Chapter 2

By Jayspirit06

Sandstorm watched the two cats go. Something was seriously wrong with both of them. Berrynose was being friendly and she couldn't even begin to list all the things that were wrong with Jayfeather. Leafpool was also acting strange and not to mention the ShadowClan patrol. The only one of them that seemed unhappy to be in the camp was Tigerheart.

What could be making all of these cats act so strange? She wondered. Sandstorm looked around the camp, turning her head this way and that, trying to find an explanation. What do all of these cats have in common? Her eyes finally landed on the freshkill pile that was now huge because of the ShadowClan presents. That's it! she realised suddenly, Every cat is acting weird because they eat fresh kill! My theory was correct! I knew eating other animals wasn't natural!

Sandstorm looked around the camp trying to find Graystripe. He would help her save the clan! Soon she spotted him standing near the freshkill pile, staring at it with disgust. She ran over to him quickly. "I hate fresh kill," he growled as Sandstorm approached him, "This is a terrible gift."

"I agree," Sandstorm said, "Eating prey is totally unnatural. Look what it's done to Leafpool."

"We must put an end to it!" Graystripe said.

"We must save the Clans!" Sandstorm said majestically as if reciting a prophecy. Then both cats sprinted out of the camp.

After exiting Graystripe and Sandstorm realised that they had left the camp for no reason. The problem they were trying to solve was in the camp, not out of it. "So what's the plan?" Graystripe asked after catching his breath.

"Um… first we need to get rid of all of the fresh kill in the camp. Then no cat will be able to eat it," Sandstorm said. "Then we will replace the freshkill with something that we should eat."
"And what would that be?" Graystripe asked. Sandstorm looked around the forest for something suitable for the cats to eat.

"Leaves!" Sandstorm suddenly burst out. "We can eat leaves!"

"Ah yes, leaves," Graystripe said. "How are we going to get them?" Sandstorm hadn't thought of that. She couldn't give ThunderClan just dry dead leaves off the ground. They somehow had to get the delicious, green leaves from off the trees.

"Um… we'll climb the trees and get leaves any way necessary."

"Got it!" Graystripe said. Then he ran towards the nearest tree.

"Not yet, mouse brain!" Sandstorm said. "We first have to get rid of all of the fresh kill before anyone eats any more of it."
"Oh ya," Graystripe realised. "Let's go!" He then ran into the fern tunnel. Sandstrom ran after him. Both cats walked up to the fresh kill pile and grabbed a few pieces of prey. Then they ran out of the camp earning a bunch of curious looks from both ShadowClan and ThunderClan warriors alike. "What are we going to hide all of this?" Graystripe asked after he had spat the revolting prey onto the forest floor.

"We can put it in the lake," Sandstorm replied. She picked up her fresh kill and then sprinted down to the lake. Graystripe followed with his own prey. After reaching the edge of the water, Sandstorm threw her prey as far as she could into the water. Graystripe did the same. His prey didn't go as far as Sandstorm's had though. Today Sandstorm seemed to have an awesome throwing ability that no cat could rival. "Thank StarClan that's over," Sandstorm said after chugging a bunch of lake water to get the fowl taste of prey out of her mouth. "We only need to do it twenty more times."

"I can't believe I've been eating this junk my whole life. It's worse than foxdung. What was wrong with me?" Graystripe said.

"You've tried foxdung?" Sandstorm said with disgust.

"Of course not! Who do you think I am!?" Graystripe exclaimed. He was extremely offended that she had thought he'd do such a thing.

"Sorry, you just made it sound like you had…" Sandstorm said awkwardly.

"Well I haven't," Graystripe affirmed. From his tone of voice Sandstorm could tell that was the end of that conversation. Then Sandstorm started walking back towards camp. Graystripe followed a few tail lengths behind. When they entered the camp Sandstorm was relieved to see that the ShadowClan patrol had left. If there were less cats in the camp than it would be less likely some cat would try to stop them. Sandstorm ran over to the fresh kill pile and was about to grab a mouthful of fresh kill when Bramblestar bounded onto the highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey come to the high rock for a clan meeting," he yowled.

