Hope you enjoyed the last 2 chapters and we bet you will love this one as well!
Chapter 3
"So, how was the patrol? Has SunClan crossed the border?" Spottedpaw asked Quietpaw dully. She knew what her answer was going to be. Quietpaw shook her head, her mouth full with vole. It was hard to make conversation with either of her friends since their dispute. Spottedpaw took a bite of the mouse in front of her, its taste filling her mouth. She closed her eyes, just letting the sun soak into her pelt for a few moments. The warmth was so loving. It cared for her when no one else could. Spottedpaw opened her eyes at the light sound of paw steps coming toward her. Blackpaw had a thrush in his jaws, his black pelt glowing against the dull tone of camp. Spottedpaw smiled. She hoped he was in the mood to talk…even argue… something! She wasn't used to this bland way of life, and she was sick of it. Blackpaw obliviously didn't feel the same way. He sat lazily next to Quietpaw without a word, eyeing Spottedpaw, as if she were about to protest. The three apprentices just sat there, eating silently. The camp itself seemed extremely quiet today. More than half the clan was out hunting, patrolling, or training, and the remaining few were keeping to themselves. Suddenly, Spottedpaw realized she didn't mind. She didn't mind the peace and quiet. She closed her eyes once again, and let the sun soak her into its depths. She sighed, longingly, and breathed in the sweet air. She slowly and uncautiosly fell asleep.
Waking up, her paws felt sore. The air was humid and heavy, and silverpelt was clear in the dark spongy sky. Spottedpaw sat up and groomed herself. A light breeze ruffled her fur, calling her in a wispy voice. She stretched, her paws feeling heavy, and she got the sensation she was being watched. Spottedpaw, felling uneasy, walked into the night, and peered up at Eaglestar's den.
He must be inside. She thought, as Eaglestar was nowhere in sight. A little less shaken, she approached the apprentice's den, waiting to curl up in her moss and just sleep, not caring what dreams she had. She was tired and longed to curl up in her moss bedding and close her eyes. She walked; half stumbled to the entrance of the den. Her fur bristled and she gasped. Blackpaw was standing at the entrance eyeing her suspiciously.
"We need to talk." He said coolly, and flicked his tail in a quick motion.
"You scared me!" Spottedpaw said, with a sigh of relief. "I thought you were an invader, ready to attack! You really shouldn't stand there like that!" She said with a mrow of laughter. Blackpaw sighed, clearly annoyed.
"So much for dramatic effect." He mumbled under his breath.
'But anyways, you wanted to tell me something?" Spottedpaw tilted her head for him to continue.
"Ehmm…yah." Blackpaw said, half mumbling. "It's important."
"Mhm," Spottedpaw's crisp brown eyes drove Blackpaw on. "Continue."
"Well, yesterday, or was it the other day?" Blackpaw started, and then trailed off. "Well anyways, either way, Leaftail told me to do elders' duties. So when I went over to Hazlefur who had a humongous, icky, tick on her shoulder. So-"
"Blackpaw, where are you going with this?" Spottedpaw interrupted, tilting her head drowsily. Blackpaw looked confused, and then his eyes lit up in understanding.
"Oh," He said, "to the point. I went to get some mouse bile for the tick, and I sort of...sort of...Overheard…" He trailed off, yet again. Spottedpaw cocked her head to one side.
Her eyes bulged, "You eavesdropped! I can't believe you!" She yelped. Smallpaw lifted her head from inside the apprentice's den, but Spottedpaw didn't care.
"NO!!" Blackpaw said shakily, closing his eyes and shaking his head, "No, no, no." Spottedpaw bared her teeth.
"Stay away from me!" She said, and a heavy tear rolled down her cheek. Blackpaw took a step back.
"I-I-"He gulped. A giant knot was forming in his stomach. "I wanna help you. I know this is tough for you." Blackpaw shivered in the cold wind.
"You don't know anything! You and Quietpaw both!!" Spottedpaw spat. "You two say you wanna help, but you can't do anything to stop Eaglestar!" Her tense body stood hard, rigid, and un-moving against her solid dirt surroundings. Her fur shook at the howling wind, she sobbed. She was ready to start bawling her eyes out. Blackpaw took a step closer to Spottedpaw, and for a few heartbeats they were nuzzled close together. After a moment, Spottedpaw pulled away. "I'm sorry." She spoke, sighing. "I just…" But Blackpaw held his tail against her lips and shook his head.
