Dawnflower's Sorrow

Chapter 8

Two moons have passed since Tigerstorm's warrior ceremony. Now today she might become a warrior if she succeeds in her trial. "Ok, so hunt as much prey as you can and we'll see how you do." Brackenheart said and she excitedly padded into the forest to search for prey. Leaf fall as officially here but prey won't be becoming scarce for a little while yet so she should be ok today. She immediately smelt prey scent and she crouched down and stalked the rabbit. She saw its ears first and then its gray body. She crouched lower and kept her paw steps light. These animals relied on their hearing better than their eyesight and nose.

Once she was close enough, she wriggled her hips and leapt at the rabbit. Before she could land on it, it gave chase and so did she. She caught up to it and grabbed its leg and flung it around and then killed it swiftly. She buried it for later and padded on.

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After awhile, she had caught quite a bit. She successfuly hunted three rabbits, two mice, and four sparrows. She padded back to the sandy hollow with as much as she could carry at once. "I have more." She said and he nodded and helped her. Once they had all of the prey, they padded back to camp and placed it in the fresh kill pile. Brackenheart padded to Leafstar's den and Tigerstorm padded up to her. If she becomes a warrior, she will become one now since it's dusk. "You did good. I assume you'll be a warrior now." He said and she nodded "All cats old enough to cath their own prey, meet under the Highrock." She yowled and Dawnpaw smiled wide.

"Tonight is an important ceremony. One of our apprentices is becoming a warrior tonight. With the help of Blackfoot, who we all miss and who would be proud, and Brackenheart, Dawnpaw has learned the ways of the warrior code. Dawnpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to live by it, even at the cost of your life?" She asked. "I do." Dawnpaw said as she stood tall and proud. "Then by the powers of StarClan, Dawnflower is now a warrior of Thunderclan. Dawnflower must sit vigil tonight and guard the camp and protect us while we sleep." Leafstar announced with a smile and Dawnflower licked her leader's shoulder in respect.

"Dawnflower! Dawnflower!" The clan cheered and she heard Tigerstorm cheer the loudest and she smiled. "That is all." She said and they both jumped down and the clan circled her in congratulations. The clan dispersed and she padded to Tigerstorm. They both smiled at each other. "Congratulations." He said softly and licked her ear multiple times. She laughed and licked his cheek and then padded to sit down for her vigil.

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Thunderheart, a senior warrior, padded out into the dawn light and relieved her of her vigil duty. She nodded with a smile and padded into the warriors den for the first time. She found an empty moss bed and quickly fell asleep. She had happy dreams of her and Tigerstorm together but when she woke up, she didn't know if it would actually happen. She padded out of the den and looked around. She saw Tigerstorm and bounded over to him. "Someone's happy." He said with a laugh and she nodded. "That's good." He said softly as he rested his nose to her forehead for a second before removing it. She smiled and gazed into his green eyes. "It's only because you're in my life." She said softly and licked his cheek. He smiled and purred as they nuzzled each other.

Dawnflower padded to the nursery and the kits came rushing over to her. They jumped up and tried biting her whiskers. She laughed and laid down in front of their mother. "So now that you're a warrior, what's your stance on kits?" Mistyheart asked right away with a smile. "I don't know. I still would need to find a tom first." She answered, loud enough for Tigerstorm to hear. He flicked his ear towards the conversation and she knew he had heard and she smiled. He was currently occupied with the kits and couldn't join the conversation.

"So, do you have any toms in mind?" Mistyheart asked as she gave a suggestive look. Dawnflower giggled and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. I'm not sure yet. He's nice and kind and always there for me but I'm not quite sure if I like him that way or not, but my mind is suggesting otherwise." She said with a laugh. "How so?" Mistyheart asked. "Well, I've been having dreams of him and me raising a family and my mind always wanders to him. In fact, he's always on my mind." Dawnflower said and a pink tint rose to her ears. She glanced behind her for a split second to see Tigerstorm straining his ears to listen in. She smiled and turned back to a gaping Mistyheart.

She gasped and a wide smile spread on her lips. "I know who it is!" She exclaimed excitedly, even though she tried to be quiet. "We're acting like gossiping elders." Dawnflower said with a lauhg, trying to change the subject. Mistyheart flicked her tail to Tigerstorm and Dawnflower couldn't help but smile and look down to hide her excited grin. "Ahh, Dawnflower! I told you, but you didn't listen to me!" She said and batted at her front leg playfully. "Yeah. I just didn't want to believe that it was him who would like me. I mean, we're best friends." Dawnflower said but she whispered the last part so only Mistyheart could hear.

"Do you want him to ask you right away?" The blue gray queen asked. "I don't know. I do and I don't. I want to train Blackkit first but if he happens to ask me, that's fine, I just don't want kits until I'm done training Blackkit." Dawnflower said as she looked at the black and white kit wrestling with Tigerstorm.

"Did you get all that, Tigerstorm?" Dawnflower asked and he quickly scrambled up and a red tint was showing in his ears. "Get-get what?" He asked with a nervous laugh. "Don't pretend you weren't eavesdropping." She said with a wink and she got to her paws and walked past him, dragging her tail under his chin. He smirked and followed her out. She padded out of camp and he was still right beside her. "Where are we going?" He asked eagerly. "I'm going hunting, I don't know about you. But we're not going anywhere special." Dawnflower said and bumped her hips to his.