"Frostpaw!"
Frostpaw jerked awake in her nest to the sound of the harsh voice. Swoopstrike's black and silver striped head was peering into the bush and he glared at her with annoyed green eyes.
"Get out here," he snapped. "Or are you planning on sleeping the whole day away?"
"N-no," Frostpaw stammered, scrambling to her paws.
Swoopstrike had already vanished back outside.
Frostpaw stood a little too quickly and the branches of the holly bush that formed the apprentice's den scraped her ears. Frostpaw flinched, ducking down, and stepping around her den-mates, she quickly scrambled out of the bush.
It had only been a few sunrises since her apprentice ceremony, and she hadn't found training with Swoopstrike to have gotten any easier. She hadn't done much training at all with him either. So far, her days had consisted mostly of moss collection and border patrols. She knew that Poolpaw, Pinepaw, and Autumnpaw had already done some form of hunting or battle training... and the fact that she hadn't made her nervous. Frostpaw's tail twitched anxiously.
Will Swoopstrike teach me anything at all? Is he not going to try, and then make me fail deliberately?
Frostpaw swallowed around the lump in her throat.
How will I prove myself if I'm never given the chance?
Swoopstrike was waiting for her by the thorn tunnel, his tail tip twitching faintly. The weak light of dawn was just peeking through the trees, and it seemed like most of the camp was still asleep. Frostpaw padded up to Swoopstrike, biting back a comment about how he said she was sleeping the day away, but the whole rest of the clan wasn't even up yet.
"We're going hunting today," Swoopstrike said, shooting Frostpaw a perceptive look. "I wanted an early start."
Frostpaw felt a surge of relief that they were finally going hunting, followed by a flash of surprise that Swoopstrike had been able to guess her thoughts about the morning so easily. She nodded mutely.
Can he read my mind?!
Swoopstrike stood and gave a deep stretch, his lanky legs reaching far out behind him. Frostpaw shifted impatiently from paw to paw as she waited for him to finish, and her stomach suddenly gave a low growl. Frostpaw winced in embarrassment, shooting Swoopstrike a look out of the corner of her eyes. She wasn't able to tell if his whiskers were twitching in amusement, or if that was just the wind.
"Hungry?" Swoopstrike quipped.
"A little," Frostpaw admitted.
"Good. It'll make your claws sharper. Let's get going," Swoopstrike said, finishing his stretch and bounding through the tunnel without another word, leaving Frostpaw to follow.
Frostpaw ran after her mentor, her paws flying as the two cats flashed through the still dark forest. Once they were a little ways away from camp, Swoopstrike slowed rapidly, coming to an almost jarring stop. He turned to Frostpaw just as quickly, causing her to jump slightly in surprise.
"What prey can you scent?" Swoopstrike asked.
"Um…" Frostpaw meowed uncertainly.
She took a few hesitant sniffs of the air.
"Open your mouth and draw the scent over your tongue. It'll heighten the smells," Swoopstrike said.
Frostpaw obeyed, closing her eyes for good measure to block out any visual distractions as she focused solely on scent. A hint of warm prey scent drifted over to her on the breeze, piercing it's way out of the deep, sharp scent of pine that surrounded her.
"Mouse?" she meowed, her eyes flickering open.
Swoopstrike's tail twitched.
"Was that a question or do you scent it?" he asked, an edge of irritation to his meow.
"I scent it," Frostpaw said, her ears flattening slightly.
"Good," he said curtly. "So, go find it. But, first…"
Swoopstrike led Frostpaw to a patch of toadstools growing at the roots of a nearby pine. Swoopstrike flopped over and rolled in the patch for a few moments. Then he stood, gave his pelt a shake to dislodge any dirt that clung to it, and nodded at the now mangled patch of mushrooms to indicate for Frostpaw to do the same.
Frostpaw looked at the toadstools then at Swoopstrike, a bewildered expression on her face. Swoopstrike gave a sigh of exasperation.
