The New Warriors: Hidden Stones *IMPROVISING*

Chapter Four

FERRETSTAR'S POV

As dawn pricked through the thin line of bracken surrounding the small portions of the camp, a tom's sunny eyes popped open, eyeing his usually lively Clan; not that it wasn't, it just wasn't right now, due to the morning sun just peeping over the horizon. However, the few buoyant cats currently would be the dawn patrol, which, last he checked, was led by Spottedtail. The monochrome tom would be accompanied by Ghoststep and her apprentice Fawnpaw.
Speaking of which, the dark tom bound into camp, followed by a brownish blur. Fawnpaw raced past the stern tomcat, whereas Ghoststep quietly and slowly padded through the gorse trail. The pretty golden flowers seemed to trail all around the camp, but they mostly bundled around important nests, like Ferretstar's. His nest was covered with soft leaves from the local evergreen trees and leftover moss. The yellow gorse flowers surrounded his bedding, adding to it a nice accessory and left behind a fresh, springlike smell.
Fawnpaw set two freshly killed cotton tailed rabbits in the freshkill pile, which was an assortment of pine leaves in a circle around more mossy bedding. Ferretstar's cadmium yellow eyes fell on the young apprentice, a small smile making its way across his own features from seeing her leap around the camp excitedly. Her gambol around the residence attracted kits from the nursery to join in, clumsily bouncing behind her. Loomkit, one of the several kits of Larkwind, tumbled into a patch of gorse next to the leader.
He gazed down at the young cat, probably one of the youngest in the Clan, causing the tom to gaze up at him with large, fearful eyes. But Ferretstar only smiled at the kit before nudging him with his nose, urging him to stand back up. Loomkit did as he was helped, bouncing on his toes as he returned a smile to the leader and bounded off. As cheerful and lively as the camp was now, it of course had to end eventually; and that was fixed when Ferretstar noticed Spottedtail gingerly padding over to him.
"Ferretstar," the tomcat greeted, dipping his head. Every step the tom took in whatever he had to say was cautious and unsure, according to what he could see. "I have some, uh, news for you."
"What is it, Spottedtail?" the tawny tom inquired, his yellow eyes vibrant with curiosity on what the warrior had to say.
"On our patrol, we'd noticed that there was something. . .off, to say the least," Spottedtail continued. Ferretstar nodded, clearly intrigued, especially by now. "Well, to the northern area of the whole land, where WolfClan lives, the mountainous section of their territory was littered with fallen trees. It was odd, because not only were most of the trees fallen and most likely dead, but there seemed to be a trace of blood scent."
"Prey blood, of course. Right?"
"No, Ferretstar. Cat blood. Like something came and killed them off." He narrowed his eyes, amber barely visible in his orbs. "And something big."
Ferretstar froze, his own breath hitching as he could think what it could possibly be. "Badgers? Dogs?" He started to run through several possibilities. "Surely if they're around, we'd know--"
"No. No, no, no. It's bigger, I'm sure of it. There's only one of it, too, because we. . .oh, I'm so sorry, Ferretstar. We. . .trespassed. We crossed their border to see what it was, and. . .there was a very fresh scent of larger cat. Mountain lion? It smelled a lot like the. . .stones." Spottedtail squeaked at the last word, stepping back as he realized what he'd just said.
"The Guardian?" the leader muttered, his ears flicking back as his mouth laid agape in disbelief. "Never mind your trespass, but it can't be the Guardian! Its job is primarily to guard the stones and make sure nobody takes. . ." His eyes widened, releasing a sickly sunny light into the clearing as realization hit him like a reckless monster. "Somebody must've taken them!" he bleated, baring his teeth painfully as he fell to the ground. He slammed his paws against his head, stretching his ears back with his unsheathed claws.
"Ferretstar, calm down! Taken what?" The monochrome tomcat approached his leader, softly placing his own paw on his head.
"The stones, Spottedtail! The stones! This isn't good, not one bit!" The tom screeched, only digging his claws into his own scalp in mania. "If those stones aren't present in the Light Cavity, the Guardian will go on a rampage, killing everything in its path. Those stones need to be returned, and whoever stole them need to be turned in!"

aha, sorry for the very belated update. i got distracted and grounded, but here it is. better late than never, right?

Associated with art-min and Heichous_Girl.
Any inaccuracy, please don't hesitate to let me know.

~Macabre