Shimmering snow covered the ground like a white blanket. The sun bounced off the snow sitting on the leaves of the forest trees. The snow suddenly was kicked up into a white cloud as a small tortoiseshell she-cat ran at full speed through the frozen forest. The she-cat didn't stop or slow down as she jumped over snow-covered logs and branches. Jumping and weaving around bushes, the she-cat finally reached her destination and slowed down but didn't stop as she squeezed through the small camp entrance.
"Icestar! Rogues attacked our patrol! They're outnumbered!" The small she-cat yowled. The pure white leader turned to the she-cat.
"Swifttail, Nutfoot, Frozenshadow, Petalnose, Darkpelt, Lilypaw and Rockpaw, are with me. Pinepaw, show us the way." The apprentice nodded as she led the cats to her battling clan mates. It didn't take long before the battling cats came into view. Icestar let out a loud cry as she raced down the slope with her clanmates. Without slowing down, Pinepaw jumped right back into the battle. She ran over to her mentor, Hawktail, and pulled a rogue off of his back, throwing it to the ground. The rogue got up again and lunged towards her. At the last second, Pinepaw jumped out of the way, quickly spinning around and pouncing on the rogue. She dug her claws into his back and he yowled in pain as he tried to shake her off. She bit down on the back of the rogues neck causing him to, once again, yowl in pain. He threw Pinepaw off of his back and turned to pounce at her, but before he could, a blur of black knocked into the rogue, sending it tumbling away. The rogue, instead of attacking again, ran into the brush. Pinepaw looked around to see the other rogues fleeing as well. Then she saw it. Graystream was laying on her side, a puddle forming around the gray she-cat.
"Graystream!" Pinepaw yelled as she ran over to the unmoving warrior. This caught the attention of the rest of her clanmates who rushed over to their fallen friend. Pinepaw nudged her lightly as everyone gathered around her. Pinepaw looked up at her mentor. "Is she-" Her mentor came over to stand beside his apprentice.
"She's dead." Pinepaw's eyes grew wide. She looked over to Darkpelt who had a horrified look on his face. He walked over to his mate and laid down next to her.
"No, no, no no…" He looked at his mate with sad eyes. He was trembling. Icestar walked over to where Darkpelt lay and sat next to him.
"She walks with StarClan now." Icestar meows in a saddened tone. Darkpelt looked up at his leader.
"They killed her. They killed them." Darkpelt said with a heartbroken meow. Icestar stared at him, confused.
"Who is them?" Pinepaw asked cautiously. Darkpelt glanced at the tortoiseshell apprentice. His eyes were filled with both anger and sadness.
"She was carrying my kits." A shocked look spread around the group.
"If she was carrying kits, why was she out here?" Icestar asked, still surprised. Darkpelt looked back at his unmoving mate.
"She just found out this morning. She didn't want to tell anyone yet so when she was called for patrol, she went." He looked back at Icestar. "I shouldn't of let her go! I should have told her to stay! She didn't have to die!"
"Darkpelt, you knew better than anyone that she was stubborn. She would have gone on the patrol whether you wanted her to or not." Icestar sounded like she was talking to a small kit. Her tone was soft like a mother. Then Pinepaw remembered that Icestar once had kits. Both kits froze in the bitter cold of the winter many moons before Pinepaw was even born. Icestar's gentle voice brought Pinepaw back to the present.
"Nutfoot, Swifttail, please carefully carry Graystream back to camp. We will grieve for her there." The two warriors nodded to their leader and carefully picked up their dead clanmate. They carried her almost the way back to camp behind Icestar and Pinepaw, who was walking beside her. Petalnose was behind Nutfoot and Swifttail, helping Darkpelt who was still grieving over his mate.
When they reached the camp entrance, Icestar entered first, followed by Pinepaw and the warriors carrying her clanmate. Cinderpool quickly ran over to the group of cats.
"Is anyone hurt?" she meowed. Right as she finished speaking, Nutfoot and Swifttail came into view of the young medicine cat. "Graystream!" The medicine cat meowed as she ran over to her. Nuttail and Swifttail gently laid the gray warrior on the ground.
Cats from all over camp started to walk over, wondering what the all the commotion was about. One by one, each cat in the camp realized what was going on. Nightfog pushed his way through the cats to reach the middle. His face fell when he saw who it was lying motionless on the snowy ground. The black warrior slowly approached his unmoving mother. Cinderpool looked over at her brother as he approached.
