//Snakeleap's mistake// chapter thirty six is here!
Sept 7, 2020 15:04:25 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2020 15:04:25 GMT -5
Snakeleap's mistake
Book by maddiek
Thunderclan:
leader: Sunstar: Bright orange tom with yellow eyes
Deputy: Leapfoot: Dark brown tom with one torn ear and green eyes
Medicine cat: mothflight: light brown she cat with green eyes
warriors:
Sunpelt: Orange tom with brown eyes
Snakeheart: Black tom with yellow eyes
Lightstep: White she cat with blue eyes (deaf)
jaywing: gray tom with blue eyes
Queens: none
Elders: Flatear: Skinny brown tom with blind gray eyes
Shadowclan: Leader: Blindstar: Black tom with two torn ears and yellow eyes
deputy: Snaketail: normal brown tom with orange eyes
medicine cat: blazepelt: orange tom with green eyes
Warriors:
Shadowheart: Black tom with brown eyes
leapswift: brown tom with one white paw and orange eyes
tigerheart: orange tabby tom with yellow eyes
Swiftrunner: gray tom with orange eyes
queens: Lillypad: White she cat with green eyes (Expecting kits)
Elders: none
Windclan:
Runstar: Light brown tom with orange eyes and a scar on his shoulder
Deputy: Flightfoot: Light gray tom with blue eyes
medicine cat: Dusk: A dark brown she cat with orange eyes and scars on her face (Was a rouge once)
Warriors:
WindFoot: brown tom with green eyes
halftail: orange tom with green eyes and two white ears (tail got caught in foxtrap)
tigerclaw: Big black tom with scars on his back and red eyes
queens: None
elders: lostear: Skinny white tom with yellow eyes (ears got badly damaged a lot by a fox)
skinnytail: Short brown tom with green eyes has black stripes on head and back.
Riverclan:
Nightstar: Black and white she cat with blue eyes
deputy: Highslash: Brown tom with orange eyes
Medicine cat: FoxHeart: light orange she cat with red eyes and a big fluffy tail
Warriors:
Snakeleap: big brown tom with green eyes, Two front white paws and a black tip tail
Morningrise: orange she cat with orange eyes and a white tip tail
Tigerstripe: Large brown tabby tom with yellow eyes
owleyes: gray tom with white underbelly and yellow eyes.
Scartail: A black tom with yellow eyes and one front white paw
tinypounce: white short she cat with purple eyes
Queens: Lizardtail: Brown she cat with white underbelly and red eyes
(Kits: Tinykit: White tom with green eyes, brownkit: brown tom with four black paws and black tip tail)
Elders: Lostfoot: black skinny tom with only one orange eye (Other one was clawed out by a badger)
nightpelt: Black tom with blue eyes and one white front paw
prologue
It was night, the wind breezed through the grass. The moon shined brightly and so did the stars,
near the moor
A rabbit was chewing on some of the grass,
Suddenly a black long tom with white tip tail covered in stars ran towards the rabbit,
the rabbit was about to run but the tom caught it and gave it the death bite.
The tom picked up the rabbit and padded towards a glowing entrance,
on the other side of the entrance were other cats talking, playing, and hunting.
The black tom looked around the cats, finally he padded up to a brown sleek she cat with green eyes,
the tom dropped the rabbit at her paws his blue eyes showed brightly.
The she cat turned to the rabbit and sniffed
"A rabbit? you realise we eat fish right?" she asked,
the black tom shrugged
"well, rabbits taste good, you should try one" he meowed.
The she cat gave a doubt look at him than finally she took a bite out of the rabbit,
the black tom watched
"So.. what do you think of it?" he asked,
the she cat nodded "it taste fine" She admitted.
the tom spotted a bit of worry in her eyes
he took a step forward
"is there... something wrong?" he asked,
the she cat looked away from his gaze though after a heartbeat she turned around
"our leader.. hawkstar says that.. danger is coming to Riverclan soon..
I don't know what it is.. he keeps saying that Riverclan will be wiped out" she gazed at him with worry.
The tom shrugged
"why should we be worried pebbleheart? were in starclan, it's not our problem"
the tom touched his tail with her's though she still looked upset,
"It's my clan Rushtail!" she spat
"I know were in starclan but if riverclan gets destroyed than part of riverclan in starclan will
be as well!" pebbleheart hissed.
