Warriors: Omen Of Fire

Chapter 5

Badgerclaw hurried Flowerpaw over to the entrance tunnel. Flameclaw, Oneclaw, Sunpelt, Snaketail, Rainwhisker, and Meltwater were milling around the bramble barrier. Moonbeam pressed Cloudpaw towards the group, but she never had any sense of urgency. Charfur and Lizardbelly padded towards them. She whispered something in his ear and he purred, twining their tails together. Snowpaw was pacing anxiously beside Emberpaw. The elders were grumbling nearby about the cold.

"This is no weather to be out in," muttered Swiftear, his golden pelt fluffed up against the cold.

"Gatherings are important, fluff-brain," Stiffwhisker teased him affectionately. Whitemoss was crouched close by, sharing in their heat.

"Don't you want to hear the rest of Blue-eye's story about the time he swam across the lake?" Whitemoss asked. Snowpaw purred as they continued to bicker.

The moon floated above the treetops, bright and full. Tonight was the gathering. Snowpaw's breath billowed up from his muzzle. Leaf bare was here now, frost coated the bare branches and snow drifted up, muzzle height in some places.

The snow had come quickly. One night it began and fell for three days, never stopping. Snowpaw hated going on patrol and as sudden as the snow came, the prey hid in their holes. Now the thick white snow covered everything Snowpaw could see. The sky was clear tonight and the moon shone down and everything glittered.

"I wish we could go," squeaked a voice drifting from the nursery. Snowpaw saw bright amber eyes peaking between the brambles. Suddenly little green ones glared from beside them. He purred. Eaglekit had recovered from his fever quickly and they were getting big now. In a few moons they would be apprentices.

Sleetstar slipped down from his den and hurried through the snow towards the cats that were ready to go. He flicked his tail for them to follow him as he disappeared through the tunnel. Robintalon hurried over from the warriors' den, late as usual.

Snowpaw bounded out into the frosty forest, the trunks sparkling under the moonlight. His clanmates burst forward, weaving though the undergrowth. Snow flew up from their paws as they hurried on towards the Ravine. Snowpaw pushed harder, his long legs taking him past Emberpaw and Flowerpaw. He caught up to Oneclaw, his muscles bunching under his brown pelt. Oneclaw looked over briefly and nodded.

Their breath rose like mist as they ran on, past the border markers and to the lip of the Ravine. Sleetstar slowed and raised his tail for his Clan to halt. Snowpaw pressed up towards the edge of the Ravine and looked down. RubyClan and SapphireClan were there already; they were late this time. Soft meows rose up towards his ears. The snow muffled every sound.

At Sleetstar's signal, they flowed down into the Ravine, using the rocks and ledges to leap to the bottom. It was slippery in the snow and Snowpaw lost his footing, rolling down and landing with a thud against a small boulder. He shook his head to clear the stars from his eyes.

His clanmates purred in laughter as they passed, but Emberpaw hurried forward. She sniffed his pelt and dusted snow off with her paw.

"Are you okay?" she fretted.

"Yeah," he groaned. Snowpaw stood and flicked the rest of the snow off. His back was sore where it had smashed into the rock. "It was just a mouse-brained mistake."

They gathered with the rest of their Clan, Sunpelt glanced at Snowpaw, but seeing he was okay, turned and walked up to a group of warriors. Pelts were brushing each other, everyone stayed close to retain the heat. Clan boundaries were non-existent tonight. It was cold and there was the full moon truce.