Hi. It is not raining. (Was that random enough?) Oh wait a minute, now that I come back to this it IS raining.
So, new chapter written, thank you to reviewers.
I intended on making this a more boring chapter... Well that's a bit ruined.
Oh, and since this is earlier in the clans, some code rules were not added yet, and apprentices can leave camp whenever they want.
Quailspirit: It is indeed a mix between moves. This is why I made the setting in older Skyclan, it gives me more freedom to invent. Also, your OC will show up when the main part of the plot is up, which could be a while. I will have to change a few things though sorry. Thank you for the OC.
Disclaimer: I do not own warriors (if only), nor do I own the river riddle.
That morning, Icepaw woke to the soft gleam of sunlight streaming through her fur and the sight of blooming ivy leaves, but the events of the night before came crashing back to her before she even had time to see this sight. Tallbark had turned out to be better than he let on; Fernmist had confirmed. The gathering had immediately been canceled, but not before two other cats were threatened of exile, although the punishment was never employed; but of course, it had been two other cats who fit under the same label as Shadowfern, deemed useless. It had all gone by in a blur, cats frightened and puzzled turning the meeting into a walking-talking havoc. Icepaw herself had hung back from the group, being the last one off the island and trailing the gossiping cats from several fox-lengths behind.
Every cat was up in a matter of a few seconds, hearing the unusual murmurs coming in from outside. If the cats had seemed exhausted before, they seemed content with worried murmurs and glances towards Whiteclaw, Twistedleap, and Rosethorn's den. The attack had only fuelled their belief that that type of cat was evil. Even the cats who had protested stood quietly, eyes flickering with indecision. Yes, that night Icepaw had no idea how many times insults flew across the clearing to different cats with different opinions.
Annoyed at the cats, who were obviously generalizing, she and a few other cats had retreated to their dens. Even in the shelter of her home, there had been no way to shake off the sound of the cats' voices, and she had hissed before giving up, instead deciding to take a walk.
The forest had something eerie about it at night. She could see the moon softly dappling everything silver with its pale light, so different from the glare of the sun during the day. Yet even with the beauty of it on she had heard to many elder tales bout the nights and had trudged back into the clearing not long after. By then a furious looking group of leader and medicine cats were glaring down at the gathered cats, spitting insults raining down on them until they each returned to their dens, leaving a few cats, who had chosen to abandon the group, grinning and purring about the absurdity of it all.
She glanced down at her paws, and suddenly took realization of the numbness in her limbs. Her ruffled fur was top with a small coat of quickly-fading frost, making it sparkle like those weird twoleg pelts. She quickly shook it off before taking a step out of her den, where she found an-empty clearing?
As a kit Icepaw had always woken early, with her mother annoyed and asking her to go back to sleep, but at the moment she had taken on a tendency to stay up later and wake up early only for the reason that was that her mentor started training at dawn. She was guessing the previous night had taken its toll on the Skyclan cats, for at the moment they all seemed to be sleeping, although Icepaw could here some noise coming down from the nursery and she knew that it would not be long before the kits woke everybody else.
They were sure to still be talking about the day before, especially with the meeting that Pebblestar had promised to hold at dawn- which might have just as well been a feint because the last tips of night sky had already disappeared in the horizon, and Icepaw could feel the rapidly escalating heat.
She sighed, then directed her train of thoughts to something less dramatic. Although the theories about the present were still, there, she had now focused on one in particular. The thirteenth moon clan contest. For cats like Lightheart, Nettlefur, and Oakpelt, this contest was a warrior's first. Even for other warriors who had only been kits at the time, this would be a new experience. In other more basic words even respected warriors and mentors were seeking advice from the elders. In other-other words, she wasn't going to be trained for the games by her mentor.
There was most likely going to be a start in challenge training soon, from what she knew they spent the moon before the competition training and competing between Skyclan cats. The gathering had been interrupted too early the previous day, the events had been too sudden and unexplained; the exact reasons why Icepaw found herself also looking forward to an explanation, although she knew nothing would be explained clearly, it would be a beginning. She had the sneaking suspicion she was going to have to figure out the rest for herself.
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It was half-way past sun-high by the time Pebblestar actually called a meeting, but that was not what the cats were muttering about. No, what they were muttering about was the irritating fact of having a patrol of Riverclan warriors in their camp while their ebony black leader declared he had an announcement to make. Pebbelstar had evidently hissed at him to get back to his own cats, but nonetheless he stood before high-branch, unsheathing his claws.
