Warriors: Troubled Blood

Chapter 5

Lightpaw yawned and rolled out of her mossy nest. The chill morning breeze had hit her like a thorny branch, and her angered facial expression showed it. Damn it, leaf fall. The fluffy white she cat shakily stood up, her oversized and bushy tail nearly tripping her. She was used to it, just like she was used to the oddly shapen leg that she dragged behind her. She knew she had something to do today, she just couldn't for the life of her think of what.

Her groggy yellow orbs navigated the camp as she heaved herself out to the fresh kill pile. The same familiar faces scattered the camp, her white furred, black pawed mother, Hollynose, her brother, Slatepaw, her sister, Daisypaw and... Featherpaw? Lightpaw hadn't seen the silver tabby for quite a while, yet alone seen her so solemn. She sat near the camp wall, her paws folded over and her chin resting neatly on top. Her eyes appeared glazed over. Something must have been up, but Lightpaw gravitated towards Hollynose instead. Featherpaw could deal with her own issues on her own.

"Morning mother!"

"Morning Lightpaw! How has your first moon as an apprentice been?" First moon? Starclan, has it been that long? It really had. Lightpaw's eyes widened as she thought of how she was going to respond. It had been difficult, but entertaining nontheless...

"Challenging, but fun!" She answered, flopping over beside Hollynose.

"Nice! You want some?" The black and white she cat purred and slid over her squirrel to her daughter. "You're going to need the energy for the gathering today. Darksnow told me you were going,"
OH! That was what she was doing today! Last moon, she had been promised the opportunity to go to a gathering, but Daisypaw had been chosen instead. Lightpaw just grinned and dug into the prey. All sorts of exciting sparks were lighting up in the little cats eyes, and her mother smiled as she noticed how eager she was.

"Are the other clans nice?"

"As far as I can tell, BreezeClan and SunClan are okay. FrostClan has had issues with us before, but Nightstar was nice. Most cats don't trust Talonstar, though."

Talonstar.
"What does Talonstar look like?"

"He's a big golden brown tabby. That's all I know, never met the guy."

Lightpaw tensed up slightly. She distinctly remembered seeing a brown tabby when she had been forced to stay in Frostclan, and she did not like the sound of him. He had acted threatening towards a poor elder. Before she could bring it up, Barkstorm's calls echoed in the clearing.

"Every cat who is going to be coming to the gathering, meet at the entrance!" Hollynose planted a lick in between her daughters eyes, causing Lightpaw to stick her tongue out and run off.

"Love you!" She called.

The fluffy white apprentice was nearly lost in the crowd of warriors, her tail barely poking out. She craned her neck to look at Mallowstar. The leader definitely wasn't the biggest cat there, but she was one of the fluffiest and strongest looking cats. As she struggled to get a glimpse, a grey shape suddenly barelled her over.

"Eep!" Lightpaw found herself being pinned by none other than her brother. "Slatepaw! Gerroff me!" She chuckled as he freed her.

"Sorry! I'm just excited! I've barely seen you all moon, and now we're going to a gathering!"

"I know right! I'm so jealous Daisy got to go last time!"

"She deserved it! Did you see her hunting skills?"

The two apprentices chattered and chuckled to each other so much that they barely noticed the group begin to move. They also barely notice Mallowstar hanging back, waiting for them to finish speaking.
"My training's been so fun-" Slatepaw squeaked, but was interrupted by an 'ehem'. Lightpaw looked petrified in front of Mallowstar. Was she going to yell at them for talking?