Chapter 6
The warrior dragged her already dirty tail across the forest ground. She was making her way to the Moonpool, a sacred place to meet with StarClan. Her past Clan hadn’t believed in them, but she knew that they were real. She had never been able to speak to them, though. Maybe they could give her wisdom? Had it been right to leave the kit? Should she have gone with her? Her mind was focused on two things. The first being Rosekit, the lovely calico that she had left, and the second being ‘What do I do now?’. Her tail went through dirt and debris, but she didn’t care. Wanting to get to the Moonpool before the sun was setting, she broke into a run, now picking up her tail slightly.
Luckily, she burst into the enclosed area right as the sun was setting. Panting, she padded over b the pool, nearly collapsed in the sand, and bent her head down to lap up the cold, crystal water. The water had made her shiver, before falling into a deep sleep.
Calicostripe found herself with her head on her paws, blinking her deep blue eyes open in the same area. She slowly got to her paws, looking around. Her head snapped from one place to another.
StarClan doesn’t want to speak to a cat like me, raised in darkness
She thought, over and over. Her tail lashed from side to side and her eyes were full of emotion. She flexed her muscles, until finally, an unknown scent hit her nostrils. Then, she heard a rustling in some fronds and she leapt to where she heard the sound. She unsheathed her claws and took a battle stance until she heard deep purring, and a dark tabby tom stepped from the undergrowth into the clearing. He had a muscular build and green eyes. He didn’t look exactly like a normal cat, though. This tom had a star-like appearance, and once Calicostripe noticed this, she got up from her battle pose, sheathed her blood-stained claws, and stared at him.
“Who-wh-who” were all that she could get out
The tom replied, stopping her stuttering, “That is not important. What is important is why you have come here.” With that, he sat down on his haunches and curled his fluffy tail over his paws. His eyes burned straight into Calicostripe’s, but they weren’t holding any emotion.
Calicostripe let out a deep breath and sat down hesitantly as well. She whispered, “I don’t know what to do.”
The tom encouraged the calico to explain with his brown tail.
She looked at the sand and shifted her paws.
“My Clan, that I loved, betrayed me. After that, I found no meaning in life. Until I met this adorable little kitten, just trying to find her way… Kind of like me. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew that she was special. And from the moment that I learned about her, I wanted to be a mother to her. And from when I wanted to be a mother to her, she found a Clan, what she had been looking for. I did not go with her.” When she finished, she looked back up at the tom. For the first time, she noticed a flash of emotion in his light-colored eyes, but in a heartbeat, it was gone. The emotion was very mixed as well, as Calicostripe could tell. But it still, was not able to be read.
He stared at her for a moment, before whispering, “Why did you not go with her?” The tom was clearly interested in Calicostripe’s story, and wasn’t afraid of showing it. But why was he so interested?
Calicostripe replied easily, “I was loyal to one Clan, and only one.” Her voice turned incredibly soft, “And if I went with the kit, I know that the others would find out my Clan, and soon. They would turn away a loner, let alone a loner with an ominous past.”
“Who was this kit?” The interested tom asked
“Rosekit” Calicostripe meowed
She blinked her eyes, and miraculously, the tom had vanished. She looked around, and got to her paws. Then she felt a pain in her chest. She had given her sorrows to some cat that she didn’t know, and then was abandoned. Sure enough, the pain in her chest wasn’t all that she felt. The calico heard hushed tones all around her, and a prodding sensation was felt in her side. Suddenly, she saw that she was lying with her head on her paws, next to the Moonpool, with cats looming over her. They did not look friendly, but they were familiar. She leapt to her paws, and got the scent of the cats. Then it hit her.
“Squishytail, Hollyberry, Crescentmoon!” she shouted
The cats looked at each other in unison. They shared the same confused glance, until one of the she-cat’s eyes grew huge. This she-cat was light brown, and had yellow eyes. At first, she didn’t know what to think, then padded over to Calicostripe and touched her nose in greeting. When she pulled away, she had a cat-like smile on her face.
Another she-cat hissed at Calicostripe. This one had a very light ginger pelt with a bruised, soft tail. The first she-cat glared at her and padded over to her, whispering to the she-cat and then the other one. Then they turned to Calicostripe. The brown one was still smiling, and the other two now had their eyes as wide as moons. They all padded to the calico, purring, and greeting.
The brown one finally whispered, “Calicostripe. I-I- never thought that I’d see you again.”
Calicostripe was flicking her tail happily and purred at the she-cat. “Good to see you, Crescentmoon. How is Moonpaw?” she asked
Crescentmoon purred again, “Moonpelt now.” She made sure to put emphasis on the second part of the cat’s name.
Now, Calicostripe turned to Hollyberry and Squishytail.
The near-white looking she-cat was overjoyed, but Hollyberry had waves of uneasiness coming off of her. Before anyone could ask the orange-eyed cat why she was worried, she bursted out, “You were exiled.”
“For something she didn’t do.” Squishytail growled, all of her happiness gone.
Now, Crescentmoon looked serious. “Blac-,” she corrected herself, blinking, “Ghoststar would not want you here. You must leave, for your safety.”
Calicostripe sighed and her heart plummeted down to her dirty tail tip. She had just seen her she-cats again, and now they said that she needed to leave.
Squishytail was infuriated, and had finally outspoken, “No, wait!” She sped over to the loner and sat down, curling her tail over Calicostripe’s paws. Her beautiful orbs were staring into Calicostripe’s oceans of blue seriously. Her clanmates stared at the light ginger she-cat in surprise, but they did not stop the young warrior. They just waited for what she was about to do.
Calicostripe gazed back down at the warrior in about the same bit of seriousness that was being given to her. But she had no idea what was about to happen.
“Would you come back to the Clan?”
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Hope you enjoyed it! I'll be taking a while to write the rest; busy and I have writers block...
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The Petal That Followed The Breeze
Fanfiction*A Warrior Cats fanfiction* I do not own Warriors, for it is owned by Erin Hunter, the author. "The darkest of hearts will come for the lost sprout from the bush."
