Sunrise }{ UF - Action, Adventure

[silwolf24]

Title: Sunrise
Chapters: Five
Author: Silwolf24
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Dark River
Summary: For generations, war has swept the territories around the lake, bringing death and bloodshed. But now, it seems, they may have a chance at peace. Birchstar, the terrible leader of StreamClan, has died, leaving her successor, Swiftstar, in her place. Swiftstar is determined to win more territory for her Clan, even at the sake of StreamClan’s fragile peace with the LakeClan leader, Ravenstar.
Suntail is a young warrior of LakeClan who has never harbored peaceful ideals. She, like all her clanmates, has lost kin in their constant struggle with StreamClan, and wishes only for the chance to avenge their deaths. Her leader’s refusal to fight Swiftstar, even at the cost of lives, is stretching the LakeClan warriors’ loyalty to their leader.
With the threat of forbidden love, mutiny, and impending war on the horizon, the fate of LakeClan hinges on a prophecy long forgotten. It is up to Suntail to discover the truth about the founding of the two Clans, so that she can lead them into the future.
Warning: Lots of fighting, some death, but no more grafic than in an usual Warriors book.
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.

ALLIANCES:

ANCIENT LAKECLAN: (WindClan & ThunderClan)

LEADER
Bramblestar – large dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.
apprentice, Berrypaw

DEPUTY
Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom.
apprentice, Hollypaw

MEDICINE CATS
Barkface – dark brown tom.
apprentice, Kestrelpaw – tabby tom.
Leafpool – light brown tabby she-cat with white paws.
apprentice, Jaypaw – small gray tabby tom.

WARRIORS
Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom.
apprentice, Hazelpaw
Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat.
apprentice, Honeypaw
Cloudtail – long-haired white tom.
apprentice, Cinderpaw
Runningbrook- light gray she-cat.
Tawnyfur- golden brown she-cat.
Thornclaw – golden brown tabby tom.
apprentice, Poppypaw
Brightheart – white she-cat with ginger splotches.
Ashfur – pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes.
apprentice, Lionpaw
Whitetail – small white she-cat.
Robinwing- light brown she-cat with blue eyes.
apprentice, Breezepaw
Nightcloud – black she-cat.
Sorreltail – tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes.
apprentice, Harepaw
Spiderleg – long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes.
apprentice, Mousepaw
Stormfur – dark gray tom with amber eyes, formerly of the RiverClan half of StreamClan.
Brook where Small Fish Swim (Brook) – brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes, formerly of the tribe.
Owlfeather – light brown tabby tom.
apprentice, Heatherpaw
Weaselfur – ginger tom with white paws.
Birchfall – light brown tabby tom.
Whitewing – white she-cat with green eyes.
Millie – silver tabby she-cat. Former kittypet.

APPRENTICES
berrypaw – cream-colored tom.
hazelpaw – small gray and white she-cat.
mousepaw – gray and white tom.
harepaw – light brown tom.
heatherpaw – light brown tabby she-cat with lavender eyes.
cinderpaw – gray tabby she-cat.
honeypaw – light golden tabby she-cat.
poppypaw – tortoiseshell she-cat.
breezepaw – black tom.
hollypaw – black she-cat with green eyes.
lionpaw – golden brown tom.

QUEENS
gorsetail- very pale gray-and-white she-cat.
Kits: Thistlekit Sedgekit Swallowkit
ferncloud - pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes. Mother of Dustpelt’s kits.
Kits: Icekit, Foxkit
squirrelflight – heavily pregnant dark ginger she-cat with green eyes. Mother of Bramblestar’s kits.

ELDERS
longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight.

PRISONERS
russetfur – dark ginger she-cat.

ANCIENT STREAMCLAN: (RiverClan & ShadowClan)

LEADER
hawkstar – big dark brown tabby tom with icy blue eyes.

DEPUTY
blackclaw – smoky black tom.

MEDICINE CATS
littlecloud – small tabby tom.
mothwing – beautiful golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes.
Apprentice, willowpaw – small gray she-cat.

WARRIORS
oakfur – small tabby tom.
mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes.
apprentice, pebblepaw
rowanclaw – ginger tom.
apprentice, ivypaw
nightwing – black she-cat.
reedwhisker – black tom.
apprentice, pouncepaw
swallowtail – dark brown tabby she-cat with green eyes.
apprentice, dapplepaw
voletooth – small brown tabby tom.
apprentice, minnowpaw
smokefoot – black tom.
apprentice, owlpaw
splashstep – silver tabby she-cat.
stonestream – gray tom.
beechfur – light brown tom.
snowbird – pure white she-cat.
rippletail – dark gray tabby tom.

APPRENTICES
minnowpaw – pretty black she-cat.
pouncepaw – gray tom.
pebblepaw – dark gray tom.
owlpaw – light brown tabby tom.
ivypaw – dark brown she-cat.
dapplepaw – tortoiseshell she-cat.

QUEENS
tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes. Mother of Rowanclaw’s kits.
Kits: Tigerkit Flamekit Dawnkit
dawnflower – pale gray she-cat.
graymist- pale gray tabby she-cat.
Kits: Sneezekit Mallowkit
icewing- heavily pregnant white she-cat with green eyes.

ELDERS
cedarheart – dark gray tom.
heavystep- thickset tabby tom.
tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat.

MODERN LAKECLAN:

LEADER
ravenstar- black she-cat with green eyes and a scarred shoulder.

DEPUTY
oatstripe- creamy pale-brown tabby tom with thick fur.
apprentice, longpaw

MEDICINE CAT
windfur- black and white she-cat with blue eyes.
apprentice, rainpaw

WARRIORS (Toms and She-cats without kits, listed in order of seniority)
snowspots- big white tom with blue eyes.
one-ear- ginger tom.
mistywind- blue-gray silver she-cat with amber eyes.
apprentice, swallowpaw
sharptooth- lean bracken-colored tom with green eyes.
sandclaw- pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes.
apprentice, lightpaw
foxflight- pretty ginger she-cat with green eyes.
buzzardclaw- dark ginger tom with blue eyes.
crowpelt- dark gray tom with white paws and blue eyes.
ashfang- longhaired dark gray tom with blue eyes.
splashfoot- large silver tabby tom with blue eyes.
birdwing- small brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.
shadepelt- dark gray she-cat with blue eyes.
nightheart- black tom with green eyes.
apprentice, blackpaw
suntail- golden tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.
apprentice, brownpaw
whitewater- lean white she-cat with blue eyes.
redleg- black tom with a light brown underbelly.
owlclaw- plain tabby tom with green eyes.

APPRENTICES (In training to become warriors)
swallowpaw- dark brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes.
brownpaw- dusky brown she-cat with yellow eyes.
blackpaw- black tom with yellow eyes.
lightpaw- white she-cat with pale ginger patches.
rainpaw- light brown tabby she-cat with a white chest and paws.
longpaw- creamy pale brown tabby tom with blue eyes.

QUEENS (She-cats expecting or nursing kits)
firebelly- bright ginger she-cat with blue eyes.
Kits: Bramblekit, Brackenkit, Goldenkit
flowertail- pale creamy-colored she-cat with blue eyes.
Kits: Cloudkit
morningstream- pale golden tabby she-cat with green eyes.
Kits: expecting

ELDERS:
leopard-dapple- golden spotted tabby she-cat.
sootwhisker- thin dark gray tom.
oldtooth- pale gray tabby tom, the oldest cat in LakeClan.

STREAMCLAN:

LEADER
swiftstar- large dark tabby she-cat with green eyes and unusually long front claws.
apprentice, talonpaw

DEPUTY
brokenclaw- dark bracken colored tom.
apprentice, tigerpaw

MEDICINE CAT
leafnose- small tabby she-cat with amber eyes and white paws.

WARRIORS
deadfoot- black tom with a twisted leg.
puddlespots- gray spotted tabby tom.
whiteclaw- gray tom with a white chest and paws and ice-blue eyes.
fernclaw- gray she-cat.
apprentice, thornpaw
grayfur- longhaired dark gray tom.
hangbelly- dark tabby tom with amber eyes.
rockfoot- black tom.
darkfeather- dusky, almost black, smoky tabby she-cat.
apprentice, dapplepaw
fernbrook- pale silver-gray she-cat.
milkwhisker- black tom with a white face.
rowanleaf- lean dark ginger she-cat.
apprentice, spottedpaw
lightningstripe- pale yellow tabby tom.
thrushwing- small tabby she-cat.
lizardtail- bracken-colored tabby she-cat.
volefoot- dark brown tom.
blackpool- black she-cat.
frogstep- gray-brown tabby tom.
frostbelly- white she-cat.
larkflight- gray she-cat with a white chest and paws.
heatherberry- gray and white she-cat.
runningleg- small silver tabby tom.
hazelfur- dusky brown tom with a white chest and paws.
harefoot- dusky light brown she-cat with blue eyes.

APPRENTICES
dapplepaw- dark spotted tabby she-cat.
spottedpaw- pale brown tabby spotted she-cat.
tigerpaw- dark tabby tom.
thornpaw- pale ginger tom.
talonpaw- pale ginger tom.

QUEENS
brightpoppy- ginger and white she-cat.
Kits: Tawnykit, Dusk-kit
petalcloud- pale gray she-cat with a white chest and paws.
Kits: Featherkit, Gorsekit, Sedgekit, Mothkit
moonstream- silver she-cat with white paws.
Kits: Expecting

ELDERS
patchfur- black-and-white tom.

THE STONE VALLEY ROUGES:

LEADER:
spider- black and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes.

FIGHTERS:
claw- light brown tom.
fang- dark brown tom.
shadow- black she-cat.
tornclaw- golden brown tabby tom.
darkcloud- black she-cat.

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS:

stone- gray and white tom.
cream- cream colored she-cat.

