Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 1. (The Legacy)

~The Legacy: Chapter 5~

"Why did you go to the Twolegplace, you foolish apprentices?!" Stonestar scolded.
Spiralpaw didn't dare look at her father in his moment of rage.
"I expected better from you three, especially you, Spiralpaw!"
"It's not her fault!" Reedpaw said defiantly. "If you should be blaming anybody, it's Crookedfire!"
"What should ThunderClan's Medicine Cat have anything to do with this conversation?" Stonestar snarled.
Ashpaw merely stared down blankly at his paws. Spiralpaw was looking anywhere but at the leader. They'd only ever seen him this mad once before, after Silver-Eye and Russetwhisker were killed by a ShadowClan warrior, and it was a very brief memory. So brief, she could barely remember it all.
"He left Russetpaw alone to watch Redpelt and Windcaller," Reedpaw replied.
"So you think it's Russetpaw's fault?" Stonestar growled, evidently wishing for her to be quiet.
"Technically, in a way, I suppose it is," Reedpaw continued. Spiralpaw was astounded at her audacity.
"If Russetpaw hadn't asked us to get the Catmint," she went on, "we wouldn't have ended up in so much trouble. And Crookedfire could've chosen to get it himself, but he went in the opposite direction, supposedly getting Tansy."
Spiralpaw saw the irritated look on Stonestar's before quickly looking away.
But Stonestar hesitated before answering again. "What is your theory here, Reedpaw?" he said.
Ashpaw glanced briefly at Reedpaw, who let out a deep breath.
"I think that dog was set on us," she said finally.
"A trap?"
"Yes. And is Crookedfire back yet?"
Stonestar considered it, then gave a slight nod. "I will have Fernfeather help me look into it," he said. "Until then, you three are going with your mentors to see the borders, and to learn what to stay away from."
Spiralpaw heard Stonestar mutter, "It's going to be you two," to himself as he padded off toward the Warriors den.
"You really suspect Crookedfire?" Spiralpaw asked.
"Why not?" said Reedpaw. "Not only does it shift the blame from us, but it's also logical. Think about it," she added when Spiralpaw and Ashpaw, looking up now, seemed confused. "Isn't it even a little bit suspicious how the dog only came after us when we'd finished? And Crookedfire's not in camp!"
"Tansy is hard to grab, depending on how deeply rooted it is," Whitepaw interjected, walking towards them alongside Flamepaw and Irispaw.
"Did you guys really sneak out of camp?" Flamepaw asked excitedly.
"Fernfeather saw us leave camp," Reedpaw pointed out.
"Fernfeather was in on it?" Flamepaw said, his tail lashing happily.
"I notice she said 'us' when mentioning Russetpaw," Ashpaw whispered to Spiralpaw while Whitepaw came over to sit next to them.
"Reedpaw's right, though, I have to admit," Whitepaw said.
Spiralpaw was surprised. Her sister, agreeing with 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘸?
"Well, we know it was definitely a trap," Ashpaw said. "But what I'm worried about is whether or not that trap was meant for us..."

Spiralpaw was fast asleep in apprentice den.
In her dream, she was running, quickly after, or from, something.
A flash of brown ran past her, and she heard the sound of something hitting what sounded like a hard stone, and a whimper from behind.
She stopped running, turning around to gaze at a limp brown pile of fur.
Next to the broken rope stood the silhouette of a large cat.
The figure bent down in remorse, sniffing the rope. When the cat looked up, it seemed to be blind in one eye. The cat's eyes widened as it stared at Spiralpaw, then it launched at her.

Spiralpaw woke up in shock.
It had been only three days since they'd gone to get the Catmint. She knew Ashpaw and Reedpaw hadn't been sleeping very well since then, either.
Crookedfire had returned late that night, and Windcaller and Redpelt seemed to be getting worse.
Their cough had spread to Spidertail and Voleroach now, as well as Darkkit and Rockhopper.
