Warriors
Okay the first chapter is the allegiances…so this is the first chapter and no there is no prologue!! Oh well…here is the first chapter!!
Chapter 1
For the fourth sunrise in a row, chilly morning air greeted me as I woke up one newleaf morning. I stretched and yawned and then stood up and looked around the den where my fellow apprentices slept, and I sighed as all of them were still fast asleep. I crept out of the den and shivered as the chilly air got through my brown fur to my body and then I felt someone brush again my pelt and I turned, purring to face Nightpaw.
"Why are you always up so early?" Nightpaw asked sitting beside me.
"I'm on the dawn patrol for one thing, but I also like to wake up early," I replied and Nightpaw purred.
"Well, these past four sunrises have been nothing, but cold and prey doesn't like it either," Nightpaw said and his tail twitched irritably, but I just rested my head on his shoulder.
"It's newleaf, it will get warmer and the prey will come with it," I whispered and Nightpaw licked my head.
"Sometimes your optimism doesn't help the situation," Nightpaw said and I purred as I saw two figures slinking through the fog that was all over.
"Tornpaw?" I pricked my ears, as Willowtail, my mentor appeared in the fog followed by Sunstreak, Nightpaw's mentor.
"Well, at least both of you are awake," Sunstreak said bitterly.
"Ignore, Sunstreak's tone of voice, the fog is starting to bother him," Willowtail said her tail whapping Sunstreak.
"Are we going on the dawn patrol or what?" I asked and Willowtail purred and flicked her tail and Sunstreak and Willowtail led the way through the fog as Nightpaw and I followed behind.
"When will the fog go away?" The small squeal of a kit sounded close by and I squinted by eyes and just through the fog saw the small shape of a shivering kit.
"Birchkit, come back into the nursery, its too foggy to see anything," Robinpelt, his mother, said and soon both shapes disappeared from view. I hurried to catch up with Nightpaw and the others and luckily they were slipping out of the camp and the small entrance went underground and the fog did not follow us. It slowly sloped down, but then there was a small dip and then it went up and you came back into the fresh air, but we stopped at the dip.
"Okay, Puddlestar also said that if we can catch any prey, it'd be appreciated so keep your ears prick and walk lightly," Willowtail said and nodded to me and I remembered how many times the cats of our clan had said I was probably the best hunter in the clan.
"Come on already, my tail is starting to twitch and that means its going to rain," Sunstreak growled and he started up into the tunnels that led back into the forest. Nightpaw looked at me and shrugged and followed his mentor and Willowtail waited as I crawled by before she followed behind. The open air washed around me as I emerged out of the tunnel and I quickly hurried out of the way so Willowtail could come out. After a quick discussion between Willowtail and Sunstreak we headed along the stretch of trees that were hardly visible through the still thick fog. I relied on Sunstreak's yellow tail to stay on the path, but I also kept my ears pricked and my nose was constantly sniffing for any sign of prey, but no luck.
"All of the prey is smart for once," Willowtail joked and I purred as she was obviously letting off some of the pressure off my shoulders.
"Don't tell her that…she'll stop being on alert and the clan needs the prey," Sunstreak snapped and I sighed angrily.
"I'm trying," I said, but Nightpaw gently licked my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Sunstreak hasn't had a good meal in a while, he'll be fine once the prey starts to run again," Nightpaw whispered to me and I purred gratefully for his warm attitude. Nightpaw had always been there when I needed cheering up and I did the same for him, but Nightpaw was usually always cheerful, except for the time he hurt his paw and was ordered into camp for a few sunrises, but besides that he was always chipper. I hated to admit it, but I had real feelings for Nightpaw and I hoped he felt the same for me, but I couldn't be sure.
"Nightpaw, Twigpaw search around here," Sunstreak whispered and I instantly stopped and pricked my ears and sniffed the air and Nightpaw copied me. Suddenly I caught the faint scent of prey and I flicked my tail towards the just visible outline of a fern. I started to creep towards it stopping to sniff and make sure there was prey there, but my nose had never lied so far, so I trusted it. As I was inched away from it the bottom of the fern ruffled that could only be ruffled by prey and not wind and I froze thankful that the fog hid my brown pelt. A very plump mouse, one of the plumpest I'd seen so far since last greenleaf. Willowtail, Sunstreak, and Nightpaw all ducked down so that the mouse didn't see them and run for they knew that the clan would be ever grateful for this mouse and I couldn't lose it. It was oblivious and just scuttled forward towards me, but then it froze and I took this moment and launched forward and killed it quickly and lifted my head as it fangled from my jaws.