"What happened to her?"
Icestar stepped towards the warrior. His midnight blue eyes met hers. "She died protecting her clan. She was a loyal warrior. She walks with StarClan now, and she will watch over you and all of us." Icestar meowed in a soft tone. She turned to Nutfoot and Swifttail. "Bring Graystream to the middle of camp so we all can grieve together." The warriors nodded, but before they could move her, Nightfog spoke.
"Can I help move her?"
Nutfoot nodded and stepped away from the gray she-cat. The black cat helped carry his mother to the center of the clearing. Pinepaw followed behind them with her head hanging. She had been close with Graystream.
Suddenly, several cats came through the camp entrance. Pinepaw guessed it was the hunting patrol seeing that they all held prey in their jaws. Softpaw appeared from behind Stonepelt, and when she saw who was lying motionless on the ground, the prey dropped from her mouth onto the snow covered ground.
The dark brown apprentice walked slowly over to her dead mentor. Her eyes were wide in confusion and sadness. She sat down next to her mentor but turned back to the rest of the cats behind her.
"Wh-what happened to her?" she mewed. You could hear the sadness in her voice. Pinepaw walked over to her and sat down next to her.
"The patrol was attacked by a band of rogues. They outnumbered us. She…" Pinepaw couldn't bring herself to tell her sister how exactly her mentor died.
Softpaw laid down next to Graystream and pressed her nose into the gray warrior's fur. Cats all around Pinepaw started to come up to Graystream as she laid next to her sister.
Pinepaw laid there for awhile before getting up and quietly walking to the apprentice den. Most cats had already gone back to their dens, but Darkpelt, Nightfog, Cinderpool, and Softpaw were still laying next to Graystream when Pinepaw got up. Softpaw soon followed her sister to the apprentice den, careful not to step on the other apprentices, and laid next to her.
"Who's gonna train me now?" Softpaw mewed softly. Pinepaw looked over at her sister.
"Icestar will probably announce your new mentor tomorrow," Pinepaw told her. She looked sadly at her sister.
"But I wanted Graystream to train me!"
"She wouldn't have been able to train you anyway." Softpaw tilted her head in confusion. Pinepaw realized her sister didn't know Graystream was carrying kits.
"Why wouldn't Graystream been able to train her?" It was Lilypaw white spoke. Pinepaw looked over at Lilypaw, then back at her sister and sighed.
"Graystream… She was expecting kits." Pinepaw mewed sadly. Rockpaw's head shot up and his surprised face matched Lilypaw's and Softpaw's expressions.
"She was expecting kits? When did she find out? Why did she on patrol? Wh-" Pinepaw interrupted Softpaw before she could continue.
"She found out this morning. She went on patrol because no one knew, and she didn't want to tell anyone yet. And you should know, Graystream would never say no to being on a patrol or a hunting party." Pinepaw explained. Softpaw nodded slowly in agreement.
"She always loved being out in the forest." Softpaw mewed in no more than a whisper as she laid her head on her paws. The other apprentices also put their heads on their paws and closed their eyes. Pinepaw glanced around at the apprentices before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Pinepaw opened her eyes to see she was sitting on the very edge of the forest. Pure white snow covered the ground and the trees beside Pinepaw. The lake was shimmering in the sunlight making it almost blinding to look at. Pinepaw stood and enjoyed the view of the beautiful scenery before her, ignore the itching question of how she got there. She turned her head at the sound of paw steps behind her. An orange tom came to sit beside her. His pelt looked like it could be on fire as the wind ruffled his fur. Neither of them spoke as they watched the sun travel it's way slowly across the sky.
"Who are you?" Pinepaw finally asked.
Without looking at her, the tom replied. "My name is Firestar. You probably have heard a story or two about me." Pinepaw's eyes widened. Wait, Firestar? The Firestar that lead all four clans across the mountains during the Great Journey? No, no way.
"Why are you here?" Pinepaw asked, hesitantly. Firestar looked at the tortoiseshell apprentice and gave her a soft look.
"I'm here with a message. You must help save the clans."
Pinepaw tilted her head in confusion. "Save them from what?"