PROLOGUE:

The moon rode high over the island, turning Bramblestar’s pelt to silver beneath its pale light. In the safety of the shadows, his whiskers twitched with apprehension. His fiery amber gaze searched the stars, looking for some kind of reassurance from StarClan, but found none. Is this really what you want of me? He thought as his eyes glittered with faint starshine. Was this what you meant for me to do when you chose me all those moons ago for the journey?
Beside him, Spiderleg shivered in the dark. The young tom’s pelt was still Green Leaf thin, but Bramblestar knew that this wasn’t the reason for his edginess. “Is this really StarClan’s plan?” he asked, speaking his leader’s thoughts. Spiderleg looked away, as if he expected Bramblestar to cuff him for questioning his leader’s decision.
“Hawkstar and I both received a sign,” Bramblestar replied quietly. “StarClan could not have been more clearer.” Was that really true though? Firestar’s words had been, “Great change is coming to the forest. If you do not rise to meet it, you will be swept aside.” Did that really justify what he and Hawkstar were about to do?
He flicked his tail to the rest of his Clan, and they followed behind him as he led the way to the tree crossing. As he drew nearer, he caught the faint scent of RiverClan on the breeze. Two cats stepped out to meet him as he picked his way across the pebbly shore. Both had pelts that blended perfectly with the darkness.
“Blackclaw, Reedwhisker,” he greeted as both cats dipped their heads in respect. He admired his half-brother’s choice of guards, both would be unafraid of the water and would be able to stay easily hidden in the night. It had not been long since he had met these cats only as rivals, but what they were about to do tonight would change everything. He could see his own uneasiness reflected in Reedwhisker’s eyes, while Blackclaw scraped his claws across the stones in anticipation.
“Greetings Bramblestar,” Blackclaw meowed. “The other Clans are already on the island. ThunderClan is the last to arrive. We’ll follow after you to make sure that no cat can get back across the lake.” His green eyes sparkled with eagerness.
Bramblestar looked back at his Clan as they waited patiently for him to begin the crossing. Some still bore the claw marks from a battle with ShadowClan, and others were still thin and boney from the sickness that had swept through the Clans. Cats had died, and ThunderClan had not been the only Clan to loose all their elders to the disease. Even so, most of his Clan had followed him tonight. Only Dustpelt, Ferncloud, Sandstorm and Squirrelflight remained to guard the camp. Bramblestar missed his mate’s comforting presence beside him, but she had been to heavy with a second litter of kits to come along.
He could see Ashfur glaring at him from the back of the Clan, his blue eyes challenging. The gray warrior hadn’t wanted to come along, but Bramblestar hadn’t wanted him left at camp where he could cause all kinds of trouble.
“Remember,” the dark tabby spoke, “we’re here to fight yes, but not to kill. If I here that a single warrior of ShadowClan or WindClan has been murdered, I’ll hold every cat here responsible. Hopefully, with a simple show of strength, they’ll submit peacefully. I don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed.”
With those words having been said, he began to pick his way easily across the bark-covered log. His muscles moved smoothly beneath his shadowed pelt. When he had crossed and leapt easily down onto the island, he caught sight of Lionpaw and Hollypaw picking their way across behind their mentors.
The ThunderClan cats swarmed into the clearing, their pelts glittering silver as they mingled easily with cats of other clans. Even though all seemed peaceful, Bramblestar could still since the unease in every one of the RiverClan and ThunderClan cats, and even cats of ShadowClan and WindClan were picking up on it like there was a current of electricity running through everyone.
Bramblestar reached the tree and scratched his way up, showing off the long claws that had given his father his name. He settled on a limb across from Tornear of WindClan. The elderly tom had not yet been to the Moonpool to receive his nine lives, and his ginger fur hung raggedly on his thin frame. Bramblestar looked on the old cat with pity, but steeled himself against those feelings. He knew that tonight he would have to kill Tornear, even though his heart rebelled against it.
Hawkstar met his eyes from his perch near Blackstar and gave his half-brother a quick nod. The white leader of ShadowClan glared at Bramblestar with barely concealed contempt. “Now that ThunderClan has finally arrived,” he spat. “I would like to think that we could begin this gathering before my fur gets any grayer!” With those words, he threw back his head and let out an angry caterwaul that silenced all talk in the clearing below. Bramblestar looked down and caught sight of his deputy, Brackenfur, sitting on the roots beneath the Great Oak.
However, before Blackstar could begin to speak, Hawkstar pushed rudely to the front and began the speech he and Bramblestar had agreed upon at their last meeting. “Cats of all Clans,” he began. “Great change has come to the forest!” Bramblestar could see ears pricking and tails stilling below him as the cats of the four Clans sat up and took notice.
“When we began the journey to this new home,” Hawkstar continued, his ice-blue eyes flashing in the moonlight. “we had to work together to achieve our goal. Never before had cats of ThunderClan and WindClan cared for each other’s kits and elders, or cats of ShadowClan and RiverClan fought against the terrors of the mountains together. So that, when we at last reached our new home, we had become closer together than StarClan ever expected. When we had to separate, we still worked together to help one-another. ThunderClan and ShadowClan worked together to drive out rouges that threatened both Clans. ThunderClan sent their Medicine Cat to help RiverClan when we fell sick from the Twoleg poison. WindClan helped ThunderClan when they were in danger of being driven out by badgers.
“Settling in these new territories has been hard, and we have begun to once again compete for food and land. There is simply not enough land for each Clan if we cannot learn to share. ThunderClan has already given more that enough to ShadowClan, and WindClan has held the Horseplace against any attempts by RiverClan to take it. It has become obvious that we can not go on as we are, and StarClan has given us an answer.
“They sent a sign to Bramblestar and I, and the sign said this: Unite or die. Bickering as we are, in four divided Clans will make war a common thing. Our kits will grow to know the grief of loss and the pain of claws before they even leave the nursery! Few of our warriors will live to become elders! This is why RiverClan and ThunderClan have decided that we must unite. ThunderClan and WindClan must join! As must RiverClan and ShadowClan!”
Below, in the clearing, yowls of defiance erupted from the WindClan and ShadowClan cats, while the cats of ThunderClan and RiverClan cried out in support. “This is madness!” Spat Blackstar. “It is Tigerstar’s madness!” With a howl of rage, he leapt at Hawkstar, who rose to meet the ShadowClan leader.
Bramblestar spun to face Tornear, and the old ginger tom hissed up at him in defiance. “If you leave now,” Bramblestar growled, “I won’t stop you.”
Tornear straightened on his branch, displaying the pride of a WindClan warrior even as he faced death. “Either I will die now or I will die a rouge, and what is there for a warrior in a rouge’s life?” He lunged, his lean body knocking Bramblestar’s hold on his branch loose, and both cats tumbled down into the midst of the battle below.
Bramblestar landed on top of Tornear, and while the WindClan warrior lay stunned, the dark tabby dug his teeth deep into his neck, biting down until he tasted blood and let go. Surprisingly, Tornear staggered to his paws, only to collapse as scarlet blood flowed from the wound in his throat. Bramblestar stood over him, stunned that this battle had gone so easily, until a ShadowClan warrior spotted him and leapt in to attack.
The battle raged back and forth, with neither side seeming to gain headway. But at last the WindClan cats realized that Tornear had fallen, and they wailed in retreat as they dashed for the safety of the opposite shore. The senior warriors led the way onto the log, only to meet with the teeth and claws of Blackclaw and Reedwhisker. Together, the two RiverClan warriors held the escapees back as fresh RiverClan and ThunderClan cats beat them into submission.
Bramblestar fought at the head of his Clan, the scents of ShadowClan and WindClan making it impossible to breath as he lashed out blindly at whatever enemy came at him. The cats of the other two Clans seemed to realize that they were fighting a loosing battle, but they did not stop until one cat cried out in horror.
Bramblestar spun on his feet, his claws digging clumps of mossy soil from the ground as he turned to see Hawkstar standing over the limp body of a WindClan warrior. A black she-cat ran forward to press her nose into the gray tom’s fur before she turned her angry eyes on the RiverClan leader. “You said no cat would have to die!” she spat, and Bramblestar recognized her as Nightcloud, one of Hawkstar’s supporters from WindClan.
As Bramblestar approached, Hawkstar turned his ice-blue eyes on the other dark tabby. “He lunged for my throat. I had no choice,” he said, his ice-blue eyes radiating confidence. Bramblestar looked down at the body at his feet and recognized Crowfeather, one of the cats who had accompanied him on the journey to the sun-drown place. He had hoped that in time, he could rebuild his friendship with the prickly WindClan warrior, but now, Crowfeather would run with StarClan.
Crowfeather’s son, Breezepaw, made his way through the crowd of shivering WindClan cats and came to crouch by his mother’s side. He glared up at Bramblestar with eyes full of unconcealed hatred. The large tom dipped his head sadly. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, but Nightcloud only drew back with a hiss of disgust.
“Bramblestar, what do you want us to do now?” The dark tabby tom turned his amber eyes on Weaselfur of WindClan. The tom was one of his supporters. Beside him, Owlfeather crouched, bearing claw-marks from cats of his own Clan. The tabby tom looked down at Crowfeather’s body and blinked once in regret.
“We should take the cats from WindClan and ShadowClan back to our camps and send out patrols to fetch the others from their camp. They probably left guards against attack,” Hawkstar said. He looked at Weaselfur. “Take Owlfeather, Harepaw, and any other cat who will go with you to retrieve the other WindClan cats.”
Bramblestar’s tail flicked in irritation. He was going to be leader of WindClan now, not Hawkstar, but he had to admit that his half-brother had a good plan. The WindClan cats back at their camp would never expect an attack from their own den-mates. “What do you plan to do about Russetfur?” he asked, looking over at where the dark ginger she-cat crouched, her head hanging as Hawkstar’s supporters watched her through narrowed eyes.
“She’s too much of a leader for her own good,” Hawkstar replied, his eyes betraying no emotion. Bramblestar thought about Crowfeather and wondered if he had been to much of a leader for his own good as well. Had his brother murdered the WindClan warrior because he was too much like his late mother, Ashfoot? Bramblestar would hate to watch another cat die in cold blood tonight. “She could be useful, if only as a mother for strong warriors. She’d do no harm in my Clan. No right-minded WindClan cat would follow the ShadowClan deputy, and ThunderClan has taken prisoners before.”
Hawkstar narrowed his eyes, as if he could hear the alternative motive behind Bramblestar’s words, and the older tabby remembered his father Tigerstar’s words, “Pity is for weak cats. Look at what it has done to ThunderClan, with all that half-clan and kittypet blood!” Bramblestar hadn’t dreamed with Tigerstar since he had purposed that Bramblestar kill Firestar. He and Hawkstar had come up with this plan themselves and they had needed no help from a traitor who walked in the dark forest.
Hawkstar seemed to be silently debating. “As long as she stays ThunderClan’s problem.” Then as if something had just come to him, he asked, “What will you name your new Clan? I would suggest TigerClan, but that brings about bad memories and our father was foolish to try and unite all four Clans as he did.”
“Yes,” Bramblestar agreed, while trying to think of the positive future he had predicted. Together WindClan and ThunderClan would be twice as strong, and control twice as much land. Within a few generations, they would no longer be two Clans but one, full of powerful warriors as swift as WindClan and as used to hunting in thick undergrowth as ThunderClan. A name came to him, and as if StarClan agreed, lightning crashed over his head, lighting the pelts and eyes of the cats around him.
“LakeClan,” Bramblestar asserted. “ThunderClan and WindClan will now be called LakeClan.”
Hawkstar said nothing, it was obvious that he had been expecting a different name, perhaps he had planned to use that one himself. “Then ShadowClan and RiverClan will now be called StreamClan, in honor of the stream where we will make our camp.” He seemed pleased with himself, and Bramblestar had to admit that he liked the name just as well.
Bramblestar stood and moved over to where the WindClan medicine cat apprentice, Kestrelpaw, was trying to patch up the injured cats as best he could. The young tom didn’t notice Bramblestar as he pressed cobwebs on Heatherpaw’s injured side. His eyes were half-closed in concentration, but when he at last turned to Bramblestar, his eyes glittered with starshine.
The large tabby took a step back as Kestrelpaw spoke. “We will wait for the golden cat,” he said, his voice no more than a sigh. Bramblestar knew when Kestrelpaw shook his head in confusion and turned back to his charge that he had just spoken words sent to him by StarClan. But what did it mean?
As he made his way through the cats of LakeClan, his clanmates now, he paused to look up at the sky. Rain had begun to fall, pelting the cats below, and dark clouds had covered the moon. No other cat seemed to notice, but to Bramblestar, it seemed that StarClan were grieving for all that had been lost.

