Chapter 12 (G):
Graystripe watched several of his Clanmates race forward with Squirrelpaw. They raced for the water's edge and he held back with the weaker of his Clanmates. Blackstar growled something about these cats being reckless in this unfamiliar territory, but Graystripe couldn't blame them. It was exciting to hear that they had finally reached the place that they would come to call home. Besides, he knew that Brambleclaw was with the group and that he was no mouse-brain. They'd return with much to say soon.
"We should find shelter," Leopardstar meowed, her tail flicking with annoyance as she watched some of her own warriors rush down the slope too. "We are far too exposed on this hillside."
Blackstar grunted in agreement. "If a fox came along now, it could pick off the weaker cats with no trouble at all."
"But we need to rest," Mudclaw, WindClan's deputy, joined them at the very crest of the hill. Tallstar laid on the ground a short distance away with his medicine cat crouched over him. "Tallstar can't go much further."
"The cats who headed for the lake will return soon," Graystripe said. "They'll report back on any shelter that they find."
Mudclaw began to argue, "But Tallstar can't walk. He is-"
Leopardstar fixed him a stern glare, "We're all tired, Mudclaw. But surely some shelter would help Tallstar rest better." She scanned her eyes over the crowd of cats and called Mistyfoot over. The deputy trotted over dutifully and Leopardstar said, "I want you to follow the group down to the water's edge. Retrieve the cats and come right back. Keep your eyes open, I want a report on what you find."
Blackstar ordered Russetfur to go with her and soon the two deputies were setting off down the slope and into the darkness.
Graystripe turned away once that was sorted. He padded back to his Clanmates and joined them on the open hillside, weaving his way between them until he found a soft patch of grass to lay on beside Rainwhisker and Sootfur. The two brothers were chatting together in excitement and Sorreltail, their sister, soon arrived with a mouse in her jaws.
"It looks like the hunting is good here," She chirped happily as she set it before them. Her tongue swiped around her jaws. "I caught this one, even with all of these cats around! It almost didn't seem to know what a cat was."
"That's good," Graystripe rumbled with approval. "Have a bite to eat then. Whatever you catch next can be given to the elders and queens."
Sorreltail purred her thanks and began to share the plump mouse with her brothers. It wasn't long after they finished that the cats who'd taken off for the lake were returning with Mistyfoot and Russetfur. The two deputies began to share their findings with Blackstar and Leopardstar, and Graystripe got to his paws to walk closer. He pricked his ears as he approached.
"The ground is very boggy by the lake. There's no point going any further until daylight. We don't want to lose any cats in the mud." Mistyfoot was reporting.
"ShadowClan is used to wet ground underpaw," Blackstar reminded her before any of the other leaders could comment. "But we'll stay with the rest of you if that's what you want."
"Why don't we head partway down the hillside, then?" Graystripe suggested and they all looked to him. "It's too open to sleep comfortably here, but at least the side of the hill would provide some shelter from the wind. I can see some trees down there too, so we might be able to find some moss and prey."
They agreed easily and soon everyone was heading down the slope together, supporting one another in the darkness. Graystripe found himself leading Longtail again, murmuring quietly as he guided the pale tabby around a rabbit's den. Ferncloud and Dawnflower were walking side-by-side, each struggling to keep their kits close. Cloudtail and Brightheart bounded over to help carry one each. Cedarheart and Tornear both prowled on ahead, eyes open and ears pricked for any signs of danger. It was as though they were all one big Clan. Graystripe wondered how the cats would fare separating from each other again.
The five cats who had made the first journey lead the group along, meowing to one another as they went and pointing with their tails at various surroundings. Graystripe could hear Crowfeather point out some horses that were asleep nearby.
"What are horses?" Whitepaw asked worriedly, following his gaze to the tall creatures.
"Nothing to worry about," Tornear assured her, touching the tip of his tail to her shoulder. "They used to run across our territory sometimes, with Twolegs on their backs."
Whitepaw blinked as though she didn't believe him, and Graystripe couldn't help but agree with her.
The group talked more as they went until they reached the trees that Graystripe had pointed out. Just as they reached the treeline, Tallstar collapsed and lay panting. The WindClan leader had grown so weak during their journey and Graystripe was worried that Tallstar wouldn't be able to take a pawstep further. He had made it to the new territory, but would the old leader get to see their new home?
Mudclaw crouched beside his leader and whispered a word or two with him. Tallstar only laid panting.
Blackstar found a tree stump and leaped atop it. Facing all of the Clans, he raised his voice with a commanding yowl. He waited for the stragglers to join the group and only spoke when he was sure that he had everyone's attention. "Cats of all Clans! We have reached the place StarClan meant us to find, but we are all tired and hungry. We will make camp here until we have rested."
"What about fresh-kill?" a cat called from the back.
