Chapter 19

"Foreign."

3/29/17 - 3/30/17

Owlpaw

Owlpaw sputters feeling the waterfall hitting his back and tries to shake it off. Owlpaw feels unnerved by how there is a burrow leading to their camp.

Don't they worry about cave ins?

Owlpaw follows Weasel and Wolf, surprised to see that the passage they live in was as wide as the waterfall in the entrance. They come to the outside, where other Tribe cats were watching him and his friends with curiosity and caution. Wolf places Spiderpaw down as Snowpaw removes her "backpack" and searches for herbs. She comes out with cobwebs and chews it.

Owlpaw looks inside and finds goldenrod and yarrow. He pulls them out and places them near Snowpaw, who looks at him strangely after applying the webs on Spiderpaw's shoulder.

"What's the yarrow for?"

"Chew that with goldenrod to make sure his shoulder doesn't get infected."

Snowpaw blinks and nods while Nightpaw and Beechpaw look at him strangely.

"How do you know all that?" Nightpaw asks him.

"I spent a lot of time with Kestrelwing."

Owlpaw only starts to notice the Tribe cats approaching close on their visitors. They all were smaller and leaner, their fur is covered in mud, and don't seemed to be bothered by this. He becomes uncomfortable being in their curious stares.

Then, a shaggy brown she-cat pads from the crowd with narrow eyes. Snowpaw pats Spiderpaw's head. "You'll be okay."

"I hope so…" Spiderpaw groans.

The shaggy she-cat pads to the lake cats. Owlpaw feels himself shrink under the intimidating presence of who he assume is the leader.

"Who are you? Explain why you're here." She demands, rather than ask he notices.

Beechpaw looks at the she-cat. "Uh, we're from the lake. The Clans?"

The Tribe whisper to each other, and Owlpaw hears anxiety in their voices.

Did they do something wrong?

The shaggy she-cat rolls her eyes. "I can smell that. I asked why you're here."

"You also asked who we-." The shaggy she-cat silenced Nightpaw with a stare.

"These to-be's are from different Clans, Stoneteller." Weasel told her. "The black one with brown ears is Beechpaw, and two she-cats are Nightpaw and Snowpaw. The light brown tom is Owlpaw and the injured one is Spiderpaw."

"Injured?" Stoneteller echoes. "From the wolves?"

"Yes. We found two of the deltas near the entrance and trying to get them."

Stoneteller growls. "Of all the brazen… We already have enough problems without five extra mouths to feed." She gives the Prophesied Five a snide glance.

"But that's why we're here!" Nightpaw exclaims. Owlpaw looks at her and silently begs her to hold her tongue.

"StarClan told us to help you get rid of the wolves."

Stoneteller looks at the small black she-cat. "Oh, really?" She asks in a tone similar to Patchflower's. A mocking tone of false curiosity.

"And how do you plan on getting rid of the wolves? What is your plan?"

Nightpaw frowns as she tries to come up with one, but Stoneteller didn't wait for one.

"These wolves work in a strict hierarchy. A system that does not tolerate failure and makes them tactful and skilled strategists. We lost five cave-guard to the wolves while we managed to kill one - the alpha male, by pure accident.

"What do you have planned that your 'StarClan' bestowed on you?"

Nightpaw genuinely looks ashamed as she dips her head. Snowpaw and Beechpaw were lost for words, Spiderpaw is unconscious still the moment.

Owlpaw couldn't even think of anything.

It hasn't dawned on me - or us - that we needed a plan to get rid of the wolves. We should have thought of one before that night at the Gathering. We were lucky that Weasel and Wolf came for us, we don't have a clue!

Owlpaw feels his skin crawl under the many stares. This was a mistake. A huge mistake.

Stoneteller looks satisfied with their silence.

"Although we cannot turn you away now, I can allow you to stay with the Tribe for a few weeks. I can lend you a stay in our to-be cave for the time being."

Snowpaw leans in toward Beechpaw. "They keep calling us to-be this, to-be that. What the heck is a to-be?"

Stoneteller overheard her question. "It is what you call cats who are training to be cave-guards or prey-hunters."

"... Like apprentices?"

Stoneteller nods to Snowpaw. The white-silver flecked she-cat ooh's in realization.

