Post by MissMisty on Dec 1, 2017 1:44:57 GMT -5
Hi, guys! I have been writing a story for quite some time (Since about May.), and collaborating with my friend. We decided to post this here to see if we can get some reviews on everything/anything. If you like it, I will constantly update it to keep you reading! 
Have fun!
Misty
And now I present to you:
Spirit Cats
Chapter 1: Spirits
The spirits came in the night.
They spiralled around Cloud, making her fur glow, moaning and beckoning for her to come with them somewhere. Cloud didn’t care. She was too busy shivering on the cold stone floor. The no-furs didn’t want to buy her a bed, and she got kicked off when she tried to get on theirs. She wished she could be a normal cat. She wished the spirits would stop coming. She shivered, muttered a few choice words where the no-furs could stick their heads apart from their feather-sacks, and gently nodded off to sleep.
Cloud awoke with a foot poking her. She lifted her head up to see the male no-fur’s angry face staring down at her. “What?” she mewed “Out” the no-fur commanded. He pointed to the door. “We have no space for you, cat. You have eaten out food and drank our water, and put your head under our roof for long enough!” he scolded “You are a devil cat.” He added with a snarl “I see your fur glowing at night! You must be a spirit! There are no spirits allowed in our house!” And with that, he raised his foot, as if to kick her. Cloud yowled in fright, and shot out the cat flap, onto the streets.
Chapter 2: The Stranger
It was around midday when Cloud woke up. She stretched, swishing her tail, and gave a disgruntled “Ugh!” when it landed in a dirty puddle with a candy wrapper floating in it. She was flicking it around to get the muddy water off when she heard a noise. Her ears pricked up. There it was again! It was faint, soft, but she was sure it was there. She tensed, and turned around. It was coming from that holly bush over there. She could probably catch what was in it. 3….. She tensed again. 2………. Her feet lightened, getting ready to spring. 1! She gave a loud yowl, and launched herself into the bushes. Almost immediately she crashed into another cat. Without a second thought, her claws latched onto his fur, and she dragged him out of the bushes, throwing him into the puddle that had dirtied her tail before, and proceeded to poke him with her paw. “Ow!” her captive complained. His fur was dark chestnut brown, with eyes that were at startling shade of leaf green. “What’re you-” his eyes widened when he realised he was in a puddle. “Yuck!” he yowled. “Who ARE you?” Cloud meowed. “I’m Leafshadow,” the cat replied “And I’m not usually dragged out of bushes by very pretty and very angry females.” he paused “Speaking of pretty and angry females, have you seen another cat around here somewhere?” “No….” Cloud replied “Funny…….” Leafshadow meowed thoughtfully “Mistheart should be here by now….” the words were not a second out of his mouth when a silver-gray tabby poked her head out of a bush facing away from the street. She s******ed “I was here Leafshadow. I was just watching you get pummeled by Cloud.” She busted out laughing “How…... do you know my name?’ Cloud asked. “I’ve been watching you for a while.” the tabby remarked. “WE’VE been watching you for a while.” Leafshadow meowed, glaring at the she-cat. “Oh, fine.” She sat, licking her paw. “Oh, I’m Mistheart, by the way.” she stated, quickly dipping her head in a nod. What are these strange cats doing here? she wondered. “So…..um….” she started. “So.” Mistheart stood up “We’ve been ordered by a friend to escort you to camp” she nodded towards the forest on the horizon. “In THERE?!” Cloud meowed, shocked. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL HER-” Leafshadow started angrily. Mistheart cut him off with a fierce stare. “It’s not so bad” She looked at Cloud reassuringly, then continued to glare at Leafshadow. “If only they didn’t send a wide-eyed idiot to do the job with me!”. Cloud realised that Leafshadow was looking at Mistheart strangely. He likes her. she realised quickly. Mistheart seemed to realise that everyone had gone silent, and she gave a small cough. Hrmph. “So, uh, yeah, we’re here to take you back to our camp…” she meowed. “And I’m a wide-eyed idiot.” Leafshadow added, glaring at Mistheart again. “Yes!” she glared at him. “You sit around and eat fresh kill all day while tiny kits jump on your tail!” She took a deep breath, and seemed to be calming herself. “We should stop DAWDLING and get going.” “Dawdling? DAWDLING-” Leafshadow started, but Mistheart was already gone through the holly bush.
Chapter 3: Clearsight’s grave
Mistheart was an extremely fast runner, that was for sure. Her legs (and probably her heart too) pumped with energy as she bounded to the edge of the forest. When Cloud and Leafshadow arrived there, out of breath, she didn’t even look like she had broken a sweat. “You guys are so slow!” she half complained, half laughed. She turned toward the forest, and then up to look at the sky. “It’s past sunhigh, we’re late.” she meowed. She didn’t exactly look worried, she actually looked kind of….. Was that relieved? “Hmmmmmmmmmm” Leafshadow murmured. He seemed to have noticed too, and had an incredibly suspicious look about him. “Uh- well, um” Mistheart faltered. “We should uh- GET GOING!” she shouted, making Cloud and Leafshadow jump. “Get going, yeah, we should go!’’ she didn’t even linger for a second and plunged into the woods, but slower than before. Leafshadow sighed. “Here we go again!” he meowed.
