TO LET YOU KNOW, IF I USE HUMAN TERMS, IT IS FOR YOU, SO YOU CAN KNOW IN MORE DETAIL. Yes, they would not have known about lap dogs and what not, but it is for you, so you can understand better. Thankyou.
You guys rock, really.
I do love the reviews, yes, all of them! I love ya'll!
Hey, I know my grammar was really bad last time! I did type that really late at night, on a school night. That is how much I love ya! I sacrificed my self that night, even if it wasn't that good.
Hey, btw, this is going to be awesome hopefully, because of Jaggedwing's idea! Thank you, and hallelujah!
Oh, and we can't go to Jayfeather till next time! Sorry, next chappie though we will!
Stupid thorn.
Hollyleaf was on her way to the medicine cat den. She had pricked her paw on a thorn moments ago, and it was almost time to go to the gathering. She silently cursed herself for getting to close to the rose bush outside of camp. Did she have to go smell it just now?
The whole day it had been snowing, heavier every minute. It had let up to almost nothing in the past few sun-movements, but flurries still came down a bit. Hollyleaf sighed, and shivered in the recent cold.
But she hobbled in anyways, and she saw Jayfeather, who was alone. She scented a bit of Hazeltail, but didn't make any remarks. She had not cared for a while anyways. It was his choice, not hers. She was going to focus on her Clan, her future kits, and Mousewhisker.
"Jayfeather," She said, "Can you get this thorn out of my pad? I don't want to walk on it all night."
"Sure," Jayfeather shrugged, going over to his sister, "Which pad?"
Hollyleaf held out her front right paw, and she felt Jayfeather grip onto it. It was out in seconds, and she didn't feel a thing.
"Stay here while I go get something to make sure it doesn't get infected." Hollyleaf nodded, and Jayfeather disappeared, only to reappear seconds later. He had chewed up leaves in his mouth, and he put them on her paw. It stung a little bit, but nothing she couldn't handle.
"Thanks," She said, putting her paw down, "That feels better."
"Yeah," Jayfeather said, sounding distracted, as he had for the past week. Ever since the border fight with WindClan, he had been very distracted.
"What is it Jayfeather?" Hollyleaf asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," He said, "But I just can't help but wonder if Lionblaze is okay. He has been so quiet lately, it makes me worry. Is he really over Heathertail?"
"Jayfeather, don't even go there," Hollyleaf snapped at her brother, surprising herself, "I've told you, I took care of that."
"But it hurt Mousewhisker. You doing that hurt him. Heathertail slashed him up so bad last week, doesn't that bother you at all Hollyleaf?" Jayfeather's sightless eyes were desperate for her to grasp this, "Doesn't your power bother you?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused, "My power is the most powerful of all. I mean, yeah, you can practically read minds, Lionblaze can fight like a tiger, but what about me?! I have the most powerful power of all! I can twist minds to do what I want!"
"Exactly," Jayfeather said in an infuriating calm voice, "What I mean."
Hollyleaf didn't want to be mad at her brother. In fact, she didn't even think it was a good idea. If Jayfeather was mad at you, you would not be very happy. He could make you miserable by just looking at him.
"Don't you think that your power has affected too many cats?" Jayfeather said, trying to explain the concept to her, "First, you make Heathertail not love Lionblaze. That crushed him. Then, you make him love Cinderheart. We know he really doesn't, but you made him think so. Now, she won't love any other cat. And since Heathertail doesn't love Lionblaze, she couldn't care less for our clan. That's why they attacked. They did that all because of you. Dustpelt was maimed, Mousefur died, and Mousewhisker was torn up, because of you. Please try to grasp that!" He pleaded, his eyes widening.
Hollyleaf stood there in shock. Her brother thought that this was all her fault? How could he?
"Should I not trust Lionblaze then?" She questioned. Mousewhisker had not let her be anywhere near her brother for the past week or so. He had always found a way to get away from him, finding excuses to leave from his presence. It started to bug Hollyleaf, but she said nothing.
"I don't think so," Jayfeather said, "He hasn't done anything, yet."
The yet part of that sent a shiver down Hollyleaf's spine. Her brother was known to be violent, and probably could, and would, end up killing someone sooner or later.
"Let's just forget about it," Jayfeather finally sighed, "Leaf-bare is almost here, so we must help the Clan. You need to be a warrior, and I need to be the medicine cat. Different coughs always go around, and I need to prepare. You need to help hunt and protect us. Now, let's go to a gathering."
He brushed past Hollyleaf, out to the camp. Hollyleaf sighed, and she followed him.
