Warriors AU: Skyclan's Destiny

Chapter 2

"Invasion! Invasion!"

Poppystar spun around at the panic-stricken yowl, her claws sliding out as she prepared to defend herself and her Clan. Cherrytail and the warriors around the fresh-kill pile sprang to their paws, their fur bristling. A few tail-lengths farther down the river, Shrewtooth stood stiff-legged on a rock, her eyes wide with horror as she gazed upward. Her mouth hung open from where she had just screeched a warning; now she looked too frightened to say anything.

Three cats had appeared over the lip of the gorge and were trotting down the trail. The leader was a black tom, closely followed by a mottled pale brown and cream tabby tom and a younger she-cat with a black and white pelt.

"That's Cobaltclaw, Leafdapple, and Snookpaw," Sharpclaw meowed. "Why is that mouse-brained she-cat making such a fuss?"

"She nearly made me jump out of my fur," Tinycloud grumbled.

Poppystar relaxed with a sigh. "Shrewtooth, it's okay. It's just the daylight warriors!"

The jumpy black she-cat stared at her, then flicked her gaze back toward the cats who were rapidly making their way down the rocks. At last she seemed to recognize the newcomers. "Sorry," she muttered, ducking her head to Poppystar. "The sun was in my eyes. I got confused."

"She's permanently confused, if you ask me," Sharpclaw muttered.

Cherrytail let out a hiss of annoyance and went back to grooming his pelt. He seemed to be ignoring the approaching cats, though Poppystar spotted the tip of his tail twitching back and forth. She opened her jaws to speak and then thought better of it. Instead, she padded over to the bottom of the cliff to welcome the newcomers as they leaped down the last couple of tail-lengths.

"Hi, Poppystar," the black tom meowed. "Are we in time for the ceremony?"

Poppystar shook her head. "I'm sorry, Cobaltclaw. We held it at sunhigh."

"Oh, no!" The young she-cat's voice rose to a wail. "We missed it! I've been looking forward to it for nearly a moon."

"We called for Harleymoon and Frecklepaw," Cobaltclaw explained. "But they were shut in." He shrugged. "I guess we waited too long."

Poppystar didn't turn to look, but she could feel Cherrytail's gaze boring into her back like a fox's fangs. She knew he didn't approve of allowing kittypets to join the Clan and go back to their Twoleg nests at night. But she wasn't about to start that argument again. Skyclan needed the daylight warriors.

They help us keep the fresh-kill pile well stocked. And the Clan is still small; we can't afford to turn any cat away.

"Never mind, Snookpaw," Cobaltclaw went on. "There'll be other ceremonies."

"But I wanted to see this one." Snookpaw padded over to the three new warriors. Her eyes shone with admiration as she spoke to Bouncefire. "I wanted to be the first to call you by your warrior name. And now I don't even know what it is!"

"It's Bouncefire," the young warrior told her, seeming to swell with pride.

"That's a great name!"

"And we're Sparrowpelt and Rockshade," Sparrowpelt added.

Poppystar stifled a mrrow of amusement when Snookpaw completely ignored the young dark brown tabby warrior.

"I bet you're the best warrior in the Clan," she went on to Bouncefire. "I wish you could be my mentor."

"Hey!" The mottled pale cream and brown tabby tom strolled over to the younger cats and gave Snookpaw's shoulder a friendly shove. "What's wrong with the mentor you've got?"