Heartstar's rise : Book Two

Ch. 7

Heartpaw slipped into the apprentice den and spotted Eelpaw curled up in his nest. He lifted his head up groggily. 

             "How was it?" he mumbled. Deerpaw trotted into the den after Heartpaw. 

             "Oh my StarClan! You should have been there!" cried Deerpaw. "The only time something cool happens at a Gathering and you miss it!" Eelpaw's eyes grew. 

              "What happened?" he gaped. Deerpaw bounced into her nest and Heartpaw slipped into his, content on listening the two apprentices chat. 

               "Well, Thornstar announced about Heartpaw joining us and ShadowClan was so triggered you couldn't imagine. One cat even clawed at Heartpaw! She was a maniac! And then another cat attacked Heartpaw!" exclaimed Deerpaw. Eelpaw leaned forward to listen better to Deerpaw. "And they started hissing and one of them even called Heartpaw a Foxheart!" 

               "No way!" cried Eelpaw. 

               "Yes way!" said Deerpaw. "And then Falconstar came forward and was all dark and almighty and he was like "Cinderstar you haven't got control over ShadowClan." and she was all like "Yeah I do" and then she had to yell at them to get back. I was sorta hoping there would be a fight... Anyways then Fawnstar was like "You idiot leader you shouldn't even be leader. Go get a life"." Eelpaw's eyes were bulging. 

             "She did not say that!" he gasped. 

              "Yes she did!" exclaimed Deerpaw excitedly. Heartpaw giggled. 

             "No she didn't," he said. Eelpaw grunted. 

            "Oh," he said in disappointment. Deerpaw gave Heartpaw a pointed look. Heartpaw shrugged. 

             "And then Cinderstar said something about kits in her Clan and then Thornstar said let's go and we all left together and it was so cool. You should've seen the look on the faces of ShadowClan," grinned Deerpaw. 

             "I should've been there!" protested Eelpaw. "It's not fair." Deerpaw nodded in agreement. 

             "Time to sleep," Heartpaw muttered. The two apprentices hushed their voices and whispered to each other softly to let Heartpaw get some rest. 

Heartpaw trotted out of the apprentice den and met Blacktail at the entrance. She smiled at him. 

           "You have the morning off to hunt for the elders," she informed him. "Hunt well. And be back by noon. Today is the first day of new-leaf!" Heartpaw grinned. He was excited to be out of the cold once more. He slipped out of camp and smelt the air. It was fresh and cool. Although it did not seem like new-leaf. The ground was crisp with frost and the trees were still bare but he could feel new-leaf right around the corner. He trotted towards the river, feeling elated. After a while, he reached the edge of ShadowClan border and spotted the Thunderpath through some trees. He knew there were no Clans beyond the Thunderpath and only the unknown. He focused on hunting instead. He looked around and listened, keeping still and silent, making sure he was downwind. He sniffed and heard a rustling of leaves and smelt the warm scent of mouse. He immediately crouched and crept forward. Suddenly, a blur of ginger burst in front of him and he jumped back in surprise. He heard the mouse scuttled away and huffed in anger. He puffed out his fur and turned to the intruder. He laid his eyes on a ginger cat with green, grumpy eyes. 

             "What are yo-" Heartpaw's eyes bulged. "Gingerfern? What are you doing here?" Gingerfern grunted. 

              "Nice to see you too," huffed Gingerfern. The rogue seemed older than ever. Her fur was scruffy and messy, as if it had never been groomed properly for some time. She had been one of the rogues and former ShadowClan that Heartpaw had met when looking for shelter in his isolation.