Blood and Snow

The Coming Storm

  "What?" Pikestar snarled. Her fur was bristling and her tail lashed in anger. Snowkit let out a tiny mew of fear. Would WindClan come and get her? Cats of RiverClan were yowling in disbelief and anger all around her.

"How could they?"

"Let's slice their pelts off!"

"Code-breakers!"

Snowkit flattened her ears. The noises were simply too much. Rushheart rose her tail to silence the crowd. Pikestar gazed at her gratefully as she forced her fur to lie flat again.

"Tell us more, Pearshine." Pikestar urged. The white she-cat took a couple of deep breaths before she replied. Snowkit scraped her claws against the smooth stone. She wasn't sure rather it was anger or fear bubbling up inside her. Pikestar had just reassured her everything was going to be ok but was that a lie? If they would win easily, why was every cat in anger? Why not just, "Oh ok. Well, we will win easily." Instead of, "AHHHHHHH!"

"We were on the WindClan border patrolling." Pearshine began this time calmly. "And Tigerstripe saw bones laying on our side of the border. We went to look at them and they reeked of WindClan." Pearshine described.

"The entire place did!" Stonetail added hastily. Whispers of the news rippled through the crowd. Snowkit recoiled uneasily. Were the other Clans that hungry? Tigerstripe grunted in agreement.

"It was a fresh scent too. Made sometime this morning." Tigerstripe mentioned. Pearshine dipped her head to the tabby warriors.

"What should we do, Pikestar?" Pearshine asked. The leader beckoned Rushheart with her tail. The pale brown leader craned her head to look around at the medicine cat den.

"Stormstep!" Pikestar called. A gray tabby tom padded out from the fronds. Snowkit watched in astonishment. She hardly ever saw the all-knowing medicine cat. Partially because he was old and an elder. She had heard Thrushblaze talk about him to her friends, about he needed an apprentice so desperately. Snowkit realized that only she or Smokekit's littermates could be the ones to be his apprentice.

"Yes? It better be good. I was sorting my herbs out. Your apprentices do a horrible job of keeping the place clean." he hissed. Snowkit was shocked that he talked to the Clan leader like that. "Not many herbs this leaf-bare, anyway," he added. Pikestar sighed, struggling not to laugh. Snowkit could see the beginning of an amused grin.

"WindClan crossed our borders." she began, seriously again. "I need to talk to you and Rushheart in my den about what to do." Stormstep twitched his whiskers in frustration.

"Just more of a reason I need herbs!" he grunted. The large gray tabby padded off to the leader and deputy. The crowd watched with following eyes as they departed. Snowkit looked down at her trout and her belly rumbled. She dove in again and began to tear strips of the fish from the trout. She gulped down the rest and stood up. She yawned and stretched. She slid down the smooth stone to get some water. She smacked her lips and felt they were as dry as the leaf-bare air.

"So thirsty!" She sighed to herself. She walked to the river. The rushing water looked clear and good. She bent down to lap at the water. A purr rumbled through her as she felt her dry throat be quenched by the river. Water never tasted this good.

"And what are you doing?" A growl rumbled from behind her. Snowkit didn't look around, but sniffed the air and scented Minnowpaw. Could that bee-brained she-cat ever leave me alone?

"Drinking, duh. Maybe you need to go back to the nursery and learn that simple task a cat does every day." Snowkit replied calmly, still not looking at the apprentice. Minnowpaw growled, but Snowkit then scented a new cat, Turtlepaw. Oh, Minnowpaw would never be mean around Turtlepaw. A grin spread across her face.