Spottedpaw woke up to the rustling of the trees and the scurrying of prey. She opened her eyes, finding the den empty. With her mentor being deathly ill, she hadn't had much to do. Eaglestar refused to provide Spottedpaw with a new mentor, saying that Bramblestripe should be better in a matter of a few days. She tried to be useful around camp and go hunting as much as possible, but still she found herself bored most of the time, sitting around like a lump, not needed. She got out of the den and stretched. She spotted Quietpaw across camp eating a mouse next to Smallpaw. She trotted up to them. Smallpaw looked down at her paws, avoiding Spottedpaw's eyes. Spottedpaw brushed off that fact, and looked at Quietpaw sternly, but didn't say anything.
"What?" Quietpaw asked, finishing her mouse. Finding it her quo to leave, Smallpaw dipped her head goodbye to Quietpaw and slipped away. Spottedpaw watched Smallpaw until she was out of earshot.
"I just want to tell you that I trust you." Spotted approached her thoughts, bravely. "I'm real sorry I've been a lousy mouse-brain lately, but I've had a lot on my mind." She looked down at her paws. "I just want everything to be normal again…" Her eyes glistened.
"I do, too." Quietpaw agreed, and stood up straight, "Why don't we go out, so we can talk, you know, privately?"
Spotted paw nodded, "I'll grab Blackpaw, so we can all go." Noticing Quietpaw surprised expression, she added, "He found out." Before Quietpaw could ask any other question, Spottedpaw trotted away to find Blackpaw. He just finished replacing the moss in the elders' den. Spottedpaw walked up to him. He glanced up and smiled at her. "We're gonna go on a walk." She pointed back at Quietpaw with her tail. "You wanna come?"
"Sure." Blackpaw said cheerfully. With bounce his step he followed Spottedpaw back to Quietpaw. The three of them walked through the thorn barrier, and made their way toward the heart of LightningClan. They sat down in a semi circle.
"Look," Spottedpaw said breaking the silence, "We have to figure out what to do."
"We'll just lay a little force on Eaglestar." Blackpaw offered, unsheathing his claws. "We can drive him out."
"But you know that Greyclaw said that wasn't such a good idea." Spottedpaw reminded him. Blackpaw shrugged.
"So what? Does it matter? He's just an old wrinkled tom. He doesn't know what he's talking about. The things he says are usually mouse-brained ideas, anyway."
Spottedpaw narrowed her eyes, "Blackpaw, if you wanna trust anyone, trust Greyclaw. He knows Eaglestar the best. Remember, they are kin, after all. " She exclaimed crossly. Blackpaw scrunched up his face in disagreement, but didn't say anything more.
"What else did Greyclaw say?" Quietpaw questioned, after giving Blackpaw an annoyed look.
"Well, he said we should just let Eaglestar die normally, and let everything else go down the way it should." Spotted replied, her eyes showing frustration.
"Why not drive him out?" Quietpaw questioned further, a quizzical look on her face.
"Greyclaw said that if we try to do anything, there will be a battle and insist cats will die." Both Quietpaw and Blackpaw looked at each other, in annoyance.
"Look, I've been meaning to tell you guys something." Spottedpaw said glumly, looking frustrated, and looked down at her paws.
"And what's that?" Blackpaw asked, swatting at a moth with his paw.
"I've been having these dreams lately…" Spottedpaw said, thinking about how she was going to word what she was about to say.
"Dreams?" Blackpaw stopped swatting at the bug instantly and stared intently into Spottedpaw's round, scared, yet still loving brown eyes. "What kind of dreams?"
"Well…" Spottedpaw continued, "I think they're messages from Starclan."
Quietpaw gaped at Spottedpaw, "Messages from Starclan?! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Spottedpaw looked back down at the ground, staring intently at the dirt, like a piece of fresh kill was going to pop up out of nowhere. "
"I dunno."
"It doesn't matter!" Blackpaw interrupted, eyeing Quietpaw, and then looked back at Spottedpaw. "Just tell us what kind of dreams they were, so we might have an idea about what we're up against!"
Spottedpaw explained to her friends the dreams she had, and how each time the same starry warrior warned her of blood to come, and a choice she must bravely make. After she finished, she stared up into the clear blue sky. A leaf fell from a tree, and floated slowly downward, swaying in the air, landing next to Quietpaw's tail. Leafbare was coming.