She shook herself and looked around. Whitepaw, Ashpaw and Reedpaw were all gone.
Flamepaw and Irispaw were still asleep.
There were a few Warriors awake in the clearing, including Tigerfur, Fernfeather, Willowleaf, and a number of others.
She stretched and padded out the den and over to her brother and sister.
Ashpaw looked up from something on the ground. "Hi, Spiralpaw," he said.
"What are you guys looking at?" she asked, peering over Whitepaw's shoulder to see.
Reedpaw stared hard at what seemed to be an adder of a sort. It was showered over its skin with odd patterns, coloured black.
"It's some kind of adder," Whitepaw explained.
"Who caught it?" asked Spiralpaw, tilting her head.
"Stonestar and Firpaw," Reedpaw said.
"They caught this?"
"Just after dawn."
Spiralpaw was both envious and impressed. Spiralpaw hadn't been hunting yet. She and Ashpaw had taken a refresher on border patrols again with Tigerfur and Fernfeather, since Voleroach was ill.
Stonestar and Creamfur had both agreed that Reedpaw probably needed a little refresher.
Although Reedpaw had still been hunting a while before them, not lately. Especially not now, with the Clans' paranoia of an attack from kittypets, loners or one another.
"I wish I were out hunting," Ashpaw said reminiscently, expressing both his and Spiralpaw's thoughts.
"Don't worry," Reedpaw said. "You three should be out hunting as soon as... Stonestar says you can."
Whitepaw huffed at this. "Firpaw is already hunting now!" she complained. "And he's younger than us!"
Reedpaw shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she said, now grabbing a small bird from the fresh-kill pile. "Stonestar and Fernfeather are keeping a good eye on us. What's surprising is you haven't been allowed to hunt, Whitepaw," she said, turning to Spiralpaw's older sister.
"Right..." Ashpaw said, hesitating. "What've you done to stop you going out there?"
Whitepaw shrugged helplessly and glared at her paws. "Mossgaze doesn't think I'm ready for hunting parties or patrols," she said, clawing at the dirt.
"I could show you the basics," Reedpaw offered. "Remember, I used to teach you guys after I became an apprentice?"
"All right!" Ashpaw said, jumping up and immediately lowering into what looked like a crouch.
"First, you need to make sure you're balanced well, like this," Reedpaw said, dropping into a low crouch, looking a bit like an adder.
Spiralpaw, Whitepaw and Ashpaw did the same.
"Ashpaw, stop flicking me with your tail!" Whitepaw hissed.
"Don't hiss at me, I'm older than you!" he growled.
Spiralpaw was stuck in between them, Reedpaw sitting in front, quietly chuckling.
"All right," Reedpaw said, finally relieving Spiralpaw of her siblings.
"Now, don't move your tail," she instructed. "You need to keep it as steady as possible. Don't drag it, but don't give your prey a signal that you're creeping over."
Reedpaw demonstrated her crouch once more and straightened her tail so it was steadily above ground, but not very high in the air.
Spiralpaw copied her exact movement.
Whitepaw shot a scornful glance at her sister and copied her and Reedpaw, while Ashpaw struggled slightly with his tail.
"Do you want me to help you?" Spiralpaw offered.
"No, no, I've got it, hang on."
Finally, after a few moments, he steadied his tail.
"And now, we crawl," Reedpaw said, turning around. "Make sure to take light steps, and be as quiet as you possibly can."
Reedpaw slowly, quietly, crept forwards, toward Grayfur, Specklefern, and Stripedkit.
Spiralpaw followed her, watching her movements, each quiet step and each slow twitch. She knew Reedpaw really only wanted to play with Stripedkit.
Whitepaw's eyes suddenly sharpened, and, as Reedpaw went to gently pounce beside Stripedkit, Whitepaw charged after Reedpaw and hissed at her threateningly.
"Whitepaw!" Ashpaw and Spiralpaw said at the same time, getting up from their crouch and surging after their sister.
