Warrior Cats: Thunder And Fire

Chapter 5

Redpaw followed Goldenstar around the camp.

"Here's the warriors' den," Goldenstar meowed, motioning to a bush with low-hanging branches. Inside, a few cats still slept, although most were out in the camp.

Two cats were sitting next to a nettle patch close by, sharing a squirrel. One of them, a sleek smoke-black she-cat with brown eyes, looked up.

"This is Smokefur," Goldenstar meowed, motioning to the she-cat.

"Hey, Redpaw, I hope you're settling in okay," Smokefur meowed, dipping her head slightly.

"Thank you," Redpaw dipped his head.

"And that's Acornfox," Goldenstar motioned to the cat beside Smokefur, a brown she-cat with darker brown flecks and green eyes.

Acornfox nodded a greeting.

Goldenstar and Redpaw continued through the camp. "This is the elders' den," She meowed as they approached a fallen tree. Redpaw watched as an old brown tabby tom with hazel eyes walked out from the fallen tree's tangled branches.

The old tom noticed Redpaw. "Hello, Redpaw, was it?"

"Oh, yes, I'm Redpaw," Redpaw nodded.

"I'm Birdflight," The old tom meowed.

"Nice to meet you, Birdflight," Redpaw meowed, dipping his head respectfully to the old tom.

"Yes, you're a fine young cat, I'm sure you'll be a great warrior," Birdflight meowed while nodding.

"Th- thank you," Redpaw replied.

"You're welcome to visit the elders' den anytime you want advice or anything," Birdflight meowed.

Redpaw nodded.

"Come along, we must continue," Goldenstar meowed, and they continued their way.

Goldenstar lead him to some ferns that sheltered a small grassy clearing that smelled of herbs. "This is the medicine den," She meowed.

Redpaw poked his head inside and saw some nests of moss and ferns. On one side there was a boulder split in half, where the herb scent got stronger, along with a cat scent. A tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow(right) and green(left) eyes poked her head out, saw Redpaw, and meowed a small "Hello," Before disappearing back into the split boulder.

"That was our medicine cat, Luckyclover," Goldenstar meowed, appearing beside Redpaw. Redpaw nodded and they continued around camp.

They approached a clump of ferns behind a tree stump, where a dark gold she-cat sat beside a dusky brown tom. "This is the apprentices' den, where you'll sleep with the other apprentices," Goldenstar meowed.

The two young cats looked up from talking. "Hi!" the dusky brown tom meowed. "I'm Mousepaw, this is Goldenpaw," He motioned to the dark gold she-cat.

"So, you're the Kittypet? I didn't know kittypets could be warriors, are you sure you're good enough to be a warrior? You might not be," Goldenpaw meowed.

"Ignore her," Mousepaw interrupted quickly. "I'm sure you'll be a great warrior."

Goldenstar lead him to a thick bramble bush with a small gap that lead to a den. Outside the bush, some kits were playing with each other while their mother watched. "This is the nursery, where we care for our kits," Goldenstar meowed.

The kits all looked up from their playing and turned to Redpaw. "New cat!" One, a white she-kit with a brown patch on her back and gold eyes, meowed.

"What's he doing here?" a white tomkit with brown tabby ears and tail and yellow eyes asked.

"Is he an invader?" a brown tabby tomkit with a white underbelly and amber eyes asked.

"No, that's a new apprentice, he's not an invader," Their mother, a white she-cat with amber eyes, meowed.

"Hi, I'm Redpaw," Redpaw meowed to the kits. The kits all looked up at him in wonder.

"I'm Tigerkit! I'm gonna be the best warrior ever!" The brown tabby tomkit meowed, jumping to his paws.

"I'm Flipkit," The mostly white she-kit meowed. "That's Speckkit." She motioned to the mostly white tomkit.

"Our mother is called Frostsnow!" Tigerkit meowed.

"Yes, hello, Redpaw," The kits' mother nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Redpaw meowed.

"Look! Look! I'm a warrior!" Tigerkit exclaimed, leaping up and pouncing on Redpaw's paw.

Redpaw chuckled and pulled his paw away, but Tigerkit still held a firm grip on his paw.

"Come on, kits, I'm sure Redpaw has more to be doing," Frostsnow meowed. Tigerkit grumbled and let go of Redpaw's paw.

Goldenstar continued showing him around camp, showing him the fresh-kill pile and the highrock(Which he already saw).

After he'd seen everything, Redpaw grabbed a mouse and sat down next to the tree stump in front of the apprentices' den. Goldenpaw and Mousepaw had already gone, and Squirrelpaw was now sitting there instead.

"How was hunting?" Redpaw asked, sitting down next to her.

"Oh, I didn't get to go, My mentor Quillback was busy with patrolling and Wetfoot wouldn't let me go alone, so I tried to sneak out but I got caught so I got stuck picking ticks out of the elders. It was very boring but I guess it's better than doing nothing, huh? So do you know where everything is in camp now? Isn't it so cool? This is the best place to live." Squirrelpaw meowed.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Redpaw nodded.

"Oh my Starclan, I-" Squirrelpaw started, but Redpaw cut her off.

"What's Starclan?" He asked.

"Ok, first of all, rude! And second of all, Starclan is where all clan cats go when we die, it's in Silverpelt, and the Moonstone is this place outside of the clan territories, but not very far away from the territories, where there's this big glowy stone and it's very cool and it's where cats go to speak to Starclan. But cats can also have Starclan visit in dreams, although it's rare and mostly with leaders and medicine cats," Squirrelpaw meowed.

"I see," Redpaw meowed.

He and Squirrelpaw continued to talk, with Redpaw asking a few questions about clan life and Squirrelpaw answering in the most detailed, longest answers ever.

Redpaw found out about kits being apprenticed at six moons old, and how warrior training worked, and when cats became warriors, and a bit about the warrior code.