"The thing ShadowClan is best at is stalking, right?" he said in a tone like he was explaining the clans to a not-particularly bright kit. "Not even our prey see, hear or scent us. It's to disguise our scents."
Frostpaw bit her tongue against the annoyed snarl that threatened to creep across her muzzle and obediently rolled in the toadstools for a few moments. She stood and sniffed her pelt. She smelt just like a patch of mushrooms.
"I've never smelt any hunting patrol returning to camp reeking of mushrooms," Frostpaw muttered, half of her wondering if Swoopstrike had just made the whole thing up as an elaborate prank to embarrass her.
Swoopstrike didn't seem that childish, but there was no way to be sure.
"A quick grooming removes the scent easily," Swoopstrike said. "Be sure you roll in something before every hunt. It doesn't always have to be mushrooms, any mildly smelly plant will do. Just make sure it's not an herb that Clearstream uses or she'll claw your whiskers off."
Frostpaw snorted quietly to herself. It was hard to imagine the mild-mannered medicine cat raising her voice, let alone clawing someone. Her apprentice Elmclaw on the other paw…
Swoopstrike flicked his tail at Frostpaw, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Show me how you stalk," he said.
Frostpaw obediently slipped into the hunting crouch that she had often practiced with Weaseltail.
Since ShadowClan territory had little undergrowth for cover, she was pressed as low to the ground as she could be to make her form as hidden as possible from any prey. Frostpaw also made sure her tail was held straight out behind her, in line with her spine, not sticking up to alert the prey, and not so low that it dragged on the ground. Frostpaw stalked forward a few fox-lengths to demonstrate.
"Walk quieter," Swoopstrike snapped.
Frostpaw laid her paws down as quietly as possible, doing her best to silently glide across the ground.
"Not terrible," Swoopstrike grunted. "We'll see how it holds up against real prey. Now, back to that mouse."
Swoopstrike had her take the lead and soon the two of them were slinking through the pine trees, following the mouse's scent trail. They slowed as the scent got stronger.
"Stick to the shadows," Swoopstrike whispered before nodding to Frostpaw to indicate she should go ahead.
Frostpaw breathed in deeply. The mouse scent was strong, although she still had no sight of it. She crept forward, careful to keep her paw-steps light, her eyes flittering across the forest floor. Her gaze locked ahead when she spotted a flicker of motion near the roots of an oak tree. She spotted a small brown mouse rooting around the leaves there, sniffing for insects. Frostpaw felt her mouth start to water at the sight of it, and her stomach clenched at the thought of food. Her tail almost started to twitch in excitement, but she stopped it just in time, before it could ruffle the leaves and alert the mouse to her presence.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Frostpaw started to creep forward. As Swoopstrike instructed, she stuck to the shadows of the trees that the now rising sun cast on the ground. Her approach was as silent as an owl's flight. The mouse seemed to have no idea that she was stalking it, and it obliviously continued its leaf rustling. Once Frostpaw was within pouncing distance, she paused for a moment to ready herself. Carefully judging the distance between her and her prey, Frostpaw bunched up her muscles and leapt. Her forepaws landed squarely down on the mouse, which let out a pained squeak before Frostpaw dropped her head down and snapped its neck with a quick bite.
I did it!
Frostpaw felt a rush of excitement surge through her as she lifted her head with the mouse hanging limply from her jaws. She had managed to catch something on her first try! Frostpaw glanced up and felt some of her excitement fade as Swoopstrike padded up to her, frowning.
"Not bad, but you hesitated too much before pouncing," he said, tail-tip twitching. "If the mouse had decided to look up, it would've spotted you. You need to go right from stalking to leaping, no hesitation."
Frostpaw's whiskers drooped slightly, and she nodded. Swoopstrike lifted his nose to sniff the air. He nodded towards the mouse in Frostpaw's jaws.