"Mouse dung!" Sandstorm cursed.

"How about you stay here and sneak out any fresh kill if you get the chance. I'll get the leaves," Graystripe suggested.

"Okay," Sandstorm sighed. Hopefully the Clan meeting is short. I don't want to have to sit still and listen to Bramblestar ramble on and on when I could be saving the clan. Sandstorm thought disappointedly as she watched Graystripe exit the camp. When he was out of sight she walked over to the high rock. She positioned herself as close to the fresh kill pile as she could. If a chance for her to get more freshkill out of the camp came, she would be ready.

"I have a few things I would like to discuss with my clan," Bramblestar said from on top of the highrock.

"Then get on with it you Nerd!" Leafpool yowled from where she was sitting.

"I am not a nerd!" Bramblestar shouted.

"Suuuuuurrrrrrrrreeeeee!" Leafpool said sarcastically. Sandstorm was pretty sure that every cat's attention was on Leafpool. She slowly started walking towards the freshkill pile. This was a good chance to sneak out some freshkill while everyone was distracted. "I see you Sandstrom! Don't move another muscle towards that fresh kill pile!"

Sandstorm froze. Does Leafpool know what I'm doing? Every cat's eyes were on her. Please don't let me get caught, StarClan.

"Haven't you learned by now?! Throwing things at me does nothing. I'm Indestructible!" Leafpool shouted. Oh good, Sandstorm thought with relief, she's not talking about me taking the fresh kill. She thinks I'm gonna throw it at her.

"Suuuurrrrrrrreeeeeeee!" Bramblestar said, taking his chance to sass Leafpool back. "You are 'totally' indestructible."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me old man!" Leafpool sassed right back.

"What's a man?" Berrynose asked. Jayfeather was cowering under him, hiding from Leafpool.

"And what's a nerd?" Brightheart asked. Everycat started talking at once trying to explain that a man was a variety of mushroom that tastes like fish and how 'nerds' were a type of sheep that had 9 legs and could fly. A few of the senior warriors were also attempting to shove Leafpool into her den but it wasn't going very well. Sandstrom took advantage of this to sneak three loads of freshkill out of the camp and into the lake. She didn't get a chance to check on Graystripe but she assumed that he was fine.

When she reentered the camp Sandstorm saw that, now, the whole clan was trying to shove Leafpool into her den. She ran over to help before anyone realised that she had been gone. After a long time of shoving Leafpool finally was inside her den. Bramblestar posted two warriors outside the den to make sure she didn't come out again. Afterward he bounded onto the highrock. "Does anyone else have anything to say before I continue the Clan meeting?" he asked. Sandstorm didn't think that this was a very smart idea on his part. From what she had seen of the Clan already today she wouldn't have been surprised if some cat had stood up and called Bramblestar a rat snorter. But to her astonishment, no cat did. Maybe the fresh kill's effects are wearing off she thought hopefully.

"Of course we don't! You're the one giving the meating," Dovewing said and rolled her eyes.

Nevermind, Sandstorm thought.

"Okay then," Bramblestar said, clearing his throat, "I have a few announcements that I would like to make."
"Oh come on!" some cat shouted. To no cat's surprise it was Leafpool. "You are seriously going to be the death of m…" she was cut off as the entire clan ran over and shoved her into the den.

"Thank you," Bramblestar said gratefully. "Now back to the announcements."

"Duh," somecat said.

"First I would like to make three new apprentices," Bramblestar said. "Snowkit, Amberkit, and Dewkit, you kits have been so good lately so I've decided to make you apprentices a few moons early."

What! Bramblestar would never do something like this normally!
"No way!" Amberkit exclaimed. There was more disgust than excitement in her voice than Sandstorm would have expected. Kits always wanted to be made apprentices. Sandstorm wondered why these kits suddenly wouldn't want to.

"Ya, being an apprentice is awful." Dewkit spat.

"We'll wait a few more moons. Thank you very much." Snowkit added.

