Warriors: The star lake fanfiction

Chapter 13

Smokepaw padded on the squishy sand. She stayed close to the land rocks, away from all the frantic twolegs.
Her nose twitched. A familiar smell filled her nose.
More cats!

She figured that if the cats were hostile, she could run back to Raven's place. Besides, from what she could smell, there were only about seven. She couldn't fight them, but she was fast. And with her new strength, she could outrun them back to Raven. Her elder bones would be screaming at her, but she knew that she could push through it to get to Raven.
She followed the growing scent. She stopped by a den made by huge rocks stacked on top of each other. It looked like a small cave of sorts. The sand was also present in the cave, and that was where the cats were.
"Um, hello?" She called as she entered the cave.

Seven unknown cats hissed at her in unison.
She jumped back a bit, but stayed in the cave.
"What are you doing here?" One of them asked, approaching her. The cats all seemed to share a relieved look, as if they were noticing that she was only a small apprentice and not a threat.
"I need a place to stay, preferably with creatures that I can understand." She answered.
The same cat hissed again.
"We will not let scrawny little kits into our clan. Food is scarce and we have enough mouths to feed. We cannot take in a useless kit, especially with leaf-bare right around the corner." He spat.

If she could somehow show them how she could help them, that she wouldn't just be deadweight, she needed to come up with it fast.
"If I can prove to be of use, will you let me join?" She asked.
"In the wild possibility that you could actually be useful, yes. IF you can prove your worth." He replied.
Her veil trick could help her catch more prey.
"I'll catch four prey and bring them back to you before sunhigh." She ran off without waiting for a response.

"Crimsonpelt, can you find some prey for me please?" She asked.
"Mhm." His voice replied. She had never tried to contact him during the day, but she was glad it worked.
"Go towards the trees, there's a thrush there." Crimsonpelt said.
She dashed over to the trees, spotting the unsuspecting thrush on a branch close enough to jump to.
She crept up and quickly caught it on the branch in her jaws.
She buried it in the dirt to find later.
"Go to the tide pools. There are many fish there."

She pranced to the sun-drown-place, and searched for the tide pools.
"They're a little ways away, you'll need to run to get there before sunhigh."
She sped up. It felt nice to run with full strength again. Her sleep was so good that night, her elder bones didn't even hurt that much.
No cat she'd ever seen could match her ground eating strides.
"There." She slowed to a stop in front of the tide pools.

Indeed, the water was low which captured fish in the tide pool.
She swiped up four, quickly gobbling one for herself to refill her energy. The fish tasted so much better than the brown pellets.
She ran back to the trees with the fish in her jaws.
She dug up the thrush, barely able to fit it in her mouth. If she had taken the fish to the cats first and went back for the thrush, she would have been late.

She returned to the cave and dropping the prey in front of the cats' paws. She silently thanked Crimsonpelt for his help.
"Wow!"
"That was fast."
"How'd she do that so quickly?"
The grumpy cat from before narrowed his eyes at her.
"Please. I only need to stay for four moons, until the last leaf falls. Then I'll be gone before leaf-bare." She pleaded.

"...Fine. But you'll leave THE DAY the last leaf falls, understand?"
She nodded.
"Im Albatross."
"My name's Smokepaw."
"Not for much longer." He snorted.
"What?"
"If you'll be in our clan, you must follow our naming style. At the gathering tomorrow with MoonClan and FireClan, we will announce your arrival and your new name." He explained.
She nodded hesitantly.
"What is this clan?" She asked.

He paused, letting the anticipation soak in.
"DuneClan."