Spottedpaw stepped across the dry, cold, ground of camp. The weather was getting colder and still, Bramblestripe was ill. He she decided to see him in the Medicine Cat's den. As she reached the grey rock, in which Greyclaw dwelled, and treated cats, she paused. Something was wrong. She sniffed the air, her mouth open to detect any stray scent. Everything seemed normal, yet the air hung heavy, and the shadows were darker than normal. Worried, Spottedpaw pushed pass the moss entrance, and adjusted her eyes to the gloom. Inside, no cats stood, beside her. "Greyclaw?" Spottedpaw called into the den. The only response was her own voice, echoing across the rock and through the room. "Hm…" Spottedpaw wondered aloud, "Where is everyone?" For the past half moon since her friends' adventure, the medicine cat's den had been filled with commotion. Greyclaw was huffing about with the three clueless rouges and the moans of other sick cats, as well. She'd never seen it so empty before. She took a few strides in, and looked around. The den looked a lot larger when there were no cats inside. Bored with her new discovery, she put the thought in the back of her mind, and exited the den. She searched the camp for her father. I wish I could show him what I'm really made of! She thought, growling. In the mid of her thoughts, she didn't realize Smallpaw jogging in front of her. The two she-cats barreled into each other, knocking themselves to the ground.
"Sorry Smallpaw!" Spottedpaw exclaimed, shaking her head, as if to bring herself back to reality.
"N-no problem…" The murky black she-cat replied. She stood back up on her white legs, and began to trot away.
"Wait!" Spottedpaw called after her. Smallpaw spun around, her white muzzle catching a wad of sunlight. Spottedpaw walked up to her. "I was wondering if Greyclaw has talked to you yet…"
"Uh…He's supposed to talk to me?"
Woops…Maybe he wasn't going to take my advice about asking Smallpaw to be his apprentice, after all.
"Oh-uh…Never mind…" Spottedpaw said, looking dully at the dirt under paw.
"No, really, what was he supposed to talk to me about?" Her blue eyes seemed to light up with excitement.
"Um…I can't tell you just yet, but can you do me a favor and let me know if he talks to you?" Smallpaw looked confused, and the two apprentices sat awkwardly for what seemed like a moon. Eventually, Smallpaw nodded and trotted away.
Spottedpaw looked around camp. Grassheart was eating a plump mouse as Shiverkit frolicked around her. He would be an apprentice in one moon. He seemed young for his age, but he was surprisingly three moons old, and time was going by fast for Grassheart who hated to see her kit grow up so quickly. She had already lost Blackpaw, her other kit from a previous litter, to the apprentices' den. Willowstep, the most beautiful warrior, was just sleeping outside of the warriors den. She was somewhat muscular and had semi-long brown wispy fur. She had the most gorgeous hazel eyes, sparkling in the sun light. She was a pretty young warrior who didn't have a mate yet, though there were quite a few toms chasing after her tail, and staring at her longingly at her now and again. To the entrance of the apprentice den, Smallpaw and her brother Hawkpaw were sharing a rabbit. The blue-gray tom was quite a good-looking apprentice with cool green eyes. Spottedpaw was fidgeting over how his eyes were such deep pools of green swirls that shone with every smile or laugh, that she didn't realize he was staring right back at her. Realizing this, her face turned instantly hot with embarrassment and she immediately looked away. Nearing the entrance of the camp, she eyed Leaftail and Mudpelt sharing tongues. Leaftail looked almost exactly like her daughter Quietpaw, except the tips of her ears and tail were a light shade of gray. The two she-cats were both small and pearly white with blue-green eyes. Leaftail's mate, Mudpelt, on the other hand, was a big, dark brown tom with a muscular build. Quietpaw obviously didn't have any of her father's traits. Spottedpaw looked into the murky depths of the clouds overhead. The camp was quite peaceful and dreamy on a day like today. Rustling at the thorn barrier woke Spottedpaw of her reverie. The sun-high patrol appeared in camp. Flamepelt strolled in boldly. She was a firey orange senior warrior who had a lot of respect throughout the clan, and also Bramblestripe's mate, along with being Quietpaw's mentor. Following Flamepelt was Dirtpelt, a lean brown tom, and Bluefern a sly blue-gray she-cat with hazel eyes. Rockstorm appeared a few heartbeats later, his muscular grey flank heaving, like he'd just returned from running around their entire territory. By now, everyone in camp was staring at the new arrivals.
"SunClan has crossed the border!" Dirtpelt yelped loudly enough for all to hear. Gasps erupted from the clan, and then following were furious hisses.
"Those wimps of a clan!" Spottedpaw heard Mudpelt hiss.
"They can't not have enough prey! Their territory is loaded!" Patchheart spat. Spottedpaw pulled her ears back in aggravation.
Soon we won't have enough prey with Leafbare coming! SunClan can't steal our fresh kill!
Soon Eaglestar walked upon Highstone, a small plateau of rocks with a small cave at the top, which was Eaglestar's den. His muscular shoulders went up and down as he calmly strolled toward the edge of the rocky structure. The sight of their leader, hushed the cats, and they gazed up at him with awe.