Firestar's soft gaze turned into a mixture of sadness and fear. "This." As if on command, the wind picked up, blowing snow every which way. Pinepaw looked around in fear as the wind continued to pick up, but that's not what caught her eye. She watched as the lake turned to a blood red color, overflowing its banks and rising. Instead of running away like her mind told her to, she crept forward towards the crimson lake. It had stopped rising but the scent of blood filled the air. Blood. The lake has turned to blood! Pinepaw thought to herself. Fear started to creep inside her, and every instinct told her to run and hide, but she ignored them and walked back to where Firestar sat in the raging wind and snow, his bright orange pelt standing out against the white snow.
"What's going to happen to the forest? Why is the lake blood?" So many questions ran through her mind, so many needed answers, but she did not get them.
"Find the other three. One cat from each clan must help save the forest." Was all he said before fading away into the white blizzard that had become of the quiet day. Pinepaw called his name, but there was no answer. She watched as her vision began to darken and in a few heartbeats, there was nothing. Just darkness.
Pinepaw awoke to someone prodding her shoulder softly. She slowly opened her eyes to see her mentor standing in front of her.
"Hey, sleepy-head. We're going on dawn patrol and we're about to leave, so hurry and get up." Hawktail told her before turning and walking out of the den. Pinepaw stood up and followed her mentor over to the entrance where Stonepelt and Swifttail were waiting for them. The three cats followed their deputy, Swifttail, out of the entrance to the camp into the forest.
"We're gonna go patrol the WindClan border first. That is where the rogues were last seen. We need to make sure they are gone and not coming back." Swifttail informed the patrol. They all nodded in understanding as they walked through the white forest. Pinepaw couldn't get her vision out of her head. Why would StarClan send me a vision? What can I do to save the clans? Pinepaw thought to herself.
Snow still clung to the branches of the trees, making them sparkle in the sun that was barely peeking out of the clouds. Pinepaw could feel the freezing snow under her paws as she walked behind Stonepelt. Pinepaw suddenly stopped and let out a deep growl as she smelled a familiar scent. The rest of the patrol must have smelled it too because they also stopped. Rogues started to creep out of the bushes surrounding the ThunderClan cats.
"Look what we have here." A rogue from behind Pinepaw meowed deeply. "Seems the ThunderClan cats have come back for another go." He sneered, meowing the word ThunderClan in disgust.
"Why have you not left our territory?" Swifttail demanded. The rogue turned his attention to Swifttail.
"Why would we leave if there's plenty of prey?" He meowed tauntingly. Stonepelt growled at the rogue.
"This is our territory, therefore, our prey!" Hawktail argued. The rogue stepped towards Hawktail, flattening his ears to his head.
"There is plenty of prey! You don't need it all! My cats need to eat too!"
"So you kill my clanmate to do it?!" Pinepaw growled to the leader. The rogue's ears went up and he tilted his head in confusion.
"A cat was killed?" A black tom, sitting behind the larger rogue, asked in surprise. Pinepaw looked at him, puzzled. The rogue didn't know one of the other rogues had killed Graystream?
"Yes. And not only is she dead, so are the kits she was carrying." Swifttail snapped at the rogue. The rogue suddenly looked angered, but not at the ThunderClan cats; he looked angrily at the other rogues.
"Who is responsible for the death of their clanmate?" He demanded.
"It was me." A gray tom stepped forward. "That dumb clan cat deserved to die. Along with her stupid clan mates!" The rogue snarled. "We need prey to feed all of us, and these selfish cats are keeping it all to themselves." The black rogue looked at him in surprise then once again, in anger.
"Just because we need prey does not mean we kill other cats for it!" He yelled, but the gray tom did not back down. He lunged at the black rogue with a snarl but before he could reach him, a large brown tom grabbed him by his scruff, hauling him back into the bushes as he struggled to free himself until they were both out of site. The patrol turned back to the black tom. He dipped his head towards the patrol.
"Rock will get the punishment he deserves. I apologize for your clanmate. We did not want to harm anyone, we just came here food. We will leave you territory. Please tell your clan that we are extremely sorry." He motioned for the rest of the rogues to follow him.
"We will accompany you to the border," Swifttail told him. The rogue nodded.
"I understand." That's all he said before leading his band towards the border.
After the patrol escorted the rogues to the border, the band calmly walked away from clan territory. The black tom, whose name was Shade, meowed one last apology for Graystream before joining his rogues, who quickly disappeared over the small hill leading out of the forest.
