An almost silent wind swept across the moor, picking up the soft snow and swirling it around a small group of cats as they walked silently across the once grass plain.
"The RiverClan border is just up ahead." A silver she-cat meowed. The group of cats stalked up to the stream that represented the border between the two clans. A small orange she-cat walked forward towards the stream, watching the water move swiftly as it headed away from the lake. Her head shot up and her ears perked up at a small whimper coming from downstream.
"Swiftbreeze, did you hear that?" The small she-cat asked. Swiftbreeze came to stand by the young cat.
"Yes I did, Foxpaw" She turned back to the dark ginger tom behind her. "Alderheart, we should check it out."
Alderheart nodded to Swiftbreeze. "Lead the way." Foxpaw and Alderheart walked behind Swiftbreeze as she leads them along the stream.
"Can you see him?" Called a small voice.
"No! I don't see him anywhere!" A voice responded in a desperate tone. Two kits came into view. Both were looking at the stream with worried faces.
Foxpaw walked past the two larger cats and slowly approached the two kits. One was a beautiful golden brown she-kit, the other was a gray she-kit with brown paws. The gray kit spotted Foxpaw and squeaked in surprise. The second kit turned and also saw her. Both shrunk back with a fearful look in their eyes. Foxpaw recognized their scent instantly.
"You two are RiverClan, aren't you?" The two kits nodded.
Swiftbreeze walked up beside Foxpaw. "What are you doing so far from your camp?" The kits glanced at each other, still fearful.
"We're not going to hurt you," Foxpaw reassured them. She noticed both kits were shivering. "You two shouldn't be out here. You'll freeze." Foxpaw turned to her mentor, Swiftbreeze. "We need to take them back to RiverClan before they both freeze!" Swiftbreeze nodded. Foxpaw walked up to the kits, who tried to shrink away from her. "Don't worry, you two. We're gonna take you home. What are your names?" The kits gave each other a nervous glance before responding.
"I'm Rainkit and this is my sister, Moonkit." the gray kit meowed softly.
"Hello Rainkit, I'm Foxpaw." Rainkit mewed a soft hello as Foxpaw grabbed her by her scruff. Swiftbreeze picked up Moonkit and the five cats headed for the RiverClan camp.
The scent of RiverClan wafted into Foxpaw's nose. They had not run into a patrol yet so they had headed towards the camp. Foxpaw had never been on another clan's territory so she stuck close to her mentor. She knew that RiverClan wouldn't attack them if they had the kits with them so Foxpaw felt slightly safer, but being in enemy territory had her belly doing flips. Alderheart was ahead of the two she-cats, leading the way to the camp. Foxpaw halted at the sound of a growl coming from behind her. Several RiverClan cats emerged from a few bushes to Foxpaws left. The apprentice hid behind her mentor as the RiverClan cats approached.
"What are you doing on our terri-" The gray tom at the front of the group started.
"Mosswhisker!" Rainkit meowed. The gray tom's ears perked up at the sound of the kits meow. He noticed the small gray kit in Foxpaw's jaws and his eyes grew wide. The apprentice set the kit down in the snow, and it took off running towards the tom. Swiftbreeze set Moonkit down as well and she followed her sister over to the tom. Mosswhisker greeted both kits with a few licks on the head. He turned his attention back to the WindClan patrol.
"Where did you find them?" he asked.
"They were by the stream on our side of the border," Alderheart told the tom.
Rainkit started to prod the gray tom. "Mosswhisker, Dewkit fell in the stream and we couldn't find him!" The kit's meow was desperate.
A brown she-cat stepped past Mosswhisker and gave Rainkit a comforting lick on the head. "Dewkit is back at camp. Poppystar's patrol found him." She reassured the little kit.
Mosswhisker turned to the brown she-cat. "Hollysplash, please take the kits back to camp. Addertail, Silverfeather, and I will escort the WindClan cats back across the border." Hollysplash nodded to Mosswhisker as she let the kits climb on her back. Mosswhisker waits for her to be out of sight before turning back to the patrol.
The RiverClan cats followed the WindClan patrol and watched as they crossed the border. The WindClan cats turned when Mosswhisker yelled Alderheart's name. "Thank you for returning my kits. The whole clan was very worried about them."