When they caught up to Mistheart again, she had only gone a bit further than they were, and was sitting, staring up at a giant oak tree. While Cloud watched, she bowed her head. “Her mother is buried in between there.” Leafshadow whispered next to Cloud, indicating in-between the two biggest roots. Cloud trembled. “How did she die?” she whispered. Leafshadow shook his head. “An evil cat named Darksoul killed her. She was a great leader.” Cloud took a second to process this. “You mean-?” “Mistheart’s mother was named Clearsight. She took care of the clan, from every kit to every elder.” Leaf Shadow looked down. “Poor Mistheart comes here to grieve every day, just after sunhigh.” Mistheart seemed to notice them and turned around. “Sorry…… I get emotional sometimes.” She said, staring at the ground. She looked up suddenly. “Oh! Forgot why we were here!” She jumped up enthusiastically. “A patrol is coming this way soon!” the words weren’t a second out of her mouth when the bushes rustled. Out of the bushes jumped a silver-grey tabby tom with blue eyes and a pretty black she-cat with startlingly warm orange ones. “Ambereyes!” Mistheart meowed joyfully. “Mistheart!” The she-cat meowed back. Cloud stared at Mistheart and the she-cat, but suddenly got a strange feeling of eyes boring into the back of her pelt. She turned to see silver-grey tom staring at her. As she met his eyes, he began to smile, and then laugh. “What’s up?” Cloud asked. “Goldensky and Blizzardstorm were right.” He laughed. “You have a lot of spirit potential!” Cloud wasn’t sure what this meant. “Umm…. What’s spirit potential?” She asked curiously. The tom chuckled. “I’ll tell you later, when we get to camp.” She stared at him for a bit longer, and then he laughed again. “Oh! I forgot to tell you my name. I’m Stargaze!” He dipped his head in acknowledgement. Cloud instantly liked the older gray tom with his cheerful, awkward, funny nature. “Alright!’’ Ambereyes started suddenly, as if she had remembered something important. “We’re way overdue time!” Mistheart jumped up too. “She’s right! We should be on our way now!” She meowed. Cloud, Leafshadow and Stargaze jumped up, ready for the two best friends to lead the way. Without a second doubt, they both wheeled around and sped out of the clearing. Stargaze chuckled again. “Well, let’s go!” He bounded into the woods, with Leafshadow just behind him. Cloud stayed for a second longer, looking around the bright, cheery clearing. Well. she thought At least it’s a nice grave…..? Cloud turned and sprinted straight into the bushes, wishing that she could shake the creepy feeling that kept following her, covering her, like a thick blanket that she couldn’t escape.
Chapter 4: Spiritclan camp
Left around the holly bush……..Right around that cave…….Right again…. No matter how hard she tried, Cloud couldn’t remember the way that they went as she bounded after Leafshadow and Stargaze. I wonder if I’ll be as fast as them! She thought cheerfully as she watched the toms skimming over the forest floor, barely stirring a leaf. Then I could catch all the prey I ever wanted! She realised that she was catching up to the toms, and they had started slowing down. Soon the dark gray and black shapes of Mistheart and Ambereyes were coming into view. They were sitting together proudly with their heads up at what looked like a ridge. As Cloud got closer, she began to realise that the ridge ran into a small valley. And in that valley were…… cats. A ginger tom was (what seemed to be) sparring with a black and white tom of the same age. A misty-grey she-cat lay next to a grey tom, sharing a rabbit. A cranky old ginger tom bristled his fur and stretched angrily in protest as a young dark brown she-cat cleaned out his wet nest. Wow! They all look so....peaceful. She watched in amazement as the young cats continued to spar, until a yowl of greeting split the air. The whole camp sat up and looked towards the ridge, and seeing Cloud, began to whisper conspiratorially. She could just hear the conversation of two she-cats, one a sandy ginger, and the other a light browny-amber. “Who is she?” Mewed the sandy ginger questioningly. “I dunno” whispered the amber “But she looks about our age. Do you think she’s an apprentice?” “She looks well fed.’’ Scowled the first. “Like a kittypet.” The second gasped. “A kittypet? Why would they let a kittypet in? Unless…’’ The second swallowed. “Unless she has spirit potential!” At the mention of spirit potential, Cloud’s ears perked up. What is this..spirit potential? Everyone seems to know about it… Maybe it’s special? Her train of thought was abruptly stopped by a string of clear words, ones that she would never forget. “Welcome, young one, to the camp of SpiritClan!”
