Review Replies:
LRcmW: I almost didn't know what this said, but luckily years of making typos have taught me to understand any sequence of letters and numbers. Thank you very much! ❤
HollyleafLover0905: I'm happy that you love it! Here's your update~! ❤
Sapphire-of-NightClan: Yes, Peachsong doesn't really understand how the world truly works because she's been worshipped in the Clan ever since she was an apprentice. She really does need a reality slap, but I guarantee that Amberflower will give her one. ;) All Amberflower wants right now is to be better than her sister, but perhaps her intentions will twist into something darker hehe. ❤ Tbh Peachsong is very difficult to write because I don't like her character at all right now, so I try my best for my readers to find her unlikeable as well. 😂 And thank you! I'd love to talk to youu, I sent you a note on deviantart a little bit ago~ 💓💓💓
Mad Hat Dragon: Bless I'm glad, here's your update! ❤
NunyaBeeswaxNosy, GoAwayAndDontAsk, and WorkingOnIt: I have the feeling that you're all the same person. But sorry for taking so long, school and other stresses have kept me very busy lately. Here's your update, I hope you enjoy! ❤❤
Chapter Two
The next morning, the deputy, Flashstorm, was assigning patrols.
"For the hunting patrol… Morningcloud, Rabbitstalk, and Peachsong!" the ginger tabby tom meowed, pointing at each individual warrior with his tail.
Amberflower resisted the urge to scowl as she saw Morningcloud's face light up in admiration at Peachsong's name. Rabbitstalk also seemed excited, although he was more calm about it. Peachsong stood up proudly with a purr and then led the two warriors out of camp.
The golden tabby looked back at Flashstorm, digging her claws into the dirt. She hoped to go on a hunting patrol as well and bring back a better catch than her sister.
"The border patrol will be… Suntail, Amberflower, and Maplethorn!" Flashstorm meowed, once again pointing his tail at the cats he called.
Amberflower's tail drooped dejectedly. I wish we didn't have to patrol our borders…. She'd have to hunt sometime later if she wanted to prove her worth to the Clan.
Suntail and Maplethorn appeared by her side, startling her out of her thoughts. "We're ready when you are, Amberflower," Suntail meowed, shuffling his paws awkwardly.
Amberflower nodded, shaking out her golden tabby pelt. Maplethorn took the lead, padding out of camp.
The moor grass was damp underneath her paws, distracting her. Apparently, the morning dew hadn't dried up yet. Amberflower scrunched her face up every time her paw pads got wet, attempting to shake off the drops of water every step.
"Leaf-fall is approaching, so the dew won't dry as fast," Maplethorn meowed to her, amusement glittering in her green eyes. "So it's better for you to finally get used to it."
Amberflower licked her chest fur, embarrassment flooding through her. Even as an apprentice, she hadn't liked the dew on the moor grass during the morning. She briefly remembered that Peachsong had adapted quickly to it and struggled to hide a jealous frown.
"We should probably mark the Twolegplace border," Suntail remarked, his tail-tip twitching. "We don't want any kittypets on our territory."
Amberflower felt even more upset at the mention of kittypets. "Silverstar told me that kittypets aren't a threat to us," she meowed as calmly as possible. "If they get to our camp, we'll deal with them accordingly."
Suntail tilted his head. "Really? …Well, let's just mark ThunderClan's border then."
Maplethorn frowned quizzically. "Silverstar's never had a problem with us marking the Twolegplace border before. In fact, we usually mark it regularly."
"I'm just telling you what she told me." Amberflower shuffled her paws, staring at the grass. It was true that Silverstar had never cared much about it before. Was it because she had been the one to walk into her den? Perhaps Silverstar wished that Peachsong had told her instead, the golden tabby thought bitterly, unconsciously unsheathing her claws.
"Well, if she doesn't want us to mark it, then we should listen to her," Suntail meowed, glancing in the direction of ThunderClan territory. "Let's just go mark the border and hurry back to camp."
As the three cats continued towards the ThunderClan border, Amberflower felt her stomach growl. Maplethorn and Suntail turned to look at her and she stopped, an embarrassed look crossing her face.
"Do you think maybe we could hunt before returning back to camp?" the golden tabby asked, feeling silly. She had completely forgotten to eat fresh-kill when she had woken up today. She had been too focused on how to prove that she was better than her sister.
"You can wait," Suntail responded, amusement dancing in his eyes. "This won't take very long, I promise."
Amberflower let out a sigh, her stomach rumbling once more. I guess I could wait… but I also wanted to catch something better than Peachsong.
After a few moments, the three cats arrived at the ThunderClan border. Maplethorn volunteered to mark the border. After she finished, the patrol turned to walk away when suddenly a meow was heard.
Amberflower turned around, spotting three other cats walking towards the border. She tensed, recognizing Juniperfrost, the ThunderClan deputy, and Leafwhisker and Acornpelt, ThunderClan warriors.
"Hello, WindClan," Juniperfrost greeted, waving her fluffy tail at the patrol. She had always been a friendly and respectful cat, which must have been why Willowstar had chosen her as deputy.
"ThunderClan." Maplethorn nodded respectfully, and Suntail and Amberflower did the same. "We were just marking the border. We'll be on our way now."
"We're here to mark the border as well," Acornpelt meowed, staring at the WindClan cats warily. "I hope you didn't mark any of our territory."