"No kit deserves to freeze. It is only right to return them to their rightful clan." Alderheart meowed to the gray RiverClan warrior. Alderheart turned and started toward the WindClan camp with Foxpaw and her mentor in tow. Foxpaw turned her head and saw the RiverClan cats turn and walk away into the tall reeds of the marsh.
Once the patrol saw the tunnel leading into the WindClan camp, Foxpaw ran and dove through the tunnel. Foxpaw saw her siblings all sitting in a circle, prey sitting in front of each apprentice. She bounded over to the apprentices with an excited look on her face. Willowpaw noticed and called her name in a happy tone. Duskpaw and Sweetpaw turned their heads and also greeted their littermate.
"You won't believe what happened on patrol!" Foxpaw meowed excitedly. She sat between Duskpaw and Sweetpaw before laying down.
"What could have been that exciting in the bitter cold?" Duskpaw asked.
Foxpaw looked at her brother before replying. "Well, Alderheart, Swiftbreeze and I were patrolling the RiverClan border when I heard this noise coming from downstream. We went to investigate and we found two RiverClan kits!"
"RiverClan kits? On our territory? How'd they get across the stream?" Willowpaw asked with a tilt of her head.
Foxpaw shook her head. "I have no idea, but we went into RiverClan territory and returned the kits."
"You got to go onto Riverclan territory? Did they attack you?" Sweetpaw asked with wide eyes.
Foxpaw shook her head once more. "Nope! They almost did, but once they saw we were holding Rainkit and Moonkit-"
"The kits told you their names?" Duskpaw interrupted.
Foxpaw nodded. "Yup! The kits were super cute!"
"So wait, you went into the RiverClan camp? What's it like?" Sweetpaw asked with a hint of jealousy in her tone.
"Well, we didn't actually make it that far. The RiverClan patrol saw us before we got to their camp." Foxpaw answered her sister. "I think we got pretty close though."
"Wait, you actually wanted to go to their camp?" Duskpaw asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, why not? It seems pretty cool!" Foxpaw meowed.
"If you say so."
"What's up with you? Why are you so grumpy?"
"Poppywing's making him sort herbs all day again," Sweetpaw replied.
"Yeah, and I want to go out and collect herbs so I can be out of camp for once," Duskpaw said, irritated. "I don't know why she keeps restricting me to camp, but I don't like it!"
"Maybe she'll let you out tomorrow." Foxpaw meowed, trying to cheer her brother up.
"Maybe, but I doubt it." The apprentices finished eating their prey in silence until Swiftbreeze and Pebblewhisker came over to collect their apprentices.
"Pebblewhisker suggested we take the two of you out hunting. With leafbare here, we need more hunting patrols to catch prey." Swiftbreeze meowed to Foxpaw and Willowpaw. The two apprentices quickly got up, excited to go hunting.
"Hey, Foxpaw! Race you out of camp!" Willowpaw said to her sister and took off towards the camp entrance. This caught Foxpaw off guard, but she quickly put on speed and was soon on her sister's tail. "I'm gonna win!" Willowpaw taunted Foxpaw.
"I don't think so!" Foxpaw meowed loudly as she flew past her sister. Foxpaw looked back at her sister and saw their mentors hot on their tails. "Willowpaw, our mentors are right behind you!" Willowpaw looked back, and seeing her mentor behind her she put on a burst of speed, catching up to Foxpaw. The four cats ran another few tail lengths before coming to a sudden halt. All four stood panting for a few minutes.
"That..was fun." Willowpaw meowed between pants.
"Yes, it was, but now we need to focus on hunting. Does either of you remember how to stalk rabbits?" Pebblewhisker asked the two apprentices. Both apprentices nodded and crouched, treading quietly as they each stalked pretend rabbits.
"Very good! Now, let's start hunting." Swiftbreeze praised the apprentices as she and Pebblewhisker started walking again. Foxpaw and Willowpaw followed their mentors, their eyes and ears open for any signs of prey. Willowpaw accidentally rustled a small bush as she walked past it. A small starling flew out from behind the bush, startled. Without hesitating Willowpaw leaped into the air, slashing at the bird. She caught it by the wing and pulled it down, pinning it. The starling squawked a few times, alerting any nearby prey before Willowpaw killed it with a clean bite to the back of its neck.
