Disclaimer: I don't own warriors and never will!
This chapter has a few timeskips near the end, but nothing more than a sunrise ahead in total! Enjoy this chapter and remember to review!
Coldpaw's ears twitched as he heard pawsteps tread into camp. It could only have been Cloudheart; everyone else was confined to camp.
"Cloudheart! You're back!" Featherwings shouted, running up to her brother. He greeted her affectionately and they walked to the medicine cat den. Coldpaw was curious as to what happened with Lionpaw at the Moonpool. She had been very bossy and rude at her time in ShadowClan, snapping at cats who tried to pitch in. Coldpaw felt as if she wasn't like that all the time though. Something heavy snagged her heart.
"Good thing Cloudheart is back," Patcheye sighed, relieved. "I was afraid a Dark Warrior would come take me away at any moment." Coldpaw smiled cheerily at his mentor, who smiled back. Patcheye got up to grab a mouse and Coldpaw dropped his smile to stare at the medicine cat den again.
"About time." A growl came from the warrior's den as Clawlight stepped out. The grouchy warrior's brown pelt was unkempt, while his white socks appeared clean. Clawlight had never been a happy cat, especially after his first mate, Bluebird, had died giving birth to Coldkit and his two brothers, who both died along with their mother. Coldpaw kept his distance from his father most of the time.
"That piece of mouse-dung shouldn't be helping the enemy Clan!" Clawlight hissed to no one in particular.
"We can't just forget about the other Clans, though! We need to help ThunderClan so we can stay strong as well." Patcheye growled from the fresh-kill pile. Clawlight sneered at him and walked up to his son.
"Coldpaw, you don't believe any of that fox-dung, do you?" Clawlight asked accusingly.
"Of course not, Clawlight." Coldpaw responded formally, "ShadowClan can remain strong on its own."
"Obviously," Clawlight grumbled, and stalked off elsewhere. Coldpaw let out a sigh and his mentor padded up to him.
"Any ShadowClan cat can tell you don't care a bit for your father." Patcheye murmured sympathetically. "You don't have to be so formal around him."
"Bluebird would be upset if I acted against him!" Coldpaw said, exasperated. Patcheye sighed. No one had quite known what Bluebird had seen in the ragged tom, but they had been deeply in love. Bluebird's twin sister, Shadefur, had always been happy for them, even if she wasn't fond of Clawlight herself.
"Whatever you think is right is right for you, Coldpaw." Patcheye replied.
Suddenly a dark figure leapt onto a risen rock. The rock was surrounded by weeds and smaller stones. Coldpaw looked up to see ShadowClan's leader, Midnightstar, with her jet black pelt and emerald eyes.
"All cats old enough to catch their own pretty gather aside the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" She yowled, and the ShadowClan cats assembled.
Clawlight, Branchfoot, Featherwings, and Patcheye gathered in one clump, assembling the warriors. Owleyes, the deputy, sat beneath her leader. Coldpaw sat with Roughpelt, the last elder, and Cloudheart sat with Shadefur and her kit, Lilykit.
ShadowClan had dwindled to such low numbers, but Midnightstar's face was not one of depression, but one of firmness. Midnightstar had never been one to admit defeat.
"As all of you know, we are dying." She hissed, letting it sink in. "But that will not stop ShadowClan." There was a cry of agreement from Clawlight.
"The Gathering approaches in only a few sunrises, and the entire Clan will go." Midnightstar decided. "That is every single one of us, from Lilykit to Roughpelt."
The few Clan cats looked among themselves and decided that made the most sense. There were a grand total of eleven cats, including Lilykit, left in ShadowClan.
"Until then…" Midnightstar was cut off as Cloudheart approached the Highrock. "Yes, Cloudheart?"
"I have something to announce about ThunderClan." The medicine cat started. Clawlight narrowed his eyes.
"Lionpaw has been stolen, and the new medicine cat of ThunderClan is Darkpaw. I don't know if I should be the one telling you all this, but I felt it was necessary to clear things up." He dipped his head and went back to his place beside Shadefur.
"Good, that apprentice wouldn't shut up!" Roughpelt muttered. Coldpaw had been annoyed by Lionpaw too, but one thing still itched in his mind. She had begun to tell him something, but Cloudheart took her away.
"Anyway, until the Gathering, every cat needs to stay in camp, especially Cloudheart. Cloudheart, I could care less about ThunderClan's dilemmas, you need to stay and protect ShadowClan." Midnightstar hissed evenly. Cloudheart nodded obediently.