Chapter 5: Goldensky and Blizzardstorm
Cloud instantly whipped around to see the location of that calm, clear voice. Her eyes focused on a sandy-ginger she-cat, standing on top of a large rock, her tail flicking expectantly. Next to her sat a proud-looking, pure white tom, whose eyes gazed, transfixed, straight at her. Cloud cleared her throat. It echoed faintly across the entirely silent clearing. Hrmph. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Speak, you idiot! She thought to herself fiercely. “Ummm….hi?” she meowed nervously. “Hello.” The she-cat spoke again. Her words were mellow and calming, flowing over one another like the stream of water in a river. “Welcome to SpiritClan, Cloud.” At the mention of her name, Cloud shivered with happiness. Somebody knows. Somebody cares. “Um, yeah, I think it’s really……..nice?” She meowed, less nervous, but still a little jumpy. “Come down here.” The pure white tom meowed. His voice wasn’t mellow, like the she-cat’s, but still friendly and welcoming. “We’d like you to meet everyone.” The cats down in the valley burst into chatter. The two she-cats that had chatted before conferred for a moment, before running to what looked like a hollowed-out, fallen, tree, and disappearing. Then there was a sound nearby. “Hi!” “Hiya!” The two she-cats chattered as they sprung out of a shrub nearby. The amber one shyly padded up. “Hi! I’m Dawnpaw! It’s so nice to meet you!” She blurted. “Um…Hi? I’m Cloud.” Cloud smiled, trying to look friendly. “Dawnpaw! Did you do the training I asked?” Stargaze meowed. It didn’t sound like he was scolding her, just like he was asking a normal question. Cloud looked at Stargaze. “Training?” she asked curiously. “You train her?” “Yep!” burst in Dawnpaw happily. “Stargaze is my mentor, which means he has to teach me the ways of the clan, before I become a warrior!” She explained. “Wow.” Cloud couldn’t speak. The other, sandy ginger, she-cat, padded up. “My name’s Palepaw.” She meowed in a firm tone, as if daring her to speak to her. “Hi, Palepaw.” Cloud meowed. Palepaw seemed to be sizing her up, as if they were about to fight. “Anyway” Started Dawnpaw. “You need to come down here and meet everyone else!” “Dawnpaw!” Ambereyes scolded her. “Don’t you think Cloudpaw’s a little, I dunno, tired?” She frowned at the young apprentice. “Cloudpaw?” Squeaked Cloud. “Yeah, well, that’ll be your name if you come down here.” Mistheart meowed, looking surprised. Cloud took a long look at all the cats circled around her. Mistheart, Ambereyes, Leafshadow, Stargaze, Dawnpaw and Palepaw. Suddenly she grinned, and couldn’t stop herself. Without a word, she bounded into the wilderness to find the shrub.
Fifteen minutes later…
“Until you learn to be a warrior, your name shall be Cloudpaw and your mentor is Mistheart.” Goldensky’s words seemed to hang in the air for eternity. She stared at all of her cats in a stern but loving way. “Clan Dismissed.” She sounded tired. As soon as Cloudpaw was off the rock, Dawnpaw came rushing up to her, circling her excitedly as she talked, which gave Cloudpaw vertigo. “Oh my StarClan! You’re an apprentice now, like me!’’ She bounced up and down in happiness, then suddenly stopped. “Oh! You’ll need a nest! I’ll go get moss!” she jumped up. “Stay here!” she commanded Cloudpaw and then skipped away. Cloudpaw’s heart fluttered at the sight of a jet black tom passing by.
“Hey.” Cloudpaw meowed shyly.
“Hey! So…uh.. welcome to SpiritClan! I’m Nightpaw, Maybe I could show you around sometime?”
Just like before, Cloudpaw opened her mouth but nothing in response. “SPEAK” The logical side of her brain commanded her.
“Uh… um…ok?” Cloudpaw meowed, unsure.
“Great! So, I'll be here at sunhigh tomorrow then?” Nightpaw asked, grinning
“Sounds great! See you then.” Cloudpaw meowed confidently with a smile.
“Argh! Blizzardstorm!” Goldensky scowled at the fact that Blizzardstorm had just ran through a puddle of a disgusting foreign mess, and now Goldensky was going to have to lick herself clean. Blizzardstorm looked back with a cheeky grin then sprinted ahead.“Keep up, Springbreeze!” she called to the SpiritClan medicine cat. “What?” Springbreeze called to her. She was about five fox-lengths away, sniffing the base of a tree. “Maybe these are special BreezeClan herbs that Silverflower hasn’t told me about?” She pondered. “Springbreeze!” Goldensky meowed urgently. “Fine! I’ll be a minute!” She bit off a bunch of the yellow, dandelion looking herbs, and bounded along until she was trailing behind Goldensky. Blizzardstorm padded ahead, chuckling every once in awhile. Finally, they reached the edge of BreezeClan territory. There was a small cave hidden at the end, in a tall, stone wall. A waterfall cascaded down into a pool at the edge of BreezeClan and SpiritClan’s territory, way off into the distance. As the three cats padded down the slope, nine others emerged from the cave, silently, side by side. “Welcome, Goldensky.” Meowed Ashshadow, the leader of SoulClan. “Sorry I’m late.” Goldensky meowed. She cast a dark look at Springbreeze, who was already headed in Silverflower and Leafsong’s direction, her flowery herbs bouncing and Blizzardstorm who sat down, looking over in the opposite direction, his ears aggressively down. “These fox dungs wouldn’t stop annoying me.” Over in the other direction, Springbreeze was chatting to Silverflower, Leafsong and Tangletree. “I was meaning to tell you about that!” Meowed Silverflower when she saw the little butterscotch coloured flowers. “I found a new herb!” She went on proudly. Leafsong, Tangletree and Springbreeze blinked in surprise. “It’s called Tansy, and-” she stopped abruptly as a large cloud blocked out the light of the moon shining on the clearing. “Shall we go in then?” Goldensky asked hurriedly to Whitefire, Ashshadow and Drizzleriver. They all nodded quickly back, and promptly set off into the small cave. As Silverflower, Springbreeze and Dawnstone squeezed in last, behind Nightfire and Leafsong, thunder cracked loudly, causing the three she-cats to scurry into the cave as quickly as possible. As the meeting convened, Lightning flashed across the sky,as if StarClan itself were punishing the forest for the clans’ doing…. but what was it?
