Post by Azure on Nov 13, 2008 17:46:21 GMT -5
-Disclaimer-The warriors series belong to Erin Hunter
-Claimer-the cats in this story belong to me. If you have a cat with the same name sors. These cats are totally different.
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Chapter 1
The wind gently blew stirring ferns, bracken, and a few stray leaves. A lithe pale shape quickly traveled through the trees. A smaller black shape with white dots all over it's back fallowed after. When they got to a small clearing they stopped and looked around for danger.
"Now then,"The pale one said turning towards the black one. "Attack me." As soon as he said that he crouched down and lashed his tail.
The smaller black cat lowered to the ground but hesitated. In the moments hesitation the pale cat rushed foward and lashed out with a sheathed paw. The black cat jumped out of the way quickly and hissed. "C'mon Spottedpaw, I know you can do better than that." The pale tom said facing the black she cat. Spottedpaw hissed and ran at the pale tom one way but at the last second darted to the other side and butted the tom in the shoulder. The tom hit the ground but quickly got up as Spottedpaw lunged. He moved out of the way and cuffed her on the way down.
"Hey, Lostspirit!" A massive gray tom walked into the clearing. The pale tom looked up as Spottedpaw got up and shook her pelt. She turned to face the new cat that came in. "Sorry to ruin your and Spottedpaw's training secession but Granitestar told me to come find you guys and go patrol the borders. We got news of a couple of loners and he wants us to make sure they aren't going into our territory." The gray tom sat down and his half tail lashed back and forth quickly. A young black tom with white stripes came into the clearing next to the gray tom. "We can pick up some prey on the way there anyways plus it would be good training for our apprentices if they got to fight a couple of loners." He said kidingly.
Lostspirit nodded his head with a smirk. "All right, Dogheart. Let's go Spottedpaw." He got up and padded over to the gray tom and flicked his tail for Spottedpaw to follow. Dogheart and Lostspirit started to pad off. The black tom with white stripes started to follow after his mentor. Spottedpaw fell in line beside him.
"I'm glad you and Dogheart showed up when you did, Ebonypaw. I was sure to loose if you guys didn't show up," Spottedpaw whispered to the black tom. He gave nothing but glance and a slight nod to show that he heard her. "I'm a better hunter than fighter anyways."
The four cats traveled deeper into the forest until they reached the familiar scent of the ShadowClan border markers. "Now, what do you scent?" Dogheart said turning to the two apprentices. Spottedpaw raised her head and opened her jaws to let the scents flood over the glands on the roof of her mouth.
"I smell....prey, and a twoleg scent but it's stale. Our border markers, and...and..."Spottedpaw stopped and made a face. "I've never smelled it before but it smells bad."
"That would be the scent of loners," Lostspirit said. He looked around for a moment. "It smells pretty fresh. Let's continue on to see if they might be around." He said. Dogheart renewed the scent markers and the patrol continued on.
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A small black she-cat slowly padded up to the fence that surrounded the house. The young cat easily jumped up and looked down in the garden. Her dark blue eyes glanced around to make sure the dog wasn't out and hopped down. "Glenah?!" She said looking around.
The branches on a nearby bush rustled slightly making the black cat jump. She relaxed when she saw a tortoiseshell she-cat emerge from underneath the bush. "Hmm?" She said blinking sleepily.
"Wanna go exploring with me? I've been bored all morning and I was wondering if you would go with me into the forest." She shuffled her paws nervously and looked at the tortoiseshell she pleadingly.
"Jeeze, Jinx. Ever since you saw those forest cats roaming around you've been going into the forest more and more often." Glenah said looking at the she severaly, but her face softened when she saw the pleading look in her friend's eyes. "But we'll go."
The black cat's eyes lightened up and she rushed over and touched her friend's nose with her own."Oh thank you, Glenah."
"Yeah whatever, C'mon we're wasting day light." The tortoishell she walked over to the fence and jumped on it. She waited for Jinx to get up there and they both jumped down on the forest side of the fence. They raced off into the forest.
The sun was starting to sink below the trees when Glenah flicked her ears in the darkness of the trees. "Shh...did you hear that?"