[silwolf24]

CHAPTER ONE:

Suntail of LakeClan was dreaming. She dashed through dense thickets of briars that pricked her paw-pads and stung her nose. Brambles tangled in her fur and held her back as she struggled madly through the brush. There was only enough moonlight to see a few paw-steps in front of her, but she cared little for her pelt. The light ahead glowed always just out of her reach, beckoning her closer and closer but never close enough to see what it contained.
This forest was unlike any she’d ever seen, with tall trees that reached high into the darkness and undergrowth so thick that it obscured the stars. She floundered through a patch of bracken and emerged into a small clearing. With a cry of elation, she leapt at the light, sure that this time, she had caught it at last.
“Suntail, wake up,” some cat hissed.
Her yellow eyes came open suddenly as she leapt to her feet, almost knocking over the cat who had woken her. With a snort of contempt, he took a half-step back, and she recognized his black pelt and green eyes even though his ears were still framed by moonlight. “Nightheart?” she asked incredulously. “Don’t tell me it’s time for the Dawn Patrol already?”
Her friend shook his head. “Morningstream is having her kits. Windfur sent me to get you, since she knew that you would want to be there for the birth.” Morningstream was Suntail’s mother, so these kits would be her kin, the only kin she would have left in the Clan.
She slipped out of the den after Nightheart, all her midnight phantoms forgotten in the haste to reach the nursery. Kit scent and the smell of milk reached her nose as she followed Nightheart into the thorn patch, her yellow eyes glowing like twin suns in the near darkness.
Firebelly, one of the queens, was watching Windfur from the front of the den, her ears pricked as she listened to the Medicine Cat as she instructed her Apprentice, Rainpaw, in how best to deliver kits. Firebelly’s own three kits slumped in a furry pile by her side. At five moons, they were already getting to large for the nursery.
Flowertail was also awake. Her long creamy-colored fur almost concealed the small white kit that nursed at her belly. Flowertail was the oldest of the nursery queens, and only one of her kits had survived the hard leaf-bare. She turned to look at Suntail and Nightheart as the two cats entered the nursery ad her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve come to join us this early in the morning Suntail.” She gave Nightheart a knowing look. “Though, to tell you the truth, I’ve been expecting it for quite some time.”
Nightheart’s ears flattened in embarrassment as he dipped his head to the queen. “Suntail’s only here for the birth,” he meowed, though his whiskers twitched.
“Told you so,” Firebelly muttered to her companion.
“You can come here Suntail,” Windfur told the young warrior. The big black-and-white she-cat’s eyes glittered with pride. “You missed the birth, but everything went smoothly. Rainpaw did great, and your mother is fine.” She gave her quivering apprentice a flick with her tail.
Suntail crept forward, careful not to disturb the other queens or their kits. Morningstream was licking her single kit, who’s wet fur betrayed the fact that she would have a ginger pelt. Suntail was both surprised at the sight of only one kit, and delighted that any had survived at all. She had recently lost her father, and her brother had died an apprentice, without ever becoming a warrior, and she had begun to wonder if she would ever have another sibling.
With the arrival of her new sister fresh in her mind, Suntail slipped out of the nursery, Nightheart by her side. The warriors were gathered around Ravenstar, waiting for orders for hunting and patrols. Suntail bounded over tiredly. “Crowpelt,” meowed Ravenstar, “I want you to patrol that whole area, up the StreamClan border and over by Twoleg Place. Take Shortwhisker and Buzzardclaw with you.”
The senior warrior nodded and gathered the two younger cats. Then they set off for the camp entrance. Suntail watching until her leader called her name. “Suntail,” Ravenstar told her, “I want you to head up the opposite StreamClan border. Take Brownpaw, Shadepelt, and...Nightheart with you.”
Suntail stared at her leader wondering if she had called Nightheart and Shadepelt on purpose. She, Shadepelt, Nightheart, and Whitewater had all completed their training together, and still maintained those close bonds of friendship. She headed for the exit after Crowpelt with her head held high, the other three cats behind her.
As they trooped up the StreamClan border, Suntail kept her nose to the air, trying to detect any hostile scent of StreamClan. The two Clans had been at war since she was kitted, but the StreamClan leader, Birchstar, had recently died, and every cat was wondering if her successor would carry on her bloody ways.
“I smell StreamClan,” Brownpaw mewed, lashing her tail.
“We’re right by their border,” Nightheart pointed out. “What else would you smell?”
“But it’s strong,” Suntail realized. “And fresh. Too fresh. They hunted here, on our side of the border!”
"And sprayed their scent," added Shadepelt, sniffing at a tree and recoiling. "As if this is their side of the border."
“Wait!” meowed Brownpaw suddenly, her yellow eyes flaring a warning. “StreamClan warriors! They’re coming!”
The LakeClan cats had just enough time to prepare themselves before some StreamClan cats appeared out of the undergrowth. The StreamClan deputy, Brokenclaw, was at their head, and hostility was cold in all their eyes.
“What are you doing here?” hissed the dark ginger tom, padding up to them. The two StreamClan cats behind him glared, their fur bristling, and another one, younger, probably an apprentice, sprang to their side. Suntail noted that they would be evenly matched, should it come to a fight.
“We aren’t in your territory,” Nightheart meowed, flattening his ears. Suntail glanced at him. Was it just her, or was he too quick to grow hostile? Shadepelt, however, didn’t seem to have any objection. The young dark gray warrior snarled, a low growl in her throat. Brownpaw’s fluffy pelt was bristling.
“You passed our scent marking,” Brokenclaw informed them, narrowing his eyes.
Suntail remembered the StreamClan scent marker that had been too close, inside LakeClan land. But we haven’t passed the border! she thought. Why are they acting like this is their territory? “We’re still a couple of tail-lengths away,” she meowed, feeling herself getting angry. Maybe Nightheart was right.
“It’s not surprising,” meowed one of the warriors behind Brokenclaw. “LakeClan doesn’t mentor their apprentices well enough to tell when they pass borders!”
Fury flared in Suntail's mind, and she threw herself forward upon the tom. Screeching, they tumbled over in the undergrowth. Suntail faintly heard the others join the battle, but she was soon completely focused on her own struggle.
She sank her teeth deep in the shoulder of the gray-and-white tom while her claws shredded his sides, but he wriggled free like a fish and dove forward, pinning her to the ground. She writhed as his hind claws dug at her soft belly, and, as she felt her fur being ripped free of her, she felt her claws dig into him. Seizing her chance, she kicked viciously out, flinging him into a tree where he slumped to the ground, stunned.
Suntail looked around and saw Shadepelt swiping at the other StreamClan warrior while Brownpaw and the other apprentice danced back and forth, claws extended, teeth glinting in the sunlight. Brokenclaw and Nightheart spat and snarled, striking at one another. The black tom didn’t look like he needed any help, and neither did her apprentice, so she instead headed for Shadepelt, leaping onto the back of her opponent, grasping a firm hold on him. He screeched, flipping over to dislodge her, but Shadepelt leaped when he did, and delivered a bite to his ear.
Sudden cries reached Suntail’s ears, and she turned in horror to see two more StreamClan cats heading their way, one of them Whiteclaw, one of the cats that had been in the last attack on the LakeClan camp. She threw herself upon the gray tom, rage lending her all the strength she needed. But she had underestimated his power, and he met her readily, unbalancing her while the other StreamClan cat charged from the side. Suntail was pinned to the turf, both cats looming over her, long claws extended, teeth bared.
She twisted beneath Whiteclaw, exposing her vulnerable underbelly so that she could rake his face with her claws. Her ploy worked, however, and he leapt back, screeching in pain.
The other StreamClan cat, a wiry looking she-cat, jumped her from behind, but Suntail kicked out with her well-muscled back legs and knocked her back. Whiteclaw, who had jumped aside, now sprang at her. She dropped into a crouch and let him sail over her, spinning around once he was over. She snagged his fur in her claws and threw him into the dust. He fell on his side but got up swiftly, fleeing with a startled howl.
The cat that Shadepelt fought was quick to follow, as well as the one that Suntail had knocked against the tree. Nightheart lifted a paw and scored his claws across Brokenclaw’s face, and the StreamClan cat spat in pain and anger, his eyes searing into them all before he followed his companions. The apprentice that Brownpaw was battling went scrambling after, a warning bite from the young she-cat increasing his speed.
Now only Suntail and the last StreamClan warrior were left. As the others watched, Suntail lunged and bit deep into the she-cat’s hind leg. The gray cat ripped her limb free, letting out a hiss before she too took flight. Suntail let out a low growl of satisfaction before she turned to face the others.
Shadepelt was licking a long gash along her shoulder, and Brownpaw was cleaning clumps of fur from between her claws. “Nothing like ripping the pelt off a StreamClan cat to get your warrior blood flowing,” Shadepelt said, her blue eyes still sparkling with the light of battle.
“We were lucky,” Nightheart said, ending their good mood with his sharp words. “If there had been any more of them…” he left his thought unfinished so that the others would have to guess the meaning of his words for themselves. Sutail’s fur bristled. Trust Nightheart to act all aloof after he’d clawed a deputy’s ears.
“We’ll have to head back to camp to report this,” Suntail said, upset that her perfect morning had been ruined by StreamClan.
“Not before we mark the correct border,” Nightheart amended, his green eyes glistening with anger. “I guess it would be to much to ask of their new leader to keep her warriors on the right side of the border!”
Suntail agreed, wondering privately if Ravenstar would be more angry at the StreamClan warriors or her own cats. She’d kept them strictly under control lately, afraid that the wrong move would antagonize the new StreamClan leader, Swiftstar. Suntail had grown up in a time when every apprentice faced at least one large battle or border raid during their training, and she was not accustomed to standing like a dumbstruck rabbit while her enemies pounced on her.
“Lets hurry up then,” she said, “and get back to camp before we have the whole of StreamClan to deal with.”