Chapter 6: A Message from the Stars
It was cold. And dark. Cloudpaw looked up. She couldn’t see Silverpelt. What is this place? Where am I? She began to pad forward until she came up over a ridge. The air was cool, fresh, and damp. No light...no stars! She began to shiver. StarClan, help me! She thought wildly. She tried to lift her head, only for it to hit dirt. The valley had turned into a rabbit’s burrow! I guess I have to find the way out? She began cautiously stepping forward, but was soon blocked. Better turn around then. She backed up, but couldn’t move. The walls of the burrow were pressing in, squeezing the air out of her lungs. “StarClan, where are you?” She yowled as hard and loud as she could. And suddenly, she was free.
”Cloudpaw!” a male voice hissed. A familiar male voice. She opened her eyes to see Nightpaw’s face floating in and out of her vision.
“Nightpaw?” she croaked, and then cringed. Her voice sounded horrible, like she’d spent all day yowling as hard as she could.
“You were mewing in your sleep.” He sounded concerned. “Come on.” He picked her up by shoving himself into her side and then up, supporting her.
“Where are we going?”
“For a walk.”
“Hrm.” She let Nightpaw lead her out, and almost stepped on Dawnpaw, who was asleep with her nose stuffed into her fluffy tail.
He led her out of camp to a small boulder. It was about moonhigh, and the warriors of Silverpelt sparkled across the ink-black sky. They sat on a bolder, fur fluffed up for warmth, pressed into each other so not to fall off. Cloudpaw leant into his side and breathed heavily.
“What was it about?”
She looked up. Nightpaw was staring at her.
“What?”
“Come on, you were obviously dreaming. Was it a message from StarClan?”
“I…..I don’t know.” She frowned at the sky.
He licked the top of her head comfortingly. “What was it then?”
She took a deep breath. It’s Nightpaw. You can trust him! She thought optimistically.
‘’So, I as in this valley….” she began to fill in the details of the dream.
Nightpaw was a good listener. He nodded when she was done, and grimly replied “Nightmare.” The message between the lines: Or was it?
He looked up at the sky. “I guess you’re lucky I woke you up at the right time then, huh?”
“Really?” She looked playfully up at him. “You did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Fine.” She buried her nose into his strong shoulder. “Thank you.” She whispered into it.
And they sat all night in their little bubble of perfect.
Chapter 7: Training Blues
The mouse nibbled at a blade of grass, unaware of the predator stalking it. Two minutes ago, a pair of ears, one orange, one brown, had pinpointed the mouse’s tiny heartbeat. Too late, the mouse sensed the pair of green eyes hiding in the tall grass. It squealed in horror and ran for it’s life, but life just probably wasn’t cut out for it. “Reeeeee-owr!” Cloudpaw yelled her battle cry and launched herself on top of the mouse, killing it in one bite. She then picked it’s still warm body and trotted off to find Mistheart. With luck, Nightpaw and Dawnpaw would be back, and Palepaw would still be off hunting mice and voles.
“Hey!” Dawnpaw called. In the clearing sat Dawnpaw, Nightpaw, Mistheart, Stargaze, Robinpaw, Flameclaw, Ambereyes, and (surprise, surprise!) grumpy Palepaw herself, meaning that she was the last one here. As she added the mouse and a vole which she caught earlier to the fairly large pile, Palepaw swaggered up to her.
“Great catch, kittypet!” her voice was full of scorn. “That mouse is so tiny, it would barely feed a kit!’’
“Palepaw!” Rainpelt growled.“You do not discourage other apprentices!” He scolded. “Apologise!”
“I’m sorry, Cloudpaw.” Palepaw meowed in a voice of the complete opposite tone.
“It’s okay, Palepaw.” Cloudpaw meowed back through gritted teeth. All she wanted to do was jump onto Palepaw, pin her down and- Stop! What would Mistheart think? She chided herself. Flameclaw flicked her tail. “Blizzardstorm will be happy to see this.” She praised the apprentices. “It’s already leaf-fall, and leaf-bare’s wind rustles in the horizon.” She paused to pick up a vole and a mouse, and Robinpaw and Dawnpaw copied her. They set off at a brisk trot for camp.
“Look! Apprentices!” A few kits that had been scuffling and tumbling around the edge of the clearing stopped, their eyes as big as moons, as Palepaw passed them, followed by Dawnpaw, Nightpaw, Cloudpaw and Robinpaw. One tiny brown she-cat gave a small yelp when Nightpaw slowed the other three down. “This is our sister, Rosekit.” Nightpaw purred. Robinpaw touched his nose to hers gently. “Are you okay? You don’t look well.” He asked, concerned. “Blazekit and his friends chased me up a tree.” She replied sadly. “Mother said that it was all a game.” Cloudpaw gasped. “That’s horrible! How could your littermate do that?” Rosekit stared up at Cloudpaw. “Who are you?” “I’m Cloudpaw, and this is Dawnpaw.” Cloudpaw started. “We’re-” Suddenly a sharp pain flared above her eyes. She was extremely aware of Nightpaw running to support her as she fell. “Cloudpaw? Cloudpaw!” He yelled. She was also aware of Lionfang, a senior warrior who had been watching them talk to Rosekit, yelling at someone “Filthy mouse-bile scum!” A sweet scent enveloped her, and she succeeded in opening her eyes a tiny crack to see dark brown, orange and white. “It’s okay.” Springbreeze murmured gently. “You’re doing great.” Cloudpaw lapsed into unconciousness.
