Warrior Cats: A Forbidden Destiny *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter Eighteen: Territory Tour

Okay, so first of all, I just want to say this:
AM I DREAMING???? WE ARE AT FREAKING CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ALREADY???? Although this book is far from done, eighteen chapters is an amazing accomplishment for me. This is by far my most successful book, and it's been so fun to write. I just want to thank you all for supporting the book, voting, commenting, and even fallowing! I love you all so much. I just can't say that enough. Alrighty now, onward with thou bookest!

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"Russetpaw! Russetpaw! Russetpaw!" SparkClan cheered. The sounds of their howls filled Russetkits ears, and he felt as though he would burst with pride. He was becoming an apprentice! This was his best accomplishment so far, and he was so proud that he could now contribute to the Clan.
It had been two moons since Russetkit, Minnowsplash, and Blossompaw came to the Clan. Blossompaw was overjoyed to see her mother and father, and even more so when she saw Russetkit. The two had been spending everyday together since they entered the camp, and they were very close siblings. Blossompaws mentor had become Larksong, and so far, it sounded as if her mother was a wonderful teacher. Today, Russetpaw would join his sister, along with his mentor, Sweetnose, one of the most quiet and shy cats in the Clan. But she was the best Hunter in the Clan, and great at tracking.
Russetkit had also consulted StarClan for answers about his and Minnowsplashes existence. It turns out that they had turned into real cats, and the lake they jumped through was a portal to Earth as well as something that made them real again. But Gingerstar had warned them that they could only be like this for so long. For eight more moons, Russetkit and his father could continue to live like this. But at the end of eight moons, they would be pulled up back to StarClan. If they were killed, they would be able to return to StarClan, but they could never come back to Earth again.
The cats that the patrol had saved during the fire were Iceflower, a former Queen, Oakear, Shrewkits father, and one of Ashstars former fallowers. Then there was Starlingpaw, a snobby she cat who seemed to dislike everyone. Blossompaw had told Russetkit all about her, and he was surprised his sister hadn't torn the she cat apart by now. There was also Patchtail, and Quailwing. Patchtail was Larksongs beloved brother, and they were as close as Blossompaw and Russetpaw. And Quailwing was Minnowsplashes older sister. They weren't extremely close, but Minnowsplash was very protective and loving towards her.
"All right Russetpaw. Let's get going. First, we're going to tour the territory. It will probably take all day, and it's very tiring, so why don't you get something to eat" Sweetnose informed the Apprentice. Russetpaw nodded, excited for the day to start. He hopped over to the fresh kill pile, and grabbed a field mouse. He started gobbling it down when Blossompaw appeared.
"Hey, little bro, congratulations! Have fun on the territory tour!" Blossompaw patted him on the back with her paw.
"Thanks! I'm so excited, and I can't wait! I hope we can train together!" Russetkit yelped.
"Me too! But you'll have to work extra hard to keep up with my moves" Blossompaw boasted. Russetkit shuffled his paws in a kind of war dance, and leaped at her. They tumbled to the ground in a flurry of fur and dust, and wrestled for a few moments. Suddenly, Sweetnose and Larksong appeared, looking very grumpy.
"Blossompaw! Great StarClan, I turn my back on you for a split second, and the next you're rolling in dust, distracting your brother!" Larksong scolded. Even though this was her kit, she was as tough as she would be on any other Apprentice.
"And Russetpaw! You have been an Apprentice for two seconds, and you're already proving to be difficult to control!" Sweetnose joined in. Neither Apprentices hung their heads, or felt much shame. But they parted their separate ways, and meowed farewell to each other until tonight. Russetkit gobbled up the rest of his mouse, and fallowed Sweetnose into the field.
"Lets get going before you do something else feather brained" Sweetnose grumbled. They padded out onto the field, fallowing a trail that lead to the right in the sea of yellow grass.
"This is the East Trail. It leads to a raging river that borders StreamClan territory. Just keep fallowing the trail, and you'll get there" Russetpaws mentor explained. He nodded in understanding. They passed a patrol along the way, led by Lightheart. They said good morning, then continued on their way. Sweetnose then led her Apprentice onto a trail that branched off of the East Trail. That trail led to a clearing that had no grass on it at all. Just soft, moist dirt, and large outcroppings of rocks scattered all around.
"These are the Barren Hunting Grounds. This is an awesome place to hunt, because there are mice, lizards, and other small prey that like to hide under the cool rocks. See if you can find something among the outcroppings. But be careful- there are also snakes among the holes. Although non-venomous, their sharp teeth sting if they happen to bite your nose" Sweetnose warned. Russetpaw nodded.
He tenderly padded over to a large stone, and found a small hole at the base. Sweetnose stood behind him, ready to pull him back in case a snake popped out. Russetpaw slowly poked his nose in, smelling wet, cool earth. Suddenly, his fears came true, a dark blue snake struck like lighting, leaping out of the hole and pouncing on Russetpaws nose. He shrieked loudly, shaking his head back and forth fast, trying to get the snake off. The snake was stubborn though, and slithered up his shoulder.
"AHHHHH!!! HES CRAWLING ON ME!!!" Russetpaw screamed, wildly shaking his whole body to and fro, jumping up and down and rolling on the ground. He felt tiny fangs sink into his shoulder flesh, and he screamed some more, becoming more and more squeamish as the moments passed.
"AHHHHHH!!! HES BITING ME! HES BITING ME!!!" Russetpaw yelped. Sweetnose tried to hold him down and calm him, but nothing was working. Suddenly, she pounced on her Apprentice quickly, holding him down forcefully.
"Hold on!" Sweetnose exclaimed. She parted the toms fur, while he was still shrieking, and found the snake slithering around on the skin, biting the flesh all the way. Sweetnose grabbed the snake by the tail and threw it back into its hole.
Russetpaw stood up, dazed.
"Thanks... Sorry, I was kind of a wimp" Russetpaw meowed, glancing down at his paws in embarrassment.
"Oh, don't worry. Even older cats get uncomfortable around snakes. Now let's see those shoulders" Sweetnose replied. Russetpaw turned around so she could see his skin, and she gritted her teeth at the sight. Sticky blood covered both shoulders and some of his back, and there were small, shallow holes in the skin where the snake had bit him. Clumps of fur were missing here and there, and it was not a pretty sight.
"Ow! How's it feel?" Sweetnose asked. Russetpaw turned back around.
"It stings a lot, and it feels like my skins burning. It's also throbbing, and tender" Russetpaw reported. Sweetnose sighed in frustration.
"Looks like we'll have to go back to camp and Birdshade will have to treat you" Swwetnose said.
"Sorry for all the trouble I caused" Russetpaw apologized, looking down at his paws.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Russetpaw. It's my fault, I should, have sensed the snake. We'll have to stop by here another day and look for animals in the rocks. But it's okay, don't blame yourself" Sweetnose reassured him. Russetpaw brightened up at the fact that he hadn't caused the problem. But this was a big setback in getting through the territory.

