Here's chapter three, by ScarFlower (thanks again). This story is going to be awesome!
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Firefall awoke in the warriors' den to the frequent sounds of birdsong.
New-leaf was finally starting to break through. The forest was starting to bloom and prey was becoming plentiful once again.
Next to her was her mate, Owlflight. He was sleeping so peacefully...she bent forward and licked his ear. Firefall stayed awake for a while pondering the events of the previous seasons. Darkfang and Ghostface gone. Twilightpaw kidnapped by ShadowClan, and the deaths... oh so many deaths, she thought. Whitecough had spread through the clan in leaf-bare, and they had suffered much, but through darkness comes light. ThunderClan had two new
queens, new kits and apprentices.
After a while lying in the den, Firefall sat up, gave her ginger fur a quick lick and went out into the clearing. Ravenfeather was sharing tongues with her mate, Grayfang, near the fresh-kill pile. She padded up to them. Firefall needed some distraction from what had happened all those moons ago, and she hoped a talk with her cousin would light up her day.
"Hi, Firefall!" Ravenfeather said cheerfully. Her expression changed drastically when she saw the hurt look on her friend's face. "Firefall, what's wrong?" she questioned quietly.
"I was just thinking about some stuff," Firefall said absentmindedly.
"Are you still down about all those events that happened...I don't know...quite some time ago?" Ravenfeather told her friend. Firefall could tell she was worried about her, but somewhere in those eyes was a glint of amusement.
"Ravenfeather I-" She stopped when she saw her mate padding towards her.
"Hello, Owlflight." Firefall touched her nose to his.
"How about I get you some fresh-kill?" He suggested quietly, nodding to Ravenfeather and Grayfang.
"I'll join you. She-cats and their she-cat talk. Always so emotional," Grayfang joked. Ravenfeather growled good-naturedly, softly cuffing him over the head. Both toms padded to the fresh-kill pile to grab something to eat.
"As I was saying, I just can't seem to forget about it." Firefall was quiet for a moment, waiting for an answer from her cousin.
After a while Ravenfeather finally answered. "Now, point number one: we know that Windfoot loves Twilightpaw so there is only a slight chance of anything awful happening to her. Second of all, stop worrying for StarClan's sake!" She meowed, reassuring her friend.
Firefall was always amazed by how much Ravenfeather had changed. Ever since their warrior ceremony about a moon ago, she had been nothing but a happy bundle of fur. She was now a beautiful warrior with a great mate. Nothing Ravenfeather's father had ever said about his kits could top that.
"You're right Ravenfeather. How about I ask Redstorm if we can go out hunting in a
bit?" Firefall was really proud that her father was deputy of the clan now, although somehow she missed seeing her grandmother striding around the camp giving out orders. She visited her grandmother frequently in the elders' den, where she also often found Sunblaze.
Firefall padded across the clearing to where her father was sharing tongues with Ratwhisker, her mother. Firefall touched noses with her parents swiftly, instantly jumping to the question.
"Redstorm, me and Ravenfeather are going hunting," Firefall said in a very high-pitched voice. She stopped abruptly when she realized her parents were looking at her like she had just turned into a winged hedgehog. She cleared her voice and started again, feeling her ears grow red with embarrassment. "What I meant was," she said more slowly, "Ravenfeather and I are going hunting. Should we take anyone else?"
"Firefall, you're a warrior now and you still behave like a three-moons-old kit." Ratwhisker scowled at her playfully, giving her daughter a lick between her ears.
"Yes, you can take an another warrior," Redstorm meowed to Firefall.
She bid her parents a quick goodbye before padding off to find Ravenfeather. The black she cat was standing at the edge of the camp with Waterwhisker. Firefall yowled a greeting to her brother and ran out of the camp just to the edge of the wall. The other warriors came up after her in just a few heartbeats.
"How about we hunt near the ShadowClan border? If were lucky we might be able to catch a patrol and ask them about Twilightpaw," Firefall told them.
"Sounds fine to me," her brother meowed.
They padded swiftly through the forest, stopping to catch the occasional prey that they stumbled upon. As the three warriors neared the border they halted and spread out. Firefall went closest to the invisible line, occasionally casting a nervous glance at the dark pine forest. At sunhigh she had caught three mice and a sparrow, and she began to pad back to their meeting place, but instead of going there directly she went to the border to see if the ShadowClan scent was recent. It wasn't, but she could smell something else, something that was all too familiar. Darkfang.
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Dun dun dun….