Jinx was a few tail-lengs away, splashing in a puddle the rains left from yesterday. She stopped and looked up at Glenah. "Hear what?" Her ears pricked up. "I don't he-," she was cut off by her friend's gasp. She looked over at what Glenah was staring at with wide eyes. Her own blue eyes widened with horror.
A massive white tom dissolved out of the darkness. His eyes seemed to glisten red with the fading light. "Well if it isn't two kittypets far from home."
Glenah stepped in front Jinx. "What do you want, Viper?" Her tail lashed back and forth angrily.
"Oh nothing, just to talk." A cold smirk formed. The looked he gave the two cats made shivers go down Jinx's spine. She cowered down behing Glenah. The older she-cat's fur was fluffed and she looked twice her size. "No need to get hostile. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Whatever it is, we are not gonna do it." Glenah growled. Jinx could smell her friend's fear scent but knew she was hiding it with aggression.
The white tom chuckled slightly. "Why would you deny something when I haven't even told you. Besides, what I'm about to ask you is simple. You and your kit join me....or you die."
Jinx heard Glenah gasp again but the she regained her composure quickly. "I don't care what you do to me....just leave Jinx alone." She hissed again.
Viper closed his red eyes. "Fine you leave me no choice....." He jerked his head and a dark brown tom came into the clearing. "I'll take care of the old timer....you get the kit. You can injure her...just don't kill her." The dark brown tom nodded and crouched down.
"Jinx run!" Glenah yelled at the younger she. Jinx looked at her friend with wide eyes but darted off deeper into the forest but didn't get very far as the dark brown tom bowled her over. Glenah looked back at Viper. The white tom's red eyes narrowed and he lunged at the tortoiseshell.
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Ebonypaw stopped and sniffed the air. "Do you guys hear that?" He said looking back at the rest of the patrol. Spottedpaw's ears pricked up and she strained for the noise.
"It sounds like fighting." She murmured. Dogheart and Lostspirit exchanged glances and darted off in the direction. Spottedpaw looked at Ebonypaw and started to run after her mentor. "C' Mon!"
Spottedpaw and Ebonypaw broke into the clearing. The black she-cat's eyes widened at what she saw. A white tom was fighting with her mentor, while another dark brown tom wrestled with Dogheart. Ebonypaw raced into the clearing to help his mentor. Spottedpaw started to race in but tripped over something. She got up and looked. It was a tortoiseshell she cat. Her throat was ripped open. Spottedpaw got up and looked around at the fighting cats. Her dark green eyes rested on a small black form on the far side of the clearing. Spottedpaw raced over to the form. It was another cat but she was unconscious. Probably about the same age as herself. Her heart raced when she heard a yowl from behind her. She reeled around to see the white tom throw Lostspirit off of him. The pale warrior layed motionless. The white tom reeled around to face Spottedpaw and the other black cat. He started to walk towards the two. Spottedpaw coward down and hissed at him.
"Get out of my way, runt!" He hissed. She was knocked over as he knocked her out of the way. Her side stung as his claws raked down. Spottedpaw got back up and dodged out of the way as he swiped again. She lashed out at him and her claws raked his face. He let out a furious yowl and jumped back shaking his head from side to side. Scarlet red drops scattered the ground. The white tom turned and ran towards the trees. "Rocket retreat!" He fixed his one red eye on Spottedpaw and let out a furious hiss. The brown tom broke away from Dogheart and tore off towards the forest. Ebonypaw chased after him and gave him a bite to his tail.
The tom let out a yowl and ran faster, Ebonypaw let go and watched as the two loners ran off toward ShadowClan's borders. "And don't come back!" He screeched after them. He turned to face Dogheart. The massive grey tom was over beside Lostspirit, he nuzzled the warrior. His ears drooped.
"Lostspirit...no...not my brother...." Ebonypaw heard him whisper. He was about to walk over to him when Dogheart faced Ebonypaw. His eyes were glazed with sadness. "Go back to camp. Tell Granitestar and bring back some warriors to make sure those loners got out of our territory. You also might want to get the medicine cat." Ebonypaw nodded his head. He heard some rustling behind him and turned around. A wave of relief went over him when he saw Spottepaw. She looked okay except for a couple of scratches on her side. She was standing over another black cat and licking the cat's wounds. "She looks like she is okay." Ebonypaw thought and raced off in the direction of camp.
