After the patrol had made it back to camp, Tawnyfur was kept prisoner in a spare den on the far side of the clearing. Sparrowtail and Dogfur sat watch outside. "Come!" Brackenheart hissed. "You must learn your lesson!" "Learn our lesson?" Stickpaw snapped. "What did we do?" Brackenheart stopped and whipped around, giving the apprentice a cold stare. "You know exactly what you've done! You wandered outside of clan territory! You were obviously doing something you were not supposed to!" Stickpaw fixed her green eyes on Brackenheart. "But you said-" "Don't listen to what I said!" The deputy cut her off. "I know Tawnyfur didn't trespass onto our territory! I never scented him! I was just trying to get him to shut his mouth!" He turned towards the other apprentices who were sat at the Fresh-Kill pile. "Pantherpaw! Viperpaw! Get this tom to Sweetacorn before he dies!" The two black apprentices lead Dexter to the medicine cats den, lending him their shoulders for support. Brackenheart lead Flypaw and Stickpaw to Bigstars den. "Come in," the leader meowed as they approached. Brackenheart stalked into the tree-den and Flypaw followed. The large white leader was laying in a bed of moss. "What is it Brackenheart?" He mewed, confused. "These two got themselves into a tussle with Tawnyfur a little north of the northern border!" Brackenheart spat angrily. "What were you doing out there?" The Treeclan leader sounded disappointed. "Well," Flypaw began to explain how him and Stickpaw were trying to dig up Tawnyfurs mischievous actions. "Yes, Hawkswoop reported his actions with Twolegplace and the rogue, but that is not our business!" "I would say it is!" Stickpaw argued. "Starclan knows what danger he is planning!" Brackenheart scolded her for arguing with her leader, but nodded his agreement. "What happened to Tawnyfur? Did you chase him off?" Bigstar questioned. Brackenheart shook his head. "He is being watched over by Sparrowtail and Dogfur!" He reported. Bigstar nodded. "He WILL give us answers! Question him every day until he says something you can believe!" He ordered. "Now you two!" He spoke in a stern voice. "I want you to Take care of the elders until I say you can stop!" Stickpaw groaned, but he continued, not taking notice. "You will hunt for them, bring them their fresh-kill, bring fresh bedding, rid them of their ticks, and help them with anything else they may need! Is that clear?" Flypaw nodded. "Yes Bigstar!" Bigstar nodded and sent them out of his den, but Brackenheart turned around and continued speaking. "One last thing Bigstar!" He called. "Hm?" "A kittypet got wounded in the fight, we brought him to see Sweetacorn. Shall he stay with us until he is better?" Bigstars eyes widened, but then he relaxed and gave a curt nod. "We will help him," he mewed. As he left the den, Brackenheart stopped Flypaw before he began his tasks. "Flypaw," he mewed. "Go see Sweetacorn real quick. That wound looks nasty." He turned to Stickpaw and added. "As part of your punishment, you help the medicine cat!" Stickpaw let out a groan, and Brackenheart gave her a stern look. Flypaw stalked to Sweetacorns den, and Stickpaw followed him. As he entered the den, he saw Gingerfur sleeping in a nest close to the entrance, Slenderclaw resting next to her. "Stickpaw! Flypaw! Good to see you!" Sweetacorn called, stepping out of some brambles that led to her nest. She stopped and gave Flypaw a hard look. "We need to get that taken care of!" She mewed Flypaw followed the dark tabby medicine cat further into the den, where she grabbed some cobwebs. "Sit!" she ordered her patient. As she pressed the cobweb onto his wound, Flypaw began asking about Dexter. "How is he?" He mewed, pointing with his ears to the kittypet. "Not good," Sweetacorn responded, dropping the cobweb. "He would be lucky to make it through the night, Tawnyfur nearly killed him. He better learn to fight before taking on a warrior as experienced as he!" Flypaw felt bad for Dexter. It was his fault the kittypet got hurt, he never would have gotten himself hurt in the first place if him and Stickpaw hadn't gone snooping. Sweetacorn turned to Stickpaw. "The kittypets groaning, feed him some poppy seeds for the pain please!" Stickpaw obeyed the medicine cats orders and grabbed some poppy seeds. She then began trotting over to the kittypet. After Sweetacorn had healed his wound, Flypaw began his chores. He went out of camp and caught plenty of fresh-kill. As he returned to camp, he met Bigstar. He was leading out a hunting patrol. Bigstar nodded at the apprentice and lead Slenderclaw and Hawkswoop out of the camp. Flypaw stalked over to the Elders Den to bring the elders their fresh-kill. Grassclaw let out a mrrow of excitement. "Thank you Flypaw! I haven't eaten all day!" Flypaw dropped the fresh-kill and Grassclaw snatched up a sparrow. The brown and white tabby then trotted over to Halfface to share the plump bird. "Don't thank him!" Spat Raspberrytail. "It's his duty! He has to as punishment!" "Why yes," Dirtclaw meowed. "But he could've been rude about it, or not tried as hard as he did, thank you Flypaw." Flypaw appreciated the dusty brown toms