Diverging Paths (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

"Great stars!" moaned Hollowfortune, yawning loudly. "That was the worst night I've ever had." Morning was beginning to dawn on them, the birds joining in the chorus of the swamp and signalling the rising of the sun.

"Right?" Archpounce jumped in, agreeing. "I thank everything in the universe that we don't have to go through that again. Goodness, I'm tired."

"StarClan." A raspy voice made them all jump, and they turned towards Sliverslice, one of the elders alongside Sickbreath, who had woken early and was slinking towards the fresh-kill pile.

"Huh?" Archpounce inquired, confused, as she had provided no context to the word.

"StarClan. You say 'Great StarClan', and 'Thank StarClan,' not 'Great stars' or 'Everything in the universe,'" Sliverslice hissed.

"Well, sorry. Thank StarClan, then," Archpounce pretended to cave into the elder's demands, her voice carrying a tone of sass and indignation.

Sliverslice glared at her. "Don't play games with me, child. You will have to return to them sometime."

The sleek gray she-cat slunk by Archpounce, her lighter silver stripes exaggerating her movement past the other she-cat as she went on her way to the fresh-kill pile. The three littermates stared after her, their drowsiness temporarily forgotten.

"What's her problem?" Hollowfortune murmured, though immediately after, his face went hot, fearing he may have come off too aggressive with that choice of words.

"You know how the elders are these days," Archpounce grumbled, kicking some muddy soil up with a back paw. "Come on, let's talk to Scatterstar or Murmuringsoil and officially end this thing. Hopefully they're in a good mood and will give us the day off."

"Well...you guys go ahead," Highwings said as the two began to leave in the direction of the leader's den. "I actually want to go on a patrol now."

"You what?" Archpounce wheezed, having to keep her laugh down for the sake of her sleeping Clanmates. "Highpaw- Highwings, you just spent a whole night staying up and now you're all ready to walk around the territory? You're mad!"

"Maybe, but since I'm already up, I might as well put myself to use." The she-cat shrugged, twitching a whisker casually. "Not many cats are up at this time of day. It's just logic. I'm already up, so I might as well go, so they don't have to wake someone up who is already sleeping. I'm sure the Clan would appreciate it."

"With you, sister, everything is logic." Archpounce nuzzled Highwings almost condescendingly, with a little giggle. "Fine, go off on your patrol. I'll get some sleep like a normal cat. Coming, Hollowfortune?"

"Don't you want to talk to Murmuringsoil or Scatterstar too?" Hollowfortune asked, addressing his other sister. "You know, to be put on a patrol."

"No," Highwings mumbled with a shrug. "I'll stay here to guard the camp until they come out and appoint me to one themselves."

"Wow, you're really going all-out. Well, if you faint, it's not my fault," Archpounce huffed, swirling her tail around. She swung it over to Hollowfortune, brushing his shoulder and making him jump. "Coming?"

Her brother nodded, and they walked away, leaving their sister be. She retreated back to where she had been sitting, right back in her spot, and sat down, twitching an ear. She made sure not to even disturb the other two designated spots; her black tail curled around her bright white paws, and her eyes narrowed. She had lost the thorn from earlier, so she just found another one, staring right ahead at it, watching it come alive as the sun replaced the moon's silvery light with its brighter shades of brown and green and even a little bit of yellow.