The first stars of night were just starting to appear when Ebonypaw returned with Granitestar. The gray leader walked over to Dogheart. He looked at his warrior sympatheticly and touched the tip of his tail against Dogheart's shoulder. Granitestar then turned to face the warriors that came with him. He looked at his deputy. "Strongheart, you and Barkfur go and make sure the loners left the territory." The redish brown warrior nodded his head and signaled for the dark brown tabby tom warrior to follow with his apprentice, Shadowpaw. The patrol disappeared into the forest heading towards the boundaries. Granitestar then looked around the clearing. He saw the body of the tortoiseshell over by the trees. He motioned for a orange tom with a white underbelly to come over. "Is that another loner?"
"Yes..but Ebonypaw told me that she didn't fight Dogheart or Lostspirit. She was already dead when they got here." The orange warrior said. "Maybe the other two loners were trying to get at her kit." He flicked his tail over to a white she cat with brown paws. "Appleblossom is tending to the kit right now."
"All right. We'll be nice and bury the she-cat's body here. Foxfoot, you and Mistedsoul bury her." Foxfoot nodded his head walked towards the tortoiseshell's body, flicking his tail for a light grey tabby she-cat to help. Granitestar then looked at a golden tom with bright yellow eyes. "Lionfang, you and Dogheart take Lostspirit's body back to camp. We'll be back after Barkfur and the patrol get back and Foxfoot gets done burying the loner." The golden tom nodded his head and walked over to Dogheart. Lionfang murmured something in his ear and the gray warrior nodded his head. Together they dragged the pale warrior's body back to camp. Granitestar walked over to a white she cat. The she-cat was haunched over a black kit, who was still unconscious. The kit had a gash on the back of her head and a couple of scratches but looked like she would make a recovery.
"That's right Ebonypaw, keep licking Spottedpaw's wounds while I tend to this youngester." The white she-cat said. Ebonypaw was standing beside Spottedpaw licking the scratches on her side. The young apprentice seemed traumatized from her mentors death and was unresponsive to those around her.
"Are they going to be okay, Appleblossom?" Granitestar said to the white she-cat.
"Spottedpaw should be okay....just traumatized. I'll apply the right poultice to her wounds to make sure they don't get infected when we get back to camp. The same to this kit though I can't tell if she has brain problems, due to the blow she recieved." The white she paused and looked up at the rapidly fading light. "I would like to get them back to camp before it grows too dark." Appleblossom looked at Granitestar, who nodded his head.
"Right," He looked at Ebonypaw. "Help Spottedpaw back to camp." The apprentice nodded his head and gently nuzzled Spottedpaw's uninjured side. With a mew of protest she finally got up and Ebonypaw lead her off. Granitestar flicked his ears in the direction of rustling branches. A few moments later Strongheart emerged with Barkfur and Shadowpaw. "Anything?" Granitestar inquired.
"We followed their scent as far as our borders. They're long gone...but I don't think we've seen the last of 'em." Strongheart said.
"Okay. There is nothing more we can do here....let's go back to camp." Strongheart nodded his head and started to run off. Barkfur and Shadowpaw was following.
"We're all done here, Granitestar." Foxfoot said. Mistedsoul was behind him patting the last few bits of dirt on the fresh grave. Granitestar nodded his head and looked at Appleblossom. The medicine cat picked up the black she-cat by the scruff and started to walk off towards camp. Granitestar motioned for Foxfoot and Mistedsoul to follow. He watched the warriors and the medicine cat disappear into the darkness of the trees with the kit. The lingering scent of loners, fear-scent and blood remained in the air. With a slight sigh he realed around and took off back to camp.
