Warrior Cats Fanfiction- Ripples of Fear

Chapter 8

"Hey! Rosepaw!" A tom's voice said, sounding rather annoyed.

Rosepaw groaned as he prodded her sharply in the side, then opened one eye. "I'm an apprentice!" She squealed, the other eye flickering open. She leapt out of her moss nest and pranced around the tom. "I'm an apprentice, I'm an apprentice!" Her orange eyes shimmered in glee. "Sharpfang, what can we do first?"

  Her mentor sighed. "Well, I suppose we should... Er... You should go help Loudfire with whatever she needs." He muttered, clearly distracted. Sharpfang padded off, leaving a wide-eyed Rosepaw staring after him, the joy in her orange eyes turning to frustration. She glanced about her, but her sisters and Breezepaw were gone, leaving only Foxpaw still asleep in the den.

  Rosepaw trotted over to Foxpaw and pawed at his face. He opened one eye with a small sneeze. "What?" He said, his voice groggy from sleep.

  "Sharpfang's upset. He won't take me to explore the territory or anything! Do you know what's wrong?"

  Foxpaw yawned, then opened his other eye. "Oh, yeah his sister Gingerpool gave birth last night in the forest. The dawn patrol found her in the woods with five kits, but... Only one... Made it..." He drifted off to sleep again.

  "WHAT!" Rosepaw gasped.

  Foxpaw's eyes burst open again, realizing what he had said. "Oh...I...uh..."

  Rosepaw ran out of the nursery, tracing Gingerpool's scent to the medicine den.

  "Gingerpool..." Tornshadow was standing beside the ginger and white she-cat, who was huddled on the ground of the medicine cat den. One small kit was squirming in her paws, squeaking for milk. Gingerpool's face looked stricken, her glazed eyes seemingly frozen in a state of pure horror. She made no sound but an occasional whimpering. Tornshadow rose his voice again. "Gingerpool, why didn't you call for us? What were you doing in the forest in the first place?"

Gingerpool shifted her head a bit to look up at the medicine cat. She made a noise like a choked gasp, then whispered "It's coming... For you... Run."

  Tornshadow did no such thing, but with an exasperated hiss, he turned to Moonpaw, who standing, blue eyes huge, behind her mentor. "Moonpaw, fetch her some Thyme, would you?" Moonpaw dipped her head and padded over to the herb supply, while he turned back to Gingerpool, who had closed her eyes and was asleep silently. Tornshadow bent down and picked up the young kit gently from its mother's paws. It was a little she-kit, ginger and white like her mother. The medicine cat began licking it to wash it while its mother slept.

Sharpfang pushed past Rosepaw, who was still standing at the entrance. Tornshadow lifted his head as the ginger and white tom padded toward his sister. "Will... Will she be okay?" He asked to the black and white medicine cat.

  Tornshadow groaned. "We don't know yet, Sharpfang." He hissed. "Maybe if you stop worrying, StarClan will be gracious."

  Sharpfang's eyes glittered in rage and fear, but he shook his head. "She better be okay, Tornshadow, mark my words, or you will not go unpunished. My sister is in your care, take care of her."

  Tornshadow stood, placing the kit down, his fur bristling. "Sharpfang, don't talk to me like that. Gingerpool's life is in StarClan's paws, not mine!"

  Sharpfang opened his mouth for another sharp retort, but Moonpaw interrupted him.

  "Stop arguing!" She spat, dropping the Thyme she had in her jaws. "It won't help Gingerpool, and it won't help her kit!"

  Both toms turned to glare at Moonpaw, but they both soon calmed their ruffled fur.

  "Jaggedstripe has heard the news, I presume." Sharpfang muttered through gritted teeth.

"Of course." Tornshadow replied curtly.

"How did he take it?" Sharpfang ventured.

"Not well, I fear." Tornshadow mewed, watching through narrowed eyes as Sharpfang began licking his sister's kit.

"Not well?" Sharpfang stopped licking. "How not well?"

Tornshadow's gaze was stern. "Why don't you go ask him for yourself?" He muttered angrily.

  Sharpfang bristled again, then stopped, eyes on Gingerpool, who was being treated by Moonpaw. "What's that?" He said, dropping the kit and walking over to his sister slowly.

"What?" Tornshadow also stood, walking over to Gingerpool.

"Over her eye." Sharpfang growled, peering at his sister's twisted face.

Tornshadow's eyes widened. Sure enough, over Gingerpool's left eye, was a long, pink claw mark. "That wasn't there before." He mewed. "But I'd better take care of it. Moonpaw?" Tornshadow bounded over to his speckled apprentice, leaving Sharpfang to quietly lick his sister's stricken face, then turned to his own apprentice at the doorway. "Rosepaw, I thought I told you to clean out the elders' den."

Rosepaw shrugged. "It's my first day as an apprentice!" She returned. "I wanna explore the territory and learn how to fight, fish, and hunt like a true ReedClan warrior!" She gave a loud yowl of excitement and triumph that resonated through the whole camp.

"Yes, yes." Sharpfang sighed. "But you are not a warrior yet, so I will teach you how to do everything like a true ReedClan apprentice."

Rosepaw's eyes shone. "So you're gonna take me to explore the territory?"

Sharpfang sighed again. "I suppose. Gingerpool is only sleeping. I guess that would do her good."

Rosepaw let out another yowl of triumph as she bounded toward the exit of the camp I front of her mentor.