Clans of the Forest:1: Stone and Silver (COMPLETE)

Chapter 6

Stonepaw padded into the elder's den with some fresh moss dangling from her jaws. She sat down beside Waterfall.

"Here, Waterfall." she mewed. She dropped the moss by the elder's nest. Waterfall shifted so that Stonepaw could remove the old moss. After doing so, she placed the fresh moss in it's place and flattened it out. Waterfall climbed back into her nest and purred. 

"Excellent job for a new apprentice. You didn't complain, either." She looked at Stonepaw with thankfulness in her eyes. 

Then the old brown she-cat curled up with her tail over her nose, and Stonepaw felt that it was time to leave.

She padded out into the clearing and to the fresh-kill pile. It was small but more well stocked then it had been earlier this leaf-bare. Stonepaw chose a magpie from the top. Rivereye had caught it. She walked over to the apprentice den and sat down beside Summerpaw. 

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." she stated, looking up from her vole. "What do you think Wonderstar's gonna do to Pinebreeze? I hope she flays her alive. She could live with some scars to show she's not dumb."

Stonepaw was confused by all of the she-cats in Summerpaw's sentence, but nodded her head. "Pinebreeze's head is too big for her body," she agreed. 

Summerpaw giggled a little, nearly choking on vole. "Woah, be careful." Stonepaw warned, finishing the magpie with a few gulps. Her eyes flashed to the medicine den."I'm going to check on Greenmoon."

Greenmoon had fallen ill over the past few days, from what, no cat knew why. He was still healthy enough to hunt and patrol, but he slept and ate in the medicine cat's den. Stonepaw padded in, glancing around. Greenmoon was not inside. She turned to Powersnow.

"Hey, do you know where Greenmoon went?"

Powersnow turned and looked at her. "He went to organize a patrol with Rivereye." She flicked her tail to the mossy area behind Bluestar's den.

Stonepaw walked over, careful not to disrupt anything. "Uh-hi?" she said, making both toms jump in surprise. "May I join your patrol?"

Greenmoon paused for a moment from shock, but then mewed, "Of course." All three cats walked into the clearing, and Rivereye jumped onto the Highstone. 

"Greenmoon is leading a patrol! He is going to bring Stonepaw, Moonbeam, Wishpaw, and Firefly." he leaped down, walking past the cats and stopping to touch Powersnow on the nose. 

Grenmoon gathered his cats and announced, "We're going to patrol the BlizzardClan border to look out for any mischief." He swept around, and headed towards the camp entrance with his cats behind him.

Stonepaw fell into pace with Wishpaw, matching his pawsteps. "Flashkit is just adorable, isn't she?" mewed the silver tabby tom. He flicked his tail. "I hope we don't run into BlizzardClan warriors on our way through."

Stonepaw nodded her agreement and they continued off, taking up the rear of the group. Dew cooled her pads, still slightly sore from the desperate swim across Prey Stream. Since then she was known as one of the best swimmers in the clan.

Firefly sighed. "I can't wait until newleaf comes." she mewed. "With this cold weather, all of the Twoleg kits are playing out in the snow. Isn't their territory big enough already? Why do they need to come near ours?" She flicked her tail in annoyance.

The patrol headed to the BlizzardClan territory border mark. Although frightened of getting in a fight, Stonepaw tasted the air. Squirrel! She sniffed, trying to make out where the little creature was hiding. 

She spotted it shuffling in the undergrowth near a large tree. She walked quietly ahead of the group and dropped into a crouch, aiming for the tail. She shuffled a little closer, careful not to alert the squirrel. Stonepaw crept a little closer . . . then . . .

BAM!

She just missed the tail. Hissing with annoyance, she darted after her prey, keeping her eyes on the same part of the tail. She streaked across the forest floor, ignoring the burrs that were sticking in her pelt.

Without realizing, it she dashed a few feet across the BlizzardClan border before landing on her prey's tail and delivering a swift bite to the neck.

A yowl sounded nearby, and Stonepaw clamped the squirrel between her jaws and ran back to the rest of the patrol. She paused to bury her prey and then turned and faced the sight.

Five BlizzardClan warriors were snarling at them from across the border. Stonepaw gulped as she recognized the tabby warrior in the front. Pinebreeze! 

Pinebreeze took a step forward. "Your dirty apprentice stole prey from our territory. You're not leaving without a fight."

"Oh, really." Greenmoon responded coolly. "Didn't you notice that the prey was on our side of the border when she started stalking it? Or are you blind and just want to shed blood?" Stonepaw gulped with guilt. This is all my fault! 

Pinebreeze lashed her tail. "You lazy, spoiled ForestClan cats never teach your kits any respect for their borders. I bet she doesn't even know the warrior code."

Stonepaw unsheathed her claws and leaped at Pinebreeze. "Stop!" cried Greenmoon, but Stonepaw had already clawed Pinebreeze's muzzle. "Attack!" screeched Pinebreeze, and the fight begun. 

Stonepaw leaped on top of Pinebreeze's face and lashed her claws at her opponent's ear. The brown tabby screeched and flung Stonepaw off of her head. "Kittypet!" she jeered. Stonepaw yowled with rage and slammed herself in Pinebreeze with all of the strength she could muster. The she-cat let out a yelp of surprise as she was rammed into a tree. She lay limp for a few seconds but then leapt to her feet, her eyes glittering with malice. She lunged at Stonepaw, pinning her easily. Stonepaw couldn't remember any of her moves. Frantically, she went limp, hoping Pinebreeze would fall for it. She didn't, and instead lowered her head for the killing bite.

But that's-that's against the Warrior Code!  This cat has no honor! She felt like saying. Suddenly, a large bundle of gray fur slammed into Pinebreeze, knocking her off of her feet. Stonepaw immediately joined in as Greenmoon fought her off. Refusing to be defeated, Pinebreeze sank her teeth in Greenmoon's chest and didn't let go. Stonepaw watched in horror as crimson stained his dark gray fur. Pinebreeze did't release him until he stopped struggling and went limp.

Stonepaw turned on Pinebreeze, full of fury. "You rotten, flea-bitten excuse for a cat!" she screeched. But Pinebreeze did nothing but smile. "My work here is done."

She and her cats turned away into the bushes, leaving nothing but the smell of blood.

"Greenmoon . . ." whispered Stonepaw, grief-stricken. Firefly padded up to her.

"Don't worry, he's alive, he just needs treatment."

But Stonepaw wasn't so reassured. Greenmoon had been sick, and vulnerable. Despite Firefly's comforting words, Stonepaw felt that there was a need to worry.