Ask to Join Warrior Cats: The flood

[Deleted member 227971]

Peaknettle and Fallowpaw slunk into the shared camp of Thunderclan and Skyclan, faces blank. A lithe amber tom padded over to them, looking worried.
Peaknettle shook her head. "Nothing. Fallowpaw found a clump of feverfew, but that was it"
Fallowpaw dropped the small clump onto the ground. It was hardly enough. "I left a few of the shoots so they could grow, but I doubt they'll get much bigger. This water is drowning our herbs quicker than our prey"
Kinkstar sighed. "Lets just hope the Skyclan patrol brings something back. Flowerface and the elders look especially weak."
Fallowpaw and Peaknettle nodded, then walked away, Fallowpaw making sure to drop the Feverfew at the medicine cat den on her way past.

Meanwhile, Heatherfur was trying to resolve an argument between Flintfoot and Hazefur over a mouse. Flintfoot was snappy as it was, trying to resolve this was hard enough. "You know what?" Heatherfur finally said. "If you two can't share, just give it to Flowerface. She's nursing kits, and will need it more than anyone."
The elder and young warrior shared one last glare before looking to Heatherfur and giving her the mouse. The young she cat brought it to Flowerface, who ate it thankfully. Heatherfur went back to her rock, sighing.

Ivywish trotted into camp, a small rabbit in his jaws. He placed it on the fresh kill pile, then walked away, sunning himself on a rock. He would've eaten that rabbit, but he knew the clan came first.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Robinflight looked for a deputy. She needed to go out on some sort of patrol. As a former loner, and earlier than that kitttypet, she always felt like she had to prove herself. The red tabby looked around the camp. "Can I go on a hunting patrol?" She asked aloud after overhearing the small argument over prey. If it was like that, then she could very well be able to show off her hunting skills, much like an apprentice.

Rainpaw knew her apprentice duties well and decided to do them without being told. Feeding the elders was top priority for the grey apprentice. She padded over to the freash-kill pile and chose one of the best pieces, a plump vole, and carried it over to the elders' den. "Um, Hazefur, Tumblefoot, Fallowtail I brought some freash-kill for you. If it isn't enough, I can get another piece for you three." She looked back at the freash-kill pile. While she got some for the elders, she was sure it needed to be refilled. She just hoped that a patrol would go out soon.

Crowsong was as grumpy as always. Though, if there were kits running around, she was sure she would be in a better mood. For once in her life, she was not bombarded with thorns in cat's pads. That really annoyed her. Can't her clanmates get the thorns out of their own pads? But no, she was the only one that could do it. The black cat snorted as she organized her herbs, making a mental note to go looking for some after she took inventory.

 

[Pokéboy098]

Ratbriar, Shadowclan’s deputy, was pacing around the camp waiting for Windclan to contribute to the hunting party. He wasn’t really sure if Windclan had even heard that there was going to be a hunting party going out around now, because for some reason his leader and the Windclan leader weren’t communicating. Angry as he was at the leadership of this merged clan for this, he couldn’t bear to keep his shadowclan comrades waiting, so he gave the order to head out across the moor in the direction of thunderclan territory. It was always best to hunt nearby the border, that way they could catch any intruders.

Pebblestem was out hunting for herbs in Shadowclan’s old territory. There were a lot of useful medicinal plants in the shadowclan woods, especially after they had been flooded. It was for this reason that she had been able to convince the Riverclan leader to claim these newly flooded lands as their own. After all, what other clans could swim in the flood? Duckfall had also pushed a bit to get the leader to claim these lands, which surprised Pebblestem, because they didn’t get along well together. Once she got the herbs, she went back to Riverclan’s camp. She was working on a cure by experimenting with these herbs 24/7 and still couldn’t figure out how to get it...

Duckfall shouted back into the leader’s den as he was being kicked out by the Riverclan deputy, “This is our chance, we just have to join together with Shadowclan and Windclan!”
He decided that since his argument obviously wasn’t working, maybe he would do some work on his own, and he began his travels across the flooded Shadowclan territory. Mostly his work consisted of stealing from Thunderclan, but it did help decrease the trust between Eiverclan and Thunderclan, lowering the chances that his leader would join Thunderlcna and not Shadowclan. The first prey he caught was a thin brown mouse. “Thunderclan must be pretty low on food,” thought Duckfall, “and all because the poor fools can’t fish...”

 

[RenzFlintrock]

Swiftkit yawned without opening his eyes. The smell of the nursery was pleasant, and he felt he could easily go back to sleep if it weren’t for the faint odor of wet earth that wafted from the bottom of the hill where the shared, makeshift camp of Thunderclan and Skyclan were positioned. Since the flood they had been forced to abandon their old homes and move onto this hill to avoid the floodwaters.