"Okay then," Bramblestar said. He seemed very confused. "Nevermind about that. Now to the next announcement." Bramblestar suddenly looked very excited about what he was about to say. Sandstorm didn't think that he would notice if she carried out the remaining freshkill. So she walked over to the remaining squirrel and vole then picked them up. As she walked out of the fern tunnel she heard Bramblestar begin, "So I had this dream last night. It was very important. The whole future of ThunderClan depends…"

After throwing the remaining freshkill into the lake, Sandstorm went to find Graystripe. But for some reason she couldn't find him. Where in StarClan could that cat be? she wondered. "Graystripe!" She shouted. Nothing. After running somewhere else she tried again. Still nothing. Then she smelled Graystipe's scent. After following it she finally found Graystripe at the top of a beech tree.

"Hello" he meowed. Sandstorm looked around and she didn't see any piles of leaves. What had he been doing this whole time?

"How come I don't see any leaves?" Sandstorm asked.

"I haven't picked any yet. I decided that it would be most efficient if I tried each variety of leaf first. Then I could decide which was the best so we can give the Clan the best leaves. The transition between prey and leaves may be difficult at first so I wanted to make it easier for them," Graystripe explained.

"I see. How thoughtful," Sandstorm complimented him. "According to your research, which leaves were the best?"
"I quite liked the maple leaves and these beech leaves here," he said knowingly.

"Perfect. I'll get some maple leaves and you pick some beech leaves." Sandstorm said.

"Yes, that is a very good idea," Graystripe replied. Then he promptly began picking leaves. Sandstorm ran over to the nearest maple tree and did the same thing. After a while of leaf picking they each had a large pile. "I think that will do it," Graystirpe said. "That was very fun. I always enjoy hard work."

"Yes, that was much nicer than hunting. Hunting is the worst!" Sandstorm declared.

"Now we should bring the leaves back to camp. It will probably take a few trips but it shouldn't take too long." Sandstorm followed Graystripe back to camp. Carrying the cool, delicious leaves was much better than the revolting fresh kill she had been carrying earlier. It took quite a few trips to bring all of the leaves into the camp.

While they did, Sandstorm was able to hear snaches of what Bramblestar was telling the clan. From what she heard, it sounded like Bramblestar had had quite the dream. She heard him say things like "and then I fell in this hole…." "after that my fur turned green and then it started raining rats!" " and after all of the flying cows disappeared all my legs fell off and I turned into a slug.." Sandstorm was beginning to be very interested in what Bramblestar was saying. After finishing her last load of leaves, she sat down and listened to Bramblestar talk about his dream. Graystripe still had one more load of leaves that he had to bring.

Abruptly Sandstorm realised that Leafpool hadn't said, or shouted, a word for a long time. Well that's weird. I guess Leafpool shouting at Bramblestar usually is weird but at the moment it's strange for her not to be. Sandstorm looked over at the medicine den. A funny sight met her eyes.

The warriors that Bramblestar had posted outside it previously were no longer there. The only cat in the mouth of the medicine den was Leafpool, and she was fast asleep. It looked like she had planned to interrupt the clan meeting once again and then fell asleep out of boredom. What a weird day, Sandstorm thought. She stretched out on the ground and let the sun warm her fur like many of the other ThunderClan cats were doing.

Bramblestar was totally oblivious that pretty much none of his clanmates were listening to him. The only cat who was truly listening to him was Squirrelflight. She was staring at him as if he was the most wonderful, amazing thing in the entire world. Berrynose was at least trying to listen. He obviously didn't want to hurt Bramblestar's feelings by ignoring him, but he kept nodding off ever so often only to jolt awake a few seconds later. Good old Berrynose, she thought. Wait what! Good old Berrynose? Is something wrong with me too? I'm probably the only cat to think that has ever had that thought in the history of the Clans… maybe besides Daisy.

Where even was Daisy? Sandstorm hadn't even seen her all day. She looked around the camp and finally spotted a pair of blue eyes staring evilly out of a dark corner. They were scanning across the clearing. The eyes finally landed on Sandstorm and wided angrily. "ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME!" Daisy yowled. Then she sprinted out of the corner and tackled Sandstorm. "HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT ME! I HOPE YOU ARE FEELING TERRIBLE SHAME RIGHT NOW!"