Grayfur, who had been watching Reedpaw with a sweet smile, frowned at Whitepaw.
Specklefern and Stripedkit looked up. Stripedkit had a ball of moss in her mouth, and Specklefern looked completely terrified at both apprentices.
"What did I do?!" Reedpaw exclaimed, evidently confused.
"Leave Stripedkit alone!" Whitepaw growled. Spiralpaw and Ashpaw made it across the clearing.
They exchanged glances, realising that Whitepaw meant it. Her claws were unsheathed and her teeth were bared in an ugly snarl.
"I was only playing," Reedpaw stated angrily.
"That shouldn't matter!" Specklefern interjected in a tone of rage. "You shouldn't sneak up on kits!"
"Specklefern," Grayfur said calmly, "that's unnecessary. Reedpaw meant no harm in what she was doing, I was watching her. Stripedkit wouldn't have minded."
Stripedkit padded over to her mother, away from Specklefern. She was shaking, and snuggled into her mother's fur.
"I'm sorry, Grayfur and Specklefern," Reedpaw said, dipping her head.
With an angry glare, she looked at Whitepaw. "Sorry," she said without an apologetic tone.
Whitepaw's chest was heaving, and her eyes were slits, her claws still unsheathed.
Reedpaw was stomping off to the apprentice's den, probably to wake Flamepaw and Irispaw.
Ashpaw and Spiralpaw backed away from Whitepaw, who seemed to, slowly, be calming down. But even if she was calm, even Ashpaw knew to stay away for at least a few days. "Hey, Ashpaw," Spiralpaw said to her brother as they padded toward the fresh-kill pile, grabbing some prey for the elders.
"Yes?"
"You don't think I'd make a decent Medicine Cat, right?"
"You know your herbs better than me," he admitted honestly. "But I don't see why you'd need to be a Medicine Cat. Russetpaw is Crookedfire's apprentice right now."
They grabbed two fat mice, a vole and a small sparrow. Beeflower didn't always eat as much as Rockhopper.
They walked on.
"Why, anyway?" Ashpaw asked through the prey, though his voice was very clear.
"No reason," Spiralpaw said with great difficulty.
Ashpaw looked skeptically at his sister, but they entered the elder's den and said no more.
"Spiralpaw! Ashpaw!" Beeflower said happily. "Here, let me help you with those."
Both apprentices knew Beeflower missed the thrill of being a warrior, but frankly, she was too old, and not as athletic as she used to be.
Still, they didn't hesitate in giving her Rockhopper's and her own prey. She was very forceful sometimes, and extremely stubborn. Not even Stonestar would argue with Beeflower when she was in the same den as him, depending on the situation.
Beeflower put her mouse beside her nest and Rockhopper's in front of him. He was asleep, but then smelled the mouse and gazed at it happily.
"What brings you two here?" Beeflower said kindly as she daintily picked apart her sparrow, and while Rockhopper devoured his mouse.
"We just wanted to see how you were doing," Ashpaw said.
"It does get lonely here, with Half-Sight gone," Rockhopper said carelessly.
Beeflower froze and shot him a glance.
Rockhopper, noticing her glare, and realizing what he'd just said, sat up.
"Who's Half-Sight?" asked Spiralpaw.
"Nobody," Beeflower said strictly. Spiralpaw had never heard her sounding so stern.
"Beeflower, why can't we tell them?" said Rockhopper after a few minutes of silence. "These two apprentices, of everyone in the Clan, should at least know of the name."
"Stonestar has forbidden us to speak of him," Beeflower said.
"What's so bad about him?" Ashpaw said, starting to eat his vole.
Beeflower clearly didn't want to talk, but she didn't look like she had the energy to argue with Rockhopper, either.
Rockhopper cleared his throat and sat up.
"He was the one who killed Silver-Eye and Russetwhisker."
Everyone in the den was silent for a moment.