"I'll take care of storing that," he meowed. "You keep on going, see what else you can find."
Frostpaw nodded again and dropped the mouse on the ground. She scented the air, then padded off into the forest. She continued to sniff as she walked, but she wasn't having luck picking up any prey scent. Frostpaw cast a glance over her shoulder. Swoopstrike hadn't caught up to her yet, and there seemed to be nothing but empty forest around her. Suddenly, the scent of lizard came in on the breeze. Frostpaw hesitated for a moment before shrugging and padding after the scent. She didn't care much for lizard herself, but some of her clan-mates preferred their meat to be scaly.
As Frostpaw rounded some trees, she spotted the lizard ahead, sunning itself in the morning light on a small pile of stones. Frostpaw crouched down low, quickly stalking up to the prey. She didn't hesitate this time before her pounce like Swoopstrike told her to, but she misjudged the distance and landed a little short of the lizard, which startled and started to scamper away.
"Snake-dung!" Frostpaw cursed, scrambling forward to try to snag the lizard with her claws.
But, it slipped between the cracks of two stones and vanished. Frostpaw sat up, her tail-tip twitching in irritation.
So much for "no hesitation." How are you supposed to know how far to pounce if you don't take a moment to check?
Frostpaw looked around, but there was still no sign of Swoopstrike. Frostpaw sighed; at least he hadn't been around to witness her miss.
Frostpaw lingered by the stones for a few moments longer, seeing if he would appear, but Swoopstrike seemed to have vanished into the pine forest. Frostpaw's tail was slowly drooping.
What am I supposed to do without my mentor? Does he expect me to hunt alone?
Frostpaw clenched her jaw. If Swoopstrike wasn't going to show up to help her, she wouldn't just hang around the forest like a lost kit.
I guess he's not even going to try to train me. But, I don't care. I'll catch a ton of prey to bring back to camp, that'll show him that I'm not useless.
Frostpaw set off again with determination in her step.
The morning sun inched higher into the sky, shining golden light down through the pine needles. It was turning into a beautiful new-leaf day, but prey were sleepy this morning, and Frostpaw was approaching the WindClan border with nothing to show but one small frog that she stumbled upon in a puddle a little ways back.
Frostpaw scented the air and felt her heart pick up in excitement when she scented a bird.
Finally, she thought, falling into her crouch and following the scent trail.
The scent led her closer to the WindClan border. She could see the golden grass of the moor peeking out between the trunks of the pines when she spotted the bird a few fox-lengths away from her. It was a robin on the marshy ground, pecking at an unlucky worm.
Frostpaw locked her eyes on the robin, hardly daring to breathe as to not disturb it as she stalked closer. The robin seemed very intent on it's own meal though, and not on the approaching apprentice. Frostpaw was almost close enough to pounce. Her hindquarters wiggled as she prepared to leap…
Frostpaw's concentration was shattered by a boisterous voice calling from across the moor.
"ShadowClan! What are you doing so close to the border?!"
The loud voice startled both Frostpaw and the robin, and the bird took flight, shooting into the air and vanishing into the dense tangle of pine branches above with a loud alarm call. Frostpaw didn't even bother trying to leap after it, instead her head jerked up in shock, and she looked over to see a WindClan patrol streaking across the moor with a lanky light ginger tom in the lead.
"What's the matter, lizard got your tongue?" the ginger tom sneered. "I asked you what are you doing so close to our territory? Your rank ShadowClan scent is drifting all across the moor and scaring off our prey!"
It took Frostpaw a moment to understand that the cat was talking to her, and running over in her direction.
Frostpaw realized with a jolt that she was so used to thinking as the other cats in the Clan as "ShadowClan" and herself as not, that she forgot that anyone outside of the Clan would just see her as one of them.
