Alright, I don't have much too say peeps. If you ask me, this was a long chapter, but considering how long it took me to update, I can understand if you don't agree. Lolz. I promise I'll start updating more often. My muse has been off, but I shall try!
Thanx to everyone who reviews!!!
The white cat heard whispering voices as he headed past the trees. He stopped, whiskers twitching as the voices quieted him. They knew he was here. Taking a deep breath he padded out into the small, dimly lit clearing. At least six or seven other cats sat, all staring at him with unreadable emotions. Their faces and bodies were darkened by shadows until one cat stepped forward into the light.
"Cloudtail, you came." Came the strong commanding voice of a she-cat. Cloudtail was almost surprised as a small, elegant white female stepped close to him, amber eyes blazing. "And without a patrol. Mousefur was right."
He nodded and watched as the few others spilled into the clearing, and he could recognize cats from both Windclan and Thunderclan. Mousefur, Sootfur, and Dustpelt sat side by side while Mudclaw, Crowclaw and Goldenfeather sat opposite them.
All these cats were here for one purpose; to consider what to do once and for all about the wolves. None of these cats were willing to just run away and let the forest be destroyed, and none of them were about to put their faith on a prophecy brought to them by an average member. All of them felt shame that they were going against their leaders, thus going against the warrior code, but that had to do what they had to do to keep the forest safe.
"Everyone, I have a plan…" The cats gathered in closer to listen to Whitetail speak.
"I think we're ready to leave, Firestar." Sandstorm approached the ginger tom who was sitting, looking rather bleak. The sun had only just started to rise and the other cats were tucked in their nest. The pale ginger she-cat had been woken by Firestar and the apprentances had been awakened by Cinderpelt.
"Promise me you'll be careful." He nuzzled her lightly, trying to reassure not only her, but himself. He wanted desperately to tell her she couldn't go. Who would lead the dawn patrols? Show apprentances some of the best hunting techniques? Encourage Firestar when everyone else was against him?
"Of course." She licked his cheek and closed her eyes. For a few moments they sat, afraid to leave one another. Both the cats moved away as they heard the approaching footsteps of a cat. They turned to see Cinderpelt coming toward them, an almost amused look on her muzzle, had her eyes not been filled with worry.
"They are waiting for you at the Gorse tunnel." She said quietly. "You'd better get going; the others will be coming out soon."
"Yes, Cinderpelt." Sandstorm looked over the Firestar and watched as he nodded for her to go. Quickly she trotted over to the Gorse Tunnel where Whitefur, Leafpaw, Ravenpaw, Smallpaw and Gorsepaw sat, fidgeting nervous, their journey and the fate of the Forest clearly on their minds.
"Please, please." Cinderpelt looked to the sky, though the sky a devoid of stars she knew her warrior ancestors were still there. "Keep them safe."
Swiftpaw crept through upon path that was the border of Windclan and Riverclan territory. She had her mouth opened as she tasted the air, before grimacing and stepping back. What a positively horrible smell? There was no scent of Windclan anywhere. The gray tabby she-cat knew she should have gone back and told Leopardstar immediately. There was definitely something strange happening.
"Mroww!" Swiftpaw jumped her claws out as she whipped around and faced another cat. She glared at the surprised dark brown she-cat who stared back at her. She sighed, letting her hair lay flat, still incredibly annoyed at being sneaked up on. "Sunpaw, you stupid furball!"
"Sorry, Swiftpaw." The brown she-cat grinned slightly, and shrugged. But there was something in her eyes that troubled her. "Did you notice…..?"
"Windclan? Yes." Her green eyes narrowed as she glared across to look at the territory. There was no evidence of any cats as far as the eye could see. Sunpaw came up beside her friend as they stared across the border. Both of them thinking the exact same thing go back to Riverclan or investigate?
"It really can't hurt." Murmured Sunpaw as she raised her paw to take a step over the border.
"Are you mousebrained?" Swiftpaw growled, causing Sunpaw to step back, ashamed of what she had just been about to do. "The first lesson they ever teach you as an apprentance is to avoid other clans as much as possible."
"But Windclan isn't even there!" Sunpaw shot back, even though she knew the tabby she-cat was right. She glared across the bordered, grimacing at the positively awful stench. "But you're right, let's go back. Leopardstar will want to know. If Windclan have abandoned their territory it may be of some use to us."
Swiftpaw nodded as the two turned, only to come face to face with Stormfur. The dark gray warrior looked down at them with mingled confusion and anger. Both apprentance's seemed to shrink under his amber gaze as they waited for him to start speaking.
"What are you two doing so close to the border?" Stormfur growled angrily. "Leopardstar has instructed all apprentices stay away. Didn't you notice the scent?"
"Yes, Stormfur, we smelt it. But we didn't know we weren't supposed to go close to the border." Said Sunpaw, genuinely confused. "We've been out all day!"
Stormfur glared at them for a moment longer, before nodding. "You know, then. There is something strange in Windclan territory and it could be dangerous. So just keep away. Alright?"
"Yes, Stormfur." The two she-cats answered solemnly.
"Stormfur!" The three cats looked up as a gray she-cat with blue eyes came toward them. Mistyfoot looked at Stormfur, then Sunpaw and Swiftpaw. "Oh good, you found them. Leopardstar wants everyone back at camp, immediately. We found prints near the river, heading straight toward the camp, but then whatever it was went back to Windclan."
