Warriors of FoxClan

Ch. 3

Once at the OakClan camp, Fawnpaw felt a tight tension in the air. Yet, all the cats acted normal. Warriors gossiping about clan life, queens watching over their kits, the kits playing and kicking up dust, the elders trading stories, and Redstar keeping an eye on the clan. Shadowpaw came over caring two mice.
"What's up? Want a mouse?" he asked dropping a brown mouse at her paws.
"Thanks Shadowpaw." Fawnpaw nibbled at the fresh kill while Shadowpaw inhaled his. The knot if worry growing, Fawnpaw lost her hunger. Looking around worriedly, Shadowpaw aske what was wrong.
"I don't know. Remember when I had that nightmare," Fawnpaw started. "Well, I dreamed that I was in a strange forest. I felt so alone. Then I heard someone call out. Then the stampede-"
"What's a stampede?" Shadowpaw interrupted.
Slightly annoyed Fawnpaw explained that a stampede was when a group of animals got spooked and ran. Any animal that stayed in their path or ran too slow would be crushed.
"Oh...never mind. Continue." Shadowpaw had a mix of worry and fear in his eyes.
"Anyway, the stampede started and then a glowing cat appeared and said, 'warn them.' Like what's that's supposed to mean?" Fawnpaw finished.
"Hmmm. I think we should talk to Pinetail about this. Come on. If your dream does come true, time will need to be on our side." Shadowpaw turned quickly and ran to the medicine cat's den. Fawnpaw followed quickly.
"Greetings Fawnpaw and Shadowpaw." Pinetail purred as the two walked into his den. "How may I help?" The fluffy tabby tilted his head.
Shadowpaw cleared his throat and said,"Fawnpaw had a dream." Then he rambled on to tell the medicine cat about her dream. Fawnpaw corrected him every now and then.
"Hmm, if what your saying is that Fawnpaw, a warrior apprentice, had a dream from Starclan then the whole camp is in danger. I also had a similar dream, but I didn't know what a stampede was." Pinetail stood up and quickly walked past the apprentices, "We must warn Redstar of the danger ahead."
"Would this mean I can't be a warrior, now that I had a dream from Starclan?" Fawnpaw asked.
"That depends on if you want to be a medicine cat, if not then you may continue training as a warrior." Pinetail repiled.
"Good." Fawnpaw breathed a breath of relief.
Redstar and his mate, Moonsky a fluffy light gray she cat with silver eyes, were lying in the shade watching over their kits. Moonsky had them three moons ago.
"Redstar, I had a dream from Starclan. I wish to share it with you, privetly." Pinetail asked repestively. Moonsky called her kits to her. Fawnpaw hadn't met them yet.
"They're lovely. What are their names?" Fawnpaw asked.
"They are Snowkit, Windkit, and Sunkit." Moonsky replied as Redstar and Pinetail whispered in a dark corner of the camp. The fluffy ginger tom with blue eyes walked up to Fawnpaw. Fawnpaw guessed he was Sunkit. The white kit had ice blue eyes, she was obviously Snowkit. Windkit had the be the green eyed tom with long legs and dark gray fur.
"What's your name?" Snowkit asked.
"I'm Fawnpaw."
"Mother may we play with them please!" Windkit begged.
"I'm sure they are extremely busy with apprentice duties."
"No, we'd love to play with them." Shadowpaw pipped up.
"I guess, just bring them back before sunset." Moonsky stood and walked to the nursery. Snowkit pounced on Shadowpaw's tail while Windkit ran circuses around him.  Sunkit charged at Fawnpaw, and she let him tackle her.
"Kits! Stop fooling around right now! Go to your mother quickly." Redstar barked the orders like a dog. Terrified the kits quit playing and ran to their mother. Fawnpaw stood and shakes the dust out of her fur. Redstar locked eyes with her, "If what Pinetail tells me is true according to yours and his dreams, the clan is in danger of this stampede. Come with me, you seem to know most about stampedes." With that the red fured tom  led the way into his den.
Redstar sat in his nest of moss and feathers. "Fawnpaw, tell me, what is a stampede?"
Fawnpaw took a breath and said, "A stampede is when a herd of large animals ,like deer, get spooked and run away. As they run, they end up crushing anything beneath their feet. That includes plants and animals that don't get out if the way." Fawnpaw stopped to take a breath.
"Interesting. How does a cat get out if the way of a stampede? Especially kits and elders."
"I guess the warriors would have to help the elders climb into trees. The queens would need a few warriors to help them carry their kits into the safety of the trees."
"I have one more question," Redstar asked, "Pinetail would need to put his supplies somewhere safe so they won't get trampled by the deer or stampede. Think you and Shadowpaw find a safe place for the herbs. I fear this stampede might crush all the herbs in the forest." Redstar waited for an anwser.
"Of course Redstar." Fawnpaw bowed her head and left the den. "Shadowpaw! Where are you?"
"Right here." the black apprentice walked up to Fawnpaw. "What did Redstar say?" Fawnpaw told him about the meeting and that they needed to help hide the herbs.
"I think I know the perfect place!" Shadowpaw stood and waved his jet black tail in the air.
"Well, where is it!" Fawnpaw mewed.
"It's next to the Great Tree, the biggest live oak tree in the forest! There's a rocky overhang that we can hide all the herbs under!" Shadowpaw started toward the medicine cat's den with Fawnpaw on his heels. "Pinetail! Pinetail! We know where to put the herbs so they'll be safe!" Shadowpaw panted.
"Let me guess, that rocky overhang by the Great Tree." Pinetail said looking down at a pile of herbs. "Try to get some of the other apprentices to help you carry the herbs."
"How'd you know!" Fawnpaw asked.
"I could hear you from here."
The two apprentices turned around walked quickly to the apprentices den. Featherpaw, a light brown she cat with green eyes, was nibbling on a mouse outside the apprentices' den. Beepaw, a light yellow tom with sky blue eyes, was napping. Shadowpaw opened his mouth to speak when Redstar called for a clan meeting.
"All cat of OakClan gather for a clan meeting! Kits too!" Redstar paused to wait for the clan. When the whole clan was present, he said, "Our medicine cat had a dream. Our clan will be under attack, possibly soon!" That sent the clan into an uproar of fear. "Quite!" Redstar yowled above the chaos. "We can avoid this disaster if we work together. Fawnpaw, our newest apprentice, knows how to stay safe during a stampede. Here is what we do, we hide in the Great Tree until the stampede is past." A few cats mumbled amongst their neighbors.
"Can we fight this stampede? A true warrior doesn't cower in fear! A true warrior fights with tooth and claw!" A dark grey tabby yowled.
"I'm afraid we can't fight this one, Ashcloud. If we even lift a claw to fight the stampede, we will surely die." Redstar sighed. "All the kits, queens, warriors, apprentices, and elders will hide in the Great Tree. Pinetail and his herbs will hide under the massive rock overhang near by."
"The warriors will help the elders and queens into the tree. The kits will hide with Pinetail, for they can't climb or stay on a branch. The apprentices will help Pinetail take his herbs from camp to the overhang."