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Granitestar broke through the undergrowth into camp. He immediatly walked to the tree beside his den. He quickly climbed and sat on a low branch. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath this branch for a Clan meeting." His yowl echoed throughout the camp. Dogheart was already underneath the stump with his brother's body. What few cats that were in the dens came out. All of a sudden an agonized yowl rang out through the clearing, and a dark grey queen ran over to Lostspirit's body. Granitestar's heart seemed to drop down to his paws. That was Charcoalpelt, Lostspirit's mate and she was due to have her kits any day now. The queen pressed her muzzled into her mate's pelt. A black bengal she-cat rubbed the queens shoulder with her muzzle. Granitestar sighed as the cats began to settle down to listen to their leader. "As most of you know, some loners have been coming in and out of our territory as they pleased. So far nothing happened. We had patrols follow the scent and they've either went out of our territory in to the other Clan's without them trying to take any prey but...." He paused and looked at his Clan members. "But today a fight broke out between one of our patrols and a couple of rouges...Lostspirit gave his life defending his Clan. He was a noble warrior and we will miss him dearly." He looked at Charcoalpelt, she hadn't moved. "Also....a loner she-cat was killed in the fight. She wasn't fighting against us but fighting against the other loners. We suspect she was defending her kit. We brought this kit to the Clan. We will question her when she regains her strength but for now nobody talks to her except for Appleblossom, Strongheart, and myself." He heard whispers and meows of sympathy. "We will sit vigil for Lostspirit tonight and bury him tomorrow." He ended the meeting with a flick of his tail and jumped off of the stump. He watched as other as the clan members started to walk over and share tongues with Lostspirit for the last time.
The grey leader headed towards Appleblossom's den. When he got close his ears perked up when heard the medicine cat's voice. "That's right Poisonpaw, press the marigold on the wound. Gently, gently....don't hurt the kit even more."
"Sorry, Appleblossom," A sandy brown she-cat murmured looking up from her patient. Granitestar sat at the entrance of the den and watched the medicine cats work.
"Please, Spottedpaw, eat these." Appleblossom said trying to coax the apprentice in eating the herbs she offered. Spottedpaw turned her head away.
"Can I please go pay my respects to Lostspirit first?" She meowed pleadingly.
"All right.....Ebonypaw keep an eye on her please." She watched the two apprentices walk off. "Oh and on your way back...bring Dogheart." She meowed after them. She looked up at Granitestar and sighed. "How's Charcoalpelt?"
"Heart broken. She still is mourning for her mate. This happened so close to her kitting too...." Granitestar's voice trailed off. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I'll give her some herbs to help with distress when I bring her her borage leaves." She said sadly keeping an eye on her apprentice's work.
"How are Spottedpaw and Ebonypaw?" Granitestar asked looking at the black kit curled up on moss. Poisonpaw just got down tending to the gash on the back of her head and was now working on the few minor scratches.
"Ebonypaw is fine. I think he did more damage then taken. Spottedpaw....she's more traumatized than anything. I'm going to treat her scratches and keep her in her over night to keep an eye on her." She followed her leader's gaze to the kit Poisonpaw was tending to. "The kit is going to be okay to. What are we going to do about her when she wakes up?"
"I'll deal with it when she the time comes. Right now, just keep treating her and I'll discuss what we should do with her with Strongheart." He said shifting he gaze back to Appleblossom. He bowed his head and turned to leave. He brushed past Dogheart. The massive gray warrior's head was bowed and his eyes were clouded slightly with sadness. Granitestar padded out into the clearing and headed over to Lostspirit's body. Charcoalpelt was curled up against her mate, and Spottedpaw licked the side of her mentor's head. Ebonypaw's eyes were filled for sadness for Spottedpaw and the queen. When Granitestar got close, the two apprentices started to walk off back to the medicine cat's den. Granitestar pressed his muzzled against Lostspirit's cold body. "You were a great warrior, Lostspirit, you will be missed by us all." He murmured into the warrior's fur. Granitestar walked over to Charcoalpelt and nuzzled her shoulder. "You need to get inside the nursery or you will get a sick." The dark gray queen looked up at Granitestar looked up with sadness in her eyes an nodded her head. A light brown queen that was with Charcoalpelt, helped the dark gray queen back to the nursery. "Thank you Rabbitfoot." The queen nodded and continued on towards the nursery. Granitestar looked at Lostspirit's body and sighed. He turned to walk back to his den. He knew there was nothing he could do, the elders would bury him tomorrow. The light grey tom curled up in his den and fell asleep not too long after.
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I have currently wrote four chapters for this story. If you like this chapter please review it and I will post the next one. If you want your cat to be in the story, PM me with its name, what Clan you want it to be in (or loner). I will TRY to put it in my story.