"Excellent, Twigpaw," Willowtail praised and I purred as she took the mouse in her jaws.
"At least the queens and kits can have a good meal, the elders will probably have to wait till later, poor Birchkit is half-starved," Sunstreak said studying the mouse with a deep hunger in his gaze, but it vanished instantly. "Hide it in the roots of that tree and let's keep going," Sunstreak added and Willowtail hid it and then we continued padding slowly so we could detect any prey, but out hopes were crushed as no more prey resurfaced.
I waited patiently and then leaped high into the air and my paw just wrapped around the thrush as it tried to escape. I slammed it to the ground and Nightpaw leapt and killed it before it could get away.
"Thanks," I mewed as Willowtail and Sunstreak approached each holding thin mice from their jaws.
"Good job, let's go grab the mouse you caught earlier and then we'll head back to camp," Willowtail said her mew muffled by the mouse. Nightpaw and I darted ahead of Willowtail and Sunstreak towards where we had hidden the mouse and soon I was digging at the roots and picked up the plump mouse in my jaws its warm, juicy scent filling my mouth and nose.
"Let's go," Nightpaw said excitedly his tail flicking towards the camp. We all padded in silence partly because we were cold and half-frozen and also our mouths were filled with the prey we had caught. Nightpaw was the first to go into the tunnel and I slowly followed and soon we were emerging into an already busy camp. Owlwhisker and Mousepelt were sharing tongues outside where the warriors slept while Robinpelt and Iceclaw watched Birchkit and Lionkit stumbled around and luckily the fog had started to clear and patches of light gray sky were visible, but no sun to warm their pelts. Puddlestar and Honeyclaw were quietly talking outside of his small den, but as they entered both turned nad padded towards them and the scent of fresh-kill got the attention of other cats as well.
"Who got that mouse?" Honeyclaw asked as I dropped it where the fresh-kill pile usually was, but it was empty and bare except for my new mouse.
"Who else?" Willowtail asked gazing proudly at me and I flattened my ears, embarrassed.
"You've got a fine hunter in your paws," Puddlestar said and I felt my tail flick nervously.
"It's really no big deal," I insisted, but the others didn't seem to care about my comment.
"Come on let's that this to Robinpelt and Iceclaw," Nightpaw said loudly and Willowtail and Sunstreak nodded. I grabbed the mouse and he grabbed the thrush and we headed towards where Robinpelt and Iceclaw were laying. There eyes flashed with hunger and relief as we dropped the fresh-kill in front of them.
"Thank you so much," Robinpelt said calling to Lionkit and Birchkit. They were old enough to eat fresh-kill, but Robinpelt still chewed up some of it and then they ate from that. She bit off a large part from the thrush and then spat it out and separated it and the two kits began to immediately munch down on the food.
"Don't eat to fast or you'll give yourself a nasty stomach ache," Nightpaw warned and Iceclaw purred in amusement as she took a large bite of the mouse.
"This is exquisite," Iceclaw commented and her eyes fell onto me. "Did you catch this Twigpaw?" Iceclaw asked and I shyly nodded.
"Yeah, she was amazing," Nightpaw piped up and I shot him an angry glance.
"I don't see why everyone has to make such a big deal about this…I caught the prey and the clan is getting fed that's all that matters…now come on we've got to go clean out of the elders den," I mewed fiercely and started across the clearing towards where the elders all slept and ate and moaned and complained.
"Are you okay?" Nightpaw wove around me stopping me in my tracks.
"Yeah," I mumbled, but Nightpaw stood in front of me blocking my way.
"Come on Twigpaw…something's bothering you," Nightpaw said and his tail rested on my shoulder. "Tell me," Nightpaw coaxed.
"I hate how everyone is making such a big deal over that stupid mouse, it's not like it's the first piece of prey to ever be caught," I snapped angrily and Nightpaw licked my shoulder in sympathy.
"It is the plumpest piece of fresh-kill we've seen since last greenleaf and its giving everyone hope that the prey is coming back again and we'll all be well-fed again," Nightpaw whispered and I shrugged. "You should be proud you're such a great hunter, the whole clan knows you're amazing at hunting," Nightpaw added and I couldn't help, but purr at his comment.