"We will wait until sunrise," Blackstar replied. "Then the prey will be running and there'll be enough for us all."
The cats began to look around themselves for a spot to rest. Many of them headed for the treeline in hopes of leaf litter or moss to cushion the ground. But those more accustomed to sleeping under the open sky, such as WindClan, simply settled themselves along the hillside.
Brackenfur raised his voice, "Shouldn't someone keep watch for the night?" He glanced between Blackstar on the stump to Graystripe beside Longtail. "If there's foxes or badgers around, then we should have warriors on watch."
Graystripe nodded in acknowledgment of the tabby's good thinking. "A warrior or two from each Clan should be enough for tonight. Blackstar? What do you think?"
Blackstar nodded his approval, and Graystripe got meows of agreement from Leopardstar and Mudclaw following him.
Dustpelt came up to guide Longtail for him, helping the blind warrior find a sheltered place to sleep for the night. Graystripe meowed his thanks and began to walk around the hillside, making sure that he knew where each of his Clanmates were and that they were safe for the night. Everyone was exhausted and hungry, but thankfully no one was hurt.
"Brackenfur?" He called for the warrior when he felt that they were safe enough, peering through the darkness for where the tabby had gone. "Cloudtail?"
Brackenfur was at his side in a moment, with Cloudtail excusing himself from Brightheart and arriving just heartbeats after. Just as he had hoped, neither of the toms looked particularly tired from their travels.
"I want you two on watch tonight, if you're not too tired for it," Graystripe told them both.
Cloudtail twitched his ear as though he wasn't happy with the order, but he dipped his head either way.
"I'm feeling well enough for it." Brackenfur chirped his agreement.
"Good," Graystripe nodded. "Stick close to our Clanmates and watch the forest for anything dangerous."
Brackenfur and Cloudtail set off to find their posts for the night, and Graystripe finally allowed himself to settle amongst his Clanmates. He found a sheltered spot beside Cinderpelt and Sorreltail under some broad-leaved ferns. The medicine cat reached over and gave his shoulder a comforting lick before setting her head on her paws again. Graystripe murmured a goodnight to his Clanmates before curling up for the night.
His dreams that night were of a strange and unfamiliar forest. It was lush and healthy and green, which would normally be inviting. But a strange sad feeling was weighing in his chest. After a day of excitement and energy, it made him frustrated to feel this sorrow again.
He turned in circles, trying to find something familiar. Where was he? A very faint scent reached his nose and he wheeled around in its direction.
"Firestar?" Graystripe dared to whisper. He tasted the air and started off in its direction. His quick steps turned into a full-on sprint through the forest. He stumbled over a tree root and his shoulder screamed with pain but he kept going. The scent kept getting stronger with each bound. He burst from the treeline and into a meadow clearing. He looked all around in a desperate search of his friend. But to his absolute dismay, Firestar was nowhere to be seen.
"Graystar?" Cinderpelt's voice made him jump. Graystripe whirled around to see the medicine cat limping out to join him in the clearing. "Graystar, what's wrong?"
"Firestar was here," Graystripe told her. "Don't you smell him?"
The she-cat looked at him curiously, then opened her mouth to taste the air. "No. I don't think he was ever here."
"But he was," Graystripe said, baffled. He could scent Firestar as if the ginger tom was right beside them. He looked over his shoulder, still expecting to see Firestar somewhere. He looked back to Cinderpelt now, only to find her gazing at him with a sorrowful look. No, it wasn't sorrow. It was pity in her eyes.
"I know that you miss Firestar. We all miss him," Her voice had a tone in it that he did not like. It sounded as though she was speaking to a kit. "But it's time to move on. Your Clanmates need you. You've claimed your nine lives and appointed a deputy. Now it's time to stop living in the past."
"I-I have?" Graystripe spluttered. When had he gotten nine lives? Who was his deputy?
Cinderpelt nodded slowly, her eyes still full of pity. She came forward and wound herself around him, laying her tail over his back and trying to guide him back to the treeline. "Yes, you have. Now come with me. It's time that you stop running."
"I'm not running," He pulled away from her, feeling rather heated now. "I'm going to wait here until Firestar comes back. I'm sure he was here. Maybe he just left to go hunting."
A dark scowl crossed Cinderpelt's face now and she hissed, "This is just like you, Graystar. I can't believe, even after all of this time, that you still won't accept your responsibility. It's mouse-hearted. You can't keep-"
"Graystripe." A voice cut through the dream and Graystripe felt as though his head had broken through the surface of icy water. He inhaled sharply. Mistyfoot was crouched beside him, one paw on his flank as she tried to rouse him. She looked startled by his reaction. "Are you okay?"
