Chapter13: Smokepaw

Smokepaw had been an apprentice for another moon or so more. She met Blazepaw every couple of nights and she felt them growing closer together.

Tonight was the night of another gathering, and she was chosen to go. I hope Blazepaw is there… She though. A-and the others, too.

She arrived and the tree bridge to discover that ShadowClan was the first to arrive. She settled down in the same spot she was last gathering, in the back of the clearing. The next to arrive was ThunderClan, and Blazepaw came right over to her.

"What is taking RiverClan and WindClan?" Blazepaw wondered.

Smokepaw shrugged. Just then, WindClan arrived closely followed by RiverClan.

Nightpaw came over to them, but there was no sign of Beetlepaw or Harepaw.

Smokepaw gasped Nightpaw was covered in scratches and wounds. "What happened?" She asked.

"We were attacked by some rogues on a border patrol."

"That's terrible – wait, we?" Smokepaw wondered.

"WindClan and RiverClan fought side by side. Harepaw is probably still confined to camp. You don't know how hard it was to come here! Fernpaw almost died."

"Okay, if that's what happened with Harepaw then… where's Beetlepaw?" Blazepaw asked.

Nightpaw sighed. "He got caught meeting you, Smokepaw."

Smokepaw was shocked. "I-I'm so sorry." She felt terrible. "What'd the Clan do?"

"Fernpaw and Foxpaw were the ones that caught him. They labeled him as a traitor." Nightpaw spat.

Smokepaw lowered her gaze in shame.

"There's more."

"Huh?" Blazepaw questioned.

"About the rogues." Nightpaw responded.

Blazepaw shook his head. "I know. They are the rogues."

Nightpaw didn't seem surprised, but Smokepaw was. "How did you know?" She asked.

"I saw them."

Nightpaw shook his head. "They almost killed Fernpaw and Harepaw. Somehow Harepaw managed to push that swift tom off of him and another rogue charged Fernpaw. That other rogue may have turned Fernpaw into crowfood, but Fernpaw swallowed her pride and ran back to camp. That was also the rogue that Harepaw saved me from. She looked like she didn't want Fernpaw to die for some reason."

The three apprentices sat in silence. Suddenly, Bramblestar called to gathering together. "ThunderClan is thriving! We have two new apprentices, Featherpaw and Stormpaw." The ThunderClan leader let the Clans cheer for the new apprentices, and Smokepaw joined in. "There is nothing else to report."

Blackstar was the next to step up. The old leader stood proud next to the other leaders. "All is well in ShadowClan; there is nothing new except Branchpaw has been made into a full medicine cat. He is now Branchpelt." Smokepaw cheered loudly for her friend, although she knew this already.

Onestar stood up. "WindClan is thriving, despite some… setbacks. One of our patrols was recently attacked by a group of rogues. These rogues seemed to have made their camp at the horseplace, but I advise all Clans to be wary."

Mistystar was the last to step up. "Yes, RiverClan fought alongside WindClan in that battle." She rasped. "Although, we didn't have any cat join StarClan, the managed to leave scars. Blackstar, we have reason to believe that one of our apprentices was spying for ShadowClan. Is this true?"

Blackstar frowned. "ShadowClan doesn't have any spies in RiverClan, Mistystar. Why would you think this?"

"He was caught at the ShadowClan bordered talking to a ShadowClan cat." Smokepaw bristled.

Blackstar shook his head. "I do not know of any cat that would be seeing this apprentice of yours. He could have just been on a walk checking the borders."

Mistystar narrowed her eyes. "Very well. RiverClan is leaving."

Nightpaw looked back at Smokepaw and Blazepaw. "Fernpaw is weakening the Clan. Bye."

Smokepaw and Blazepaw said their byes and join their own Clan, as well.

Smokepaw didn't sleep well that night. She kept shivering from her nightmares. Her mind was filled with screeching cats in a hollow surrounded by four great oaks, and the clearing turned red with blood. But as dawn approached, the horrible battle turned peaceful with five cats vowing to lead their Clans for moon of good health. Wait, five? There are only four Clans… That was when Smokepaw was plunged into blurry images of SkyClan's past. She could barely make out any of it, except that they were driven out of the forest but were now thriving in a faraway gorge. She also knew how to find them. How strange that this is the dream that StarClan sends me when the rogues attack.

Smokepaw was awoken by Neetletail.

"Pinenose said that I can train you myself today! Isn't that great?" He purred.

Smokepaw nodded. "Great." She muttered.

Neetletail stared at her. "What's wrong?"

Smokepaw sighed. "Nothing, just a few bad dreams.

Neetletail nodded. "Perhaps you should see Branchpelt sometime."

Smokepaw looked up at Neetletail. "Branchpelt? What about Littlecloud?"

Neetletail lowered his gaze. "He watches us from Silverpelt, he died in his sleep."

"Oh," Smokepaw lowered her gaze also. The old tom was a well-respected medicine cat, even among the other Clans. He was a great loss, and Smokepaw wished that Branchpelt could handle the responsibilities of being ShadowClan's sole medicine cat.

"Well, come on! We need to get on with training, now that there are rogues to watch out for." Neetletail bounded out of the den, snapping Smokepaw from her moment of sadness.

Smokepaw shook her head and followed him to the battle grounds.

Neetletail went over all of the basic and not-so-basic battle positions. The young tom was sure to get an apprentice soon.

"That's great, Smokepaw! Just remember, when you are on your hind legs, keep your tail out of reach from the enemy. The less you give them to claw, the better." Neetletail was saying as they practiced fighting on hind legs.

Smokepaw nodded and brought her tail closer to herself. She wanted to be ready for when the rogues attack ShadowClan, as they certain would.

"Well, I think that you are doing an excellent job for battle practice, let's move on to hunting.

Smokepaw agreed, although she still wanted to continue battle training, she was aware that the Clan needed to be fed.

At the end of the short day, Smokepaw didn't miss a single piece of prey, despite her worry. She came back with a frog and two mice, while Neetletail had a squirrel and a lizard.