It was useless for Pebblestar to call a meeting; all cats were already in the clearing as soon a Blackstar and his cats had barged into their camp as if they lived there, but she did anyway, probably in an attempt to show Blackstar he didn't belong.
Icepaw still sat of the branch that sheltered her den, which was now covered in half-bloomed ivy leaves, waiting to hear the announcement from her vantage point. As one might have guessed, the arrival of Riverclan only created yet another blizzard of thoughts and questions, and Icepaw was only half-listening. Whether she was half-listening or had given the meeting her full attention, the words still rang clearing in her ears.
"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather here beneath high-branch!" the useless phrase rang throughout the clearing.
"We all know some... peculiar events took place at the gathering last night." It was obvious from the look on the cat's faces that they themselves were anticipating more drama, although only a few had a mix of apprehension and annoyance to their eyes.
"After discussion with Fernmist and Waterpetal," The leader put emphasis on the two names, with a pointed glance towards Blackstar.
"We have come to the conclusion that there are three announcements to make. Or so we had until Blackstar barged in on out camp, which I do not appreciate. Next Riverclan cat caught on out territory gets a good clawing," at those words the two clans glared at each other until Riverclan, outnumbered, looked away.
"As our first announcement, which is none of Blackstar's business, Waterpetal has confirmed that Tallbark will no longer be able to serve as deputy. He wi-
Her speech was interrupted by a pleased-looking Blackstar, "So he's one of them now, isn't he?" He spat the words with such venom that Icepaw glared at him while a few cats recoiled in shock.
Pebblestar sighed, "Indeed, he is. Now, you see, Blackstar, my cats have always called my crazy, but I can confirm to you that they won't doubt my orders if I as them to attack you and your measly patrol on the spot next time you open your muzzle."
A few cats purred, and ten self-consciously seemed to feel embarrassed about their leader knowing what they spoke of behind her back.
Icepaw, meanwhile, sat coldly on her branch, evaluating the extent of the situation. Pebblestar was making a joke of this. Perhaps she was trying not to sound weak, after all her deputy had just been beaten by one of the most misjudged cats in Riverclan. Then again, she might have been trying to stop the imminent fight between her clanmates by making it seem like a once in a lifetime thing that was no big deal.
Blackstar, on the other hand, had obviously come, whether it was by purpose or not, to cause trouble. If he was here to cause trouble, there was more than one thing he could do; the things that would send the clans into fear an disagreement, as well as an even more tyrannical leadership. Of course, one of those actions happened to be the exact one he chose.
"Would you be defending them by any chance?" Before Pebblestar had a the time to answer he leaped up onto the leader's tree, ignoring the unsheathed claws and bared fangs of the Skyclan cats.
"They truly are dangerous! The code must be applied. The abnormal are bitter and jealous and will stop at nothing to destroy us all!"
Pebblestar did not answer, instead, she calmly (relatively) unsheathed her claws and spoke, " Skyclan attack." She did not yowl above her clanmate's shouts, but they all understood, and after a small glance of confusion and hesitation, they circled the Riverclan cats, each climbing one of the trees that surrounded the clearing, making sure the were in a position of advantage.
Icepaw unsheathed her claws, narrowing her eyes at the black leader before leaping down to a lower branch. Apprehension coursed through her limbs, feeling uneasy at the thought of bloodshed.
"Since you insist on messing with other cats' clans Blackstar," Pebblestar hissed, throwing one last glance his way before leaping to join her clanmates, "Our new deputy will be Duskfrost! She has served us well as a loyal warrior and I believe she is more than ready for this role." Then she had gracefully landed in the centre of the clearing.
"You may now leave, discussion closed." And she peacefully padded to her den, leaving the livid Riverclan cats to go back to their camp along with a patrol of cats, assigned by Duskfrost.
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Clan activities had resumed as usual, the encounter never once mentioned as though an unmentioned rule bound all cats into silence. Even as Icepaw practiced leaping from tree to tree, she could see the uneasy glances Dustfur cast to the Riverclan border.
"You already know how to climb trees, this is similar, but the branches will be thinner, and you'll need to have good balance. I notice you often shift your weight to one side of your paws, and that could in unbalance you." The pale brown tom mewed.