Frostpaw quickly backed away from the approaching patrol, her pelt bristling slightly in fear. The WindClan cats were sprinting over to her so quickly, she was almost sure they would barrel straight into the forest and leap at her, but the cats came to a skidding stop just short of the border. Frostpaw continued to back away into the shadows of the pines, her heart hammering loudly in her chest as she took in their fierce expressions. She slowly unsheathed her claws.
"Don't try to run away from me," the light ginger tom snarled angrily, striding to the side so he could look directly at Frostpaw from around the trunks of the trees.
His gaze was as fierce as claws racking her pelt as he stared at her.
"If you've done nothing wrong, what do you have to be afraid of?" he spat.
"I didn't do anything… And, I'm not afraid," Frostpaw snarled in the best not-afraid voice she could manage, swallowing nervously as she eyed the four angry cats in the patrol.
"You look like you are," the ginger tom hissed, flattening his large ears. "You'd only be so scared if you're guilty of something."
"I'm not!" Frostpaw protested in a stronger voice, her gaze wide.
"So, what have you been doing? Trespassing? Prey-stealing?" the tom continued, ignoring her, his eyes furious, narrow slits.
Frostpaw dug her claws into the ground at the ridiculous accusations, feeling the first stirrings of anger appear in her chest to replace the fear.
"Nothing!" Frostpaw said, baring her teeth. "I wasn't on your territory!"
"Tell me the truth, you lying frog-breath!" the ginger tom spat, pacing at the border, his claws out and his tail lashing.
I was doing nothing wrong! I hadn't crossed the border!
Frostpaw felt a surge of white-hot anger fill her at the injustice of it. The anger rushed over her and suddenly, she found words spilling out of her mouth seemingly before her mind could even process them.
"Why in StarClan's name would I want to be in WindClan territory, cotton-head?!" Frostpaw snarled. "It's barren and empty! There's nothing there but stupid rabbits and stupid rabbit-brained cats like you!"
"How dare you!" the ginger tom growled, all the fur down his back bristling as he took a pace forward, over the border.
Frostpaw startled in surprise as there was a sound behind her that sounded like a mixture between a snarl and a roar. Frostpaw crouched in terror and felt the fur on her head and back stir in a breeze as a silver shadow leapt over her and charged up to the border. Frostpaw blinked in surprise, her fear fading as she recognized the silver and black dappled pelt as Swoopstrike. All of his fur stood on end, making him look almost twice as big as normal. His green eyes had a wild glint to them, and his lips were drawn back in a snarl so terrifying that it even made the aggressive ginger WindClan tom quickly take a pace back, onto to WindClan side of the border. Swoopstrike shot straight up to the ginger tom, stopping just short of the scent-markers, where he arched his back and let out a furious hiss, his silver and black striped tail lashing from side to side.
"I knew WindClan cats were stupid, but I didn't think that you all were this stupid!" Swoopstrike hissed, clawing at the ground with his claws. "First you harass my apprentice while she was hunting on ShadowClan land. Then you dare cross our border and trespass into our territory?!"
Swoopstrike locked his searing gaze on the ginger tom.
"WindClan's leader, the mighty Rabbitstar, crossing our border to try to attack an apprentice barely older than 6 moons with no battle training on ShadowClan's own territory!" Swoopstrike reiterated with a mocking sneer. "Oh this is good. I can't wait to hear what Sedgestar will say when I tell him about this!"
That's Rabbitstar!? Frostpaw thought, her eyes wide in shock.
"She was close to the border," Rabbitstar snapped defensively. "How do I know she wasn't prey-stealing?"
"She wasn't because I was watching her the whole time, cotton-brain!" Swoopstrike said, tail lashing impatiently.
Rabbitstar snorted, giving an exaggerated eye-roll.
"Yeah, okay. Like the word of two ShadowClan cats matters to me," he said.
Swoopstrike stilled suddenly, his once lashing tail now held stiff behind him.
"Well, I know our word will matter to Sedgestar," Swoopstrike said with an ominous growl, his eyes glinting with an unspoken threat.
