Warriors Return #1 Rise of LeafClan

chapter 13

Leafclan trudged through the forest the bright green ferns brushed her pelt lightly. Excitement bubbled from the two happy kits. Poisonpaw and spicepaw were chasing eachother and play-fighting on the way to Stoneclan. Softsong was stopping at every herb they past by and sniffing it. It was a quiet and peaceful walk. Leafstar breathed in the comforting smell of the forest and listened to the echos of the birds booming from the other side of the forest. Tempting Leafstar to go hunting. A dry, Sandy plain peeked through the trees announcing they had come to the border. Large deep cracks in the plain had danger written all over it. Sandkit saw the plain and ran full-speed at it. Leafstar realized with a pang of horror that Sandkit was heading straight torward the cliff."Sandkit wait!"Leafstar screetched. To late,Sandkit was tumbling down a wide,deep crack in the earth. "No!" Firekit meowed running after his brother. Oh no! Not Sandkit! What will I tell Rosethorn! She thought in grief. Leafclan followed firekit and stopped short when they saw two pairs of dusty paws grasp the side of the cliff. Shadefrost and a brown she-cat poked their heads over the side. Sandkit was dangling from Shadefrost's strong jaws. Nightwhisper rushed and helped the struggling she-cat up. Leafstar took the kit from Shadefrost's mouth so Palmstripe could help him up. Shadefrost and his clanmate finally made it to the top. They planted their paws on the dry ground and looked at Sandkit with rage. "What do you...think you....were... Doing?" Shadefrost panted imbetween breaths. "You were lucky we were on that ledge." The brown she-cat purred. Her purplish blue eyes shone with friendliness."yes" Shadefrost's gaze softened. "Your clan could have lost you. What exactly are you doing here? This is Darkclan territory." Shadefrost looked at the Leafclan cats suspiciously. "Stonestar offered us a tour of the territory." Leafstar replied nodding towards the small mountain on the other side of the plain."oh...that..." Shadefrost meowed still bristling with uncertainy. "Oh loosen up Shadefrost! Don't get offended Shadefrost has always been a stick in the mud." She nudged Shadefrost playfully. "Hey! What's taking so long? Who's up there?" A voice called faintly from the cliff. "We're coming Stormfeather!" The brown she-cat turned back to Leafstar "I'll show you the easy way back to camp and Shadefrost will tell Darkstar you're here. Someone better get Stonestar too." She nodded to Shadefrost. "Who died and made you deputy?"he muttered under his breath as he climbed back down the cliff.the brown she-cat looked at Leafstar with a friendly look." I'm Heatherfrost by the way! Follow me." Heatherfrost trotted ahead of the Leafclan warriors. Nightwhisper bounded ahead to catch up with Heatherfrost. Leafstar pricked her ears and padded closer to Nightwhisper and Heatherfrost. Their pelts were slightly brushing as they talked. "Thanks for saving my life back there. I would of fallen if you didn't help me." Heatherfrost purred. She looked deep into Nightwhisper's dark brown eyes. his rare creasant moon shape seemed to glow against his black fur."it was nothing." He returned the stare. Leafstar growled softly and sighed. I hope Nightwhisper isn't in Love with that she-cat. He would be breaking the warrior code by taking a mate from another clan. Leafstar thought coldly. She noticed Palmstripe had been silent the whole trip to Darkclan territory. She looked anxious and distracted. Leafstar leaned closer to Palmstripe brushing against her Sandy fur. Palmstripe jumped away when Leafstar touched her. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there..." Palmstripe's voice trailed off as she glued her eyes to the mountain."obviously... "Leafstar whispered." Is something wrong that your not telling me about? I mean...we are kin you know?" Leafstar slowed her pace. Leafstar waited for what seemed like moons before Palmstripe replied. "What? Oh...nothing. I'm fine." Palmstripe looked at Leafstar for a split second before returning her gaze to the mountain. Leafstar snorted annoyed. Her dark ginger paws scuffled along the hard dry plain. The plain had several of the deep cracks in it. She spotted the river behind them a far way off. Leafstar looked at all her clanmates and noticed Poisonpaw was limping slightly. She headed for him until Softsong beat her to him sniffing at his paw. "I'm fine!" Leafstar heard him grumble."no you're not! A cat with a limping foot gets away from me like a dead mouse gets away from a kit!" Softsong snapped. "We'll catch up Leafstar." Softsong called to her. Poisonpaw rolled his eyes as he stopped and let Softsong examine his hurt paw. Nightwhisper and Heatherfrost started running ahead very fast. What in starclan are they doing? Leafstar thought as the cats followed them. They finally slowed down as Heatherfrost twisted down a large den. Softsong and Poisonpaw caught up half limping. They entered the dark den and followed Heatherfrost down the twisting tunnel. Suddenly Leafstar lost her footing and slid down the steep tunnel. Leafstar screetched in terror as she plunged into darkness. "Leafstar!" Spicepaw yowled. Leafstar crashed against the dirt wall as the tunnel ended. "Leafstar are you okay?" Nightwhisper's voice sounded funny as her ears rang loudly. She blinked her blurry eyes a few times before they adjusted. Leafstar turned her head and saw the exit to the tunnel beside her. "Yeah I'm fine." Leafstar mewed weakly."I'm sorry I should have warned you! Are you sure you're ok?" Heatherfrost purred as she helped Leafstar to her feet."I'm fine..." Leafstar stumbled,stiff from the sudden impact. Heatherfrost and Nightwhisper helped Leafstar walk from either side until she got rebalanced. They walked out of the exit into the pale sunlight. It pierced through her fur like a burning claw. Shadows fell ahead of the path and great walls hung tall over her head. Sunlight was dappled in different spots and washed out by dark,cold shadows. Leafstar cringed as her jaw had a piercing pain from her tooth to her ear. She shook her head to clear the pain and followed Heatherfrost. They walked on for a little while until a big wide open place. Dried brambles were crafted together to form dens. A huge rock split out of the wall of the cliff. It's like high branch! Several cats swarmed around the busy camp living in the shadows and darkness. The top of the rock beamed with dappled sunlight reflecting the camp. "This...is Darkclan." Heatherfrost meowed.