morsemadison532- Of course! I was already planning on making him a warrior anyway, but it won't be until maybe the third book only because Skystar sometimes takes long to invite cats fully into the clan with everything he has has to deal with. And thanks for the name suggestion.
Graystripe woke up to a screech and scrambled out of the warrior's den with Dustpelt, Mousefur and Runningwind behind him. From the apprentice's den, Swiftpaw leaped out, fur puffed, looking around wildly. Thornpaw barreled into him.
"Is it ShadowClan again?" He growled as his littermates padded out behind him.
"Ooh, my first fight!" Cinderpaw bounced.
"Where's Featherkit?!"
It was just Mistyfoot.
"When did he disappear?" Graystripe asked, running over with Dustpelt. Bluefur appeared beside her daughter, comforting her.
"I woke up and he was gone, so who knows how long he's been missing!" The gray queen wailed.
"We'll send out a search party," Tigerclaw meowed. "W–"
He broke off as the dawn patrol arrived. Graystripe blinked. Had he really slept that long? Usually, Tigerclaw would've had his hide for sleeping in. His former mentor still treated him as such. An apprentice.
Whitestorm was in the lead, looking somber. Behind him was Mossflower and Darkstripe, the former, shooting her sister a grief-stricken look.
"We found Featherkit…" Whitestorm murmured. "But something found him first."
Mistyfoot looked as if she was going to lose it. Runningwind stepped forward, looking horrified, but managed to say, "take me to him."
Thunder woke early the next morning and padded outside. Leaf wasn't awake yet, not one to get up early.
Impatient to do something, he padded out of the den. I'll just hunt on my own, he thought as he left camp, plowing through the snow that had fallen again. Last time there had been very little which had melted easily the the next day.
He tried to focus on the hunt, but all he could think about was how strange Gray Wing had been acting lately. His voice had started to sound raspy most times and he coughed a lot. When Thunder had asked if he was okay, his uncle had snapped at him, which he never did.
What's up with Gray Wing?
Since he couldn't focus on his goal he ran, pumping his legs to the max until he reached the ThunderClan border, paws slipping from the snow. He stared around at the much bigger trees and the Twolegplace. Nearby there was a frozen stream.
ThunderClan territory was nice. There were so many other landmarks to see than SkyClan's land.
Thunder shook his head guiltily. What was he thinking? ThunderClan was the enemy! They were bad! Or at least Thistlestar was. He remembered seeing some cats on border patrols and they always seemed nice, but hesitant and guarded.
Suddenly, the young ginger tom spotted a flash of black that he had almost missed since it blended in with the shadows. He stiffened as a cat padded into view. He narrowed his eyes to see her better, but she looked over her shoulder before taking off.
Thunder wasn't thinking as he raced across the border after the she-cat, chasing her across ThunderClan territory.
After a bit, he lost sight of her. The snow was hard to run across.
He sat down to catch his breath when he stiffened as screeches sounded nearby. He was near what ThunderClan called the Owl Tree. He launched himself up and scrambled to climb up to the nearest branch. He rarely practiced tree-climbing with Leaf and wasn't that great at it.
Making sure he was hidden, he looked below him to see a patrol appear. Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, Mossflower and Mousefur appeared with two young she-cats he didn't know. A ginger-and-white apprentice and gray one with matching bright blue eyes.
"Swiftpaw seems to be having a hard time passing his assessment," Tigerclaw rumbled to Darkstripe.
"Yeah, he's a horrible fighter," the young gray she-cat meowed smugly. "I'm a better fighter than him. I beat Thistlestar before!"
Mousefur cuffed her around the head. "Cinderpaw, shut up!" She hissed, casting a wary look at Tigerclaw and Darkstripe. Thunder was surprised when Cinderpaw ducked her head showing remorse. He had expected all of ThunderClan to be bullies and have that holier-than-thou attitude about them.
"Well, Longtail needs to speed up his apprentice's training if he ever wants to make Swiftpaw a warrior," Darkstripe growled, displeased.
Tigerclaw gave him an approving nod and Darkstripe perked up.
Mossflower discreetly rolled her eyes.
Thunder leaned forward, hoping to hear more. What if I learn some secrets I can take back to the clan? He thought, grinning. But he didn't really mean it.
Unless they planned to attack his clan.
"Um, I smell SkyClan," the ginger-and-white she-cat suddenly spoke up, voice soft.
Beside her, Cinderpaw looked around with bared teeth. "Show yourself, enemy warrior!" She growled.
"Be quiet!" Mousefur snapped, but the rest of the patrol, too, tasted the air.
Heart pounding, Thunder tried to quietly shift himself around the tree, so that he wasn't in sight of them, but suddenly the branch he was on cracked and he fell to the ground.
He got up, dazed and covered in snow only to be barreled into by Darkstripe. "Spy!" He spat. "What're you doing on our territory?"
Tigerclaw strolled over, looking at Thunder curiously before he meowed, "he looks hardly more than a kit. SkyClan really sent a kit?"
"Thistlestar would be insulted," Darkstripe agreed. "Let's see what he has to say."