Beechpaw

Moved into an empty cave, the five cats weren't allowed to leave for the whole day, and slept through the night. Beechpaw couldn't tell if it was morning with him facing the wall. He looks back and notices Snowpaw resting on his shoulder. His heart flutters as he becomes reluctant to move her.

Beechpaw hears claws scraping stone. He slowly stands up, Snowpaw's head falls on the ground without waking her up. Beechpaw slowly pads to the entrance and sees three cats' silhouettes outside, his muscles tense.

They can't ambush us. StarClan wouldn't lead us to our deaths.

He unsheathes his claws when the first cat entered, only to realize it was a two moon old tom-kit with dark grey fur. The kit looks at him with triumph.

"I knew I smelled something funny! Leaf, Dove, get in here!"

A brown she-kit pads in the cave while a cream she-kit remains near the entrance until she quickly leaves without her denmates knowledge. With all the noise, Nightpaw, Snowpaw, Owlpaw and Spiderpaw wake up and look at the entrance where Beechpaw is standing.

Leaf sniffs Beechpaw's front legs. "You don't smell like us."

"Of course not! He's a stranger!"

Leaf recoils from Beechpaw. "Stranger?!"

Spiderpaw slowly pads to the kits, careful not to rip open the wound on his shoulder.

"Why are these kits making so much noise?"

"Kits! He called us kits, Rain, what a hypocrite!" Leaf snorts.

Rain nods. "Yeah, you look like Dove's age. You should be with your mothers."

Spiderpaw narrows his eyes as Nightpaw stands next to him.

"Well, we're not. We're appre - to-bes."

Leaf and Rain's eyes widen.

"No way!" Leaf exclaims, almost rueful. "We have to wait seven moons until Stoneteller makes us to-bes!"

"What makes you so special, huh?" Rain demands.

"We're not." Beechpaw told them. "It's how our Clan works. Kits become apprentices when they become six moons old. They can become apprenticed to a warrior or a medicine cat."

"What's a warrior?" Rain asks.

"A cat who fights and feeds the Clan."

"Hold on." Leaf spoke up. "You don't have to have one thing to do. Warriors guard, fight, hunt and tend to the sick?"

"No. We each have a medicine cat to do that." Owlpaw says.

Rain blinks in awe. "But who's your Stoneteller?"

"We have leaders, only one in each Clan." Said Beechpaw. "They have names ending in 'star' and have nine lives given to by StarClan, fallen warriors who go to the afterlife."

Leaf whispers to Rain. "That sounds like the Tribe of Endless Hunting!"

"Leaf Sprouting in the Meadow! Rain that Floods the Lake!"

A brown and white she cat squeezes through the entrance and glares at the two kits disapprovingly. "I thought I told you to stay with Bird and Dove!"

Rain lowers his head. "Sorry. We just wanted to see the strange cats…"

"That's no excuse!" The brown and white she cat dips her head to the apprentices.

"I'm sorry that my kits bothered you in some way. Leaf, Rain, apologize."

"We're sorry."

Nightpaw shakes her head. "They weren't exactly bothering us."

The queen nods and coaxes her kits outside. Beechpaw can smell fear coming off of her.

She's scared of us.

Nightpaw

The small black she cat looks out the cave, blinking away the harsh morning sunlight. Nightpaw sees many of the Tribe cats talking to each other until she steps out fully with her friends.

Some continue talking while others watch their every move. Nightpaw fought the urge to glare.

We're suppose to help them. Why do they treat us like we're trespassers?

Because you are trespassers. Her conscious replies. Nightpaw sees a white she-cat with black ears come out of the cave, and stretch her legs and tail. She looks back.

"Come on, Dove. It's a beautiful day out."

A small, cream head appears out the cave and slowly pads out. Dove presses herself to her mother's flank and looks at Nightpaw with sharp timidity. The white she-cat follows her gaze, and her blue eyes widen with shock as she pads to Nightpaw.

"No… Nightkit?" She whispers. Her eyes scan Nightpaw's features and stops on her back. "A white stripe and a short tail. It is you!"

Owlpaw, Beechpaw and Spiderpaw watch Nightpaw and the Tribe she-cat curiously. The small black she-cat stares at the stranger.

"Do you know me?"

