Thanks for reading my first chapter! I don't own Warriors and never will, enjoy this next chapter.
Oh, and, anything about the Dark Forest is mostly made up, since the rest of the Omen of the Stars isn't out yet, and not enough information is on the table. Well, enjoy ^_^
Shiningpaw woke up to more panic. She stretched in the apprentice's den and dreaded hearing who had been stolen this time. Her best friend, Lionpaw, was still sound asleep.
"Wake up, mousebrain!" She mewed, trying to sound playful, and jabbed her in the side. Lionpaw grumbled and rose from the ground.
"Why did you have to wake me up?" She whined, but the loudness of the Clan cats in the camp told her already.
"Someone must have been stolen during the night…" A voice came from the side of the den. The two apprentices looked and saw Pondpaw, tail drooping. She was upset about Scorchpaw, even if he wasn't her real brother.
"Are we going to have to be nocturnal now?" The last apprentice of ThunderClan, Berrypaw, mewed anxiously.
"No one wants that to happen, but if this keeps up…" Pondpaw sighed.
Shiningpaw volunteered to check up on what was happening. She slipped out of the apprentice den and gasped.
Spiritfeather was dead in the center of camp. Hornetflight had dragged her from the medicine cat den into the clearing so the Clan cats could mourn.
"What happened?" Shiningpaw said, shivering. The pale she-cat had been their medicine cat since before her mother was born.
"We don't know!" sobbed Spiderclaw, who had been close to the late medicine cat.
"We'll have to ask Cloudheart how she died, there doesn't seem to be a scratch on her." Lightheart meowed sadly. "I can't fathom how she was killed."
"We don't have to ask Cloudheart anything!" Willowleaf hissed, stepping in front of the dead cat. "He's the ShadowClan medicine cat, and Midnightstar won't let him do anything!"
"If only Thinwhisper were here!" Brackentail said suddenly, referring to Spiritfeather's old apprentice. Just after he had received his full medicine cat name, he was stolen by the Dark Forest warriors. It was unexpected. No one thought they could steal a medicine cat. Thinwhisper had been asleep; he couldn't do a thing about it.
Shiningpaw dipped her head in acknowledgement of the situation. Thinwhisper was one of the first ThunderClan cats to be stolen.
Lionpaw padded out of the apprentice's den. "Who's been stolen?" she asked nervously, before seeing the body of Spiritfeather lying in the camp. "Oh… what happened?" she cried, rushing towards the body.
Lionpaw had wanted to be the medicine cat apprentice after Thinwhisper was stolen, but she would have felt too guilty if she just claimed the position right after he died, so she never got the chance to mention it. Scorchpaw took the initiative and filled the empty role of medicine cat apprentice. Until, of course, he died.
"We're not sure," Spiderclaw, Lionpaw's mother, replied, "Do you think you could tell us how she died, Lionpaw?" Spiderclaw knew her daughter had wanted to become a medicine cat.
Lionpaw sniffed the dead cat tentatively, and peered at her mouth. "It looks like she ate deathberries." She said blankly, unsure of what to think of it.
"Deathberries? Where?" Berrypaw had stepped out of the apprentice's den, fed up with Pondpaw's sulking.
"Spiritfeather ate them." Lionpaw replied softly, letting her tail sweep the ground.
The cats in the clearing murmured among themselves. Why would Spiritfeather eat deathberries? Who fed them to her? Or, did she eat them herself? The mutterings passed along cat to cat before Stormstar leaped onto the Highledge and yowled for silence.
"We will mourn for Spiritfeather, and bury her soon. Right now, what we need most is a new medicine cat." Stormstar said, his voice drenched in sorrow, but not for Spiritfeather, instead he sighed for StarClan. No medicine cat meant no contact with the warriors of StarClan, and it only left them more vulnerable to the dead cats of the Dark Forest.
