Warriors AU: Skyclan's Destiny

Chapter 6

Poppystar stiffened. "How do you know about Sandstar?" she demanded. "Are you from Thunderclan?"

The gray cat snorted. "No, we're not from any Clan. But we met Sandstar and his mate, Fireheart, when they were on their way to find some cats who needed a new home. Is this it?"

He let his gaze travel around the gorge again, and Poppystar could tell he wasn't impressed. She had to concentrate hard to keep her neck fur lying flat and her voice sounding proud and confident.

"Yes, Sandstar found us and this is our home. I am Poppystar, the leader of Skyclan."

"And what are your names?" Cherrytail prompted, coming to stand beside Poppystar.

Poppystar realized that she should have asked that before she offered the strangers any information. But the mention of Sandstar's name had shaken her off balance.

"My name is Haze," the skinny gray tom announced. He clicked his tail toward a brown tabby she-cat with a stump for a tail. "This is Stumpy."

"I'm Cory." A black tom took a step forward and dipped his head politely.

"Cinder." The last cat, a black she-cat, shouldered her way forward. "We come from a Twolegplace farther downstream. We helped Sandstar and Fireheart when they were separated by a flood."

"Why are you here?" Poppystar asked. "Are you looking for Sandstar? He and Fireheart left us long ago."

Haze glanced at his companions; his tail-tip twitched and Poppystar sensed he was ordering them to leave the talking to him. "We often talk about Sandstar and Fireheart," he replied. "And we've always been interested in learning more about Clans."

Cherrytail's gaze flicked from one cat to the next. "You took quite a risk coming in search of them," he pointed out. "It doesn't sound as if you knew much about Sandstar's plans."

The scrawny gray tom shrugged. "The risk paid off."

Cherrytail exchanged a wary glance with Poppystar. She could tell that he was impressed by the strangers' courage, though he still wasn't inclined to trust them. Poppystar felt uneasy, too, and guessed from the hesitant glances they were sharing that her Clanmates felt the same. Creekkit looked up at her mother, Waspwhisker, and asked in a penetrating whisper, "Who are those cats, and what are they doing here?"

Waspwhisker gently covered the kit's mouth with her tail, but Poppystar knew that the question had to be answered. "Yes, why are you here?" She addressed Haze, since he seemed to be the leader. "You're welcome to visit, of course..."

Stumpy stepped forward; her eyes were gentle and unthreatening. "We believe we could learn a lot from you," she explained. "How to hunt, how to guard our territory—"

"Yeah, we did a brilliant job of that today!" Sharpclaw muttered.

"And how to protect our kin," the brown tabby she-cat finished, untroubled by the interruption.

Poppystar was flattered by the respect in Stumpy's tone. "We're only just starting out ourselves," she admitted. "We still have a lot to learn, too. We—"

"We'd be glad to teach you what you want to know," Cherrytail interrupted, his tail-tip twitching. Turning to Poppystar, he added, "We can always use extra help with hunting, right?"

Poppystar heard a gasp from one of her Clanmates, and noticed one or two uneasy looks at the deputy's tone; it almost sounded as if he was telling his Clan leader what to do. But for now she had to make it clear to every cat, including the visitors, that she was in charge. I'll have a word with him about that later.