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Birdshade made a 'tsk tsk tsk' sound as he inspected Russetpaws shoulder fur.
"Is it bad?" Russetpaw asked, prepared for the worst. The Medicine Cat shook his head.
"No, I can cure it quickly with my Healing Power. But you are one very lucky kit. If that snake had moved a few inches over, he could have hit your neck, which would kill you instantly" Birdshade informed him. Russetkit widened his eyes, realizing how close he was to dying. What if he had died? Then he wouldn't be able to spend his days with Blossompaw, or help with the war at all.
"Birdshade stop it, your scaring him" Sweetnose ordered. Birdshade dipped his head, touching Russetpaws shoulders where he was injured. A yellow glow radiated from Birdshades paw, spreading over the bloody areas, and dissolving the blood. The cuts and torn skin were pushed back together, and Russetpaw breathed a sigh of relief as he felt much better. He turned back to Sweetnose.
"I feel much better- can we go back out now? I really want to finish the tour!" Russetpaw asked. Sweetnose grinned, rolling her eyes at her enthusiastic Apprentice.
"Yes, but we can only go out for a little while. Whatever distance we cover, remember we have to double it to get back here, and it's already starting to get a little dark out" Sweetnose answered. As they were exiting the burrow, Russetpaw gritted his teeth in frustration. Although the territory was fascinating, he wanted to get to the fighting, hunting, and providing for his Clan parts of his training.
The two cats traveled the opposite way than the East trail, along the West trail.
"This is Rabbit Hole Fields" Sweetnose explained after a while, showing Russetpaw a field littered with rabbit holes. He could see why it was named Rabbit Hole Fields.
"In the meadow, you are shielded by grass, so you need to learn how to stalk silently without rustling it, but you also have to learn how to use spurts of energy to run as fast as you can to catch rabbits in the clearings" Sweetnose meowed. A rabbit suddenly popped out of its hole and started sniffing the ground. Sweetnose gestured to be silent, then started demonstrating .
She stalked through the grass, carefully laying her paws down so as not to rustle the crunchy grass. Once she was in the clearing, she zipped forward like lightning. The rabbit heard her, and stopped sniffing, perking it's ears and head up. Before it could move, Sweetnose had tackled it quickly, rolling it to the ground, pinning it, and nipping it's neck. She triumphantly padded back to Russetpaw with the rabbit dangling from her jaws.
"See what I mean?" She meowed, dropping the rabbit next to her. "In grass, you have to stalk. In clearings, you have to run. We'll work on that stuff more in hunting training. Let's keep moving."
Sweetnose and Russetpaw continued through the fields, and for the last part of the tour, on the West side at least, Sweetnose showed Russetpaw FishRipple Pond. It was a pond that's cats often went to to fish, and catch frogs, lizards, and other pond life. It was just a circular, lily filled pond, pretty shallow, and sometimes Apprentices practiced swimming there. Sweetnose looked back at the smoke filled forest of TimberClan. There were still smaller flames licking toward the sky, and smoke completely filled the sky.
"I hope everybody's okay" Sweetnose whispered.
"But... They're all evil" Russetpaw objected. Sweetnose turned back to him, gazing into his eyes with sadness.
"Oh, Russetpaw. Not every single cat in TimberClan is evil. They're just scared for their lives. And there has to be four Clans in the forest. If one dies off, the others will too." Sweetnose explained, shaking her head.
"I really never understood why there has to be four Clans. What will happen if one dies off, or they join together?" Russetpaw asked, tipping his head to the side.
"Oh, well, if one Clan dies off, the others will probably kill each other off over the dead Clans territory. If they join together, they could start arguing so much about prey, territory, and Clan life that they kill each other, or die because they're not focusing on what matters... Food, shelter, and water."
"But why would they be fighting?" Russetpaw queried.
"Because all of the Clans techniques, personalities, and ways of life are so different from each other that it's very hard for them to get along" Sweetnose explained. Suddenly, thunder rang out from above in the sky, and the two cats jerked their heads up in surprise. Dark clouds covered the blue sky, and tiny sprinkles here and there were falling.
"Looks like it's gonna rain soon. Let's head back. I'll show you the rest of the territory tomorrow" Sweetnose assured him, already starting to trot back. Russetpaw fallowed, frustrated that the weather had cut them short.
I just want to get this over with and start helping my Clan. Is that too much to ask?