Mousewhisker came up to Hollyleaf's side. She purred, but it wobbled a bit. Mousewhisker noticed it by tensing his body a bit, but said nothing. He just licked her head, and guided her down the slopes, down to where the assembled cats were. Hollyleaf saw that Crowfeather and Leafpool were not going, along with Ashfur. Hollyleaf noticed him looking at her, then to Thornclaw, and he winked at her. (we are saying they can wink. Cats in my story are special.)
Hollyleaf blinked at Ashfur but did nothing to acknowledge him further. She concentrated on walking down the rocks, trying not to think about Thornclaw's deep blue eyes.
Hollyleaf saw that Birchfall was coming out of the nursery. Whitewing's kits were getting bigger everyday, and they had opened their eyes already. Echokit had silvery blue eyes, as did her brother Frozenkit. Wildkit had yellow eyes, and Moonkit had dark amber eyes. Hollyleaf thought that they were the cutest little things she had ever seen.
When they got down to the assembled cats, Lionblaze came up to them. Mousewhisker flinched a bit, but said nothing.
"Mousewhisker," Lionblaze said apologetically, "I didn't mean to let that happen. I froze up okay? I-I have had some bad…experiences with Heathertail before, and I just…well I froze up. Please forgive me."
Mousewhisker's eyes danced with thought. Should he forgive Lionblaze? Hollyleaf noticed his tail go down and brush across the scar that was starting to form. It would remain there for his whole life, but that's not what he remarked,
"Lionblaze, I have often had my eyes on you. I don't know why, but I always felt uneasy around you. Kind of…uncomfortable, might I say. Just the way you could fight and not get hurt, the way you could keep going when everybody else was down…it scared me. But now I know. You are dangerous. You should not be trusted easily. But…fine. I will trust you enough to be around Hollyleaf. Even though she is your sister, I don't think that it would be wise for her to be around you. I have pity for Cinderheart." With that, he moved away, his tail on Hollyleaf's shoulder. She gave an apologetic glance at Lionblaze before they departed, and he looked deep in thought.
Hollyleaf heard Firestar call out that they should be on the move, and all the assembled cats began to walk through the forest. Hollyleaf saw all who was going. Foxfury and Icesong were going the first time as warriors. They had cleaned their coats until they shone in the moonlight. Toadpaw tread near Lionblaze, but he was talking with Rosepaw. Thornclaw was up near Firestar, with Jayfeather behind him. They were all talking, and Hollyleaf wished that she knew what about. She saw Brightheart and Cloudtail walking behind them, talking to Birchfall. Hazeltail was off towards the side, talking with Honeyfern and Berrynose. Hollyleaf just noticed how big Honeyfern was. She must have been pregnant with kits for a while without telling Berrynose. She was probably going to have kits in a moon or less! Hollyleaf wouldn't be having hers for about two moons, along with Hazeltail.
When they reached the WindClan border, Hollyleaf could tell that Mousewhisker was uneasy. He didn't want to be over there, but it was the quickest way. Plus, ShadowClan would not appreciate Thunderclan going across their land.
Hollyleaf didn't see a single WindClan cat the whole time while they were walking, but she thought she smelled them up ahead. They must have left earlier that ThunderClan.
Hollyleaf jumped nimbly onto the log when she reached it. It was a bit slippery from that day's snow, but nothing too bad. She dug her claws into the tree to make sure that she didn't fall.
She jumped down and went to find a place that she could sit with Mousewhisker that wasn't too covered in snow. When she finally found a spot, she and Mousewhisker huddled together.
Hollyleaf noticed that when Jayfeather sat down, Willowshine came and started talking to him. He looked very uncomfortable, and he left her in mid-sentence, going to sit by Hazeltail. Willowshine saw him twine her tail with his for a moment, and she left, looking hurt. Hollyleaf wondered if Jayfeather knew anything about that.
Since ThunderClan was the last one to arrive, the gathering started when Firestar leaped up into the trees. Blackstar cleared his throat, and everyone looked up at him,
"We have been prosperous in ShadowClan. Prey has been running well for Leaf-Bare, and we have two new apprentices, Yellowpaw and Crackedpaw. Snowbird has had her kits, who are Mudkit and Hawkkit."
Cheers from ShadowClan went up as he mentioned the two apprentices, and Hollyleaf noticed two small cats looked down in embarrassment,
"Also," Blackstar added, "We have a new warrior. She is not from the Clans, but she holds great knowledge about our ways, and I have agreed to let her join us," He pointed down to a black she cat who's dark blue eyes shone with pride, "This is Shadowstreak." (Like the name? thought I might name her like me. And do you see anything yet?)
