Warriors: Broken Trials (WIP)

Chapter Two

As WillowPaw finishes padding down the last of the moss onto RavenLeap's nest she notices a third nest in the corner of the den. "Hey wait, is there another cat that hangs out here?" WillowPaw asks RavenLeap. RavenLeap blinks open her eyes and looks up to the empty nest. "Oh that's EmeraldShine's nest, she only comes in every now and then though. Other than that she's usually just in the Warriors den" RavenLeap replies as she gives her paw a small groom. WillowPaw can't help but remember that name somewhere, perhaps a queen she knew in the nursery? Or maybe just someone who'd visit them every so often. "Um.. who's EmeraldShine?" She asks under her breath, anxiously not wanting to ask dumb questions to waste the Elders time. Surprisingly it was SpeckleFrost who answered. "Only the old leader of NightClan, well Leader before.." SpeckleFrost doesn't finish her response and instead shows a glimpse of sadness towards RavenLeap. WillowPaw looks in her direction. She was good at hiding it but it was clear there was a tint of guilt in RavenLeap's gaze. "Before WolfStar" the she-cats turn their gaze to the new voice from the entrance of the den. WillowPaw turned to the voice as well to see a beautiful sleek grey she-cat, her coat shining a hint of green in the sun matching her emerald colored eyes.
"I hope I'm not interrupting" the she-cat murmurs through the moss in her jaws. "I was hoping to replace the moss but it seems you got it taken care of," she purrs. The sadness fade from their eyes and they nod. "Actually WillowPaw already ran out of moss before doing yours," RavenLeap responds. WillowPaw looks to the retired Leader in panic, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see your nest and I " EmeraldShine gently places her paw over WillowPaw's mouth to silence her. Her expression doesn't change, even when WillowPaw tries to pick up any scents of anger she gets nothing. The she-cats scent remains calm as she releases her paw. "WillowPaw? I didn't realize you were already an apprentice" she smiles, her kind voice putting her at ease. "She just had her ceremony today" RavenLeap purrs in amusement. "I must of missed it while I was out to find moss," EmeraldShine replies as she walks past WillowPaw to place the moss down into her nest. WillowPaw's eyes light up as she sparks an interest. "So, you were leader when my mother was young? I have so many questions to ask you! Like how'd it feel to get your 9 life's? And how did it feel to come back to life? And how to-" her questions full of excitement, were short lived when interrupted when a newcomer had entered the den. "I hope I wasn't interrupting but if your done with tasks you can go grab a piece of prey from the fresh kill pile," BerryPelt purred. "Get one for them too would you?" She leaves the den expecting her to follow. "We may be elders but we can get our own prey" RavenLeap calls after her. WillowPaw follows, hanging her head sad wishing to go back. She walks to the fresh kill pile and picks up the best looking vole in her mouth and carries it back over to the elders den.
The plump juicy creature reeks fresh in her jaws, it takes everything in her to not bite down. "Here you go.." she says to them through her teeth, she places the vole down able to come back to her senses. They give her a look of appreciation and RavenLeap walks over to retrieve it from her. "Thank you WillowPaw" she smiles and walks back to her nest, the vole clamped between her teeth. WillowPaw just nods and walks out sadly. "It's like she doesn't want to leave" she hears SpeckleFrost murmur to RavenLeap from behind her in a confused tone. Of course I don't to leave, there's so many things I never got to ask. she watched as the other warriors would grab a piece of prey from the fresh kill pile, but her stomach only rumbles for answers. She notices PumpkinPaw take not one, but two pieces of prey and walks back to the medicine den. Windshadow grabbed a piece from him and followed him in. She probably asked him to grab her a piece as well, she assumed to herself. Instead of grabbing a piece for herself she decided to walk to the apprentice den and lay in a nest of her own. "Look at this giant thrush I caught all by myself!" She heard PongoPaw say with pride. She peeks out to see him come through the camp entrance as BrambleFang comes in behind him while holding a very plump thrush and hands it to PongoPaw to bring to the fresh kill pile. A few minutes later and MoonPaw enters the camp with ScruffPelt. She walks out over to PongoPaw who seems to be helping himself to a vole. "I thought you were just exploring the territory today.." she asks curiosity. "Well, we finished early so BrambleFang showed me a few tricks and it paid off!" He replied obviously proud of his catch. "Think about it! if im able to make the best catch on a day I wasn't originally going to hunt, Im going to be the best warrior ever!" He tells her jumping to his feet. "Yeah, that.. that sounds about right.." she responds, unable to keep up with his energy. " So what happened with you today? I didn't see you when we were seeing the territories today" he asks only to gasp. "Wait, was BerryPelt giving you battle training today?" He asked her amazed. "Your teaching me those moves tonight, but we'll keep it quiet" he finishes with a wink. "No, actually I was helping with the elders today" she responds. His amazement quickly fades. "Oh.. well im you'll see the territory tomorrow! Trust me sis, it's worth it!" He reassures her.
Does he feel bad for me? I wanted to go back. "Actually it was interesting, I really didn't want to go" she replied. PongoPaw gives her a puzzled look of confusion, though he can see why. The elders moss task is the worst task to get, so bad it was a punishment at times. He must've thought she was mouse brained to think such a thing. "Well, can't wait to see you tomorrow!" He finishes happily to her as he skips off towards his mentor. And again she was alone with her thoughts unable to tell whether she had a good day or not.