From her perch about five tail-lengths above-ground, Icepaw nodded. She tried shifting her paws to stand on them more evenly, the padded over to the edge of the branch. She quickly gave up on the unfamiliar way of climbing and shifted her weight once again to the side of her paw. She heard her mentor sigh in disagreement, but ignored him and focused on keeping her balance on the swaying branch. She hesitated as it bent beneath her weight near the edge, but a sharp reminder of Dustfur about how the longer she hesitated the harder it would get hot her to rush across the branch, ignoring the pain from her snagging claws.
She finally sprang near the end of the branch, and for a moment the terrible fear of crashing into the forest floor below shook her aim, and when she landed on the other branch she felt a jolt of panic as she scrambled for a grip. She felt a wave of relief crash onto her when she felt balanced again, and looked down to were her mentor was glancing at her pensively.
She knew she had lost focus, even if for only one second, and she knew there was no place for doubt when her life rested on her focus, but she nonetheless had the feeling that she was much better at climbing a single tree than leaping tree to tree.
"You have to be careful," he mewed, then launched into another series of explanations as Icepaw pretended to listen while instead evaluating the intertwining branches of the forest trees, in the direction of camp.
The camp where things were falling apart.
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Dustfur, who kept on restlessly glancing towards the Riverclan border, had dismissed Icepaw early, claiming she could take the day off barely after sun-high. She had then seen him stalk over to Duskfrost then leave with a border patrol.
She had gotten enough time to feel sure-footed while moving through the canopy of branches, dotting the sky yet so far from reaching the stars. She supposed her technique could still get better. She could learn to be quicker and more confident. Yet although the trees whispers beckoned her to them, her instincts contradicted them, telling her an imminent fall most certainly went against survival instincts, but she ignored those, for from her perch looking down on clan life, twoleg activity, and problems, she was free.
Icepaw silently padded over to a shady spot underneath a fern bush. She knew Flamepaw and Stormpaw would only come back for patrol by sunset, but she nonetheless decided to wait. If she was lucky they should soon be coming back from hunting before training for fighting. However, she soon gave up on that idea.
To one side of the clearing stood a small huddle of cats, sharing a hare and a raven. Lark-kit, Blackkit and Sparrowkit were outside, repetitiously playing "Battle against Shadowclan," and their shrieks rang through-out camp while Lakepool supervised them, the cream and white tabby's blue eyes gleaming.
Apart from them and a handful of cats, namely Mallowfrost, Twigleap, Oakpelt, and Nettlefur, as well as the elders, whose hisses could be heard throughout camp. She found herself zoning them out, listening instead to the breeze that ruffled her fur on the warm new-leaf day, and staring out into the distance. After all, thinking did not require any movement from her.
She still wondered why certain cats were considered oh so dangerous. All that the other cats would reply is that they would be the ones to end the clan unless we stopped them. Those who disagreed or argued usually held a haunted look in their eyes. In theory, every cat knew that certain reasons were revealed on one's journey to the Moonstone. Cats never actually spoke of it, but certain signs had led to this theory. First off, cats returning from Mothermouth looked as if they had just been scared out of their fur by the Dark-forest cats. Second off... Younger cats were not as ignorant as the full-grown ones thought. They wanted to know why. So they gathered stories from the elders and listened to the older cats. The elders told them tales of war, and the senior warriors told them they would see, and the youngest warriors told them that they shouldn't look forward to their journey to the Moonstone.
In the end, they had come up with this theory to fill in the missing information. The only way they ever found out was as they grew up and went to the moonstone. For yes, the rules stated not to talk of dreams, and apparently the ones who knew didn't judge useful to let apprentices know.
It was a wonder though, why newly named warriors didn't go back to their fellow apprentices to give them them knowledge they sought. That fact left them even more confused, and to be honest slightly creeped out. To be honest if filled Icepaw with a mix of foreboding and curiosity. She wondered what was up- and if anything was up -yet she did not want to know. In the end all it caused was a mix of powerless exasperation. Sometimes she wished she could read cats' minds.
Patience, or so that was the word that rang through her head at that moment. She could've sworn she heard the whisper ring throughout the breeze. She shook her head, having spent so much time daydreaming must've made her imagine things. She nonetheless whipped around, where the fading scent of wild lilies could be detected. Then she froze mid-step; there were no lilies in Skyclan territory.
She wondered if she was just imagining things again, or if some cat had come here. It would make sense after all, a cat hiding their scent with the one of a lily, had a lily not been poisonous to cats. That or some Skyclan cat had brought the scent here. Sunpaw, who padded into the clearing along with White-ember, Pineclaw, Mousepelt, and Pebblestar, confirmed her suspicions.