"Wasn't it a ShadowClan warrior that killed them?" Ashpaw asked, confused.
Rockhopper shook his head while Beeflower sighed, chewing on her sparrow. "ShadowClan had attacked recently, so we told everyone that so it would be believable," Rockhopper confessed.
"But he was of ThunderClan blood," Beeflower said. "And some of that blood, he spilled on that night," the elder added grimly.
Ashpaw and Spiralpaw had already finished their prey, but both of them now felt uneasy.
Spiralpaw thought back to her dream. Could that have been Half-Sight, launching at her? Now was her chance to ask. But she was also afraid to do so.
Ashpaw, however, unhelpfully beat her to it.
"What did he look like?"
"Dark," Rockhopper said. "Like a blackish-blueish colour. Had a golden eye, blind in the other."
"Hang on," Spiralpaw interjected. "If he was part of ThunderClan, wouldn't ShadowClan deny killing our previous Medicine Cat and Deputy?"
"Beeflower meant that he was partially of ThunderClan blood," Rockhopper huffed. "His mother was ShadowClan's Deputy. His father was a senior warrior of ThunderClan."
Ashpaw cringed.
"They were both new warriors when they met, though," Rockhopper added quickly, seeing Ashpaw's face. "Moontail wasn't a Deputy then."
"Her name was Moonfur," Beeflower corrected.
"She wasn't my friend," Rockhopper grumbled as he shuffled to his nest.
"Who was his father?" Ashpaw asked.
Beeflower sat up, beginning to clean her paws. "His name was Larktooth," she said between licks.
Before any more questions could be asked, they heard an angry yowl from outside the den. It sounded like Whitepaw; was she fighting Reedpaw again?
All four cats tumbled out of the den, emerging into the clearing to be greeted by Reedpaw and Whitepaw in the clearing, their sides heaving.
"Leave me alone!" Reedpaw snarled.
"What in the name of StarClan is wrong with them?" Ashpaw said, sounding slightly frightened.
"Whitepaw has been acting strange for quite some time already," Beeflower said. "I'm still unsure why."
"Envious of proud Reedpaw, perhaps?" Rockhopper suggested.
"Perhaps," Beeflower agreed. "Though, I don't understand why. They both have amazing skills, both in combat and stealth."
"Maybe that's why she's angry?" Ashpaw said. "Maybe she thinks Reedpaw is better than her?"
Spiralpaw doubted that theory, though she did acknowledge it.
"Stonestar will sort them out," she said.
"We should not lean on our leaders to do everything," Beeflower said. "Remember, they have duties to uphold, as does every part of the Clan."
"Spiralpaw, let's go stop them before they rip each other's pelts off," Ashpaw decided.
They ran over, Ashpaw heading for Whitepaw, Spiralpaw going for Reedpaw. "Why is she fighting with you?" Spiralpaw asked Reedpaw, shoving her toward the edge of the clearing, where there was an extra den.
"I don't know!" Reedpaw exclaimed. "I don't know if it's because I was going to play with Stripedkit or because I did something... And if I did something, I don't have a single idea what it was."
Spiralpaw could hear Ashpaw and Whitepaw talking outside the den.
"You should stop fighting with Reedpaw," she heard Ashpaw's voice say.
"Crookedfire warned me she was going to turn on us!" Whitepaw argued back. "I may as well stop her from doing anything before something bad does happen!"
"I don't care what you think, Whitepaw!" Ashpaw said. "It doesn't matter what Crookedfire thinks! He's trying to make you seem like the traitor here. Please, stop fighting with Reedpaw before Crookedfire does something to convince Stonestar you're bad."
There was a small, short moment of silence. And then Whitepaw said, "Fine. I'll stop."
Spiralpaw and Reedpaw exchanged glances. Spiralpaw couldn't imagine Reedpaw or Whitepaw being evil, let alone becoming a loner.
But it made her wonder...
What was Crookedfire trying to do?