Warriors - A New Tale

Chapter fourteen

Nuttree was sleeping in the warrior's den when she heard someone mewing her name. "Nuttree! Nuttree!"
"What do you want?!" She hissed. Sleeping hadn't eased her mind or refreshed her, so she was grumpy. She opened up her eyes to see Leaffall taking a step back. "Well, you said you would like to see the kits, didn't you?" He asked shakily. Nuttree stood up quickly. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry for jumping at you."
They both padded to the nursery. Leaffall led the way to the ivy that covered the entrance. "Sparrowwing just gave birth last evening" Leaffall mewed softly. "She's probably tired." Nuttree nodded. Leaffall made a swift movement through the ivy. Nuttree followed quickly after. Sparrowwing and the kits were asleep. There were three. One was dark ginger with splotches of black, another was light brown with dark brown paws, like it's father, and the other was light grey. "Awe!" Nuttree whispered. "They're so tiny!" Suddenly, Sparrowwing's eyes blinked open. "Leaffall? Is that you?" Leaffall nodded and licked his mates forehead. "Yes. And I brought company." Sparrowwing raised her head to see Nuttree. "Ah, it's you, Nuttree. Did you want to meet the kits?" The cream queen asked. Nuttree nodded. Suddenly, the dark ginger black one opened it's green eyes and started mewling. Sparrowwing looked pleased, while Nuttree was confused. "Only a night for a kit's eyes to open? That's pretty quick!" Leaffall nodded. Sparrowwing gave a little shrug. "I guess Leopardkit is quick" she mewed. "So, what're the other kits' names?" Nuttree asked. "Ah, of course. This is Adderkit. He's a tom." Sparrowwing licked Adderkit's forehead. He sneezed. Leaffall chuckled. "This is Cloudkit. Another tom" she purred, stretching to lick her son's head. He gave a little mewl. "Oh, and this is Leopardkit" she mewed. The kit was looking around, clearly excited. Nuttree giggled softly. "You already told me, Sparrowwing!" Sparrowwing sighed and shook her head. Nuttree was worried she had embarrassed the young queen, until she gave a chuckle. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought! Well anyways, Leopardkit is the daughter of the litter" she exclaimed. Nuttree sat down and gazed down at the fluffy kits. Leopardkit looked up at her and mewed. Nuttree smiled at the she-kit. Leopardkit turned around and nudged Adderkit with her paw. Adderkit gave a small growl. Sparrowwing rested her head. "Okay, Nuttree, I think we should let Sparrowwing rest" Leaffall mewed, gazing at his mate and kits. Nuttree could only imagine how amazing it felt to start a family. She nodded and they both padded out the nursery, the ivy gently brushing against their fur.

"Okay. Snowstorm, Darkenedfur and Nuttree, you've got hunting patrol" the leader dismissed. "Yes, Stormstar!" Nuttree meowed, dashing off. "Hey, wait up!" Darkenedfur mewed, speeding to catch up with her. "Hey, Snowstorm, are you coming?" The dark pelted tom mewed, looking behind him. Snowstorm bared her teeth. "I'll hurry up if I want to!" She hissed. Darkenedfur's ears went back a bit. Nuttree also looked over her back. Snowstorm looked down gloomily and padded to Nuttree's side. "What's wrong?" Nuttree asked her friend, keeping her voice down. It was obvious Snowstorm was mad at Darkenedfur for some reason. "Nothing!" Snowstorm snapped. Nuttree remembered when she herself had snapped at Leaffall.
Soon enough, they were near the lake. All three of the cats took a turn at catching a salmon, as there were a lot of them heading upstream at that time of the year. Darkenedfur was the only one to catch something. "I was never great at hunting fish" Snowstorm meowed, licking her chest fur in embarrassment. "But I was!" Nuttree grumbled. Snowstorm stood close to Nuttree, their pelts touching. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will catch something else." Nuttree sighed. "Maybe you're right."
They arrived in the middle of the forest, when there was a group of birds pecking at a pile of seeds. Snowstorm dashed at them and bit one in the neck. They were starting to fly up, so Darkenedfur and Nuttree had to jump up to catch one. Neither of them got anything. "Jumping is hard" Darkenedfur commented. Nuttree ignored him. "Why didn't I catch that bird?" She thought aloud. "It's fine, at least Snowstorm caught something" Darkenedfur mewed. "Good catch, Snowstorm!" Snowstorm scraped dirt over her catch and bared her teeth at him. Nuttree still wondered why she was so mad at him. They started walking back to camp. What is wrong with me today? Maybe I'm getting distracted...
"Hey, guys?" Nuttree mewed. "Yeah, Nuttree?" Darkenedfur replied. "I think I'd better hunt alone today..." Snowstorm looked upset, but she didn't say anything. "Okay, Nuttree. See you later!" Nuttree didn't wait to see them leave, and zoomed away. She found herself near a twoleg fence. She decided to shrug it off and pad away. "Hi!"
Nuttree whipped around. Sitting on the fence was a fluffy tom with a collar around his neck. A kittypet! "Whatcha doin'? I've never seen you around before!" He mewed. Nuttree crouched down and bared her teeth. "Don't come into GreenClan territory, kittypet!" The cat's ears went back. Nuttree felt bad. She sighed. "W-what's GreenClan territory?" He asked. Of course he doesn't know she thought. "Eh, I guess you can come down and I'll tell you." The fluffy kittypet hopped down from the fence and sat in front of Nuttree. "So?"
So Nuttree explained what it meant to be a warrior, what boundaries and territories meant. The cat seemed overwhelmed. "Oh... oh wow. That's... pretty interesting." Nuttree licked her paw. "Mmhmm."
"Well anyways, my name is Milo. I live in that place over there" he pointed with his tail "if you ever want to talk to me or anything..." Milo mewed looking at Nuttree in such a way. "What's your name?" Nuttree for some reason felt like she was getting into something she would regret later. "Erm... it's Nuttree."
"Okay, Nuttree! See you later, I've got to get back home for dinner." Nuttree watched him scramble up the fence and disappear. Suddenly, she heard the scurry of prey. Oh haredung! She thought, remembering what she was supposed to be doing. She turned around and saw a mouse nibbling on a seed. Nuttree crouched down, and scooped the mouse up when it was time. The first catch she had caught that day.

She arrived at camp, mouse in jaws. Stormstar was eating a squirrel on the big rock. Nuttree dropped her mouse in the fresh-kill pile. She looked around for her friends. She didn't see Snowstorm or Darkenedfur, but she did see Smallbolt. He was sharing tongues with Flamepaw. She decided to grab a sparrow from the fresh-kill and pad up to them. She was about to say hi, but she realized they were having a conversation.
"So, Stormstar's making you a warrior?" Smallbolt asked.
"Yes, she said she's also making Shadowpaw one."
"Oh. That's cool."
"Yeah, she needs to appoint more warriors to get rid of DawnClan."
"I know that, mousebrain! She told me before she told you. She is very proud of me. She said I was a swift fighter, and I am."
Flamepaw bared his teeth. "Like you and me both said, she's appointing more warriors to attack DawnClan. Not because they're qualified warriors!"
Nuttree dropped the sparrow. She was pretty sure this was something she wasn't supposed to hear. She dashed off. She arrived somewhere between the warrior's den and the elder's den which were next to each other. She took a glance at both dens and headed into the elder's den. She needed to talk to someone. Laketoes she decided. Laketoes and Spottedpelt were laying down close together. Nuttree realized it would be best to let the eld cats rest. She backed out of the den, and headed for the warrior's den. Maybe all she needed was a good night's rest.