Fawnstar's Return

Chapter 8

Birds tweeted in Fawnstar's ear. She blinked her eyes open and gazed around. She was in a bright forest, with prey sounds all around. Wait, this isn't the forest Blossompaw, Patchpaw and I came to! This is somewhere else! Fawnstar realized. She cautiously crept around, looking at every leaf on every tree and every single blade of grass that poked through the forest floor. Fawnstar saw a black shape flitting through the trees. It was a cat! A black cat! Fawnstar thought of Night at once.

"Night?" she called into the trees. "Night, where are you?!" she yowled. The black cat dissapeared and Fawnstar was left alone in the forest. Shadows began to enlcose her, and when she called out Fawnstar's words echoed around her. 

"Fawnstar get up!" a voice echoed back. Fawnstar opened her eyes quickly. Blossompaw was standing over her. "Fawnstar it's dawn! We need to leave. You were twitching as much as a frightened mouse!" Fawnstar blinked and stood up.

"Have you two hunted yet?" she asked the apprentices. They shook their heads. "I'll find us something to eat," she meowed, and padded off into the trees. The morning sunlight dappled her tabby pelt, and the leaves rustled as a cool breeze blew through the forest. Fawnstar found the trail of a mouse, and began to pad after it. The mouse was scuffling under a maple tree, trying to find nuts or berries to eat. She cautiously crept forward, and pounced. She killed it with one bite to the neck and whispered, "Thank you Starclan for this prey." 

Fawnstar continued to search for prey and caught a squirrel. The trees were plentiful with prey because it was greenleaf, unlike the forest in leafbare, when prey was scarce. Fawnstar wondered how Lightclan would be faring. Had the river flooded yet? Was Moonclan safe? We're they safe? She shook out her thoughts and padded back to Blossompaw and Patchpaw. Both of them had caught a mouse and were sharing the two between them.

"Would you like to help me with this squirrel?" Fawnstar asked. They nodded and came over to eat. Fawnstar finished the mouse she had caught, licking her lips in delight. Once they were done with the squirrel, she felt stuffed. They hadn't had this much prey in moons! "Alright, we better keep going. We should get to the mountains by sunset," she meowed. 

Fawnstar led the way out of the forest on the other side, and was amazed at what she saw. A huge prarie stretched before them, its waving grasses big and tall.

"How will we get across that?" Blossompaw murmured. Fawnstar shrugged.

"It doesn't seem too big, and the grasses are soft, not brittle like some on twoleg territory. I'm sure of it. We'll still be able to make it to the mountains by sunset." She set a brisk pace for the two younger cats; they traveled quickly but carefully over the barren terrain. The soft grass touched their raw pads and soothed it. Rabbit scent lay dense on the moor, and after a short while the three stopped to hunt. They each caught a rabbit for themselves.

"I haven't been this full in moons!" Patchpaw mewed after his belly was bulging with satisfaction. Fawnstar purred her agreement. 

"We better keep going. It's just past sunhigh." She looked into the sky. The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky, and the three cats were going to have to travel faster to make it to the mountains before sunset. Then the fields ended. They were standing in front of the mountains. "Where could Night be?" she murmured. "Come on, we'll climb up to there. It's a ledge, so we can stop and rest for a moment." She pointed to a rock jutting out from the side of the mountain. Fawnstar went first, bounding up the steep rocky and grassy slope. The apprentices followed. Blossompaw slipped, but Fawnstar grasped her scruff in her mouth.

"Thanks!" the apprentice meowed. The going got tough, the face of the mountain was getting steeper, and they were taking switchbacks and cutting through boulders. At last they ran up to the top of a rise, and then looked down. A field was stretching before them, right in the middle of two mountains. It was raised high up, not like a field on the ground. Then Fawnstar saw it. A cat.

She ran down the slope as fast as she could with the apprentices hard on her heels. "Hello!" Fawnstar called. The cat, a ginger tom, turned around and hissed.

"What are you doing here?" he growled. "This is our territory." 

"I've come to find a cat called Night," she stammered. The fur on the cat's neck flattened, and he had a surprised look on his face.

"Come," he meowed. He led them past a few boulders and over to a rocky cave. 

"I don't want to live in there," Patchpaw whispered to Blossompaw. She nodded in agreement. Fawnstar peered into the cave. Moss and feathers lined a few nests, and a gap in the top let sun shine through and filled the cavern with light. A cat stepped out of the shadows. He was a broad black tom with piercing yellow eyes.

"Night?" Fawnstar whispered. The cat blinked and walked forward.

"My name is Night. I do not know who you are, but you smell of Lightclan. Lightclan will always be welcome here," he meowed curtly. Fawnstar dipped her head.

"I am Fawnstar, leader of Lightclan. I have come to get you. The clans will be destroyed from teh river, and Starclan told me that you would save us from the river." Night looked puzzled.

"But why me?" Fawnstar looked at him with unblinking eyes.

"I am not sure," she whispered. The ginger cat hissed.

"You can't leave Night! These cats are crazy!" Night eyed him carefully.

"No Dash," he meowed. "I will help Lightclan. I honor them, and you should honor them too. I will come with you. We can't leave tomorrow, for it will snow. We will leave in two sunrises." Dash bit back an angry retort. He flicked his tail and showed the visting cats to some nests. A grey tabby walked out from the shadows, with two small kits trailing behind her.

"Hello," she meowed. "I am Piper. I hear you are from Lightclan. Night has told many stories about your Clan. It is an honor to meet you." Fawnstar nodded her thanks.

"Who are these young kits?" she asked fondly. Piper blinked at her with pride in her olive green eyes.

"The little white and grey tabby is Velvet, and the ginger tom is Patch." She gestured to the she-cat first, then the tom. Fawnstar purred.

"Is Dash the father?" Piper nodded. "They look like mini copies of you!" Piper chuckled.

"I suppose indeed," she meowed, looking down at her kits. The ginger tom kit stepped forward.

"Who are you?" he squeaked. Piper cuffed her paw around his ear playfully.

"That's a very noble clan leader named Fawnstar. In fact, she's the leader of Lightclan." The kits looked up at her with awe in their eyes. Fawnstar blinked warmly at them. Then a thought came to her mind, something she never thought of before. She padded to the center of the cave and called the cats together.

"I would like to preform a ceremony, passed down from generation to generation through the warrior code. It is when apprentices become warriors." She beckoned Patchpaw and Blossompaw forward with her tail. Their mouths dropped open wide, but the came.

"I, Fawnstar, leader of Lightclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Patchpaw, Blossompaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend this clan at the cost of your life?"

Their voices were shaky as they meowed together, "I do."

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior names. Patchpaw from this moment on you will be known as Patchfoot. Starclan honors your enthusiasum and courage, and we know welcome you as a full warrior of Lightclan." Patchfoot lifted his head up to lick her shoulder. "Blossompaw, from this moment on you will be known as Blossomshine. Starclan honors your kindness and bravery, and we now welcome you as a full warrior of Lightclan." Blossomshine licked her shoulder. The two warriors stood up, their eyes glowing with pride. Fawnstar began to cheer, and the other cats joined in, their mews echoing around the cave walls.

Thanks for reading! I'll post more chapters soon!

-Fawntail_19