"Stormstar, if I may…" Lionpaw began, looking up warily into her leader's eyes. He nodded for her to continue.
"I know this is sudden, but may I make the journey to the Moonpool to be accepted as a medicine cat? I… I know about herbs and treatments, but maybe Cloudheart could teach me more…" She suggested, gulping back whatever nervousness she had.
Stormstar looked down at the apprentice for a while, but then nodded, "Alright. Brackentail, go with her to the ShadowClan camp. Forget about waiting for a patrol at the border, they wouldn't come," he hissed, "Make sure Midnightstar doesn't drive you out. Her warriors still have their senses, as so does Cloudheart."
Brackentail looked pleased at being the one chosen to go with his daughter. "Yes, Stormstar."
"Stormstar, may I bring Shiningpaw with me as well?" Lionpaw asked suddenly. Shiningpaw looked surprised. "It would help to have extra paws in case ShadowClan attacks us!"
"I don't know, I don't want to lose more cats." Stormstar thought about it briefly, but then sighed. If Lionpaw wanted to become medicine cat, she was the one that needed to be protected. The Clan's faith in StarClan was all they had left now.
"Shiningpaw, if you want to go, you may go. Please convince Cloudheart to help you." Stormstar hopped off of the Highledge and darted into his den to think. Willowleaf followed after him. Shiningpaw nodded towards Lionpaw, signaling she was okay with going. Her ears twitched, she didn't really want to go, but she couldn't let her friend down.
"Let's go, you two. We should get a move on before night falls." Brackentail meowed, making his way for the camp entrance. Lionpaw padded after her father, and Shiningpaw started to step forward. However, Darkkit stepped in front of her.
"You'll come back, right sis?" Darkkit asked expectantly, her eyes and black fur shining. "You won't get stolen, right? Quailkit would be awfully upset."
"Of course I'll come back!" Shiningpaw mewed triumphantly. "You won't have to worry about a thing, Darkkit."
Darkkit purred, leaning against her older sister. "You have to keep that promise, or Spottedface will be sad."
"As I said, I'll come back!" Shiningpaw licked her younger sister affectionately.
"And will Lionpaw and Brackentail come back?" Darkkit asked, taking on a different tone.
"Yes, yes!" Shiningpaw hissed playfully, getting tired of her younger sister's incessant questions. To her response, Darkkit's eyes flashed.
"Well, alright. Be careful." She walked back to her mother.
"Weird kit…" Shiningpaw muttered as she turned to follow Brackentail and Lionpaw, who were waiting impatiently.
The three cats walked along the grassy forest towards the ShadowClan border. As they crossed it, Shiningpaw hardly noticed the territory switch. Their borders hadn't been marked recently, and the scent was hardly noticeable.
"Stay close." Brackentail growled as they drove deeper through the territory. Soon Shiningpaw could smell the sharp tang of ShadowClan cats. Cloudheart was tending to an apprentice, presumably Coldpaw, the last remaining apprentice. Luckily, Midnightstar was nowhere in sight.
"Cloudheart!" Brackentail hissed a whisper, and Cloudheart looked his way, startled, but then his face softened as he saw the ThunderClan cats. He mewed something to Coldpaw before padding towards them.
"Thank goodness it's only ThunderClan, I was afraid the dark warriors would come for me…" Cloudheart mumbled, looking around nervously. "So, what brought you here?"
Lionpaw stepped forward.
"Scorchpaw and Spiritfeather are dead." She announced bravely, not wavering. "I've decided to follow their paws on the path of a medicine cat. You're the last medicine cat left in the forest, Cloudheart, and I need your guidance." She dipped her head.
Cloudheart looked stunned. He had gotten along well with Scorchpaw at the half-moon meetings at the Moonpool, and he had been around since Spiritfeather was a kit.
"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that. I'll miss them both deeply." Cloudheart dipped his head briefly in mourning, and then rose to look down at Lionpaw.
