The Chosen Two

Chapter 1

Eagle Paw realized the cry was his mother's. "NO!" He thought as he sprinted toward the camp. His brother Blaze Paw was hot on his heels and their mentors not far behind. Bounding into the clearing, they found a rogue cat on top of their mother, Short flower. Eagle Paw snarled, leaping on top of the larger cat, "Get off my mother!" he snarled "Or you're crowfood!" Pummeling the cat, he noticed a weak spot on the tabby and slashed it open, taking down the cat. He noticed Lightning Mist battling a large white cat, and Blaze Paw and a new warrior, Fly Spark, teaming up on heavily muscled tabby.

He sprinted over to his mother, "Short Flower!" Eagle Paw gasped, but it was already too late. His mother, who had always been there for them, would soon be gone. His mother gasped her last words "Eaglepaw... know that I... love you. Tell Blaze Paw," she gulped her last breath "Tell him... I... love him too." Then her eyes turned dull and glassy, and she was gone. Eaglepaw stood over his mother and yowled his grief to the sky.

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Blazepaw stood beside his brother, staring down at his dead mother, her form now curled up in as if in sleep. She was positioned carefully on top of a small wood log at the river's edge. The clan leader, Willowstar, stood on a high rock facing the rest of her clan, her silvery and sleek fur gleaming, her light green eyes set in mourning, and her back to the river. Her second-in-command, Lightning Mist, sat at the base of the rock.

"Members of Leaf Clan!" She yowled, standing up on the rock. "A valiant warrior lost her life today, defending the clan's home. She will be honored with a ceremonial float down the river, as her soul joins up with Eternity Clan, the clan of the honored dead. She will be honored by Moon, and her deputy Sun. Her only family, Eagle Paw and Blaze Paw, will send her off." She nodded to them, and Blaze Paw pushed with both paws on the left side of the log, while Eagle Paw did the same on the right. Soon the log was drifting down the river. All of the members of Leaf Clan watched silently as Short Flower floated peacefully down the river . Blaze Paw felt a pang in his furry chest. He would never see his mother again.

Short Flower had always been more than a mother to them. She was their friend. They never knew their father, and Short Flower had never told them. But they didn't really need a father. They never felt incomplete. Their mother was all they needed. And now she was gone.

"On a lighter note," Willow Star began, "We will begin the ceremony of promotion tomorrow!"