Swiftkit’s eyes opened as he heard someone mew his name from outside the nursery. He looked around the den to see the queens and the other kits who were still resting, although one or two had gone out already. He got to his paws, and moved towards the exit of the nursery, blinking as he stepped into the light of the morning and then giving a yowl as he was tackled from the side by a kit with creamy orange fur.

“Get off, Dawnkit!”

“Gotcha! Give up?”

“Ugh... fine.”

The 5-moon old cat had pinned Swiftkit down, and as embarrassing as it was for him he was forced to give in. She got off him, allowing him to scramble to his feet, and she began licking her pelt as he shook himself. The two had been friends since a few days after Swiftkit’s first morning in the new camp on the hill, but that didn’t stop him from hoping nobody had seen this embarrassing defeat.

 

[JoyPaws]

Cliffpaw looked around the camp. She had become an apprentice just a couple of days ago. She was trying to find out where her mentor was. Cliffpaw thought that she could go hunting because she knew how to hunt a little bit. Cliffpaw walked out of the camp and started to go hunting. She found a mouse but ended up not being able to catch it. She started to look around more and saw a cat. She did not recognize them, so she hid and watched them getting ready in case anything happened.

She went back to hunting and found nothing. She came back to watch them. Cliffpaw realized that it was dangerous to stay there, so she went back to camp.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Rainpaw smiled at the elders before she left their den. She sighed. It was such a nice day, considering the fact the lake was flooding. The fact ThunderClan united with SkyClan during the dilemma really brightened the grey she-cat's outlook on the situation. Sure, it meant more mouths to feed, but it also meant more paws to hunt, so it evened out in Rainpaw's mind. While she was thinking of what else she had to do, she saw Cliffpaw. Bounding over to the other apprentice, she mewed, "Hey Cliffpaw! What have you been doing?"

 

[JoyPaws]

Cliffpaw looked a little worried and said "I saw a cat I have never seen on are territory! They don't look like a thunderclan cat and it's most likely not skyclan." Her ears twitched and and she scrachtched the ground and her tail kept going up and then thuding to the ground.

 

[Lunar the Mew]

Darterpaw was being tossed and pushed deeper into the brown current, a large body of water unlike any he'd ever seen. It was full of debris and had barely shown any evidence of sunlight he couldn't swim to the surface because the waves were too strong, pulling him under and weighing on Darterpaw's body. He was terrified; it seemed as though no cat was around to save him. It was only him and the exceedingly seething, black ocean. No escape, no one to turn to. Darterpaw's lungs were starting to ache but he didn't want to risk crying for help for a strong flow of water to invade his mouth. The build-up of carbon-dioxide in his blood was urging him to breathe but he didn't dare. All Darterpaw wanted was for the waters to recede. 'StarClan, help me!'
Then, there was a thundering sounding like his rapid heartbeat, filling his ear fur and pulsing through his body. He couldn't hold on anymore, he'd lost all feeling in his limbs. Darterpaw opened his airway only to let in a rushing flow of water that choked him faster than he could manage. He started to panic and flail instinctively, but soon lost the motivation to do that. His eyes slowly began to close and his heartbeat started to slow as well. Suddenly, there was a voice, calling to him above his thumping heartbeat and calming his overwhelming sense of fear and panic.

He awoke..yowling.

Darterpaw coughed and sputtered like he was actually being drowned, but he really was just a moment ago. His friend, Silverpaw, had woken him up from his wretched nightmare and was gazing at him with concerened look in her pale hazel eyes. At first, Darterpaw could remember nothing. His mind was numb for a second before everything came back to him. The decrease in prey and the increase in the water levels. That worried him the most. Then he started to remember other things; today would be the day after his apprentice ceremony and if the flood hadn't completely overtaken his former home, he'd be given the tour of RiverClan's territory. 'Why did it have to be a flood, of all things? Is StarClan punishing us for something?'

Darterpaw didn't actually agree with most cats about finding their own way without StartClan's help. After all, where would the Clans be if those chosen few hadn't been selected to go on the journey to find Midnight? The Clans would've been destroyed by Twolegs and their yellow monsters if the Great Journey hadn't occured. He'd been told about the Great Journey by his mother, SparrowWing. She was only a kit then but remembers the trip well. If the four Clans hadn't escaped, SkyClan would've never been rebuilt or found their way home, Darterpaw wouldn't be here at all if his mother was dead and the Clans would've been demolished if any cats survived the attack.