Rushtail looked at her worried than he touched her paw
"We'll.. hawkstar is crazy.. maybe he is just joking... plus.. even if danger was coming
Riverclan will be strong enough to face it, I promise we will be alright" Rushtail smiled
Pebbleheart stared at him and finally she smiled a bit
"well.. I guess you're right... Hawkstar can joke around sometimes.. even when he was alive" she meowed.
Rushtail padded closer to her just to comfort her more,
even though rushtail could be right Pebbleheart still looked a tiny bit doubtful
if hawkstar is right please let riverclan be safe!
Chapter one
"Mom get off me! I'm fine!"
Snakekit hissed in annoyance, his mother Morningrise kept grooming him,
"No my kit, you're fur is a mess we can't do the ceremony with you're fur looking
Like a mess" Morningrise meowed.
Snakekit wanted to protest but he knew better than to argue with his mother so he kept his mouth shut,
Morningrise stopped grooming and looked at the bright blue sky her eyes filled with emotion,
"I'm sure if you're siblings were alive.. They would become fine aprrentices.." She murmured,
Snakekit got memories of his two siblings Featherkit and robinkit,
Featherkit was a stillborn while robinkit attracted greencough and died,
Ever since than his mother became more protective of Snakekit.
Morningrise got up and started padded away "you're ceremony starts in a few minutes, go explore and don't get you're fur messed up!"
She called over her shoulder as she went to join her mate rabbithop, a brown tom with one white paw.
Snakekit nodded and got up, he glanced at his mother for a heartbeat than padded off.
Snakekit looked around he spotted the elders talking to each other
Snakekit Looked around in shock
"So many cats here than I thought.." He murmured to himself,
Just as snakekit was about to speak he bumped into something large
He looked up to see a tall boulder
Snakekit stared at it in shock
"That rock is large.. What is it?" He meowed to himself.
"It's a large boulder" a voice answered
Snakekit turned around to see a dark orange she cat with green eyes standing near him,
Behind the she cat were three other cats
A dark gray tom with blue eyes and black spots,
A brown tom with one white left paw and Amber eyes
And a white Tom with yellow eyes.
The she cat padded up to him "the boulder is where the leader gives out announcements or ceremonies"
She meowed,
announcements? Snakekit thought,
" What kind of announcements? " he asked
The dark gray tom padded up next to the she cat
"That we are becoming apprentices" he meowed proudly.
apprentices? so am I! He thought
Snakekit bounced up and down
"I'm becoming an apprentice to" snakekit meowed.
The gray kit looked a bit doubtful at him And tilted his head
"You look a bit small to become an apprentice" the gray kit murmured.
Snakekit glared at him, small!? He thought with annoyance
The she cat nudged the gray tom "you realise sizes sorta don't matter, he is six moons old" she meowed.
The she cat turned to snakekit
"I'm gingerkit the gray tom is ashkit, the brown tom is wetkit and the white Tom is whitekit"
She introduced.
Snakekit tilted his head "those... Are nice names, I'm snakekit" he introduced himself,
Whitekit and gingerkit nodded approvingly while wetkit and ashkit gave an confused stare
"Snakekit? What kind of name is that? Why are you named that? We're you're parents snakes?"
Ashkit sneered,
Snakekit glared
"My parents are not snakes!" He spat
Ashkit gave a doubtful look "uh.. Yea sure sure okay" he mewed.
As snakekit took a step forward he heard a calling sound
"May all cats old and young come here beneath the boulder for a clan meeting!" The leader nightstar called.
" Our ceremony! " webkit meowed with excitement bouncing up and down,
Snakekit stood next to the other three while the rest of the cats gathered around
He looked around everyone wants to be at our ceremony! he thought with gladness,
NIghtstar raised her tail for silence and the voiced died down,
"Today we will have five new apprentices! They are all six moons and I'm sure they will become
Great warriors one day!" Nightstar yowled.
