Warriors Short Stories | 2020

One Storm, Four Stories | Short Story

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Pricklestar

“Thank you, StarClan, for the rains.” The tom bent his large head and softly closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the storm slamming into the cave walls. He sat in a small circular cave, a calm pool lay in its center, with a small path leading from the entrance, a short opening, to the cramped shore. A hole in the cave wall revealed the dark sky, covered by clouds, and yet even though the moon wasn’t visible, its light shone through, making the water’s surface dance and illuminating Pricklestar’s black and brown pelt, the pool’s waltz traveling to his fur.

The desert surrounding the Clan’s home had been dry and cracked, the large oasis haven slowly becoming smaller and smaller, until Pricklestar could practically travel along what used to be the area where he would have to start treading water without even getting his paws wet. There was still fresh, drinkable, liquid, yes, but prey was scarce, thin, weak, and sick, so all the warriors in OasisClan showed their ribcages. But the Clan had stayed strong, just as Pricklestar had expected, and their suffering finally came to an end.

The storm raged on outside the comfort of the sacred cave, winds howling at speeds unthinkable. Pricklestar should be sleeping by now, but he had to come to the Moon’s Cave to thank StarClan for their blessing. He definitely should be asleep by now, he was about to be a father soon and that was going to be a lot of work. But he knew he could manage. It wouldn’t be that hard to teach his kits, he bet they would already be naturals.

Pricklestar shivered as a small breeze blew through the entrance, echoing against the brown and tan rock walls. The surface of the pool slithered, just like how the dunes did in the wind, and their movement began to lull the leader to sleep.

“Pricklestar!” A voice hollered from outside this cave, and it was barely audible competing with the wind and rain. “Pricklestar,” it came again. “Hurry, come quick!”

The voice’s urgency sped the leader’s heart up a little, he drew himself up and trotted along the narrow path that elevated above the water a little bit, forming a small cliff. Watching his steps carefully, Pricklestar stopped in front of the entrance and practically backed away instinctively. He hadn’t realized how much warmer it was inside than out, and the icy cold temperature made Pricklestar lightheaded, for he was used to the intense heat of the desert. “What is it?” he asked, his teeth chattering so hard it felt as if they would break loose out of his skull.

Outside a large tom, much larger than Pricklestar himself, stood, his brown pelt drenched by the rain and his dark green eyes alert. You could tell how much he wanted to be let into the shelter that his leader stood in, but only one cat was allowed into the Moon’s Cave at a time, that’s the way it had always been and the way it will always be. “You must come to the nursery,” he spoke, and Pricklestar noticed his white muzzle brown and discolored from the rain. “Glimmerfern is having her kits, and she keeps calling for you.”

Pricklestar’s eyes widened in surprise. Frostwave had said that his mate’s kits were coming in a day or two, but he must have been mistakened. He forced himself to nod, but his mind was still processing the deputy’s words. “Thank you, Harejaw,” he meowed, and suddenly noticed his feet were moving out of the comfort of the cave. It was wet and cold, but he couldn’t miss the birth of his own kits. “Let’s go.”

The two dashed along the slippery slab of rock as fast as they could, though traveling was slower than they expected due to the the rock’s surface and the rain bartering their eyes, limiting their vision. Pricklestar blinked his dark amber eyes for what felt like the millionth time before the leader and his deputy made it to the opening in the cliff that led to OasisClan’s tunnels. The two ducked in quickly and panting for a moment, trying to shake off as much rain water as they could. Thunder boomed, making the two strong cats jump, only a few moments later a strike of lightning slashed the sky, illuminating the dark tunnels and revealing a cream tabby shape moving towards them.