The she-cat shorts. "Know you? Even better. I know your father, Littlefalcon! You don't remember me at all?"

Try as she might, Nightpaw couldn't find a connection between her and this she-cat. Snowpaw steps forward. "I do. Nightpaw was too young to remember you, but I think I was a bit older than her when you left, Birdie."

"My name isn't Birdie anymore. It's Bird. Bird that Flies in the Sky. And this is my daughter, Dove that Sings at Dawn."

Dove moves behind Bird's legs and shields herself from view. Bird rolls her eyes and sighs. "You'll have to forgive her. Dove isn't exactly the bravest kit, but she's not the most troublesome, which takes a lot off my paws."

"Leaf! Rain! Stop playing with that hawk and pray thanks to the Endless Hunting for this meal!"

Bird glances in the brown and white queen's direction. "Poor, Pheasant…"

Bird looks at the five apprentices. "I'm actually glad StarClan decided to step in, but this Tribe has a long, old tradition that might clash with yours. The idea of another heaven scares them."

"So you believe us?" Spiderpaw asks her.

"I do. But Stoneteller is a very stubborn she-cat, she almost sent me away when I came to join the Tribe. You are going to have to do a lot for the Tribe if you want her to listen."

"Like what?" Nightpaw asks. "Hunt? We can do that, simple!"

Bird smiles dryly. "Hunting on the mountains is drastically different from hunting by the lake. I could only suggest that you talk to Stoneteller about giving you hunting tips from the prey-hunters."

"Why? In case it's not obvious, she doesn't even pretend to like us." Spiderpaw said.

"Stoneteller calls the shots." Bird replies. "And if you show interest in Tribe activities, she might be flattered that foreign cats are open minded to learn."

Nightpaw sees the shaggy brown she-cat appear from a cave and looking at her cats.

"And now is the best time." Bird told them.

"Uh, greetings!"

Stoneteller frowns and looks down at Nightpaw and the others. Nightpaw dips her head in respect.

"What is it?"

Nightpaw looks back up to Stoneteller. "We were thinking about helping the Tribe in anyway."

Stoneteller's eyes gleam. "Really?"

"Yes, we are." Owlpaw piped up. Stoneteller looks at them without the condescending expression.

"You five are already to-bes and know about hunting?"

"Yes." The apprentices, excluding Owlpaw, reply. Stoneteller looks at the ShadowClan apprentice.

"I see… If that's the case then you need to apply to the Tribe's rules."

The Prophesied Five nod.

"Good. I remember the previous Stoneteller say that leaders allow kits to chose who they want to be. In the Tribe, however, I choose which kit is fit to be a prey-hunter or cave-guard.

"The small and slender kits become prey hunters, the small ones are usually faster. And the cave-guards are usually big, muscular and perfect for fighting to protect us from predators like hawks."

"Hawks? Is that a bird?" Owlpaw asks. Spiderpaw nods. "We see those in the moors, they're just bigger and stronger birds - they even carry off kits if we're not careful."

"Exactly." Stoneteller agrees. "Which is why I'm going to assign you five to a cat that I would have given you, had you been born here. Nightpaw will be a prey-hunter as will Snowpaw. Beechpaw will be a cave-guard with Spiderpaw."

"It will do your shoulder some good." She added to Spiderpaw.

"As for Owlpaw… You will also be a prey-hunter."

Owlpaw frowns at the strange emotions in Stoneteller's eyes.

"Heather! Water! Blaze!"

The named cats came rushing to Stoneteller.

"Our guests are going to learn about our ways. Heather, you will teach Nightpaw. Blaze, you will teach Snowpaw, and Water, you have Owlpaw. Understand?"

"Yes, Stoneteller." They said in usion. Nightpaw follows Heather and notices Owlpaw looking incredibly nervous.

Owlpaw

The clearing on the bottom of the mountain had little cover and small bushes. Owlpaw feels exposed.

"We're in luck." Said Heather. "I can smell a rabbit from here."

Heather turns to the three cats. "Can you show us how you would usually hunt?"

Nightpaw and Snowpaw crouch down with their bellies close to the ground. The two she-cats slither forward like silent snakes. Owlpaw does the same, and forces his tail to stop twitching nervously.

"Then, we pounce on it and kill it." Nightpaw said.