Have fun!Misty
And now I present to you:
Spirit Cats
Chapter 1: Spirits
The spirits came in the night.
They spiralled around Cloud, making her fur glow, moaning and beckoning for her to come with them somewhere. Cloud didn’t care. She was too busy shivering on the cold stone floor. The no-furs didn’t want to buy her a bed, and she got kicked off when she tried to get on theirs. She wished she could be a normal cat. She wished the spirits would stop coming. She shivered, muttered a few choice words where the no-furs could stick their heads apart from their feather-sacks, and gently nodded off to sleep.
Cloud awoke with a foot poking her. She lifted her head up to see the male no-fur’s angry face staring down at her. “What?” she mewed “Out” the no-fur commanded. He pointed to the door. “We have no space for you, cat. You have eaten out food and drank our water, and put your head under our roof for long enough!” he scolded “You are a devil cat.” He added with a snarl “I see your fur glowing at night! You must be a spirit! There are no spirits allowed in our house!” And with that, he raised his foot, as if to kick her. Cloud yowled in fright, and shot out the cat flap, onto the streets.
Chapter 2: The Stranger
It was around midday when Cloud woke up. She stretched, swishing her tail, and gave a disgruntled “Ugh!” when it landed in a dirty puddle with a candy wrapper floating in it. She was flicking it around to get the muddy water off when she heard a noise. Her ears pricked up. There it was again! It was faint, soft, but she was sure it was there. She tensed, and turned around. It was coming from that holly bush over there. She could probably catch what was in it. 3….. She tensed again. 2………. Her feet lightened, getting ready to spring. 1! She gave a loud yowl, and launched herself into the bushes. Almost immediately she crashed into another cat. Without a second thought, her claws latched onto his fur, and she dragged him out of the bushes, throwing him into the puddle that had dirtied her tail before, and proceeded to poke him with her paw. “Ow!” her captive complained. His fur was dark chestnut brown, with eyes that were at startling shade of leaf green. “What’re you-” his eyes widened when he realised he was in a puddle. “Yuck!” he yowled. “Who ARE you?” Cloud meowed. “I’m Leafshadow,” the cat replied “And I’m not usually dragged out of bushes by very pretty and very angry females.” he paused “Speaking of pretty and angry females, have you seen another cat around here somewhere?” “No….” Cloud replied “Funny…….” Leafshadow meowed thoughtfully “Mistheart should be here by now….” the words were not a second out of his mouth when a silver-gray tabby poked her head out of a bush facing away from the street. She s******ed “I was here Leafshadow. I was just watching you get pummeled by Cloud.” She busted out laughing “How…... do you know my name?’ Cloud asked. “I’ve been watching you for a while.” the tabby remarked. “WE’VE been watching you for a while.” Leafshadow meowed, glaring at the she-cat. “Oh, fine.” She sat, licking her paw. “Oh, I’m Mistheart, by the way.” she stated, quickly dipping her head in a nod. What are these strange cats doing here? she wondered. “So…..um….” she started. “So.” Mistheart stood up “We’ve been ordered by a friend to escort you to camp” she nodded towards the forest on the horizon. “In THERE?!” Cloud meowed, shocked. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL HER-” Leafshadow started angrily. Mistheart cut him off with a fierce stare. “It’s not so bad” She looked at Cloud reassuringly, then continued to glare at Leafshadow. “If only they didn’t send a wide-eyed idiot to do the job with me!”. Cloud realised that Leafshadow was looking at Mistheart strangely. He likes her. she realised quickly. Mistheart seemed to realise that everyone had gone silent, and she gave a small cough. Hrmph. “So, uh, yeah, we’re here to take you back to our camp…” she meowed. “And I’m a wide-eyed idiot.” Leafshadow added, glaring at Mistheart again. “Yes!” she glared at him. “You sit around and eat fresh kill all day while tiny kits jump on your tail!” She took a deep breath, and seemed to be calming herself. “We should stop DAWDLING and get going.” “Dawdling? DAWDLING-” Leafshadow started, but Mistheart was already gone through the holly bush.
Chapter 3: Clearsight’s grave
Mistheart was an extremely fast runner, that was for sure. Her legs (and probably her heart too) pumped with energy as she bounded to the edge of the forest. When Cloud and Leafshadow arrived there, out of breath, she didn’t even look like she had broken a sweat. “You guys are so slow!” she half complained, half laughed. She turned toward the forest, and then up to look at the sky. “It’s past sunhigh, we’re late.” she meowed. She didn’t exactly look worried, she actually looked kind of….. Was that relieved? “Hmmmmmmmmmm” Leafshadow murmured. He seemed to have noticed too, and had an incredibly suspicious look about him. “Uh- well, um” Mistheart faltered. “We should uh- GET GOING!” she shouted, making Cloud and Leafshadow jump. “Get going, yeah, we should go!’’ she didn’t even linger for a second and plunged into the woods, but slower than before. Leafshadow sighed. “Here we go again!” he meowed.