Newleaf was pushing up, fresh green against the dingy gray-brown of leaf-bare. The snow had melted and the ground was soft and moist, just as it should‘ve been. What remained of the old forest growth was sending out new sprouts. And LakeClan was growing as well.
Firebelly had had her kits: Brackenkit, Bramblekit, and Goldenkit. They were big and healthy, showing great promise for LakeClan. Rainpaw claimed she’d had a dream telling her to take up the duty of healing cats—and Ravenstar had not hesitated to give her the title of apprentice medicine cat. Swallowpaw, Longpaw, Brownpaw, and Blackpaw, were learning well under their mentors, and Suntail was right to be proud of her apprentice, Brownpaw was one of the best rabbit hunters in the entire clan. But probably the best news she had received was something no cat had told her. She had noticed it herself on morning.
The forest was coming back.
The prey, it seemed, was gaining in number once more. No longer did hunts produce skinny, foul-smelling, inedible fresh-kill. Those days were behind them, it seemed. The golden tabby she-cat padded around the LakeClan camp, her yellow eyes flicking left and right as she searched for Ravenstar.
Suntail spotted Oatwhisker and dipped his head in greeting towards the deputy. The pale brown tomcat returned the nod. “Good morning, Suntail,” he meowed. His eyes flickered to Nightheart, who stood at her shoulder. “Good morning Nightheart.”
“Good morning, Suntail,” The she-cat turned to see that Ravenstar had come to join them, her black pelt rippling smoothly over her corded muscles. “How goes Brownpaw’s training?”
Suntail’s eyes gleamed proudly. “She’s wonderful,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen a cat pick up on hunting so quickly. She’s bringing down prey like there’s no tomorrow.”
“Tell her to ease up then,” Ravenstar murmured. “We want the prey to replenish itself so there will be enough for later moons. Other than that, good work.” She began to look around as if she was about to walk off, but Suntail called her back.
“A StreamClan patrol attacked us on our side of the border,” she said, leaving out the fact that they she had been the one who acted first. “They had set their scent marks well within our territory, but we sent them running back to their mothers.”
Ravenstar gave Suntail a reproachful look. “And you did nothing to antagonize them?”
“They were the ones who crossed our markers,” Suntail defended angrily. Why did Ravenstar allow StreamClan to go about unchecked while she reprimanded her own warriors so fiercely? “We only defended our Clan!”
“That’s true,” Ravenstar admitted. “Even so, I had hoped to develop a friendship with Swiftstar. Surely she can be no worse than Birchstar? LakeClan needs peace, war has torn our Clan apart. We are almost half our former size, and not enough kits are being born to fill the gap.”
“Even so, we can’t allow StreamClan to dance across our scent marks like they own the whole lake!” Nightheart cried. A small crowd was gathering around them now. Suntail could easily pick out the ginger pelt of Foxflight as she crouched next to Splashfoot.
“If StreamClan don’t respect our markers, we should teach them respect!” The young warrior Redleg yowled angrily. “I say we attack there camp!”
“Do you have bees in your brain?” Snowspots asked the younger tom. “A battle would be disastrous for us as well as them. Would you have us loose more of our warriors for the sake of our pride?” The white tom’s long fur was bristling with indignation. “Who gave you the right to make decisions anyway?”
“It’s not our pride we should be fighting for,” Whitewater meowed calmly, “it’s our land.” She turned to Ravenstar. “Did it ever occur to you that our refusal to pick a fight with Swiftstar might be leading her to think that we are weak?”
Ravenstar’s pelt bristled and she snarled, “When and if you become leader Whitewater, you can make these decisions, but while I am leader, LakeClan will not be the cause of another war! Now don’t you all have work to be doing? Your warriors, not kits, go help your clan instead of quarrelling over this!”
The other cats dispersed, though they muttered under there breath to one another as they went. Nightheart dipped his head in respect to Ravenstar and slipped away to find his apprentice, Blackpaw. Suntail moved to follow him but was called back by her leader.
“Suntail,” Ravenstar said. “I need to speak with Mistywind, can you take Swallowpaw hunting? Pick a couple of other warriors to go along if you like.”
Suntail nodded and slipped away, padding toward the elder’s den where she knew Swallowpaw would be.
Not far from the warriors den was the nursery, a tangle of bushes that had been cleared out inside by the combined efforts of the first ThunderClan cats who had settled this camp. As she passed by, Suntail pricked up her ears. She caught the faint mewls of kits as they nursed blindly at their mother’s belly. Her eyes softened, and she wondered if she might join Firebelly in there someday.
Across from the nursery was the apprentices den, a bramble-covered bush that had been burrowed under. Suntail watched two white paws poke out over the lip of the tunnel, and a few heartbeats later, Lightpaw appeared. Suntail dipped her head in greeting to the young apprentice and turned towards the elders’ den.
The elders slept in a grassy section not far from the nursery. Suntail narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the trials of keeping the elders content. Leopard-dapple in particular. Suntail was grateful to Swallowpaw, who seemed to be able to control the cranky old she-cat, in particular her rages. The elders were still asleep; Suntail could hear the muffled snores from their den.
“Suntail!”
The golden tabby she-cat turned at the sound of his name. “Mistywind,” she said happily. “Ravenstar was looking for you, something about a meeting?”
“Ah. It must be about Swallowpaw‘s warrior ceremony. She‘s the oldest apprentice, and Ravenstar‘s been talking about making her a warrior for a while now,” the gray she-cat mewed. “It’s really to bad though, Swallowpaw says she wants take a patrol around the territory.”
“Mistywind, apprentices don’t decide what their mentors do,” Suntail chided her.
Her friend batted playfully at her ear. “You sound more and more like your father each day. When old Oatwhisker finally retires, I can see you easily taking his place.” She seemed to notice that her words had made Suntail hesitate, and added, “So I guess Ravenstar wants you to take over the patrol? Alright, I’ll just go see what she’s up to.” She trotted off, her stocky form blending with the other cats in the clearing.
Suntail looked down at the fluffy ball of fur that was Mistywind’s apprentice, Swallowpaw. Though, she had to admit, Swallowpaw wasn’t so little anymore. The dark tabby she-cat came up to Suntail’s shoulder, and there was still room for her to grow. The young cat’s amber eyes blazed with excitement. Suntail touched noses with her gently. “All right. We’ll head down near the stream between here and the moor first and look around there.”
The two cats headed to the entrance of the camp. Suntail spotted Whitewater chatting with the small tabby she-cat named Birdwing and called her friend over with a flick of her tail.
Suntail was silent, thoughtful all the way. She couldn’t help thinking about the sad state of the Clan. In the old days, no warrior would have seconed guessed Ravenstar, especially not a cat as young as Whitewater. LakeClan had been a well-working Clan since the days of it’s founding. Together, the cats acted as a greater creature, working together to hunt and fight as one.
Suntail stopped, flicking out her tail to keep Swallowpaw a safe distance from the gully and the water. It was flooded with spring runoff from the Moonpool, and even a well-grown cat had to be careful of falling in.
“Let’s see what we can ketch for prey,” she meowed, already looking forward to a good hunt.

“And that’s a good day‘s work,” Suntail meowed, nodding to Swallowpaw. The tabby queen looked tired and a little muddy, but her yellow eyes blazed with excitement. She butted her head against Suntail’s flank affectionately.
“Thank you, Suntail,” she mewed. Suntail gave her an approving nudge, then started off towards the warriors’ den.
The golden tabby passed the fresh-kill pile, which was swelling with each passing day. As she walked, Crowpelt padded up and deposited a mouse on the pile. Suntail nodded, and the gray warrior returned the nod. Blackpaw approached the pile. “Leopard-dapple says she wants something to eat,” he explained, placing a paw defensively on a thrush.
“Good work, Blackpaw. How’s your training coming along?”
Blackpaw shrugged. “Well, I’m not really doing anything today,” he meowed. “Ravenstar’s had Nightheart on patrol all day, so she told Splashfoot to take me for fighting practice, but Splashfoot’s off with Foxflight—he says it’s just for this afternoon. They’re going to be doing...something.” He glanced at the ground uncertainly. “He didn’t say what.” Suntail said nothing, but she caught the idea.
“That’s fine. I have a feeling I know what it is.”
“Will you tell me?”
Suntail looked down at the scruffy black apprentice. Blackpaw’s green eyes were blazing expectantly. Her whiskers gave an amused twitch. “When you’re older,” she promised. The apprentice did not reply, but the excited fire in his eyes died down a little. Giving the young cat a lick on the head, Suntail continued to her nest.
The tabby she-cat looked around. Cats were sharing tongues in the warm afternoon light outside their dens. The fresh-kill pile was well-stocked. Blackpaw was caring for the elders. Faint scents around the camp told her Oatstripe and Sandclaw had taken their apprentices out. She probably had time to grab a quick nap. The thought pleased her, and Suntail padded into the shadowy den. She sighed contentedly and laid her head on her paws, slipping quickly into a light sleep.