Thanks for reading,
Azure
-Claimer-the cats in this story belong to me. If you have a cat with the same name sors. These cats are totally different.
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Chapter 1
The wind gently blew stirring ferns, bracken, and a few stray leaves. A lithe pale shape quickly traveled through the trees. A smaller black shape with white dots all over it's back fallowed after. When they got to a small clearing they stopped and looked around for danger.
"Now then,"The pale one said turning towards the black one. "Attack me." As soon as he said that he crouched down and lashed his tail.
The smaller black cat lowered to the ground but hesitated. In the moments hesitation the pale cat rushed foward and lashed out with a sheathed paw. The black cat jumped out of the way quickly and hissed. "C'mon Spottedpaw, I know you can do better than that." The pale tom said facing the black she cat. Spottedpaw hissed and ran at the pale tom one way but at the last second darted to the other side and butted the tom in the shoulder. The tom hit the ground but quickly got up as Spottedpaw lunged. He moved out of the way and cuffed her on the way down.
"Hey, Lostspirit!" A massive gray tom walked into the clearing. The pale tom looked up as Spottedpaw got up and shook her pelt. She turned to face the new cat that came in. "Sorry to ruin your and Spottedpaw's training secession but Granitestar told me to come find you guys and go patrol the borders. We got news of a couple of loners and he wants us to make sure they aren't going into our territory." The gray tom sat down and his half tail lashed back and forth quickly. A young black tom with white stripes came into the clearing next to the gray tom. "We can pick up some prey on the way there anyways plus it would be good training for our apprentices if they got to fight a couple of loners." He said kidingly.
Lostspirit nodded his head with a smirk. "All right, Dogheart. Let's go Spottedpaw." He got up and padded over to the gray tom and flicked his tail for Spottedpaw to follow. Dogheart and Lostspirit started to pad off. The black tom with white stripes started to follow after his mentor. Spottedpaw fell in line beside him.
"I'm glad you and Dogheart showed up when you did, Ebonypaw. I was sure to loose if you guys didn't show up," Spottedpaw whispered to the black tom. He gave nothing but glance and a slight nod to show that he heard her. "I'm a better hunter than fighter anyways."
The four cats traveled deeper into the forest until they reached the familiar scent of the ShadowClan border markers. "Now, what do you scent?" Dogheart said turning to the two apprentices. Spottedpaw raised her head and opened her jaws to let the scents flood over the glands on the roof of her mouth.
"I smell....prey, and a twoleg scent but it's stale. Our border markers, and...and..."Spottedpaw stopped and made a face. "I've never smelled it before but it smells bad."
"That would be the scent of loners," Lostspirit said. He looked around for a moment. "It smells pretty fresh. Let's continue on to see if they might be around." He said. Dogheart renewed the scent markers and the patrol continued on.
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A small black she-cat slowly padded up to the fence that surrounded the house. The young cat easily jumped up and looked down in the garden. Her dark blue eyes glanced around to make sure the dog wasn't out and hopped down. "Glenah?!" She said looking around.
The branches on a nearby bush rustled slightly making the black cat jump. She relaxed when she saw a tortoiseshell she-cat emerge from underneath the bush. "Hmm?" She said blinking sleepily.
"Wanna go exploring with me? I've been bored all morning and I was wondering if you would go with me into the forest." She shuffled her paws nervously and looked at the tortoiseshell she pleadingly.
"Jeeze, Jinx. Ever since you saw those forest cats roaming around you've been going into the forest more and more often." Glenah said looking at the she severaly, but her face softened when she saw the pleading look in her friend's eyes. "But we'll go."
The black cat's eyes lightened up and she rushed over and touched her friend's nose with her own."Oh thank you, Glenah."
"Yeah whatever, C'mon we're wasting day light." The tortoishell she walked over to the fence and jumped on it. She waited for Jinx to get up there and they both jumped down on the forest side of the fence. They raced off into the forest.
The sun was starting to sink below the trees when Glenah flicked her ears in the darkness of the trees. "Shh...did you hear that?"
