Deep Blue Eyes-- a warriors fanfic (completed story!)

Chapter 16

Snowpaw blinked open his eyes. He was oddly comforted, like he was lying in a feathery nest. Did ShadowClan finally decide to treat me well? He looked up to see the faces of three grinning she-cats.

“Surprise!” They yowled happily. Snowpaw almost fainted with shock. In front of him were Dawnpaw, Streampaw and Poppypaw. He was home in RiverClan.

“H-How, w-wha?” He gasped.

“Silverstripe brought you home!” Streampaw cheered.

“He must have been so brave, walking straight into ShadowClan camp!” Poppypaw mewled excitedly.

“You must have been fast asleep. He carried you home and you didn’t even notice!” Dawnpaw purred.

Snowpaw sat up; noticing his scratches from when he was pushed from the rock had been treated. “What happened while I was gone?” He asked.

The three she-cats explained it to him. Splashtail was miraculously beginning to get her eyesight back. Minnowleaf was expecting kits.

“We all thought that Silverstripe died,” Poppypaw explained. “He was away for two nights before he brought you back.”

“We thought he had drowned, along with…” Streampaw paused. Snowpaw noticed tears welling up in their eyes.

“Who?” He asked nervously.

“Hazelpaw.” Dawnpaw mewed. “It was the Gathering, Reedstar and Shadestar got into a fight. There turned out to be a huge fight, and the moon disappeared.”

“Hazelpaw saved me.” Streampaw interrupted. “I was held down, but Hazelpaw fought off that warrior.”

You almost died? Snowpaw stared with horror at Streampaw.

“After that, the warrior turned on Hazelpaw and grabbed her.” Dawnpaw continued. “He carried her over to the tree bridge, and…” All three apprentices were silent.

“T-the tree bridge broke.” Poppypaw stuttered, crying. “It snapped right in half, and the warrior and Hazelpaw fell in and drowned. Silverstripe tried to save them, but it was lucky he managed to survive.”

Snowpaw was frozen with shock. The tree bridge has been there for more moons than any cat can possibly remember! It couldn’t break! It just couldn’t!

“A-Are you sure?” Snowpaw asked.

“I’m certain! I saw it with my own eyes!” Streampaw wailed.

Snowpaw was about to go comfort her when Reedstar walked in. “Dawnpaw! Streampaw! Patrol! Now!”

“B-but…” Streampaw began to protest.

“No buts, Streampaw. Patrol.”

“But I want to stay here with Snowpaw!” Snowpaw felt warm as she pressed her flank against his.

“Nope, you are coming. You can visit Snowpaw later.” Reedstar protested.

Streampaw’s eyes darkened. She looked like she was about to spit insults at Reedstar when Snowpaw interrupted.

“I want to go on patrol, too. I want to see the territory, the borders…” he trailed off, noticing Reedstar’s gaze softening at him.

“You can come along. We’re going to check the WindClan border.” Snowpaw let out a sigh of relief when Reedstar accepted.

The patrol marched out of camp. Snowpaw felt happy to be with his clanmates again. The greenleaf sun felt warm on his snow-coloured face, and he closed his eyes with joy and purred. He pressed close to Streampaw, who was also purring madly. Snowpaw felt as though the border came too soon. The moor stretched out ahead, a long and dreary road. There wasn’t a single covering in sight. The wind stirred the grasses harshly, giving the impression that the unforgiving wind controlled the whole moor. I’m sure glad I don’t live in WindClan!