Blackstar sat down, nodding to Mistyfoot to start,
"Leopardstar has died," Mistyfoot said sadly, "I went to Moonpool after the medicine cats and I received my leader name." The other leaders congratulated her while cheers came up again, "My deputy is Blackclaw."
Some cat in the back called out, "But there is already a Blackstar!" Blackclaw, hearing this, snarled, turning around for the cat who said that.
Mistystar turned to look at the cat who called out, "I have just received my nine lives, and I don't plan on losing them anytime soon, thank you." She turned back to the other cats, finishing her news, "There was a sickness in our camp, and it not only took the life of Leopardstar, but the lives of all our elders, Grasskit, Sneezepaw and Mallowpaw. But, like ShadowClan, we have also had a cat join us. He comes from far away, seeking a place with little corruption. His name is now Riverflame." Mistystar sat down after her news. Hollyleaf saw a long haired silver tom with bright green eyes. Mistystar looked at Onestar for him to go. He stood up, and looked down at the cats,
"WindClan has been strong. Nightcloud was mangled by dogs, but we have two new warriors, Swallownose and Sunwhisker. Owlwhisker also died." Very few cheers came out of the WindClan cats, as if some were not approving this. Hollyleaf recalled that those two apprentices were still pretty young, only about a moon and a half older than Toadpaw and Rosepaw.
Onestar nodded to end the little yowls and he spoke up again, "Barkface has died, and our new medicine cat is Kestrelthroat. Barkface died in no pain, just old age. We hope that he will be at peace in StarClan, and bless us." With that he sat down, not acknowledging for Firestar to go. He stood, but did not look at the brown tom,
"ThunderClan has been very good. We have to new warriors, Foxfury and Icesong," More cheers, "And two apprentices, Toadpaw and Rosepaw. Whitewing has had four kits known as Wildkit, Frozenkit, Echokit and Moonkit. We have two pregnant she-cats, Hazeltail and Hollyleaf." All the cats whose name was mentioned looked down when Firestar called their names. Hollyleaf held her head high, being fine with be told about.
"Also," Firestar continued, "WindClan have been bothering us. They raided our camp, and tried to take our territory," Angry yowls came from both WindClan and ThunderClan, and Firestar spoke over them, "Onestar, please explain why you did so."
The brown tom jumped up at Firestar's words, "What else? We are almost starving! We need more territory than any other Clan! Half of the reason Barkface died was to malnutrition! He with the rest of the clan wasn't getting enough to eat! What else can we do?!"
Firestsar glared coldly at his former friend, "There is much. You could stop stuffing your faces every chance you get. Don't think that I haven't noticed how big some of your cats are." He stole a look down at Ashfoot, who was looking a bit on the big side, "And no wonder your medicine cat would give himself to his clan, making one less mouth to feed."
"SHUT UP KITTYPET!" Onestar roared, "Don't tell me how to run my clan. I am a tad smarter than you might think you stupid, fox-dunged mouse-brain!"
"Look at the sky!" It was Littlecloud who called out, "There are clouds over the moon! StarClan doesn't approve!"
Hollyleaf looked up and sure enough, there were clouds. Onestar realized his mistake, and he sat, though his fur still was fluffed out. He didn't look happy, but he was calmer.
"I'm sorry for that outburst Firestar," Onestar said, "But I'm still not very ecstatic."
Firestar nodded, and he finished his business, "There has been a dog pack wandering around in the woods. These are the same dogs that killed Nightcloud. They have been a problem, but nothing we can't handle. WindClan should be cautious; they have gone back and forth across the border. Brambleclaw died from a high fall," Many cats gasped, but Firestar continued, "During the WindClan raid, Dustpelt fell off of the top of our camp, crushing his legs. He is now one of our elders, and Mousefur was killed. Thornclaw is my new deputy."
Grim cheers came up since they were just reminded of the tragic moon that had taken place, but Thornclaw held his head up high, a beam for his clan,
"Other than that I have no business, this meeting may end." Firestar jumped down from the trees, and flicked his tail, "ThunderClan, let's move."
Thornclaw immediately got up at started to get everyone too their feet. Hollyleaf stood, and then helped Mousewhisker. His winced slightly from the pain on his underbelly, but he shook it off. They followed after Brightheart and Cloudtail off of the log, and into the WindClan territory. RiverClan followed them, with ShadowClan at their heels. Only WindClan remained, with Onestar staring maliciously down at the ThunderClan cats.
Hollyleaf looked away from Onestar, feeling small and insignificant in his gaze. Firestar had once been good friends with the tom, but that had been too far back for Hollyleaf to know.