She was chasing the light again, and this time it seemed closer. The forest didn’t seem as dark and forbidding, and the undergrowth wasn’t as thick. She followed the light into a clearing, pushing aside fern fronds in her haste. Ahead, the light burned so brightly that she had to advert her eyes for fear that she would go blind.
When she looked back, she stiffened in shock. Before her, his fur glittering with starshine, stood a cat out of legend.

[silwolf24]

CHAPTER TWO

Suntail crouched down in fear and awe, her back fur bristling with shock. The tom stood before her, his wide shoulders outlined by the light from the many stars that now clouded the skies. His stunning amber eyes seemed to hold her in place. She had never met this cat of StarClan, but she knew of him. Every kit in LakeClan learned of it’s founder, the cat who had united WindClan and ThunderClan to make LakeClan.
“Bramblestar,” she meowed, bowing her head in deepest respect.
“There’s no need for that,” the tabby tom said, looking slightly embarrassed, if StarClan cats could look embarrassed. “Stand up Suntail.”
She did as he said, but her mind was still whirling. She was speaking to a StarClan cat! This was something only few warriors in the history of the Clans had ever done. Each time, that cat had become a legend. Why her, she wondered. Why not Nightheart or Mistywind or Sandclaw? Come to think of it, there were many cats in LakeClan who deserved this honor more than her.
As if he could read her thoughts, Bramblestar said, “StarClan is calling you Suntail.”
“Why me?” she asked, then her ears went flat. “Does that mean I’m going to die? I think I’m still to young to die,” she meowed half to herself.
Bramblestar came forward until he stood nose-to-nose with her. “I have something to show you,” he meowed. Before she could react, he had touched her forehead with his nose, and she felt the world drop away from her paws. She opened her mouth to cry out in fear, but no sound came out.

Suntail found herself in the LakeClan camp, but it was no longer the LakeClan camp. The scents and smells were different, and all the cats looked nothing like her Clan. She had never met any of them. She jumped in shock as one of them walked right through her, sending a tingling feeling through her fur.
I’m not really here, she thought. This is still a dream.
Off near the highledge, Bramblestar was crouching next to a ginger she-cat who was obviously heavily pregnant and a bracken-colored tom. Suntail made her way over, desperate to ask him why he had brought her here, but he was speaking with the other she-cat, and she found herself caught up in their words.
“We need to send out patrols to mark the borders with River- StreamClan.” The golden-brown tom meowed. “But I don’t know what cats to take. We can’t leave WindClan here alone, but we can’t treat them like prisoners either. Besides, they need to learn our territory and we need to learn theirs.”
He was looking at a group of cats crouched out of the way toward the elders’ den. Some of them looked haggard and bore fresh wounds on their pelts. All of them looked like a defeated bunch of cats. Their eyes were dull and their pelts were disheveled.
Bramblestar followed his gaze. “Get the apprentices to work on enlarging their den, that’ll help them get to know each other. Keep the warriors busy on their den, but take some out hunting. Let them pick the places, but take two ThunderClan cats for each one of WindClan.”
“I thought they weren’t prisoners,” the queen meowed, her voice strained.
Bramblestar gave her ear a quick lick. “They aren’t Squirrelflight. They’ll soon settle in and then we’ll be able to let them go out unchecked. But as it stands, they could be a danger if their left alone for too long.” To Suntail, he didn’t look any happier with the situation than his mate. “When Firestar told me to join the Clans,” he meowed, “I never thought it would be this hard. They look at me and see Tigerstar.”
The golden-brown tom snorted. “Can you blame them?” he asked.

The golden tabby she-cat woke with a start. She looked down at her paws, her head still spinning from what she had heard. She had spoken with the first leader of LakeClan, and then he had somehow taken her back in time to see that moment in his past.
She stretched, her mouth opening in a wide yawn. The sun had not yet begun to rise as she slipped out into the clearing. Splashfoot was standing guard, his thick silver tabby pelt keeping him warm in the Newleaf night. She greeted him quietly, so as not to wake the others.
“Is the night quiet?” she asked.
“Almost too quiet,” Splashfoot yawned. “I was starting to fall asleep out here before you showed up. Ravenstar would definitely claw my ears then.”
“Why don’t you let me take over?” she asked kindly. “I don’t think I could go back to sleep if I wanted.” It was true, and she didn’t fancy the idea of sitting up in the warriors den for the rest of the night, wondering what Bramblestar had been trying to tell her.
“Bellyache?” Splashfoot asked, stopping to scratch behind his ear.
She shook her head. “Just an odd dream.”
Splashfoot’s ears pricked. “A StarClan dream?” he asked hopefully.
She opened her mouth to tell him, but stopped suddenly. What she had seen was for her alone, she was sure. She should probably tell Ravenstar or Windfur, but something held her back. StarClan is calling you. If the dream had been a prophecy of her death, then why should she bother the others? They could do nothing to change her fate if it had been set down by StarClan.
“No. It was an odd dream, but not a StarClan dream.”
Splashfoot couldn’t quite hide his disappointment as he struggled to his feet. “Well, tell Windfur if it keeps bothering you. All dreams do come from StarClan Suntail. No matter how silly it seems, it might be important.”
She only shrugged as she stepped forward to sit in his place, her ears and eyes straining into the night, as if she might finder her own answers out there.
Suntail was still standing guard when Sharptooth, Buzzardclaw, and Redleg slipped into camp as the sun rose behind them. Sharptooth was leading the patrol, and his bracken-colored fur stood out next to Buzzardclaw’s ginger pelt. Suntail knew that Buzzardclaw looked up to Sharptooth, and that his former apprentice, Redleg, hardly seemed to notice that Ravenstar was leader of LakeClan. Suntail didn’t much like the arrogant tom, but she tolerated him.
Sniffing the air, Suntail realized that they had all given themselves very thorough washes, very recently. The she-cat's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where were you?"
"Early patrol," snorted Sharptooth. "Around the forest border with StreamClan."
Without waiting for Suntail's reply, he padded away. Buzzardclaw sprang after him and the two vanished into the warriors' den, meowing urgently. Redleg followed more slowly, and Suntail was both surprised and gratified by the respectful nod he gave her.
Her father had been deputy of LakeClan before her former mentor, Oatwhisker, had taken his place. Even though he had died moons ago, some cats still looked at her simply as her father’s daughter, as if they were waiting for her to step up as a leader. But I'll do it, she promised herself, the loyalty and ambition that she had always had, since her days as an apprentice, flaring inside her. I'll be the best warrior that LakeClan has ever seen.
Her claws dug into the ground from the strength of her promise, and she looked back towards the camp. She had a feeling that Sharptooth hadn't been quite truthful with his explanation of an early patrol. But where else could they have gone?

Accompanying a patrol through the moors, Suntail found herself enjoying the fresh, windy day. The breeze ruffled her fur and the sky was dotted with puffy clouds that shielded the cats from the hot sun. Like most LakeClan cats, she was built for running on the moors, with long legs and a lean build. However, she was moor heavily muscled than the average moor cat, which made her a strong hunter and fighter as well as a fast runner.
Mistywind was leading the patrol, her apprentice Swallowpaw by her side. Nightheart brought up the rear, the muscles flexing beneath his smooth black pelt as he loped across the hills.
As they neared the Twoleg place border, Suntail paused for a moment to look back. Mistywind and Swallowpaw were sniffing at an old foxhole, and Nightheart was just crouching down, signaling wildly to Suntail. The golden tabby she-cat lifted her head and caught rabbit on the breeze.
A moment later her keen eyes caught the telltale flash of movement in the heather. The rabbit jerked its head up, long ears raised, and stamped the ground in warning. But the LakeClan cats were already upon it. Nightheart and Suntail raced forward, faster than any cat in StreamClan could ever hope to be. With a mighty leap Suntail grasped the rabbit from behind and pulled it towards her, snapping it's neck with a swift bite.
"Nice catch!" Nightheart purred. He caught Suntail's eye. "It's good to hunt with you again," he commented.
"Yes," Suntail meowed. "Like being apprentices again." Her head bowed for a moment as she remembered the brother who had never lived to be a warrior.
Nightheart looked taken aback for a moment, and then understanding flared in his eyes. Reaching over, he gave the tabby she-cat a couple of quick licks. "All right, you furball," he meowed. "We had better hunt some more, before our mentors decide to make us clean the elders’ den."
Suntail touched her tail to his old friend's shoulder, purring happily. At that moment Swallowpaw lifted her head from the foxhole. "The scent's stale," she announced confidently. "About three days old, I'd say. And the fox went..." She pointed with her tail- "that way."
"Good." Mistywind seemed pleased. "Well done, Swallowpaw."
"Yes," agreed Suntail. She looked at the apprentice thoughtfully. Swallowpaw was still young- when the LakeClan cats had been fighting StreamClan almost constantly, Ravenstar had been forced to apprentice her early. As the only survivor of Firebelly's kits, she would have the best chance as an apprentice, and not having to care for her gave Firebelly herself more time to spend defending her Clan. But despite that she had grown into a strong cat, and the days of peace since Birchstar’s death had given her new strength.
Maybe it's time she was made a warrior, thought Suntail, and as they set off for home, Nightheart carrying the rabbit, she caught up with Mistywind. "Do you think Swallowpaw's ready for her ceremony?"
Mistywind turned her amber eyes on him excitedly. "Really? Do you think so? Great!"
"So you think she's ready?"
Mistywind looked thoughtful. "I've taught her everything I know," she meowed. "And all that we've been through..."
"It gives her more experience than some warriors ever get," Suntail meowed. "Okay. If you want I'll speak to Ravenstar about it when we get back."

