Skyfall (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 30

Skypaw trekked single file through WindClan territory. Skypaw disliked the one tail length from shore rule, it made her and her Clanmates feel cramped.

Shadepaw ahead of her and Rainpaw behind her, she continued their conversation.

"So, you really trained with all three of them?" Shadepaw sounded astonished.

"Yes," Skypaw replied. "But it's not like I beat all of them."

"I'm surprised," Rainpaw said. "Three warriors don't usually train one apprentice."

"You were on patrol," Skypaw explained. "It's not like they left you out in the dust."

"We're not complaining," Rainpaw replied. "It's just unusual."

"ThunderClan!" A familiar deep howl sounded from above. Skypaw perked her ears and stretched her neck to try to see above Jaysoul, but the senior warrior was just too tall. "We're now crossing the bridge!"

Stepping to the side just a bit, she could see WindClan looking irritable as Sunstar jumped onto the fallen tree, Russetsky on his tail. Following the ThunderClan deputy, Bramblefrost leaped up, followed by Bumblefoot, Jaysoul, and eventually Shadepaw.

Leaping onto the all too familiar bark, she slowly followed her Clanmates to the Gathering island. The pace was much slower than the night before when Skypaw was traveling alone. She could have bolted across this trunk thirty times by now.

Keeping her tail held high like the rest of the ThunderClan cats, she, as always, felt relief under her paws as she landed on the cool grass. As her Clan started to seperate, Sunstar and Russetsky headed to the Leader's tree and the warriors started to scatter. Skypaw turned to her littermates.

"I'm going to go see Lilypaw of RiverClan," Shadepaw announced. Skypaw nodded.

"Mine as well go chat with Runningpaw of WindClan," Rainpaw sighed. "I'm not going over near Lilypaw when Mistpaw is over there."

"That was one time," Shadepaw replied. "Mistpaw apologized,"

Skypaw didn't wait to hear Rainpaw's reply. Instead, she had found a familiar pelt. Her paws reluctantly taking her over there, his blue eyes lit up when he saw her.

"Skypaw!" Hawkspirit called out a greeting.

"Hawkspirit!" She replied, quickly calling out greetings to the other medicine cats when they seemed to be confused. "Nightflare, Sageleaf, Aquamist, Silverpaw," Skypaw dipped her head with respect.

"Skypaw," Sageleaf, medicine cat of WindClan, spoke first. "Nightflare told us about Willowleaf. What a shame! Sunstar's out of his fur!"

"He's a fool," Aquamist, medicine cat of RiverClan added. "There's got to be something we can do. ThunderClan can't be absent of a healer for long!"

"Maybe we could train another apprentice to be a medicine cat for Willowleaf?" Silverpaw, Aquamist's apprentice, suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, Silverpaw," Nightflare meowed. "But it's out of our paws whether Sunstar would allow it or not."

"Skypaw!" Skypaw whipped around in confusion as an urgent whisper sounded from the bushes. The medicine cats quieted, hearing it also.

Two amber eyes poked through the leaves, them belonging to a well hidden tortoiseshell pelt. All the medicine cats, plus Skypaw, called out a greeting. "Willowleaf!"

"Shh!" Willowleaf snapped. "Sunstar can't know I'm here. Nor can any ThunderClan cats, but Skypaw," she explained, then turned back to the ThunderClan apprentice. "I need to talk to the medicine cats, and quickly." Skypaw nodded and fell silent.