"Ashkit, wetkit, whitekit, and gingerkit come here at once! " nightstar called,
At once the four kits padded forwards their tails high up,
"Ashkit you will be known as ashpaw! You're mentor will be stoneheart!" He announced,
Ashpaw came in and touched noses with stoneheart nodding at each other,
As whitepaw, gingerpaw, and wetpaw got their mentors it was finally snakekit's turn.
"Snakekit come here at once!" The leader called,
Snakekit padded up his tail high as well,
finally! i'm gonna become an apprentice! Snakekit thought with gladness,
Nightstar nodded "snakekit you will be known as snakepaw, and tigerstripe will be you're mentor!"
She nodded to the huge Orange Tom with black stripes and green eyes
Snakepaw padded up to his mentor and touched noses with him.
"Snakepaw! Ashpaw! Wetpaw! Gingerpaw! Whitepaw!" The cats yowled,
Snakepaw smiled
"My clanmates! I promise I'll train to be the best warrior ever! "
Chapter Two
"Wake up Snakepaw! time for training!"
Snakepaw bounced up in shock, looking behind him he saw wetpaw standing at the entrance,
Snakepaw stretched yawning "alright i'll be there in a second" he whispered.
Wetpaw glared at him
"okay good, don't forget you're not a snake you can't sleep in bed all day like them" he meowed padding off.
Snakepaw glared i'm not a snake! he thought.
Snakepaw padded out of the entrance, he looked around until he finally found his mentor Stoneheart with
ashpaw, gingerpaw, wetpaw, and whitepaw with their mentors all staring at him,
Stoneheart stood up and dipped his head at him "welcome Snakepaw" he greeted,
Ashpaw turned to wetpaw "took him long enough" he whispered in wetpaw's ear.
Snakepaw stared up at his mentor "so.. what do we do today" he asked,
"well young apprentice, today we will learn how to hunt near this river" stoneheart pointed his tail at
the stream with pebbles, in the river were fish swimming.
snakepaw widen his eyes "Woah.." he whispered
fishing seems fun! he thought,
owleyes padded up next to Stoneheart and Tigerstripe
"you each will try to catch a fish on you're own than we can see if you have any problems,
we can help you Understood?" he asked
"understood" the five apprentices meowed.
"okay ashpaw and whitepaw you two start" tigerstripe commanded
whitepaw and ashpaw nodded and both padded up near the river, whitepaw crouched his tail high,
than a heartbeat later his paws slashed at the water though he caught nothing,
Stoneheart shook his head "No whitepaw, you can't make any noise when hunting fish and don't go splashing like that
you might scare all the fish away" he explained,
than at a second try whitepaw dived down and when he appeared he had a minnow in his jaws
ashpaw stood next to him with also a minnow he had his tail high proudly,
stoneheart dipped his head approvingly "well done you two " he meowed.
Tigerstripe called for Wetpaw and gingerpaw, they both padded up and started trying to catch a fish
Gingerpaw failed twice while wetpaw only failed once,
Finally it was Snakepaw's turn
'alright snakepaw, it's your turn' he meowed,
finally my turn! snakepaw thought with joy,
Snakepaw padded up near the river, he looked around and finally he spotted a carp,
he crouched trying not to make a sound and finally he dived his head down to catch the fish
though when he got up nothing was in his jaws
"it's alright snakepaw just do it at the right time and focus okay" owleyes meowed,
Snakepaw glared at the river i'll catch it this time! he thought.
For the past four times snakepaw had caught nothing, whenever a fish swimmed by he would try to catch it but
he of course caught nothing,
Ashpaw stood over his minnow glaring at Snakepaw
"hurry up snakepaw! I know you're not that stupid at hunting!" he yowled,
snakepaw glared at Ashpaw and so he tried again two times.. though snakepaw
did not seem to have any luck,
"wow you can't even catch your own fish? i've seen kits who can hunt better than you!"
ashpaw sneered,
Snakepaw glared at ashpaw and hissed,
gingerpaw glared at Ashpaw and so did whitepaw while wetpaw just chuckled a bit,
stoneheart glared at ashpaw
"ashpaw! there is no need to be rude to Snakepaw! he just needs more pratice!"
he meowed
Ashpaw snorted "yea sure.."
