Dawnstar's Trouble {COMPLETE}

Chapter 40

 "Earthpaw! Mudpaw! Earthpaw! Mudpaw!" SunClan cheered the name of their two newest apprentices, mentored by Snakewhisker and Redclaw. Earthpaw could barely keep her paws still, she was instantly pestering Snakewhisker on when they should leave and what they would be doing first. Mudpaw was more almost stoic, but there was definite excitement in his eyes. Dawnfire purred, she loved new apprentices and now they had three. It was good the apprentice den was so large because now it house not only the three SunClan apprentices, but the four AshClan cats that had been living in SunClan for the past moon.

SunClan had grown use to having the AshClan warriors, they even made friends with them. Haresong had grown rather close to Heatherflight and Flamepetal, they had been apprentices at the same time. Riverstorm was respected by most all cats but found friendship in the senior warriors, mostly Rainears and Crowfur. Surprisingly, Lilyclaw had become friends Applespots. Both she-cats were separated from their kits, and shared the same pain. Lilyclaw told the story of how Briarpaw and Cherrypaw had become rather close friends with Puddlepaw, Ravenpaw and Skypaw. Applespots loved hearing about her kits, and she had even engaged in some warrior duties. Dawnfire was incredibly happy to see Applespots acting lively again, the entire Clan seemed to be more lively.

Silvermoon seemed to be the only cat struggling, her and Dawnfire remained close friends but Dawnfire knew that there was something else bothering her. She checked on Falconkit and Honeykit, the two of them were napping after playing since dawn, she figured they would be fine and found Silvermoon, she was sitting close to Riverstorm and Rainears who were engaged in a friendly conversation but Silvermoon just sat and listened. Her blue eyes were distant, staring into the forest; in the direction of AshClan territory. She was clearly homesick, Dawnfire felt a pang of sympathy and approached her.

"Hey, wanna go for a walk with me?" Dawnfire questioned Silvermoon, the she-cat looked confused for a moment, looked at her Clanmate then nodded and stood up. Dawnfire cheerfully led the she-cat out of camp. They padded quickly, Dawnfire made sure to avoid the AshClan border as she always did. Dawnfire looked up at the sky, the clouds were dark with the threat of a rainstorm hovering above, but the air itself was dry and hot. They didn't normally get weather like this, Dawnfire shook her head. Leaf-fall always brought odd weather. Silvermoon was also looking around, sniffing the air. "So, are you feeling alright?" Dawnfire decided to be outright with Silvermoon.

Silvermoon looked at Dawnfire with a bit of shock, it took her a few moments for the silver she-cat to respond. It was as if she was questioning it herself, after a few heartbeats she sighed. "I miss home, I miss AshClan and it's nothing against you or your Clan but..."

"It's not your Clan." Dawnfire finished her sentence, she had guessed that Silvermoon was feeling homesick.

Silvermoon nodded. "But AshClan isn't home right now, it's been taken over by Thornstar and I have no idea if the cats I love are doing alright. Ashblaze can play into Thornstar's paws pretty well but my brother...I have no idea how he's holding up an I know Thornstar would have questioned him by now...what if he..." Silvermoon shook her head, she stared at her paws, claws digging into the dry soil. "I had plans before Thornstar showed up, but now I don't know if he will ever leave."

Dawnfire looked at her friend, she knew the threat of Thornstar well, but didn't know what it was like to live under the actual threat of him. He had only been deputy of SunClan, and probably would've done the same things to SunClan that he's done to AshClan. Dawnfire shuddered, thinking of Thornstar making Falconkit and Honeykit apprentices before they were ready, he wouldn't kill them because they were his kin. The motherly protection she had felt so many times crept up on her again, she wouldn't let Thornstar hurt her kits. Dawnfire shook her head, she wanted to focus on helping Silvermoon. "You said you had plans before Thornstar showed up? What kind of plans?" She questioned, Silvermoon looked up, her blue eyes a little lighter.