~The New Bodyguard~ Chapter two is up

Chapters 1-5

Chapter one-

Juniper opened her mouth, drawing in the sweet scent of pine needles. She purred loudly as her paws felt the crunch of them as she walked. She felt lucky to have No-furs that let her in and out of her cramped nest. The air in there wasn't nearly as fresh as the pines that surrounded her home. She also loved the way the shadows engulfed her usually bright orange and white pelt, making it into a darker reddish-orange and cream. The lack of sun shining through made the collar around her neck dull and easier to catch fresh prey. A large, dark green frog hopped near the bog that was close by. Her pretty hazel eyes locked on it. She lowered her body and then, with a quick sprint, charged after it. The frog seemed to see her from a mile away and jumped before she could get her claws on it. Juniper let out hiss of frustration as the prey hopped out of sight.

"What are you doing on Shadowclan territory, Kittypet?" A deep voice growled from the shadows. "Hunting our prey?" Juniper looked around, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. Her ears flattened against her head and her fur bristled, making her look bigger.

"The pines are my home too." She mewed. "I have the right to hunt here as well."

"Oh really?" A tall tom came out from the shadows of a large pine. His green eyes peirced into Juniper's, making her extremely uncomfortable. "Don't you have twolegs to feed you?" The dark grey tom looked down at her collar with a huff.

"I feed myself." She hissed. The tom circled around her, making her neck fur spike up. "And I'm going to continue hunting here until I decide to move on to different prey."

"And what if I don't allow you to?" He asked her. "What would you do then?" As the tom spoke, three more cats appeared out of hiding. A brown, white, and grey tom, a grey tabby tom, and a grey-blue she-cat. All staring at her. She took a deep breath and looked directly into the dark grey tom's eyes.

"I can't afford to starve so I guess I have no choice but to fight." Juniper mewed. She tried to stay calm so he wouldn't smell the fear that was pulsing through her. He was bigger than her and probably more experienced. This time, she might actually lose her life. But if she didn't fight, she knew she would starve. She yowled and jumped on the tom, claws hooked into his ears. But the tom just stood there. Blood ran down his cheek and her claws but the tom didn't even flinch.

"You'll have to try a lot harder than that, kittypet." He purred and a hard paw hit her stomach. The blow made the air escape from her and her chest tightened. She fell to the ground wheezing and the tom stood over her, amusement shone in his eyes as he pressed a heavy paw on her flank.

"Fleabag!" She hissed with the little amount of breath she could manage to get out. Her vision started to fade and the tom's green eyes disappeared.

When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the pines anymore. At least, not the same pines. She looked up to see a starry eyed cat looking down at her. Her beautiful tabby pelt blew softly in the wind. Juniper felt as if she should be startled, but only felt peace and calm.
"Where am I?" She asked, confused.

"You are in Starclan." The she-cat answered softly. Her blue eyes held almost a motherly look. Calm and soft. Jupiter could feel the warmth in them. "My name is Fallenmist. I was a Shadowclan cat. I've been watching you Juniper." She hesitated for a second before speaking again. "I know this might be hard for you to understand. And very confusing." She added. "But I need you to look after someone for me."

"Look after someone?" Juniper repeated in confusion. "Who?"

"Things are going to get hard for you in a bit. But I can see you're a strong cat at heart." She mewed, ignoring the orange cat's question. "I need you to stay in the pine forest with my clan. If not, it may fall apart. You'd need to leave your twolegs." She looked down at her collar. "And the collar around your neck."

"But why?" Juniper blinked. She didn't know this cat. Yet, she felt some kind of bond. She remembered how her mother, Dawn, use to make her feel. Being near Fallenmist made her feel almost the exact same way as Dawn did. Her gaze was warm and inviting. She felt as if she could come to her and tell her any problem and she'd listen, give advice, and hold her near when things were going bad. "You were a mother, weren't you?" Jupiter mewed thoughtfully

Fallenmist gave her a friendly smile and a quick nod. "I was a mother. But now, I have to stay here. Away from my son." Her blue eyes sheltered sorrow as she looked into Juniper's hazel ones. "Please protect him." Her figure faded away and Juniper was awake once again. Sunlight shone in her eyes, making it hard to see. With a groan, she flopped in her mossy nest and closed her eyes again, hoping to get some more sleep. She wasn't about to start what she knew was going to be a crazy day without proper rest.


Chapter two-

Juniper felt a paw prod her and opened her heavy eyelids. An outline of a feline stood over her. The light from the entrance shining behind the cat made it hard for Juniper to see who it was. "Fallenmist?" She asked drowsily.

"You passed out after you fought with Thornstar." A deeper female voice sounded from the outline. As Juniper's eyes adjusted to the gleam of the morning light, she recognized the blue-grey she-cat who was in the pines the day before. "I'm Shadowclan's medicine cat, Skytail." She paused before continuing. "You didn't have any injuries. Just had the breath knocked out of you. It was a pretty hard blow." Juniper blinked at the she-cat. She was in an uncomfortable situation and didn't really know what to say. The two stood in silence until a small brown she-cat padded in the den. She looked at Juniper with soft and sympathetic eyes.

"Thornstar wants to see you." She told her quietly. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad." She added as if she could sense her uneasiness.

