The Renaissance - Book 2: Eclipse - Chapter 4
Chapter four is here and five will follow momentarily! This chapter and chapter five are relatively short. I'm expecting the journey to start up around seven or eight. This book will be about as long, or possibly a bit longer than book 1. Just trying to give you a good estimate. Dewpaw gets his warrior name in the next chapter! Are you excited? I am! I hope you like the names I've picked out for him and his siblings.
I don't own Warriors.
Chapter Four
Sunblaze proceeded to lead her patrol farther along the WindClan border and closer to the Moonpool. They stopped periodically to lay down more borders and Dewpaw and Sunblaze would stand guard as usual, sitting closer together than usual. Sunblaze sighed happily and just inhaled Dewpaw's scent as she gazed out over the moors.
She watched carefully as the grass swayed in the breeze. Suddenly, she saw something tearing through the grass coming right at her and Dewpaw. "What is that?" she asked, nudging Dewpaw with her tail.
As the younger cat looked, a rabbit came into view and hopped across the border into ThunderClan territory. A moment later, a WindClan cat came rushing after it. He sank his claws into the rabbit's shoulders and snapped its neck. It was dead, but Sunblaze growled the moment the cat's paws touched ThunderClan soil. "Hey! You're trespassing!" Sunblaze snarled, bounding over.
The cat took a few steps back, and then looked down. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.
"Sorry catches no prey!" Sunblaze spat. She heard Blossomfall and Whitewing come up behind her, and was well aware of Dewpaw standing at her side, his hackles raised.
"What's going on here?" Blossomfall inquired before looking the WindClan apprentice. "Go back to your territory, kitten!" she hissed.
"We're letting him go back?!" Dewpaw asked with outrage. "That rabbit is ThunderClan prey now! It crossed the border, and it was killed here. It's stealing!"
"Rabbitpaw?" a tom's voice called. A moment later, a brown tabby tom leapt over the stream and padded to the apprentice. "I told you to let it go, Rabbitpaw!" the tom snarled. "It was heading straight for ThunderClan land!"
The apprentice hung his head. "I'm sorry, Leaftail… it's just that Clan hasn't had much prey lately and—"
Leaftail cut Rabbitpaw off by boxing the young tom's ears making him squeak in surprise. "Silence!" he hissed. He then looked at Sunblaze and her patrol. "I offer my sincerest apologies for my apprentice's lack of intelligence. I told him to not chase that rabbit, but he disobeyed me. This problem will not occur again," he said, shooting a glare at the apprentice.
Sunblaze knew by the looks on her companion's faces that she wasn't the only ones who heard the apprentice's slip. It was common knowledge that you never talked about your Clan's hardships and possible weaknesses around cats from other Clans. As Sunblaze looked the two toms over, she noticed how scrawny they were. Of course, WindClan cats always were skinny and fragile from their diet of rabbit, but they looked even worse than usual. Were WindClan really starving out on the moors? The ribs and hip bones of both toms could be seen through their short, smooth fur. Sunblaze realized that prey must be getting harder to find on every territory. RiverClan has their fish that are almost always at their disposal, plus the other creatures that flock to the wetlands for water. ThunderClan has the forest and all of its bounty… ShadowClan live in the marshes with their frogs, rats, snakes, all the other disgusting things they eat. WindClan cats just have their rabbits. It must be hard for them to survive on just those creatures. Rabbit doesn't do much to keep meat on their bones as it is.
She looked at Blossomfall and Whitewing, expecting the older warriors to say something. When they didn't, she became embarrassed. She was the leader of this patrol. She was the one supposed to speak. "Don't let it happen again," she meowed. Her lack of confidence showed in her voice. She cleared her throat and tried again. "ThunderClan will overlook it this time, but the prey does belong to ThunderClan. It crossed the border to our territory and was killed on our land it. It is rightfully ours."
Leaftail's eyes widened in outrage. "You can't do that!" he hissed. "It was WindClan that caught the prey! Besides, it was on our land before it crossed onto yours!"
Blossomfall's lips curled back in a snarl. "Is WindClan really so weak that they can't sacrifice one piece of prey?"
Leaftail's eyes blazed with anger. "Is ThunderClan really so selfish that they would take away something that could save the life of a cat who needs it more? "
"So you are admitting your Clan's weakness?" Dewpaw said, smirking slightly.
