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Here's what you have been waiting for, the next chapter! (I hope you have been!)

Chapter 4: Featherpaw

As Featherpaw had expected, Honeyfrost was horrified. When they returned, she ran across the clearing and sat down beside Crowtail. Now, the sun was setting and she was still sitting beside him. Sootsong, Smokesplash, Silverriver, and Stormshade were being kept in the apprentices' den, guarded by Petaldrop.

"Featherpaw, are you hurt?" Ivybreeze asked. She was still treating injuries from the battle, even though they had been back since sunhigh. Willowwind had broken a leg, and Doveheart had a neck wound, but other than that there were no serious injuries.

"Not really," Featherpaw replied. Some of her fur had been torn out, but she didn't have any scratches or bites.

"Go to sleep," Ivybreeze suggested. "It's been a hard day for everyone." Featherpaw nodded and padded to the elders' den, where she would be sleeping until Leafstar chose where to put the cats who were in the apprentices' den.

…

It had been two moons since the first battle. Every few days, there seemed to be bloodshed. Fawnlight and Mossfang had both died in the battles, and after the battle yesterday, Slatestorm and Rowanstem were very badly hurt. Featherpaw's new mentor was Sparrowheart and until Slatestorm was better, Mintpaw would be mentored by Petaldrop. The clan was getting smaller and smaller, and with so few warriors, Leafstar had given Sootsong, Smokesplash, Silverriver, and Stormshade permission to be full warriors of the clan once again, though some cats didn't trust them. It was almost leafbare and the clan was going hungry.

Now, Featherpaw carried her prey—a scrawny squirrel—back to camp. The lake was frozen, and they couldn't fish. "Featherpaw!" Silverriver called as she walked into camp. The silver she-cat was very friendly, as it turned out, and seemed to like LakeClan.

"Hi!" Featherpaw meowed, her voice muffled by the squirrel.

"Guess what?" Silverriver's eyes were glowing. "I'm expecting kits!"

"That's great!" Featherpaw purred. "If we need anything in this clan, it's more cats!" Willowwind was also expecting kits; they were Slatestorm's.

"True," Silverriver agreed. "Great StarClan, it seems like we lose a cat or two every battle!"

"Are you happy you joined LakeClan?" Featherpaw asked.

Silverriver nodded. "I've always loved the water. And I wasn't very close to my clan, so I don't have much of a problem fighting them," she explained. Wow! This cat really wasn't going to have a good life in OakClan! Featherpaw thought, surprised.

Featherpaw stepped toward the fresh-kill pile. "Got to go, bye!" she meowed, then dropped her catch and padded to Sparrowheart, who was eating a very small mouse.

He looked at the meager pile and sighed, "go out again, Featherpaw. For so early in leafbare, there's hardly any prey."

"Okay," Featherpaw sighed.

She left the camp again, this time finding a nest of sleeping mice. They were scrawny, but there were seven or eight, so if she caught something else, it would be a good amount. Before they knew what was happening, Featherpaw had killed all the mice. She scraped dirt over them and continued through the forest. Near the waterfall, she saw a small trout swimming in the lake. Yum! She thought. I didn't know there would be fish when it's so cold! The lake was very cold and even though she only had her paw in the water for a second, she felt it start to go numb. Dropping the trout, she started to lick her paw, and finally, it became warmer. Mouse-dung, I lost the trout! She thought. She padded back along the border, hoping to scent more prey.

Instead, she scented an OakClan patrol. Wanting to get away from the rival clan, she broke into a run. Unfortunately, she swerved the wrong way to avoid a bramble bush and ended up caught in brambles on OakClan territory.

"Hey! I scent LakeClan!" called a voice that sounded like Graypaw. I'm dead! Featherpaw thought, struggling to get free, but first the patrol found her.

"You're coming back to camp with us," Nettlestep growled, dragging her out of the bush. Featherpaw winced as his sharp claws dug into her skin.

"I'm sorry… it was an accident," she stammered. "I-I got stuck!"

"Tough," Dapplefall snarled. Featherpaw sighed and padded with the patrol back to the OakClan camp.

"What have we here?" Flamestar asked as soon as they walked in.

Nettlestep mewed, "We found her in our territory."

"I got stuck in a bramble bush!" Featherpaw protested, but a hard look from Flamestar silenced her.

"Lightmist!" he called to a light gray she-cat sitting nearby. "Put her in the small cave at the edge of camp and guard her."

"Yes, Flamestar," Lightmist muttered, trotting over to Featherpaw. "Come on," she sighed directing the black apprentice to the cave.

When they got there, Lightmist shoved Featherpaw into the cave and was silent for a while. Then she meowed, "You're Smokesplash's sister, aren't you?"

Featherpaw bristled. "I don't think that's any of your business. How do you know him?"

"I met him before Silverriver. He was supposed to choose me."

"Oh, well, Silverriver does seem much nicer than you, so I can see why he didn't." Featherpaw knew it was probably not good to provoke her guard like this, but she wanted to get a reaction from the hostile she-cat.

"If you want to get home alive, I would watch what you say," Lightmist growled, not looking at her. Sighing, Featherpaw closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.