"Nice, but you could also save energy for the kill, wouldn't you say?"

Owlpaw looks at Water. "You can do that?"

Water nods and smiles to Heather. "Go for it." The white she-cat nods and pads away. Heather crouches down behind small bushes and stays there. Owlpaw sees a white rabbit six fox lengths away from Heather.

Owlpaw tenses himself, but Blaze blocks Owlpaw with his tail, shaking his head.

"Watch."

Owlpaw looks back to Heather. Instead of charging after the rabbit, Heather remains still. It was as if Heather became a stone, and the rabbit hops closer, unsuspecting to its end.

The rabbit grabs the bush, and Heather comes out and pounces on the rabbit and bites on the neck, killing it. Heather pads to the apprentices and drops the rabbit near their paws.

"All that, and you get a kill?" Snowpaw asks.

Owlpaw snorts. "If I knew that I never had to put much effort into catching prey, I would've come here before Heatherstar gave me Patchflower."

A rush of grey blocks Owlpaw's vision as talons grab the rabbit. A big, grey owl with white specks on its feathers flaps its wings and prepares to take off.

"No!"

Owlpaw lunges himself on the owl's back, and claws it's neck and head, ripping off its feathers. The owl screeches and flails itself frantically, and drops the rabbit down. The owl bucks Owlpaw into the air and flies away, and Owlpaw falls and hits the ground muzzle first.

"Owlpaw!" Nightpaw cries. Snowpaw moves Owlpaw on his back.

"Are you okay? How many paws am I holding out?" Snowpaw raises two of her front paws in front of Owlpaw.

The light brown tom sees Snowpaw's form waiver and spin around.

"... Two and a half?"

Water pats Owlpaw's head. "Let's promise never to do that again."

"Was that an owl?" Nightpaw asks, looking in the sky for the grey beast. "That looked like one, but they usually come out at night."

"That must be the hawk owl." Blaze growls. "They are the only owls we see who come out during the day."

"But it's dangerous to fight birds like that head on. Even so, we can hunt down those like the owl and hawk for prey, too, we just need to be extra careful."

Owlpaw feels the shame when Patchflower scrutinizes him.

"I know I messed up…"

"In a way, no." Blaze told him. "I only see a few cats take on a hawk owl before, but never a to-be. Your mentor should be proud of you."

Owlpaw envisions Patchflower and hears her voice.

"Hardly. If he'd bother to take down that owl I would be happy, but he didn't. So go back to camp and clean the elder's nests, Owlpaw! Now!"

Owlpaw swallows and nods feebly.

Spiderpaw

The WindClan apprentice sits next to Eagle as they sit in front of the nursery tunnel. Spiderpaw glances at him. "So, what? We just sit here?"

"Yes." Eagle replies curtly. Spiderpaw looks and sees Beechpaw with Wind, guarding Stoneteller's den. He moves back and scrapes his claws on the rocky ground.

I wonder what Nightpaw is doing.

Spiderpaw coughs. "We guard caves…"

Eagle chuckles. "That's pretty much what we do."

"Do we hunt? Or help out the prey-hunters?"

"No. We'll just slow them down. Our paws would alert the prey many miles away."

Spiderpaw nods and falls silent.

….

….

….

"Why is this so BORING?!" Spiderpaw's thoughts never made a voice, thank StarClan.

Owlpaw

The morning wore on into the afternoon as Heather, Water, Blaze, Nightpaw, Snowpaw and Owlpaw return with their prey of rabbits and hawks.

Owlpaw scratches at the hawk owl feather placed on his ear. "Feels funny…" he whispers to Water.

"Wearing that feather is like a badge. Some of us have one in the cave."

Owlpaw sighs and pads to the cave guards when he was stopped by Leaf and Rain.

"Hold on. What's that on your ear?" Rain asks.

Owlpaw gently touches the feather. "Uh. We ran into some trouble with a hawk owl, but it's gone now."

"A hawk owl?!" Leaf gasps. "Our Father took on a hawk owl, and you're wearing it!"

"That is so cool!" Rain's eyes glimmer with excitement. "I hope I get to be a prey-hunter and bet up hawks!"

Leaf snorts at her brother. "Oh, puh-lease! You're too big to be a prey-hunter!"