"Aw, but he looks sweet," Cinderpaw said, no longer looking aggressive. Brightpaw looked wide-eyed from Thunder to her clanmates while Mossflower and Mousefur looked puzzled.
"You're one of Skystar's kits, aren't you?" Mousefur asked, head tilted curiously.
"Y-yes," Thunder stammered as Darkstripe dug his claws into his shoulders. Tigerclaw nodded at the dark tabby to let him up.
"And what are you doing here? You thought you could get away with spying, eh?" The deputy growled.
Thunder looked down at his white paws. Of course, he hadn't been here on purpose. He just hadn't paid attention. Why did I feel it was important to catch up to that random she-cat? She was nothing, but a rogue.
Tigerclaw snorted at his lack of response. "C'mon. Let's bring him to Thistlestar."
"But he's Skystar's son!" Mossflower exclaimed. "What if he declares war on us?" Darkstripe glared at her.
"We aren't scared of those mouse-hearted freaks!"
"Thistlestar will come up with a solution!" Tigerclaw meowed loudly to cut into the quarreling. "Now come on!"
Thunder was shoved into the middle of the patrol by Darkstripe, who glared claws into the back of his head the whole way there. Brightpaw, who was flanking one of his sides, shot him an uncertain and fearful look for some reason.
Well, that's reassuring.
They passed a hollow and Thunder flinched when he heard a wail of pain.
Do they train with claws?
He gulped. He sure was dead.
The she-cat stared after the patrol feeling guilty. She hadn't meant to get the young SkyClan cat caught, but she couldn't be seen on her spying mission or she would be in big trouble with her boss.
That ginger tom may as well be dead, she thought.
Thunder was shoved into the camp and cats looked up in bewilderment. He looked around and recognized the ThunderClan medicine cat, Spottedleaf. Cloud Spots and Dappled Pelt talked about her sometimes.
A gray tabby queen poked her head out, eyes widening when they landed on Thunder before she ducked back inside. More warriors crowded around and two golden tabby apprentices slipped out of their den and raced over to Cinderpaw and Brightpaw, the former whispering very fast to them, gaze flickering over to Thunder.
Two young warriors, a gray one and a brown one appeared last before Thistlestar himself appeared with a black-and-white tom from the gorse tunnel. Both of them bore marks, but the younger tom looked far more worse as he stumbled towards Spottedleaf's den. A pale ginger she-cat raced after him, worriedly.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A little spy? Skystar truly is a funny cat, sending one of his kits," the spiky tom sneered.
"What're we gonna do with him?" A pale tabby asked.
"I would kill him," Thistlestar mused for a moment and Thunder flinched as did some others, "but…I have a better idea."
He looked at Thunder with interest before trading a look with Tigerclaw, who nodded.
Thunder gulped.
Would it be for better or worse?
It was a little after sunhigh by the time Leaf led his search party back. Thunder had disappeared that morning and no one had seen him.
Skystar listened as Leaf reported, "we've tracked his scent all the way to…ThunderClan."
Skystar gasped. "They've kidnapped him?"
Ash Blaze, Ivy Breeze, and Air Leap looked horrified while Gray Wing ducked his head guiltily for some reason. Fire Heart and Jagged Peak exchanged nervous looks and Ravenpaw looked pure terrified.
"Are we gonna get him back?" Shattered Ice asked.
"Yes, ThunderClan needs to be taught a lesson!" Frost agreed, flexing his claws. Petal beside him nodded, eyes narrowed.
"Wait," Ravenpaw's voice spoke up, but it sounded like a squeak before he said louder, "wait!"
Everyone stopped arguing over what to do.
"I know ThunderClan the most," he meowed, shuffling his paws.
"Alright then what do we do?" Cloud Spots asked.
"Go on," Jackdaw's Cry added, nudging the black tom.
Ravenpaw took a deep breath before he meowed, "we wait."
Two days had passed since Featherkit's death. His family had sat vigil and afterwards Mistyfoot had bundled Cricketkit back into the nursery. Graystripe hadn't seen the bubbly little kit for a while now.
Not even Runningwind trying to convince his mate would make her let the kit go. Even if he promised he would keep a close eye on her.
Turns out a fox had gotten her brother since the scent had been all over. But Graystripe had noticed Bluefur glaring suspiciously at Thistlestar. Why? But then…wouldn't a hungry fox have eaten the body completely? It's leafbare after all. Well, the beginnings of leafbare anyway.
Not only that, but Thunder, one of Skystar's younger kits, had appeared suddenly.
Thistlestar had thought about killing him for a moment before he had come up with an idea.
"Skystar will definitely come after us, the idiot," Thistlestar meowed to Graystripe, Dustpelt and Tigerclaw in his den later that evening. "So what if we trained him as one of our own. If they think he's betrayed him it'll make them feel even worse."
"Um, what if he refuses?" Graystripe dared to ask.
"Then we will threaten war on his clan. Do you think he'll like having deaths on his conscience? His own family and friends?"
Tigerclaw was nodding thoughtfully and Dustpelt nodded, too, eyes bright with interest.