thanks. "What do you want, Dirtclaw? I have a cardinal, a squirrel, and a mouse!" Dirtclaw shook his head. "I ate not long ago, give it to the others. If they don't want it, take it to the queens." Raspberrytail ended up eating the squirrel, and the other elders were fed by the oversized sparrow. "Would you like to hear a story?" Purred Dirtclaw. Flypaw nodded, and sat close to the blind tom. Dirtclaw nodded his head and pointed with his ears to the far side of the camp. Flypaw noticed that was where Tawnyfur was being kept prisoner, guarded at the moment by Brackenheart and Pantherpaw. "You know he's not the first cat to conspire with rogues?" Flypaw was shocked. Apparently news had already swept over the camp like a wildfire of what Tawnyfur had been up to. "What other cat would be mad enough to do such a thing?" Flypaw scoffed. Dirtclaw bent down and whispered into the apprentices ear. "Crookedheart," Flypaws eyes widened. He had heard stories as a kit of an evil tom who tried to destroy all four of the clans. He thought it was a myth, apparently not so. "He died before I was born, but his treachery still remains. His name is used now, as an insult. 'You Crookedheart!' cats would call..." He trailed off. "Anyways let me tell you a different story, one of my past. Long ago, when I was a young warrior, probably around Sparrowtails age, I saved the clans!" "You're overexaggerating!" Raspberrytail spat. "He HELPED save the day, our leader truly saved us all!" Flypaw looked at the old tortoiseshell. "What had happened?" He mewed. "A flood swept over the forest! Our leader at the time, Quillstar, lead the cats of Treeclan, Gorgeclan, and Marshclan into the mountains for safety. The leader of Frostclan didn't want the other cats on her territory! But the other three leaders told her what's what!" After spending some time with the elders, Flypaw took the leftover fresh-kill to the nursery. Darklily and Hazelnoses kits were playing. "Oh hi Flypaw!" Darklily purred, then turned to Freezekit who was roughhousing with one of Hazelnoses toms. "Freezekit! Be careful! You're a lot bigger than Shrewkit!" The little brown tabby bolted to his mother, yowling. "It's ok little one," Hazelnose purred. "Freezekit didn't mean it!' As she continued comforting her son, Flypaw dropped the cardinal and mouse at the two queens paws. Darklily shared the cardinal with her four kits, and Hazelnose took the mouse to feed hers. The queens nodded their thanks to the apprentice, and Flypaw stalked off to continue other duties. After a long days work, Flypaw lay down in his nest in the Apprentices Den. As he fell asleep, he began to dream. He bolted up. Flypaw realized he was in a deep hole in the ground that stretched a long distance. The Gorge! He heard yowling and pelted towards the noise. He made it to a ledge that stretched above his head. The sound of cats hissing and yowling was louder here. He ran up the smaller ledge that lead from the ground up to the higher ledge. The Gorgeclan camp! What was he doing here? He saw many cats cowering in fear before hearing a noise that split the air, the bark of a dog. The white dog who had attacked Treeclan stood at the end of the ledge before bolting at the cats. It ran right through him, and began attacking the Gorgeclan cats. Flypaw heard a yowl and turned around to see a shadowy figure standing on the opposite side of the gorge. The dark figure raced to the waterfall, and raced across the rocks. Two other cats followed him. As the figure finally made it to the ledge where Flypaw stood, he recognized him. It was Tawnyfur! What was he doing here? As the dog was attacking the Gorgeclan cats, Tawnyfur lead his gang into the camp. He began fighting a queen. Before no time, the queen was dead, and Tawnyfur and his gang made off with her kits. None of the cats were the wiser. "Gorgeclan was hurt badly by the attack," Flypaw remembered Littlepaws words. "They lost a queen and all of her kits. Another queen lost most of her kits too, eaten by the dog." Then Flypaw remembered Smudgepaws words. "Some rogue kits were found and taken up by the clan," he had said. And Redfur had continued with, "Tawnyfur found the kits mother, dead. The dog was nearby, so it was suspected the dog killed her. He rescued the kits, and brought them to Frostclan." Those weren't rogue kits! They were Gorgeclan kits! "Frost cover the trees. A tree shall fall upon the frost, bringing the lost home." Flypaw heard the same message from before, then turned to see the ginger tom standing there. He faded before Flypaw could ask questions, but he had figured the message out. 'Frost cover trees,' could mean Treeclan cats are in Frostclan! Tawnyfur must have stolen kits before, and from Treeclan! And Flypaw had to bring this to light, and stop Tawnyfur once and for all!
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Warriors Bloodlines Book 1: Rising Tension
FanfictionFar away from the forest with the clans, there is another forest with four more clans. Our main character Flypaw, a grey apprentice of Treeclan discovers his kin and connection with his clanmates, along with discovering the evil a warrior from anoth...