"Nice catch!" Pebblewhisker praised her apprentice.
"Thanks!" Willowpaw meowed in excitement, happy that she pleased her mentor. She buried the starling to collect it later. The apprentices and their mentors continued walking. Foxpaw scanned the moor, searching for any prey, and spotted a field mouse nibbling on some berries. She crouched down and stalked the mouse, her steps light despite the snow. When she was less than a tail length away from the mouse she pounced, landing on it and killing it.
"Great catch, and you've got that hunter's crouch down pretty well!" Swiftbreeze said to Foxpaw, who was already burying her catch for later.
The four cats returned to camp around sun-high, Foxpaw carrying two mice and a rabbit and Willowpaw carrying her starling and another mouse. "Nice hunting, you four!" Alderheart exclaimed as the two apprentices headed towards the fresh-kill pile with their prey.
"Thanks, but it was all their work," Pebblewhisker meowed, flicking her tail towards Foxpaw and Willowpaw. "They're the ones who caught everything."
"Well then, nice job you two! You're already proving that you're great hunters." Alderheart praised the two apprentices as they returned to their mentors.
"Thanks!" They meowed in unison, both excited at pleasing the deputy.
"Why don't you two go rest for awhile? You've both had a long day." Swiftbreeze suggested to the apprentices. Foxpaw and her sister walked side by side towards the apprentice den. They entered and walked over towards their nests, which were right next to each other. Foxpaw laid down, exhaustion washing over her, and quickly fell asleep.
Foxpaw opened her eyes to see she was sitting in the middle of the moor. The lake in the distance had the bright sun reflecting off of it. A soft breeze ruffled her fur as she watched the snow around her get swirled around in the wind. Foxpaw turned her head at the sound of snow being crunched under a cat's paws. She saw a black and white tom walking across the moor towards her. Foxpaw jumped to her feet at the newcomer, getting ready to defend herself.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Foxpaw." The tom meowed. How does he know my name? Foxpaw thought. The tom came and sat down next to Foxpaw, facing towards the lake. Foxpaw hesitantly sat down beside the strange cat but kept her eye on him.
"Who are you?" Foxpaw finally asked. The black and white cat turned his head towards the apprentice.
"My name is Tallstar."
Foxpaw's eyes widened. "Tallstar? The Tallstar? The one who lead WindClan on the Great Journey?" Foxpaw meowed with wide eyes.
Tallstar purred in amusement. "Yes. That would be me."
Foxpaw jumped to her feet. "That's so cool! Wait. Why are you here? Did I do something wrong? Am I dead?" Foxpaw's ears flattened to her head at the thought of being dead. Is this what it feels like to be in StarClan?
Tallstar shook his head. "You're not dead, and haven't done anything wrong either."
Foxpaw tilted her head in confusion. "Then why are you here?" Foxpaw jumped in surprise as the wind around her picked up, blowing snow everywhere and making it almost impossible to see. "Tallstar? What's happening?" Foxpaw meowed, panicked. Foxpaw could see the lake in the distance, but as she watched the edges of the lake turned a crimson color, spreading across the lake until the whole lake was blood red. Foxpaw looked around, unable to see Tallstar. She called his name several times, to no avail.
Finally, some snow cleared and she could see Tallstar sitting among the snow on the moor, looking at the terrified apprentice. "You need to help save the forest, Foxpaw, otherwise this is what will become of it." Once he finished speaking, he started to fade. Foxpaw started to run towards the fading cat but he was gone by the time she reached him. The snow, once again, blinded her. Her fear was taking over as she called Tallstar's name, begging him to come back.
"Foxpaw!" Foxpaw's eyes snapped open to see Sweetpaw standing over her. Duskpaw and Willowpaw stood behind her, worry consuming their faces. "Foxpaw? Are you ok?" Sweetpaw asked desperately.
Foxpaw looked at her sister. "I-I'm fine. Why?" She finally told her.