Leaftail let out a loud growl. "My Clan's status is none of your business! Leaf-fall is just beginning, and it will be over before we can blink our eyes! Then leaf-bare will be upon us. We all need prey."
"ThunderClan needs it just as much as you do," Whitewing pointed out.
Sunblaze let out an annoyed growl. "Let the rabbit-chasers have it!" she hissed over her shoulder. "We don't have time to stand here arguing all day. Rabbits don't taste that good anyway. Why argue over one rabbit when we have an entire forest rich with delicious mice, voles, birds and squirrels?"
Leaftail narrowed his eyes. "Come on, Rabbitpaw!" he hissed, plunging through the thick foliage toward the stream to return to WindClan territory.
Rabbitpaw looked at the ThunderClan cats one last time before picking up the rabbit and bounding after his mentor.
"Why did you let them just take it?!" Blossomfall demanded once the WindClan cats were out of hearing range. "The WindClan tom was right—leaf-bare is right around the corner! ThunderClan will need every piece of prey it can get!"
"Did you not see the bones poking through their fur, Blossomfall? They are starving."
Blossomfall's lips curled back in a snarl. "Maybe they are, but that doesn't mean we're a charity! We have our own cats to feed. We can't go drop prey right into their paws like that! Plus, how can we expect those stupid rabbit-brains to listen and obey boundary rules if we let them get away with stuff like this?!"
"It was an apprentice, Blossomfall," Whitewing reasoned. "He was probably so excited that he was chasing a rabbit that he forgot about the borders. We were all apprentices once, and we've all felt the thrill of the first hunt where the blood roared in our ears and adrenaline pumped through our veins."
Blossomfall sniffed indignantly as if she didn't want to admit that she had once been an overly enthusiastic apprentice. "I suppose. But were we ever let off the hook when we crossed the border?"
Sunblaze shook her head. "It's over now. There's nothing we can do to change it, so there's no use crying over lost prey."
Whitewing nodded. "Sunblaze is right. What's done is done. Let us continue marking the border and then return to camp."
Sunblaze led her patrol into camp, a squirrel clamped tightly in her jaws. On the way back to camp, they had decided to hunt, and Sunblaze and Dewpaw had managed to work together to catch a squirrel and a pigeon that Dewpaw was carrying in. Blossomfall and Whitewing had stumbled upon a nest of mice and had a field day. The Clan would be fed for at half a moon with all the mice the two have caught.
The four cats piled their catches up on the fresh-kill pile when Graystripe and Millie came over. "Did you catch all that?" Millie asked with wide eyes.
Blossomfall's eyes shone. "Yes! Whitewing and I raided a mice nest!"
Graystripe and Millie both purred. "Well done, Blossomfall," Graystripe praised.
Millie nodded. "You did very well."
Blossomfall beamed. Sunblaze smiled at her, glad that she was finally getting attention from her parents. Graystripe had always been there for his kits, but when Briarlight, their second daughter was crushed by a tree and had her spine broken, Millie focused almost entirely on her daughter. Millie almost ignored her other two kits, Blossomfall and Bumblestripe. A few moons ago, Briarlight died after fluid built up in her lungs. Ever since then, Millie seemed to remember that she had two other kits and began to acknowledge them.
"I hear Bramblestar is calling a Clan meeting soon," Graystripe commented.
As if on cue, Bramblestar emerged from his den and leapt onto Highledge with Squirrelflight right behind him. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
"Come on," Sunblaze meowed, turning to Dewpaw. "Let's go sit."
Dewpaw laid his pigeon on the pile before padding alongside Sunblaze into the midst of the crowd of cats. Sunblaze sat down beside Brightheart. The scarred ThunderClan warrior shot her a kind look before entwining her tail with Cloudtail who sat on her other side. Sunblaze saw Spiderleg standing at the base of Highledge looking up at Bramblestar. Sunblaze was shocked at the tom's condition. The once powerful warrior now looked very small and frail. I bet he's retiring to the elder's den.
Once the Clan was assembled, Bramblestar began. "Many cats believe that the warriors are the heart of the Clan. They are the ones who protect and defend us, and deserve honor and respect. It is true that these cats do deserve such things, but they often forget the ones who have walked before them. It is the elders who have fought to protect and defend this Clan in moons past. It is the elders who have trained the warriors who fight for us now. Each elder has endured hardships as well as many battles in their lifetimes. We all know that the life of a warrior is hard, and many die young. Those who do survive long enough to be named an elder deserve respect and honor above all else.
