Warriors: Book One: The End of the Forest

Chapter Seven

Swiftpaw leaped up and hooked her claws into the cliff face, hauling herself up and turning back to help Tinypaw. She flopped down and glanced at Moonpaw, "I know you're used to climbing up and down hills all day, but we need a break." she mewed. Moonpaw flopped down with a sigh, "Thank the stars! I thought you would never ask!" she mewed. Swiftpaw snorted, "You could have just stopped." Moonpaw glared at her, "What? And look like a weak kit in front of real Clan cats? No way!" she snapped. Ginerpaw sighed and rested his head on his paws, "At least it's pretty cool up here, we can see the SnowClan camp and our territories from here." Snowpaw nodded, "It's very pretty." she agreed.

Swiftpaw halted beside Moonpaw, "Is that it?" she mewed. Moonpaw nodded, "That cave is where we are going, It is still a few days journey. It isn't very far, but it is over mountains the whole way and we'll have to go around cliffs and streams." she mewed. Tinypaw yawned and glanced up at the rising sun, "We have walked all of yesterday and all of the last night, can we sleep?" she whined. Moonpaw nodded, "Down in the valley are bushes and trees to sleep under and prey to catch. I know a couple of kits that live there." Swiftpaw glanced at her, "Really?" she mewed. Moonpaw nodded, "My mother knew their mother before she died and offered them a place in SnowClan, but they decided to stay here." she mewed. Tinypaw smiled, "Let's go then!" she mewed, bounding down the slope. Swiftpaw snorted and leaped after her, sliding down on the loose rocks and rolling as she landed. Snowpaw tumbled down after her with Moonpaw and Gingerpaw scrambled after them, "Graceful." he mewed. Snowpaw swiped a paw at him and he ducked away from her. Moonpaw leaped at him and pinned him down, "I win!" she mewed. Gingerpaw slipped out from under her and shook the dust off his fur, "Let's get going." he mewed. Tinypaw padded up to Moonpaw, "What are the kits' names?" she mewed. Moonpaw purred, "Ruby and Cherry, Ruby is the tom and Cherry is the she-cat. They're both orange-red tabbies." she mewed. Swiftpaw nodded, "How old are they?" she asked, bounding to catch up, "They were four moons when I last saw them... they should be six and a half moons now." Moonpaw mewed. Swiftpaw nodded, "Where should we stop?" she mewed. Moonpaw pointed to a cluster of trees with bramble tendrils wrapped around their trunks and filling in the gaps between them, "That is where they live." she mewed, bounding forward. A small red head poked out of a gap near the ground, "Caria! Hi!" she mewed. Moonpaw touched nose with the kit and slid in after her, beckoning the apprentices with her tail. Swiftpaw padded after her and wiggled into the clearing, her littermates following her. Swiftpaw noticed a tom kit sitting beside a young she-cat and a slightly older tom standing further into the clearing. Cherry followed her gaze, "That's my brother, Ruby, and our new campmates, Frost and Shadow. Their brother and sister too. Frost is the white she-cat and Shadow is the gray and black tom." she mewed. A cream and brown she-cat padded into the camp with a couple of mice, "That is Shadow's mate, Creamflower." Ruby explained, "They have kits, but they are still very young and don't have names yet. When we found them, they were trying to cross a stream in a storm and nearly lost their kits to the flood." she mewed. Moonpaw glanced around approvingly, "You have made a good group, and a very nice camp!" she mewed. Ruby puffed out her chest and raced over to her brother. Swiftpaw sat down and ran a licked paw over her ears. Creamflower padded over to her, "You are Swift paws, no?" she mewed. Swiftpaw blinked at her strange accent, "No, I'm Swiftpaw." she mewed. Creamflower blinked, "Ahh, you speak in Clan tongue, yes? It been longest time since I spoke to them or need use their tongue. I hope this doesn't restrict the amount of help I may offer you." she mewed. Swiftpaw shook out her fur, "We just need somewhere to rest for today, then we'll be out of your fur. Are you the leader?" Creamflower tipped her head in confusion, "I'm no leader. I do make the final decision sometimes, but I am no like Clans leader." Swiftpw nodded, "Ok. May we stay here and rest? We have been traveling all night." Creamflower nodded, "Come, have some food from the store." she offered, pointing to a shaded dip in the ground where a collection of prey was. Swiftpaw nodded her thanks a picked out a robin. Snowpaw trotted over with Gingerpaw and Moonpaw, "Tinypaw is checking over the kits, Shadow looked like he wanted to claw her ears off, but Creamflower let her look over them when she knew she was a medicine cat." she mewed as she settled down to share a rabbit with Moonpaw. Gingerpaw picked a squirrel and sat by Swiftpaw.