Jinx was a few tail-lengs away, splashing in a puddle the rains left from yesterday. She stopped and looked up at Glenah. "Hear what?" Her ears pricked up. "I don't he-," she was cut off by her friend's gasp. She looked over at what Glenah was staring at with wide eyes. Her own blue eyes widened with horror.
A massive white tom dissolved out of the darkness. His eyes seemed to glisten red with the fading light. "Well if it isn't two kittypets far from home."
Glenah stepped in front Jinx. "What do you want, Viper?" Her tail lashed back and forth angrily.
"Oh nothing, just to talk." A cold smirk formed. The looked he gave the two cats made shivers go down Jinx's spine. She cowered down behing Glenah. The older she-cat's fur was fluffed and she looked twice her size. "No need to get hostile. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Whatever it is, we are not gonna do it." Glenah growled. Jinx could smell her friend's fear scent but knew she was hiding it with aggression.
The white tom chuckled slightly. "Why would you deny something when I haven't even told you. Besides, what I'm about to ask you is simple. You and your kit join me....or you die."
Jinx heard Glenah gasp again but the she regained her composure quickly. "I don't care what you do to me....just leave Jinx alone." She hissed again.
Viper closed his red eyes. "Fine you leave me no choice....." He jerked his head and a dark brown tom came into the clearing. "I'll take care of the old timer....you get the kit. You can injure her...just don't kill her." The dark brown tom nodded and crouched down.
"Jinx run!" Glenah yelled at the younger she. Jinx looked at her friend with wide eyes but darted off deeper into the forest but didn't get very far as the dark brown tom bowled her over. Glenah looked back at Viper. The white tom's red eyes narrowed and he lunged at the tortoiseshell.
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Ebonypaw stopped and sniffed the air. "Do you guys hear that?" He said looking back at the rest of the patrol. Spottedpaw's ears pricked up and she strained for the noise.
"It sounds like fighting." She murmured. Dogheart and Lostspirit exchanged glances and darted off in the direction. Spottedpaw looked at Ebonypaw and started to run after her mentor. "C' Mon!"
Spottedpaw and Ebonypaw broke into the clearing. The black she-cat's eyes widened at what she saw. A white tom was fighting with her mentor, while another dark brown tom wrestled with Dogheart. Ebonypaw raced into the clearing to help his mentor. Spottedpaw started to race in but tripped over something. She got up and looked. It was a tortoiseshell she cat. Her throat was ripped open. Spottedpaw got up and looked around at the fighting cats. Her dark green eyes rested on a small black form on the far side of the clearing. Spottedpaw raced over to the form. It was another cat but she was unconscious. Probably about the same age as herself. Her heart raced when she heard a yowl from behind her. She reeled around to see the white tom throw Lostspirit off of him. The pale warrior layed motionless. The white tom reeled around to face Spottedpaw and the other black cat. He started to walk towards the two. Spottedpaw coward down and hissed at him.
"Get out of my way, runt!" He hissed. She was knocked over as he knocked her out of the way. Her side stung as his claws raked down. Spottedpaw got back up and dodged out of the way as he swiped again. She lashed out at him and her claws raked his face. He let out a furious yowl and jumped back shaking his head from side to side. Scarlet red drops scattered the ground. The white tom turned and ran towards the trees. "Rocket retreat!" He fixed his one red eye on Spottedpaw and let out a furious hiss. The brown tom broke away from Dogheart and tore off towards the forest. Ebonypaw chased after him and gave him a bite to his tail.
The tom let out a yowl and ran faster, Ebonypaw let go and watched as the two loners ran off toward ShadowClan's borders. "And don't come back!" He screeched after them. He turned to face Dogheart. The massive grey tom was over beside Lostspirit, he nuzzled the warrior. His ears drooped.
"Lostspirit...no...not my brother...." Ebonypaw heard him whisper. He was about to walk over to him when Dogheart faced Ebonypaw. His eyes were glazed with sadness. "Go back to camp. Tell Granitestar and bring back some warriors to make sure those loners got out of our territory. You also might want to get the medicine cat." Ebonypaw nodded his head. He heard some rustling behind him and turned around. A wave of relief went over him when he saw Spottepaw. She looked okay except for a couple of scratches on her side. She was standing over another black cat and licking the cat's wounds. "She looks like she is okay." Ebonypaw thought and raced off in the direction of camp.
