Chapter 12
Starrypaw fluffed out her fur against the cold wind as she padded after her patrol along the twoleg place fence. It was two days after the prey had been found by fourtrees, and border patrols took much longer now as they not only continued to double check twoleg place, but they searched the border by fourtrees more heavily due to WindClan.
The day of the storm had been the last warm day that Starrypaw could remember. A cold wind had come in overnight, and now leaf-fall was promised with every chilly breeze and falling dead leaf.
Starrypaw had been assigned to join the dawn patrol. Of course, with the sun still being hidden behind the trees, the cold air felt even colder. Starrypaw shivered while following behind Graystripe, Ashfur, and Rainwhisker.
"Everything looks good!" Graystripe called behind him.
Starrypaw felt a wave of relief as they headed back for camp. She couldn't wait to curl up in the den and get warm.
"If the beginning of leaf-fall is this cold, I'm afraid of what leafbare is going to be like," Rainwhisker remarked, echoing everyone's thoughts.
Graystripe's whiskers twitched in amusement. "It's not all that cold. You and your siblings were apprentices in last leafbare."
Rainwhisker shrugged. "I've gotten too used to being warm."
Ashfur nodded in agreement. "I think we all have, but that's how it goes every few moons. There's always a good and bad side to every season."
As Starrypaw listened, she felt warmth build inside her at the thought of being a warrior. I can't imagine being like them, she thought, just speaking of many moons like it's normal. I wonder what it'll be like when my apprentice days are old to me.
When they all slipped into the gorse tunnel, Graystripe reported to Firestar and began to set up hunting patrols. Starrypaw headed briskly to the apprentice's den.
"Starrypaw! Where are you going?" Graystripe called behind her.
Starrypaw whipped back around. "Oh! Sorry. I was just eager to get warm."
Graystripe nodded. "Well let's head to the hollow. And don't worry about being cold, jumping around should definitely warm you up."
Starrypaw sighed, but she nodded respectively and together they headed out to train.
Once they reached the hollow, Graystripe looked quite tense. Starrypaw could tell her lesson would be challenging.
"For this move you have to be thinking hard," he began. "There are many steps to it. It's what we call the half-turn belly rake. You drop onto your side and roll under and out from your opponent. It isn't a complete roll like it says, 'a half turn.' By its name can you guess what else you do?"
"You rake their belly?"
Graystripe flicked his tail happily. "Yup! Watch!"
The gray tabby demonstrated the move with perfect ease and swiftness. Starrypaw was sure that if there had been a real opponent, they wouldn't have walked away unscathed.
"Now, there is a con to this. It's an easier move when you're smaller, but it also leaves you more susceptible to being overtaken. Putting yourself under an enemy is no laughing matter. Your turn. Practice the move a few times, and then you can try it on me."
Starrypaw dropped into the turn, pretending she was sliding underneath the belly of one of the giant rogue cats. As she reached the imaginary point, she slashed at the air until she was back onto her feet.
"How was that?" she asked her mentor.
"Good," Graystripe said, "but you need to ball yourself up a bit more. Your tail was sticking out, and you might not have room to get underneath if you keep your legs out that far. Make sure to keep yourself tight."
Starrypaw nodded and repeated the move, this time keeping her limbs and tail close to her chest even as she swiped.
"Good," Graystripe praised. "Now you can try it on me."
Starrypaw and Graystripe practiced the move until it was nearing sunhigh. She was finally dismissed and though it was warmer than it'd been that morning, she still shivered in the breeze. She couldn't imagine how WindClan and RiverClan dealt with leafbare with little to no trees.
Belly beginning to rumble, Starrypaw slipped through the gorse tunnel ready to eat. As she padded gratefully to the fresh kill pile, Shrewpaw bolted across the clearing towards her. He looked antsy, and his fur bristled uncertaintly.
"Hey, Starrypaw. Can I join you?"
"Of course," she replied.
As they settled down in a patch of sunlight with their prey, Starrypaw noticed how quickly Shrewpaw scarfed it down.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Thornclaw told me I'm having an assessment today," he explained with a mouthful.