When they caught up to Mistheart again, she had only gone a bit further than they were, and was sitting, staring up at a giant oak tree. While Cloud watched, she bowed her head. “Her mother is buried in between there.” Leafshadow whispered next to Cloud, indicating in-between the two biggest roots. Cloud trembled. “How did she die?” she whispered. Leafshadow shook his head. “An evil cat named Darksoul killed her. She was a great leader.” Cloud took a second to process this. “You mean-?” “Mistheart’s mother was named Clearsight. She took care of the clan, from every kit to every elder.” Leaf Shadow looked down. “Poor Mistheart comes here to grieve every day, just after sunhigh.” Mistheart seemed to notice them and turned around. “Sorry…… I get emotional sometimes.” She said, staring at the ground. She looked up suddenly. “Oh! Forgot why we were here!” She jumped up enthusiastically. “A patrol is coming this way soon!” the words weren’t a second out of her mouth when the bushes rustled. Out of the bushes jumped a silver-grey tabby tom with blue eyes and a pretty black she-cat with startlingly warm orange ones. “Ambereyes!” Mistheart meowed joyfully. “Mistheart!” The she-cat meowed back. Cloud stared at Mistheart and the she-cat, but suddenly got a strange feeling of eyes boring into the back of her pelt. She turned to see silver-grey tom staring at her. As she met his eyes, he began to smile, and then laugh. “What’s up?” Cloud asked. “Goldensky and Blizzardstorm were right.” He laughed. “You have a lot of spirit potential!” Cloud wasn’t sure what this meant. “Umm…. What’s spirit potential?” She asked curiously. The tom chuckled. “I’ll tell you later, when we get to camp.” She stared at him for a bit longer, and then he laughed again. “Oh! I forgot to tell you my name. I’m Stargaze!” He dipped his head in acknowledgement. Cloud instantly liked the older gray tom with his cheerful, awkward, funny nature. “Alright!’’ Ambereyes started suddenly, as if she had remembered something important. “We’re way overdue time!” Mistheart jumped up too. “She’s right! We should be on our way now!” She meowed. Cloud, Leafshadow and Stargaze jumped up, ready for the two best friends to lead the way. Without a second doubt, they both wheeled around and sped out of the clearing. Stargaze chuckled again. “Well, let’s go!” He bounded into the woods, with Leafshadow just behind him. Cloud stayed for a second longer, looking around the bright, cheery clearing. Well. she thought At least it’s a nice grave…..? Cloud turned and sprinted straight into the bushes, wishing that she could shake the creepy feeling that kept following her, covering her, like a thick blanket that she couldn’t escape.
Chapter 4: Spiritclan camp
Left around the holly bush……..Right around that cave…….Right again…. No matter how hard she tried, Cloud couldn’t remember the way that they went as she bounded after Leafshadow and Stargaze. I wonder if I’ll be as fast as them! She thought cheerfully as she watched the toms skimming over the forest floor, barely stirring a leaf. Then I could catch all the prey I ever wanted! She realised that she was catching up to the toms, and they had started slowing down. Soon the dark gray and black shapes of Mistheart and Ambereyes were coming into view. They were sitting together proudly with their heads up at what looked like a ridge. As Cloud got closer, she began to realise that the ridge ran into a small valley. And in that valley were…… cats. A ginger tom was (what seemed to be) sparring with a black and white tom of the same age. A misty-grey she-cat lay next to a grey tom, sharing a rabbit. A cranky old ginger tom bristled his fur and stretched angrily in protest as a young dark brown she-cat cleaned out his wet nest. Wow! They all look so....peaceful. She watched in amazement as the young cats continued to spar, until a yowl of greeting split the air. The whole camp sat up and looked towards the ridge, and seeing Cloud, began to whisper conspiratorially. She could just hear the conversation of two she-cats, one a sandy ginger, and the other a light browny-amber. “Who is she?” Mewed the sandy ginger questioningly. “I dunno” whispered the amber “But she looks about our age. Do you think she’s an apprentice?” “She looks well fed.’’ Scowled the first. “Like a kittypet.” The second gasped. “A kittypet? Why would they let a kittypet in? Unless…’’ The second swallowed. “Unless she has spirit potential!” At the mention of spirit potential, Cloud’s ears perked up. What is this..spirit potential? Everyone seems to know about it… Maybe it’s special? Her train of thought was abruptly stopped by a string of clear words, ones that she would never forget. “Welcome, young one, to the camp of SpiritClan!”
