Disclaimer:
The 10 Flames and characters within it are my OCs, and mine alone. Warriors is a book series by Erin Hunter.
Firepaw looked at Fourtrees. He could see the large trees all the way from the edge of ThunderClan's territory.
"As Graypaw told you, this over here is Fourtrees." Lionheart meowed to Firepaw. "Where all four Clans meet for a Gathering. It's usually very peaceful."
"Four Clans? That's so many!" Firepaw exclaimed, his mew filled with awe.
Graypaw nodded. "Yeah, there's RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan besides us! But ThunderClan is the best though."
"What about cats outside of the Clan? Like cats that aren't kittypets?" Firepaw asked.
His question caught everyone off-guard.
Tigerclaw's growl was the first voice he heard. "They're called loners or rogues. We chase them off our territory without mercy!" Firepaw shrunk back in fear at the severity of his words.
"Don't be so harsh, Tigerclaw." Lionheart warned him. "There is much he doesn't understand yet." he turned towards Firepaw. "We mark our territories so they're warned that they're close to Clan territories. If they trespass, we will chase them off with the least amount of violence necessary."
A rustling sound could be heard from the bushes as Lionheart finished speaking. Firepaw's ears pricked. What was that? Everyone tensed, their fur bristling. Firepaw's claws sheathed and unsheathed repeatedly. Suddenly a paw stretched out of the bush, reaching for the grassy ground. Soon an entire cat appeared from the bush.
"Who are you and what are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" Tigerclaw growled at the strange cat.
Firepaw got a better look at the cat. This strange cat smelt like a she-cat, and she didn't smell of any Clan. She was a pale gray and white tabby with amber eyes. Her stance was relaxed, and she didn't seem fazed by Tigerclaw's instant hostility.
The she-cat finally replied. "My name is Violet. I am the leader of The Ten Flames." Firepaw tilted his head in confusion. He's never heard about them from anyone. "I would like to speak to your leader."
"How can we trust you?" Graypaw hissed. "No one has ever heard of "The Ten Flames", for one. And how do we know you won't attack our leader if we let you talk to her?"
"Relax, little one. If you think I brought anyone else with me, you are mistaken." Violet assured him. Firepaw sniffed the air to check. She was right. There was no one besides them.
Lionheart looked at her with unease. "You appear to be telling the truth. But we will escort you to our camp, just in case."
"Fine by me." Violet replied. "Lead the way."
The five cats padded back the way they came back to the ThunderClan camp. Firepaw wearily trudged alongside Graypaw.
Graypaw whispered into his ear, "...Do you think Violet's lying?"
"...No, I think she's telling the truth." Firepaw quietly replied.
The two young toms stopped talking and kept up their pace.
Once they reached the camp, cats flooded them with questions once they saw Violet.
"Who is she?"
"What's she doing in our camp!"
"Don't tell me that more kittypets are joining ThunderClan!"
Lionheart silenced them with a flick of his tail. "Hush! I must speak to Bluestar."
Everyone calmed down a little, but that didn't stop them from giving Violet dirty looks. Graypaw wandered off to the freshkill pile to pick out some prey. He sat next to Ravenpaw and getured for Firepaw to come over.
"I'll be over!" Firepaw called to him. Graypaw shrugged his shoulders and began eating. Firepaw padded towards Violet cautiously.
"...Erm...uh, Violet?" Firepaw asked.
Violet turned her head to face Firepaw. "Yes?"
"What exactly is The Ten Flames?" Firepaw asked nervously. "You said you were the leader of that group, but I've never heard of you guys."
"Well, I suppose I can tell you." Violet sighed. "The Ten Flames is a group of cats who work together and live in peace. Each cat has their own set of skills, such as healing, fighting or solving conflicts. We use those special skills to help the cats who come to us for help."
"Wow!" Firepaw exclaimed in amazement. "Your group is so organized, just like the Clans!" He didn't know that groups of loners could be so well organized.
Firepaw heard pawsteps coming from highrock. He turned to see Lionheart and Bluestar walking out of the leader's den, their gazed locked onto Violet.
Lionheart turned to face Firepaw. "Firepaw, you may go eat with your friends." Firepaw nodded and sat next to Graypaw and Ravenpaw.
"What did you ask her?" Graypaw asked while stuffing his face.
Firepaw replied with a shrug. "I only asked her what The 10 Flames were. She said they were a group of cats that help others."
