Moon Of Warning - Warrior Cat Fanfiction

Chapter Seven

Moonpaw looked around. There were so many cats! The five clan leaders were perched on a great tree, and apprentices were gossiping, and warriors were boasting, and elders were trading stories. Immediately, a brown apprentice caught her eye. "Hey, you're new." Moonpaw ducked her head. "Yes, I am. I'm Moonpaw." The brown apprentice purred. "I'm Mahoganypaw. Pretty long name right? Anyway, Where's Lilacpaw?" Or has she passed her assessment yet? Tell me, is my friend a warrior?" Moonpaw looked up at the eager she-cat. She could only whisper- her mouth seemed to have gone dry. "Died. When we buried her, we named her Lilacheart." The apprentice's tail drooped. "Oh... Oh no... Poor Lilacpaw..." Mahoganypaw muttered. She turned tail and shuffled towards a area filled with Shadowclan cats. She must be one of them. Moonpaw looked up to where the leaders were seated. Cypresstar... Shadowclan. Coldstar... Skyclan. Pikestar... Riverclan. Orangestar... Windclan. All of the clan leaders were there. But there was something strange... Cypresstar was glaring at Laurestar. Had she said something wrong to upset the Shadowclan leader? Moonpaw shook her pelt. Calm, sweet, even-minded Laurelstar would never do something like stealing prey, or trying to take too much territory. Moonpaw found a spot beside her brother. She couldn't sit by her mentor, because she was the deputy. The other deputies were seated at the roots of the tree. Moonpaw looked up as Orangestar yowled for silence, "Let the Gathering begin!" At once, Cypresstar stood on his branch. "My cats need more prey!" He called, thrashing his tail. "I want to take some of every cat's territory, so that my cats may thrive!" Laurelstar stood as well. "I have already told you, we cannot spare territory! First we need to put our paws on the problem at hand! We have a unknown creature in our borders, and it killed my cats! Lilacpaw, Gladewing, Citruspelt, and Swiftclaws. We re-named Lilacpaw; Lilacheart. Treeclaw was wounded as well, and he has lived. And we have new apprentices. Shadepaw, Moonpaw, Litchenpaw, and Sharppaw." The cats in the clearing faintly called out their names. Laurelstar sat stiffly on her branch, clearly agitated. Orangestar stood, his branch swaying with the big tom's weight. "Windclan is fine. Prey is running well. And we are not giving territory either." And he sat down again, letting Coldstar speak next. "Skyclan is good as well, and our territory stays ours. We chased off a fox earlier, and it did not go through any other clan's borders." She motioned for Pikestar to speak. They evidently wanted to put off Cypresstar's talk of territory. "Riverclan keeps their territory, and we will not let go without a fight." The burly grey tom glared at the Shadowclan leader. Cypresstar hissed faintly. "Fine. We will take your territories. Be ready for battle my fellow clans, because you will have it." And he jumped off his limb. "Shadowclan, we are leaving!" He called, and stalked away. The rest of the leaders followed, collecting their cats. That's why Cypresstar was glaring at Laurelstar! She was the one who protested most strongly against him. Moonpaw realized. She followed her clanmates at they left the Gathering island.