The first stars of night were just starting to appear when Ebonypaw returned with Granitestar. The gray leader walked over to Dogheart. He looked at his warrior sympatheticly and touched the tip of his tail against Dogheart's shoulder. Granitestar then turned to face the warriors that came with him. He looked at his deputy. "Strongheart, you and Barkfur go and make sure the loners left the territory." The redish brown warrior nodded his head and signaled for the dark brown tabby tom warrior to follow with his apprentice, Shadowpaw. The patrol disappeared into the forest heading towards the boundaries. Granitestar then looked around the clearing. He saw the body of the tortoiseshell over by the trees. He motioned for a orange tom with a white underbelly to come over. "Is that another loner?"
"Yes..but Ebonypaw told me that she didn't fight Dogheart or Lostspirit. She was already dead when they got here." The orange warrior said. "Maybe the other two loners were trying to get at her kit." He flicked his tail over to a white she cat with brown paws. "Appleblossom is tending to the kit right now."
"All right. We'll be nice and bury the she-cat's body here. Foxfoot, you and Mistedsoul bury her." Foxfoot nodded his head walked towards the tortoiseshell's body, flicking his tail for a light grey tabby she-cat to help. Granitestar then looked at a golden tom with bright yellow eyes. "Lionfang, you and Dogheart take Lostspirit's body back to camp. We'll be back after Barkfur and the patrol get back and Foxfoot gets done burying the loner." The golden tom nodded his head and walked over to Dogheart. Lionfang murmured something in his ear and the gray warrior nodded his head. Together they dragged the pale warrior's body back to camp. Granitestar walked over to a white she cat. The she-cat was haunched over a black kit, who was still unconscious. The kit had a gash on the back of her head and a couple of scratches but looked like she would make a recovery.
"That's right Ebonypaw, keep licking Spottedpaw's wounds while I tend to this youngester." The white she-cat said. Ebonypaw was standing beside Spottedpaw licking the scratches on her side. The young apprentice seemed traumatized from her mentors death and was unresponsive to those around her.
"Are they going to be okay, Appleblossom?" Granitestar said to the white she-cat.
"Spottedpaw should be okay....just traumatized. I'll apply the right poultice to her wounds to make sure they don't get infected when we get back to camp. The same to this kit though I can't tell if she has brain problems, due to the blow she recieved." The white she paused and looked up at the rapidly fading light. "I would like to get them back to camp before it grows too dark." Appleblossom looked at Granitestar, who nodded his head.
"Right," He looked at Ebonypaw. "Help Spottedpaw back to camp." The apprentice nodded his head and gently nuzzled Spottedpaw's uninjured side. With a mew of protest she finally got up and Ebonypaw lead her off. Granitestar flicked his ears in the direction of rustling branches. A few moments later Strongheart emerged with Barkfur and Shadowpaw. "Anything?" Granitestar inquired.
"We followed their scent as far as our borders. They're long gone...but I don't think we've seen the last of 'em." Strongheart said.
"Okay. There is nothing more we can do here....let's go back to camp." Strongheart nodded his head and started to run off. Barkfur and Shadowpaw was following.
"We're all done here, Granitestar." Foxfoot said. Mistedsoul was behind him patting the last few bits of dirt on the fresh grave. Granitestar nodded his head and looked at Appleblossom. The medicine cat picked up the black she-cat by the scruff and started to walk off towards camp. Granitestar motioned for Foxfoot and Mistedsoul to follow. He watched the warriors and the medicine cat disappear into the darkness of the trees with the kit. The lingering scent of loners, fear-scent and blood remained in the air. With a slight sigh he realed around and took off back to camp.