"Sounds like a load of mousedung to me." Graypaw answered back. "But it's none of my business, so I don't really care that much."
Firepaw sighed and bit into the mouse Graypaw picked out. Ravenpaw and Graypaw were chatting merrily while Firepaw's attention was focused on Bluestar, Lionheart and Violet.
"So you are Violet, leader of The Ten Flames?" Bluestar asked.
Violet nodded. "Yes. Our group has known about you Clan cats for quite some time. We reached a decision to decide what direction our group will go in."
Bluestar narrowed her eyes. "And what direction is that?"
"We'd like to join the Clans." Violet meowed at last.
Shocked gasps spread around the camp like wildfire. Voices of anger could be heard from every direction.
"Is this loner insane?"
"A whole new Clan?"
"You can't be serious!"
Firepaw felt shocked. A fifth Clan? But there were only four Clans in the forest! How would that possibly work?
"Violet, you must understand that there is only enough room for four Clans in the forest." Bluestar mewed, trying to kindly reason with her. "Just as there are four seasons and the four trees we meet at."
"Actually, that is false." Violet sounded sure of herself. "There was another Clan in the forest. SkyClan." Bluestar's fur bristled. "You may think I'm wrong, but I'm telling the truth. I know more about the Clans then you know."
Tigerclaw snarled in Violet's face. "What would you know about us, lowborn?"
Many other cats began in the jeering, taunting her with hurtful comments.
"Well, I know a lot about the Sunningrocks battle. In fact, our camp is somewhat close to it." Violet's tone was accusatory, for some reason towards Tigerclaw. He visibly flinched at her comment, but he quickly regained his hostile stance.
I wonder what that was about. Firepaw thought to himself.
Bluestar looked at her thoughtfully, and then nodded. "Your group should come to the Gathering with us tonight. Then all four Clans can decide what we will do."
"Perhaps I could bring some of my group mates over to stay and discuss this with you and your senior warriors." Violet decided. "I will be back shortly."
"Allow me to send a patrol to escort you." Bluestar respectfully added. Violet nodded, struggling to keep her mouth shut. Bluestar jumped onto Highrock, ready to voice their decision. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather under Highrock!"
All of the cat in the clearing stopped what they were doing and turned to face their leader standing upon Highrock. Firepaw sat beside his friends Graypaw and Ravenpaw to hear the announcement.
"Today we had an unexpected visit from the leader of The Ten Flames, Violet. She brung news saying that her group would like to be part of the Clans." Almost instantly her words were greeted with yowls of defiance. "Quiet!" Bluestar snapped. She regained her composure quickly. "They will be going with us to the Gathering so we can discuss whether they will be accepted into the Clans. Violet needs to fetch some of her group mates to come here to discuss this with me. So I will send a small patrol to go with her."
Firepaw felt his fur prickling. Would he go on the patrol there? He hoped not. His paw pads were still sore from seeing the territory earlier today.
Graypaw's mew took him by surprise. "Do you think we might go?"
"Of course not. We're apprentices, remember? And we just got back from exploring the territory." Firepaw explained.
"But it's still a possibility, right?" Graypaw asked, still optimistic.
Whitestorm, a senior warrior looked at them with a stern gaze. Luckily, Graypaw noticed this and stopped talking. Firepaw looked back up at Highrock to see Bluestar.
"Runningwind, Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw, will you escort Violet to the border?" Bluestar ordered. Tigerclaw nodded his head and signaled to Runningwind and Ravenpaw.
Graypaw nudged Ravenpaw's shoulder. "Lucky Ravenpaw! He gets to go see The Ten Flames camp!"
"It's just to the border. I don't get why you're so excited." Ravenpaw insisted.
Firepaw could hear Tigerclaw's impatient growls from the entrance. Ravenpaw shivered a bit and then immediately ran over to the ready patrol. He half expected them to immediately go, but he couldn't help but eavesdrop on Tigerclaw and his apprentice.
"...Don't you dare mention anything to her." Tigerclaw snarled in a whisper. "Or you'll share tongues with StarClan sooner than later."
Ravenpaw nodded in understanding, and followed after Runningwind and Violet, who were already ahead of them. Firepaw shuddered at Tigerclaw's last words. Was Ravenpaw in bigger danger than he thought?
Author Notes:
I have the first chapter almost done, and I'm still sort of new to , so I'm trying to get used to it still.