"Have you found out what it is?" Stormfur asked, alarmed.
"No, but we've found out there are more than one of them." Mistyfoot told him gravely. "But there is more to tell as soon as we get back to camp."
Stormfur nodded as Mistyfoot took off toward the Riverlcan camp. Sunpaw and Swiftpaw quickly leaped after her, with Stormfur in the back. He wanted to look back, just to see if he could get a glimpse of what had taken over Windclan. But he knew that he needed to get back to camp, something bad was happening. But he had to do all he could to protect his clan.
"Stay back." hissed the dark ginger she-cat as she crept from behind a large rock. Her dark eyes were narrowed as she grimaced, taking in the revolting scent of whatever had come here. She and her small patrol had scented the strange creatures at the edge of their territory and followed it across the small Thunderpath toward High Stones.
"If I tell you to run, go straight back to camp." She glared at the other four cats that were gathered behind the rock. At their nod she crept stealthily along the ground, feeling uncomfortable in the open space. She headed toward the cliff, afraid to look down at what might be hiding there.
As she cautiously looked over the edge of the cliff she almost gasped. Two huge creatures sat at the center of High Stones. One of them was a dark gray color while the other was a mix a browns and tans. Both of them were huge, bigger than the twoleg's dogs she'd seen being walked on rope sometimes. A trickle of fear ran down her spine as she noticed one of them was moving. The dark brown one slightly tipped his head toward her and the other looked up at her face peaking over the edge. They both grinned, their yellow canines showing, tinted red with blood.
Turning and running back to the rock, she looked at the four cats and said. "Get back to camp, now."
"But, Russetfur, what did you-?" Cedarheart tried to ask, looking around his deputy.
"Do not test me!" She growled. Taking a step forward she yowled. "NOW!"
All four cats seemed to understand perfectly this time. The dark ginger warrior turned and looked back, a shiver running down her spine as she remembered the disgusting creatures she'd just seen. With a last glance toward the cliff she sprang after her clanmates back to the camp to report what she'd seen.
"Let all those old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Highrock for a clan meeting!"
Firestar's yowl rang out to the cats of Thunderclan. The first out were Mousefur, followed by two kits. Firestar flinched as he saw the dark and ginger she-cat, Lightkit, who looked so much like her mother. The other was mostly white with one brown paw.
As Firestar watched the cats come to the bottom of the stone, she noticed Cloudtail was among one of the last. The long-haired white male had been increasingly secretive, often going out of camp early and not coming back until late. He rarely visited his kits and avoided both Firestar and Graystripe. The only thing he consistently did was visit Brightheart's grave and to check on Whitefur, whom he constantly seemed to worry over. Always insisting to go on patrols with her, and never wanting the white she-cat to hunt alone.
He tried to shake those thoughts from his head. The clan hadn't seemed to have noticed the missing cats yet. With so many patrols, many would assume they'd be out doing something to help out the clan. He glanced up at the sky, praying to Starclan that they were alright, before turning his attention back to his clan, all of whom had gathered. His eyes traveled to the two cats he'd picked to be mentors, Brambleclaw and Graystripe. Brambleclaw had been an obvious choice, as he was a strong and intelligent tom who stuck very closely to the warrior code. It was about time the warrior had an apprentance. Graystripe had actually asked, and Firestar agreed that an apprentance woudln't interfere too much with his Deputy duties.
"Lightkit, Spiritkit, please come up to the rock."
As the two apprentance's moved, the air suddenly turned somber and sad. Firestar could see how uncomfortable the two small kits looked as the clan looked at them with a mixture of pity and sadness. Lightkit took the chance to glance back and saw that Cloudtail wasn't even looking. The ginger and white kit bowed her head, and after what seemed like forever, finally came to the rock.
Firestar took a deep breath, trying to calm his own racing heart and wishing that something - anything - would loosen up the depressing mood which swamped the clan. But there was nothing he could do. "Lightkit, from this day on until your recieve your warrior name, you shall be, Lightpaw."
As if answering his prayers, the current apprentances took up chanting Lightpaw's name. The jubilant voices seemed to somewhat calm the clan as Lightpaw nodded, a small smile creeping onto her maw. Firestar allowed himself to smile, and the rest of the clan seemed to settle back into their normal routine of waiting excitedly and happily.
"Brambleclaw, you have proven yourself a strong and worthy warrior, I trust you to pass your skills onto Lightpaw." He said as the strong dark brown tabby padded toward the ginger and white she-cat. They touched noses lightly before moving away. Spiritkit stepped forward after them, looking slightly more excited than his sister had been.
"Spiritkit, from this day on until you recieve your warrior name, you will be Spiritpaw." The kit's body wriggled in anticipation, ears perked as he waited to know who his mentor was.
"Graystripe, you mentored Brackenfur and have been proven to be a strong deputy, so I hope that you will past these skills onto Spiritpaw." He said this with confidence as he watched the large gray tom pad up to Spiritpaw. After touching noses with his new mentor, everyone chuckled lightly as Spiritpaw gave an excited squeal.
Dun dun dun! I think the next chapter will be them actually traveling! How amazing would that be? I'm so stupid. I know you guys want to see how these cats are together, but I promise you'll be happy when we get to it.
Guess what?! I got The Power Of Three; The Sight yesterday! I finished it in three hours, it was amazing! I can't give away details, but its bigger and just as great as the other ones! So save up your pocket change for this one!