"Didn't you hear me?" , interrupted Silverpaw's voice.

"W-what?" , replied Darterpaw still lost in thought.

"I said, 'are you okay?'"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine.."

"You don't look like it. You were fidgeting in your sleep and yowling your head off."

No response.

"Another bad dream?"

"Yeah.", said Darterpaw a little down-heartedly, "I thought they'd go away. It's been happening since we were made apprentinces. I thought it was just me worrying but maybe it--"

"Hey. Don't get the wrong idea, now. You're not a medicine cat you know."

As they were talking, a faint blue light was starting to seep into the den, announcing that dawn was on the way. A heavy fog seemed to lay thick over the temporary camp, draping the gathering island in a mysterious mist. Darterpaw had a bad feeling about today.

"I know.", stated Darterpaw uncertainly while gazing past her out of the apprentice den.

He didn't realize he was fumbling with his paws until the moss of his bedding started to shift and rustle beneath him. The gray apprentice narrowed her eyes in confusion and followed his blank stare outside of their shelter.

"Well..", started Silverpaw, "Let's go out before we wake some cat up with our meowing."

She stood and looked over the other two apprentices who were turning over every time they spoke. Darterpaw noticed that her fur was already groomed; she must've been up a while before him. He stood as well on shaky paws and made his way over. Looked warily out into the bleary landscape again with an hollow feeling of dread in his chest. He wasn't a coward, he knew, but something about this image made him uneasy about what awaited him.

When Silverpaw stepped out before him, he knew he too would have to follow through with the day. Darterpaw gazed around at his stirring Clan. Every cat and everything looked a little sluggish to do any real activity involving hunting or herb gathering from what he could tell. PebbleStem was clearly out; no cat would enter the medicine den and he was fully aware that as long as his Clan was awake, some cat would always be in and out of it. The dawnlight struck his fur and he soon noticed that his fur was still looking unkempt as well. He quickly groomed himself and picked out moss that found it's way into his pelt and was a little surprised when his friend started to help him. She always treated him like Darterpaw was her littermate. Soon, his blue and gray tabby fur was appearing sharp.

"Come on, let's go." , she said walking forward a few paw-steps.

"What? We're leaving camp?"

"Of course." , she said looking back. "You didn't think we were gonna stay here did you?"

"Well, RippleFur wanted me to--" , he began.

"Who cares what your father wants? He didn't care about you when we had to leave our home. SparrowWing had to help us. If RippleFur can't even be around when you need him to be, why should you care what he thinks?" , spoke Silverpaw as her voice became bitter and was heavily laced with hate.

At first, he was shocked but then he slowly began to acclimate to her point of view. Her father, FoxVine, was a ThunderClan tom. He died just before Silverpaw was born. He guessed she was upset that he couldn't even last until she was kitted. Now her mother, GladeMist, is completely gone. She never got over her mate's death despite them being from different Clans, but sometimes when Darterpaw is left without a particular task to do, he'd talk to her and speak of the stories he'd heard from his mother as a kit. He still isnt sure why he does it.

"It's okay, Silverpaw. I'm not mad at you." , he consoled stepping towards her.

"Please, don't." , she said dejectedly.

They didn't exchange words after that. The apprentinces skulked out of camp, dodging patrols that were leaving to hunt, to eventually arrive at the edge of the island. The only way off of it was to swim now that the floodwaters had risen. Then, Darterpaw and Silverpaw sat there, careful not to fall into the lapping current, in silence.

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Rainpaw stared at her fellow apprentice. "Why aren't you going to Kinkstar, Sunstar or one of the two deputies? They need to know this sort of information! I understand not fighting a full-grown cat all by yourself, I won't do that myself, but you should report it!" Rainpaw looked down at her paws, the rest of ThunderClan's and SkyClan's camp. "Sorry if it sounds like I'm biting your ears off, but you really should tell at least Petalstorm or SkyClan's deputy."

 

[RenzFlintrock]

Swiftkit and Dawnkit ended up chatting for a moment or two before they wandered their separate ways. As far as Swiftkit could tell, no cat had noticed, or at least showed they had noticed, the embarrassing defeat, so he ambled nonchalantly across the camp, wondering if he should eat yet or not. However, he was distracted by two nearby apprentices talking to each other. He felt a slight awe, just because they were already apprentices when he wasn’t, although he was practically old enough. His tail twitched as he tried to resist going closer. They probably didn’t want him talking to them, they seemed rather busy. Probably important apprentice buisness.