Swoopstrike's implication didn't go unnoticed by WindClan's leader.
"Are you threatening me, Swoopstrike?" Rabbitstar asked, digging his claws into the ground.
"We have this saying in ShadowClan: Look before you leap because that worm might turn out to be a snake," Swoopstrike growled. "You better watch yourself, Rabbitstar, before you get bit."
With that, Swoopstrike curled his lip up at Rabbitstar in a final derisive snarl and whipped around, stalking back into the trees. As Swoopstrike padded past Frostpaw, he flicked his tail at her to indicate that she should follow. Frostpaw was eager to obey, scrambling after him and letting out a quiet sigh as the dense pines quickly hid the WindClan patrol from her sight.
"We're going back to camp and telling Sedgestar about this immediately," Swoopstrike growled in a voice that vibrated with rage. "That cotton-brained Rabbitstar has really done it this time. Who does he think he is? We'll flay him and leave that shiny orange pelt of his hanging on a branch for the buzzards to pick clean."
Frostpaw nodded along, keeping her mouth shut in fear that if she said anything that it turned out he disagreed with, her mentor would turn his fury onto her.
Frostpaw felt some of the tension drain from her shoulders. Swoopstrike might not be her favorite cat in the forest, but she sure had been happy to see him springing out of the shadows to rescue her from WindClan.
Swoopstrike glanced at Frostpaw out of the corner of his eye.
"You did well standing up to them," Swoopstrike muttered the compliment grudgingly in a softer voice.
He glanced away from her, and his voice turned back to a harsh tone that Frostpaw was much more familiar with.
"But, you should've scented them coming before they saw you, and then vanished back into the trees," Swoopstrike snapped. "There's no need to stir up fights unnecessarily; you can learn much more about our enemies by watching them from the shadows. Cats that don't know they're being watched have loose tongues. Of course, there was nothing wrong with you hunting by the border, but Rabbitstar is extremely hot-headed and he'd claw anyone outside of WindClan up just for looking at him funny."
Frostpaw resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
I wonder what other cat that sounds like…
But, nevertheless, Frostpaw felt a spark of warmth appear in her chest at the advice and compliment she got from Swoopstrike.
Frankly, she was shocked that it appeared like Swoopstrike was even trying to train her at all. After he abandoned her to hunt alone, she had been convinced that the warrior wasn't even going to try. But, it turned out he had been watching her the whole time. Was him leaving her to hunt alone all a part of his training strategy and not just cruelty?
…I wonder, if I can get Swoopstrike to like me, then will everyone else in ShadowClan follow suit?
Well, he doesn't even have to like me, Frostpaw amended, shooting a quick look at Swoopstrike's scowling face. But, tolerate me at least.
The rest of the trek back to camp was spent in silence. Swoopstrike spent the time quietly fuming over WindClan, occasionally muttering curses about Rabbitstar under his breath, while Frostpaw tried to work out her plan to win Swoopstrike's favor. It was funny, only a few pawfuls of sunrises ago, before she was an apprentice, the task of making Swoopstrike like her would not only have seemed close to impossible, but also something that she saw no point in pursuing. But, now, she already had one compliment in her favor, and the task seemed much less insurmountable.
Frostpaw found Snakeeye's words coming back to her again.
"You will have to fight twice as hard, hunt twice as much, run twice as far as them to prove yourself."
…I can do it. Frostpaw thought, determination filling her.
She felt a jolt of surprise at the strength of the feeling. She didn't realize until now how much she wanted this. She wanted ShadowClan to accept her. She wanted the easy companionship of friends. The sense of blind comfort that she had as a young kit with her mother, knowing that someone was there that she could rely on no matter what. As much as Frostpaw liked Redclaw and the other queens, she knew that she never gave them the chance to be that for her.
Frostpaw felt a flash of guilt.
