Warrior Cats - New Hope in the Skies (On Hold)

Chapter 27 - Towards the Flames of War

As the stars twinkled silently, I stared at the landmarks in front of me - the trodden path and the tree where the predators of night resided.

It was the place where the four of us first came into this world. I did not appreciate the beauty of this location during that time, probably too overwhelmed by the fact that I was turned into a cat.

Being here, it felt like an endless dream. Nightmare was too strong of a word to describe it anymore as I found good things too. The joy of improvement, Streamripple's mentorship, Raincreek's blunt - but effective - advice... even understanding cats I would never be able to get along with.

It seemed like a fantasy.

"Is this where you go to, all those nights?" Out of nowhere, someone spoke, making my heart jump as high as the Owl Tree.

"Streamripple?" I was astounded to see my mentor here, padding up to me.

The brown and white she-cat stopped walking, standing a mouselength away from me. "Well?"

"Um... no, not all the time," I replied, feeling embarrassed. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, but as you know, Woodspots called me to a meeting with Strikestar and the other senior warriors," Streamripple meowed. "So I put it off until the meeting was over and went over to find you."

"Oh. What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

"I saw your battle with Rosepaw," she meowed. Those words were like a bomb, leaving me almost at the loss for words.

"W-what?"

"You don't have to deny it," Streamripple responded calmly. "When you asked me to move our training session to sunhigh, I knew something was up. So, I agreed and followed you in secret. Then, I watched the two of you fight."

"Oh..." I should have known her ready agreement then was too good to be true. At that moment, I just wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

"Both of you will not be punished for it," she added. "Though the method is rather questionable, you managed to reach a common ground with Rosepaw. That's what being in a Clan is about, to be able to work together."

"Thank you..." I spoke, relieved. Talking to Strikestar was one of the most stressful things I ever experienced and I did not think he would be happy to see me in his den again.

Streamripple continued, her eyes softening. "That said... you have been working hard lately. It's good, but you won't do any cat any favours if you fall ill due to overwork."

That was what I liked about my mentor. She had the right balance, not strict to the point you feel like dying or nice to the point you could easily take advantage of. If only I had more teachers like her.

"The Clan is a community," she emphasised. "We help each other. If you ever need help, ask. You will be surprised."

I nodded vigorously.

"Well, it's late now," Streamripple mewed. "You should go and sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Okay," I meowed. It did not seem like Raincreek was coming that night, plus I was tired.

"Are you coming?"

I smiled. "Coming."

~~~~

The warming days reminded me that leaf-bare was coming to an end. With that, I suspected that Fangstar would finally do something, which made my stomach churn.

Despite the fact that I had learnt a lot since that invasion many moons ago, the thought of battle was enough to send tremors throughout my fur.

ThunderClan is prepared for it, I reassured myself. I am prepared for it.

I was not the only one on the edge. Spottedpaw had been incredibly nervous, more so than usual. Rosepaw was... Rosepaw, though sometimes her eyes would dart around, half expecting an attack.

Every cat was the same. The little actions, that would usually be unnoticed if I had not taken the time to observe, betrayed their emotions.

On a brighter note, Stormpaw was beginning to recover. Aspenfern confirmed that he would be able to return to the apprentices' den in a couple of days.

I could not say the same for Ripplesnow though...

She was the only one who had yet to shake off the sickness. Perhaps it was due to her age, the fact that she was the most senior warrior.

Sometimes, I see Greydust visiting his former mentor and would come out of the medicine cat den with a sombre look.

Honestly, I never thought that he would be the type of cat to care. Seeing him like that made me feel bad for judging him so quickly.

Unfortunately, his attitude towards me and my denmates were still unchanged.

We learn new things everyday, I mused.

On that day, I would learn that even the most prepared of warriors would fall prey to an ambush.

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Guess who's back with a chapter! Well, at least for now. It was hard to get back to writing Warriors fanfictions after focusing on Undertale for so long. (If you noticed any mistakes, please tell me)

All I can say is that things are about to heat up. Quite literally.

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