Falling Moon- A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

Chapter 36

It was late in the morning when Moonpaw awoke from her sleep, though she felt refreshed. She lifted herself to her paws, stretched briefly, then sat down to groom her pelt.

As she did so, she found the scent of stale blood impossible to ignore. She turned to where it was coming from to see Palepaw curled up in her nest, which was next to Moonpaw's.

The events of the day before rushed to her as she took in her sister's pale golden fur, which was matted with clumps of blood, even though it had evidently been groomed. She forced the surfacing images of the dead tom to the back of her mind, setting it next to the memory of the many wounds on Swanfeather's legs, and on Kestreltail's face, which had scared her so much that she'd fallen over. So much blood, and Silverleaf had already patched her up with cobwebs...

Her sister sneezed in her sleep suddenly, making her jump. With an inward smile, she moved over to Palepaw and began working through her fur, tugging out bits of debris that must have come from the forest as they returned, cleaning the blood off of her sides and carefully cleaning around her wounded paw.

As she got a closer look at it, she saw deep punctures where teeth had been around the little paw, not on it, as if a cat had put their whole mouth around it. The image of Palepaw trying to shake off a fully grown ShadowClan warrior from her paw like it was a fly made her laugh out loud, though she quickly silenced herself as she heard stirring in a nest behind her.

Turning her head to find out who it was, she found her spirits lifting as she noticed Owlpaw sitting up. Though the tom hadn't spoken to her much, he and Ivypaw seemed to enjoy spending time with Palepaw. She'd heard that he was good at telling jokes.

"Morning," she chirped to him. I really am feeling braver than usual, she mused to herself. Owlpaw jumped briefly, though when he saw her sitting there he purred a reply, shaking clumps of moss out of his thick pale pelt.

"You seem oddly cheerful for such an ominous cat," he noted playfully. Moonpaw inwardly winced, but flicked her tail in response in a way that she hoped could be perceived as a nice gesture. He may have been joking, but does anyone really think that I'm 'ominous?' The purr that had risen in her throat stopped, and she silently resumed grooming her sister.

A brief glance towards the tom that was definitely still there for some strange reason made her feel guilty. He seemed to be trying to find something to say, but evidently couldn't find anything.

Upon seeing Palepaw in her nest, however, his ears pricked, tail giving a happy swish. "She's back!" He cheered, trotting over to the two sisters.

At that exact moment, Palepaw woke up. She blinked open her blue-grey eyes, then upon seeing to two faces in front of her blinked again in confusion. "Um... Can I help you? Why are you in my face?"

Owlpaw jumped back a fox-length, landing on Thistlepaw. That poor tom, she chuckled to herself. Not only does Palepaw walk all over him when given the opportunity but now he's got his brother falling over his paws! Of course, she didn't exactly feel sympathetic.

Upon being rudely awoken, Thistlepaw heaved himself to his paws, focusing bleary eyes on the two she-cats, not seeing the ruffled pelt of his brother who stood next to him, looking relatively guilty. "If I actually cared about your well-being, I'd warn you to never do that again." But it wasn't either of us! "But honestly, I couldn't care less about what happens to you." With that, he spun around and stalked out of the den, almost knocking into Ivypaw as he passed. "Watch where you're going!" He snapped at his sister, who headbutted him gently in response.

"Good morning to you too," she retorted, before padding into the den. Upon seeing the last three apprentices in the den awake, she flicked her tail in greeting. "Morning!" She padded over, nudging her brother to his paws. "Palepaw, you're stuck here for the day, Moonpaw, you're being summoned by that ferocious badger in the medicine den - though I've heard some refer to her as Silverleaf - and Owlpaw, you and I are going hunting. Cherryblossom and Swanfeather... They're not fit to travel after whatever happened last night. Shrewfoot said he would be taking us, and assessing our progress. Oh, and Thistlepaw and Lilypaw will be coming too, with their mentors, but they'll be working separately."