Warriors Forbidden Kits

Chapter 4

Stonepaw slowly trudged along behind Riverrun. He was supposed to be having a tour of the territory, but they were going around so slow that he didn't think they would ever finish. They had already seen the Waterclan border, as well as the Airclan. Now they were apparently wandering aimlessly as Riverrun pointed out every single pebble.

"When are we going back to camp Riverrun?" Stonepaw complained. Riverrun turned and looked at him.

"Didn't you want to see the territory?" She asked.

"Yeah, but we saw it already. I know where camp is, and I know where the borders are. We're good." Stonepaw said. Riverrun chuckled.

"There's a lot more to this territory than it would seem." She said.

"Yeah? Like what?" Stonepaw challenged. Riverrun sat down and looked at Stonepaw carefully.

"I'm about to tell you something no other cat knows about. I'm telling you in hopes that you'll give me a chance and listen to me." Riverrun said. Stonepaw sat down.

"There are tunnels on our territory which connect to all three other territories." She said. Stonepaw's eyes widened.

"All other territories?" He repeated.

"Yes. But you must never go in them. You could get lost easily, and I don't know what other cats know about them." Riverrun said.

"Where are they?" Stonepaw asked. Riverrun thought for a moment. Then she stood up and began to walk away.

"Over here." She said. Stonepaw stood and followed her until they came to the place where a river fell over the edge of the cliff and down into the canyon below.

"It's under the waterfall. But Stonepaw, promise me you'll never use it." Riverrun said seriously.

"Promise." Stonepaw said, tail flicking. But in his mind, he added I promise not to let you find out.

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Snowpaw followed Thundertail through the trees. It was a beautiful day out, and she could hear prey running everywhere. Her nose twitched as she smelled all of the different scents.

"This is the border with Fireclan." Thundertail said, stopping. It was the edge of the tall pine trees Snowpaw was used to. Instead, all she could see was large leafy trees and no bushes. She wrinkled her nose as she scented Fireclan.

"Boy, they stink!" She complained. Thundertail chuckled.

"You'll get used to the smell." He laughed. Snowpaw smiled. His laugh was so nice...

"...The gathering tonight." Thundertail finished. Snowpaw blinked.

"What?" She asked. Thundertail looked at her.

"I said that Jaggedstar wants you to come to the gathering tonight. Your brothers are coming too." He said. Snowpaw smiled.

"The gathering! I can't wait! A real and true gathering!" She said excitedly, bouncing around. Thundertail laughed again, then turned around.

"Let's head back to camp. I'm sure you're tired and hungry." He said.

"Sure. I can't wait to tell Shadowpaw and Cloudpaw about everything!" Snowpaw declared as they walked back to camp.

When they arrived, Shadowpaw was already eating a mouse. Snowpaw said goodbye to Thundertail and hopped over to Shadowpaw.

"Guess what? We saw the territory!" Snowpaw exclaimed.

"I did too. Fireclan smells awful, don't they?" Shadowpaw said, wrinkling his nose.

"I'll say. And Earthclan just smells like dust." Snowpaw added.

"That is where they live after all." Shadowpaw pointed out, nibbling on the mouse.

"Have you seen Cloudpaw at all?" Snowpaw suddenly asked. Shadowpaw shook his head.

"Not since Jaggedstar took him out to train." He said. At that moment, Jaggedclaw entered camp leading a very ragged looking Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw padded over to his siblings.

"Boy, I'm tired! Are you going to finish that mouse?" He asked. Without waiting for an answer, he took the mouse and ate it in three bites. Snowpaw and Shadowpaw looked at him oddly.

"What? I was hungry!" Cloudpaw said defensively.

"Are you feeling ok?" Shadowpaw asked.

"I'm feeling fine. Just tired." Cloudpaw said. Shadowpaw and Snowpaw looked at each other. Then they grinned.

"Jaggedstar is amazing! He turned you into a real cat!" Snowpaw said. Cloudpaw frowned.

"I was always a real cat." He said.

"No, you were a runt." Shadowpaw said.

"Say that again." Cloudpaw hissed, u sheathing his claws. Shadowpaw didn't seem to notice.

"I said, you were a runt." Shadowpaw said.

"That's it!" Cloudpaw yowled, launching himself at Shadowpaw with claws unsheathed. Shadowpaw fell back in surprise, but quickly realized that Cloudpaw was aiming to hurt. Shadowpaw unsheathed his claws and fought back. Snowpaw stepped back in horror. What had happened to her brothers? What had Jaggedclaw done that changed Cloudpaw from a runt into a killing machine?