ωåтєɾfåℓℓ ➳ warriors fanfic

| chapter 1 |

Cinderpaw crouched low, thick stalks of grass shooting up into the bends of her hind legs. Her tail hung over the grass, careful not to disturb it and alert her prey of her being. A small sound reached the she-cat's ears and she crept forwards, her paws hitting solid ground. Hissing, Cinderpaw skidded in the dirt and her eyes locked on a sparrow struggling to take flight. She launched herself forwards and snatched it just as it lifted of the ground, her fangs digging into it's neck.

As the bird stopped thrashing, it's wings falling still, Cinderpaw stepped back and gazed proudly at her kill. Realising it was sunhigh, the apprentice swiftly clamped her jaws around the sparrow's neck and began padding back to camp, collecting two mice on the way back. Green-leaf was treating TideClan well, giving them prey that would last. 

Waves crashed in the distance, making her feel like she was where she belonged. Cinderpaw stopped at the Thunderpath, reaching out a shaking paw to place it on the heated path. Monsters were never really seen crossing the path, which was good for TideClan. Feeling nothing, Cinderpaw quickly raced across the Thunderpath, relief surging through her once her paws hit the soft grass. She crossed a fox-length of grass before it started to fade into sand and the ground began to slope a bit beneath her.

Sand slid beneath her paws as she carefully paced down the slope. Once at the bottom, Cinderpaw looked over her right shoulder and spotted a wall of bracken and vine. Excited, the chestnut cat with black markings and white paws, chest, stomach and face built up speed and kicked up sand with her hind paws. She slowed down as she came to a tunnel with thorns stuck in the vines. The cat slithered inside, coming out into a sunny area next to a large rock.

"Cinderpaw!" 

Surprised, she turned to where the voice had come from and saw a tom emerging from the rock, his tail fluffed up. The tom beckoned to her with his tail. Cinderpaw nodded and quickly dropped her prey off in the pile before settling down before the cat. Lifting her chin, she nodded to the red-brown tabby tom.

"Cinderpaw, did Bluemist go hunting with you?" he questioned, flicking his tail around his front paws.

"Bluemist came with me, but she chased a rabbit through a bush and suffered a cut to her leg and a small kick to her jaw. I told her she should go see Mossleaf and I finally got through to her," the apprentice responded, blinking.

"Alright. If you could, could you go check on her?" the tom continued, nodding. Cinderpaw nodded and started to take off towards the medicine den, when the tom called out, "Bring her some fresh-kill!"

Dipping her head to the leader, she scurried off with the sparrow she had caught hanging limply from her fangs. The camp was lager than TideClan's enemy's, LeafClan, but that was because their dens were build into the slope, all except for Brackenstar's, the red-brown tabby and the warriors den. A few cats watched her rush past, basking in the sunlight. Cinderpaw dodged to the left side of camp and brushed past prickly bushes into the dimly-lit den of Mossleaf, TideClan's medicine cat.

Mossleaf was crouched over a kit who was laying peacefully in a nest of moss, his eyes on the cat tending to him. Cinderpaw's mentor, Bluemist, was laying in another nest, dozing silently. Mossleaf noticed her and smiled, welcoming her with a small flick of her tail. The chestnut-and-white she-cat crept in, her black markings blending in with the darkness.

Cinderpaw padded to Bluemist's side and dropped the sparrow next to the blue-grey she-cat. Bluemist's wise blue eyes suddenly peeled open and she noticed her apprentice the second she was awake. Bluemist let out a morrow of happiness as she realised the sparrow at her paws. She phrased her apprentice for the good catch before she tucked in, gobbling it down rapidly. Cinderpaw watched, surprised at how fast she could swallow it down.

"Careful!" Mossleaf warned, swishing her tail happily. "You'll give yourself a bellyache if you do that!" Her leaf-green eyes sparkled was laughter. Her pale tabby brown fur blended perfectly with her eyes.