"Of course not!" Suntail glared at the brown tom, his fur fluffing up slightly.
Maplethorn rested her tail on his shoulder. "We didn't take anything. Now, as I said, we'll be leaving now," she meowed curtly, dipping her head.
With that, the three WindClan warriors turned away. Amberflower glanced over her shoulder and saw the other warriors staring at them as they left, their eyes narrowed. Her fur bristled angrily and she lashed her tail, turning her gaze back to the moor. ThunderClan had always left a bad taste in her mouth.
"Do you think we should report that to Silverstar?" Amberflower asked her companions. Maybe it'd be helpful in proving herself to her.
"No, they're just mouse-hearted ThunderClan cats," Maplethorn hissed under her breath, glaring over her shoulder. "They didn't attack us, so I don't think it's relevant."
Amberflower's tail drooped slightly. "Oh, alright."
As the camp came into sight below the slope, the golden tabby suddenly heard loud barking. She jumped, whipping around to the source, and felt her heart freeze. A huge dog was barreling towards them, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.
Suntail drew himself up, swiping his claws at the dog as soon as it got to them. It let out a whimper, shaking its head before lunging at the white warrior. He tried to dodge but the dog's teeth sunk into his tail, causing him to let out a yowl of pain.
"I'll get help!" Maplethorn meowed, bringing Amberflower back to the present. The tortoiseshell dashed back to camp immediately.
Amberflower unsheathed her claws, jumping into the fray. She slashed the dog's face, causing it to whine in pain. It let go of Suntail's tail, giving him momentum to whip around and bite its nose. The dog sneezed, grabbing its nose with its paw, but it still wasn't deterred.
This time, it lunged towards Amberflower, jaws snapping. She jumped back, immediately swiping her claws at its face. Suntail appeared by her side, hissing and attacking with her.
Suddenly, the dog swiped a large paw at Amberflower, knocking her to the side. She gasped, winded as she landed on the still wet grass. She lifted her head blearily to see Suntail on the dog's back, digging his claws in. The dog shook him off and he landed hard on the ground.
I have to do something…! Suntail might die by himself…!
Just as Amberflower struggled to her paws, she heard a yowl. She turned around and spotted cats—WindClan warriors—running towards them, their eyes bright with the thrill of battle. She spotted Peachsong among them, and felt a sudden rush of adrenaline pound through her. I have to do better than her!
Amberflower leaped towards the dog, jumping on its back. She dug her claws in deeply, hissing as it tried to shake her off. Ravenstrike leaped up next to her, helping her drag the dog down to the ground. Yes!
Suddenly, Peachsong appeared in front of the dog, hissing and spitting. She lashed a paw at the dog's eyes, and it let out a howl of pain. It stood up, shaking Amberflower and Ravenstrike off immediately. The two cats landed with a thud!, but they were mostly unharmed by it.
Peachsong kept dealing blows to the big dog until it had finally had enough. With blood in its eyes, the dog turned tail and fled towards Twolegplace, whimpering the whole way.
Amberflower took deep breaths, relieved that the dog was gone at last. "We did it…!" she gasped. She was numbly away of a gash on her side from when the dog swung at her.
"Is everyone alright?" Peachsong asked; she was looking everyone over, her fluffy tail flitting from side to side.
"You chased the dog off, Peachsong!" Suntail was staring up at the tortoiseshell and white she-cat, admiration glittering in his amber eyes.
"You saved us," Maplethorn meowed in agreement, smiling warmly at the other warrior.
Amberflower felt disgust curl in her heart, and she resisted the urge to scowl. It wasn't just Peachsong! Me, Suntail, and Ravenstrike all worked just as hard to chase that dog off! Why is she getting all the credit?
"Of course, darlings~! I couldn't let a dog threaten my beloved WindClan." Peachsong purred, soaking in the praise.
Amberflower got to her paws, ignoring the pain in her side. She couldn't sit here and listen to her sister get all the admiration and love as usual. She stalked off in anger.
Ravenstrike noticed that she was leaving and got to his paws as well, rushing to catch up with her. "What's wrong?" he asked her, confusion glowing in his eyes. "Don't you think Peachsong did a good job?"
"Of course she did," Amberflower meowed, struggling to hide her jealousy and anger. She looked away from him, her fur bristling slightly. "She always does."
Ravenstrike frowned, but didn't question her anymore. He looked onwards towards camp, matching her step.
Amberflower glanced up at the sky, seeing the sun still high. Peachsong saved the day. She felt her fur prickle, frowning. Silverstar would probably praise her sister as always, and then say nothing about her. About anyone.
I won't let this ever happen again. Next time, I will be better than Peachsong. And…. Amberflower dug her claws into the dirt. I will prove my worth to everyone in WindClan.
Aaand that's the end of the chapter! I was very happy to introduce all the new characters, even though they aren't too important at the moment! I want to draw all of the characters, but that'd take a very long time;; so far I only have Amberflower finished, oops. 😂 I'll probably end up posting them on instagram or deviantart, which are stripepaw and DuchessOrange respectively!
QOTD: What's your opinion of the cats that were introduced this chapter?
That's all for now! This chapter was difficult to finish quickly because of school, like I've said before, so please keep that in mind if an update takes too long. Have a good day/afternoon/night!
~ Orangeflight of ShadowClan