She knew Redclaw was a good cat, who defended and loved Frostpaw, but Frostpaw had closed her heart to her, in fear that if she let her in, she would be replacing May… or even worse, she feared that if she let herself love Redclaw, it would destroy her if she lost her like she lost May. But, in this effort to protect herself, Frostpaw had closed herself off to everyone. And, now… she was so lonely.
The feeling surged over her so powerfully, Frostpaw bit the insides of her cheek to stop herself from suddenly wailing like a lost kit.
She and Swoopstrike finally made it back to camp, and they padded inside through the thorn tunnel, the brambles scraping Frostpaw's fur as she pushed her way through. In in the center of camp, Swoopstrike gestured for Frostpaw to stay there, as he headed alone towards the entrance of the leader's den nestled in the oak tree's roots. Frostpaw stood in the center of camp. Her thoughts had drifted far from the confrontation with WindClan, and now she just felt utterly lost.
What do I do? Where do I even begin?
Her gaze flickered to over by the fresh-kill pile, where she spotted Autumnpaw's familiar fluffy dark ginger and white pelt. He was talking with Murmurkit and Mosskit, and Frostpaw felt the turmoil in her heart ease slightly.
At least… I'm not entirely alone.
She may have not let Redclaw or Autumnpaw in as much as she should've. But, the two of them seemed to care for her anyways. Weaseltail, Larkfoot, and Amberberry were also kind to her. And, Poolpaw was tolerable at the times he wasn't being an annoying frog-brain. And, Pinepaw… well Frostpaw would work on her along with Swoopstrike.
Frostpaw padded towards Autumnpaw, and her ears pricked as snippets of his conversation drifted over to her. Murmurkit and Mosskit were begging him to show them his hunting crouch or some battle moves. Autumnpaw was bragging with a playful glint in his amber eyes about the territory that he explored. Autumnpaw's gaze flicked up and he spotted Frostpaw approaching them.
"Oh, hi Frostpaw!" Autumnpaw meowed cheerfully. "I didn't expect you to be back from your hunting lessons so soon."
"Hi Autumnpaw," Frostpaw greeted him.
She turned towards the kits.
"Hi Murmurkit. Hi Mosskit," she added.
The two of them blinked at her in surprise. Frostpaw felt her fur start to flush with embarrassed heat as she realized that the whole time that they were in the nursery together, she barely said more than a few words to them, and never asked to play or anything...
No wonder they look so surprised.
"Hi Frostpaw," Murmurkit said quietly.
"Autumnpaw was telling us about how much territory he's seen!" Mosskit meowed excitedly, seemingly not bothered by Frostpaw's sudden acknowledgement of her and her sister. "Have you seen it too?"
"Yeah, she went on the same tour as I did," Autumnpaw said. "Our mentors showed us everything."
Mosskit's eyes shone in excitement.
"Have you seen any cats from the other Clans? What are they like?" she asked, particularly bouncing with energy.
"Well… no, not yet," Autumnpaw meowed regretfully, his ears dropping in disappointment.
Frostpaw hesitated. Autumnpaw glanced over to her, his brow furrowing as he read her expression.
"Wait… have you seen them? Did something happen today? Is that why you are back already?" Autumnpaw asked, his ears snapping back up as he suddenly became as excited as Mosskit.
Now all three of them turned to her, their eyes wide and eager.
"Well…" Frostpaw said, her heart racing nervously at the undivided attention the three cats were showing her. "Swoopstrike is talking to Sedgestar. I don't know if he wants me to tell anyone until Sedgestar decides what to do…"
"What?!" Autumnpaw exclaimed, his mouth comically gaping open. "Your mentor's talking to Sedgestar about it!? I'm dying of curiosity now. Now you have you tell us!"
"We won't tell anyone," Murmurkit promised.
"Please!" Mosskit added.
