Warriors: Salmonstar's Fate

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

                It had been a whole moon since Salmonstorm returned to RiverClan. Troutstar had noticed her speaking to Crazypaw each day before she received her warrior name and told her she wasn’t allowed to speak to the two apprentices until they left the camp. She was disappointed because she didn’t think Crazypaw knew she had received her warrior name and also because the gray-furred she-cat had been a good friend.

                Rainpaw was now a medicine cat apprentice and to the red-furred she-cat’s dismay, ever since her friend had visited the Moonpool they had grown more distant. If Salmonstorm was asked now who her best friend was, she’d probably say Coldpaw or Hailcloud. Whenever they spoke to each other, Rainpaw kept interrupting when she tried to speak. The former kittypet went on and on about how awesome meeting StarClan was and how there were so many herbs to memorize. She talked about how useful they were, starting to describe each one individually and what they smelled, looked, and felt like. Salmonstorm eventually pretended to hear a cat call her name and made a hasty excuse on why she had to leave. The new warrior hadn’t spoken to her friend for over a quarter-moon now, but she’d heard Troutstar name her among the cats going to the Gathering. Probably just because she’s medicine cat apprentice.

                But Salmonstorm was going as well and was excited to see the Great Oak from close up. I just hope StarClan doesn’t set the Great Oak ablaze again. But if they do, at least I can swim.

                Rainpaw came up next to her. “Hi!” she shouted cheerfully and Salmonstorm braced herself for a boring discussion about herbs.

                “Hey,” she responded half-heartedly.

                “Leafwhisker taught me a new herb!” she announced and Salmonstorm stifled a yawn. “It’s called chamomile and he says it’s one of the traveling herbs given for strength.”

                “Cool. Hey, did you hear about how Aspenpaw fell in the river again yesterday?” the warrior asked, desperately trying to change the subject to something more interesting.

                “No,” Rainpaw answered before returning to talking about her medicine cat training. “Frostcloud stepped on a thorn while hunting and Leafwhisker allowed me to pull it out. It was so huge! And then we had to tell her to lick the wound clean so we could apply cobwebs without having to use marigold because obviously we don’t want to waste our supplies. But we also don’t want it to get infected. Oh, and did you hear Sandfur is expecting kits?”

                That caught Salmonstorm’s attention. “What? Who’s the father?” she demanded.

                “Mosspool! Frostcloud was so angry! And apparently Sandfur doesn’t know how to properly choose a mate,” Rainpaw replied. “First Breezetail and now Mosspool!”

***

                No fighting occurred at the Gathering, though the leaders came pretty close. Cloudstar of ThunderClan accused Shadestar, the ShadowClan leader, of displeasing StarClan. Salmonstorm remembered their exact words.

                “Yes,” Cloudstar meowed. “I think we should change the name of the Great Oak as a reminder not to displease StarClan, SHADESTAR.”

                Shadestar’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Yes,” he responded. “Maybe it should be named after the one who started it all by accusing Rabbitstar.”

                “I wonder which cat was the first to attack and joined in when I CORRECTLY accused Rabbitstar of trespassing, which by the way, hasn’t stopped yet,” Cloudstar growled.

                Rabbitstar stiffened and the red-furred she-cat didn’t miss the fury in his eyes. “That’s because you were too scared to attack first yourself!” Shadestar snarled.

                They were only stopped by StarClan sending clouds to cover the moon and Honeywhisker, ThunderClan’s medicine cat, reminding them of the fire at the previous Gathering.

                Crazypaw and Stonepaw surprised their Clans by showing up at the island but Salmonstorm suspected it was only because Troutstar told them they had to come. Smokewhisker, who was the WindClan apprentice’s father and the WindClan deputy, was angry at his son for returning though. If there were any evil cats in the forest, she would say it was either Smokewhisker or Shadestar. She’d heard from Grasswhisker that Smokewhisker was only deputy because his father was Rabbitstar, the WindClan leader.

                The dead cats from each Clan had been named, but for some reason, Troutstar didn’t mention Breezetail. And the Great Oak was now called the Dead Oak.

                “Hi, Salmonstorm!” Coldpaw greeted her as she arrived back at camp. “How was the Gathering?”

                “Fine. The Great Oak is called the Dead Oak now and Crazypaw and Stonepaw returned to their Clans,” she replied.

                “Guess what?” Coldpaw asked.

                “What?” Salmonstorm responded.

                “My final assessment is tomorrow!” she exclaimed.

                “Congratulations!” Salmonstorm purred.

***

                Coldpaw passed it and was now known as Coldsnow. “That’s a cool name,” Hailcloud commented as he stood next to Salmonstorm in the crowd. “I’ve never known a warrior from any Clan whose name ends with snow.”

                Salmonstorm nodded. “But Hailsnow or Salmonsnow doesn’t sound quite as catchy as her name, wouldn’t you agree?”

                “Any name that belongs to you would be beautiful,” he replied.

                They stood up and headed towards the warriors den. Many cats were congratulating Coldsnow but one cat wasn’t. This brown-and-white she-cat stomped angrily back to the apprentices den. Salmonstorm could hardly keep herself from laughing when she recalled the look on Aspenpaw’s face when Troutstar had announced that she failed the assessment in front of the whole Clan. The apprentice had looked like she might jump up on the RiverTree and attempt to tear flame-colored she-cat to shreds.

                The fact that she was intercepted by Marshcloud on her way back to her den probably didn’t help lighten her bad mood. “Hey, Aspenpaw, congratulations on failing your final assessment!” he purred before trotting away.

                “Even though she’s never nice to anybody, I can’t help but feel bad for her,” Salmonstorm whispered to Hailcloud.               

                They continued walking towards the warriors den and Salmonstorm felt Hailcloud’s warm breath on her ear. “Do you think you’re still too young to love any cat?” he asked, mischief dancing in his green eyes.

                The red-furred she-cat laughed. “Absolutely not,” she answered.

                “Do you love any cat in particular?” he hissed.

                “I don’t know,” she responded, meeting his gaze. “Perhaps this one cat you might’ve heard of. His name is Hailcloud.”

                The brown tom chuckled. “Well, I think I’ve told you this before but I love you as well.”