Okay, I've decided to never promise to have another chapter uploaded quickly again. As I clearly can't stick to it, and I'm sure my readers don't appreciate it. But, anyhow, here it is... The long awaited "Chapter with a Real Name" YAY! Yeah. I coulda found a far better name, and I probably should've, but hey, if you don't like it, please, be my guest and come up with a better one :P
Oh, yes, thank you so much for reviewing, I really appreciate it. I know it must get irritating, reviewing for each chapter, but I really do appreciate it (if I haven't already said so, lol.).
I keep forgetting to do this, but here's a disclaimer: Neither FMA nor Warriors belong to me. If Warriors belonged to me, all of Firestar's friends would've died before him, and Blackstar would be dead too. Considering that he's like, the oldest cat in the lake territories, and, he's still kicking...
Chapter Nine: A new Beginning
"Hey! Wake up! You're on dawn patrol, and I need to show you the territory, and give you the basics of the Warrior Code!"
Ed groaned, and opened his eyes, and promptly groaned again. "It's barely sunrise! You can't tell me that I need to get up already!"
The cream tom- Berrynose, scowled. "You'll get up when you're told! Now get a move on, unless you want to eat after a hunting lesson?"
Ed sighed and scratched his ear. "Alright, alright. So what's there to eat around here? I don't mind, as long as it's not mice."
He smirked, and Berrynose frowned. "Well, if you don't like mice, how about pigeons?" Ed frowned. "You're joking, right? Don't you eat cat food? You know, those brown pellets that humans put in bowls for you?"
"We aren't kittypets! We don't eat twoleg slop! We eat real food! If you want to eat rabbit dropping, you can head on over to the WindClan moor, you'll find plenty there!"
Berrynose spat, Ed frowned. "Okay okay, take it easy! I was just asking..."
Berrynose scowled. "Well, hurry up. I'll show you to the freshkill pile."
Ed shook his head. "No, I think I'm fine..." Berrynose shrugged. "Suite yourself."
And Ed muttered. "I think I will..." Berrynose shot him a look, and continued.
"Alright, Dovewing'll accompany us, I'll go wake her up." As Berrynose hurried off, Ed could hear Al begging to Ivypool. "Please! I'll be really quick! I just want to go and see them! They're so cute! Can't we just stop by?" Ed heard Ivypool reply. "No, Al, we can't visit the nursery, I need to show you around the territory. It's custom to show new apprentices their territory."
Ed suppressed a 'mrrow' of amusement. 'Of course Al wants to see the kittens! I should've known that he'd beg to see kittens.'
"Come on! We're waiting for you!" Ed shot a glare at the cream tom,
who was now accompanied by a grey she-cat. "Well you didn't tell me!" He took his time, purposefully putting each paw in front of the other, and stopping every once in awhile to gaze at any random object. "C'mon, we do need to get going you know. With ShadowClan you can never tell if they'll be trying to attack us and claim our territory."
Ed looked up at the grey she-cat who had spoken. "Alright, alright. I'm coming."
He quickened his pace and reached them shortly. "So you're Dovewing, right?" The she-cat nodded. "Yeah." Berrynose growled. "You two can talk later, right now we have to make sure that ShadowClan isn't back to their old tricks again..."
Dovewing blinked in agreement. "He's right, I'd prefer not to have to fight any ShadowClan cats today, especially with your lack of training, you'd probably end up badly injured."
Ed frowned. "I'm not weak, you know. I can defend myself just fine."
Berrynose snorted. "Yeah, right. Lionblaze caught both you and your friend, no problem!"
Ed was about to make a snappy comeback, but Dovewing spoke before he could.
"Don't take his attitude personally, he's always like this. And, Lionblaze is powerful, he's our strongest fighter. So don't take your loss too badly."
Ed scowled, but decided against saying anything particularly rude. "Whatever."
Berrynose growled at Ed. "Treat superior warriors with more respect! You're nothing but an apprentice here!" Ed ignored him, and continued.
Soon, he scented something strange. 'it's like a line...' He sniffed it for a moment, stepping closer. "Hey! Don't cross the border, we don't want trouble!"
Berrynose sniffed. "Too late." Several other cats appeared at the line. "Trying to take more of our territory?! Do you want us to die?! Do you think we'll give you more territory?!"
Ed's hackles began to rise. "What are they talking about?" Dovewing grabbed him by his scruff and pulled him away from the border easily. This seemed to make Ed unhappy.