"I… I'm fine." Graystripe sat upright, only to have his head bump the ferns above him clumsily. He let out a small hiss of annoyance, then looked to Cinderpelt. The gray she-cat was still asleep beside him, laying on her back comfortably with her front paws in the air. She appeared to be deep asleep. His mind whirled with the remembrance of his dream. She had been angry with him and about to scold him when Mistyfoot had awoken him. He turned back to the RiverClan deputy and gave his chest a few hasty licks. "What do you need, Mistyfoot?"
Her whiskers twitched curiously but she flicked her tail at a nearby gorse thicket. "Leopardstar asked me to fetch you. She, Blackstar, and Mudclaw are calling a meeting."
"Mudclaw?" He asked worriedly. "Has Tallstar not recovered?"
"I'm afraid not," Mistyfoot told him apprehensively. "I haven't visited him or Barkface this morning, but he doesn't seem well enough to speak for his Clan."
Graystripe didn't like the sound of that. He crawled out from underneath the ferns and arched his back in a stretch. He thanked Mistyfoot for waking him and then padded to the gorse bush. He meowed his arrival and slipped underneath the thicket to find Blackstar, Leopardstar, and Mudclaw waiting for him in a hollowed-out pocket. It was a tight fit and Graystripe crouched just inside of the entrance to make room.
"Thank you for joining us, Graystripe." Leopardstar dipped her head to him diplomatically.
"Finally, we can start." Mudclaw narrowed his eyes at him as though he was scolding an apprentice. "We need to figure out patrols for today. There's a lot that needs to be done now that we're here."
Graystripe twitched his ear at the deputy's hard tone. Leopardstar didn't seem too impressed by it either by the expression on her face.
Blackstar, surprisingly, didn't seem too bothered by Mudclaw's tone. The ShadowClan leader agreed, saying, "Yes. We should waste no time in claiming our territory. The longer we stay out in the open, the more dangerous it will become."
The leaders and Mudclaw continued to talk and Graystripe held back. His mind was still a little blurry from his sleep and all he could think about was Cinderpelt's words. Her scolding him had just been part of the dream, but it had followed him into the waking world.
"Graystripe? Do you have any ideas on what we should do?" Leopardstar asked him when she realized that he hadn't spoken for a while.
Her words brought him back to the present and Graystripe took his chance to offer a solution, one that seemed obvious to him. "We could send a patrol of cats to circle the lake and report what they find. Then we won't have to take our entire Clan into unknown territory."
"Who would be part of this patrol?" Leopardstar asked.
Graystripe couldn't think of anyone better to explore their unclaimed land than the cats who had led them here. He told the others this and was pleased to see that they mostly agreed with him. Each Clan had a representative that was skilled in exploration and would be willing to assess the land.
"There's more to address than claiming land though," Mudclaw continued. "Now that we have reached our home, we need to focus on helping our Clanmates recover from the journey. Hunting patrols must be sent out immediately. I suggest that RiverClan take a patrol down to the lake and catch whatever they can. I'll take my warriors to the moorland. There's bound to be rabbits there. And ShadowClan will-"
"ShadowClan won't be doing anything unless I tell them to," Blackstar warned with a slight growl in his voice.
Mudclaw didn't look particularly sorry for his words, but he was wise enough to say, "Of course not, Blackstar. I only want what is best for our cats."
"Yes, about that," Leopardstar meowed. "How is Tallstar doing this morning?"
"He is not well," Mudclaw said, claws working on the dirt. "Barkface thinks that he may join StarClan soon."
"May StarClan greet him well," The she-cat murmured.
Mudclaw didn't appear very bothered by his leader's weakness. "Yes, well perhaps it is a good thing that Tallstar's reign is over. New territory calls for new leadership after all," He looked to Graystripe as though he expected him to agree. When Graystripe didn't respond, Mudclaw scoffed and moved to stand up. He shouldered his way past Graystripe and ducked out of the gorse thicken. "We should announce our decisions to our Clans. The faster we get settled in, the better."
Blackstar and Leopardstar shared a look and Graystripe ducked out of the den after Mudclaw. He saw that the brown tom was already heading for the tree stump that Blackstar had stood upon the other day. He leaped on top of it and called for attention.
Blackstar trotted over and leaped up beside Mudclaw, shouldering his way to the front. Leopardstar followed more slowly, opting to sit atop of a tree root rather than wrestle for space with Blackstar and Mudclaw. Graystripe, hearing Mudclaw's angered growl, followed Leopardstar's example and settled on the opposite side for the announcements.
Mudclaw began for all to hear. "The other leaders and I have discussed what we should do today. We have agreed that it is in the best interest in everyone that we send out hunting patrols immediately, along with an exploration patrol to survey the new land. We will be-"
His Clanmate Onewhisker sprang to his paws with a hiss of anger. "Mudclaw, what are you doing, giving orders like this?" he growled. "The last time I looked, Tallstar was still leader of WindClan."