"I accept. I will train you in the ways of a medicine cat, but I don't know how we'll go about seeing each other. I can't just leave ShadowClan, they need me more than ever now… but ThunderClan needs a medicine cat…" Cloudheart spoke with confusion.
Brackentail and his daughter conversed with Cloudheart a while longer. Shiningpaw stared up at the pine above them, trying to see the fading blue sky. It was growing darker. She wasn't sure how long she had watched the sky for before Lionpaw brought her back to her senses.
"Shiningpaw, what do you think about that?" she asked cautiously. The grey apprentice blinked. The golden one pouted.
"Sorry, what?"
"Would you help me train to be a medicine cat? We can learn under Cloudheart together, and you can be my apprentice! Then we can have two medicine cats!" Lionpaw purred, tail twitching. Cloudheart looked off into the distance. Clearly, he had not been the one to think of the idea, and he wasn't thinking of going through with it.
Me? A medicine cat? Shiningpaw thought, terrified. The thought had never crossed her mind. It seemed that lately, being a medicine cat only brought death, not life.
Besides, herbs just didn't come natural to her. She liked the feel of her claws ripping through flesh, and she liked hunting with her friends in the Clan.
But most of all, medicine cats have one flaw that makes them undesirable to be for some cats.
"So?" Lionpaw asked, hope gleaming in her eyes. Shiningpaw took another look at the approaching dusk. Brackentail seemed embarrassed at his daughter's sudden question. It wasn't likely to have two medicine cat apprentices at once.
"There's… there's a proper way to do things, and then there isn't." Shiningpaw began carefully. "We'd almost be warriors by now, and I don't think I can give up my training to become a medicine cat."
Lionpaw looked crestfallen, but Brackentail flicked his tail.
"Shiningpaw may be right. I know we're desperate for medicine cats, but she can't just quit her warrior training. You're an exception," Brackentail gave his daughter a lick; "You've had herbs on your mind ever since you were a kit."
"I guess so. Sorry for forcing that decision on you, Shiningpaw." Lionpaw apologized, but didn't sound sorry.
"It's late." A voice called out from ShadowClan camp. The ThunderClan cats turned to look. It was Coldpaw, the last ShadowClan apprentice.
"Oh, that's right!" Cloudheart gasped, and turned back to camp. "You three should go back to your camp. It would be unsafe to be alone in the forest at night." He said without turning back.
"Wait, when will you teach me the ways of a medicine cat? How will we contact them at the Moonpool if we don't go at night?" Lionpaw called out after him.
Cloudheart turned slightly to respond, "Tomorrow at dawn, meet me at the border and bring a warrior with you. I'll have to test your knowledge about herbs first before we go doing anything."
"Yes, Cloudheart!" Lionpaw purred excitedly. Her silver friend was not so amused, however.
How could she be so excited? We're practically facing our deaths. Becoming a medicine cat won't change much. Shiningpaw thought rather coldly. She thought back to Spiritfeather, the spindly medicine cat that never seemed quite right to her. She must have gone mad when Thinwhisper died; it was the biggest rumor spreading around camp at the time.
Brackentail and Lionpaw walked away from the ShadowClan camp, but before Shiningpaw followed, she took a last glance at the shady camp.
Coldpaw was staring at her eerily.
With a shudder, Shiningpaw turned back to follow her friend, wishing she hadn't looked back.
The one undesirable flaw…
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Stormstar yowled, and the cats of ThunderClan, minus Shiningpaw, Lionpaw, and Brackentail, moved out of the comfort of their dens and into the center of camp.
"Willowleaf and I have talked it over and decided its best for the eldest kits, Darkkit and Quailkit, to become apprentices a moon early."
The Clan cats mumbled to each other.
"We think this is the best course of action. We need as many trained cats as possible to fight off the threat of the Dark Forest warriors."
"But we can't hurt them here!" Lightheart hissed in response.