The apprentice slowly backed out from the den, amused, and looked around camp for something to do. She spotted Lionsun, a large golden tabby tom with soft, pale amber eyes that shone brightly in the sunlight. He was the deputy and maybe Cinderpaw could ask if she could join the sundown patrol if Bluemist was well enough. Bluemist's jaw seemed to be fine, although she hadn't looked at the scratch at all. The small cat bounded over to him, dipping her head respectfully once she'd approached him.

"Is there something I could do for you, Cinderpaw?" Lionsun purred, sitting up from his long stretches in the sun. His golden fur were like their ancestors of LionClan, hence the name.

"I-I was wondering if Bluemist was well enough, could we join the sundown border patrol?" Cinderpaw stammered, smiling. Excitement burned in her heart when he agreed to let her go and just as she was about to bound off to report to Bluemist, a loud shriek stopped her.

A brown tabby charged from the nursery, her fur fluffed up, her frost-blue eyes scanning the camp. Mossleaf, Bluemist and the kit poked their heads out from the medicine den, fear and confusion grasping their faces. Cinderpaw took two small steps forwards and stared at the queen, worried. A ginger tabby she-cat with a darker stripe across her side appeared next to Cinderpaw. Brackenstar sat on Great Rock, ready to leap down at any moment, but he kept still.

"It's my kits! Quietkit and Bramblekit! They've gone missing!" the queen yowled, distressed. "Brackenstar, we need to find them! I've searched the nursery, medicine den and the elders hole, but they're no where!"

"Alright, Lionsun and I will organise a patrol. In the meantime, continue to search the camp, we must find them!" Brackenstar announced, leaping from Great Rock in a single swift bound.

Cinderpaw turned to the cat beside her and smiled at her closest friend, Amberpaw. Together they decided to search the elders den again, checking every corner of the den, but there was no fresh scent of kits anywhere. Lionsun let out a caterwaul from Flat Rock, where he usually called off the border and hunting patrols. Cinderpaw and Amberpaw nodded to one another and quickly joined the growing group of TideClan cats.

"We'll take out two patrols, one to search the beach and one to search the fields. Me, Dawnpaw, Pinewater, Sharpclaw, Shatteredflame and Ripplepaw will search the beach, while Brackenstar will lead a patrol of Swiftstorm, Bluemist, Cinderpaw, Ferngaze, Branchshadow and Hawkpaw to the field," Lionsun finished quickly. "The rest will guard the camp and continue searching for Brindlepool's kits."

Lionsun gathered his patrol while Brackenstar gathered his, Cinderpaw bouncing over with her mentor by her side. Mossleaf had let her go at once, since her scratch had been cleaned out so it wouldn't get infected and her jaw had been passed as just fine. Brackenstar led his patrol towards the empty Thunderpath. Hawkpaw, apprentice to Brachshadow, puffed out his chest and stared proudly at the hard stone pathway.

"I escaped a monster, once," he boasted. "It was coming right at me when I quickly darted away and it swerved slightly. I almost died." Cinderpaw shook her head and rolled her eyes, ignoring him. Hawkpaw always boasted about little things, which he made into big things.

"Now's not the time," his mentor snapped, cuffing him lightly over the ears. Hawkpaw glared up at him with a small look of sparkling awe in his eyes.

"Speaking of monsters..."

Brackenstar stopped at the Thunderpath, resting a paw on the smooth path. Cinderpaw strained her ears for any sound of a monster. Finally, she could hear the faint groan and stench of those creatures. Bluemist shifted uncomfortably beside her apprentice, wanting to dart away. Brackenstar closed his eyes and focused on the Thunderpath before his eyes snapped open and he spun back to face his patrol.

"Get back down the slope!" he yowled, just moments before the roar of a monster drowned out every other sound. The patrol retreated down the slope, the stench of the monster making water well-up in Cinderpaw's eyes. She swiftly dove down the slope along with the rest of the patrol. Bluemist was the last to leap down and her face fell, her whiskers drooping.

"Where's Brackenstar?" she whispered.