"Spiderleg," Bramblestar meowed, looking down at the graying cat. "Is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go join the elders?"
The tom dipped his head solemnly. "It is, Bramblestar."
Bramblestar dipped his head. "Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given us in your time as a warrior of ThunderClan. I call upon StarClan to give you many seasons of rest."
"Spiderleg! Spiderleg!" the crowd chanted.
Spiderleg padded over and sat with Millie and Graystripe who were seated by the elders den, sharing a sparrow. The two older warriors welcomed him warmly.
Bramblestar looked out over his Clan and raised his tail for silence. "Tomorrow night is the Gathering, as you all know. It is our duty to tell the Clans about the rogues and this… New Code they have dreamed up. You are my Clan-mates, and my family, and I am not going to keep secrets from you. I fear that they will try to take over the Clans. As we know, they are recruiting Clan cats, such as Stoneclaw."
Sunblaze looked down sadly. His words reminded her of things she would have much rather left buried. I killed my brother. She felt Dewpaw's tail touch her flank and looked up to see his reassuring blue eyes. She smiled weakly.
"Tomorrow night, we will not tell them about Stoneclaw's involvement," Bramblestar announced. "Allow the Clans to grieve for Stoneclaw with the image of him in a warrior in their minds."
"Why should we sugarcoat the truth?!" Lionblaze demanded from the front of the crowd. "He was a murderer! It was because of him Cinderheart is dead!"
Sunblaze peered through the crowd and saw her father on his paws, gazing up at Bramblestar with pain-filled eyes. Bramblestar looked at him evenly. "Do you want your son to go down in history as a murder?"
"Your father went down in history as a murderer!" Lionblaze shot back, earning several shocked gasps to arise from the crowd.
"Lionblaze!" Squirrelflight hissed from the base of Highledge. Her green eyes were blazing with outrage as she stared down her adopted son. "Sit down this moment! Cinderheart would be ashamed of you if she saw your display!"
The golden-furred warrior just shot her a glare before sitting back down. Bramblestar didn't even react to Lionblaze's comment and went on as if it hadn't been said. "I have already organized a patrol to go to the gathering. Squirrelflight will be remaining behind to guard the camp. Brackenfur, Sorreltail, Berrynose, Foxleap, Dovewing, Bumblestripe, Lilyheart, Sunblaze, Hollyflight, and Finchtail will all come to the Gathering."
Sunblaze looked up at the mention of her name. She was pleased that she would get to go to the Gathering and see the Clan's reactions, but her emotions felt all over the place. Lionblaze's words suddenly began to sink in: Cinderheart and Stoneclaw were both dead. Sunblaze hadn't spent a lot of time with them when they were alive once she had been made an apprentice, but that didn't mean she didn't care about them! They were her family.
As Bramblestar dismissed the Clan, Sunblaze found herself still sitting beneath Highledge. "Sunblaze," Dewpaw meowed, nudging her with his paw. "It's over."
Sunblaze looked up at him and then snapped out of her daze. She rose to her paws and padded over toward the apprentices' den, then stopped herself. Dewpaw came up beside her. "You won't be staying here anymore," Dewpaw mewed. "But the good news is that Blossomfall said that I'm going to have my final assessment tomorrow! I could be a warrior by sundown tomorrow!"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" When Dewpaw became a warrior, he would move his nest next to hers in the warriors' den. They would be mates. We can't, she thought suddenly. This prophecy is a danger to those around me! Stoneclaw is dead because of me, and Cinderheart lost her life in the battle! I am a danger magnet. Everyone I love seems to get taken away from me! Hollyflight and Finchtail are even drifting further and further away.
"Dewpaw," she whispered. "I need to tell you something."
The young tom looked at her expectantly with his deep blue eyes. Sunblaze looked into them; it was quite possible to get lost in his eyes, but she refused to allow him to have that effect on her. "What is it, Sunblaze?" he prompted.
"I need to tell you tonight," she murmured. "Outside of camp where no one can overhear us."
Dewpaw gave her a skeptical look. "Sunblaze, what's going on?"
"You'll find out," she told him, turning away from him. "I just hope you don't hate me," she added softly when he was out of earshot.
A/N: Did you like this chapter? Leave a review and let me know! If you've liked what you've seen here and you wanna see more, click on my username to see more!