"Oh yeah?!" Rain pounces on Leaf. Owlpaw feels his ears burn with something he isn't familiar with. Something other than shame or embarrassment. It was pride.

Owlpaw pricks his ears that night. His ears were picking up faint sounds of the hymn. He looks at his friends to see them sleeping, and pads out of the cave. The hymn gets a little loud as Owlpaw steps out, and looks at the open cave of Stoneteller.

He pads to the open mouth where Wolf looks at him.

"You can't go in there. Stoneteller is speaking to the Tribe of Endless Hunting."

"But… I need to be there, too. I mean." Owlpaw shakes his head. "I'm hearing someone tell me that I should be with her…"

Wolf stares at Owlpaw and says, "Stay quiet. Don't break her concentration."

Owlpaw nods gratefully and pads inside the mouth of the cave. The tunnel itself is filled with stalagmites and stalactites, and makes it to the cave's inside. A jagged crack in the roof shows the bright, white moon that reflects itself in pools of water on the floor.

There, Owlpaw sees the silhouette of The Teller of Pointed Stones. Stoneteller doesn't move when he pads to her and around her to see her face. Her eyes were fixed on the pool.

Owlpaw looks on the pool of water. He hears the voices and hymns of invisible cats, as if they were speaking over his shoulder. Owlpaw lowers his head near the pool, his nose touches the surface, making it ripple and his consciousness slips into darkness in an instant.

Owlpaw opens his green eyes. He sees countless of small and lean cats staring at him intently. Every last one was singing a hymn loud and clear for him to hear.

"Owlpaw."

The ShadowClan apprentice looks and sees Stoneteller approaching him.

"Welcome to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. My ancestors, the ancestors of the Tribe."

Owlpaw looks at the cats and back to Stoneteller. "What are they singing?"

"Their celebrating the life of their descendants. Some sing when they mourn the loss of one, now they sing for us and our futures."

"Tell me." She said to Owlpaw. "Why did you come here?"

"I heard these guys." He nods to the cats, still singing the hymn. "I heard them wake me from my sleep."

Stoneteller nods. "I see… Why do you think they sing to you?"

Owlpaw bites his lip. "Maybe they wanted appreciation for their song?"

"... Still, it is quite strange for them to communicate with an apprentice training to be a warrior. I remember that you have medicine cats who communicate with their ancestors."

"Yes. Kestrelwing is my medicine cat."

"Tell me what he is like."

Owlpaw smiles at the mention of Kestrelwing.

"He's nice. Even with someone as foul as Dewpaw and Patchflower couldn't make him angry, he's always patient and he appreciates me helping him sort herbs."

"He doesn't have a to-be yet?"

Owlpaw shakes his head. "No."

"You mentioned Patchflower. Who is she?"

"... My mentor." Owlpaw replies, hesitant.

"You don't sound as enthusiastic about her as you do for Kestrelwing."

"Patchflower is just plain mean!" Owlpaw blurts out. "Maybe she's strict and I can't handle it, but everything that I do doesn't please her in anyway. I can't fight, I can't hunt, nothing I do is right. Even doing something as simple as cleaning the elder's nests and feeding them just makes her mad!

"I sometimes question why Heatherstar made her my mentor. Harewhisker said Patchflower has unrealistic expectations of what an apprentice should be, and she's pushing all of them on me! I get teased by Dewpaw and his lackey sister half the time, and my mother, Splashpelt, she doesn't step in because she's more worried about her reputation! So much so, that she hides my father's identity until she told me! She pressures me to be quiet, and I fought with her until-!"

Owlpaw gasps as he places a paw on his cheek, he still feels the cut, but it is healing.

"Owlpaw?" Stoneteller asks in concern.

"Cats aren't supposed to take mates from another Clan. It's against the warrior code." Owlpaw explains quietly.

"But Splashpelt did. I'm a result of a broken code, and Splashpelt is willing to do anything to keep me quiet about it. She even hit me… She's never hit me before."

Owlpaw feels tears sting his eyes. "Why can't I do anything right? I bet if I just died nobody would care except for my littermates, and Kestrelwing. I'm a disgrace to ShadowClan and everything it stands for."

Stoneteller uses her tail tip to reach under Owlpaw's chin and make him look up at her.

