Rising Storm [Warriors: Lakefront Sagas Introductory]

•Chapter One•

The sudden sounds of birds chirping in the distance awoke a black-and-ginger tortoiseshell molly from her fragile slumber. It was preferable, however, as her dreams were filled with nightmarish scenes. She turned her amber gaze to the exit of the dark stony den she was inside of. Despite thick vines covering the exit, making it darker, Hollypaw could tell that it was late at night. There were no other sounds beside chirping birds and the wind rustling the vines slightly.

After everything that happened, the calm nature of the Roots' camp was relieving. The deaths of Mapleheart's kits and Sootclaw were unexpected events that the Territory of the Roots was still recovering from the shock of, even if it was four moons ago. Recovery was going well, and most cats were getting back into their normal routines.

The sudden stirring of someone behind Hollypaw made her turn her head to see a black-pelted molly moving restlessly in her sleep. Some, however, were taking much longer to recover than expected from the shock of the deaths.

Ravenpool was there to see their dead, cut up bodies, and it had traumatised Hollypaw's poor mentor. It was a cruel sight no cat should have seen. If Ravenpool was traumatised as much as she was, Hollypaw could only imagine what Mapleheart and Dewscorch were going through as they were there to see what happened to their loved ones.

Now that she was awake, and she didn't have to dream the same dream she had been having almost her whole life — until night came again —, Hollypaw decided to ensure that the herbs were in their right places. They had a tendency to scatter everywhere with gusts of wind entering the fairly wide den.

Hollypaw walked up to a narrow passageway and walked through it. The other side revealed piles of plucked herbs and medicines scattered everywhere on the cold stone floor. With a sigh, she picked up some wild garlic that was mingling with the tansy pile and moved them over to where they were supposed to be. It was a process that took quite some time. One would think that it wouldn't be as bad since there was a narrow tunnel at the end of the den that led to the herbs, but the wind always had other plans.

Although it took Hollypaw awhile before she got everything back in order, the scattering was nowhere near as bad as the other day. Despite that, Hollypaw could see faint amounts of light seeping into the herb storage from a small hole at the top. She mentally told herself to plug the hole before she forgot again. There was an issue of critters getting inside and eating up the herbs. It likely contributed to the herbs flying everywhere, also.

Hollypaw walked through the narrow tunnel back into the main Herbalist den. Ravenpool was still asleep, so Hollypaw decided to make sure her mentor got as much as she needed while Hollypaw handled with another tough warrior complaining about a thorn barely prickling their fur.

Just then, she could hear pawsteps as they got closer to the Herbalist den. Hollypaw flicked her eyes towards the entrance to see who was approaching. A young ginger tom poked his head inside from the entrance, his bright green eyes lit with worry.

"I don't mean to intrude this late, but the dusk patrol encountered a fox near our borders with Birch Federation and the Moor Cat Territory!" he exclaimed aloud.

The sudden announcement must've woken up Ravenpool as the black molly Herbalist rose to her paws and she sat down in a sitting position. "Did you just say there was a fox attack?"

The ginger tom nodded his head vigorously, his large dark ginger ears flicking with urgency. "Yes! We were patrolling the southern border, and a fox attacked us while Darkfang and Tigerpool were arguing. I think Redtuft and Ashfur were injured badly."

Ravenpool turned her gaze to Hollypaw. "Go grab some oak leaves, cobwebs, and dandelion leaves! Scorchpaw," Ravenpool whipped her head back towards the ginger tom. "Once Hollypaw's done, take us to the patrol as fast as you can!"