Warriors AU: Skyclan's Destiny

Chapter 24

"Snookpaw!" Poppystar rose to her paws to greet the apprentice as she padded down the trail behind Leafdapple. "It's good to see you again."

A few sunrises had passed since the raid on the Twoleg nest, but Poppystar was still sharply aware of tension within the Clan. The cats were milling around her now, where she stood at the foot of the Rockpile while Cherrytail set the patrols. Morning mist still lay over the river, and the air was damp, promising rain later.

"Cobaltclaw, I want you to lead a hunting patrol," Cherrytail meowed. "Take Frecklepaw, of course, and... let's see... Bouncefire and Tinycloud."

Poppystar was agreeably surprised to hear Cherrytail putting a daylight warrior at the head of a patrol. Then she wondered whether her deputy had a hidden motive. Tinycloud was one of the best hunters in the Clan, and he had been loud in his criticisms of the kittypets. Does Cherrytail hope Cobaltclaw will fail, and Tinycloud will have to take over? Poppystar let her gaze rest on her deputy, his gleaming tortoiseshell and white pelt and sharp green eyes. I know he's a strong deputy—but I can't help wondering whether he's trying to stir things up!

"It's great to be back," Snookpaw meowed as she reached the bottom of the trail and padded over to Poppystar. "I've really missed the Clan."

Poppystar dipped her head. "We've missed you, too. Are you all right now?"

"I'm fine. I—" Snookpaw broke off to cough, and Poppystar looked at her in alarm. "No, I'm really fine," she assured her when she got her breath back. "I can't wait to start training again. But I can't stay all day," she added, stifling another cough. "My housefolk would be really worried."

Her love and respect for her Twolegs shone in his eyes. Poppystar felt a sudden pang, wondering what it would be like to live with housefolk. The Clan cats who accused the daylight warriors of choosing a life of comfort were wrong. There could be real affection between a kittypet and their Twolegs. Are we wrong to expect them to give that up?

Snookpaw trotted away to join Leafdapple, who was waiting for Cherrytail to give him an assignment. As she watched the patrols beginning to move off, Poppystar's eyes twitched at the sound of excited squeaking. She turned to see Waspwhisker's kits stalking up to Patchfoot, who lay dozing on a rock near the stream with one paw lying protectively over her swollen belly.

"That's a huge Twoleg!" Mintkit squealed. "We have to scare him off, or he'll attack the camp."

"I'm going to be Cherrytail!" Sandykit announced. "I'll lead the attack!"

"But I want to be Cherrytail!" Flamekit charged into his sister, pushing her over in a flurry of paws and tail. "Anyway, you're a she-cat, mouse-brain. You can't be Cherrytail."

"Can too," Sandykit muttered, then changed her mind with a whisk of her tail. "Okay, I'll be Stumpy."

"And I'll be Haze!" Creekkit announced. "He's a great warrior. What about you, Mintkit?"

"I'm going to be Leafdapple," Mintkit mewed. "He knows everything about fighting."

"You can't be Leafdapple." Sandykit stared scornfully at her brother. "He's not a real warrior."

"Yeah, he's a kittypet," Flamekit agreed with a contemptuous flick of his tail.

"He wasn't even at the raid," Creekkit pointed out. "So you can't be him."

Poppystar listened in growing alarm. Have the kits forgotten the way Leafdapple taught them? Have even the kits picked up this tension between the daylight warriors and the full Clan cats?

"I don't care!" Mintkit defended himself stoutly. "I still want to be Leafdapple."

"Then you can go and be him by yourself." Sandykit meowed, giving her littermate a push. "You're not playing with us if you want to be a kittypet."