Chapter 5: Goldensky and Blizzardstorm
Cloud instantly whipped around to see the location of that calm, clear voice. Her eyes focused on a sandy-ginger she-cat, standing on top of a large rock, her tail flicking expectantly. Next to her sat a proud-looking, pure white tom, whose eyes gazed, transfixed, straight at her. Cloud cleared her throat. It echoed faintly across the entirely silent clearing. Hrmph. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Speak, you idiot! She thought to herself fiercely. “Ummm….hi?” she meowed nervously. “Hello.” The she-cat spoke again. Her words were mellow and calming, flowing over one another like the stream of water in a river. “Welcome to SpiritClan, Cloud.” At the mention of her name, Cloud shivered with happiness. Somebody knows. Somebody cares. “Um, yeah, I think it’s really……..nice?” She meowed, less nervous, but still a little jumpy. “Come down here.” The pure white tom meowed. His voice wasn’t mellow, like the she-cat’s, but still friendly and welcoming. “We’d like you to meet everyone.” The cats down in the valley burst into chatter. The two she-cats that had chatted before conferred for a moment, before running to what looked like a hollowed-out, fallen, tree, and disappearing. Then there was a sound nearby. “Hi!” “Hiya!” The two she-cats chattered as they sprung out of a shrub nearby. The amber one shyly padded up. “Hi! I’m Dawnpaw! It’s so nice to meet you!” She blurted. “Um…Hi? I’m Cloud.” Cloud smiled, trying to look friendly. “Dawnpaw! Did you do the training I asked?” Stargaze meowed. It didn’t sound like he was scolding her, just like he was asking a normal question. Cloud looked at Stargaze. “Training?” she asked curiously. “You train her?” “Yep!” burst in Dawnpaw happily. “Stargaze is my mentor, which means he has to teach me the ways of the clan, before I become a warrior!” She explained. “Wow.” Cloud couldn’t speak. The other, sandy ginger, she-cat, padded up. “My name’s Palepaw.” She meowed in a firm tone, as if daring her to speak to her. “Hi, Palepaw.” Cloud meowed. Palepaw seemed to be sizing her up, as if they were about to fight. “Anyway” Started Dawnpaw. “You need to come down here and meet everyone else!” “Dawnpaw!” Ambereyes scolded her. “Don’t you think Cloudpaw’s a little, I dunno, tired?” She frowned at the young apprentice. “Cloudpaw?” Squeaked Cloud. “Yeah, well, that’ll be your name if you come down here.” Mistheart meowed, looking surprised. Cloud took a long look at all the cats circled around her. Mistheart, Ambereyes, Leafshadow, Stargaze, Dawnpaw and Palepaw. Suddenly she grinned, and couldn’t stop herself. Without a word, she bounded into the wilderness to find the shrub.
Fifteen minutes later…
“Until you learn to be a warrior, your name shall be Cloudpaw and your mentor is Mistheart.” Goldensky’s words seemed to hang in the air for eternity. She stared at all of her cats in a stern but loving way. “Clan Dismissed.” She sounded tired. As soon as Cloudpaw was off the rock, Dawnpaw came rushing up to her, circling her excitedly as she talked, which gave Cloudpaw vertigo. “Oh my StarClan! You’re an apprentice now, like me!’’ She bounced up and down in happiness, then suddenly stopped. “Oh! You’ll need a nest! I’ll go get moss!” she jumped up. “Stay here!” she commanded Cloudpaw and then skipped away. Cloudpaw’s heart fluttered at the sight of a jet black tom passing by.
“Hey.” Cloudpaw meowed shyly.
“Hey! So…uh.. welcome to SpiritClan! I’m Nightpaw, Maybe I could show you around sometime?”
Just like before, Cloudpaw opened her mouth but nothing in response. “SPEAK” The logical side of her brain commanded her.
“Uh… um…ok?” Cloudpaw meowed, unsure.
“Great! So, I'll be here at sunhigh tomorrow then?” Nightpaw asked, grinning
“Sounds great! See you then.” Cloudpaw meowed confidently with a smile.
“Argh! Blizzardstorm!” Goldensky scowled at the fact that Blizzardstorm had just ran through a puddle of a disgusting foreign mess, and now Goldensky was going to have to lick herself clean. Blizzardstorm looked back with a cheeky grin then sprinted ahead.“Keep up, Springbreeze!” she called to the SpiritClan medicine cat. “What?” Springbreeze called to her. She was about five fox-lengths away, sniffing the base of a tree. “Maybe these are special BreezeClan herbs that Silverflower hasn’t told me about?” She pondered. “Springbreeze!” Goldensky meowed urgently. “Fine! I’ll be a minute!” She bit off a bunch of the yellow, dandelion looking herbs, and bounded along until she was trailing behind Goldensky. Blizzardstorm padded ahead, chuckling every once in awhile. Finally, they reached the edge of BreezeClan territory. There was a small cave hidden at the end, in a tall, stone wall. A waterfall cascaded down into a pool at the edge of BreezeClan and SpiritClan’s territory, way off into the distance. As the three cats padded down the slope, nine others emerged from the cave, silently, side by side. “Welcome, Goldensky.” Meowed Ashshadow, the leader of SoulClan. “Sorry I’m late.” Goldensky meowed. She cast a dark look at Springbreeze, who was already headed in Silverflower and Leafsong’s direction, her flowery herbs bouncing and Blizzardstorm who sat down, looking over in the opposite direction, his ears aggressively down. “These fox dungs wouldn’t stop annoying me.” Over in the other direction, Springbreeze was chatting to Silverflower, Leafsong and Tangletree. “I was meaning to tell you about that!” Meowed Silverflower when she saw the little butterscotch coloured flowers. “I found a new herb!” She went on proudly. Leafsong, Tangletree and Springbreeze blinked in surprise. “It’s called Tansy, and-” she stopped abruptly as a large cloud blocked out the light of the moon shining on the clearing. “Shall we go in then?” Goldensky asked hurriedly to Whitefire, Ashshadow and Drizzleriver. They all nodded quickly back, and promptly set off into the small cave. As Silverflower, Springbreeze and Dawnstone squeezed in last, behind Nightfire and Leafsong, thunder cracked loudly, causing the three she-cats to scurry into the cave as quickly as possible. As the meeting convened, Lightning flashed across the sky,as if StarClan itself were punishing the forest for the clans’ doing…. but what was it?
