Warriors: Sunbeam's Promise

Chapter 5

Sunpaw was up early the other day and she and her brother Coalpaw went on a hunt together at dawn. They were just trotting through the gorse tunnel back to camp, with their mouths full of fresh-kill, when Sandstorm with Dustpelt sprinted right around the two cats, causing Sunpaw to fall down and drop her prey. Coalpaw kept balance, but he dropped his fresh-kill too to hum a complaint. Sunpaw shook her head and rose to her paws, silently collecting what she had dropped on the ground before she padded into the clearing. She put what she had to the fresh-kill pile, twitching her ears when she saw Firestar burst out of his den, followed by Sandstorm with Dustpelt and Hawkclaw.

“Attack!!” Firestar yowled and the ThunderClan cats began to quickly gather around their leader, fear and alarm in their eyes. “Whitepaw, Sandstorm, Brambleclaw and Goldenfur will stay here in case there was a party heading for the camp. The rest of the warriors and Nightpaw, follow me!” Sunpaw watched as the warriors sprinted after Firestar. Were the BloodClan cats back? Weren't the lives they took and harm they caused enough for them? Sunpaw watched as Ravencall and Nightpaw in the back of the crowd vanished into the tunnel and her ears twitched. When she looked at Coalpaw, every hair in his fur was pricked up.

“We should help them!” she whined, lowering her body to the ground. Coalpaw sharply turned his head to look at his sister, his eyes wide with fear. “Firestar was clear, out of all the apprentices only Nightpaw was called to join,” he pointed out, trying to breathe slower. But he didn't convince Sunpaw. “Ravencall is there... What if.. Aren't you worried about Silverwhisker at all? We should just follow them!” With that, she wanted to head for the tunnel, but Coalpaw stepped on her tail just in time, and Sunpaw ended up on the ground. “What you have in that little mouse brain?!” Coalpaw hissed before he stepped off her tail. “They are not going to die, stupid furball. We were told to stay here, and so we will!” Sunpaw stood up and gave him a long look. “Look after the camp then, big brother!” she snapped at him and rushed towards the gorse tunnel.

She could hear her brother calling her name, but she didn't look back. She had to help her Clan, that was every warrior's duty. And she was ready to protect her Clan with her own life. She slowed down after leaving the camp and she drew in the air. When she caught a trail scent of her Clanmates, she sped up again, following it as fast as she could. When she arrived, she hid in the undergrowth. To her relief, these were certainly not BloodClan cats. When she took a moment to taste the air, she recognized the ShadowClan scent. The battle took place dangerously close to their camp... When she spotted Ravencall, she braced her muscles to jump. She decided to use one of the tricks her mentor had taught her; she jumped against a tree trunk, and quickly landed right on a black tom's back who just pinned her mentor down.

Ravencall yowled in pain before the tom staggered off of her. Her eyes widened. “Sunpaw!” she exclaimed, quickly springing to her paws. Sunpaw heard her mentor, but she was busy trying her best to hold on to the tom who was tryinh to throw her off of his back. “Get off me furball!” he snarled before whipping Sunpaw off and into the raging river. She yowled before her head went under the water. She tried desperately to fight the current, but it was too strong for her. She remembered her very first training, when she almost jumped in on her own. She certainly couldn't swim. She proceeded to get her head above the water, and she caught a glimpse of the ThunderClan deputy Hawkclaw falling into the fierce river as well, fighting to keep his head out of the water just like Sunpaw. She was watching him with wide eyes before the surface closed above her head again. It didn't take long for her to give up. The current was too strong. At least I'll die for my Clan... she thought to her self as she stopped helplessly kicking her paws, and just let the current take her away.

Ravencall threw herself into the river after a few heartbeats, rushing after Sunpaw. She didn’t swim. She couldn’t. She did her best to get to Sunpaw, and eventually she did, grabbing her scruff and throwing her onto the shore. She slipped under the surface, getting tossed by the current. “Ravencall!!” Sunpaw yowled when she sprang to her paws, watching the rumbling waves in pure terror. She lowered her body to the ground, pinning her ears. She felt her eyes brimming with tears and she hated herself for not listening to Coalpaw and leaving the camp. Ravencall will die and it's your fault, she told herself, curling her tail under her belly. She only quickly turned around when she heard her leader's voice.

“What are you doing here?!” Firestar snapped at her, his tail lashing from side to side. Sunpaw took a short step back as she lowered herself even more, her belly was now almost touching the wet ground. She couldn't stand this. She was staring at Firestar before she turned around and ran away, back towards the camp. She cried on her way back, letting out a few yowls. Her mentor was dead! She couldn't believe it. Everyone was dying and this was just and only her fault. When she arrives at the camp, Goldenfur was already sprinting towards her. “Mousbrain! What were you thinking?!” she mewed, affection reflecting in her voice as she nuzzled Sunpaw. “Ravencall is dead,” Sunpaw choked out, “and it's my fault. Hawkclaw will probably die too!” She pressed her face into her mother's thick-furred chest, mewling softly. Goldenfur gave the young she a few ear licks. “It's not your fault,” she told her gently, but Sunpaw thought otherwise. She didn't just think it, she was convinced.

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The sun was about to set when Sunpaw was lying in front of the apprentice den, patting the ground with her paws ever so slightly. She felt so empty. She felt as though she failed, and she might never become a warrior. Thinking about it, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to. How could she even live with the responsibility of her own mentor's death? She twitched her ears slightly when she heard her Clanmates coming back home from the battle, but she didn't even get up to greet the warriors. She couldn't look into anyone's eyes, she just wanted to disappear. “Sunbeam!” Coalpaw mewed, nudging her with his nose a few times, but she didn't even look at him. She only raised her head, and pretty quickly, when Coalpaw meowed: “Ravencall is right in the clearing!” She stared at him for a while before he prompted her to get on her paws and padded away. But I watched as she drowned... She got up and trotted after her brother, the little spark of hope suddenly igniting up, and then her troubled eyes found the black she-cat.

She held her tail up high and her ears pricked up with excitement. She immediately sprinted over to her. “Ravencall, you're alive..!” she choked out as she pushed her muzzle into her mentor's fur. “I'm sorry I...” She pulled away. “...just wanted to help.” Ravencall gave her head a quick lick. “You’re okay,” she meowed with a relieved sigh. Sunpaw let out a soft purr, silently thanking StarClan for not taking her away from her just yet. “I’m glad you’re safe, but next time stay in the camp,” Ravencall added gently. Sunpaw nodded quickly, so sure she would never risk like this again. She was about to say something more when Cloudtail approached them. “Firestar wants to talk to you,” he snarled into Ravencall's face before he padded away from the two she-cats. Sunpaw heard Ravencall murmur, “Firestar..” before the black warrior padded over to the leader's den. Sunpaw frowned slightly as she was watching her leave. What was Cloudtail's hostility for? And why was Ravencall suddenly so nervous to face Firestar? Yeah, he has changed a bit since Graystripe's death, but this was strange. Something was off.