Starrypaw's eyes widened. "That's great! Spiderpaw too?"
Shrewpaw nodded as he finished off his food. Thornclaw sat by the gorse tunnel, watching his apprentice.
"Good luck!" Starrypaw called after Shrewpaw as he jumped away and out of camp.
As Starrypaw finished off her own food, she thought about what it would be like with Shrewpaw as a warrior. For a few moons, he would be in a completely different den than her. It unsettled her, and she hated the thought of barely seeing him.
"Hey Starrypaw."
She turned to see Leafpaw heading over with a mouse in her jaws.
"Hi," Starrypaw replied.
She didn't want to leave when Leafpaw had just come to join her, so Starrypaw splayed out, sighing in contentment in the warm sunlight.
"Can you believe it's already leaf-fall? We're almost 12 moons old now," Starrypaw said, attempting to start a conversation.
Leafpaw nodded. "Time flies. You and Squirrelpaw only have about over three moons of training left to be warriors."
A shiver of excitement coursed through Starrypaw. Even though she'd hate every night sleeping without Shrewpaw, she wouldn't have to wait extremely long to join him.
"How are you getting along?" she asked Leafpaw. She realized with a pang that she hadn't had a good talk with the medicine cat apprentice in quite a while.
"Just fine. It's busy being a medicine cat, even just an apprentice, and I don't mind it a bit."
"That's great! You'll be the best medicine cat in the history of ThunderClan."
"I don't know about that. Cinderpelt is pretty great."
"You'll be greater."
Leafpaw purred a thanks and took another bite of her mouse while Starrypaw closed her eyes and cherished the warmth on her pelt. The birds sang throughout the forest despite the chill, and the camp still bustled comfortingly. Once Leafpaw had finished eating, she and Starrypaw shared tongues until Leafpaw had to go back to her duties.
Suddenly, Ferncloud's kits stumbled over.
"Hi...um.." Birchkit hesitated.
"Starrypaw," Starrypaw said, answering his unasked question.
"Right! Hi, Starrypaw! Can you play with us?" Birchkit waved his tiny stick tail as his sisters jostled in beside him.
Starrypaw's heart warmed. How could anyone possibly decline such an adorable playmate? "Of course!"
Starrypaw made sure to be gentle around the kits. They all played chase and hunted the leaves. Ferncloud sat with Goldenflower, watching her kits proudly and occasionally throwing Starrypaw grateful glances.
In a sudden interruption of their game just like two days before, pawsteps pounding on the forest floor sent everyone on alert. The warriors all shot up, fur bristling as the pounding grew louder. Firestar rushed out of his den to stand beside his deputy. The kits hid behind Starrypaw, and she stood tall, making it her goal to ensure nothing would ever happen to them.
In a frenzy of fur, Spiderpaw burst into the camp. His pelt was on end and smeared with blood.
"Spiderpaw!" Firestar began. "What happened?"
He could hardly seem to get the words out. "W...we've been...attacked..." he panted.
"What? Who attacked you?"
"RiverClan! I was hunting by the RiverClan border, and a patrol attacked me. I still don't know why. Thornclaw, Mousefur, and Shrewpaw joined, but we were loosing. Mousefur told me to get help."
Firestar whipped around. "Graystripe, Brambleclaw, Rainwhisker, Dustpelt, and Squirrelpaw, with me. Cinderpelt, see to Spiderpaw's injuries, and be prepared for more." He turned to the shaken apprentice. "How many warriors are there from RiverClan?"
"Six."
Firestar nodded. "Thornclaw, Mousefur, and Shrewpaw might be tired, but together we outnumber them pretty well. Let's go."
Starrypaw's blood felt hot. She found herself wondering if Shrewpaw was okay. Subconsciously, she was bolting for the leaving patrol.
"Graystripe!" she called after her mentor.
The patrol stopped and seemingly the whole camp was fixiated on her. Starrypaw ignored them, focusing only on her driving anger against RiverClan and fear for Shrewpaw to be alright.
"What?" Graystripe asked. Firestar thrashed his tail impatiently.
"I...I wanna come!"
Graystripe turned to look at Firestar. For a moment, they seemed to speak to eachother with just their eyes. Finally, Firestar nodded.