"Every cat has a purpose in life. Even the smallest runt deserves a chance to prove himself. Owlpaw, I believe the Tribe of Endless Hunting is trying to tell you something."

Stoneteller nods to the ghosts. "Listen closely."

Owlpaw looks at the Endless Hunting cats and pricks his ears. Their song is so beautiful and heartwarming, he finds himself back in the nursery with his littermates, blind to Splashpelt's disregard for their emotions, but tender to the kits.

"They're saying… that my destiny isn't bound to… scratching?" He looks at Stoneteller apologetically.

"Close." She said. "I believe they are telling you that, maybe, you weren't meant to be a warrior."

"... Are you suggesting that I become a medicine cat apprentice?"

"That's not for me to say. You have to decide it for yourself, Owlpaw."

Owlpaw's eyes open to the real world. Stoneteller looks at him as he gets on his paws.

"Well?" She asks.

Owlpaw feels his heart race.

If I do return to ShadowClan, I will go back to the same routine of being a bad apprentice. A lousy hunter and fighter, the laughingstock of the apprentices den, of my Clan… Splashpelt will look down on me.

Owlpaw glances at the pool and sees the hawk owl feather in his ear, poking out for him to notice it.

Not everyone's path is restricted to just one thing. I can decide my own future.

Owlpaw looks at Stoneteller, and sees the knowledge in her eyes even if he hasn't given her an answer.

"I know what I want. When I go home, I want to be ShadowClan's next medicine cat."

?

On the far side of the mountains, and the prey-hunters hunting grounds, growls echo in the cavern. Two wolves, a black and white one and a black she-wolf, were fighting over a rabbit until it ripped in half, and the two wolves devour the entire rabbit, leaving only the leg.

The first wolf sneers. "Here you go, Fenris!"

The wolf tosses the rabbit leg to the wolf in the shadows. A big, wolf with beautiful white fur and one floppy ear steps out and smells the leg.

"Hey!"

The white wolf looks at the black she-wolf, startled.

"We are exhausted from hunting! You should be thankful that we spared some meat that leg instead of the bone, Fenris!"

Fenris grumbles. The black and white make charged and bites down on Fenris' already scarred ear and knocks him down. The rest of the pack watches with amusement at the Omega's treatment.

Fenris tucks his tail between his legs and whimpers. The male wolf sneers.

"Say it, Omega!"

"... Thank you."

"That's more like it. Next time you listen to me and Raven, half-blood."

The male strides away from the fallen Fenris, and Raven smirks cruelly before following him.

"Half-blood."

"Yes, the little half-dog is all he is."

Fenris tries to block out the taunts as he eats the small rabbit leg, even that left a bad taste in his mouth.

Just ignore them, Fenris. It's not your fault. Fenris glares in the direction of a pure white she-wolf walking majestically through the wolves before her, but she looks at Fenris with a glare of hate before passing him by.

She made you this way. She made the choice, and is too stubborn to admit it.

"Alpha! My Alpha!" Fenris is shoved aside by the Tau group leader, Sleuth. Sleuth bows her head to Alpha.

"What is the development of those mountain cats?" She asks Sleuth.

The skinny grey and white she-wolf straightens out.

"You won't believe it, but they have some new cats I never seen before. And one cat took out a hawk owl."

Alpha snorts with laughter. "You expect me to believe that a mere cat fought an owl and won?"

"Yes." Sleuth replies stiffly. "They don't even look like those mountain cats, their scents were different."

Alpha frowns. Fenris watches from the shadows, with pricked ears to listen in.

"I'm hardly considering newcomers as a threat, but-." She cuts off Sleuth before she could protest.

"I want you to take the Upsilon and keep an eye on these newcomers, closely. And if they see you, don't attack. I want you to take one of those newcomers and bring them to me. We have much to discuss."

Fenris' bones chilled hearing the Alpha's tone, and just shrugs it off as her being paranoid.

Their just cats. What harm could they possibly do?

… I'm not doing this on purpose! I wasn't paying attention that I've written over 4 thousand words, I was having fun writing everything down up in the ol' noggin.

You're free to absorb all that's happened in this chapter, and give your own theories or foreshadowing, and comment on the Prophesied Five, and Owlpaw's resolution (if you could call it that).

Either way, I hope you have a great day. :) ~ Kyubi