When the ThunderClan patrol returned to camp, Swifttail and Stonepelt went to inform Icestar the details about what had happened during the run-in with the rogues while Pinepaw followed her mentor over to the fresh-kill pile. Pinepaw picked a mouse off the top of the pile and walked over to where her sister was lying next to the apprentice den.
"Hey, Softpaw!" Pinepaw mumbled around the mouse in her jaws. Softpaw looked up from her vole and looked happily at her sister. Pinepaw dropped the mouse at her feet. "Can I eat with you?" she asked. Softpaw motioned with her tail for her sister to join her. Pinepaw picked up the mouse once more and laid next to Softpaw. She bit into the mouse as Softpaw took another bite of her vole.
The two apprentices talked for awhile before they heard Icestar's voice ring through the clearing. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the High-rock for a clan meeting." Pinepaw glanced at her sister before walking over to the gathered cats, Softpaw in tow.
Swifttail sat at the bottom of High-rock, watching as cats gathered around, waiting for their leader to speak. Pinepaw looked around at the gathered cats and could see the sadness from Graystream's death was still in each cat. Pinepaw looked back towards Icestar as she began to speak. Pinepaw and Softpaw already knew what this meeting was about. Pinepaw had told her sister about the run in with the rogues while they ate.
"The dawn patrol found the rogues still on our territory." Growls were heard throughout the clearing. "But they are no longer on land. Swifttail, Stonepelt, Hawktail, and Pinepaw watched them cross the border."
"How did they chase all the rogues off our territory?" Petalnose meowed to Icestar.
"The rogues left willingly." Icestar stated. There was a few confused and surprised gasps heard from the gathered cats.
"Why?" Petalnose asked in confusion. Icestar looked at Petalnose, them back at the whole clan.
"They said that they were sorry about Graystream. The claimed to not know she was killed."
Darkpelt stood up and yowled, "Didn't know? Her death was not an accident! A rogue purposely made a killing blow!"
"The rogue who killed her, according to the rogue leader, will be punished. They claim to not want any harm. I don't know if I believe them or not, but we do know that, for now, they are off our territory. We will check during patrols that they have not returned." Icestar then became silent for a second before speaking again.
"We do have one more thing to do before ending this meeting. Softpaw," She looked over towards the apprentice. "Please step forward." Softpaw did as she was told and stepped towards High-rock. "We all grieve for your mentor who now walks in StarClan, but you will need a new mentor so you can finish your training. Rosesong," The silver and white tabby walked over to Softpaw. "She will be your new mentor." She turned to the she-cat. "This will be your first apprentice. I trust you will pass down everything you have learned from Darkpelt to your new apprentice and teach her the warrior code." Rosesong touched noses with Softpaw and gave her a reassuring smile. She meowed something to Softpaw, quiet enough so that no one, but Softpaw, could hear her.
Icestar then called the end of the meeting and the group of cats started to separate. Softpaw walked back over to her sister and sat down. Before either of them could speak, Hawktail walked over to the two apprentices.
"Hello, Softpaw." He greeted. "Pinepaw and I are gonna do battle training. Rosesong has to speak to Icestar about something, and asked me to take you with us. She will join us after she is done." Hawktail explained. Softpaw nodded and the apprentices followed the ginger tom out of the camp entrance.
"Pinepaw, remember to jump where I am going to be, and not where I already am, otherwise, you're probably gonna end up on your face again." Pinepaw stood up from where she had fallen and faced her mentor once again. Her mind kept going back to the vision, making hard to focus on even something as fun and interesting as battle training.
"Can I try?" Softpaw asked. Hawktail looked over at her and nodded.
"Sure."
Pinepaw moved out of the way as Softpaw got into a crouched position. Right as she pushed off of the ground, Hawktail moved to the side, but Softpaw had jumped at where he was going. She ended up pouncing right on top of him and then sending him sprawling backwards. Hawktail stood up and faced her. "That was great, Softpaw!" Hawktail told her.
"Yes, that was amazing!" The three cats turned to see Rosesong sitting at the edge of the clearing. Softpaw beamed at the praise from the warriors.
"Can I try again? I think I got it now."
Hawktail turned his head to look at his apprentice. "Of course!"
Pinepaw crouch down and looked carefully then quickly pounced, this time landing on her mentor who, for the second time, went tumbling backwards.
"Did I do it right?" Pinepaw asked anxiously. Hawktail faced his apprentice and nodded happily.