"Alright," Graystripe replied for him.
As they leapt out of the gorse tunnel, Starrypaw looked behind her to see Ferncloud ushering her kits towards the nusery. She saw fear reflected in their tiny eyes as they met hers, but almost a look of encouragement seemed to overpower it. I won't let anything happen to your brother, she promised. It was more so to herself.
They bolted through the forest until the cold air stung their eyes. Starrypaw could hear yowling as they grew closer, and the smell of blood hit her like a claw.
Their patrol burst from the forest into the battle. Firestar gave a yowl to announce their arrival, and the RiverClan cat's heads whipped around. The battle was still. Starrypaw searched frantically among the fur and unfamiliar scents for Shrewpaw, but she couldn't spot him.
With another yowl, a large tabby RiverClan tom launched himself from the crowd onto Firestar. Immediately the battle was ignited once more.
Before Starrypaw could take a step, she was thrown to the ground. She clawed blindly, and finally made contact with fur before coming to a stop under a tortoiseshell she-cat. Starrypaw scratched her hindclaws down the she-cat's belly until she finally released her, giving a yowl of pain and disappearing into the writhing cats.
Starrypaw jumped up and turned to see Mousefur pinned underneath a smoky black tom. He lifted up a forepaw, and Starrypaw knew he was about to make a deadly blow. She raced towards them and slammed herself into him, much more successfully than when she'd tried the move against the large twoleg place rogue.
The tom tumbled onto the ground, and Starrypaw leapt on top of him, preparing herself to scrape his belly just as she'd done with the she-cat. The tom moved quickly however, and he leapt up easily. They both rose up onto their hindlegs. Starrypaw scraped her claws down his side as she felt his claws scrape her own. She managed to turn and dig her teeth into his shoulder, and he yowled in pain as he struggled to defend himself.
Starrypaw hissed as a pair of claws reached her back. She was being attacked from behind! The black tom took advantage and whipped around. Starrypaw was battered from both sides as an unknown cat she couldn't see and the tom attacked her fiercely.
Starrypaw was pinned to the ground and the unknown cat came into view. She recognized Graystripe's son Stormfur as he reached up his claws, preparing to bring them down hard. Suddenly, a dark ginger blur jumped into him, and Starrypaw was left with the black tom standing over her. Her belly was painfully vulnerable, and she thrusted into the tom's stomach with her hind legs before he could do anything else, finally managing to leap up.
The black tom was attacked by Brambleclaw, and Starrypaw turned to see who'd saved her from her mentor's son. Squirrelpaw was battling with Stormfur fiercely, and Starrypaw rushed towards them to help her. She stopped short as a voice called out.
"Stop!"
The battle froze once more, and Starrypaw turned to see Firestar standing atop Sunningrocks, looking down on them. Blood trickled down his head and neck from a wound on his ear.
"What have we done that gives you the right to attack us in this way? If you're wanting Sunningrocks, perhaps you should reconsider!"
Starrypaw felt a chill colder than the air of leafbare run down her spine as a familiar tom stepped up.
Hawkfrost.
"ThunderClan has hunted on RiverClan territory!" he stated loudly.
ThunderClan protested, and the fire of battle was ignited once more as cats leapt on eachother again. The tabby tom that had attacked Firestar as soon as they'd entered the fight eyed Starrypaw, and soon he was racing towards her. She braced herself, and as soon as he leapt up to pounce, she jumped sideways. The moment his paws hit the ground, Starrypaw rushed him, scraping her claws down his side. However, with a swift move, he had her down, and she yowled as he dug his teeth into her left hindleg.
Starrypaw scrabbled to stop him as the pain grew worse. She knew he wasn't going to let go on his own or at least until he'd done more damage. She scraped her claws down his side over and over. Suddenly, he was pushed to the side, and he finally let go. Starrypaw glanced up to see Shrewpaw attacking the tabby tom.
Before she could help him fight him off, Starrypaw heard a loud yowl from someone else. She whirled around to see Hawkfrost standing over Firestar. He was in the position for the killing bite.
She would not let it happen.
