Warriors Novella Set: She-Cats of the Lake

Chapter 1

Moonpaw sits in the clearing of ShadowClan's camp. She had just returned from the dawn patrol a while ago, but now she is just sitting there, staring at a beetle that is crawling on the ground below her.

"Moonpaw," The young apprentice hears a familiar voice meow, she turns her head to spot her mother, Smokefur, gazing at her lovingly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Moonpaw lies, shifting her gaze over towards another part of the ground. "I just miss Addertooth."

"I know you do, I do too," Smokefur meows. "But moping around about it isn't going to help anything," she adds, giving her daughter a gentle shove, trying to improve her move.

It's been a few days since Moonpaw's father, Addertooth, was killed by badgers while defending the Clan from them bravely. The Clan considers him a hero now, but at the expense of the happiness of his kin and friends. Her littermates were all close to Addertooth, but Moonpaw was especially close to her father, spending time with him whenever she could, even following him around camp.

"Maybe if you go visit Daisybloom and her kits, it can cheer you up," Smokefur meows.

"She had her kits?" Moonpaw asks, finally looking up at her mother.

"Yeah, she did early this morning," Smokefur meows. "They're adorable."

"I'm surprised, she just moved into the nursery, didn't she?" Moonpaw asks, a little confused, as Daisybloom had just moved into the nursery after the badger attack.

"Yeah," Smokefur meows. "I was confused too, so I asked Marshshade about it. He said that she was afraid of what the rest of the Clan would think if they had kits this early into being warriors and before officially being mates. So, she kept with her warrior duties until she couldn't anymore. She's lucky her kits were born healthily, that could've really put herself and her kits in danger."

"That's really frog-brained," Moonpaw comments. "I'll make sure to go visit them, though."

"Thank you," Smokefur meows, giving Moonpaw another soft shove. "Try to keep your head up, alright? Tigerpaw and Sparrowpaw seem to be doing fine."

Stop comparing me to them. Moonpaw can't help to think as Smokefur begins to pad away from her and towards Cloudheart to chat with her. Moonpaw sits up off the ground and turns around, heading over towards the nursery to visit Daisybloom and her kits. She steps inside, spotting the gray-and-white tabby in her nest with three small bundles of fur near her belly.

"It looks like you've finally decided to come visit, I've been waiting for you," Daisybloom purrs. "Come over," she meows, beckoning Moonpaw over with her tail. Moonpaw pads closer towards the queen as the smell of warm milk fills her nose. "Moonpaw, meet Thornkit, Graykit, and Sagekit."

Moonpaw moves her head closer to the kits, sniffing them. Moonpaw's eyes widen and she gives Daisybloom a shocked gaze as one of the kits begins to suckle on her nose. Daisybloom lets out a loud purr of amusement and Moonpaw quickly backs away, twitching her nose with shock.

"Thornkit! Milk isn't going to come out of Moonpaw's nose!" Daisybloom purrs with amusement, grabbing the gray-and-white kit by his scruff and turning him around so he is facing her belly again. "Their eyes haven't opened yet, so he probably couldn't tell the difference!"

"It's okay," Moonpaw meows, although she is shocked by the occurrence, the positive energy in the nursery has been lifting up her mood.

"Moonpaw," She then hears a familiar voice from behind her. She turns her head to spot her mentor, Applebranch, peeking his head into the nursery. "Oh, there you are! I thought you might be in here. Let's go training."

"Go train now," Daisybloom meows. "Try to cheer up and give the training session your all!" She encourages Moonpaw as she turns and leaves the nursery, following behind Applebranch, her tail dragging against the ground.

"Today, you're going to learn a new battle tactic," Applebranch meows as they pad through the camp entrance to head towards the small clearing in ShadowClan territory. "It's one of my favorites, so make sure to pay attention. I loved it when Frogleap taught me it when I was an apprentice, so I think you will love it too."

Is it common knowledge around camp that I've been really down ever since Addertooth died or is it just me?! Moonpaw thinks.

"Hey, Moonpaw!" She hears, she is then shocked and lets out a small wail as she is tackled down to the ground. She opens her eyes to spot both Tigerpaw and Sparrowpaw looking down at her.

"Did we scare you?!" Tigerpaw teases.

"Don't look at me, it was his idea," Sparrowpaw meows quietly.

Tigerpaw has always been an energetic and troublesome cat since he was a kit. He would always be getting into trouble. On the other side, Sparrowpaw could practically do nothing wrong. She has always been a shy, sweet kit who loved to listen to Beetlenose's stories. So, it was it was obvious to Moonpaw who was the mastermind behind this surprise attack.

"What are you two doing here?" Moonpaw grumbles.

"Hunting patrol!" Tigerpaw meows.

"Shouldn't the two of you be sticking with the patrol?" Applebranch asks. "The two of you better hurry back or else I'll tell Ashstar."

Tigerpaw and Sparrowpaw quickly get up off their sister and then dash off in the other direction, leaving Moonpaw in a daze.

"Now, let's continue," Applebranch meows, continuing to lead the way to the small clearing while Moonpaw follows closely behind him.