"You did great, Pinepaw. I think watching Softpaw do it really helped you." He told her. Pinepaw walked over to her sister and passionately licked her shoulder.
"Thanks."
"Your welcome, Pinepaw."
"We should train together more often!" Pinepaw meowed, excitedly.
"We'll see about that." Hawktail meowed to the two happy apprentices.
The two mentors continued to teach their enthusiastic young apprentices until Rosesong called it a day and said that they'd had enough training. The four cats headed back to camp where they were greeted by a full fresh-kill pile. The two apprentices looked at their mentors who nodded to them. Pinepaw and her sister bounded over to the pile and started to pick through it. Pinepaw picked up a nice looking vole and walked over the small overhang by the apprentice den, Softpaw right behind her with a mouse in jaws. Pinepaw dropped the vole at her feet and laid down on the white snow, the cold soaking through her thin pelt. She tried to ignore the bitter cold as she bit down into the juicy vole. She licked her lips, satisfied by the warmth of the vole, and continued eating. She glanced at her sister, who was devouring her mouse. They were soon joined by Lilypaw and Rockpaw, who had just come back from patrol. "Guess what we saw?" Meowed Lilypaw excitedly.
"What'd you see?" Softpaw asked. Rockpaw answered her.
"We saw an eagle!" He meowed, equally as excited as Lilypaw.
"Cool!" Exclaimed Softpaw and Pinepaw at the same time.
"Yeah! It was really high! We almost didn't see it!" Lilypaw meowed. "Brambleshade pointed it out to us!"
"Was it big?" Softpaw asked.
"It was huge! I've never seen any bird so big!"
"That's so cool!" Pinepaw meowed, excited. "I wish I could of seen it. That would of been so cool!"
Softpaw nodded her head. "Maybe we'll see it later if we go out hunting!"
Before Pinepaw could respond, Hawktail approached the apprentices. "Pinepaw, may I speak to you?" He turned to Softpaw. "Rosesong should be speaking to you soon." The two apprentices nodded, and Pinepaw followed her mentor out of the camp. They stopped a few fox lengths outside and sat down. "Pinepaw, I have been speaking with Icestar, and she and I both agree that it is time for you and your sister to become warriors." The young she-cat bounced around in excitement at her mentor's words. "Your warrior's assessment will be tomorrow. Till then, go have a little fun with your sister." Pinepaw practically bounced over to her sister who was beaming at her mentor who was sitting in front of her. Rosesong stood up and started toward the fresh kill pike as Pinepaw approached. When Softpaw saw her sister, she ran over playfully pounced on her. They both rolled a bit before Pinepaw got to her feet.
Softpaw stood up beside her. "We're gonna be warriors!" She yowled excitedly.
"I wonder what my name's gonna be!" Pinedust meows, trying to contain her excitement and failing.
"Pineleaf, Pinebreeze, Pineneedle? I don't know. They all sound amazing!"
"Softgaze sounds cool!"
"Yeah, guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow to find out." Softpaw meows as she sits next to her sister.
"Yep," Pinepaw meows, "We'll just have to wait."
Softpaw's gaze saddened slightly. "I wish Greystream could be here though. It just doesn't seem fair that I get to be a warrior right after she died."
Pinepaw laid her tail on her sister's shoulder. "Greystream would be so proud of you. I know she is right now. She'll watch as you take your warrior name from StarClan, cheering your name just like she would if she was right next to you."
Softpaw looked at her sister with gratitude. "Thank you, Pinepaw. You make this so much easier."
Pinepaw gently nudged Softpaw. "You're welcome."
Snowcloud- Chapter 3! yay... That took way longer than it should have to upload 2 and 3...
Pinedust- Well, you got it uploaded. That's the most you can do.
Snowcloud- Yeah, I just feel bad about taking so long...
Pinedust- You're fine. Just don't take this long for chapter 4 and you'll be good.
Snowcloud- (rolls eyes) Yeah, Thanks Pinedust...
Pinedust- I saw that eye roll! Don't get sassy with me!
Snowcloud- (sticks tongue at Pinedust)
Pinedust- I give up with you... (walks away)
Snowcloud- Well, that was boring. I'm not gonna waste your time so, SN-
Flurrykit- (comes running over) CAN I DO IT?!
Snowcloud- Sure, go ahead.
Flurrykit- FLURRYKIT AND SNOWCLOUD OUT!