Warriors: The Fall of the Clans: Sunlight

Chapter 6

Dawnpaw sniffled, coughing up more water and sighing slightly. Her fur had dried somewhat and she'd stopped leaning against Foxpaw. Moonpaw was swimming towards them, and to avoid the danger of drowning, they'd told her to follow their voices. She was making much better progress than Dawnpaw had, and before long, the white and silver she-cat was shaking out her long coat and looking at them, her gaze curious. She seemed to be doing that a lot. "Daw-" She started excitedly, stopping as she realize he wasn't talking to her. She looked down. Dawnpaw dismissed it, turning her attention to Snowpaw, who was coming with Stormpaw. They figure it was easier.

Foxpaw hadn't said anything about how she'd almost drowned, in fact he hasn't uttered a word since he pulled her out of the water. Dawnpaw shrugged that thought away. He had NOT been the one to rescue her. He'd merely helped. She had no reason to feel obligated to him. None.

The two toms' coughing interrupted her thoughts. She turned to Foxpaw. "Now what? It's your fault we're here. I'm not crossing that again." Foxpaw looked slightly irritated. "Are you a drypaw now?" He asked, his tone slightly harsh. Dawnpaw didn't understand him. It was like there were walls around him, that he'd built the day he'd joined the Clan.

The shivering rogue kit that had been adopted into Swiftdawn's litter had changed. He was tall for their age, and a snarky mousebrain, in her opinion.

"No." She retorted. "I'm not going to do anything." She mewed, sitting down. "I'm not crossing." Dawnpaw repeated firmly, staring down Foxpaw. She wasn't backing down on this. It hasn't been her fault. "You know what?" Foxpaw started, and Dawnpaw rolled her eyes, bracing herself for yet another insult. "I'll carry you. Lets just get back." He said irritatedly. Dawnpaw narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright but I'm not weak. I'm just pulling a favor because it'd have been your fault if I drowned." She mewed justifiably. "Um...guys?" Stormpaw mewed. "Not now Stormpaw." Dawnpaw said dismissively. "No, guys really." Moonpaw now. "You know wh-" Dawnpaw started, whirling in Moonpaw, but seeing where the she-cat was pointing she stopped. "Oh no." Foxpaw muttered.

The rock that they'd assumed was merely close to ThunderClan land was actually a portion of ShadowClan, branching off into a hilly woodland.

A tortoiseshell ShadowClan warrior looked at them blearily. "Come with me. Now." She muttered, narrowing her eyes in mild annoyance at them. "Where?" Moonpaw asked suspiciously. "To see the ShadowClan leader. Because you...are trespassing. We all know RiverClan has been a leech these days." The she-cat sounded tired. She'd probably been interrupted on the way to the dirt place. If ShadowClan even had those. Somehow sensing the apprentices' revulsion, the she-cat glared at them. "I'm not going to eat you, fish brains!" She then stalked off.

The RiverClan apprentices exchanged glances with one another. "Hey...why didn't we invite Tigerpaw or Icepaw?" Stormpaw questioned suspiciously. Foxpaw shrugged helplessly. "I guess...I forgot?" Dawnpaw sighed. "Time to 'fess up guys. No turning back...or we'll drown." Snowpaw gulped. Moonpaw sighed. "Let's get going then..." She muttered. Dawnpaw followed her, and after then slinked Foxpaw. Stormpaw and Snowpaw looked slightly bewildered, or alarmed, but she understood why. This would no doubt be brought to the attention of Froststar, and they'd all get in massive trouble.

Dawnpaw wanted to be mad at Foxpaw. It was his fault. Of he hasn't been trying to prove his macho-ness, thy wouldn't have gotten stuck on ShadowClan territory. They would be dry, safely nestled in the apprentice den. But all she felt was annoyance. That seemed to happen alot lately.

"Who are you?" She called to the ShadowClan warrior ahead. The tortoiseshell she-cat turned her head slightly. "My name is Sundapple." Dawnpaw blinked. "You're in ShadowClan? Sundapple isn't really very...ShadowClan..." Sundapple frowned. "How would you know? You've never been here. You've never even gone to a Gathering." Dawnpaw blinked. Sundapple wasn't wrong there. Still...

