'. 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 // warriors novel '.

↷chapter one

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chapter one !
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" argh! " echopaw yelped with a shriek as she was slammed into a tree.
"get your self back up," riverfoot urged, lashing his tail. he sighed, and looked around impatiently. it was a cool, crisp morning. the sun was rising and the two cats (apprentice and mentor) had decided to go train in the forest. ferns poked up from the ground in every direction, and the forest floor was dappled with the morning sun. Prey always was plentiful here, its tempting smell lingered throughout; it being stronger the farther you ventured off into the deep, beautiful depths of the forest.

echopaw thought this was a fantastic morning for training aswell... but she had kept on getting the visions again. the horrible, very bad, awful, no-good visions. whenever they happened, she would not only stagger back, but she would be faced with two glowing eyes. they seemed.. awfully familiar, but echopaw had learned not to show how scared she was over them during the day. it was worse at night though, the cat in her visions wouldn't speak.. but it didn't have to. it scared her anyway.

if mum hadn't always brushed it off when i tell her, maybe things would be better, echopaw huffed and got herself back onto her paws. " you did well today. i'm assuming you just got tired during the end of it? we will get to working on your stamina later on, " riverfoot congratulated. " actually... we could go hunting for the elders? " echopaw asked, knowing the answer anyways. almost every cat in the clan knew how much she loved to hunt. she wasn't half bad at it, either.

" of course! gravelpaw went out training today with rainheart. while we're hunting, try to find them, too," riverfoot offered. " sure! " echopaw cheered, almost not hearing the part about the other clan cats as she was already preparing to find a rodent, bird, or whatever she could sink her claws into. echopaw let out a breath of relief, keeping her mouth open to taste the air. there. a chickadee! okay, keep low, she ordered herself, feeling riverfoot's eyes on her.

echopaw pounced on the chickadee, sinking her claws into the...dirt? oof, she thought as echopaw saw a little bundle of feathers fly away. she sighed, but didn't look back at her mentor. instead, she padded forward. " rainheart and gravelpaw are over there," riverfoot meowed. oh, she thought. i'll just try to catch something
later today. echopaw stood up and stalked to a clearing guarded by ferns. and sure enough, there they were. riverfoot's head poked up behind her. "hey you guys," he spoke. "and then you— oh, hey riverfoot, echopaw," rainheart nodded.

echopaw saw gravelpaw whisper something to rainheart, but didn't think twice about it. " we're just about done here, do you two want to come with us back to camp?" rainheart offered. "yeah! we were just heading there anyways." echopaw hopped over the wall of ferns, a purr building up in her throat. riverfoot did so, too, and the cats split into pairs and started heading to camp. the warriors were probably talking about something like the gatherings, or how cloudlead just became deputy. nothing echopaw had to start worrying about just yet.

" so," gravelpaw began, breaking her train of thought, " have the visions been going away?" she shook her head. " no. they're getting worse." she sighed, " that cat seems so familiar.." she gritted her teeth. gravelpaw nudged her side. " i'm not going to hide the fact that these visions scare me a little. but for sure it isn't visions from starclan?"
"no. starclan wouldn't scare me. not unless they absolutely had to, and even then, why me? i mean, i'm still an apprentice. no warrior will listen to me going around with my tail in a knot saying 'oh no! the world is dying and all the other clans have decided they hate us and are coming to kill us all blah blah world destruction' "

gravelpaw laughed at her, and she shoved his side " it's not funny," but she ended up laughing too as they entered the camp.
suddenly, echopaw got a headache piercing through her mind. she bit back a yowl and had to sit down for a moment. there he was again— the dark brown cat with those evil eyes. " hello, echokit, " the voice said. and then the vision was gone. the shaking trees, the headache.. everything.

she assumed rainheart and riverfoot headed back into camp, reporting to thrushstar that they took their apprentices out and that they'd stay in the camp for the next while, because they weren't next to her anymore,but gravelpaw was right there helping her to her paws. "t-that was the first time it spoke..the cat spoke," echopaw was shaking. "here, let's talk about this in the apprentice den. falconpaw and daffodilpaw are out training or hunting or whatever. "

echopaw steadily walked to the apprentice den. it was shaded by a wall of ivy and thorns that were planted moons and moons and moons and moons ago. overtime they grew into a protective barrier that shielded the cats from dangers like foxes pretty frequently. once they were in the den, gravelpaw asked: "well, what did it say?" echopaw closed her eyes for a moment, then turned to gravelpaw. "it just said 'hello echokit' which was weird, because that's not my name anymore, but maybe i just look like a kit." she shook her head. " i just need to clear my head. this was far to much excitement for today. "

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echopaw lay down in her moss bed, watching the sun starting to set quietly through the bushes. she had just came back from a hunt. caught two mice and a fish — ew. riverfoot made her get a fish. echopaw hated water and the scaly creatures that lived in it. she had offered to find a thrush for thrushstar, but riverfoot said that'd be cannibalism. she liked it when they joked around like that. now, though, the clan was slowly drifting off to sleep.

but right before sleep engulfed her, echopaw heard small whispers from the camp border. " before he died, this was what he wanted to accomplish," the first cat said. she couldn't tell who it was. " i know, i just don't think it's time," said the second cat. " well then when is the right time?! these cats won't kill themselves for us," the first cat whisper-yelled. "i am heading back to camp," the second declared, and padded away silently.

echopaw froze.
she couldn't move. her eyes were as wide as the moon.
her mind was racing.
what cats? someone needs to save them—
who was that? a warrior, surely.
maybe i didn't hear them right..
echopaw shook her head, and lay down. she closed her eyes, knowing that sleep would not come easy tonight.

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