"Very well, that is all." She finished and hopped off of the rock.
"And this?" The ginger tom asked.
"Marigold, to disinfect cuts." The black furred apprentice responded. The tom flicked his tail to another plant.
"Catmint, to cure greencough!" The she-cat mewed. The tom nodded and thought for a bit.
"How about celandine?"
"Ah, uh…" Darkpaw stumbled, not remembering. Scorchwind shrugged.
"Celandine is useful for treating eye ailments, besides permanent blindness. Don't worry about not remembering, we've only just started."
"Right." Darkpaw nodded in thanks. Being a medicine cat is harder than it looks, but I'm not unhappy about my destined path.
"Watermint?"
"Treats belly aches." Darkpaw mewed curtly.
The herb quizzing continued for a while until Darkpaw let out a huge yawn. Scorchwind chuckled and said, "Tired?"
"I don't get how that's possible… I'm dreaming, after all." Darkpaw said sleepily.
"Things that occur in your dreams often have effects in the real world." Scorchwind replied, and then suddenly looked behind him. There was nothing there.
"What is it?" Darkpaw inquired.
"Oh, nothing. It's best we end this session for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow night." Scorchwind walked off as Darkpaw said farewell.
Still sleepy, Darkpaw rose from her spot in the medicine cat den as she awoke. Cats were already walking around camp. She spotted Deadpaw chatting with Berrypaw at the fresh-kill pile. Hornetflight and Spiderclaw walked up to them and said something before walking to the camp entrances. The two apprentices trotted after them, ready to hunt. Darkpaw's whiskers twitched and looked the other way.
Pondpaw was talking with Quailpaw, but she was doing most of the talking, it seemed. Quailpaw was nodding dumbly and agreeing at points, and Darkpaw felt bad for her brother. She waltzed up to them.
"Hi, Quailpaw. Pondpaw." Darkpaw only glanced briefly at Pondpaw. "What's up?" Pondpaw exchanged a glance with Quailpaw. Quailpaw opened his mouth to speak, but Pondpaw spoke first.
"Quailpaw says you don't want to join the new Clan." Pondpaw's voice was sugar filled.
"That's correct. As medicine cat, I need to protect ThunderClan, not any other Clan!" Darkpaw hissed.
"And I respect that," Pondpaw purred, "But if ThunderClan falls apart, don't you want a Clan to fall back on? Our new Clan will always be there for you, Darkpaw, even if you don't want it now."
Darkpaw was chilled by her words; was ThunderClan going to die out?
"Come, Quailpaw. We have to discuss things." Pondpaw walked off. Quailpaw started to follow her but Darkpaw stepped in front of him, eyes narrowed.
"Quailpaw, why do you hang out with her?" Darkpaw demanded. Her brother tried to look fierce as he responded, but it was a weak mask.
"Pondpaw is sweet and pretty, and she has great ideas! We're going to rule the new Clan together." Quailpaw ending up purring at the fantasy.
"Whatever you say." Darkpaw retorted. "Shiningpaw and I are not going to join your Clan, and I doubt Coldpaw would want to either; it'll be all ThunderClan cats besides him."
"I'll follow Pondpaw to the end." Quailpaw mewed, his voice firm. Darkpaw blinked, and the siblings went towards opposite paths.
The next sunrise, Berrypaw, Pondpaw, and Shiningpaw were woken up early by their mentors.
"Time for your exams!" Spiderclaw purred, prodding her son awake.
"Exams? What?" Berrypaw yawned as he rose.
"Your warrior exams! Stay focused!" Willowleaf grunted.
Shiningpaw bolted up. Soon, she, Berrypaw, and Pondpaw would become warriors.
"Willowleaf, looks like Hornetflight wants to talk to you." Sharpnose observed, seeing the honey and slate colored she-cat enter the apprentice's den.
"I've spoken with Stormstar, and he says that Deadpaw can join in for the exams as well. Deadpaw even says he was going to be made a warrior before RiverClan fell apart, and I've trained with him, he seems ready." Hornetflight said quickly, before Willowleaf could object.
"Alright," she muttered. Sharpnose nudged Pondpaw up and the silver white apprentice stretched.
"Let's be going, then." Spiderclaw said cheerily. The seven cats fetched Deadpaw, who was talking to Raggedwing when they found him. Raggedwing's wound was healing well, but Deadpaw wanted to make sure. Darkpaw was glad for the help.