Starrypaw yowled angrily and streaked forwards, ignoring the throbbing pain from her leg and many other scratches. She leapt on top of Hawkfrost, throwing him down and scraping him furiously. He was strong though, and her anger towards his actions wasn't enough. Hawkfrost threw her off, and she landed with a thud, knocking the wind out of her.
As she struggled to her paws, gasping for air, Starrypaw looked up to see Hawkfrost charging for her with a wild look in his eyes that sent her bristling in fear.
"What is happening here!?"
The battle froze for good, Starrypaw hoped, as everyone looked up to see Mistyfoot and Leopardstar looking down on them from Sunningrocks as Firestar had done. The anger in both their eyes was staggering.
"Your warriors attacked us! What does it look like!?" Dustpelt called out.
"Who has led this attack?" Leopardstar scanned the crowd of wounded, angry cats.
"I did."
Starrypaw glanced over to see Hawkfrost dipping his head to his leader.
"Why would you do this? What has ThunderClan done to be attacked? I did not give any orders for this!"
Hawkfrost whirled around to face Firestar. "ThunderClan has hunted on our territory!"
Leopardstar and Mistyfoot turned their gaze onto the ThunderClan leader.
"Stop lying! You're just making excuses!" Dustpelt shot back.
Firestar thrashed his tail to silence him. "Hawkfrost, we have no need to hunt on another Clan's territory! What would ThunderClan do with fish?!"
"You tell me!" the black RiverClan tom yelled.
"Even if it were true," Leopardstar said loudly, "there are many better ways to settle this, Hawkfrost! Perhaps to come and tell your leader or deputy first!"
She leapt down from Sunningrocks and padded towards Firestar. Even though her stature showed no hostility, Starrypaw dug her claws into the ground, prepared to protect her leader if needed. He was torn up and bleeding, and he looked quite winded.
"I apologize for the trouble my warriors have caused, Firestar. We shall discuss the prey trouble-if there is any found-at the next gathering. If not, we will have no need to speak of this again I should add."
The last part of the sentence sounded like a threat. Starrypaw narrowed her eyes in anger. She was positive that no ThunderClan cats had traveled onto RiverClan territory.
Despite it all, Firestar nodded respectively. "Thankyou, Leopardstar. Of course I would not say anything about this to the other Clans."
Leopardstar dipped her head and flicked her tail to signal to her warriors as she turned away. The RiverClan cats all limped after her, casting hostile glares behind them before they all disappeared.
The ThunderClan injuries seemed to come rushing back to everyone. Starrypaw grimaced as her cuts burned like fire, yet she glanced around frantically for Shrewpaw.
"Starrypaw!"
She breathed a sigh of relief to hear the voice as Shrewpaw came limping up to her. Somehow, his injuries didn't look too deep for how long he'd been fighting. They touched noses, and Shrewpaw looked her up and down.
"Your leg!" he exclaimed.
"It's fine. You've been fighting even longer than I have," she assured him with a chuckle, brushing his ear with her tail.
"Mousefur!" Squirrelpaw screamed.
Everyone whirled around to see the dusky brown she-cat sprawled across the ground coated in blood. She didn't move except for the extremely slow rise and fall of her chest. Firestar and Graystripe rushed over to her.
"Starrypaw," her mentor said, "go and get Cinderpelt. Now!"
Starrypaw turned and ran as fast as she could with her injuries somehow not slowing her down. A deep fear pounded inside of her, driving her to speed up. She was determined not to let anything happen to Mousefur.
When she leapt through the gorse tunnel, staggering from her injuries, cats came rushing out to see what had happened. Ferncloud's kits peeked out from the nursery with wide eyes.
"Cinderpelt! We need you! Fast!" Starrypaw yelled.
Cinderpelt came limping out of the den. Spiderpaw's head peeked out behind her. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's Mousefur! I...there was a lot of blood!"
Cinderpelt didn't hesitate. "Leafpaw will be faster." She whirled around to face her apprentice who'd come running out behind her. "Go quick! Take as many cobwebs and herbs as you can carry!"
Leafpaw nodded and bolted back into the den.
