Raven (A Warrior Cats based Story)

Chapter 8.

*Pic is Springpaw

"Featherheart's kit?" Whispers and murmurs like this had been sounding around me since Mudstar had announced who my mother was. What does mother have to do with anything? I was completely confused. "As I had been saying, Ravenpaw has been apprenticed to Swiftstream. That is all from Stormclan. This Gathering is now concluded." Mudstar sound annoyed at the mutterings as he ended the Gathering. Springpaw looked at me sympathetically. "The clans will soon forget about your not being born with them. Well...most of the clans." Seeing Swiftstream gesturing for me to join her, I mewed a goodbye and began to pad over to her. I paused as I noticed Breezecloud and a brown tabby tom that carried Darkclan scent being friendly despite the glares they recieved. "Don't let Brakenclaw get to you, Breezecloud. Starclan knows he has a head full of feathers, but he's still your brother and you're a deputy." Breezecloud sighed. "Yeah, I know, Oakfang. It's just..." Oakfang inclined his head "I know. Now go join your clan." Breezecloud sighed and dipped her head to Oakfang before turning around and trotting over to where the rest of the clan was waiting. As I joined them, Sparrowpaw padded up to me. "Did you find someone to talk to?" I figured out by now that Sparrowpaw was friendly to everyone. It was just how he was. "Yep." I didn't have time to say much more, as Mudstar chose that moment to start racing back to Stormclan's camp.

It was sunhigh when I woke up and at first I was confused as to why I had been allowed to sleep so late. Then I remembered the night before. I wanted to remain in my nest, but my stomach decided it was time to eat. Getting up, I allowed myself one languid stretch, before going in search of food. "I thought you'd sleep longer." Swiftstream sounded surprised, which in itself surprised me. "It's sunhigh though!" Swiftstream stifled a laugh as she mewed "True, but most cats sleep 'til past sunhigh after their first Gathering." After a pause, Swiftstream asked if I would like to go hunting. "Sure" Eyes glittering in anticipation, I followed Swiftstream out of the camp. I had just caught a thrush when an unfamiliar scent wafted over me. "Swiftstream? What's that scent belong to?" Swiftstream took a moment to identify the scent I was asking about, but when she did her eyes widened with fear. "That's a fox's scent. We'll have to warn the queens and Mudstar. He'll probably order apprentices to stay in camp unless they're with a warrior, until a patrol manages to track it down and chase it away. The rest of the hunt was uneventful and we didn't pick up the fox's scent again. "It must have been just crossing the territory. Still we will notify Mudstar and the queens" Swiftstream muttered as we padded back to camp with our kill.

The next day Swiftstream took me back to the stream to practice swimming again. "Come on Ravenpaw! You can do it!" Spitting out yet another mouthful of water I hissed through gritted teeth "Why do I even need to learn to swim anyway?" Swiftstream paddled over to me and started guiding back to the shallower part of the stream. "Because all Stormclan cats know how to swim. It's a part of what makes us Stormclan."  Sighing, I prepared to try and keep afloat yet again. "You've already improved dramatically, Ravenpaw. Just remember to keep your paws moving and try not to worry about going under." Rolling my eyes, I waded deeper into the water until my were no longer touching the ground. Trying to think positively, I focused on a single point on the opposite bank and swam towards it. The moment my paws touched the shallows on the opposite bank to where I began, I felt triumphant. "Well done! See, Ravenpaw? I told you, you could do it!" Swiftstream's eyes sparkled as she urged me to swim back and forth across the stream. As we padded back to camp, tired yet happy, Swiftstream meowed to me "You keep going the way you are and soon you'll be as good at swimming as I am!" Purring at Swiftstream's compliment, I lifted my tail higher as we entered camp. Going over to the fresh kill pile I picked up a couple of mice. "Tomorrow we'll start practicing battle moves, so get a good sleep tonight." Half excited, half concerned, I gave a nod of acknowledgement and padded over to where Riverpaw, Sparrowpaw and Hailpaw were eating. As usual, Hailpaw ignored me, while Riverpaw and Sparrowpaw called a greeting. "So today, Redfang had me practicing my bird stalking skills. He was really impressed with the blackbird I caught, because I pulled it out of the air as it was flying off!" Riverpaw meowed enthusiastically. "Wow! You must have jumped really high to have done that!" Sparrowpaw encouraged. "What did Swiftstream do with you today, Ravenpaw?" Suddenly worried that these cats who had been practicing swimming in the pool near the Medicine Cat's Den since they were kits, would see my achievement as laughable, I muttered that she had me practicing swimming. "Really? How're you going with that? Most cats who haven't grown up in Stormclan don't ever willingly step in water." Riverpaw questioned and informed me rapidly. "Well...I ended up swimming across the stream multiple times." I meowed quietly. "Yeah? Which stream?" Unsure of how to describe it I replied simply "The one that helps guard the front of camp." Both Riverpaw's and Sparrowpaw's mouth dropped open. "You mean...Swiftstream had you swimming the Barrier Stream?" Sparrowpaw meowed in awe. "Yes?" I was completely confused. Where these cats making fun of me by pretending I had something impressive. "Wow! No cat as young as you has ever managed to successfully sim across the stream. It may not be as wide or as deep as the river, but it's fast with a strong current!" Realising that both of them were being completely sincere, I allowed myself to help happy once more. That night, as I curled up in my nest I thought about how I seemed to have made a few friends.