Hollyleaf hadn't noticed that Lionblaze came up to her, and was leaning into her ear. Mousewhisker said nothing, but quickened his pace to meet his sister's.
"Hollyleaf," Lionblaze said quietly, "I don't know if you have been planning anything but please, don't do anything to make Onestar at peace with us. It could end badly." Hollyleaf hadn't thought about that. But she could make the clans at peace, and anyone who tried to fight them. She could bring peace to everywhere.
"Wait, why?" Hollyleaf asked, "I could bring peace to the lake. No fighting, no border fights."
Lionblaze sighed, "Look, StarClan can't control what we do. If a battle is meant to happen, it should. Don't you trust me?" He said, expressing his thoughts in his eyes. They were large and amber, begging for trust. Hollyleaf sighed,
"I have to. We have to remain strong to get through this storm. We will survive." Lionblaze flinched at her words, but said nothing.
What is with him? Hollyleaf asked herself, he asked for my trust, and he flinches away like I'm some enemy.
She didn't say anything about it, feeling awkward, "Well…that was some gathering, huh?" She said, trying to change topics. Lionblaze's eyes lit up slightly.
"Yeah, it was. Toadpaw looked happy about being announced by Firestar. He told me that Sunwhisker shouldn't be a warrior yet. He didn't start much sooner than Toadpaw. That's why WindClan wasn't all that happy with them being warriors."
"Why did Onestar do that then?" Hollyleaf asked. Lionblaze shrugged,
"I think he wants to appear strong to other clans. They are starving over there," They had passed into ThunderClan territory now, and Hollyleaf felt better already. The open moors of WindClan made her feel like they could be attacked at any moment, "Plus he was beating in two fights. That might make his dignity fall, but announcing warriors makes anyone feel proud."
Hollyleaf's mind settled onto the two new warriors from ShadowClan and RiverClan. They were….Shadowstreak and Riverflame, the dark black she-cat with blue eyes and the silvery tom with striking green eyes.
"What about those two new cats? From ShadowClan and RiverClan?" She asked. Lionblaze thought about this for a moment. They were almost to the camp, only a few steps out of the trees and they would be there,
"Well…It is strange for them to let in non-clan cats, but remember Sol? ShadowClan let him in, but only because of his knowledge of the darkness. These cats know our code and stuff. They might have a right for being here."
Hollyleaf nodded, "Maybe they are some kind of descendant from a Clan cat or something. That could be why they know so much."
Lionblaze shrugged again, "I don't know. Maybe more will be revealed to us as time goes on." He nodded to Hollyleaf and ran into the camp, going to find Cinderheart to tell her what happened. Hollyleaf followed, going to look for Mousewhisker.
When Hollyleaf went inside the camp, she heard a few cats snarling. She ran up to the Highledge where Firestar was standing in front of a cat that Hollyleaf had never seen before. Ashfur, Sandstorm, Graystripe and Thornclaw were all standing around the unknown cat. She wondered why all of Firestar's oldest and strongest cats would all be up here at one time.
She walked up behind Graystripe and tapped him on the shoulder, "What's going on?" She asked. He turned his head slightly back towards her,
"We found this guy out in the forest wandering around. He said that he was looking for Firestar, but we told him he was gone at the moment. He didn't react very nicely so we brought him back here. He's a fighter." Hollyleaf saw a small scratch above Graystripe's nose. It didn't look deep, but painful when he was hit.
"So what does he want?" Hollyleaf asked, confused. Graystripe shrugged,
"Won't say. Hey, will you stay here and help watch him? I need to go see Millie." Hollyleaf nodded,
"Sure. Go ahead. But if you see Mousewhisker, tell him I'm up here." Graystripe thanked her and left, leaving her to stand, watching the huge tom.
Indeed he was very large, bigger than Lionblaze. (Which must be saying something I hope) His fur was a dark flaming golden orange color. He looked a lot like Firestar, but his eyes were amber, and his paws were white. He looked at Firestar, and opened his jaws to speak, revealing several sharp looking teeth,
"I am Thunder, and I request to join your clan." Hollyleaf looked at the strange tom, seeing his pearly white teeth, like thorns. He turned to her and smiled.
Hollyleaf didn't know why, but she didn't trust this cat. Something in the look he gave her made her think he didn't either.
Hey did you guys like it?
THis chapter was mostly filler, so sorry if it was boring. The next chapter gets good.
You guys held out on reviews last time, so I hope you do better this time. I only got nine last time. Give me....12. Let's say that!
Hey, leave me a review for ideas of what to do next! I want to please ya'll so tell me what you need.