"I can go back and help carry things!" Starrypaw offered.
Cinderpelt shook her head. "No. You need to stay here and have your injuries looked at. Brackenfur, help Leafpaw carry herbs to Mousefur. Send the injured cats back once you get there and tell them that everything will be okay."
Brackenfur nodded to his sister and slipped into the medicine den. Not a moment later they emerged with mouthfuls of herbs and cobwebs and bolted out of camp.
Cinderpelt waved Starrypaw into her den, and Starrypaw limped inside. When she lay down and began to be treated, Spiderpaw sat beside her.
"Is she bad?" he asked softly. Mousefur was his mentor, Starrypaw reflected.
Starrypaw closed her eyes, seeing the image of the warrior splayed out once again. "Yes," she replied quietly.
Spiderpaw curled into a ball, facing away from the both of them. Starrypaw couldn't imagine if something like that had happened to Graystripe. She reached out and pushed her nose encouragingly into Spiderpaw's fur.
As Cinderpelt applied cobwebs onto her bleeding wounds, Starrypaw thought back to the battle. The horrifying look in Hawkfrost's eyes as he'd charged towards her flashed into her mind multiple times.
He would've killed Firestar, she thought. He would've killed me. Suddenly she thought of how ridiculous that thought was. Why would he? Of course he wouldn't. I was just protecting my leader. All I did was annoy him. Still a question burned in her mind.
Why had he purposefully attacked ThunderClan without permission?
--
Starrypaw crouched down low, stalking the mouse in the brush up ahead. Her injuries from the battle no longer stung. The air was warm for the beginning of leaf-fall, and the tip of her tail twitched excitedly.
As she sprang up, claws outstretched for her prey, she was thrown to the side by an unseen force. Starrypaw scrambled to her paws and looked around, panting heavily.
"You're more than just a prey stealer, Starrypaw," an eerily familiar voice rang out.
She whirled around to see who'd spoken. "Who's there? Come out!"
"You're an obstacle in my way!"
Starrypaw was tackled to the ground once again. She could see nothing, and the scent of her attacker remained hidden from her. Suddenly, she stopped and quickly turned to see who was on top of her. Icy-blue eyes met her own, and she flattened her ears.
Hawkfrost.
"I smelled you there that day when you spied on me by the river. Stay out of my way, Starrypaw," he whispered. "You don't want to know what'll happen if you don't."
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the highrock!"
Starrypaw jolted awake to find herself alone in the apprentice's den. Her wounds began to sting once again, and she ran her tongue over a few of them before slipping out quickly to join everyone else.
As she settled in the back of the crowd of cats gathered in the clearing, Hawkfrost's voice echoed in her mind. Her heart raced and she didn't even notice what the gathering was about until she heard Spiderpaw's name.
"Spiderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Firestar asked.
Starrypaw's eyes widened, and her dream was quickly forgotten, she stretched up on her paws, ignoring the dull pain of her fresh bite wound, to see Shrewpaw and Spiderpaw sitting tall in front of the highrock.Their warrior ceremony!
"I do," Spiderpaw said, his voice steady, though filled with excitement.
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Spiderpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Spiderleg. StarClan honors your loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
Firestar leapt down from the highrock and placed his chin on Spiderleg's head. Spiderleg licked his shoulder in return.
"Spiderleg!" the Clan cheered.
Firestar continued on to Shrewpaw, and Starrypaw stiffened as he repeated the question.
"I do," Shrewpaw said confidently.
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Shrewpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shrewhunter. StarClan honors your bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
He repeated the process of resting his chin on Shrewhunter's head, and Shrewhunter licked his shoulder as well.
"Shrewhunter!"
As the crowd dispersed, and some cats tried to get closer to congratulate, Starrypaw turned to see Mousefur laid out by the entrance to the medicine cat's den. Her deep injuries from the RiverClan battle had prevented her from being by her apprentice, but she'd still done her best to be near to watch.
The battle led by Hawkfrost had only been the day before. Once Mousefur had been safely taken back to camp, she remained in the medicine den due to the deep wounds on her belly. Starrypaw was thankful she'd survived. The warrior ceremony for Shrewhunter and Spiderleg had been meant to take place that night, but it was waited out as the cats who'd fought had been exhausted.