 

[JoyPaws]

Cliffpaw looked around a little and then said, "Do you know where Kinkstar is? I don't see them do you?" Cliffpaw saw Swiftkit and waved her tail to say hello to Swiftkit. Cliffpaw started to think of who that cat could be. "Hmm, I don't think its a Skyclan cat. I can remember most of the cats, but I don't remember seeing one like that one. But it could also be a cat from another clan. It's most likely that though it could also be a rogue..."

 

[ThePlayfulFox]

Rainpaw smiled at Swiftkit and almost invited him over due to the fact he should become an apprentice soon himself, but she was sure he would find this boring. Instead she decided to continue her argument. "Still, you need to let some warrior know. As apprentices, we have to train to become warriors. When we are warriors, we have to tell someone in athoraty about any cats that we see while we patrol. Besides, where's your mentor? Why aren't they mentioning this to anyone?"

 

[RenzFlintrock]

Swiftkit continued to look over at them, trying to decide if he was being rude. He knew that staring was rude, so he took to looking at other things for a bit and then looking back at them. He found himself wondering what they were talking about. He could hear small snatches here and there, but nothing else... and of course, the waking camp had enough noise that he was constantly interrupted in his... eavesdropping? Well, that was definitely rude... Swiftbrush had to scramble backwards as a warrior bounded past, headed to the other side of camp. After righting himself Swiftbrush sat down in a more out-of-the-way place, trying not to eavesdrop, but very much wanting to.

 

[JoyPaws]

Cliffpaw was getting annoyed with Rainpaw. She was already trying to find one of the leaders or deputies. "I am trying to find someone, and as far as my mentor is concerned...well umm uh...... their busy... actually, I don't know where they are. Now, do you know where the deputies or leaders are." Cliffpaw really didn't know why her mentor was not here. They said they would train today. Did her mentor forget? Did they go on patrol and not tell her? Surely they would have told her and brought her along.

 

[Lunar the Mew]

The marbled cream and ginger apprentice burst out of the apprentices' den and scrambled to the entrance of the over-crowded camp; he wasn't supposed to be late, not now. Tuftpaw was probably waiting for him at the entrance. Sunpaw accidentally overslept and he had no idea wether the light gray apprentice was still there. He's always missing something when he oversleeps.

Sunpaw bounded across the clearing, not caring if any cat noticed, to arrive briefly at his destination. Fortunately, no cat was guarding the entrance yet. 'Good thing most of the warriors haven't woken up yet!'
He noticed the sun was rising slowly in the distance; the soft glow starting to warm his pelt and the sound of birdsong gradually filling his ears.
His paws made the undergrowth rustle as he drew to a halt just outside of camp. Sunpaw would have to be quick, his clanmates would be awakening soon.

His ear twitched, alerting him that a cat was close by. The boisterous and over-confident apprentice loved a challenge but he wasn't bird-brained; if a warrior had found him outside of camp before sun-high without his mentor, he was finished.

Just then, he saw pointed ears flash over the top of a fern and a muzzle starting to reveal itself. Sunpaw tensed and waiting hardly daring to breathe until he was sure it was a cat and not a predator awaiting him. However, he heard no snarl or growl announcing its presence, just the playful purr of a mischievous apprentice. Two beaming, deep blue eyes met Sunpaw's glowing, amber ones and he knew immediately it was her.

"Sunpaw!" , called Tuftpaw

He waved his tail eagerly and he crashed through the fern and brambles that snagged on his fur. Tuftpaw's grin turned to a shocked look and she let out a yowl that was cut off shortly after she was met with a mouthful of fur. Sunpaw had her pinned down with his front paws while Tuftpaw wriggled beneath him.

"Get off feather-brain! You're squashing me! " , said Tuftpaw teasingly.

"Tuftpaw, where've you been? Where did you go?"

"Get off me and I'll tell you!" , she replied tossing him off.

Sunpaw landed on his back; his paws in the air, then flopped over onto his belly. Tuftpaw stood and shook out her fur.

"Okay, so, what is it?" , he urged with wide amber eyes.

She remained silent for a bit before anything was said.

"I went...to a conclave." , she said sitting down and placing her tail over her front paws.

Sunpaw appeared visibly confused.

"A what??"

His claws were out now, digging into the cold earth. Tuftpaw looked around for a moment and seemed to consider their environment. She rose again and began to pad off. Sunpaw got to his paws and tipped his head. 'Where's she going?'

"Follow me and I'll tell you the rest." , she replied without looking back.

Tuftpaw vanished into the undergrowth and it took him a moment to decide wether to go or not. He just hoped no cat would follow.