"Swallowpaw a warrior?" Ravenstar repeated Mistywind's request as the leader and two warriors sat together at the edge of the clearing. "Yes. I think you're right. Thanks for telling me, Suntail. Mistywind and I had been discussing a test of her skills, but I believe she’s ready. We'll hold the ceremony at once."
She padded out onto the highledge, just as the stars appeared. Cats stopped on their way to the fresh-kill pile and instead turned to the gathering place. Swallowpaw came with her older siblings, Foxflight and Buzzardclaw. The young she-cat’s faintly curious expression told Suntail that she hadn't yet been warned about what was coming.
"LakeClan warriors, apprentices, elders, and queens," announced Ravenstar, "We are here today to honor an apprentice who has clearly shown herself worthy on holding the name of warrior, and knows the code of our ancestors as well as any cat can."
She looked down at the crowd. "Swallowpaw, come forward."
The shock on the apprentice's face slowly turned to delight as she bounded forward, her large amber eyes gleaming. Ravenstar stepped down from the highledge to meet her. "I, Ravenstar, leader of LakeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. Throughout her training she has pledged herself to live by the code you have set down for us, and now I ask you to honor her for that by coming to know her as a full warrior."
Shee paused, and the ancient words rang round the rise that was LakeClan's home. "Swallowpaw, do you swear to live by the warrior code StarClan has left for us, to pledge yourself to the protection of LakeClan, even at the cost of your life?"
Swallowpaw's tail raised high with pride. "Yes, I do."
"Then, by the authority StarClan has granted to me, I give you your warrior name. Swallowpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Swallowflight. StarClan honors the loyalty and strength you bring to LakeClan, as from now on we will know you as a warrior." Ravenstar rested her muzzle on Swallowflight's head, and she licked her shoulder before bounding over to join the warriors.
"Swallowflight! Swallowflight!" The welcoming chorus rose as the cats gathered round to greet her as a full warrior. Her mother, Firebelly, was one of the first to come forward and congratulate her. Buzzardclaw and Foxflight were next, each purring happily.
Suntail hung back to say her own few words to Swallowflight once the crowd had cleared, and she ended up beside Sharptooth. The way that he turned his back reminded Suntail of the morning when he had done the same thing, and it was only then that the young she-cat remembered her earlier musings that Sharptooth might be hiding something.

((If this chapter seems smaller that the first, that's because I wasn't exactly happy with how it turned out. Bramblestar's flashback could have been more eventful. I would appreciate reviews, so that I can see what I'm doing wrong.))

[silwolf24]

CHAPTER THREE

There was fury in Oatwhisker's eyes as his patrol prowled back into the LakeClan camp. Suntail, who had been sitting alone near the apprentices' den, watched in surprise as the pale brown tabby took a step into the camp and howled, "Ravenstar!"
Instantly the Clan leader appeared out of her den and padded across to her warriors, alert and curious. “What is it, Oatwhisker?”
“StreamClan!” snarled Oatwhisker. “We found their scents, so far inside our territory that there’s no saying it’s the wind! Not this time!”
Suntail remembered the previous Gathering, when Ravenstar had challenged Swiftstar about the faint scents they had found inside their borders. The StreamClan leader had blamed it on carrying winds, an excuse that had not satisfied many LakeClan cats, especially not since the fight at the forest border. Suntail had been too busy with Brownpaw then to think much of it, but now her old, familiar Clan loyalty came bubbling back, and she jumped to her paws. “Where?” she growled, coming up to Ravenstar’s side. “Where did you find the scents?”
Oatwhisker glanced at his former apprentice. “Around the balanced rocks, near the border. It’s clear they’ve been hunting there.”
The balanced rocks was a place where an enormous slab of stone stood awkwardly on top of a much smaller, rounder one. It was near LakeClan's border with StreamClan. The shade beneath the larger rock provided a good hiding place for prey, so it was a fine place for hunting. Clearly StreamClan thought so too.
The black she-cat was still thoughtful. “Suntail,” she meowed finally, “I want you to take a patrol to the balanced rocks at dawn tomorrow. Cover all the StreamClan scent, and stay there a while- make sure that they don’t come back. Then return to camp and report to me.”
“Yes, Ravenstar.” Suntail made sure to dip her head just as respectfully as she had to Bramblestar. She felt a prickle of pride at being chosen to head this important patrol. Her claws sank out of their sheathes, into the ground below. She would show StreamClan they had no business in LakeClan’s land!
As soon as Ravenstar padded away, the warriors began to gather around her, each begging to go on the patrol. Suntail finally decided on Snowspots, who was senior warrior and also Nightheart and Sandclaw, furious fighters both, Nightheart’s apprentice Blackpaw, and Oatwhisker and Sandclaw’s apprentice Lightpaw, and her own apprentice Brownpaw. He was a little wary of bringing Oatwhisker, since Ravenstar had put her at the head of the patrol, but she needed a cat from the original patrol, and the strong, battle-ready tom was the obvious choice.
Suntail lay down in her nest that night with fur tingling in anticipation of the next day. The warriors’ den was under a huge bush, but the branches were wide and ragged, sparse enough for all the cats to see the stars through them. The apprentices’, elders’, and even Onestar’s den was the same way. Only Windfur’s den and the nursery were truly protected, for the cats of LakeClan hated places that they couldn’t see the sky from.
Why would any cat want to live in a place where they couldn’t feel the breeze in their fur? wondered Suntail.
She eventually abandoned trying to drop off, and instead rolled to her paws. She didn’t need to sleep. Her energy would carry her through the next day, and many moons of bad dreams had hardened her against fatigue. She padded swiftly out of camp, into the moors.

Suntail’s patrol neared the border. Oatwhisker hovered at the golden tabby she-cat’s shoulder, with Snowspots just behind. The three apprentices were behind him, and SandClaw, alert and watchful, brought up the rear. Suntail had sent Nightheart to scout ahead, and the black tom was just returning.
“I can’t imagine why StreamClan would bother with hunting at the balanced rocks,” he growled, shaking his large paws. “They have to cross that bog to get there, and my claws got soaked just nearing the place. That water is foul! But there is fresh StreamClan scent. They might be there now.”
Ignoring Lightpaw’s excited squeak, Suntail narrowed her eyes. “We’ll have to chase them out,” she meowed. “And it’s best that we sneak up on them. Come on, and mind what your paws touch. We want to be quiet.”
The LakeClan patrol made their way silently towards the balanced rocks. Nightheart was right; as they neared the place, the usually dry, hard soil turned to squishy mud, and Suntail felt herself sinking into the ground with every pawstep. Still, tall plants had sprouted all over the place, and they provided ideal covering.
“Suntail.” Sandclaw touched her shoulder with her tail, murmuring her name softly, and pointed ahead. Suntail peered through the undergrowth to see the balanced rocks; their prey-rich ground well within LakeClan borders. But it was crawling with StreamClan cats.
At once anger and LakeClan loyalty seized Suntail, and she exploded out of the grasses, twitching her ears at her patrol to do the same. She let out a yowl of defense, and the huge cat that stood on top of the larger of the balanced rocks turned around, her green eyes widening.
It was Swiftstar, and her eyes narrowed as he spied the LakeClan patrol. She turned and hissed. “Crawl back to the moors. This territory belongs to StreamClan now.”
“And who ordered that?” Suntail spat back. “Not Ravenstar, for sure, and she’s the only one I answer to.”
“Oh, but you don’t want to fight us,” Swiftstar meowed, and several of her warriors joined her atop the rock. Suntail watched it wobble slightly under the weight.
“What if we do?” she snarled. “You won’t win.”
Swiftstar leaped smoothly from the stone, dislodging it even further, and padded across to Suntail. She leaned forward, her whiskers almost brushing the LakeClan cat’s muzzle. When she spoke, only Suntail could make out the murmured words. “But I will. I have all the fury of LionClan inside me.”
A blind, meaningless rage attacked Suntail then, and the next thing she knew she was in the middle of a battle.
She leaped for Swiftstar, but another StreamClan cat hit her instead. It was Rockfoot, another warrior that she recognized from a past battle. There was no recognition in the thickset black tom's eyes as he lunged for Suntail's throat. Suntail dodged, much swifter than any StreamClan cat, and then turned abruptly and flung herself at Rockfoot's side.
The tom yowled as Suntail's claws pulled out pawfulls of his fur, and he wriggled free, leaving Suntail to stare around for a moment. Everywhere there was fighting, and the warriors were all matched. There was no familiarity, no way to tell friend from foe, only screeching cats defending their territories.
Suntail sprung in the direction Rockfoot had gone, but something slammed into her when she was in the air. It was another StreamClan warrior, black and white with huge hooked claws that gripped Suntail tight and hauled her to the ground. Rage hit the LakeClan cat and she struggled from underneath the tom. The lean muscles in his legs were useless if he couldn't move!
Blindly, she sank her fangs into the closest thing she could reach- the StreamClan cat's foreleg. The tom yowled and tried to throw Suntail off, but the golden tabby she-cat hung on, her eyes squeezed shut until finally she felt the weight lifted off one of her hindlegs. Immediately she lashed out, her lightning-fast grace giving her all the advantage she needed. Her claws hit the black-and-white tom in the face and the cat retreated, whimpering in pain.
Panting and bleeding from the deep clawmarks in her side and neck, Suntail got to her paws. Lightpaw, her eyes wide with fear and wounds oozing blood from her flank, was darting out of the battle. Swiftstar was after her, and Suntail's anger came back in full force to see the massive tabby fighting the poor apprentice.
Swiftstar chased Lightpaw towards the balanced rocks, and Lightpaw darted under the shadowy space beneath the large thin rock. Suntail felt a prickle of satisfaction, one of the LakeClan cats' biggest tricks was to hide and strike from beneath a sheltered place, like an adder.
But Swiftstar didn't attempt to corner Lightpaw beneath the rock. Instead she jumped on top of the thin, top stone. Suntail's eyes widened in horror as the top rock wobbled, and she drew breath to cry to Lightpaw as the flat, heavy stone beneath Swiftstar's paws shook and then fell down in the other direction from where it had been leaning.
Where Lightpaw had been hiding.
"No! Lightpaw, no!" Suntail howled, leaping forward. She saw a flash of light ginger fur and felt a surge of hope, but then the gap closed. Lightpaw, only her head and shoulders out of the rocks, let out a horrible cry of pain and fear as her back half was smashed by the heavy stone. There was a sickening crunch, and Lightpaw's muscles went slack. She didn't make another sound.
Sandclaw exploded out of the battle to her apprentice's side. "Lightpaw! Lightpaw!" She meowed the name again and again, but Lightpaw's amber eyes fluttered shut, and blood bubbled out of her open mouth. She gave a violent thrash, and then gave up. Blood seeped out of the rocks as she went completely limp.
The LakeClan cats came forward slowly, silently. The StreamClan cats stayed back, forgetting the battle in their surprise and horror at the death. Blackpaw nudged Nightheart miserably, and Brownpaw's head was bowed.
Then Swiftstar, who was still standing upon the rock, bounded forward. She headed straight for Suntail and hissed in the LakeClan she-cat's face. Suntail looked up. She couldn't manage to remain calm, and her claws unsheathed. "Get out of here, Swiftstar," she snapped. "This battle is over."
"Over? Then you forfeit to StreamClan?"
Suntail hissed from between clenched teeth. "This has gone beyond a dispute over borders. We'll finish this another time. Now get out of here, or we'll chase you off."
Sandclaw dashed out from beside Lightpaw to Suntail's side, snarling in agreement. "Get off our land, crowfood eater!"
Fury flashed in Swiftstar's expression, but she didn't dare attack with Suntail and Sandclaw both ready to rip her to pieces. "All right. But we'll return. The balanced rocks will belong to StreamClan, I promise you."
She leaped away, and her warriors followed. But one apprentice lagged behind- his name was Tigerpaw, and Suntail remembered him from a gathering. He looked at Lightpaw's body, and then met Suntail's eyes. The young apprentice dipped his head in silent respect to the dead cat, and then he followed his Clanmates back toward their own territory.
Suntail watched him go, registering dimly that not all cats were so deeply affected by the bloodlust that raged between their two Clans. But as she looked back at Lightpaw's lifeless body, Tigerpaw's gentle face was replaced by Swiftstar's cold, flashing eyes. She had been standing on the rock when it had fallen on Lightpaw. She had unbalanced it so it would fall.
And, thinking of how eager she had been to get back to the battle, how she had shown no remorse when she had seen that Lightpaw was dead, Suntail had a horrible feeling that she had done it on purpose.
She looked around for Oatwhisker, wanting to ask him advice. He had been her mentor once, and she needed the comfort of that bond now. However, he was nowhere to be found. Then, she saw Brownpaw sniffing under one of the overhanging rocks near the balanced rock and headed toward her.
Oatwhisker had obviously pulled himself beneath it when he had become to injured to fight. His shoulder and neck were covered in bleeding claw marks. His breath came in short and shallow gasps. Suntail crept closer until she settled down beside him, beginning to clean the blood from his spiked fur.
She only dimly heard Brownpaw calling for help.