***

Moonpaw gagged. She was cleaning out the bedding in the nursery. You would think by now they would know how to clean their own bedding! Moonpaw tried to think better thoughts. After I do this dirty job, I get to do battle training. Moonpaw dragged the first wad of disgusting moss through the entrance of the nursery. She continued to drag it, not pausing when the kits themselves tried to bounce in her way, or when they tried playing moss-ball with the clean bedding. She let go, and pushed the dirty moss out the thorn tunnel. Picking her burden up again, she tripped over a root protruding from the ground. She stumbled, and fell, the moss positioning itself on her head. She flew head-over-tail, and hit various rocks in the dirt. When she stopped, she was covered in the old bedding. "Yuck!" She hissed, thinking about how long it would take for her fur to be shiny and clean once more. She shook out her fur, and left the moss scattered around her in little clumps. No cat will notice it... She thought, running back up the hill she had fallen down. She raced through the forest, back to camp. Stopping at the tunnel, Moonpaw collected the clean moss, and nodded to Myrtletail, who was on duty. She pressed through the stems of thorns into the Thunderclan camp. She spotted Leafnose, who was picking absently at a thrush. He was probably still grieving for his daughter. Stonewhisker was laying out some fuzzy leaves to dry. He's always so prepared. Moonpaw thought, turning away from the stoney grey medicine cat. Duskpelt was drawing something with his claws, showing it to Marigoldheart. It looked like the clearing that the strange creature attacked her clanmates in. There was no sign of the other apprentices, so Moonpaw continued her task. She laid the new moss in the nursery, sniffing for thorns. Twinklepelt would have my pelt if her kits were even touched by a thorn! Moonpaw purred. Every Thunderclan queen was protective of her young. Finding no thorns, Moonpaw stepped back, satisfied. She padded out of the nursery, looking for her mentor. She quickly slid her head into the warrior's den, and retracted it, seeing Twistsnout sleeping inside. The cream tom was always grumpy. It was hard to believe he was the littermate of a much nicer cat. Laurelstar loved her brother, and he was a much better cat around her. Treeclaw was stretching outside the den, checking his wounds from the attack. "Much better." Moonpaw heard him mutter. "Treeclaw? Have you seen Starlingmist?" She asked the yellow tom. "Yes. She is in leader's den." He replied. Moonpaw had gotten so used to the old warrior's talk, she didn't even notice he skipped over a word. "Thanks Treeclaw!" She called over her shoulder, heading for Laurelstar's den. "No problem." He murmured, gazing fondly at the little apprentice. Moonpaw climbed the rock face, sending a few loose shards clattering down. The cats above must have heard her, because Moonpaw didn't realize there had been voices until they stopped. She pushed up the rest of the way, gasping from the climb. Laurelstar, Starlingmist, and Whiskerear were inside. Moonpaw bounded over to her mentor, and asked, "Now can we do battle training? Please Starlingmist, I did everything you told me to!" Moonpaw sounded so eager, Starlingmist wanted to end the conversation and take the little she-cat to the training clearing. But she didn't, because the matter was severe. "Moonpaw, I can't take you." The grey-black cat's tail drooped despairingly. "You promised-" She started, but she closed her mouth, seeing the gleam in her mentor's eye. "I know I did, little one. But I am discussing something important with Laurelstar and Whiskerear. So you can go and tell Crystalflower that I said to take you training with the others." She looked around. Their small apprentice had disappeared. Starlingmist rolled her eyes to the sky. Moonpaw didn't see the exasperated reaction of her swift leaving, because she was running across the clearing to her mother. "Momma! Starlingmist said you can take me training!" She meowed enthusiastically. She ran excited circles around her mother, mewing, "Come on! Come on!" Crystalflower put her prey down, stopping her kit with a well-trained paw movement. "Alright! Come along, I bet I can beat you to the training area!" Crystalflower bunched her muscles and ran, Moonpaw keeping stride. They ran side by side, neither one breaking the steady movement of the run. They leaped over a dead tree, and halted at the same time in the training area. Slightshadow, Herontail, and Tulipheart were all there with her friends. She leaped up to her brother, ignoring the other cats. "I finished all my yucky jobs, Shadepaw! Now I can train!" She jumped around, her brother looking slightly embarrassed. "Umm... Moonpaw?" He asked, peering at his sister. She stopped, and looked at him. She suddenly realized that she had run into the middle of a training session. She looked at the ground, feeling her body grow very hot. She glanced up. Sharppaw was deliberately looking away, and made a little coughing sound, while Litchenpaw was tapping her paw on the ground. "Sorry." Moonpaw mumbled, backing away from her littermate. "It's alright." Moonpaw looked at Herontail. The jokester was looking amused, and Moonpaw's brow furrowed. Why does he think everything's funny? She wondered. "Every apprentice does something stupid at some point. I remember when I happen to fall out of a tree, right onto Lauelstar..." Herontail, if he had seen, ignored the other cats' paws as they dug their claws into the ground, not wanting to hear another story. Tulipheart muttered, "Not again..." And turned away. Slightshadow intervened, stopping the light grey tom's tale. "This is a training session, remember." He whispered into the older warrior's ear. "Oh, right." Herontail didn't seem disturbed in the slightest. "Anyway, now that Moonpaw is here, we can do the correct partnering. Sharppaw, you and Moonpaw are to practice flipping each other onto your backs, and trying to push the opposing cat off before any damage can be dealt. Shadepaw, you can try and get Litchenpaw pinned, but I warn you, that little she-cat is harder to hold onto than a fish!" Herontail beckoned for the other mentors to back up, and he stepped close to Crystalflower. "This is training. No harm is going to come to any of these young cats." He whispered. Every queen hated seeing their kits in potential danger. She nodded, trying not to show her unease. Moonpaw circled Sharppaw, looking at his left side. Last time, this was where he was open to attack. This time however, he wasn't lopsided. He was evenly placed, and had no open spots that Moonpaw could see. She peered at his tail for no apparent reason. There! She lunged for his left side, just as she had done before. But instead of twisting around, she slid onto her belly. She turned over, seeing her opponents' calico belly under her. Moonpaw pushed with her strong back legs, and caught Sharppaw just under his forelegs. He flew backwards, laying winded and scratched. Moonpaw bunched her legs and leaped, landing upon his belly. More air puffed out of Sharppaw's already decreasing air supply. She bent her head, and whispered, "Do you yield?" in Sharppaw's ear. He muttered, "I... I yield." Moonpaw straightened, and let out a yowl of triumph. "I won! I actually won!" She stepped off of Sharppaw, and raced tight circles around a tall sycamore tree. She barely watched Litchenpaw be beaten by her brother, and she said nothing as they returned to camp. She wasn't hungry. The only thing she wanted right now was to tell her mentor she had won. She ran to the Highledge once more, climbed it, and entered the den above. "Starlingmist!" She called, racing to her mentor's side. "I'm super sorry to interrupt again, but I won! I beat Sharppaw!" She glowed with pride. "Good job Moonpaw! I see the training is finally getting better for you. I'm proud of you." Moonpaw positively beamed with the deputy's praise. She touched noses with the grey-and-white she-cat, and left the den. She raced to the elder's den, intent on boasting to Twigleaf and Marshheart. She stopped, about to enter the honeysuckle bush, when a yowl rang around the clearing. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Highledge for a clan meeting!"