Chapter 6: A Message from the Stars
It was cold. And dark. Cloudpaw looked up. She couldn’t see Silverpelt. What is this place? Where am I? She began to pad forward until she came up over a ridge. The air was cool, fresh, and damp. No light...no stars! She began to shiver. StarClan, help me! She thought wildly. She tried to lift her head, only for it to hit dirt. The valley had turned into a rabbit’s burrow! I guess I have to find the way out? She began cautiously stepping forward, but was soon blocked. Better turn around then. She backed up, but couldn’t move. The walls of the burrow were pressing in, squeezing the air out of her lungs. “StarClan, where are you?” She yowled as hard and loud as she could. And suddenly, she was free.
”Cloudpaw!” a male voice hissed. A familiar male voice. She opened her eyes to see Nightpaw’s face floating in and out of her vision.
“Nightpaw?” she croaked, and then cringed. Her voice sounded horrible, like she’d spent all day yowling as hard as she could.
“You were mewing in your sleep.” He sounded concerned. “Come on.” He picked her up by shoving himself into her side and then up, supporting her.
“Where are we going?”
“For a walk.”
“Hrm.” She let Nightpaw lead her out, and almost stepped on Dawnpaw, who was asleep with her nose stuffed into her fluffy tail.
He led her out of camp to a small boulder. It was about moonhigh, and the warriors of Silverpelt sparkled across the ink-black sky. They sat on a bolder, fur fluffed up for warmth, pressed into each other so not to fall off. Cloudpaw leant into his side and breathed heavily.
“What was it about?”
She looked up. Nightpaw was staring at her.
“What?”
“Come on, you were obviously dreaming. Was it a message from StarClan?”
“I…..I don’t know.” She frowned at the sky.
He licked the top of her head comfortingly. “What was it then?”
She took a deep breath. It’s Nightpaw. You can trust him! She thought optimistically.
‘’So, I as in this valley….” she began to fill in the details of the dream.
Nightpaw was a good listener. He nodded when she was done, and grimly replied “Nightmare.” The message between the lines: Or was it?
He looked up at the sky. “I guess you’re lucky I woke you up at the right time then, huh?”
“Really?” She looked playfully up at him. “You did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Fine.” She buried her nose into his strong shoulder. “Thank you.” She whispered into it.
And they sat all night in their little bubble of perfect.
Chapter 7: Training Blues
The mouse nibbled at a blade of grass, unaware of the predator stalking it. Two minutes ago, a pair of ears, one orange, one brown, had pinpointed the mouse’s tiny heartbeat. Too late, the mouse sensed the pair of green eyes hiding in the tall grass. It squealed in horror and ran for it’s life, but life just probably wasn’t cut out for it. “Reeeeee-owr!” Cloudpaw yelled her battle cry and launched herself on top of the mouse, killing it in one bite. She then picked it’s still warm body and trotted off to find Mistheart. With luck, Nightpaw and Dawnpaw would be back, and Palepaw would still be off hunting mice and voles.
“Hey!” Dawnpaw called. In the clearing sat Dawnpaw, Nightpaw, Mistheart, Stargaze, Robinpaw, Flameclaw, Ambereyes, and (surprise, surprise!) grumpy Palepaw herself, meaning that she was the last one here. As she added the mouse and a vole which she caught earlier to the fairly large pile, Palepaw swaggered up to her.
“Great catch, kittypet!” her voice was full of scorn. “That mouse is so tiny, it would barely feed a kit!’’
“Palepaw!” Rainpelt growled.“You do not discourage other apprentices!” He scolded. “Apologise!”
“I’m sorry, Cloudpaw.” Palepaw meowed in a voice of the complete opposite tone.
“It’s okay, Palepaw.” Cloudpaw meowed back through gritted teeth. All she wanted to do was jump onto Palepaw, pin her down and- Stop! What would Mistheart think? She chided herself. Flameclaw flicked her tail. “Blizzardstorm will be happy to see this.” She praised the apprentices. “It’s already leaf-fall, and leaf-bare’s wind rustles in the horizon.” She paused to pick up a vole and a mouse, and Robinpaw and Dawnpaw copied her. They set off at a brisk trot for camp.
“Look! Apprentices!” A few kits that had been scuffling and tumbling around the edge of the clearing stopped, their eyes as big as moons, as Palepaw passed them, followed by Dawnpaw, Nightpaw, Cloudpaw and Robinpaw. One tiny brown she-cat gave a small yelp when Nightpaw slowed the other three down. “This is our sister, Rosekit.” Nightpaw purred. Robinpaw touched his nose to hers gently. “Are you okay? You don’t look well.” He asked, concerned. “Blazekit and his friends chased me up a tree.” She replied sadly. “Mother said that it was all a game.” Cloudpaw gasped. “That’s horrible! How could your littermate do that?” Rosekit stared up at Cloudpaw. “Who are you?” “I’m Cloudpaw, and this is Dawnpaw.” Cloudpaw started. “We’re-” Suddenly a sharp pain flared above her eyes. She was extremely aware of Nightpaw running to support her as she fell. “Cloudpaw? Cloudpaw!” He yelled. She was also aware of Lionfang, a senior warrior who had been watching them talk to Rosekit, yelling at someone “Filthy mouse-bile scum!” A sweet scent enveloped her, and she succeeded in opening her eyes a tiny crack to see dark brown, orange and white. “It’s okay.” Springbreeze murmured gently. “You’re doing great.” Cloudpaw lapsed into unconciousness.
