Warriors: The Burning Branch

Prologue

"Just a little bit farther!" Paledapple urged on her followers, her ears flat against her head. The sun beat down on her pelt, and the humidity seemed to block her lungs, making the she-cat as tired as her followers were. "Are you sure that you know where you are going?" A smokey grey tom asked, cocking his head to the side. The tom's yellow eyes were clouded with exhaustion.

"I'm sure. I saw this exact place in my dream. We only have to cross over a river and then a hill, then we should be there," she responded, reasurring her friend. "Paledapple, can we please rest? Just until moonrise? It should be cooler by then," a slender white she-cat suggested, her eyes pleading.

Paledapple sighed and then responded, "All right. Everyone may rest here, but just until moonrise." The she-cat sighed in relief then collapsed on the ground, panting. Paledapple watched as the rest of her followers begsn to lie down, some even falling asleep. She turned to Gorsefire and asked, "Do you want to go hunting with me? We might be able to find something to eat."

The ginger tabby tom nodded and responded, "Sure. Our new Clanmates are hungry." Clanmates. The new term for her followers flooded through her mind. For the first time she realized, that together, they were a Clan. She realized that she had to be the leader for all of these cats, and that she would be known as Palestar.

"We should try by the stream that we passed awhile ago. There should be prey there," Paledapple suggested, leading the tom towards the stream that they had passed. Gorsefire followed his leader without question, sniffing the air for any signs of danger.

They eventually reached the stream, too tempted by thirst, Paledapple rushed forwards and lapped up some of the water. The water felt cool on her tongue and muzzle, making her feel better. Gorsefire also began drinking some of the water from the stream, enjoying every drop on his tongue. A question burned in the tom's mind, but he wasn't sure if it would sound rude.

At last, he finally pulled his head away from the stream and asked the pale she-cat, "Paledappple, do you think that it was right to listen to your dream? I mean, we've been travelling for three days in this awful weather. How are we going to adapt and learn to survive in this climate?"

Paledapple stopped drinking and stiffened, as if she was questioning her own decision. Was she wrong to leading these cats to their death? What if she was wrong about the dream, it could've been just a normal, silly dream. Paledapple would've thought that it was a normal dream, but it just didn't feel like one. After all, her own mother that had died moons ago was there.

"I think that my dream was right, but we all just need to have a little more faith. After all, you and all of the others chose to leave with me. I didn't force anyone to come with me," Paledapple responded, answering her friend's question.

Gorsefire sighed and shook his head sadly, "You're right. But I miss Birchstripe so much! I left her to go and join this new Clan, and she was expecting my kits! I wish that she had come with me," he admitted in the end, his tail drooping. Paledapple looked him in the eye sadly and muttered, "It's ok. I understand how much you must miss your mate. But maybe after we're settled in, we can visit MapleClan."

The tom nodded, feeling a little better, "I like the idea of visiting everyone again. But for now, let's get back to hunting." Paledapple nodded and stepped away from the stream, looking around to see if she could find any prey. Her eyes lit up as she noticed a mottled brown bird pecking at the ground not too far away.

Remembering what her mother had taught her, Paledapple dropped down on her haunches and began to stalk the bird, her belly fur lightly brushing against the ground. When she was close enough to pounce, she stopped. The she-cat narrowed her eyes in concentration, then pounced on the bird. It let out a call of alarm, before Paledapple killed it in one swift bite.

She picked up her catch and padded back towards Gorsefire, who was watching her with happiness glowing in his gaze. "Great catch! But we should try hunting elsewhere for now. The call would've startled all of the other prey," Gorsefire congratulated the she-cat. Paledapple nodded and responded, her mouth muffled by the feathers, "Ok, let's try by the rocks over there." She flicked her tail tip in the direction of a pile of rocks in the distance.

Gorsefire and Paledapple walked together towards the rocks, the she-cat still carrying her bird. Once they arrived, Paledapple set her catch to the side and crouched beside her Clanmate. They silently waited for something to appear from the cracks. Suddenly, a strange rodent appeared from a hole near one of the rocks. It looked like a mouse, mole, and squirrel behind. "What a strange lookimg creature," she whispered to her friend. Gordefire nodded in agreement, and then began stalking forwards towards the rodent.

The rodent didn't notice the ginger tom sneaking up on him, and continued scurrying around and looking for seeds. A few moments later, Gorsefire pounced and returned to Paledapple, his catch swinging from his jaws. Paledapple nodded in approval, and Gorsefire set his catch down beside Paledapple's.

---

The two returned to their Clanmates at sunset. They had caught two more pieces of prey after they had caught the bird and the rodent. Spiderstorm looked up from washing his pelt and mewed to his Clanmates, "Hey, Paledapple and Gorsefire are back, and they brough fresh-kill!" His Clanmates slowly began to wake up when they heard the smokey-grey tom's announcement. Paledapple and Gorsefire deposited their catches in a small pile, and watched as their Clanmates eyed the pile hungrily.

"Everyone has to share one piece of fresh-kill with another cat, no exceptions," Paledapple announced. She turned to Gorsefire and asked, "Would you like to share the bird with me?" The tom nodded, and they picked up the bird and begsn eating it, taking turns ripping into it's flesh.

Everyone ate peacefully, until Dustpaw announced, "Look! Dogs are here! That's a dog paw print!" Paledapple got up and padded over towards the apprentice and looked at the paw print. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "It's fresh!" She then turned her head and directed, "Everyone, gret up! We have to get moving! We don't want another Clanmate to die!" Pain filled her heart as she remembered how her Clanmate, Mintheart, had been bitten by a snake, and how they were unable to cure her.

Her Clanmates began to get up, panic filling their gaze. After they were standing behind Paledapple, she mewed, "Ok, follow me. Leave the fresh-kill. Walk as fast as you can!" Paledapple began to walk as fast as she could, her Clanmates following her. A bark was heard in the distance, and she began to sprint. Her Clanmates heard the bark as well, and begsn sprinting beside Paledapple. Dustpaw wailed in fear, "We're all gonna die! I never should've left MapleClan!"

They kept sprinting, the sky slowly getting darker as the sun began to set. Paledapple suddenly halted as they reached a river. The river was flowing very fast, and it was crashing against the shoreline. Her heart began pounding even faster as she heard another bark, then another, as if an entire pack of dogs were chasing them. She scanned the river desperately to find a way of crossing, but she couldn't find any.

"There's no time to find a way across! We have to wade through the river!" She yowled, leaping into the water. She felt the current tugging at her fur, and it seemed to be dragging her down into the river. She swam, her paws thrashing desperately through the water. After what seemed like moons, she finally made it across. Paledapple panted as she stood on the shore and watched as her Clanmates crashed through the water.

"Help!" Her ears pricked in alarm as she heard Rockrunner shriek. The tom was clawing at the water, and his head was getting pushed under. "Hang on, i'm coming!" Paledapple announced, before leaping back into the water. She swam over to her Clanmate and grabbed him by the scruff, dragging him back towards the shore.

Once they both arrived at the shore, Paledapple stood up again and shook her fur before announcing, "Ok, everyone. Now keep moving!" They kept running, and Paledapple began to realize that the place looked very familiar. She then slowed as she realized where she was.

The dream was right. She had sucessfully managed to lead her new Clanmates to their new home. She gasped, "This is it! Welcome to our camp!"