Splashblossom's Truth

Chapter 1

Splashblossom gazes around the perimeter of the RiverClan camp, her eyes taking in the sight of the moonlit river gurgling as it slid past, and her ears listening to the sounds of an owl hooting in the distance. All is calm on the late greenleaf night.

Still sitting erect, Splashblossom could feel the excitement tingling in her body from tail to claws as she recalled her ceremony. Everyone had cheered for her. Well to be fair, they all cheered for Frostgaze too... she thinks. She glances over at her friend, whose stub of a tail was twitching, betraying her excitement about her new status. Splashblossom wishes desperately to talk to her friend about everything that had happened earlier, where to build their nests, and how their assessments went.

But all she can do was wait impatiently for sunrise to arrive, so that's exactly what she does.

When the first glimmer of sunlight showed on the horizon, Splashblossom was blinking rapidly to keep herself awake. One of the senior warriors Appletail comes to relieve the young warriors from their vigil.

"Tired?" Appletail purrs as Splashblossom lets out an enormous yawn and Frostgaze staggers to her feet. Splashblossom nods, her eyelids drooping. "Don't fall asleep on your paws! Sootmask and I made you nests in the warrior's den. We thought you'd be tired after the vigil." Appletail's eyes glow sympathetically.

"Thanks Appletail." Frostgaze meows, her jaws parting as she yawns. With a whisk of her plumy tail, Splashblossom pads off towards the warrior's den with Frostgaze at her flank. As they enter the den, they go around an obstacle of tails and stray legs until they find two freshly woven nests of reeds.

Splashblossom purrs drowsily to her friend "Goodnight, Frostgaze." Her friend also purrs softly, her eyes alight with fatigue and happiness.

"Goodnight, Splashblossom." she responds, curling herself into a tight ball, and eventually falling asleep, her soft snores mixing with those of the other sleek-furred warriors. Splashblossom stays awake for only another few heartbeats before tucking her nose under her tail, and letting the darkness of sleep claim her.

 න 

When she rises in the morning, sunlight is filtering through the gaps in the reed den and all of the other warrior except for her and Frostgaze were out and about. Prodding her friend gently in the side, Splashblossom begins to groom.  As she runs her tongue over her thick white and cream pelt, Frostgaze lets out a noise of complaint.

"Get up!  You lazy fur ball, Webstar is probably looking for us! Not to mention Dawnstripe will be furious if we miss even more patrols!"

Suddenly alert, Frostgaze shoots out of her bedding and begins to wash faster than Splashblossom had ever seen a cat wash in her life. Stifling a purr of amusement, Splashblossom finishes grooming, then steps out of the den into the sunhigh light.

Webstar was lounging on the rock next to his woven reed den and Dawnstreak was right below him organizing the day's patrols, a group of warriors clumped around her to receive their assignments. As soon as she exited the den, Webstar's gaze turned to her, his amber stare sending shivers down her spine and setting her fur on end. 

Frostgaze pads out behind her and casts a glance at the leader before ushering Splashblossom towards the deputy. Dawnstreak looks at the two new warriors and snorts.

"You young cats are completely useless! I've already organized all of the morning's patrols while you two were in the den snoring like badgers. You should learn to be punctual, or else you'll never get anywhere." Splashblossom's fur ripples uncomfortably as Webstar pads up behind his deputy, a look of icy and menacing calm spreading across his face.

"What was that, Dawnstreak?" he meowed, his voice calm and menacing. Dawnstreak eventually falls from stuttering to silence as Webstar fixed his accusing glare on her. "The new warriors were late." she meows after a long while of uncomfortable silence.

"Ah. So we yell at them, do we?" Webstar meows. His amber eyes rest on Splashblossom once more before he blinks and returns his gaze to the deputy. "Send them on a hunting patrol. Maybe the deformed one can catch me a trout." Frostgaze flinches as the leader motions to her stub tail.

Splashblossom draws herself up defiantly as the leader sneers at her friend. "Well, the matted and rot-breathed leader would do well to stop insulting my friend." The leader whips his gaze to the young warrior, his eyes malicious as his lips peel back the slightest bit to reveal jagged, yellow teeth.

He shakes his head, his long fur tangling itself.

That's right, you filthy flea-bag. You know just as well as I do that if you want to have even the most remote chance with me you have to listen to what I want.

Dawnstreak flicks her tail swiftly to the young warriors to dismiss them for hunting.

Frostgaze gives an amused purr as they pad out of the camp. "You've got Webstar wrapped around your dainty little paw. While he looks at you and sees a spirit from StarClan, he looks at me and sees a cat lower than the slimiest slug in the lake." she mews with the faintest hint of bitterness edging her voice.

"Oh Frostgaze, don't be that way! If anything, you're the most beautiful she-cat in all of the Clans! You have the prettiest eyes and pelt that I've seen. Webstar is blind for even looking twice at me." Splashblossom purrs, waving her plumy tail delicately to rest it on her friend's shoulder.

"Thanks, Splashblossom, you're a true friend. We're going to be the best RiverClan warriors that anyone has ever seen, and not even Webstar will be able to hurt us!" Frostgaze meows excitedly.

"We sure will! I'd like to see him try to stop us!" Splashblossom growls playfully and races towards the river. As she runs, she grimaces. Webstar obviously fancies me, but I don't exactly want to be his mate. I know Frostgaze does, and honestly, she can have him. I don't want that sniveling weasel following me and mooning over me.

As she reaches the river, she lets out a happy meow. She flicks her ears back and dives in, the cool water enveloping her. For a blissful moment all of the noises of the world are dimmer, and she lets out a purr that is muffled by the water. Resurfacing, she sees Frostgaze on the bank.

"You're crazy! You'll have scared off all the fish now, and Webstar will have my tail!" Frostgaze wails. 

Splashblossom grins at her friend. "He'll only have what's left of it, now won't he?"

Frostgaze hisses, her ears twitching with amusement. She aims a swipe at her friend's ear but as quick as a fish, Splashblossom grabs the unsuspecting she-cat's paw and pulls her into the river with her. Frostgaze yowls in surprise as she is dragged into the cold water. She resurfaces spluttering, a look of mock hurt spread across her white and gray face.

"You are the worst." she meows as she crawls back onto the bank. Giggling, Splashblossom paddles to the bank, climbing up next to her friend.

"We might as well dive for fish, we're already wet." Splashblossom points out with a flick of her damp ears. Frostgaze lets out a hmph of annoyance and looks downstream.

"We could try near the marsh perhaps." Frostgaze suggests.

"True, all of the fish down there won't have been scared off by your ridiculous screeching." Splashblossom mews, mimicking a haughty and superior voice. Frostgaze shoots her an amused glance and tears off towards the marsh, her tail bobbing.

We'll get that trout. Splashblossom thinks, purring to herself before taking off after her friend towards the marshes on the WindClan border.