"okay apprentices let us show you the borders for a bit" tigerstripe meowed.
ashpaw bounced up "nice! I hope we meet some Shadowclan warriors!" he mewed,
Stoneheart shook his head "lets not" he murmured,
Snakepaw stared at him feeling doubt wash him
I could not even catch a single fish! not even a tiny one! he thought
snakepaw stared down at his paws for a second than he got up
it's okay snakepaw.. it's your first day.. maybe in the next moons you'll learn how to hunt and fight better!
Snakepaw thought,
then I can prove ashpaw wrong!
Chapter three
two days has passed it was a new day for snakepaw,
Snakepaw followed his mentor Stoneheart near a river.
behind snakepaw was gingerpaw, Ashpaw, wetpaw, and whitepaw with their mentors
owleyes, tigerstripe, riverheart and flighthigh,
Stoneheart froze and so did the others
"alright you five today we will learn about battle moves" he announced,
Battle moves! snakepaw thought,
Ashpaw bounced for joy and so did wetpaw while gingerpaw nodded and whitepaw just stood there.
"okay so today we will learn about the splash, basically all you do is
go underwater than when your near your enemy grab them!"
stoneheart explained,
The five apprentices nodded than stoneheart turned to snakepaw and gingerpaw
"okay Snakepaw be the enemy and gingerpaw try and grab him"
Snakepaw flattened his ears
why do I have to be the enemy? he thought with worry.
"okay snakepaw get in the river and pretend you're the enemy"
stoneheart commanded.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in fear
but I don't know how to swim! he thought with worry,
Snakepaw wanted to protest but he also did not want to disobey his mentor so he started
padding up to the river,
when he was only a mouse length near he froze in fear
I can't... he thought
Ashpaw growled
"hurry up snakepaw! your taking to long are you scared?"
Snakepaw glared at ashpaw
scared! I'll prove him wrong!
in an instant he jumped in the water.
Snakepaw widen his eyes as he felt the freezing water touch his pelt
so cold! he thought,
Snakepaw tried to swim back but than he started sinking
"no!" he yowled
Snakepaw started thrashing around trying not to drown but nothing worked
Gingerpaw stared in horror and so did whitepaw while ashpaw narrowed his eyes
"he'll be fine.." he murmured.
Gingerpaw turned to ashpaw in an instant glaring at him
"fine FINE!? he can't swim he might drown to death!" she spat,
"Hold on snakepaw!" Stoneheart yowled
Snakepaw was now under water still thrashing
though he slowly stopped as he was getting tired
someone... help.. he thought
just as he was about to close his eyes and give in he felt something grab his scruff
and started swimming back.
Snakepaw looked to see Stoneheart swimming him back up,
Finally they made it out, Stoneheart dropped Snakepaw and in an instant
snakepaw jerked forward and threw up water.
i'm alive! Snakepaw thought with joy,
Gingerpaw ran forward to him
"Snakepaw are you okay!?" she asked him worrying,
snakepaw nodded slowly.
He than turned to see the leader Nightstar running towards them
"What happened?" she asked,
stoneheart almost drowning me that's what! snakepaw thought with anger as he glared at stoneheart.
Tigerstripe padded up to the leader
"We were gonna learn about the splash, snakepaw was sent to swim in the river but he
almost drowned.. good news though is that Stoneheart saved him"
He explained,
Snakepaw glared stoneheart sent me even though he never taught me how to swim! he thought.
The leader nodded "Okay, send Snakepaw to the medicine den and let him stay there for tomorrow"
she meowed,
Snakepaw widen his eyes
why though i'm fine! he thought with anger and confusion.
Ashpaw padded up to Snakepaw
"next time, don't drown" he meowed
"Stoneheart sent me even though I never learned how to swim yet!" he hissed,
Ashpaw narrowed his eyes "then learn faster" he hissed back and padded away.
Snakepaw glared at him, he stood up weakly and padded with them.
Chapter four.
Two days have passed since the day he almost drowned,
Snakepaw was curled up in his nest.
As he rolled around in his nest Foxheart padded in
"good news snakepaw, two days have passed you can now go back to training" she announed,
Snakepaw glared at her "I should never have been sent here, was not even sick!" he meowed.
"well.. Nightstar just wants all her apprentices safe, when she was a kit she got the same treatment from hawkstar"
Foxheart let out a soft chuckle,
Snakepaw turned away.