"Why?!" Duskpaw meowed in a loud tone. "Foxpaw, you were yowling in your sleep, flailing around like you were drowning, and calling someone's name." Foxpaw looked at her brother in disbelief. I was flailing? Yowling in my sleep? No wonder they look worried.
"I'm fine. It was just a bad dream." Foxpaw told them as she stood up and shook herself. Her littermates didn't look convinced. "Guys, I said I'm fine. Your mentors are probably waiting for you or something." Foxpaw meowed, annoyed. Why can't they just leave me alone?
"Let's go, guys. She said she's fine. If she needs something, she'll tell us." Duskpaw said to his sisters. "Won't you?" Duskpaw meowed, looking to Foxpaw. She nodded in response. One by one, each apprentice left, leaving Foxpaw alone in her nest. She couldn't get her dream out of her head. What did Tallstar mean by 'help save the forest'? She decided to ask Poppywing and headed out of the apprentice den over to the medicine cat den. She found Duskpaw sorting herbs and behind him, Poppywing was pulling a thorn out of Mintfoot's paw. Poppywing pulled the thorn out and sent Mintfoot on her way. Mintfoot greeted Foxpaw as she exited the den, catching Duskpaw's and Poppywing's attention.
"Hi, Foxpaw. Can I help you with anything?" Poppywing asked, her soft meow calming Foxpaw slightly.
"Ye-yeah. I had a dream earlier and…" She sent a nervous glance towards Duskpaw who nodded to her and walked out of the den. She mouthed a thank you to him as he passed. Once he was out of the den, Foxpaw continued. "The dream felt really real. I know some dreams are, but a cat named Tallstar came to me and told me to 'help save the forest'. I don't know what he meant." Poppywing looked puzzled.
"That's interesting. Was he a black and white tom?" Foxpaw nodded.
"Yes. He said he was the one who made the Great Journey. But why would he come to me? I've been an apprentice not even a moon!" Foxpaw exclaimed
"StarClan has chosen apprentices before for prophecies," Poppywing told her. Foxpaw's eyes grew wide.
"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Foxpaw asked, feeling slightly scared. Why would StarClan choose me for a prophecy?
Poppywing gave the nervous apprentice a warm look. "It's nothing to be afraid of." She comforted the apprentice. "Was that all that happened?"
"No. We were sitting on the moor, and the lake turned a crimson red, almost like blood, and the wind blew snow all around us." Foxpaw meowed to the medicine cat.
"Hmmm, let me think for a while and I'll tell you if I figure anything out. In the meantime, try not to worry too much." Poppywing meowed. "You can come back in now, Duskpaw!" She meowed to her apprentice, who came in a few moments later.
"Hey, is everything ok?" Duskpaw asked his sister as she walked by, a concerned look on his face.
"Yeah, I'll tell you later," Foxpaw whispered to her brother and headed out of the medicine cat den. She found her mentor and walked over to her.
"Hi, Foxpaw! What can I do for you?" Swiftbreeze greeted her apprentice.
"I was just wondering if we could go hunting again, or maybe do battle training," Foxpaw asked her mentor eagerly.
"Not today Foxpaw. You've done a lot of work already."
"Ok." Foxpaw meowed, disappointed.
Seeing her apprentice's disappointed look, Swiftbreeze meowed, "Maybe we can do battle training with Willowpaw and Sweetpaw tomorrow."
"Sure!" Said Foxpaw, her spirits raised. She walked away from her mentor and ran right into her Duskpaw, who was heading towards the camp entrance.
"Hey! Watch it! Oh, it's you, Foxpaw." Duskpaw said, taking a minute to recognize his sister.
"Sorry, Duskpaw. Where are you going? Is Poppywing letting you out of camp?"
"Yeah. She finally said I can go collect herbs, but only the ones I'm sure I know. Wanna come with?" Duskpaw asked his littermate.
"Sure! Just let me make sure it's ok with Swiftbreeze." Foxpaw meowed to him.
"You two can go ahead. Just be careful!" Swiftbreeze meowed, obviously having overheard their conversation.
