(Book 1) Warriors: Separations - Six Stars

Chapter 4

Cherry leaped out of the bush she and Cinder had hid in. She thought she scented a mixture of Windclan and rogue scent, and thought the smell was familiar. She didn't realize it until she stopped to take a look at the cat she had just attacked.

"Orion! Jeez, why do you smell so much like a clan cat?"

Speckledstones shook his head. "I joined the clan. My brother, his name used to be Danny, is the leader of Windclan. Since my mother died, I wanted to be close to the only family I had left."

Cherry nodded understandingly. "I get it. I don't blame you."

Speckledstones looked at Cinder, his eyes flashing with a question.

"Who's that?" He pointed his tail to Cinder.

"She's a kittypet who was abandoned cold-heartedly by her twolegs. Those fox-hearts!" she growled.

Speckledstones gasped. "Really? Those twolegs! I swear, if I ever get the chance, I'll claw their tiny ears off!" Cherry nodded. "I would've too. They're awful."

Cinder shifted her paws, she looked uncomfortable. Cherry figured that she didn't enjoy being on the topic of twolegs, ever since she was abandoned by her own. Cherry changed the subject. "So, how's clan life, Ori– Speckledstones?" She was still unfamiliar with Speckledstones' warrior name. "I've only been a warrior for less than a day, so it's been pretty boring, but..." Speckledstones trailed off. His eyes gleamed with affection, he seemed to be thinking about someone he liked.

Cherry chuckled.

"So, who's the lucky she-cat?" she probed. Speckledstones' fur bristled, but his eyes betrayed his amusement. "It's the medicine cat, Emberheart. She's beautiful, and caring, so caring. She's got glossy mint green eyes, and sleek tabby fur." Cherry brightened. "Well, now you'll have more family in your new clan! I bet you're so happy, huh?" Speckledstones sighed. "Well, yes, but no."

Cherry, confused, responded, "But you seemed so happy when you were talking about her."

"Medicine cats actually aren't allowed to have kits or mates." he groaned. "She was very friendly as well." Cherry's heart filled with sympathy for the love-struck tom with a crush he could never be with.

Cinder stepped up and dipped her head. "I'm sorry you have to go through that. Y'know, the same thing happened to me in the twolegplace."

Speckledstones seemed to brighten.

Cinder continued. "There was this tom I liked, he was the nicest thing, and he was certainly a very handsome tom at that. But, he already had a mate in his own nest, so I stayed away from him after discovering that." Speckledstones nodded. "That must've been hard." Cinder shook her head. "It was fine, I stopped being sad early on, I had... new worries after about a moon."

Cherry flicked her tail. "I'll leave you all to bond and everything, I'm going off to hunt. See you later, Cinder. Do you know your way back to the barn?"

"Yup."

Cherry dipped her head to Speckledstones. "Good luck in the clans, and be safe! If Windclan ever needs help, they can be sure me and my rogue friends will help."

Speckledstones chuckled. "Thank you so much, Cherry."

Cherry bounded over a rock, and began sprinting to the barn. She relished the wind buffeting her fur as her paws glided over the moorland, taking her to her home. She hopped over a flat rock, dodged a bush, and came skidding to halt as she ran into the white fence. The white paint on it seemed to be peeling off, it was clearly in bad repair. She leaped over it and landed on the other side, and began strolling to the barn.

"Cherry!"

She heard a hiss coming from the barn. It sounded like her friend, Misty.

"Misty, is that you?"

"Cherry!" She jumped out at her, her long, dark gray, almost black, pelt flowing in the wind. She had some cicada wings on her ear, Cherry was confused as to how they ever stayed on.. "How'd it go? Where's Cinder?" Cherry laughed. "Cinder's with Orion. Oh, and Orion changed his name after joining Windclan." Misty's eyes widened. "He joined Windclan? Why?" "His brother is the leader of Windclan, and since his mom died recently, he wanted to go to where his only other family lived."

Misty's gaze softened with empathy. "Yeah, I joined the clans for a time after my father was killed in a fire, but I left soon after. Shadowclan wasn't very welcoming. Foxstar was definitely not one for rules."

Cherry recalled what she had heard of what Shadowclan had become from Misty. They were awful, it was just a dictatorship under the mask of a leader "following the warrior code."

Just then, she heard a yowl.

"Cherry!" Cherry looked past the fence where she heard the voice, and recognized Cinder squirming through a bush in front of the fence. "I'm stuck, help me!" Misty laughed. "She's a handful, isn't she?" Cherry ran off to help Cinder. She leaped over the fence and crouched next to the bush.

"How'd you even get stuck in here? You could've just ran around it." Cherry remarked.

"I had just jumped over that big rock! I didn't notice it until it was too late." She mewed helplessly.

Cherry laughed. "Misty! I need help." she called out to her friend. Misty came running through the fence. She was the same age as Cherry, but she was much thinner and taller. Bits of dried white paint clung to her pelt as she ran up to Cherry and Cinder. "Jeez, Cinder. How do you do this to yourself?" Cinder pricked her ears in annoyance. "Just get on with it! I'll bleed out by the time you guys are done!" Cherry sighed. She noticed that there were thorns in the bush. She groaned. It would take a while to get Cinder out.

Cherry turned to Misty. "I'll lift the bush up, and you use your claws and teeth to detach the thorns from her body, okay?" Misty nodded.

Cherry gingerly lifted the bush up, creating room above Cinder's trapped body for Misty to slide her claws into and lift the thorns out of Cinder.

Misty lifted one of the thorns. "Ow!" Misty lifted a few more, after each of which Cinder exclaimed the same thing. Misty was annoyed, but kept going. After she was done, Cinder dragged herself out of the bush. Cherry dropped the bush after she was sure that Cinder had successfully escaped, and pulled a thorn out of her pad that she acquired by holding the thorny bush. Cinder was standing, looking at her paws, clearly ashamed. "Sorry I was such an inconvenience."

Cherry sighed. Even if she was irritated at the young she-cat's recklessness, Cinder was only about old enough to be an apprentice, she couldn't blame her. Cherry ran her tail comfortingly along Cinder's spine. "It's fine, really. Just make sure to think about things before you act." Cinder nodded. "Oh, and, you have to catch your own prey tonight." Cinder groaned. "C'mon, I've got scratches all over myself!" Cherry had just noticed all the wounds Cinder had acquired from the thorn bush. She realized how unfair it would be if she made Cinder hunt on her own with the injuries she'd sustained, so she agreed to let Cinder rest and eat from Misty and Cherry's catch.

Cherry noticed something. A scent. "Hey, Misty, do you smell that?" Misty sniffed the air, worried. It was an oddly familiar scent, then, Cherry finally figured it out.

Dogs!