"He doesn't deserve their worship!" Spottedpaw said under her breath, her fur ruffling with annoyance.
"What was that?" Spottedpaw looked up to see Bluefern hovering over her. Her hazel eyes were glowing with interest. She was almost a senior warrior, but, she still looked like she just left the apprentice's den. Spottedpaw always looked up to her. Her fun personality, pretty appearance, and loyalty to her clan had always stunned Spottedpaw with amazement. Now though, she wished Bluefern had worse hearing, so she didn't pick up that last comment.
Spottedpaw shuffled her paws uneasily, "Oh nothing." She finally said and ducked away, edging closer toward Highstone, to hear what her father was saying. Even though her fur was burning with the urge to claw his eyes out, he was still leader, and to follow the warrior code, his word was law…for now.
"-that means more border patrols." Eaglestar was saying, "So, Bramblestripe will assign you the patrols." Eaglestar finished, and with that, the so-called, 'noble', clan leader, walked back into his den. The Clan was shocked at Eaglestar's words, "Bramblestripe will assign the patrols".
Wasn't Bramblestripe deathly ill? Spottedpaw's mind drifted with this thought. I never did see Bramblestripe when I looked into the medicine cat's den…maybe he had a miraculous recovery? Spottedpaw shrugged. For all she knew, Bramblestripe was out hunting, healthy and strong. Her eyes lit up. Maybe I'll have my mentor back! Her happy mood grew at the prospect of being able to pick up her apprentice duties. She smiled.
"Why so happy?" An unfamiliar voice shook her thoughts away, and she looked up to see Hawkpaw's green eyes.
"Oh…Nothing." Spottedpaw smiled politely, but she really she wondered why this older apprentice was talking to her. They never grew close enough to be friends, and she barely ever heard him speak. He smiled at her, happily and they sat there facing each other for a moment. Hawkpaw didn't seem to mind the silence, but Spottedpaw found it quite awkward. She realized how hungry she was, and her stomach grumbled, as if agreeing with her.
"Hungry?" Hawkpaw said with a mrow of laughter.
Spottedpaw couldn't help but join in his amusement, "Yes," she said with a smile, "I better be getting to fresh-kill."
"Alright," Hawkpaw said, almost said to see her go, "I'll see you later then…?" He said hopefully.
Spottedpaw nodded, and shot over to the fresh-kill pile. She was glad to get away from the older gray apprentice. He was nice enough, but not someone like Quietpaw or Blackpaw, who she could easily be friends with. She took a plump thrush from the top of the pile and lay just outside the apprentices' den. Soon, back from hunting, Quietpaw approached her friend, with a small yet delicious looking mouse. "You missed a lot." Spottedpaw said to Quietpaw, swallowing a bite of thrush.
"Oh, yeah?" Quietpaw said, lying next to Spottedpaw. She dropped the mouse in front of her white paws. "Like what?"
"Well, SunClan invaded our territory." Spottedpaw informed her.
Quietpaw's eyes lit up with shock, and her mouth hung open, "Really!?"
Spottedpaw nodded, "Oh, and Eaglestar said Bramblestripe was going to assign the patrols."
"But he's still sick!" Quietpaw exclaimed, puzzled.
Spottedpaw shrugged. She opened her mouth to tell Quietpaw about Hawkpaw, but closed it again. Quietpaw might take it the wrong way… Hawkpaw doesn't love me… If anything, he's just acting strange. She thought to herself. He can't love me. I'm betting he just ate a piece of bad fresh-kill. She pushed her thoughts away.
Spottedpaw awoke to a paw prodding her awake. She yawned and opened her eyes half-heartedly. A pair of loving blue eyes met her gaze. Greyclaw? Spottedpaw stood up to face the gray medicine cat, but instead of seeing the friendly wrinkled tom, Eaglestar's muscular build was standing heavy against her moss bedding. "E-Eaglestar!?" Spottedpaw yowled in alarm, and jumped a fox-tail length backwards.
"Surprised to see me?" Eaglestar said with a mrow of laughter.
He doesn't know that I know his secret… Spottedpaw nodded with a false smile, "Sorry about that." Eaglestar put his muzzle on top of her head in a loving gesture. Wincing at the thought of what he had done, Spottedpaw was uneasy, but she let him nuzzle up close to her.
"I have some terrible news, Spottedpaw," He said with a hint of satisfaction, "Bramblestripe has died." For a moment, his eyes seemed to turn from loving, pools of blue, to evil, unforgiving ice-blocks, ready to burst.
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