"Not for much longer."
Graystripe twitched his ear in concealed surprise at Mudclaw's cold voice. He caught sight of Brambleclaw anxiously staring in Tallstar's direction, and both of them were relieved to see that the old leader was asleep in the grass. What would he have said if he had heard Mudclaw's careless words?
"Some cat has to take charge," Mudclaw went on. "Or do you want the other Clans to divide the territory among themselves and leave WindClan out?"
"As if we would!" Squirrelpaw mewed indignantly.
Onewhisker glared at Mudclaw, his fur bristling and his eyes blazing with fury. "Show a bit of respect!" he spat. "Tallstar was the leader of our Clan when you were a kit mewling in the nursery."
"I'm not a kit now," Mudclaw retorted. "I'm the deputy. And Tallstar hasn't done much to lead us since we left the forest."
A low growl rumbled in Blackstar's throat until he forced Mudclaw back with his shoulder. Rage glowed in Mudclaw's eyes and Graystripe thought for a heartbeat that a fight was going to break out atop the tree stump.
"Enough of this!" The ShadowClan leader barked. "WindClan's issues should be taken care of alone, not where I'm forced to hear you two argue like flea-brained apprentices." His tail lashed and his ears were flat. "Discuss your issues in private. We're wasting time." Mudclaw turned away pointedly but did not argue.
Seeing as neither Blackstar nor Mudclaw were going to continue the meeting, Leopardstar spoke up. She glanced at the toms with dislike, then back to everyone who was gathered. "As Mudclaw was saying, we must begin to explore our new territories and establish borders. We're going to send a patrol with one cat from each Clan to explore the lakeshore and the land around it. We have decided that there are no better cats to help with this task than those who brought us here. Brambleclaw from ThunderClan, Crowfeather from WindClan, Tawnypelt from ShadowClan, and Stormfur from RiverClan, you four will be part of this patrol."
Graystripe was pleased to see the excitement in the four named cats. Blackstar's lip curled as Leopardstar had named Tawnypelt as part of the patrol, but he didn't protest against the decision. Perhaps he was finally coming to accept the ThunderClan-born she-cat as a dedicated warrior of ShadowClan.
"But what about me?" Squirrelpaw protested. "I went on the journey too. Why can't I go on the patrol?"
"Because that would make two cats from ThunderClan," Blackstar replied crushingly.
"A patrol of four cats isn't enough to go into unknown territory," she objected.
Blackstar's lip curled again as she protested. "You're just an apprentice, and these four are warriors. What do you think-"
Graystripe saw the look of fury in Squirrepaw's eyes and knew that she wouldn't back down. He didn't blame her for wanting to participate in the patrol, as she had already helped these warriors journey to the sun-drown-place and back. Surely if she could handle the Twolegplace and the mountains, then she could also handle a trip around the lake.
Squirrelpaw continued to speak out against Blackstar, but the leader clearly had had enough of it. "Graystripe," his harsh tone caught Graystripe off guard, "Control your apprentices. She is not part of this patrol."
Graystripe didn't look up at Blackstar, having already made his decision. "I will allow Squirrelpaw to join the patrol. She has just as much experience in unknown lands as the other four, and an extra set of paws could help if they come across a badger or a fox. We want everyone to return to us safely and with good news."
Blackstar glanced at Leopardstar, who twitched her tail and gave nothing away, and then at Mudclaw, who dipped his head. "WindClan has no objection," he meowed.
"Very well," Blackstar growled. "But don't think for one moment that will give ThunderClan any extra rights over the territory."
Graystripe dipped his head at this, "I wouldn't dream of it,"
In the gathered cats below, he could see the five who had been chosen come together. Squirrelpaw murmured something excitedly to Tawnypelt, who nodded back in agreement. Crowfeather looked impatient as he stood beside a serious-faced Stormfur. Brambleclaw was still listening to the leaders and deputies aptly however.
Leopardstar began to order the cats now, "Go all the way around the lake and explore as much as you can. Think about the different sorts of hunting that each Clan will require and where the borders might lie to fit these. Look for potential camps and keep your ears pricked for anything that might be dangerous."
Mudclaw seemed to have recovered from Blackstar's scolding. He added now, "Try not to spend too much time exploring. We're exposed to danger while we stay here, so we must be moving in quickly."
"We will do our best," Brambleclaw promised with a dip of his head.
"Good luck," wished Leopardstar, and the five of them began to set off as Brambleclaw gave the order with a signal of his tail.
This chapter felt more like filler than anything, but I didn't want to cut it. Just like it was important to see Mudclaw's and Hawkfrost's hostility in the books, that is important here too. Also, some of you may have noticed that Squirrelpaw was not made a warrior here like she should have been, but that will be dealt with in time.
Thank you all for reading. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