The four mentors and four apprentices circled around a dead stump near the camp. It was said a tree fell from there ages ago, crushing the camp.
"We'll be watching from the trees, catch as much as you can. Good luck." Willowleaf instructed, and the four older cats darted away.
"Where should we begin?" Berrypaw was practically bouncing up and down.
"I'll go towards the ShadowClan border." Pondpaw volunteered, and walked away.
"I'll take WindClan's then." Shiningpaw sighed and went in the opposite direction. Berrypaw watched her until she disappeared behind the trees and then turned to Deadpaw.
"Hey, before we start, can I show you something?" Berrypaw asked, and Deadpaw shrugged. "Sure thing."
Berrypaw led Deadpaw to the old badger set he had shown Shiningpaw not long ago.
"This rock has a lot of unnatural scratches on it, like Twolegs did it." Berrypaw pointed out, inhaling the rock's scent.
"Well it certainly is strange. And only you would head this deep into a badger set to check for rocks." Deadpaw mused. Berrypaw grinned in response.
"I've only ever shown this to you and Shiningpaw, so keep it a secret!" Berrypaw asked of his friend, and Deadpaw agreed. The two then split up for their warrior exams, and Berrypaw was glowing.
Shiningpaw sank her teeth into a rabbit that had crossed over from the WindClan border. No point in caring about this boundary anymore. She thought, and buried her kill for later.
Deadpaw expertly retrieved a fish from the river and bit into its gills to stop its squirming. "I hope they don't mind fish." He grumbled with his mouth full of fish.
Berrypaw scrambled to catch a fleeing mouse, trapping it by its tail. He bit into it quickly before it could escape, and buried it immediately. He looked around for traces of his friends, or mentor, but didn't see anyone. He sniffed the air and caught vague scents from every direction. Berrypaw decided it would be best to just keep catching prey and see what happened.
Pondpaw approached the ShadowClan border doubtfully. If anyone saw her, she would be punished, not made into a warrior. She peered as far as she could over the border, but couldn't see the camp. Scowling, she turned to find prey. It wasn't worth delaying her warrior ceremony just to see the ShadowClan cats she would see in a few sunrises anyway.
"Well done," Willowleaf purred, "I hope you're all looking forward to becoming warriors!" It was rare for the deputy to praise any apprentice with a purr.
Pondpaw grinned, and Berrypaw smiled widely at Shiningpaw. She gave a brief smile and even Deadpaw looked pleased.
"Deadpaw?" Berrypaw padded up to the muddy colored tom.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you won't join the new Clan?" Berrypaw kept his voice low.
"I'm positive." Deadpaw's whiskers twitched in irritation. "Pondpaw doesn't seem to trust me, and I don't trust her."
"Why not? She's smart, funny, and very kind." Berrypaw insisted. His companion snorted in response.
"I don't know what you see in her, but I see coldness in her eyes when she looks at me. What about Shiningpaw?" Deadpaw knew of Berrypaw's infatuation. Berrypaw looked down uncertainly.
"I do like Shiningpaw, but she's been distant since Brackentail died. Pondpaw is always around…" Berrypaw muttered, and was unsure again.
"Pondclaw! Berryfrost! Shiningsky! Deadpath!"
The Clan cats cheered for their newest warriors.
Darkpaw looked up at her sister with pride.
Quailpaw stared at Pondclaw in awe.
Spiderclaw's eyes were joyful as she watched Berryfrost, yet she couldn't help recalling Lionpaw. If she had simply given up the medicine cat dream, Lionpaw would be up there too.
No one cheered quite as hard for Deadpath as they did for the other new warriors.
"You four will sit vigil tonight, and furthermore, the gathering is coming up in three sunrises. Every ThunderClan cat will be going; we can't risk leaving any cat back at camp. Our numbers are low, we should stick together."
No cat disagreed.
"Pondclaw! You're going to be Pondstar one day, right?" Flamekit squeaked at the warrior whose vigil had just finished. Pondclaw shushed her gently but nodded.
"And you'll be a proud warrior of PondClan."
"I'm gonna be a warrior!" Flamekit cried happily, running towards her mother in the nursery. "I'm gonna be a warrior!"
"Yes, you will. A strong ThunderClan warrior." Flowerbelly chuckled, and Flamekit's happiness faltered. She looked back at Pondclaw, who winked, and Flamekit was joyous again.
Not as long as I hoped it'd be, but I hope the short timeskip parts have the effect I wanted them to.