As the ShadowClan camp came into view, Dawnpaw gulped. The inevitable was very close. Sundapple padded confidently into camp. "I found these apprentices wandering in our territory." She reported. Several cats eyed them over. "Apprentices? They're as big as kits." A voice called out, unimpressed. Dawnpaw looked around. She saw a she-cat prowl around them up on a higher level of their camp. She was a black she-cat with a white muzzle and paws. Her eyes were green. The she-cat stood tall, gazing at them sternly. "They're fish-pelts. We know they're stealing ThunderClan prey somehow, they were probably going to start stealing ours!" Dawnpaw's eyes narrowed. Why did everyone believe that RiverClan were prey-stealers?

She settles on the fact of reason that ShadowClan was right next to ThunderClan, which was probably why they believed that fox-dung.

"Enough Crowtail." The she-cat mewed. with a tone of finality. "I am Nightstar, leader of ShadowClan." She mewed, looking down at them. "Who are you? Why were you on our territory?"

Snowpaw surprisingly spoke up before the others. "We're apprentices of RiverClan. We didn't know it was ShadowClan territory." Nightstar didn't look convinced. "We mark our borders well. Are your noses so stuffed with the reek of fish you can't differ the scent of a different Clan?" Dawnpaw looked down. "We couldn't tell..." She mewed quietly. "Speak up." Nightstar ordered. "We didn't know. It was in the Currents, and jutted out away from your shoreline. It looked like a loose rock. It was perfect to stop at."

Nightstar looked skeptical. "Sundapple, is this true?" The she-cat who found them nodded. "They were on our territory. I had to bring them to you anyways." Her tone was slightly tense, as though she were making a point. Nightstar looked back at her, her gaze pointedly challenging Sundapple. "Good, as you should do. Your leader's word is law." She mewed tersely. Sundapple looked away first. "Right." She muttered.

Dawnpaw subconsciously looked to Moonpaw with a quizzical expression. Moonoaw returned it with a helpless shrug. "Um, we apologize. We weren't aware it was another Clan's territory. If we had been, we'd never have crossed to there. We only wanted to see of we could beat the currents." Foxpaw said, finally speaking.

Nightstar watched them with narrowed eyes, trying to tell if they were lying. She closed her eyes, and sighed. "Fine. Thistletail, escort them out." A brown speckled tom nodded, twitching his tail in a gesture for them to follow. They did, very relieved. They padde out of the camp silently, unnerved by the stares of the cats. A tabby queen pulled her kits close as they passed by. When they were out if camp, they relaxed a small bit. The group walked on, their tails hung low.

It wasn't until they were almost at the border that Thistletail spoke. "I hope you know that no one believed your story. They all think it's a piece of old moss." Dawnpaw sighed irritably. "Why does every Clan hate us?!" She mewed. The other apprentices looked back at her with a surprised expression. She'd barely said anything. Thistletail turned as they reached the border. "Because, RiverClan was once a very helpful Clan. We know about the half-Clan blood in RiverClan. There's quite a bit of it." With that, he left.

Dawnpaw looked at the others with an impatient expression. "He's obviously eaten too much catnip. Hurry! We can sneak back into camp." The others nodded, running across the slippery sloped shoreline border between ShadowClan and RiverClan. Although she'd never admit it, Dawnpaw was happy they hadn't had to go back through the Currents.

They hurried back, only to see Froststar waiting at the entrance of camp, with an annoyed expression. "Are you all mousebrains?! Where were you?" Dawnpaw was certain it was over. They'd get told off, possibly have their warrior ceremonies delayed. Foxpaw spoke quickly. "We wanted to see who could fish the most at night." Froststar gave them a steady look. "None of you?" He guessed. They all mustered sheepish expressions. " Go to your dens. I'm not taking any of you mousebrains with me. I'll go with Tigerpaw." He said. Stormpaw looked slightly put off. "I'm his apprentice..." He muttered as they crawled into their nests.

"Stuff a trout in it. Stormpaw." Came the sleepy response.