Warriors: Hail In the Wind

Chapter 6

Stalks of mint and new blades of grass already grew over the mound of dirt Sparrowfire was buried under. Doepaw stroked her tail over the grave. She had finally been allowed out of camp a few days after she got Bushtail as her mentor. The full moon hung over the tree tops, signaling the start of the Gathering. All the apprentices (besides an angry Sunpaw) were allowed to go. They would be leaving soon, so she had to hurry back to camp. But she still felt drawn to her mentor's grave. Why? She could see him in Starclan. She could see when he visited the camp. But he wasn't there anymore. He couldn't rub against her shoulder when he was proud of her. They couldn't go hunt voles near the edge of their territory. They couldn't do... anything.

Well, there was one thing. The words Sparrowfire had left her. To avenge him. An eye for an eye. A life for a life.

"I'm sorry, Sparrowfire," Doepaw whispered, one paw on the grave. "I can't." She turned away and raced back toward the camp, feeling the eyes of Starclan burn through her pelt.

...

Silhouettes moved past the lake shore, moonlight shining onto the glittering water. Sand mixed with soft moorland grass, tickling the pads of Doepaw's feet. A dipper bird chirped far away, relishing in the relief of free reign for the night without a Windclan cat nearby. It was close enough for Doepaw to smell it. Oh how she wanted to hunt it down, but even on a Gathering night, she couldn't hunt prey on Windclan territory. A shorter route, one that Twigstar preferred to take, was through Shadowclan territory, but that wouldn't happen for a while.

"Makes sense," Hailpaw whispered at the back of the Thunderclan gathering group. "I mean, brave hearts? Just makes sense."

"Yes, but Braveheart?" Stormpaw whispered. "He's kind enough, but I bet he's dumb enough to try and walk across the lake, or jump from a tree and try to fly."

"Don't be rude," Doepaw whispered. "He's a loyal warrior, and deserves respect."

"Anyway, we might as well not worry about it," Hailpaw meowed. "There's already going to be enough strain tonight after the battle. Plus, I overheard Onepaw at the last gathering talking about the island shores, and I really want to explore them!"

"We'd probably get yelled at," Stormpaw added. "Either by Riverclan or other warriors."

"Oh come on, the island's neutral territory during the gathering! We're allowed to explore anywhere we want!"

"I wanna talk to Hazepaw," Doepaw stated. "Remember how happy she was last moon when she discovered that whole new patch of catmint near the Horseplace?"

"Yeah," Heavypaw added, padding up to the group. "Because Smokemint keeps eating their stores."

"Excuse me?" Hailpaw asked, turning to face the black tom.

"Why do you think she got the name Smokemint? I overheard Redfur talking about how sometimes she'll eat the catmint in her den while she thinks no one's looking."

"Can you at least be respectful of another medicine cat, or are you not able to respect anyone other than your darling mother and father?" Hailpaw retorted.

"Don't insult Rainspring or Icefur," Heavypaw growled.

"Uh, maybe we should just wait till we get to the gathering before we argue anymore?" Doepaw suggested. Hailpaw flicked her ears, moving farther up the group near where the Windclan group had joined the traveling cats, her pelt moving toward the pelt of Duskpaw.

"How's your leg, Doepaw?" Heavypaw purred.

"According to Cherryheart, it's healed," Doepaw answered. "I'm aching to go out hunting."