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Granitestar broke through the undergrowth into camp. He immediatly walked to the tree beside his den. He quickly climbed and sat on a low branch. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath this branch for a Clan meeting." His yowl echoed throughout the camp. Dogheart was already underneath the stump with his brother's body. What few cats that were in the dens came out. All of a sudden an agonized yowl rang out through the clearing, and a dark grey queen ran over to Lostspirit's body. Granitestar's heart seemed to drop down to his paws. That was Charcoalpelt, Lostspirit's mate and she was due to have her kits any day now. The queen pressed her muzzled into her mate's pelt. A black bengal she-cat rubbed the queens shoulder with her muzzle. Granitestar sighed as the cats began to settle down to listen to their leader. "As most of you know, some loners have been coming in and out of our territory as they pleased. So far nothing happened. We had patrols follow the scent and they've either went out of our territory in to the other Clan's without them trying to take any prey but...." He paused and looked at his Clan members. "But today a fight broke out between one of our patrols and a couple of rouges...Lostspirit gave his life defending his Clan. He was a noble warrior and we will miss him dearly." He looked at Charcoalpelt, she hadn't moved. "Also....a loner she-cat was killed in the fight. She wasn't fighting against us but fighting against the other loners. We suspect she was defending her kit. We brought this kit to the Clan. We will question her when she regains her strength but for now nobody talks to her except for Appleblossom, Strongheart, and myself." He heard whispers and meows of sympathy. "We will sit vigil for Lostspirit tonight and bury him tomorrow." He ended the meeting with a flick of his tail and jumped off of the stump. He watched as other as the clan members started to walk over and share tongues with Lostspirit for the last time.
The grey leader headed towards Appleblossom's den. When he got close his ears perked up when heard the medicine cat's voice. "That's right Poisonpaw, press the marigold on the wound. Gently, gently....don't hurt the kit even more."
"Sorry, Appleblossom," A sandy brown she-cat murmured looking up from her patient. Granitestar sat at the entrance of the den and watched the medicine cats work.
"Please, Spottedpaw, eat these." Appleblossom said trying to coax the apprentice in eating the herbs she offered. Spottedpaw turned her head away.
"Can I please go pay my respects to Lostspirit first?" She meowed pleadingly.
"All right.....Ebonypaw keep an eye on her please." She watched the two apprentices walk off. "Oh and on your way back...bring Dogheart." She meowed after them. She looked up at Granitestar and sighed. "How's Charcoalpelt?"
"Heart broken. She still is mourning for her mate. This happened so close to her kitting too...." Granitestar's voice trailed off. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I'll give her some herbs to help with distress when I bring her her borage leaves." She said sadly keeping an eye on her apprentice's work.
"How are Spottedpaw and Ebonypaw?" Granitestar asked looking at the black kit curled up on moss. Poisonpaw just got down tending to the gash on the back of her head and was now working on the few minor scratches.
"Ebonypaw is fine. I think he did more damage then taken. Spottedpaw....she's more traumatized than anything. I'm going to treat her scratches and keep her in her over night to keep an eye on her." She followed her leader's gaze to the kit Poisonpaw was tending to. "The kit is going to be okay to. What are we going to do about her when she wakes up?"
"I'll deal with it when she the time comes. Right now, just keep treating her and I'll discuss what we should do with her with Strongheart." He said shifting he gaze back to Appleblossom. He bowed his head and turned to leave. He brushed past Dogheart. The massive gray warrior's head was bowed and his eyes were clouded slightly with sadness. Granitestar padded out into the clearing and headed over to Lostspirit's body. Charcoalpelt was curled up against her mate, and Spottedpaw licked the side of her mentor's head. Ebonypaw's eyes were filled for sadness for Spottedpaw and the queen. When Granitestar got close, the two apprentices started to walk off back to the medicine cat's den. Granitestar pressed his muzzled against Lostspirit's cold body. "You were a great warrior, Lostspirit, you will be missed by us all." He murmured into the warrior's fur. Granitestar walked over to Charcoalpelt and nuzzled her shoulder. "You need to get inside the nursery or you will get a sick." The dark gray queen looked up at Granitestar looked up with sadness in her eyes an nodded her head. A light brown queen that was with Charcoalpelt, helped the dark gray queen back to the nursery. "Thank you Rabbitfoot." The queen nodded and continued on towards the nursery. Granitestar looked at Lostspirit's body and sighed. He turned to walk back to his den. He knew there was nothing he could do, the elders would bury him tomorrow. The light grey tom curled up in his den and fell asleep not too long after.
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I have currently wrote four chapters for this story. If you like this chapter please review it and I will post the next one. If you want your cat to be in the story, PM me with its name, what Clan you want it to be in (or loner). I will TRY to put it in my story.
Thanks for reading,
Azure
