Heartstar's rise : Book Two

Ch. 2

Heartpaw jolted awake. A small ray of daylight filtered into the apprentice den. He looked around at the snoring apprentices around him. Firepaw was the only one not snoring which came to a surprise to Heartpaw and he snickered. He got up quietly and slipped to the den entrance, peering out. The camp was quiet except a few cats near the fresh-kill pile or talking quietly. Heartpaw looked back at Ivypaw for the last time. Everything happens for a reason. His mother's voice echoed in his head. He gazed at Ivypaw, sleeping peacefully. Maybe he was supposed to have ended up on WindClan territory. Maybe this had been his chance to say his final goodbye to the first cat he loved, and still did. He closed his eyes then opened them again and took a step out of the apprentice den. He didn't have to look back into the past. Nothing would be the same again. And maybe for the better. He spotted Fawnstar the camp entrance and quickly trotted over to her. A few cats gathered around. The sun was slowly starting to rise. Fawnstar nodded to Heartpaw and the patrol of cats and walked off. 

             "I know you," growled a white cat. Cloverwish. 

              "Yeah, me too," Heartpaw said. Cloverwish lashed her tail and slunk out of the WindClan camp. A black and white tom beckoned me to follow. Behin him was a calico cat. He had scars all over his face. 

               "Where will you bring me?" asked Heartpaw. 

               "Fawnstar said, not to ShadowClan. So to ThunderClan and RiverClan border," explained the black and white tom. 

               "What's your name?" asked Heartpaw finally, seeing that the tom had not wanted to indulge anything about himself. 

                "Webcall," said the cat after a moment of silence, he nodded to the calico cat who had kept his head down. "This is Larchsplash. And you seem to know Cloverwish." Heartpaw nodded. They trotted down the moor. The wind blew freely, ruffling Heartpaw's fur. They made it to the ThunderClan border near the RiverClan border. Webcall nodded for Heartpaw to leave. He nodded and slipped away without a word. He looked side to side. A long Thunderpath stretched out on both sides. He looked both ways, listened and quickly crossed. He was on RiverClan territory. He looked back. Webcall was watching him but the other cats had started marking the border. He turned around and gazed into the RiverClan territory. He didn't know what he was going to do next, he hadn't even thought about joining another Clan, but he had to now, he couldn't be Clanless forever. He hoped he wouldn't be Clanless forever. He looked around. The trees were bare and the ground was frozen and cold. He heard the rushing of water a bit further off. He advanced towards it, hopefully towards RiverClan camp. He had never been to RiverClan, never seen RiverClan. ShadowClan and RiverClan borders didn't touch so they never had any big battles together. Heartpaw looked around. RiverClan had smaller trees than ShadowClan which were much more spread out. Finally, he found the river. It was the largest and widest river he had ever seen. The water rushed quickly, he wondered if it could ever freeze. It seemed always in movement. He bent down to touch the water but thought better of it, thinking of Briarkit. He looked around. The sky was grey. He walked along the river, hoping he was going towards RiverClan territory. Suddenly, he heard voices. He stopped and pricked his ears. Some cats were coming his direction. He waited. Finally, two apprentices came to view. He waited patiently, twitching with anticipation. The apprentices stopped and stared at him then they both pounded towards him. When they were nearer, Heartpaw saw that one of them was dark grey and the other was pale brown. 

               "What are you doing here? Rogue!" hissed the grey one. They both looked smaller than Heartpaw but he didn't want to start a fight. He wanted to talk to RiverClan..., maybe he could join them. He had never had a quarrel with RiverClan. He needed to join another Clan..., he didn't want to become a rogue or kittypet. He needed to have another chance in life. The pale cat sniffed him. 

               "He smells like ShadowClan. And WindClan," she said. They grey cat frowned. 

               "He can't be both!" cried the grey cat. "He's come to invade our camp!" The pale brown she-cat rolled her eyes. 

               "Of course not! He's just an apprentice," she said. "What do you want?" 

               "I um. I want to talk to your leader," said Heartpaw. 

               "Why?" asked the grey cat. 

               "Because, um I want to join RiverClan," as Heartpaw said it, he realised how absurd the idea was and almost retreated but the pale brown cat nodded. 

                "Why are you nodding?" the grey cat accused. The she-cat glared at him. 

               "Because we need more cats, you know we don't have many wa-" she started. 

               "Don't tell him!" growled the grey cat. "Follow us." Heartpaw followed them up river and then turned right. Finally, they got to RiverClan camp and slipped through a tunnel. Heartpaw found himself in a camp surrounded by plants and bushes. The ground was dirt. He looked around. The cats in the clearing looked up. A few growled and hissed. A murmur of confusion ran up. A dark tabby cat padded up to them. 

               "Eelpaw, Minkpaw, what is the meaning of this?" demanded the dark tabby cat. Heartpaw recognised him. Thorntstar. He quickly jumped in, hoping not to get the apprentices, perhaps his future Clanmates, in trouble. Cats milled around, trying to eavesdrop. 

               "I'm Heartpaw," said Heartpaw, forcing a smile. Thornstar narrowed his eyes. He unsheathed his claws and Heartpaw took a step back. "I'm er.. I wanted to ask you if I could er... join RiverClan." Murmurs of shock rang out. Heartpaw wanted to sink into the ground with embarrassment. Thornstar narrowed his eyes. 

              "You are ShadowClan," he growled. 

               "I am not. Anymore," said Heartpaw. 

                "And how do you know we're going to except some random cat into our Clan? What makes you think we know you're telling the truth?" Thornstar demanded. 

                 "Well..., I don't really know. I'm not ShadowClan though, that's for sure," Heartpaw said. 

                "Were you banished?" asked Thornstar. Another sleek, russet furred cat pushed through the crowd and joined Thornstar's side. 

                "Minkpaw and Eelpaw, go back to your den now," ordered the russet cat. Heartpaw thought hard and remembered it was Reedpelt, the deputy. He nodded in respect. 

                 "What does he want?" growled Reedpelt. 

                 "To join," replied Thornstar. Reedpelt cocked his head and evaluated Heartpaw. He turned to Thornstar. Heartpaw pricked his ears. 

                   "We need more warriors," Reedpelt whispered.  

                   "We are not desperate enough to take in a banished ShadowClan cat," replied Thornstar. 

                   "We must not judge too quickly," replied Reedpelt, eyeing Heartpaw. Heartpaw gulped. 

                   "But we must not make stupid decisions," replied Thornstar. They whispered even more quietly and Heartpaw couldn't catch their words. Finally, Thornstar and Reedpelt looked up. 

                  "We will take you in. But we will watch you closely. If by a week, we are not sure about you, you will leave and never come back," announced Thornstar. Heartpaw smiled. He wasn't going to mess up. Everything happened for a reason. He was going to be RiverClan. He had a new start.