…

Featherpaw had been in the OakClan camp for a day when her clan came to rescue her.

"LakeClan, attack!" Thunderstrike yowled. Featherpaw ran past her guard, who was Puddletail, and found her father.

"Featherpaw!" He gasped. "LakeClan, we've got her!" he yowled and the cats surged back out of the camp.

"How did you find me?" Featherpaw asked while they ran back to their territory.

Thunderstrike meowed, "Sparrowheart found your catch yesterday, and assumed you'd forgotten it and gone home. This morning, he went to get you from your den and you weren't there so we followed your trail to the OakClan camp and found you."

…

When they returned to the camp, every cat crowded around Featherpaw, asking her what the OakClan camp was like, if it was scary, if they hurt her, and lots of other things.

"Featherpaw!" Sparrowheart trotted out of the Warriors den. "You and Mintpaw are going to have a hunting assessment. Petaldrop and Mintpaw are waiting for us in the training clearing."

"Okay!" Featherpaw meowed excitedly. Since she had spent most of her time in OakClan sitting in the cave, she wasn't tired and wanted to stretch her legs, so she ran ahead of her mentor, out of camp. Soon, she got to the clearing, with Sparrowheart right behind her.

Petaldrop looked up at them. "Good, you're here," she meowed. "Sparrowheart, explain the rules to them."

Sparrowheart dipped his head to the older warrior. "You each need to catch four pieces of prey by sunset, so you have plenty of time if you use it wisely, and you must have two kinds of prey. For example, catching four mice doesn't pass." He paused to take a breath. "But if you catch four mice, just catch something else and you've passed with extra points! If you do well you can go to the gathering tonight. Start now," he finished. I really want to go to the gathering! Featherpaw thought.

Featherpaw trotted away from the clearing towards the StreamClan border. She was not going to risk being caught by OakClan again. Soon she picked up the scent of a water vole. Placing her paws down lightly, she walked closer to the border and saw the creature drinking water out of the stream. Not wanting to risk it hearing her, the gray tabby apprentice took a huge leap—leaps were something she was good at—and landed on the vole's back. She gave it a killing bite and carried it to the roots of a tree, where she would pick it up later. Then she caught a squirrel, which was surprisingly plump, and two more water voles.

Featherpaw looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, so she picked up everything she caught and walked back to the training clearing. Sparrowheart was there and his eyes lit up when he saw her prey.

"Good job!" he purred. "Looks like you'll go to the gathering."

…

Featherpaw wished Mintpaw was coming to the gathering with her, but her sister hadn't been able to find four pieces of prey and didn't pass. She had only one friend in the other clans, Breezepaw, and he would probably be a warrior soon, so it didn't matter. Graypaw and Streampaw were both in enemy clans.
Featherpaw looked around the clearing on the island. She saw Willowwind near the front, and decided to go over there. The leaders were just beginning when she sat down next to the tortoiseshell she-cat.

"Hi," Willowwind meowed.

"Hi," Featherpaw answered.

Leafstar spoke first. "Willowwind and Silverriver are expecting Slatestorm's and Smokesplash's kits," she began. Featherpaw saw Flamestar flinch at the mention of his daughter. "Despite the cold weather, we are finding enough prey." That was sort of true; every cat in LakeClan was thinner than they had been, but no cat went to bed without having eaten, so they were finding enough food.

"If you've finished," Flamestar growled, stepping forward on his branch. "Firespring is expecting Puddletail's kits and we, also, are finding plenty of food in the cold weather. That's all." Hmm, Featherpaw thought, doesn't he want to talk about how many of his cats are dying in the war? Even though every clan was losing cats, OakClan was currently the smallest clan.

Brackenstar spoke next. "Our apprentice, Jumppaw, has become a warrior and is now known as Jumpfern."

"Jumpfern! Jumpfern!" The clans cheered Jumpfern's name. The brown tabby tom was sitting on the opposite side of the clearing from Featherpaw and she was not able to see him.

"And we also have a new warrior, Breezeheart," Flowerstar meowed.

"Breezeheart! Breezeheart!" Featherpaw saw the black warrior duck his head, embarrassed.

Suddenly, two cats burst through the bracken into the clearing. "Ivybreeze!" It was Sootsong. "I think Slatestorm is dying!" Her voice was full of panic. Stormshade, who was with her, worked his claws into the ground anxiously.

Willowwind raced over to them, her eyes brimming with worry. Oh, Featherpaw realized. She's expecting Slatestorm's kits! What will she do if he dies? Please don't die, Slatestorm! Featherpaw prayed to StarClan. Ivybreeze ran after them and the four disappeared across the tree bridge.

I tried to delete that line, but it really likes being there, so my apologies.

Anyway, I've decided to start doing QOTC (Question Of The Chapter).

QOTC

Is Slatestorm going to die?

Also, if you read the allegiances update, you know that I have a lot of queens expecting kits. I need OC's. Please tell me full name, appearance and gender. There are going to be a lot of kits to name. If you are not okay with your cat dying, please tell me, but some of them will have to die, so try not to get too attached.

Finally, please review! I really appreciate every review I get! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D