"Thanks, Swiftbreeze!" Foxpaw meowed as she and Duskpaw walked towards the camp entrance. They walked across the moor in silence for a few minutes, Duskpaw looking around for any familiar herbs. Finally, he turned to Foxpaw.
"What's going on? What were you and Poppywing discussing earlier?" He meowed, curious.
"Just about that bad dream. I was hoping she could give me something to help me sleep better." She lied to him, thinking that she shouldn't tell him the truth yet, if at all.
"Oh, ok. Are you sure that's it?" Duskpaw asked, looking concerned again.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Foxpaw meowed, hoping her story was convincing enough.
"Ok. If anything's wrong you can tell me." Duskpaw meowed.
"Ok. Thanks." Foxpaw meowed and looked forward again.
Foxpaw followed behind Duskpaw with a mouth full of several herbs wrapped in a leaf towards the medicine cat den. She set the herbs down as Duskpaw did the same with his bundle. Poppywing walked over to them and inspected the herbs laying at their paws.
"Great job, Duskpaw! You did a really good job." She turned to Foxpaw with a grateful look. "Thank you for helping him, Foxpaw."
"You're welcome, Poppywing," Foxpaw told her before she motioned to her to leave. She nodded her head and started towards the apprentice den. Willowpaw and Sweetpaw were sitting in front of the den, both rambling on about something that had happened when she went with Duskpaw.
"Hey, Foxpaw! How was your little adventure with Duskpaw?" Willowpaw asked.
Foxpaw went and sat between her sisters. "It was actually kind of fun. All the snow makes the moor really pretty. All of it was shimmering in the sun. Duskpaw had to pull me out of my own head." Foxpaw meowed.
Sweetpaw playfully nudged Foxpaw. "That's not news, you getting lost in your own head is normal."
"It is, is it?" Foxpaw meowed tauntingly.
Sweetpaw nodded. "Yup. All the time. Your head is always in the clouds." Willowpaw purred in amusement at Sweetpaw's remark.
"Don't make me claw your ears off too, Willowpaw." Foxpaw turned to Willowpaw annoyed. Willowpaw just scooted backward slightly. Foxpaw turned back to Sweetpaw.
"You know, for having the name Sweetpaw, you aren't always so sweet." Foxpaw taunted.
"Well, your name fits you just fine, Foxpaw." Sweetpaw shot back.
"What's going on over here?" All three apprentices turn to see Swiftbreeze.
"Nothing, Swiftbreeze. Sweetpaw is just getting some good talking to from Foxpaw." Willowpaw reports calmly.
"Willowpaw!" Sweetpaw yowled. Willowpaw just sat contently as Sweetpaw very noticeably became embarrassed. Foxpaw clamped her jaw shut to keep from yowling in laughter. It looked as if Swiftbreeze was doing the same.
"You four enjoying yourselves?" Foxpaw turned to see a brown tabby tom walking toward the small group of cats.
"We are indeed, Crowstar." Swiftbreeze meowed to him.
Crowstar nodded then turned his attention to the apprentices. "Foxpaw, can I speak with you for a moment?" Foxpaw slowly nodded and followed her leader over to the tallrock where Crowstar sat down. "Poppywing told me that you had a vision from StarClan. Can you tell what it was about?"
Foxpaw nodded before telling him what happened in her vision.
"The lake turned red?" Crowstar's eyes widened slightly.
Foxpaw nodded. "Yes. And I think I, um, smelled blood." She said, trying not to look frightened. Crowstar must have noticed because he placed the tip of his tail on her shoulder.
"Don't be scared, Foxpaw. It's in the paws of StarClan."
Foxpaw looked at her leader with a grateful gaze. "Thank you, Crowstar."
Snowcloud-Oh look! It's chapter 2!
Pinedust- It only took an eternity!
Snowcloud- OH SHUT UP, PINEDUST!
Pinedust- What? I'm only pointing out a fact!
Snowcloud- A fact I already knew and didn't need reminding of!
Pinedust- I'm pretty sure you needed to be reminded.
Snowcloud- I'm gonna end this here so I can go claw Pinedust's ears off. SNOWCLOUD OUT! (attacks Pinedust as the screen goes black)