"Why'd you do that!? I was just smelling the line!" Dovewing hissed.
"ShadowClan will attack for any reason, go one whisker over the scent line, and they'll shred you!" Ed growled. "I think I can take them..."
One of them snorted. "What, a puny runt like you? Hah! Don't make me laugh!"
It was quite lucky that Berrynose stopped Ed, who tried to launch himself at the sneering warriors.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' A MIDGET SO TINY HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT FALLING INTO CRACKS INTHE SIDEWALK!? I'LL TEAR OFF YOUR EARS AND STUFF 'EM DOWN YOUR THROAT!"
Berrynose growled. "That's enough, Ed, I'll handle this."
Dovewing stepped in front of both of them. "No, I will." She turned to face the sneering cats.
"We don't want trouble, this is a new apprentice, and he still has much to learn. Please pardon his mistake."
'My mistake?! What did I do? Is smelling a line against the law here? What's up with these cats?!'
One of the toms growled. "I think not! We've had to put up with you thieves for too long! It's time we teach you a lesson!" An elder tom stepped in the way. "Back down, Smokefoot. There's no need for this. I'm doubtful they're trying to invade with an apprentice barely out of the nursery." This seemed to enrage Ed. "What did you say...?" He hissed, dangerously quiet.
"Ed, that's quite enough." Dovewing spoke with authority. "Let's go. I think we've had plenty of excitement here. And we still need to teach you the Warrior Code." She added quietly.
Ed sighed. "Alright, those weaklings aren't worth it anyways."
Several of the opposing cats bristled, and called out more insults, but Ed neither understood them, nor cared. Mouseheart was hardly a good insult. 'I'll have to show them some of mine sometime... Hehe, that'd really blow their minds...'
Ed stepped back into ThunderClan camp exhausted. After Dawn Patrol, Dovewing and Berrynose had insisted that he showed them what he knew about fighting, and after that? Hunting. 'Well, at least I'll get a break now. At this point, I'm hungry enough to eat a mouse...'
He sighed and padded towards the freshkill pile. Staring at the array of small furry creatures in dismay, he picked out the smallest mouse in the pile, and stared at it for a moment, before sighing in a resigned fashion, and taking a bite. 'I guess this isn't too bad...'
He finished the mouse, and glanced around, scanning the camp for Al.
'Where is he?' He padded over to a long-furred grey tabby-tom with bright yellow eyes.
"Hey, have you seen Al?" The long-furred tom turned to him, and meowed. "Yes, actually. He went out on dusk patrol with Ivypool and Cloudtail. By the way, congratulations on making it into ThunderClan." Ed nodded. "Yeah, thanks. What's your name?"
"Greystripe, I'm a ThunderClan elder."
Ed nodded. "Nice to meet you, Greystripe. Do you have any idea when Al will be back?" Greystripe shrugged. "Not sure, it could take awhile. Depending on whether or not they encounter any trouble from ShadowClan. I heard someone," Greystripe paused and stared at Ed, "stirred up some trouble at Dawn Patrol."
Ed scowled, "I don't see what all the fuss is about. All I did was sniff a scent-line..."
Greystripe looked dubious. "That's all? I heard that you tried to shred them."
Ed's scowl grew. "They called me small..."
Greystripe frowned. "But you are small."
Ed proceeded to snarl. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLING SMALL?! I'M NOT SO TINY THAT COMPARED TO ME, AN ANT IS A GIANT! CALL ME SHORT AGAIN AND I'LL DECLAW YOU!"
Greystripe sighed. "Calm down. I didn't mean any offense."
Ed glowered. "Yeah, whatever..." He stormed off without another word.
Whoo! Ed-sized chapter! I feel lame, but I already kept you guys waiting a long time, so... Uh... Yeah. Oh! Should I have any pairings? I'm a little hesitant to bring non-cannon pairings into this, since I know that some pairing deter me from fanfics, but I've decided I've gotta do something. So, suggestions? BTW, I won't be writing Yaoi, I don't believe that it's realistic for feral cats, or, cats in general. Yeah, I know, I'm talking about realism in a cat-book series, but still... Warriors is realistic enough to the point where I won't write that. Sorry =/
Oh, one more thing- any suggestions for where the storyline should go? I have an idea of how I'll end it, but it'll take awhile to get there, and I need some ideas for mini-plots.
Once again, I apologize for the OOCness of Ed and the others. But I am trying, really!
Thanks for reading this far!
~littlesoul7