"Is Thornstar the cat who I fought?" Juniper turned towards Skytail and asked, her pelt ruffled. The medicine cat nodded her head and a shiver ran down her back. She was in an unknown area and was out numbered by stronger cats. If she wanted to get home alive, she'd better keep her muzzle closed and do what they say. She got on her paws and shook the moss out of her fur and walked slowly over to the other she-cat. Looking over her shoulder, she glanced back at Skytail. "Uh, thanks for, um, looking after me."

"No problem. That's my purpose in the clan." She answered back and dipped her head. Juniper dipped her's back and followed the brown she-cat out from under the small bramble weaved den into a clearing filled with many, many cats. Her eyes widened as she watched some of them sit out with a tasty looking frog and start gossiping while another scolded a younger tom. The place was bursting with life and energy. It was almost too much to take in.

"What's yours?" The she-cat's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"My what?" Juniper asked, a bit embarrassed she wasn't listening.

"Your name. Mine is Fernstorm." She purred patiently.

"Oh." She mewed awkwardly. "I'm Juniper." Fernstorm purred louder.

"That's a beautiful name. Any meaning behind it?" She asked. "I mean, most Kittypet names don't make sense."

"My mother named me after what I was born under, a Juniper tree up in the mountains." She answered.

"The mountains? So you were born a wild cat." Fernstorm said thoughtfully. "Then how did you became a kittypet?."

Juniper's face twisted with a sour look. "I rather not say." Fernstorm nodded slowly and looked back ahead instead of at her.

"Alright." There was a twinge of curiosity lingering in her voice. "We're here anyways. Thornstar's den is under those rocks. If the meeting goes well, I hope you'd be willing to share some freshkill with me. You must be hungry." And with that, she left Juniper to herself. Thinking of biting into a plump rat or frog made her stomach rumble loudly and made a mental note to take Fernstorm's offer up. Looking over at the Rock pile, gloom fell over her. She wasn't ready for what the dark grey tom was probably going to say or do to her. Taking a deep breath, she shimmied her way into the den. Rubble and dirt coated her pelt. When she squeezed in, three toms were awaiting her. All three were the same from the day before.

"Sit down." Thornstar commanded. "We have a lot to talk about." She did as he said in fear of him clawing off her ears like she did his right one. "What's your name?"

"Juniper." She told him simply.

"You did quite the number on my ear Juniper. Who taught you how to fight?" The charming leader asked.

"My mother taught me a few things when we lived in the mountains." She shrugged. "In case a hawk tried to carry me away."

"So you aren't a regular kittypet." Thornstar nodded in approval. "That'll make things much easier." He stood up from his feather covered nest and walked closer to her. "I'd like to recruit you as my son's bodyguard." Juniper stared at the tom with confusion. "Let me explain. Times are tough for leaders and their family. Every leader today is at each other's throats and some would do anything to over throw the others. Even killing their mates." A sad look flashed briefly in his eyes before it was replaced with determination. "I know it has nothing to do with you but I'm willing to reward you. You'd become one of us. You'd be able to hunt and eat prey, learn how to fight as we do, and maybe one day you'd find someone you'd like to have kits with. You'd have a life full of adventure and possibilities."

"You want me to sacrifice my life and way of living so I can be a slave to your clan?" Juniper scoffed. But thinking about it, did she really have anything to leave behind?

"I'm not asking you to decide today. Just look around the clan, talk to the cats in it. See what life here has to offer. And if you don't want to stay here within a few sunrises, I'll personally escort you back to your twolegs myself." Thornstar mewed. "No pressure." Juniper thought about it for a few heartbeats.

"Would I be able to hunt here for those sunrises?" She asked.

"Of course. We'd treat you like one of our own." He told her with a smile.

"Deal."

Chapters 11-15

Characters (in order)-

Thornstar- A tall, dark grey tom with a long, slim tail that has lighter grey rings and has green eyes. He is leader of Shadowclan.

Fernstorm- a beautiful pale brown she-cat with soft blue eyes and white dapples near her ears and muzzle

Greypaw- a light, grey, tabby tom with handsome brown eyes, darker grey ears and paws. His is Thornstar's son and heir to Shadowclan.

Thistlefoot- a grey, white, and brown mixed tom with green eyes and a long, thick-furred tail. The fur on his back, neck, and ears tend to stick up most of the time.

Juniper- A bright orange and white she-cat with pretty hazel eyes and one white ear.

Fallenmist- A gorgeous grey tabby she-cat with a slender frame and soft fur and blue eyes. She was Thornstar's mate and mother to Greypaw but is now in Starclan.

Skytail- a blue-grey she-cat with brown eyes and black ear-tufts and tips. She's the Shadowclan Medicine cat.

Save just in case

mintedstar/fur 🍁Searipple101🍁

Bookmarked!

Bump?

Is anyone reading this? Cause it really helps my motivation if someone posts something

Mint to my rescue!

She's in the Shadowclan Medicine cat den haha

Not much of a spoiler tho :3

Thank you :3 I'm really excited to write more of Juniper and Thornstar. I'm also really excited for Thistlefoot too!

I'm actually working on that right now :3

Thank you!!! :3 I'm excited to share this with everyone.