"Do you smell lily flowers by any chance?" She asked.
"Yeah, we ran into a dog." Before Icepaw had a chance to do anything other than scan through the possibilities that could lead to and it what ways it could most likely have been connected to lilies, he interrupted her, "It was the twolegplace border and the closet escape we had was a twoleg garden. No cat was harmed."
"Good." She replied, still irritated at her irrational fear, ignoring the coppery haze that wreathed around her for a moment.
Before she had a chance to say anything, Waterpetal was snapping at Sunpaw to get back to the patrol so she could treat the few scratches he had gotten.
As a matter of fact, ever since the gathering night Waterpetal had lost her usual compassion. After her out-burst at the gathering she had silently glared at any cats who cast her so much as a glance. Something about that night had affected here more than other cats. Something about Fernshadow most definitely. An undistinct image kept tugging at her mind, yet even as she focused on it she found herself only seeing a jumble of sights and sounds. The memory playing out in her head was a tangle of muddy brown, dark green, shouts raining though the air, a looming figure, darkness.
No, she couldn't make sense of it, yet a feeling of familiarity had settled onto her, as if she had seen this before, more recently. But she knew she hadn't. She hadn't lived it no, she had dreamt it. The dream too was patchy and indistinct, yet it had been clearer, she knew.
What she sought were answers. No cat would give them to her. The smallest clues she had still needed missing fragments of information. She cast a hesitant glance to where Waterpetal was standing with a pile of herbs and cobwebs next to her, the tabby's face still twisted into a scowl. That was obviously not going to help. At the best Icepaw would get snapped at. The hardest secrets to uncover seemed to be the one that one was determined to keep lost within time and space.
She found herself instead searching for some traces that were impossible to erase. That was how she ended up at the river's bank. The sun was hidden, but only behind a thin layer of clouds, although it was possible that they would grow into storm clouds as the was no breeze to keep them from lingering over the clans.
The river-water, taking on a brownish tint from the rocks and sand lining the river-bed, was streaked through with the silvery reflection of the clouds, but even with all this peaceful atmosphere, Icepaw could not see what the river itself hid.
She did not know why she had the conviction that there was something special about the flood-night, and she had even less of an idea what could possibly be revealed to her by what had a mouth yet was bound to muteness.
About half-way between the Riverclan border and the Thunderclan border, Icepaw halted before a different landscape. Before was was an uprooted tree, and oak to be more specific. The ground next to it was upturned and many of its branches were strewn over the ground, which was caked in dry and cracked mud. The trees branches trailed into the river, tracing intricate designs into the water, and stretched all the way into Riverclan territory.
There was something unceasing about the scene itself, yet a it held a ring of familiarity, and it was the only trace of the storm Icepaw had found. She hesitantly placed a paw on the tree's moss-covered trunk, testing its solidity. With typical Skyclan expertise, she unsheathed her claws and swiftly made her way across the river, only stoping once she was one third of the way there.
It occurred to her that she should be worried about either a patrol of Skyclan or Riverclan warriors would spot her, but she knew that by now Duskfrost's patrol would be back at camp and that the patrol had purposely gone out at the same time as the usual Riverclan patrol. Oh, and there was the fact that the area wasn't exactly the safest and warriors most likely avoided it, instead swimming and hunting farther upstream near the twoleg bridge and outside their camp.
For a moment she just gazed at the rippling water, path carved by sweeping oak branches. That moment was interrupted when she heard a twig snap from the opposite side of the river, in Riverclan territory. She snapped back to focus and glared down to the opposing bank, but there were no blurry figures outlined against the bleak grey sky.
She silently padded another few tail-lengths, curious whether there was or was not a cat there. She did not need to go past half of the tree for suddenly two silhouettes emerged from the shadows beyond. She jumped and for a moment she was scrabbling to get her grip on the tree, then she was falling. She gasped as frozen water surrounded her, then used instincts she didn't know she possessed the break through the surface of the water and scramble back onto shore. The heartbeat that it took for her to stand up and breath in oxygen thankfully was the heartbeat it took for her to be glaring at two opposing cats.
One was a tortoiseshell she-cat with heather-coloured eyes, and another, retreated farther into the shadows, was ebony black with golden eyes.
"Oh, she's still alive." Mewed the tortoiseshell, looking rather bored.
That took a while to write.
QOTD: What do you think happened during the storm-flood?
QOTD2: Who do you think are the two cats?