Warriors Bloodlines Book 1: Rising Tension

CHAPTER 4

       Sweetacorn dashed towards the nursery, the others following. As they entered the den, another yowl broke out. It came from Hazelnose. "Hazelnose? What is it?" Sparrowtail meowed, entering the nursery behind the patrol. "Riverkit is dead!" The queen yowled. Sparrowtail went over to comfort his mate.                                                                                                                                                           They had lost their daughter. Flypaw couldn't imagine the pain they were in. Hazelnosess other two newborn kits meweled for milk, and her eldest, a dark brown she-cat was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Stickkit?" Sweetacorn mewed, having also noticed the missing kit. "She was here a moment ago," Darklily meowed.                                                                                                                                Stickkit was the only kit from Hazelnoses first litter. She was older than Flypaw, if only by a few days, but always had health issues, and was yet to be apprenticed. "Flypaw! Gingerfur! Go find Stickkit!" Brackenheart ordered. At once the ginger tabby lead the way out of the nursery. Flypaw followed her and they stopped outside the den. "Can you scent her trail?" Gingerfur mewed. "This can be good training for you."                                                                                                                      Flypaw opened his mouth and breathed in the scents around him. The scent of his clan was abundant, and he was beginning to make out the distinct scents of individuals. He could scent Viperpaw close by, along with her brother Littlepaw. He turned and saw them racing towards him. "What's going on?" Littlepaw breathed.                                                                                                                   "Stickkit is missing, Flypaw and I were ordered to go find her," mewed Gingerfur. "We're coming with!" Viperpaw meowed, and before anyone could protest she continued. "Two extra set of eyes and ears!" Gingerfur nodded and the three apprentices set out, led by the warrior.                  They followed the kits scent deep into the woods. As they pressed onward, Flypaw looked up and saw the tops of the mountains jutting into the sky. "Her scent trail is leading pretty close to the Frostclan border," Littlepaw spoke quietly. "Lets just hope she didn't come into conflict with a Frostclan patrol, they're usually hostile." Gingerfur hissed.                                                                             Soon they made it to the edge of the trees, where a long field stretched before them. "Frostclan territory!" Viperpaw hissed. Flypaw scented the air and brought in the scent of a Frostclan patrol. "Frostclan!" He hissed. "They're not here now, but they were!" Littlepaw lashed his tail "And Stickkits scent stops here!" Did Frostclan steal a Treeclan kit? Take her as prisoner? Or even worse, did they hurt her?

           Later that night, the clan waited around the rock, for news about Stickkit. Darklily sat, watching her four kits, who were playing. The elders were gossiping. And Gingerfur and Slenderclaw were sharing tongues.                                                                                                                                           Bigstar exited his den and leaped onto the rock. "All cats old enough to climb the trees in the forest, gather beneath this rock for a clan meeting," he called. Most of the clan was gathered, but those that weren't came from their dens and gathered together with the rest.                                          "A patrol set out in search of the missing kit. Her scent trail ended at the border with Frostclan." Many cats gasped. "What happened?" Cried a tortoiseshell elder. "Where is my kit?" Hazelnose questioned. Bigstar silenced the clan with a lash from his tail. "It is thought that Frostclan may have taken her prisoner, for trespassing," Bigstar continued. The tortoiseshell elder let out a hiss of fury. "Frostclan STOLE our kit?" Brackenheart glared at her. "Bigstar said THOUGHT to have, not HAVE, Raspberrytail."                                                                                                                         Bigstar nodded at his deputy. "We mustn't start a war in Leaf-Bare. We must be calm, we do not want any unnecessary injuries." Bigstar ended the meeting and the cats went their respective ways.                                                                                                                                                                                  Flypaw was stalking towards the Apprentices Den, when he heard a couple of cats talking. It was Darklily, trying to comfort Hazelnose. "Look on the bright side, you still have four kits! And Stickkit IS alive, wherever she is!" Hazelnose nuzzled her friend. "You're right Darklily, I didn't lose a whole litter. I don't know what i would've done if that had happened." She looked at the elder Raspberrytail, and Flypaw remembered the story he had heard as a small kitten, where Raspberrytail had lost a whole litter when a fox invaded camp.                                                                                    It must be hard for a she-cat to lose a whole litter, perhaps that is why Raspberrytail is always so grumpy. Suddenly, Sweetacorn stalked up to him. "Flypaw, you've been assigned to tick duty. Use this mousebile to rid the elders of ticks!" Flypaw groaned, "Why me?" Sweetacorn licked the toms ear. "YOU haven't had to yet. The others have many times over. It'll teach you how to care for others!" She dropped the herb and trotted back to her den.                                                          As Flypaw stepped into the Elders Den, a brown and white tabby gave him a welcome. "Hello Flypaw! Tick duty?" It was Grassclaw, the youngest of the elders. Flypaw nodded and Grassclaw continued speaking. "Halfface has been complaining about having many ticks, you should check him first." He pricked his ears over to the white tom in question. Halfface was heavily scarred over one side of his face. Flypaw was curious on how he got those scars, but didn't want to seem rude. The old tom showed the apprentice where his ticks were, and he began applying the herb.                                                                                                                                                               "Wondering what did this?" Halfface meowed, catching Flypaw glaring at his scars. Flypaws fur fluffed up in embarrassment. "Sorry," he apologized. "No, no," the white tom shook his head. "I love to tell stories! It was many moons ago, before Bigstars birth. A dog had invaded the camp! I, and other warriors fought the dog off. Dirtclaw was there," he pointed with his tail to the old dusty tom, asleep in the back of the den. "Some were killed, I was heavily injured! But I survived, and my name was changed to Halfface!"                                                                                                                                  Flypaw twitched his ears. "What was your name before?" He asked, applying more mousebile. "I was called Freezefur!" He laughed. "That was a long time ago, when someone called me by that name." "Do you miss your old name?" Flypaw questioned. Halfface shook his head. "No, it tells my story, along with showing the hero I was."                                                                                     Flypaw got up. "I guess it's time for me to go, any other cat have ticks?" The elders shook their heads, besides Dirtclaw, who was deep in sleep. Flypaw left the den. It was nice to hear stories from the elders.