Sunheart dashed quickly over rugged terrain. Dawn Fall was fast approaching and he had to collect the rest of his evening's catch, hopefully before the night predators woke from their sleep. Stepping lightly over a fallen log the sleek light brown tabby hesitated for a second. His ears pricked back and he listened intently to the silence behind him.
The forest was eerily quiet.
He took an uneasy step back. It was unnatural for the forest to be this quiet. Usually it was teeming with life, birds chirping, squirrels chattering, and mice squeaking, but now every creature seemed to be hiding, waiting in anticipation. It made him nervous.
He padded slowly over to his small pile of fresh kill that he had buried earlier in the day, nothing was missing and he was glad. His clan needed all the fresh kill they could get with Leaf Bare almost there. Nearby a bush rustled, probably a mouse, but he still tensed and waited.
Suddenly the earth under his paws rumbled, and a horrible roaring sound erupted over head. A huge shining bird flew over head, one wing on fire the other wing completely torn off. His fur bristled in horror when the bird started to drop out of the sky, finally dropping into the canyon, the only place not in any clans' territory.
Sunheart was frozen in horror. Even though the earth had stopped shaking his paws still tingled, so it couldn't have been a dream, or nightmare. He leaped to attention when noise erupted all around him. All the missing sounds from earlier were finally being heard. Sunheart leaped over to his fresh kill pile and gathered it all in his mouth.
He had to tell Applestar.
Eaglekit purred as she walked into the clearing, Foxkit by her side. Today was the day she became an apprentice and found out who her mentor would be! She was so excited she could hardly breathe around the purr tingling in her throat.
A loud mroww resounded throughout the clearing. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet here, before the Great Rock!"
Applestar stood on top of the huge jutting rock in the middle of the clearing, waiting for the cats of her clan to come before her. Eaglekit and Foxkit slowly walked under the Great Rock, looking from Applestar to the cats slowly surrounding them.
"Fireclan now has two kits ready to become apprentices. Foxkit has reached his sixth moon and is ready to become an apprentice. Dapplefur," A pretty brown she-cat padded up to the Great Rock, "you have been a calm and watchful warrior. I know you will pass on these qualities onto your new apprentice. Foxkit, you will now be known as Foxpaw. Study well under your new mentor."
Foxpaw slowly walked to Dapplefur and touched his nose to her speckled shoulder, she in return touched his russet shoulder.
The clan lifted their voices yelling, "Foxpaw, Foxpaw, Foxpaw!"
Eaglekit couldn't help but shake in anticipation. She was next!
"Eaglekit has also reached her sixth moon and is ready to become an apprentice."
Eaglekit held her breath as Applestar paused.
"Lightstep," Eaglekit's face lit up. "You have been a brave and truthful warrior. I know that you will pass these qualities onto your new apprentice. Eaglekit, you will now be known as Eaglepaw. Learn well under your new mentor." Applestar smiled down at her.
Eaglepaw skipped quickly over to Lightstep, slowing to a halt as she pressed her nose into his dense fur, inhaling the scent of pine needles and grass. Lightstep leaned over her head to place his nose onto her golden shoulder, signaling his acceptance of her.
The clan erupted into yowling around her. "Eaglepaw, Eaglepaw, Eaglepaw!"
The newly named Eaglepaw smiled into Lightstep's face, purring while her father came to congratulate them.
"So, my little kit has finally grown up?" Shadepath purred into Eaglepaw's ear. He leaned over her head to look into Lightstep's face. "Take care of her, Lightstep," he said seriously, and then a hint of amusement entered his eyes. "She's our baby."
Eaglepaw squealed in fake outrage. "Dad, I'm not a baby any more. Go bother Foxpaw!" She stomped her little paw and glared light heartedly into Shadepath's eyes.
"Fine, fine, I know when I'm not wanted." He licked her on the ear, then turned in the direction of Foxpaw and Flowerfoot.
Lightstep watched him leave with a little bit of hesitation. Now he was alone with his new apprentice, who was looking up at him with adoring eyes.
Lightstep sighed, turned his back on her, and spoke over his shoulder. "I think we should begin today with a tour of the boundaries."
Eaglepaw yipped and ran to his side. "Are we going into Badger Creek?"
He mrowwed with laughter. " I think that might be too much right now, you know why it's called Badger Creek, right?"
"Because of badgers?" Eaglepaw answered playfully.
"Well, yes, but also because of our ancestor's battle with the badger family that lived there, and still does today." He said. "The Fireclan leader, Ashstar, discovered that the badger family living there was preying on cats of the three clans. He led the Fireclan warriors into a bloody battle, many were killed, and Ashstar lost two lives. In the end, Fireclan ended the threat of the badger family, but not without loss." Lightstep padded with Eaglepaw by his side to the exit of the tunnel leading out into the woods.
Eaglepaw sighed. "I guess that means no."
Lightstep looked at her amusedly. "Only for now."
Eaglepaw looked into his green eyes, flicked her golden tail in front of his nose, and stood in front of him. "So, where are we going first?"
Lightstep nudged her shoulder to turn her to the right. "The Echoclan border, you need to be careful not to cross it, though, Jaguarstar, and his deputy Oakfur take the border very seriously, as do the rest of Echoclan."
Eaglepaw nodded her head and skipped lightly by his side, as he walked in the direction of the border.
The Echoclan border was in the middle of a valley, protected on all sides by the rock walls that surrounded them. The ground was always damp from where rain water ran off the valley walls and collected in pools found in the Echoclan territory. The land was rich and fertile, but not seen often because of the dense fog that enshrouded the territory. A river that ran through all three territories could constantly be heard above the loud singing of birds not seen. Echoclan was full of hunters, it had to be. Because of the fog, scent was always weak, and prey was hard to find, but that also meant Echoclan was protected from rouges and other clans. Their warriors relied on stealth and cunning, not strength, to win battles.
Lightstep paused when he heard the rapid pounding of paws hitting damp earth. He flicked his ears backwards in a gesture for Eaglepaw to be silent and stay behind him.
The bushes in front of them shook as a light brown cat stepped out of them, breathing hard, with a mouse and vole clenched in his jaws. He recognized this cat.
"Sunheart? What are you doing here, you're on hunting duty." Lightstep asked, calming down once he knew there was no threat to himself or Eaglepaw.
Sunheart shook slightly as he sat down on the muddy ground. "I need to talk to Applestar, there was a bird, a giant silver bird, and it was on fire. I think it crashed into the canyon!" He panted, once he sat down his prey.
Lightstep knew it was going to be a long day.