"Not really," Sandstorm said exasperatedly. "My leg hurts now. Does that count?"

Daisy hissed angrily. "I know more about the Clans than you could possibly imagine. You'd better start respecting me or I'll smash you into the ground so hard that it makes a big hole. Then I bury you and dig you up again then throw you into the lake…." Daisy kept talking but Sandstorm started imagining what it would be like to be thrown in the lake with all of the rotting fresh kill in it.

"EEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!" Sandstorm exclaimed. Daisy stopped rambling about feeding Sandstorm's tail to nine badgers and looked at her in delight. She was glad that one of her threats had gotten through. "Please no! Anything but that! Please! I'll do anything you want! Just don't throw me in the lake!"

It was a wonder that no cat was noticing what was going on with all the racket they were making. Bramblestar was still zoned into telling his clan about eating all of these flying sticks. Suddenly Berrynose woke up with a start and he ran over to Daisy. "What in StarClan are you doing to poor Sandstorm?" he asked.

"Oh just having a bit of fun," Daisy said malevolently.

"We'll it's pretty obvious she is't enjoying it. I thought that you were the smartest cat in the Clans," Berrynose pointed out.

"I am the smartest cat in the clans!" Daisy growled.

"Right now it doesn't look like it," Berrynose said simply.

"Oh ya!" Daisy said angrily.

"Ya," Berrynose said kindly. "But maybe if you stop attacking Sandstorm because she isn't enjoying you will be the smartest cat in the Clans!"

"Fine!" Daisy spat and walked back to her dark corner.

"Thank you mother," Berrynose said sweetly. Daisy only grumbled unkindly and slunk back into the shadows. Sandstorm stood up and shook her fur. "Sorry about that," Berrynose apologised. "I have no idea what's gotten into her today."

I do. Sandstorm thought angrily to herself. And not just her, the whole clan. The situation is more serious than I thought. I hope Graystripe brings the last leaves soon. Sandstorm looked towards the fern tunnel right as Graystripe ran in. He quickly tossed his leaves onto the fresh-leaf pile and walked over to Sandstorm and stared at her with a bewildered expression. "What in StarClan happened to you?!" he gasped. He was staring at her like she'd just turned into a twoleg. In truth she was covered in leaves from head to tail tip.

"Oh nothing. Just had a bit of a run in with Daisy but I'm fine now," she said, shaking out her pelt.

"Daisy?!" Graystripe said in alarm. "I wouldn't have guessed Daisy would do a thing like that until I saw a hedgehog fly!"
"Yet she did. And I think you know why." Sandstorm muttered darkly.

"Fresh kill," Graystripe hissed.

"Exactly, the sooner the Clan starts eating leaves the better." Sandstorm said.

"And that time is now!" Graystripe announced epicly as he jumped to his paws.

"Yes!" Sandstorm said excitedly as she stood up as well. It wasn't as smooth as when Graystripe had done it. She was still sore from when Daisy had tackled her but she tried her best to ignore the pain so she wouldn't ruin the drama of the moment.

The ThunderClan cats looked at them curiously. They seemed excited to have something else to watch besides Bramblestar standing on the high rock explaining how he'd slayed a violent bush that had threatened his clan. "Cats of Thunderclan!" Sandstorm yowled. "It is time to fix a grave mistake that was made a long time ago!"

"Many moons ago our warrior ancestors made unnatural decision," Graystripe continued. "They decided that they would eat prey instead of something much more beneficial. We are still suffering from this choice's effects today."

"But now it is time that we right that wrong, change our ways, save our Clan!" Sandstorm yowled. She did not get the effect she was hoping for. Instead of every cat cheating they were silent. They were all staring at the freshleaf pile, anger rising in their eyes. Even Bramblestar had stopped rambling. Now he was staring at Sandstorm and Graystripe with an expression of mixed horror and anger on his face.

"You see every cat! My dream was right. The prophecy is coming true. LEAVES ALONE WILL DESTROY OUR CLAN!"