Chapter 13: A Short Chapter Break

"Paleale, can you wait up!" Ricetooth called impatiently as he chased after the ginger and grey warrior. The two had agreed on hunting together, but Paleale had thought it would be an excellent idea to run off to Starclan knows where. Throughout the two moons they had done this together, Ricetooth was getting tired of Paleale leaving him. Finally, the white and brown tom spotted his friend on a branch of an oak tree. The warrior was in a hunting crouch, eyeing some prey Ricetooth could not see.
Fearing for Paleale's safety, Ricetooth yelled up at his friend. "Ale, get down, please! I don't care about the prey, you're gonna hurt yourself!" The warrior immediately turned around and stared down at the other cat. "Um... Okay! I'll be down in a second!" They called, slowly jumping to another branch. Ricetooth shouted in horror as the fragile branch snapped and Paleale came crashing to the ground, screaming. As soon as they hit the ground, Ricetooth bolted over to them and flung the injured warrior onto his back. The warrior had blood running on their head and across their back, and there was a branch impaled in their hind left leg.
Ricetooth started running, listening closely to his friend's breathing. When he was nearing camp, he heard a faint voice whisper. "Ricetooth... If I die, I love you..."
The white and brown tom didn't have time to feel flattered, he rushed into the Medicine Cat's den, Monkeytail and Normaltail ran over to them. "What happened?" Monkeytail asked while her apprentice helped Paleale to a moss bed. "Fell from a tree, now help him, please!" Ricetooth screamed, tears running down his cheeks. Monkeytail hushed him and sighed. "Calm down, he'll be fine. The worst is the impaled leg. He'll live. May you please leave..? We need room to actually help him." Although hesitant, the warrior nodded and padded out of the den. All he could think of now were Paleale's words. Did they really mean it..?


Today was a casual day for Newsky, as it had been for almost a moon now. She watched her three kits play in the clearing. Things had been more lively in her life with them around, and Lizardsneeze seemed proud of them. Although he wasn't too keen on having them in the first place, he was happy with his new choice. Where was that turd, anyways? Newsky sighed and looked up at the sky, then over at Scotchdrink.
The queen couldn't help but feel pity for the ginger she-cat. Stuck with kits she didn't want. But still, Scotchdrink managed to birth properly and brought two new kits into the world the night before. The queen hadn't named her kits, but Newsky was sure they'd both get along with her kits. She watched as Barrykit, a golden tom with black stripes, tumble into his sister Dollkit, her pale calico fur making her look like a recolored mossball. Their brother, Robbiekit, watched them closely, his black and purple fur fluffed out. "I will 'barry' you alive, Dolly!" The bee-colored kit shouted as he wrestled with the calico. The she-kit kicked him off and shouted back, "You've used that pun too many times, Barrykit! It's old!" Robbiekit snickered at his siblings, flicking his tail in the air.
Newsky sighed and watched over her denmate, nudging her two kits to Scotchdrink when they were trying to scramble away from the sleeping queen.


Stevehawk had settled down for the night, tired from a hard day of work. The blood-red tom couldn't think of anything else but getting some rest finally. But as soon as he drifted off to sleep, he found himself in a neverending field. "Oh no..." The deputy murmured to himself, afraid to turn around.
Suddenly, a loud screeching was heard. Stevehawk didn't have to guess who it was. His former mate, Brightlight. The tom turned around and awkwardly stared at her. The once beautiful gold she-cat was now a glowing cat with blood covering her neck and eyes. This was the first time the tom had actually seen her this way, since he never turned around the last times she had appeared. He noticed she didn't have wings, something both Starclan and the Dark Forest had, although the latter had broken ones. Second off, she had wounds from when she had died, something only Dark Forest cats had... She looked lost. She must be in Limbo, the place where rouges and loners went.
Finally, he could hear her words clearly. "STEVEHAWK! LISTEN TO ME! GREAT DANGER COMING! HE HAS RETURNED! THE ONE STARCLAN FORETOLD! HE'LL DESTROY THE CLANS! STOP HIM!"
"Who!?" Stevehawk screamed back at her, quickly realizing the answer to his question. "YOUR SON, BREADCLAW! THE REINCARNATION OF FIRESTAR! HE'LL KILL US ALL!" The dead she-cat stepped towards him, Stevehawk backed away, afraid of the sight and words of Brightlight. "BE READY FOR ATTACK! HE'LL STRIKE AT ANY MOMENT! BE PREPARED!"
The spirit's voice started to fade away quickly, along with her form. Stevehawk ran towards her as she vanished, scared for his life, as well as the clan. He soon started to fade into deep sleep, and hesitantly let himself drift off. If he were to protect the ones he loved, he would need energy.