Now, the sun crept up in the sky as it neared sunhigh. The air was still chilly, and many cats slipped back into the dens to get warm. Starrypaw's dream suddenly came rushing back to her, and she shivered, feeling even colder than before as the image of Hawkfrost's threatening gaze revisited her mind.
"Hey, Starrypaw!"
Starrypaw blinked and turned to see Shrewhunter padding over to her. She suddenly realized she hadn't even gone over to congratulate him.
"Hi! Uh...great job! You both really deserve the titles of a warrior! It was definitely long overdue," she gushed out, briefly reflecting on the fact that they should've been made warriors at least a moon ago.
Shrewhunter purred in amusement. "Thanks."
Starrypaw nodded and sat, shuffling her paws awkwardly. Shrewhunter stepped closer to her, and he gave her a swipe on the cheek with his tongue. "Something bothering you?"
Starrypaw hesitated. She considered blurting out all of her worries about Hawkfrost then and there. He's just become a warrior, she thought. I don't need to trouble him more.
"Well, yes. I'm going to miss you when you're in the warrior's den," she quickly decided to say. I didn't lie, she thought.
Shrewhunter nodded and sat beside her. "I will too. Just think, you only have like three moons left. It'll pass by in a flash don't worry."
Starrypaw closed her eyes, soothed by his kind and reassuring tone. He gave her a few more licks around her ear before his name was called by Ashfur, who was leading a hunting patrol.
"See you later, Starrypaw," Shrewhunter said as he bounded away with a skip in his step. He reminded her of a happy kit, but she couldn't blame him.
Starrypaw grabbed something from the fresh-kill pile, which was growing lower every day, and ate quickly, realizing how hungry she'd been.
"Starrypaw!" a voice squeaked as Starrypaw cleaned up after finishing.
She turned to see Larchkit stumbling over, her tiny eyes bright. "Want to play with us again?"
Starrypaw was tired, but she didn't want to spend the day lazing about before heading out on any patrols. "Sure."
She followed Larchkit over to where her littermates were waiting expectantly. Starrypaw felt a small rush of pride that they thought to ask her first for the second time now. I wonder if Shrewhunter ever felt this way when I was a kit and he was an apprentice.
Hollykit bounced around. "Let's play Clans!"
Birchkit stood tall. "I'm Birchstar, you're leader!"
"Aww I wanted to be leader!"
"No I do!"
Starrypaw stifled a purr. "How about we take turns?" she suggested. "To decide who goes next, we can do a leaf hunting competition."
All three kits jumped excitedly, and after deciding that the next leader would be Hollykit, they began following the orders of "Birchstar." Starrypaw was made deputy in his Clan after being named Starryfur, and Larchkit begged to play an enemy rogue. The thought of rogues sent a chill down Starrypaw's spine, but she brushed it off and tried to follow their game as best as she could.
"Okay, Hollykit's turn now," Starrypaw said after quite a while. The kits obliged easily, and Hollykit became "Hollystar."
"We're going to raid the home of that nasty rogue!" Hollykit exclaimed as Birchkit hid behind the nursery, pretending to be the next rogue.
Suddenly, a shadow hovered beside Starrypaw from behind, she glanced around to see broad shoulders and brown tabby fur. Without a second thought, she shrieked and darted towards Hollykit and Larchkit, hovering protectively over them.
"Starrypaw what's wrong?" Larchkit asked, peeking out from underneath her.
Starrypaw turned her head slowly to see Brambleclaw standing there with a bewildered expression on his face. Practically every cat in camp had stopped to stare at her. She flattened her ears in embarrassment as her heart began to slow.
"Sorry. I kind of got confused." She stepped back from over the kits and sat down.
"Sorry, Starrypaw," Brambleclaw finally said, trotting up to her. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just going to tell you that Graystripe wants you with us for the mid-day patrol."
Starrypaw nodded her thanks and said goodbye to the kits before heading to join the patrol. She had been so sure that Hawkfrost had been standing right behind her. Why did Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost look so eerily alike?