Warriors: A Silver Moon Rises

Chapter 9

              I awoke to the feeling of Shadowtail nuzzling me awake, He had been a part of our clan for quite some time now, and he seemed to enjoy it alot.

   " Goodmorning," he said as he licked me on the tip of my nose. I slowly got up and returned a lick to his nose. We slowly padded out of the warriors den together and headed toward the freshkill pile. We had barely begun to eat a chaffinche before Silvermoon ran up to me asking if I had seen Poppypaw.

   " She's probably still asleep, you know how she likes to sleep in," I said with a laugh.

   " No, she is not in her den, Stripepaw said she was not there when he awoke this morning," she said in a worried tone. I got up and followed Silvermoon out of the camp, we began to search all over the forest for Poppypaw. What if a fox or a badger got to her, I thought to myself, but I shook away the thought. We began to slowly pad along the river, hoping she did not fall in and drown, but eventually we spotted her. She lay asleep on the grass by the river.

   " What in Starclans name is she doing out here," I said as I stopped Silvermoon from waking her.

   " I think the message from Bluestar is beggining to get to her, I've noticed she has been more and more tired lately," she said with a sad look.

   " What did Bluestar tell you," I asked out of curiosity.

   " I am not suppose to say but.........Where there is great victory there will be great saddnesss, I think Popppaw is tiring herself out trying to figure out what Bluestar means," she said. We slowly padded up to Poppypaw, she appeared to be fine. Silvermoon gently prodded her with her nose and she awoke with a start.

   " What in Starclans name are you doing sleeping out here Poppypaw, its dangerous for you to be out here by yourself all night, you could have been killed by a badger or a fox," I said with a worried look. The young-she didnt say a word, she just got up and slowly began to pad in the direction of the camp.

   " Poppypaw you stop right there, what's going on young one, you can tell us anything," Silvermoon said in a worried tone. When the young apprentice turned to face us, we saw she had tears in her eyes.

   " I had a nightmare of Silvermoon getting killed by a monster, but when I asked Bluestar what it meant she said nothing, I am worried for your life Silvermoon," she cried. I turned to look at Silvermoon who was staring at Poppypaw in a loving motherly way.

   " Poppypaw, you do not need to worry okay...Starclan can't answer all questions for us, we must find the answer for ourselves, please do not worry about me. I was more worried about you," She said as she began to cry. " I thought I might have lost you to the river or a badger. They nuzzled eachother for a moment before we made our way back into the camp.

   " Poppypaw you're alright," Stripepaw yelled as he knocked her onto the ground and licked her forehead. We watched the apprentices run off toward the fresh-kill pile.

   " Do you think maybe we should just let them have a break for today, they both have worked really hard, and I'm worried about Poppypaw," I said as Iooked at Silvermoon. She didn't speak, she just nodded her head in agreement as she stared at Poppypaw with a worried look on her face. We padded into the medicine den and lay down on the soft moss nests.

   " I wish everyday could be like this, minus the part this morning," Silvermoon said with a sigh.

   " And why do you wish that," I said as I rolled onto my back and stretched.

   " Well, I would just like a day to relax and enjoy what our ancestors created, to enjoy the feeling of our home without worrying something will go wrong," She said as she rested her head on my flank. I didn't respond to her, I just wanted to lay back and enjoy the moment. The way we use to curl up to eachother in the nest as kits, the way we talked about everything to eachother, for as long as I can remember Silvermoon has been there..like a sibling, I don't know what I would do If I was to lose her at all.

  We were woken by the sound of Firestar coming into the den, It was a full moon tonight wich meant it was time to go the Island for the gathering.

   " This sure is a familiar sight, It feels like not to long ago you two were curled up like that in the nursery," he said as he nudged us out of the nest. We got to our feet and followed him out into the clearing where we met up with Dovewing, Lionblaze, Nightshade, Fernberry, Brambleclaw and Thorntooth. We followed Firestar through the forest and to the Island for the gathering. Silvermoon and I watched as everybody broke off to talk with cats from the other clans. We didn't know many cats from the other clans so we decided to stay to ourselves as we waited for the gathering to begin.

   " Cats of the clans, Thunderclan is doing well, prey has been good and not to long ago we had named two new apprentices, Poppypaw and Stripepaw whom are not here tonight," Firestar finished and allowed Onestar to speak.

   " Prey has been good as well, our queen Honeyberry has given birth to two kits, and we have named a new warrior, Blackbreeze," he stated as a young black tom stood and dipped his head to the clans. The next to speak was Shadowclan, gloating about their power and strength, and finally Riverclan spoke.

   " Our clan is having a slight issue, prey is fine other than our side of the river being littered with two-leg objects. We have cleared it up..but all fish in the river are dead. We lost an appre tice due to the objects, Stonepaw hunts with Starclan," Crookedstar said looking into Silverpelt.

   " We are sorry for your loss Crookestar and hope your clan will be alright despite your loss of use of the river," Firestar said as he dipped his head to Crookedstar. Suddenly Nightstar stepped forward.

   " My medicine cat recieved a message from Starclan stating that there will be trouble coming to the forest, did any of you recieve a message like that," he asked, I watched as all medicine cats including Silvermoon stood and nodded their heads.

   " It will have something to do with the twolegs, I don't know how this will affect us, but I suggest we keep an eye on things in our territories and with the twolegs," Silvermoon said looking up at Crookedstar. The leaders shared a glance between one another.

   " Very well...so it is said so it is done," Crookedstar said. The gathering ended and we all left the Island.

   " I'm glad Crookedstar agreed with what I said, I was worried he was going to bite my throat in that moment, I was so scared," Silvermoon said. Firestar overheard our conversation and decided to join in.

   " Crookedstar should not be feared, he is a kind and strong leader who has an oppinion of his own, though his opinions are quite different from the other leaders he is still a good leader who is only looking out for the well being of his clan," Firestar said calmly. Silvermoon and I gave an apologetic look.

   " We were only expressing our opinions, and the opinions of many others," I said quickly. Firestar heard me and gave me a silencing look. We both giggled under our breath and continued the walk back to camp, careful not to say anything that would upset or anger Firestar.

We arrived back at the camp and decided to share a mouse with eachother. I felt like I had to cherish every moment I got to spend alone with Silvermoon, as I knew we both would not be around for long. After we finished the mouse and finished talking we both went to sleep. I slowly padded into the warriors den where I found Shadowtail already asleep. I licked his forehead and curled up to the nest next to him. I breathed in the sweet smells all around me before I closed me eyes and let sleep take hold of me.