Warriors: Lost

Chapter 24

"Oh my StarClan, this is the old forest!"

Redpaw never thought he would live to see the old forest. The queens and elders described it as luxurious, Prey-filled, and peaceful, but what they saw was an exact opposite: barren wasteland, inedible plants, poisonous berries, and torn-down trees.

Redpaw parted his jaws to taste the air again, and the scent of horses filled his nose. Redpaw recoiled in disgust. "Ugh! These horses are more stinkier than the queens and elders said they were!"

"We must be close to them," Rushingpaw suggested. "Let's go. Sooner we go, quicker we'll be away from them."

They quickly bounded down the slope and avoided going near horses. However, Redpaw couldn't help but notice the smell of rogues and loners in the area. Young ones, it seems. Two from each, in fact. Huh.

"Any cat scent that?" asked Luckypaw.

"I do," Redpaw confessed.

"It's bothering me. A rogue and a loner, together. Both around the same age as us." Cindertail admitted.

"Two? Ha! RiverClan must be cowardly if they think apprentices and a warrior can't stop a rogue and loner." hissed Daypaw proudly.

"RiverClan is not cowardly!" Cindertail growled. "The cowardly one here is ThunderClan! Their history is full of kittypets and outsiders!"

Redpaw and Rushingpaw hissed. "ThunderClan is not cowardly because we like to help! We chose those kittypets and outsiders because they were warrior material," hissed Redpaw. "Remember when Bluestar chose Firestar when he was a kittypet? She didn't do it because Fire alone would save the clan, but because he was meant to be a warrior, and not a kittypet."

"Don't get your whiskers in a bunch! I was joking!" yowled Cindertail. "After everything we've been through, Redpaw and Rushingpaw, you truly think I would ever make fun of your clan??" 

"Remember, guys," meowed Nightpaw. "When we're back home, we have to act as if we're enemies. DreamClan will be broken up when we're home. We belong to different clans."

"Doesn't mean DreamClan has to be broken up now!" Shinepaw protested. "We're not home yet."

"Guys! We're burning daylight!" yowled Luckypaw and Hawkpaw, already four tail-lengths ahead of them.

They all nodded, and bounded up to them. They were trekking through the old forest, looking around cautiously. Black pelts could easily hide in this rubbish and trash- brown pelts, too. Redpaw was sure he stood out like a black cat in snow.

Rushingpaw wasn't nearly blending in, either. Her bright orange pelt looked vulnerable in the waste. Only Nightpaw, Luckypaw, and Hawkpaw were blending in well. Their black pelts and brown pelt blended with the environment like the stars in the sky.

Not even halfway through the old forest, a black-and-orange tortoiseshell came into view. It seemed to be hunting something, only when Redpaw squinted to look closer he saw it was hunting another cat.

The other cat was a perfect blend of gray and gold. Its fur was fluffy, and it had a broad, flattened face that reminded Redpaw of his ancestor Yellowfang. The tortoiseshell pounced on the gray and gold cat, and it laughed when it succeeded.

"Ha! I always win, Crow! So stop even trying!" Redpaw looked down to them, and he knew what Crow was doing. The tortoiseshell was a she-cat, by the sounds of it.

"Sorry, Raven! You lost!" Crow pounced on her and started wrestling with her. He quickly won. "Ha! Who's always winning, now?"

"You're cheating!" Raven yowled. "You used a Clan move!"

"So? The clan cats are dead...and gone. No cat knows where they are, so who even cares? They're all probably extinct by now!" argued Crow. "They won't need those moves."

"I don't think they're dead and- um, Crow..." Raven looked up and saw them. Crow also looked up and his eyes went wide.

"Oh, um..." Crow murmured. "S-Sorry!"

The others had joined him at either side, all staring down at the rogue and loner. Redpaw and Luckypaw exchanged a glance. Luckypaw's stare told him that the short haired black-pelted tom felt the same way as he did about the situation: completely confused.

"Alright, which is the rogue and which is the loner?" hissed Daypaw beside Nightpaw.

"I'm the Loner," Raven stammered.

"I'm the Rogue," murmured Crow.

"The clans aren't extinct! We heard your entire conversation! How do you know about the clans anyways?" hissed Rushingpaw.

"Crow descends from WindClan." Raven said.

"Raven descends from RiverClan." said Crow.

Shinepaw and Cindertail looked at each other, their pelts bristling with what seemed like excitement. Luckypaw looked at them bitterly. Redpaw realized that they had found a descendant of every clan except for SkyClan.

"I'm part of WindClan," meowed Shinepaw proudly.

"And I'm part of the best clan in the forest: RiverClan." Cindertail boasted.

Crow and Raven looked at each other with shock. Redpaw realized that Crow had the thin, sleek pelt that belonged to WindClan, and Raven had the thick, fluffy pelt that belonged to RiverClan.

"W-Well... um..." Crow murmured. "Sorry for saying you're dead and gone. What brings you here now?"

"SnowClan brings us here," mewed Redpaw simply. "We're trying to find them and bring them home. You have any idea where they are?"

"SnowClan?" Crow echoed. "You mean that band of snow white cats who stay at the snow plains just beyond here?"

Redpaw nodded. "Have you seen them?"

"They were running away from a pack of growling cats." Raven recalled.

RogueClan, Redpaw guessed.

"We were kits at the time; we didn't know anything about fighting!" Crow cried. "We couldn't help them if we tried!"

"It's okay," Shinepaw assured him. "There's nothing you two could have done about it."

"Sometimes their apprentices come over to play with us," Crow said. "In fact, one SnowClan apprentice named Crystalpaw just left."

"Ugh! We should have come here sooner!" Cindertail glared at Stormpaw, and he gave her an innocent look.

"Hey, um... what're your names?" Raven stared at Shinepaw and Cindertail. When they said their names, Raven said, "Can we come with you? We want to know more about our clans. We know a lot about SnowClan; they even stayed with us for an entire moon."

"Of course!" Cindertail said happily. "What do you think, Shinepaw?"

"I think so, too," Shinepaw nodded. "Clan apprentice names?"

"Crowpaw," Crow said blankly.

"Ravenpaw," Raven echoed the same tone.

Redpaw shivered, remembering his ancestor of the same name. Maybe Ravenpaw should be of ThunderClan... No. She descends from RiverClan, so that's her clan.

"You remember, you two," said Cindertail quickly. "Once we get back, you must know that RiverClan and WindClan are two very different clans. You must go your separate ways."

They nodded. "We'll remember."

"Now," said Redpaw. "Where's SnowClan?"

Crowpaw and Ravenpaw led the way. As they made the long trek, Redpaw couldn't believe that their journey was finally going to be over.