Silver-ripple's Story

Chapter 7

Silver-ripple crouched down, showing her apprentice on how to hunt mice. "And you must keep downwind." Robinpaw crouched down, her tail up in the air, lashing from side to side. Silver-ripple shook her head. "Tail down, Robinpaw. You don't want to scare off any prey, do you?"

Robinpaw shook her head, then lowered her tail. "Alright, now, pounce on that pebble." Robinpaw leaped forward and crashed into a cat. "Mrrow!" Robinpaw ran back to her mentor. Silver-ripple padded towards the strange cat. "Who are you, and what are you doing on ThunderClan territory?!" She hissed. The cat looked at her, then purred. Silver-ripple could make out the roundness of the she-cat's belly.

"Oh, thank the stars, I found somebody!" The she-cat meowed. Silver-ripple looked at the cat, confused. "Excuse me?" The she-cat stepped out of the bushes. "Hi, I'm Hazel. I need help. These cats chased me out of my home, and I was-" Hazel gasped, and Silver-ripple saw a jolt rush through her body.

"Come with me. Robinpaw, get Beartail! Quick!" Silver-ripple nodded to her apprentice. Robinpaw rushed away, as Silver-ripple helped the golden she-cat walk forward. "Not now! My kits are coming." Silver-ripple led Hazel to a hollowed out log, and guarded the entrance.

Beartail came rushing out from the undergrowth, Fernstar following behind him. "Silver-ripple, what's happening?" Fernstar meowed. Silver-ripple looked behind her. "This cat, Hazel, is kitting. She said she was chased out of her home."

Fernstar sheathed his claws and sniffed the air. "Rouges from ShadowClan." Just then, a cat leaped on top of Fernstar, and clawed his snout. "Leave my sister alone!" The tom hissed. Silver-ripple pulled the muscular tom off, and pinned him down. "Calm down! We're helping her!"

The tom stopped struggling. "Hazel? Are you ok?" Silver-ripple twitched her ears at the sound of Hazel's voice. She got off the tom, and let him get up. "Sorry. We were just attacked by three cats, and I was holding them back."

Silver-ripple flicked her tail tip. "Why'd they attack you?" The brown tabby tom just stared at her. "One of them was very weak, and elderly, and another looked like she was expecting kits." The tom looked down at his paws. "They almost killed Hazel."

Fernstar sat down. "Might I ask what your name is?" The tom nodded. "I'm Oak. You two are?" Silver-ripple got up and shook her pelt. "My name is Silver-ripple, and this is Fernstar. We're from a Clan called ThunderClan."

Oak looked them up and down. "I've heard about the Clans. May we, my sister and I, join ThunderClan? We've nowhere else to go, Fernstar." Fernstar got up and flicked his tail. "We'll see what the Clan thinks." They all heard mewing, and Beartail came out. "Hazel's ok. She had three she-cats."

Oak rushed towards him. "Can I see her?" Beartail shook his head. "She needs to rest. If we're going to move her to the camp, we must do it quickly." Fernstar nodded, and carried two kits, while Silver-ripple carried one.

"All cats old enough to hunt, please join me under the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Fernstar yowled. Oak was near the nursery entrance, where his sister, Hazel was resting. The cats gathered beneath Fernstar.

"Today, two cats have decided to join our Clan. One of them is resting in the nursery after bearing her kits. They were chased out of their homes." Fernstar announced to the Clan. Silver-ripple heard some of her Clanmates murmur.

"Why are we letting more cats in?" Dustclaw meowed to Beefall. Fernstar held his tail up for silence. "Since Oak and Hazel are a little old, they will not have an apprentice name. Oak, step forward." Fernstar motioned him forward with his tail.

Oak stepped into the middle, looking embarrassed. "You will become a warrior under me, but will be trained by my deputy Halfsky. She will teach you everything you need to know. I, Fernstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this loner. They will train hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you to make them a warrior in their turn."

Fernstar leaped down from the Highrock, and looked into Oak's eyes. "Oak, do you promise to learn the warrior code and to protect and defend your new Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Oak nodded. "If this is what being a warrior is, then of course." Fernstar placed his muzzle on the top of Oak's head.

"Then, by the powers of me, I give you your warrior name. Oak, from this moment on you will be known as Oakwing. ThunderClan will honor your new learned skills in time." The cats that were gathered around the Highrock chanted Oakwing's new name.

Hazel padded out of the nursery. "Oak, er, Oakwing, I'm afraid I can't stay with you. I'm taking two of my kits with me." Oakwing turned to look at her. "But, where will you go?" Hazel licked his cheek.

"Do you remember Victor? We're going to live with him. I promised him that when I had his kits, I would live with him." Oakwing sighed. "You're leaving one here, then?" Hazel nodded. "Yes, I want you to take care of Hazelkit. I named her after me, so that you wouldn't be lonely."

Oakwing nodded, and licked his sister's forehead. "Goodbye Hazel, and be safe, ok?"

Silver-ripple pounced on her apprentice, but Robinpaw dodged her attack and hit Silver-ripple's head with the front paw blow. Silver-ripple growled, and pounced onto Robinpaw, but she felt her belly being kicked, and she flew off of her apprentice and landed onto the sand.

She flicked her tail. "Ok, enough. You're getting too strong for me." Robinpaw shook her pelt, and pulled out a stick in between her paw pads. "That's because I have the best mentor. You taught me everything I needed to defend myself with." Silver-ripple purred. "Alright, well, I'm heading back to camp. Go hunt for a bit, then come back to camp." Robinpaw nodded, and padded through the bushes.

Silver-ripple headed back to camp, and sat down in front of the warriors den. Everyone was muttering something, and kept looking back at the nursery. "Why would she reveal it now?" Silver-ripple was confused, as she heard Blossompool and Roselight talking. "Who, and what?" Silver-ripple asked.

Roselight looked at Silver-ripple. "Fawndapple's kits are half kittypet. I assumed they were Duskstorm's, but apparently not." Silver-ripple unsheathed her claws. "Of course not, he never said he was mates with her." Or was he, and he never told me? Silver-ripple flicked her ears to the sound of paws coming towards her.

She could see Duskstorm leaving the nursery entrance and padding over to Silver-ripple. "Hey, what's with the look?" Silver-ripple shook her head. "Oh, I don't know, maybe it's-" Duskstorm waved his tail to silence her. "I wasn't talking to Fawndapple, I was just checking on Foxtail and Hazelkit." Silver-ripple sighed.

"Sorry, I just don't want something bad to happen to you." She muttered. Duskstorm purred and licked her ear. "Nothing will happen to me. I know it won't."