Frostpaw's tail-tip twitched indecisively. She didn't want Swoopstrike to get mad at her, especially not when she'd just decided she wanted him to like her. But, also, these three cats were looking at her so eagerly. They were happy to hear her talk; they wanted to know what she had to say. How many times had that happened to her before? Besides Autumnpaw, Redclaw and Weaseltail, not that often.
"Okay," she finally conceded. "I saw a WindClan patrol today."
"And…?" Autumnpaw prompted. "Swoopstrike wouldn't be talking to Sedgestar right now, if you just saw them and nothing else happened."
"I was hunting near the border, and they came over to me because they were suspicious that I was too close to their territory. Rabbitstar stepped over the border, acting like he might attack me, before Swoopstrike stepped in and stopped him," Frostpaw said quickly.
"Holy StarClan!" Autumnpaw exclaimed, his eyes as wide as moons. "The leader of WindClan tried to attack you?!"
Frostpaw shrugged.
"I guess I don't know if he was actually going to," Frostpaw said.
She fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment.
"Although, maybe. I got him mad because I called him rabbit-brained," she added.
"You called WindClan's leader rabbit-brained?" Murmurkit said with a purr.
Mosskit and Autumnpaw joined in with mrrows of laughter, and Frostpaw felt her pelt flush with heat.
"Well I didn't know that it was Rabbitstar that I called rabbit-brained," Frostpaw said.
"That's hilarious," Autumnpaw said, gasping for breath between his deep rumbling laughs.
"I can't believe you've only been apprentices for a few sunrises and you're already doing so many cool things!" Mosskit added with a jealous sigh.
"Well you and Murmurkit are only a moon younger than us," Frostpaw pointed out. "So, you two will be apprentices very soon too."
"Gossiping already?"
Frostpaw jumped guiltily at the sound of Swoopstrike's rasping voice from behind her. She turned around quickly to face him, her pelt prickling in apprehension.
"Swoopstrike! I'm sorry, I was just—"
Swoopstrike interrupted her with a shake of his head.
"Doesn't matter," he meowed curtly. "Sedgestar is making an announcement to the whole Clan about WindClan this evening. And, he plans on confronting them at the gathering tonight, so everyone in the forest will know soon enough."
"Are you and Frostpaw going to the gathering?" Mosskit asked Swoopstrike, her eyes bright with excitement.
"Yes," Swoopstrike said. "Sedgestar said all of the apprentices are going. ShadowClan has the most apprentices and warriors out of all of the Clans right now. Sedgestar wants make sure everyone knows it. We're giving a show of strength."
Frostpaw felt her stomach flip nervously.
I'm going to a gathering? Tonight? There will be so many cats there. Not to mention Rabbitstar and the WindClan cats that wanted to rip my pelt off today…
Swoopstrike turned to Frostpaw.
"Change the elder's nests and bring them some fresh-kill. Then get something to eat yourself and rest up for the gathering," Swoopstrike said sharply.
Then he turned and padded out of camp without so much as another word. Frostpaw watched him go, wondering where he was off to, but her thoughts were distracted by Autumnpaw giving her side an enthusiastic shove.
"Can you believe it!" he meowed excitedly. "Our first gathering already! Tonight! I can't wait to tell Poolpaw and Pinepaw!"
Frostpaw nodded, but her paws pricked with nervousness at the thought of seeing Rabbitstar and the other WindClan warriors again.
What is Sedgestar going to do?
Author's Note: Hello again so soon! I'm doing pretty well with keeping up with writing this right now, so hopefully I'll be back next week with another chapter!
Reviews:
Brian.H.H: Thank you! And, not a problem, we all get busy with life stuff :)
Brightmind: Yeah Lightning's Destiny is finished! And, I already miss writing those characters. And, I'm glad you are still taking the time to check on my stories. My interest in the fandom kind of wanes sometimes too. I haven't been reading the new books, and I don't know if I will ever read them if I'm being honest. But, I definitely still like writing fanfiction for it and doing fanart, and I don't feel like that'll go away anytime soon!