Shattered Clans- A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

Chapter 6

For my first follower, tracyyu28465. Thank you!

Cranepaw ducked beneath the ferns, making sure not to make them sway. She stared at her target- but this time was different to the other time's she'd done this. Her target had the potential to make her successful or not. Cranepaw forced her legs to stop trembling and tail to duck down so it wouldn't alert the fat pigeon that cooed loudly and pecked at the ground.

Suddenly, Cranepaw stepped on a twig. No! She thought as she watched the pigeon get ready for take off. Her limbs sprung into action, and Cranepaw felt like she had enough energy to take down the entire world. She sprinted to the pigeon and leapt into the sky, her hind legs stretching out and her paws reaching to the pigeon. Her sharp, extended claws managed to grasp hold of one of the pigeons tail feathers. outstretching her other paw, she dug her claws into the lower body of the pigeon, and immediately the pigeon fell limp.

Thank you Starclan for this prey, Cranepaw thought, as she added it to her pile of prey. Cranepaw knew she was going to pass, after all, what other apprentice had brought back that much prey? Sunspirit would be so impressed and so would Redstar.

Cranepaw was imagining the clans reaction when she heard a loud wail. "HELP!"

Cranepaw's ears immediately twitched, growing to their full height. She knew that voice. It was Clearpaw! Tail high in urgency, Cranepaw sneakily but speedily tracked down where Clearpaw was. 

And there Clearpaw was. Cowering and trembling in fear, at the heels of a huge male cat as black as a crow and as fierce as a lion. He bared his blood-stained fangs and got ready to attack Clearpaw again when Cranepaw shot out and dug her claws in his fur. The cat yowled in pain and tries to shake Cranepaw off but Cranepaw wouldn't let go. The injured dark cat was leaning down on his back to squash the small apprentice but Cranepaw knew it was coming. Just before the cat's back touched the ground, Cranepaw untangled her claws from his knotted hair and leapt onto his belly, raking her claws against his unprotected stomach.

The cat yowled in pain and jumped up, ready to leap at Cranepaw when Sunspirit jumped from the bushes and scratched the outnumbered enemy one last time, before the dark cat retreated into the bushes.

"Are you okay?" Cranepaw panted, turning to Clearpaw.  Clearpaw was staring at her. 

"What's wrong?" Cranepaw asked, as she looked at Sunspirit, whose face expressed the same emotion as Clearpaw's.

"Your claws... How?" Sunspirit meowed.

"What do you mean?" Cranepaw asked, staring at her claws which were covered in blood (thankfully not hers!) and unsheathed.

"Couldn't you see? Every time you scratched that cat, a big of his fur froze! You have a weird power, Cranepaw." Clearpaw answered.

***

"I almost forgot to ask! Did I pass?" Cranepaw asked when they had dropped Clearpaw off at the medicine cat den.

"Is that even a question? Of course you did!" Sunspirit answered.

Cranepaw walked away, thinking of what Redstar would choose her name to be. Craneheart? Cranewing? Cranesoar? Cranepaw had no idea, but she wanted to jump around like a kit. Finally, she was going to become a warrior!

"Cranepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Redstar's words vibrated in Cranepaw's head. Cranepaw looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I do."

"Then by the powers of , I give you your warrior name.  Cranepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cranefrost. Starclan honours your strength and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of  Thunderclan. Redstar rested his muzzle on her head, and Cranefrost licked his shoulder respectfully.

"Cranefrost!"

"Cranefrost!"

"Cranefrost!"

***

Her silent vigil was uneventful and somewhat boring, but that didn't stop Cranefrost from being really excited. There was one thing she wondered though. Crane... Frost. Frost. Had Sunspirit told Redstar about her weird powers? What if she would get teased? Cranefrost didn't have time to worry about this, though. 

When she went to sleep that night, Cranefrost could not believe she was a warrior. She was sleeping in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar cats- and her littermates weren't there. Her littermates, Clearpaw and Fallingpaw were still training to become warriors, but Cranefrost had only had 4 moons of training.

 She wondered when she could tell Jackalpaw the good news. Cranefrost wondered if she had beat him to becoming a warrior, but she doubted it. Jackalpaw was 3 moons older than her- he probably already was a warrior.

The next day did not go so well. While Clearpaw was still recovering, Cranefrost had no one to talk with or even play with. She decided to go hunting and impress her new den mates.

Once she had caught a lot of prey, Cranefrost had an idea. She decided to get better bedding for the other warrior's nests, so she snuck to where Jackalpaw and her had escaped from the gathering. She climbed the trees with ease, and recovered many leaves. Suddenly, Cranefrost's fur bristled. Her ears straightened. She could hear something... dogs.

Out of the bushes, a huge dog leapt onto her. It dug into Cranefrost's skin and Cranefrost hissed. She was just about to attack it when another cat appeared from the bushes and fought off the beast.

Jackalpaw.

"What are you doing here?" Jackalpaw asked.

"I was getting bedding for my clan mates. I could've fought off the dog by myself, you know. I'm not an apprentice anymore. I had my warrior ceremony yesterday." Cranefrost said.

"I'm not an apprentice anymore either. My name is Jackalflame. What's yours?" Jackalflame asked.

"Cranefrost." Cranefrost answered with a sniff.

"Well next time, be careful! You could've died!" Jackalflame meowed.

"I can take care of myself! I'm not weak!" Cranefrost hissed. Was she really going to be disrespected by other warriors because she looked small?

Cranefrost turned, picking up the leaves and prey and went back to Thunderclan. She set the leaves on each nest and put her prey on the fresh kill pile. 

The question came to her head again: Will I really be disrespected by other warriors because I look small?