Sorry for that really long Author's Note last chapter.
As of earlier today, no one has gotten the contest right. Keep trying!
Cinderstar: I'm getting bored. Snowstar left for vacation so now I have no one to fight.
Heather: You can fight meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Cinderstar: AUGHH! *Hides in emo corner
Heather: ?
Hoppaw's POV
Hoppaw woke up on dawn. Ugh... I'm not even on the dawn patrol... why am I up so early?
Heaving himself out of the den, Hoppaw padded to the fresh kill pile.
Mouse, squirrel, or vole... mouse. Grabbing the furry gray body with his jaws, Hoppaw quickly devoured it.
When he was done, Hoppaw noticed Yellowstar pad out of his den and over to Sageclaw and the other new warriors sitting vigil. "You can talk now. Let me show you to your den."
The three toms nodded and followed the Thunderclan leader to the Warriors den.
Hoppaw's paws itched for training now that he was full of food. Where's Patchfur? His mentor was really nice and all, but wasn't always avaiable- Patchfur was always hunting or doing whatever with Muskrat.
Then Patchfur and Whitepelt walked from the apprentice's den- for reasons Hoppaw didn't know- and then to him.
"Hoppaw, your going on a hunting patrol with Whitepelt and I", Patchfur mewed.
Hoppaw nodded. "Okay!"
Passing the dawn patrol on the way out of camp, Hoppaw saw Gracepaw trudging behind them, eyes tired. She hates dawn patrols... I'm not surprised she looks so tired.
"What do you scent, Hoppaw?" Patchfur asked his apprentice in a low tone- probably because they were in a prey-rich spot and didn't want to disturb the prey.
Until we catch it, Hoppaw thought, grinning.
"Um, oak and ferns... and in the ferns, there's a small mouse, I guess," Hoppaw replied as he sniffed
"Then catch it," the young warrior ordered.
Hoppaw stalked forward, leaping at the last moment. Crushing the ferns, he heard a squeak and padded out of the bushes, a small mouse in his jaws.
"Good job!" Patchfur praised. "You did well."
Later
At sunhigh, when they returned to camp, Hoppaw had loads of prey. He'd caught the mouse, two voles, and a huge squirrel. Patchfur had a rabbit and Whitepelt had three mice she was holding by the tails.
"Wow, Hoppaw, you got a bunch of prey!" Gracepaw exclaimed. Now Hoppaw noticed that she looked better, as if she had caught up on sleep.
"Thanks, Gracepaw. How was the dawn patrol?" Hoppaw asked.
"Oh- good. Nothing happened. Nothing at all." Gracepaw replied casually.
Hoppaw shrugged and dropped his prey on the fresh kill pile. Then, as he was called for yet another hunting patrol stocking up for leaf-bare, he called over Jumppaw to come with them too.
Maybe soon I can get some real training... but for now, this will have to be good enough.
Jumppaw's POV
Jumppaw was just scraping dust over his remains of his meal- a vole- when Hoppaw called over him to go on a hunting patrol.
To stock up for leaf-bare, I'm guessing, Jumppaw thought. He followed his brother, Beetlenose, and Muskrat out of camp and to the abandoned Twoleg nest.
"Jumppaw- vole!" Hoppaw hissed to him.
Jumppaw nodded and raced over to the small creature, slamming his paws over it and killing it. Yes...
Just then, there was a rustle in the bushes next to him and another vole scrambled out, fleeing. Jumppaw ran after it, but Hoppaw was faster, trapping and kill it.
"Your fast, Hoppaw!" Jumppaw mewed in awe.
Hoppaw faced him. "Thanks!" he replied.
Beetlenose tipped his head to the side. "Is that a crow on that log over there?" the black warrior asked.
Jumppaw glanced at a rotten log and saw a bird hopping around on it. "Yeah, that is!"
Beetlenose narrowed his eyes. "My kill," he growled.
Jumppaw stared at Beetlenose as the tom quickly climbed a tree. What is he doing?
"What's he doing?" Hoppaw echoed his thoughts. Jumppaw shrugged. "I don't know."
Beetlenose hopped to an ash tree, then a maple, until he was right over the crow. Then Beetlenose launched himself down and onto the crow.
The crow called out in alarm but it was too late- Beetlenose had caught it. There was a small snap and the crow fell limp.
"That was great, Beetlenose!" Muskrat yelled to the black Thunderclan warrior.
"Thank you, I learned it from hunting in Twoleg place- that's where I grew up," Beetlenose told the rest of the patrol through the crow's feathers, though it sounded like "Bank poo, Pi veanred it bum munting in Fooleg wace- fat's where I grew pup."
Jumppaw let out a snort of amuesment as he picked up his vole, Hoppaw doing the same with his. They were starting to go to the Shadowclan border when Jumppaw heard a yowl.
"Thunderclan- to camp! Meeting!"
Amberpaw's POV(I'm pretty sure it's her turn, right?)
Half-hour before
Grasslace was showing Amberpaw a clump of marigold. "And that's how you find it," the old medicine cat finished.