The mood was grim that night at the LakeClan camp. Lightpaw's death had been a crushing blow to them all. Ravenstar was talking with Oatwhisker in the medicine cats’ den, their conversation punctuated by the deputy's hacking coughs.
Sandclaw and the apprentices, as well as Lightpaw's mother Flowertail and former denmate Swallowflight held the apprentice's vigil in the middle of the clearing, though they hadn't even been able to pull her body from rocks. The most they were able to do was cover the exposed part of her with earth, and Suntail knew that she would be afraid to hunt at the balanced rocks forever after that day.
Finally, unable to watch it anymore, she slid out of camp. It was dangerous to go out alone with StreamClan so bent on war, but she was willing to take the risk, if it meant that she could escape for a while. She was followed by Nightheart, and the two eventually settled down in the mossy hollow, pelts gently touching one another.
Nightheart nudged her wounds gently with his nose as they talked of all that had happened. "You should get Windfur or Rainpaw to put something on them," he meowed. "And stop running halfway across the moors to be alone. You're only going to reopen them."
"I'll be all right," Suntail objected, shuffling her paws.
Nightheart looked at her. "I know you will."
He sat back and listened with wide eyes as she told him what had happened to Lightpaw. "And...and Swiftstar was standing on the rock?" he mewed at last. “I wasn’t close enough to see.”
Suntail touched her muzzle to his. "Yes, she was," she meowed sadly. She lifted her head up and studied Silverpelt. All at once her soft yellow eyes hardened to ice. "Not only that, she did it on purpose, Nightheart. I know she did. And you know what's worse? She got away with it."

[silwolf24]

CHAPTER FOUR:

Ravenstar called a Clan meeting the next dawn. Suntail stumbled out of her den, startled by the early call, and joined the other cats to listen to her leader as she spoke.
“Cats of LakeClan,” she called from the Highledge, “I cannot say how happy I am to have New-leaf here once more. But Suntail’s patrol brings other news. StreamClan has been hunting in our territory. We successfully drove them off, but that doesn’t mean they won’t return.”
Her words came as no surprise, most of the LakeClanners had already heard the tale of Lightpaw’s death. Even so, yowls of anger rose from the cats, and Ravenstar stopped to acknowledge them before speaking again. “Our warriors have done well, and I wish to honor one apprentice. Longpaw, come forward please.”
The light brown tom looked astonished, and it was only after a prod from Whitewater that he leaped up, scrambling beneath the Highledge to meet Ravenstar as she leaped down.
“Longpaw,” meowed Ravenstar, “Oatwhisker tells me that you have learned all he must teach you, and I wish to grant you your warrior name.” She lifted her head up to the twilight sky, to the first gleaming star that shone like a drop of dew against the dusky night. “I, Ravenstar, leader of LakeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn.”
She looked down at Longpaw. “Longpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code above all else, to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”
Longpaw’s green eyes gleamed as he replied, “Yes, I do.”
“Then, by the powers of StarClan, I grant you your warrior name,” announced Ravenstar. “Longpaw, from this moment onward you shall be known as Longstripe. StarClan honors your bravery and your loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LakeClan.”
She rested her muzzled on his head, and, after giving her shoulder the traditional lick, he bounded over to join Swallowflight and the other warriors. Flowertail, his mother, covered him with proud licks, and his friend Brownpaw looked just as proud as he did himself. Suntail wished that Oatwhisker could be here for his son and apprentice, but he was still resting in the medicine den. Ravenstar let the voices call his new warrior name for a couple of heartbeats, and then yowled for silence once more.
“While I am glad that our borders remain the same, I am still forbidding any attacks on StreamClan warriors,” Ravenstar said. Cries of disbelief and anger echoed around Suntail, but her leader paid no heed. “Any cat who antagonizes a StreamClan patrol will be held responsible for any later deaths. Therefore, any cat caught crossing the border will be made outcast!”
The cries died down into silence. Every cat feared being made an outcast from their Clan, being sent to live with the rouges who hunted beyond Clan land. For a moment, the sitting cats parted to reveal Whitewater, who’s eyes were narrowed with fear and determination. But before Suntail could grasp why her friend seemed so shaken by Ravenstar’s words, the meeting began to break up.

Suntail's mind was full as she made her way back to the LakeClan camp. Her feelings about Ravenstar’s leadership were there, as always, but now that he didn't have to worry about them other thoughts became more important. She was worried for Oatwhisker, more than she'd like to admit. He was old- he had been a an apprentice when Goldenstar was leader, after all- but he had always seemed so vigorous to her, so fierce. Now he was lying in Windfur and Rainpaw's den, feeble and exhausted.
And then who will Ravenstar make deputy? Suntail wondered. He is a senior warrior!
In truth, she was uncertain about who to trust in LakeClan anymore. Sharptooth, Redleg, and Buzzardclaw were definitely hiding something. Even Whitewater seemed distracted for some reason. And Ravenstar seemed so bent on peace with Swiftstar, that she was willing to give up everything LakeClan had to obtain it.
It’s odd, thought Suntail, to be not sure who to trust in your own Clan.
The bright sunlight had made everyone leave their dens, even Oldtooth, the oldest cat in the Clan. He lay sprawled out beside Morningstream, letting the warmth soak into his thick pelt. Suntail nodded to him as she made her way to Windfur’s den, which was down a tunnel at the base of the slope. She shivered as she entered; without the sunlight, the cold of early New-leaf was strong in here.
“Suntail.” She heard Windfur’s mew just as he spotted the medicine cat’s eyes in the darkness. As the warrior’s own eyes adjusted she saw that Oatwhisker was there too, laying on his side in a nest of down and moss. “Come to see him, I suppose?” Windfur rasped.
“Yes,” Suntail meowed. “How is he?”
Windfur twitched her tail uncertainly. “The cold has gotten to him this season,” she admitted. “I have given him honey to soothe his throat, and a poultice of marigold to heal his wounds. I only hope that it will help him.”
“And what if it doesn’t?” Suntail demanded, annoyed by her calm tone. She wanted her to be worried, to be rushing around trying to heal Oatwhisker, not just sitting there like a rock collecting cobwebs.
To her surprise, Rainpaw appeared out of the corner of the den. Her jaws were packed with daisy roots, and she spat them out. “If he doesn’t, he’ll die. Or join the elders, maybe. He won’t be able to run with the patrols with those injuries and now the cold he‘s caught. Is that right, Windfur?”
Expressionless, thoughtless, she turned her eyes on her mentor, who looked downward as she was forced to answer, “Yes. That’s right.”
Rainpaw’s eyes flashed up at Suntail, who for a moment wanted to take a swipe at the young apprentice. Rainpaw was all business and no lies. In the past moon all her kithood excitement had vanished and she became solemn and almost wise. “What if Suntail takes him out in the sun?” suggested Rainpaw quietly. “It may warm him inside.”
It was then that Suntail realized Oatwhisker had been awake the whole time, had heard everything they’d said. She opened her mouth and then closed it again as he heaved himself to his paws. “That sounds like a fine idea, Rainpaw,” he rasped. “Perhaps I can help Ravenstar organize the patrols while I’m at it.”
He began to pad down the tunnel, and Suntail rushed to his side. His pelt brushed past hers as she supported him gently- enough to help him, but not enough to make him look elderly and frail. He led her slowly out of the den, into the main clearing. Despite his arguments, she insisted on sitting with him for a while. Oatwhisker rolled his eyes at her when he finally gave in. “Stubborn. But then, you got that from me.”
“So how are you?” Suntail pressed on, looking at him searchingly. Rainpaw’s cold words rang in her ears. Dead. Dead or with the elders. Not deputy. But he had to be! There was no one else!
Before Oatwhisker could answer, excited kit voices split the air. “Suntail, it’s Suntail!”
Firebelly’s three kits, Bramblekit, Brackenkit and Goldenkit, came tumbling across the valley over to the she-cat, eagerness in their eyes. Their mother came rushing after them. “Don’t go racing off like that!” she scolded them, but they were bouncing around Suntail, oblivious. “Suntail, Suntail, tell us a story,” Goldenkit begged. “Tell us of the Great Journey. Tell us of the talking badger!”
“Oh, yes!” squealed Bramblekit, his eyes shining. “Go on, Suntail, tell us!”
Suntail looked at Oatwhisker helplessly- he knew nothing about kits. He was purring in amusement at her expression, and she was grateful when Firebelly took charge.
“Kits!” she meowed sternly. “If you can’t ask Suntail nicely, you won’t hear a mew out of her!”
Brackenkit studied her for a moment, and then seemed to decide that her order was reasonable. The little gold tom padded up to Suntail and clarified, “Suntail, please tell us!”
Suntail had to twitch her whiskers at that, and she tucked her paws under her as they gathered round her, jostling each other. She closed her eyes briefly, and the image of the water and the badger Midnight spread before her, as real as it had been when the first clan cats had ventured there. “Well,” she meowed, “The water at the sun-drown place was always moving, never stopping. Like a river. Only it crashed into cliffs and then dragged back, then came forward again. It smelled of salt, and tasted of it, too.”
“Blech!” spat Goldenkit, and Oatwhisker prodded her with his tail for silence. Hee was watching his former apprentice now, interested, a bit of pride in his eyes. Bramblekit, Brackenkit, and Goldenkit were enraptured, and even the warriors in the middle of their duties pricked their ears as they passed, eager for a scrap of the tale of how they had arrived at this place, their home.
“Every night, as it set, the sun would sink behind the horizon to be swallowed up by the water. It went with a flash of red, like blood- only it wasn’t blood. It was different. It wasn’t like death. Because the sun comes back every morning...”
Suntail went on, telling about how the traveling cats had met Midnight and discovered the truth about the Twolegs. How they had made their way back over the mountains. She spoke tirelessly, until she reached the point of Feathertail’s death.
“So what happened then?” mewed Bramblekit curiously. “They were all sad, I’ll bet. But Bramblestar told the other cats to get themselves together, right?”
“They helped each other,” she meowed at last. “They were all sad, and they all mourned her together. But they had a task to do, and they completed it.”
Oatwhisker tried to stifle his sudden cough. Suntail pawed at the ground, forgetting all about the tale. “Oatwhisker, will you be all right?”
Oatwhisker’s entire body was shaking with his wheezing now, and he tried to speak through his fit. “Yes,” he hacked out. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
But his words carried little conviction, and they seemed as meaningless as a warm breeze amongst a bone-chilling frost.