But Graystripe.
Graystripe ducked his head. He didn't like the sound of this.
When he crept outside, he could barely see the other side of the clearing from the fog and stumbled through the snow. He heard pawsteps behind him and turned to see Mousefur.
"Tigerclaw wants to see you and Dustpelt," she said.
"Thanks," Graystripe mumbled.
"What's going on?" Dustpelt had followed him from the den.
"Tigerclaw wants to see us," Graystripe meowed.
The two toms approached the deputy, who sat by the fresh-kill pile. "It's time Thornpaw and Brackenpaw were assessed," Tigerclaw said. "Their sisters will have their assessment at a later time of the day, so that they can all focus."
Graystripe realized how clever he was. Putting one serious and one crazy sibling together would balance it out evenly. He knew it wouldn't end well with Thornpaw and Cinderpaw racing through the woods side-by-side.
"Already?" Dustpelt spoke up. "They'd only been apprentices for a quarter moon.
"Thistlestar wants to know their progress," Tigerclaw explained and then licked his lips with a grin. "And then he wants to test them."
Graystripe frowned while Dustpelt shifted his paws anxiously, almost reminding the gray warrior of his brother, Ravenpaw.
"Send Brackenpaw and Thornpaw on a hunting mission to Tall Pines," Tigerclaw went on. "Keep an eye on them, watch them hunt, and report back to me. I'll be interested in the results."
The two mentors dipped their heads and went to fetch their apprentices.
"An assessment! Do you think we're ready?" Thornpaw immediately questioned as the quartet headed out of camp.
"Of course," Dustpelt said. "You've been working hard and learning quickly."
"But won't the fog make hunting difficult?" Brackenpaw asked.
"The stillness of the air will give you an advantage."
Brackenpaw looked thoughtful. "We'll be able to track the prey, but they won't be able to smell us."
"Exactly," Graystripe agreed, proud of his apprentice. He was easy to work with.
"Can we go now?" Thornpaw eagerly asked.
"Alright," Graystripe said. "But take your time. You've got until sunset!" The two brothers charged off.
Graystripe waited as Dustpelt immediately slipped away, then followed, tracking Brackenpaw in Tall Pines. The springy layer of pine needles were strangely soft since the rest of the forest was frozen.
Before long, he found a few spots of blood and knew Brackenpaw must have made a catch. Then, he'd found his catch of a thrush, with feathers scattered everywhere. His apprentice was doing well. He later found a stash of prey hidden beneath a pile of pine needles that he'd had left to pick up later.
Graystripe glowed with pride. He'd caught plenty, and was heading for the oak woods beside Twolegplace.
He tracked the golden tabby and found him.
Brackenpaw had his eyes fixed on a rabbit that was grazing around a tree, taking his time. Finally, the apprentice drew himself forward, one pawstep at a time. The leaves beneath him didn't even crunch.
He was closing in, just a length away. The rabbit took a step forward, then froze. It knew something was wrong
Brackenpaw was swift, and pounced.
He sat up and Graystripe saw satisfaction in his expression. Then, he darted off into the trees. Graystripe smiled after him. He was looking forward to telling Tigerclaw how well Brackenpaw was doing.
Soon the sun was beginning to sink and Graystripe headed back to the pine tree where Brackenpaw had stored his catches. He heard pawsteps and turned to see his apprentice, Thornpaw and Dustpelt approaching. Both apprentices held prey.
"We'll help carry it all," Dustpelt meowed, digging up Brackenpaw's stash. He took as much as he could carry, then set off for camp. Graystripe grabbed the rest.
In the clearing, the clan was already settling down to eat. Tigerclaw approached them immediately, eyes wide.
"They caught all this themselves?" he asked.
"Yep!" Graystripe meowed proudly.
"Well done," Tigerclaw said. "Graystripe, Dustpelt, come with me to Thistlestar's den. Grab something to eat too."
The apprentices were staring at their mentors admirably. It was a privilege to sit with the clan leader and deputy. Graystripe didn't share their excitement.
The two toms followed Tigerclaw, picking up prey on the way.
"Sit," Thistlestar meowed when they entered. He noted it sounded sinister. "Tigerclaw tells me Thornpaw and Brackenpaw did well today."
"Yes. They've never hunted in fog before, but they did good nonetheless," Dustpelt said. "I watched Thornpaw catch a robin. His first bird catch. His stalking was excellent."
"And what about Brackenpaw?" Thistlestar switched his dark amber gaze to Graystripe, who tried his best not to wilt.
"His hunting skills are developing well," Graystripe said. "He's very serious and thinks his moves through first."
"Good, good." Thistlestar nodded. "I knew you two would be capable of training such promising warriors." Graystripe had a feeling there was a threat behind his words. Thistlestar trusted the two of them now aside from Tigerclaw. Break his trust and there would be consequences.
Graystripe smiled nervously which faltered as he and Dustpelt were dismissed and out of the den.
This couldn't end well.
So...Thunder in ThunderClan. It's gonna be a lead up to the first battle book.