Amberpaw nodded. "Thanks Grasslace- I'll keep my eye out for it." She tore off a little of the marigold. "I'll bring this back to camp for our store- we used a lot of it from the battle yesterday."
Grasslace also took some. "You are right."
Amberpaw led the way to where mallow grew- they were low on that too. After taking some, Grasslace pointed out where comfrey grew.
"And what do we use comfrey for?" Grasslace tested.
"Err- broken and stiff bones. It helps heal it and softens the pain," Amberpaw recited.
"Good. Take some and then we can go back to camp." Grasslace instructed.
After doing as she was told to do, it was Amberpaw's turn to follow her mentor instead of the other way around like before.
Grasslace is a good mentor, but how long will it be until she retires and I get my full name? She didn't like not having someone to help her and teach her, but at the same time, Lighfur was getting lonely in the warrior's den.
"Now, next to this comfrey is catmint," Grasslace went on. "Catmint is very rare but can cure even the most deadly black cough- you do know what that is, right?"
Amberpaw replied, "of course. We are getting some for Lightfur, aren't we? I heard her coughing a little yesterday, before the battle."
"Yes, Lightfur has white cough. We also need some for leaf-bare, as that's when most cats get sick."
"Okay!" Amberpaw chirped as she bit off a few stems of the precious catmint.
"I think we have enough herbs for now- why don't you take it back to camp and come back to we can collect more mallow and marigold. We don't want to take too much catmint, or else the plant could die." Grasslace told her apprentice.
Nodding and racing back to camp, Amberpaw soon found herself in the medicine cat den, putting the herbs back, and suddenly back to where her mentor was waiting.
"Wow, Amberpaw- you are very fast. That will come in handy someday, if a cat is injured and you have to get to them as fast as you can."
"Okay, Grasslace," Amberpaw mewed.
Then Mudwing skidded into the clearing they were in. "Thunderclan- to camp! Meeting!"
Sorry, that part was a little of a filler so I could skip to Lilypaw's POV without actually skipping over Amberpaw. Does that make any sense? XD
But yeah, Amberpaw is worried about Grasslace's health.
Lilypaw's POV
Present Time
"Thunderclan- to camp! Meeting!"
Lilypaw, who was resting, was woken up by Mudwing's call.
Yellowstar has a meeting! She thought,and ears pricked, she shot out of the apprentice's den to find out what it was.
"Cats of Thunderclan," Yellowstar had begun to say, "What should we do about Windclan? Yesterday was a frightful day, as Vinestar may declare war on us.. as she already has. In good news, we have taken the river back, so now both clans can drink there."
The whole clan cheered happily.
"Also, another rouge would like to join- her name is Ginger." Yellowstar continued. "Since we need new warriors, she will join. And don't say that other clans will look on us as weak- Windclan and Shadowclan are bringing in cats."
The leader beckoned with his tail to a dark ginger she-cat with emerald eyes, who padded over nervously. "Ginger, do you promise to uphold the warriot code, even at the cost of your life?"
"I-i do," Ginger mewed.
"Then by the powers of Starclan, you are now Gingerheart. Thunderclan honors your kindness and coruage, and welcomes you as a warrior."
After the clan called out her name, Lilypaw saw a small tom in the clearing- Thrushpaw- walk over to her. "Hi Lilypaw," he meowed. "Want to come hunting with me?"
Surprised, Lilypaw followed the apprentice out of camp and into the forest. "Why me?" she asked as the walked.
"Well, I wanted to make some friends here, and I noticed that you were also the nervous type- like me- so I decided that we could be good friends." Thrushpaw replied. "I'm a little surprised that you agreed, though."
"Me two."
The two apprentices walked in silence until Thrushpaw caught a mouse.
"Good job!" Lilypaw praised. Thrushpaw's ears grew red.
"I was just lucky, that's all," he said through the mouse's fur when he picked it up. "Mice are easy to catch."
"Yeah.. have you caught a squirrel before?" Lilypaw prompted. There was something about Thrushpaw- maybe because he was a little like her- that made it easy to talk to him.
"Nope, I'm too slow."
"Well, if you sneak up on them like this..." Lilypaw started to explain how to catch a squirrel, and then rabbit, and soon they were playfighting, like Lilypaw used to do as a kit in the nursery.
Lilypaw has a friend! You know how Amberpaw's friend is Gorgebreeze, Firepaw's is Sageclaw, Gracepaw's is Rockpaw, and Jumppaw is boring so I don't have anyone for him? Well, Lilypaw has a friend now! And Hoppaw's friend is everyone. :)
Does anyone see such thing as ThrushXLily? I'm not sure if I do but...
Tell me in the reviews!
Do my poll! Do my contest! Send in a cat! Read OoTwistedoO!
Snowstar: Jeez...that's a lot of stuff to do...
Cinderstar: And when will you post my story? Everyone wants to hear about me and Foxclaw! And my kits! Berrykit, Shadowkit, come herreeeee!
Berrykit/Shadowkit: AUGH! NO MOM NO!
Read and Review please!