Faith's Journey - Book One (Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

Faith stared at the spot where the brown she-cat had been. The ferns rustled for a third time and Faith spun around, facing the clumps of ferns. She wiggled her ears and scented the air. There was a cat here!

Suddenly a dark gray tom with black stripes, white on his ears, muzzle, chin, chest, belly, paws, and tail with dark blue eyes launched himself out of the ferns. His claws were outstretched, reaching for Faith. Faith's eyes widened as the tom's claws raked her ears. Faith rolled to the side and unsheathed her own claws. The tom was crouching, his tail lashing, and his blue eyes narrowed. The tom blinked at her and then sat up, his claws sliding back in.

"Oh, you're a kittypet." He meowed, looking her up and down.

Faith narrowed her eyes at him, her tail starting to lash.

The tom blinked again. "I didn't think I should rough you up too badly, since you aren't a rival warrior." The tom quickly glanced behind Faith toward the farm. "What are you doing on FernClan territory, anyway?" He asked, bringing his gaze back to her.

This time it was Faith's turn to blink. "FernClan?" She asked, her curiosity rising.

A smile formed the tom's lips. "Yes." He meowed. "FernClan is one of four clans of cats that share these territories. There's FernClan, my clan, we live under the shelter of the leafy woods, using the undergrowth to our advantage. There's also FoxClan, they live out in the grasslands, and they live with foxes in their clan, something to do with Foxstar's origins or something. Next there's CreekClan, they live across the river from us, fishing and swimming for survival. And lastly, there's DuskClan. They live in the pine forest, keeping to the shadows. They don't get involved with much clan action, they never get in fights with the other clans, for anything. This may also have something to do with Duskstar's origins, but no cat really knows, except StarClan." The tom explained.

"StarClan?" Faith's eyes widened as the starry she-cat came to mind.

"The clan's warrior ancestors. They watch over us from Silverpelt, the cluster of stars that you see at night." The tom replied, flicking his tail up at the sky.

Faith's eyes followed where he had pointed, wonder rising in her. She dropped her gaze back to the ground. 

Faith and the tom stiffened when they heard a twig snap. The dark gray tom sniffed the air and his eyes widened in alarm. He swiftly turned back to Faith. 

"Get out of here. Now." He hissed.

Faith let a yowl of protest. "No. I won't." 

The tom stood up and used his front paws to try to push Faith back. Faith stubbornly dug her claws into the grassy earth. 

"I'm not leaving." Faith glared at him. The tom stared back at her, their noses with whisker-lengths apart and their breath met each other's in the air between them.

"I smell my clanmates. One of them will rip you to shreds, unless ordered not to. Now leave." The tom's eyes seemed to be pleading with her.

Faith opened her mouth to protest again but stopped as three cats, one of which Faith recognized, stepped out from between the trees. Their eyes widened in surprise at the scene they saw, of one of their own holding an outsider by their shoulders.