"It's true, we can't, but it's best to be prepared!" Hornetlight retorted.
Stormstar nodded, "Hornetlight is correct. We need to be vigilant. Darkkit, Quailkit, come up here."
Quailkit looked utterly shocked, and Darkkit had to nudge him forwards.
Stormstar performed the apprentice ceremony in silence. The Clan cats seemed unnerved. Had things become so bad that they were training kits as apprentices now?
When Darkkit and Quailkit became Darkpaw and Quailpaw, the cats cheered for them, but the air was still unsettling.
"Darkpaw, you will be mentored by Raggedwing, Quailpaw, you will be mentored by Lightheart." The apprentices and mentors touched noses, and Stormstar stepped off the Highledge.
Darkpaw stared into the distance, at the camp entrance.
"Darkpaw?" Raggedwing grumbled, looking down at his new apprentice. Darkpaw looked up, her eyes glazed over. "Yes?"
"Stormstar wants your warrior training to be started tomorrow morning. Be ready," he sighed, and stalked off. Darkpaw blinked, and padded off to the apprentice's den. A twinge of hope suddenly fell over her. "Is it because I'm an apprentice now? Or something more?" she mused aloud cryptically, and hoping no cat heard her, curled up in the corner of the den to take a nap.
"Shiningpaw, what do you think your warrior name will be?" Lionpaw chose her words carefully, tainting the word 'warrior' icily. Shiningpaw inwardly shuddered at her friend's sudden malice.
"I don't know… Shiningheart or Shiningspirit are a bit obvious. Shiningfur is plain but suiting…" she imagined her shining silver coat in her mind as she spoke, "How about your medicine cat name, Lionpaw?" she was sure to line the term 'medicine cat' with as much poison as Lionpaw had done to her.
"Who knows? Cloudheart will have to decide for me." Lionpaw decided not to play her own invented game.
Shiningpaw grunted in response. Why have we been driven so apart by this medicine cat thing? Just because I don't want to be a medicine cat doesn't mean she has to hate me for it! She thought angrily, kneading the ground with her paws as she walked.
Brackentail suddenly stopped. His ears twitched, and his whiskers moved in the breeze. All was silent as the sun dipped down past the mountains. With a flash, he leapt to the left of him and hissed into the trees.
"Who's there? Are you of the living?" Brackentail growled, standing in front of the two apprentices, Lionpaw especially.
The crunching of leaves sent a chill down Shiningpaw's spine. Her paws itched to fight, and she stepped ahead of the to-be medicine cat.
But instead of a raging Dark Warrior, a scrawny apprentice collapsed into the open. His scent was faint, but it was of RiverClan.
"A RiverClan apprentice?" Lionpaw gasped, padding up to him, checking for wounds. Shiningpaw snorted, anyone can do that.
The apprentice coughed and spat blood onto the ground.
"What's your name, kit?" Brackentail growled, sniffing the wild cat cautiously.
The apprentice hissed at the older warrior, still conscious enough to know when he was being insulted.
"Deadpaw," he coughed as he said it, and let his head rest on the ground.
The three ThunderClan cats stood for a moment, unsure what to do with the apprentice. Shiningpaw couldn't help herself, watching Lionpaw do nothing, and spat, "Come on, medicine cat, aren't you going to help him?"
Lionpaw's ears flattened, and her eyes grew wide. Shiningpaw suddenly wished she could have taken back what she said. Brackentail frowned at her, and the grey apprentice dipped her head. Lionpaw's shocked look turned into one of betrayal, and turned away.
"Sorry… but we have to get him back to camp, right?" she said feebly, and her companions grunted. The three of them worked to drag the half-dead Deadpaw towards ThunderClan camp, and Shiningpaw dreaded every step they took.
Trying to get all the characters in there first. The allegiance page will go up officially probably after four or five. Reviewing is great, it helps me improve my writing and fix any inconsistencies! It's tough remembering all these names Thanks!