Suntail's time was divided between Nightheart, Oatwhisker, and the Clan. Unfortunately, wherever she was, she always had the sense that she should be somewhere else. Oatwhisker got worse everyday, and since Lightpaw's death, LakeClan needed her as a strong warrior. And Nightheart...she wasn't herself when she wasn't with Nightheart.
One rare time she sat at the camp, not hunting or patrolling, not sitting with Oatwhisker or slipping off to hunt with Nightheart. She was sharing a rabbit with Whitewater, while Crowpelt lay on her other side, crunching a vole.
Whitewater's bright yellow eyes were trained on the gorse warriors' den. “Sandclaw needs to get her paws moving,” she growled. “She hardly gets anything done since the battle at the balanced rocks.”
“She’s mourning Lightpaw,” meowed Crowpelt. “She was her apprentice, after all.”
“That’s no excuse to be lazy,” Suntail pointed out. “All of LakeClan needs to have their claws sharp now.”
Crowpelt swallowed a bit of vole. “If StreamClan were anywhere near our territory, Sandclaw’s claws would be ready, I promise you. She’d attack their camp herself if she could.”
“Ravenstar would never let her do that,” Whitewater mewed dismissively, though her white pelt bristled slightly at the thought. Suntail wondered why the thought of fighting StreamClan distressed her friend so much.
“But could Ravenstar stop her, even if she tried?” Crowpelt looked at the younger warriors with wide eyes. “She’s close with Mistywind and Swallowflight. What if they tried to attack StreamClan themselves?”
“They’d be killed,” Suntail replied promptly. “And Sandclaw’s not that stupid.”
“Not stupid,” Whitewater realized. “Just desperate for revenge. Face it, Sandclaw’s probably thinking that this is Ravenstar’s fault- she wanted to launch a raid on StreamClan.”
Suntail hoped the feelings of anger at Ravenstar‘s orders would blow over, and was grateful when Whitewater changed the subject. “How’s Oatwhisker?”
Suntail bit into her rabbit, taking her time as she chewed and swallowed. “He’s all right,” she mewed. “Still alive, anyway.”
She hadn’t meant to speak so darkly, but it was true. All that she hoped for now when she visited her former mentor was to see that he was still breathing. Windfur didn’t know what else to do for him.
Whitewater put her tail sympathetically on Suntail’s shoulder, and the golden tabby she-cat turned to look at her. She had shared her apprenticeship with the white she-cat, though, just like with everyone else, their friendship had changed drastically after their warrior cerimony. It was good to see that Whitewater still remembered the old days.
“He might pull through,” the she-cat mewed. “He’s strong, and the warm winds will help him.”
Suntail closed her eyes briefly. “I hope so.”
The three cats turned to Windfur’s den to see Ravenstar padding out. Her ears were flat, and she shook her head at Rainpaw as the apprentice mewed something after her.
“Who’ll be the new deputy?” whispered Whitewater. “If she does die?”
That was a question that nagged Suntail insistently. She really didn’t know. None of the other warriors had braved Birchstar’s war and Goldenstar’s death as well as Oatwhisker- except for Ravenstar herself, and other warriors that had died in one battle or another.
“What will LakeClan do without him?” Suntail murmured, though it was a lie. Even if Oatwhisker did die, LakeClan would find some way to continue on, as always. Truly, she herself was wondering what she would do without her mentor, her deputy, and the only cat inside LakeClan that really understood her.

Suntail dashed across the LakeClan moor, stopping only to pick up the mouse she had caught on her long run. At least she could get away with the story of only hunting, and maybe the prey would tempt Oatwhisker.
Her former mentor wasn’t in the medicine cats’ den. He had dragged himself all the way out of the cave and lay, exhausted from the effort, at the edge of the rise. Suntail hurried over to him, setting her mouse down to speak. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” he managed through his coughs. “I...I told...Windfur...I didn’t want to stay in there...any longer. I wanted...to see the sky.”
“Oh,” Suntail mewed. “But why didn’t you get a cat to help you up?”
“I don’t need help,” Oatwhisker growled. “And it doesn’t matter, anyway. I’m not getting any better.”
“You might!” Suntail meowed. “Don’t say that.”
“Why deny it?” Oatwhisker asked her, rolling his blue eyes up to look at her. “I’m not afraid of StarClan, Suntail.”
“And you shouldn’t be,” Suntail meowed, settling down beside him, her nose brushing his fur. “They’ll receive you with honor. You fought well for LakeClan.” She knew there was no point in trying to tell him he was going to get better anymore.
“I hope I did,” Oatwhisker murmured. He coughed again, and then looked back at Suntail. She could see a mentor’s pride in his eyes. “But not half as well as you will, Suntail. I think that‘s why Ravenstar gave you to me to mentor. She knew you were special.”
Suntail bowed his head. After what she had done, was she really worthy of his praise? Speech was causing Oatwhisker a great deal of effort now, and he was splayed out, all his muscles limp. Suntail pressed her side against his. “I thought she made me your apprentice because I was stubborn and mousebrained?”
Her old mentor’s ears twitched, but he seemed to not have the strength to reply. Suntail’s pelt prickled. Oatwhisker studied her bleakly for a moment. He didn’t cough, but Suntail could sense that he was getting weaker with each quivery pound of his heart. “Promise...promise me something, Suntail,” he mewed finally. His voice was as whispery as the wind through the heather.
“Anything,” Suntail meowed instantly.
“Promise...that you’ll make me proud. That you’ll do everything that I know you can. You are great, Suntail. You are strong, you are fierce, and you are loyal. You were my apprentice, and promise me that you’ll make me proud of you.”
Suntail was barely able to understand the words as he spoke, but once he was finished she nodded, putting her head close to his so that she could smell his familiar scent. “I promise, Oatwhisker,” she murmured. “I’ll do it.”
Oatwhisker opened his mouth like he was going to reply, but then another coughing fit hit him. After a while Windfur came rushing out of her den to quell him, and Suntail watched in a kind of stunned horror as the medicine cat pressed her paws against his chest, trying to stimulate his breathing. She was still watching when Oatwhisker’s body shuddered, when Windfur gently closed his eyes.
And she was still watching as the cats of LakeClan came forward to pay silent tribute, sharing tongues with their deputy for the last time. Some, Nightheart and Windfur included, tried to speak to her, but she would not move.
Finally, Suntail stirred, lifting herself to her paws and walking over to where her mentor held his last vigil. He had died after moonhigh, so Ravenstar had until the next night to announce his replacement. She and most of the Clan would come out to sit with him soon, but they weren’t here now. Ravenstar was with Windfur, and the other warriors were grouped around the edge of the rise, watching the golden tabby warrior pad towards her mentor.
“Good-bye,” Suntail meowed softly to his still form. “You were a good deputy, a good warrior, and the best mentor a cat could ask for. And I’ll make you proud.”
She sat beside him. Her head was lifted to the stars, her fur was flat. Her eyes glittered with understanding and wisdom as she felt the pain that she had felt before. No cat could have looked more noble, not any cat that was as pained inside as Suntail.
Her ears pricked as she listened to the sound of her own heart as it beat all alone in the dark.

[Dovewing]

It's really good!!!!! Are you gonna continue it?