticed the deputy had several cuts and stratches.
"They attacked us," she mewed softly. "Fallenpaw is in Meekhearts den right now, being treated… So is Spottedbelly."
At mention of his sisters name, Lionheart tensed.
"They accused us of hunting in their territory, and said we could expect trouble from them if we didn't stop."
Silence filled the clearing.
Lilo and Pepper stared in awe at the WindClan camp before them. "There really are Clans in the forest!" whispered Lilo. Four cats trotted over and exchanged brief words with the ghostly tom Lilo knew must be Fogstar. He nodded and they started up the hill – Right towards them!
"Run!" hissed Pepper. Lilo didn't need to be told twice. She and Pepper dove for a sage bush not far behind them. It was a lousy hiding place, but Lilo couldn't see anyplace better.
At the head of the patrol was a brown bengal with amber eyes. He paused at the crest of the hill, scenting the air warily. "Kittypet!" he announced. Lilos heart sank, and she felt Pepper shift uncomfortingly against her. Golden she-cat with black markings stepped confidently past the bengal towards the bush. "Foolish kittypets," she hissed softly. "We can see you're there."
Gulping, Lilo stepped from the bush, followed by Pepper. "Um… Hi?"
"When I get my paws on Qweenie…" grumbled Lilo as they were marched down the slope by the patrol. Fogstar looked up, and his eyes narrowed. In fact, most the Clan was now staring at the patrol. The bengal stepped forward. "Fogstar, these ikittypets/i were spying on our camp." He told the white tom. Fogstar turned to face the two kittypets, his eyes mildly curious, but he didn't say anything. Lilo was surprised that she knew he was waiting for them to explain themselves.
"Um, well," she mewed in a very high-pitched voice. She cleared her throat and went on. "Pepper and I, uh, we went into the forest with two of our other friends… We're looking for Qweenie, who's lost somewhere in the forest… So now everybodys lost… Um, have you seen them? Can you help us?" she mewed, her voice becoming desprate. She knew she had no choice then to throw herself at the mercy of the WindClan leader.
Fogstar stared at them for about five minutes, his whiskers twitching. Those five minutes seemed to last an eternity for Lilo and Pepper as they awaited his answer. If Fogstar sends us away…
Quite suddenly, the pale white cat turned and walked to the dark gray tom and a copper bengal she-cat.
"Moonstalker, Autumnstep, see to it that every warrior knows that they shall not harm these guests,that they are to stay here as long as they wish and are expected to be treated as equals. And make sure they they give you a very detailed description of their missing friends" he meowed with authority. "Yes, Fogstar," mewed Moonstalker, tail twitching.
Then the noble cat turned and nodded to the kittypets. "I hope you enjoy your stay, and find your friends." He then turned and entered his den alone, leaving Pepper and Lilo stunned. "I just decided he's my favorite Clan leader." Pepper breathed in Lilos ear. Lilo smiled.
Princess looked around in amazment. Wow… Remind me never to doubt Qweenie again she thought. The ThunderClan camp was as Smokey had always described it. The warriors den, the apprentice den, the Highrock and…. Majicou!
The silvery white cat marched forward. "Do you realize you've kept the whole Clan waiting?" he growled at Silentkit, who shrank away. "Maybe you're not worthy to become an apprentice yet! Apprentices never sneak off without telling someone! Do you understand me?"
Silentkit nodded with huge, blue eyes.
"Off you go then. And you can explain to your brothers why your ceremony is going to be a day late!" he spat. Silentkit fled to the nursery. For the first time, Majicou noticed Princess. "A kittypet!" he meowed angrily.
"She was by Snakerocks," mewed Dreamcatcher. Princess nodded, her pale green eyes wide.
"Me and my friends came looking for another friend who's lost in here somewhere, and then they got lost, or maybe I got lost, but anywho we're all lost and now I can't find them and I need help so I can just go home!" mewed Princess in a rush. The tom blinked.
"You mean to tell me there are imore/i kittypets on my territory? How many?" he demanded. "Um… Including me… Five."
He growled and flicked his tail angrily. "Owlwing, Sandpelt, escort this kittypet to the twolegplace. Fallenleaf, tell the patrols to keep an eye out for any more of them. If they find them, make sure they're taken to the twolegplace as well." He ordered swiftly.
"Yes, Sharpstar," mewed a dark brown tabby. Sharpstar? Well… I guess he couldn't keep his old name.
A sandy-colored she-cat and a bracken-colored tom stepped from the crowd to Princess' side, ready to take her home. Halfway out of camp, Princess stopped.
"Sharpstar!" she mewed loudly. He turned back to face her, whiskers twitching.
"Now what?" he snapped.
"I'm not leaving the forest," she told him, her head held high. Mews and gasps arose from the crowd. No one crossed Sharpstar.
"Not until I find my friends," she went on. "We're bound together, and we've never been separated for long. You can have your warriors chase me out – I'll come back. I'll always come back, until all my friends are home safe and sound. So I'm going to find my friends in this forest, with or without your help."
Silence greeted the kittypets words. Princess stood, staring challengingly at Sharpstar who could have easily swatted her aside with one paw. Now, Princess didn't know Sharpstar well enough to read the twitch of his whiskers, but she saw Fallenleaf exchange a rather exasperated glance with a friend, and she knew she had won.
"This is my fault!" Qweenie wailed suddenly. Eyes turned to look at her. "I shouldn't have come in the first place. Smallstar, I'm so sorry," she mewed. The siamese looked at her sympathetically.
"No," he mewed. "It's not your fault. In fact, if you hadn't have come, and I didn't send out that patrol, we would have had no warning at all. Now, my Clan has a chance to prepare itself for trouble from ThunderClan."
Qweenie looked at him, ears pricked. It was true, but was Smallstar just trying to make her feel better?
"Azuresun, make sure we have extra patrols on that border," meowed Smallstar. Qweenie saw movement from the corner of her eye, and turned to see Redcloud, staring coldly at the RiverClan deputy. "I can take the dawn patrol tomorrow, Azuresun," he mewed coolly. She nodded gratefully to him.
Qweenie looked away uneasily. Something made her stomach churn, something in Redclouds eyes…
"Qweenie?"
She looked up. "Oh, sorry Smallstar," she mewed. He smiled. "Looks like you're going to have to stay a little longer then expected. I hope your friends don't worry to much," he mewed. Qweenie shook her head. "I hope not too! Thank you Smallstar – You've been so kind," she meowed in almost a whisper. The siamese waved her off with a flick of his tail. "You can sleep in the apprentices den tonight, Qweenie. I'll get you home as soon as I can."
Qweenie nodded and turned away. As she followed Eveningpaw and Goldpaw to the apprentices den, she glanced back at Redcloud. The white warrior was speaking to Azuresun and Smallstar, looking like any respectful cat. But Qweenie wasn't so sure… What had she seen in his eyes?
Haha... Wait till you hear what happens next to Whiskers!