"Yes, I'm good, but everyone likes to fuss about it," I added as we both started towards the elders den again.
"Well, it tells the clan that you're strong and that with you out there in the forest, the clan will always be fed," Nightpaw said and he cautiously sniffed at the thin layer of ivy that hung over the entrance blocking out wind and rain.
"Come on in you two," A warm mew came from inside and I was happy that Ferncloud was awake. Ferncloud and Leafpool were always kind to the apprentices, but Berrytail and Bramblemark could get pretty prickly. We both glanced at each other and then padded inside and saw that Leafpool, Bramblemark, Berrytail, and Ferncloud were sitting in a small circle talking quietly.
"Here to collect the moss darlings?" Leafpool asked and we both nodded. Leafpool always referred to everyone as darling or dear.
"Yes," Nightpaw replied instantly starting to bundle up some close to Bramblemark.
"Also, Berrytail says there is a tick in his fur somewhere, when you're done would you be so kind as to remove it?" Ferncloud asked and I nodded.
"Of course…I'll go ask Cinderwing now," I whispered and glanced at Nightpaw. "Can you handle the moss while I go fetch the mousebile?" I asked.
"Sure, go ahead, but you're not getting out of helping me collect some more," Nightpaw teased and I nodded and hurried out of the den and calmly padded into Cinderwing's den. He was fussing over a very small pile of herbs as Rainleaf lay curled up in a large, soft pile of moss. He had fallen ill with greencough a good moon ago, but luckily Cinderwing had plenty of catmint and Rainleaf was recovering fast and soon he'd be up and walking in no time.
"Hello Twigpaw, come to visit a sick patient like me?" Rainleaf teased, his voice cracking as if it was sore or swollen.
"Rainleaf, I told you to stay silent otherwise your throat will stay sore and swollen," Cinderwing said gently, but there was that stern tint to his voice that made Rainleaf know to obey him.
"Sorry, Rainleaf, but I've come to get a little mousebile for Berrytail," I mewed and the warrior nodded and looked at Cinderwing as the tom padded calmly over to pile of moss. He bundled up some of then went into his storage cave with the moss and came back with it dangling by his claw. I wrinkled my nose at the scent as I took the moss from him and Cinderwing and Rainleaf both purred in amusement at the look on my face.
"I'll never get tired of that," Rainleaf croaked, but then quickly buried his head in his paws as Cinderwing glared at him.
"Good luck, Berrytail is pretty fitful when it comes to removing ticks," Cinderwing and I nodded and hurried out of the den and back to the elders. A ball of moss just barely missed hitting me in my face and I hissed angrily and glared at Nightpaw.
"Sorry…I didn't see you coming," Nightpaw and I just shook my head and hurried over to Berrytail. His tail lashed in anger, but I calmly placed the moss down and began to search through his fur.
"It's near my shoulder mouse-brain," Berrytail snapped and I nodded and searched close to his shoulder and sure enough there was a tick. I took a scrap of the moss in my claw and pressed it firmly against the tick just so tha the bile could get into the tick and kill it. I removed the moss and checked his fur and found one more tick, but after that there were none.
"Ugh…could you check on me?" Bramblemark asked and purred.
"Of course…its no problem," I mewed kindly and took the moss over to him and began to search through his pelt and found three ticks around his ears, but after some bile all three dropped off and Bramblemark purred.
"Ah that's so much better," Bramblemark said and I turned to look at Ferncloud and Leafpool.
"Do you need me to look at your pelts?" I asked politely, but both kindly shook their heads.
"Unlike some cats we check our pelts daily, so you darlings don't have to fuss over us," Leafpool mewed and I purred and licked her shoulder gratefully.
"Come on Twigpaw I can't get all this moss out by myself," Nightpaw called from the entrance to the den. Nightpaw disappeared outside with a few bundles of moss in his mouth and I grabbed the moss soaked in mousebile and then a few others.
"You two are destined to be mates," Ferncloud whispered and I turned sharply.
"What?" I asked, but luckily it was still polite.
"Nightpaw and you of course," Berrytail said, but in a less fierce tone. "She thinks you two are the perfect match for mates," Berrytail said and I nervously laughed.
"Uh…sure," I said and then collected the rest of the moss and hurried out of the den. I was barely watching where I was going as my mind raced with many thoughts, but one thought was as clear as icy water that the river usually concealed. Were the elders right...are Nightpaw and I really destined to be mates?