Foxheart touched his flank with her tail
"You'll become a warrior one day I promise"
Snakepaw stared at her than nodded
As foxheart started padding out she paused and turned at him
"oh, and..make sure you never... well er.. I better go check on Lizardtail.. she is expecting kits.."
Foxheart murmured, she than padded out of the den.
Snakepaw stared in confusion
never what? never drown? yea i'll make sure to tell Stoneheart to teach me to swim!
Snakepaw thought.
He stretched yawning then padded out of the den,
snakepaw spotted Stoneheart in the distance near the elders talking
i'm so not training with him after what he did!
he thought glaring at stoneheart.
Snakepaw spotted Tigerstripe near the fresh kill pile chewing on a vole,
"maybe he can train me for a bit" he thought,
just as snakepaw took a step forward he heard a loud yowl in the nursery,
What the heck was that!? Snakepaw meowed his pelt bristling.
"looks like lizardtail is having her kits" a voice came from behind snakepaw,
he turned to see his father Ratnose standing near him his brown pelt and yellow eyes and one white right paw.
"Kits? where do they come from..?" snakepaw asked,
ratnose stared at him as if he was crazy for a second then he closed his eyes
"Err... well.. you see... it's-"
he was cutoff as morningrise stood next to him
"Don't tell him.. let him figure out when he is older" she meowed,
Ratnose nodded.
Snakepaw tilted his head but before he could speak he heard another loud yowl, the yowling continued for a bit and snakepaw had to flatten his ears, finally after a long while of yowling, he heard foxheart let out a yowl of joy. Snakepaw widen his eyes and ran,
He ran into the nursery to see Lizardtail curled around with her two kits
one white kit and the other was a brown kit with a black tip tail and four black paws,
Scartail was curled next to lizardtail they both had love in their eyes.
Snakepaw stared at the kits his eyes widen
is this how tiny I was when I was a newborn? he thought,
"Snakepaw get over here!" a yowl came from behind him,
oh right, I'm training with tigerstripe for now snakepaw thought.
he padded out of the den to see Tigerstripe glaring down at him
"you missed training today! Foxheart says your fine so you should of been here with me to train!" he snarled.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in shock
"Tigerstripe I'm sorry I-"
"Hush! I'll let you off the hook for once but next time show up!" he spat,
Ashpaw glared at him his eyes full of scorn, wetpaw had the same expression while gingerpaw gave him a helpless glance
and whitepaw just stared at his paws.
As tigerstripe started padding off snakepaw heard him muttering under his breath
"starclan what is with this apprentice.. first he can't catch a single fish, then he almost drowns and now this."
Snakepaw glared then stared at the paws
great... now he's starting to think i'm useless.. he thought,
Snakepaw then stood up and started padding to the apprentices den,
Oh starclan I hope i'm not late again..
Chapter Five
A day has passed since Lizardtail had her kits, Snakepaw was padding througjh camp
looking for his mentor Stoneheart who he still had not forgiven.
As he finally found the river Tigerstripe, owleye, Stoneheart, and the apprentices were already there,
"So you finally showed up, glad your not late this time" Tigerstripe sniffed,
Snakepaw nodded glaring.
Owleye stepped forward "okay all of you today you will try and catch a fish today see if you can catch one"
he explained,
Tigerstripe nodded "we will record your process and inform it to the leader were watching you all" he growled.
The three mentors padded away leaving the apprentices with river,
ashpaw snickered "Hope you all can catch fish, maybe one fish" he casted a glance at snakepaw,
"so just cause I can't catch fish makes you think your better than me" he thought glaring at ashpaw then turned to the river.
The apprentices begun snakepaw crouched looking for a fish,
he saw one swimming near by a silver one,
when he dived his head in the water and came out he of course had nothing,
Ugh! Why am I so bad at hunting!? snakepaw thought with annoyance.
Snakepaw then saw a minnow swimming nearby,
he dug his claws in the ground Oh I'm gonna catch you.. he thought,
But just as he was about to dive down ashpaw dived in and came out with the minnow in his jaws,
"hey! that's my fish!" snakepaw snarled,
"well you weren't gonna catch it anyway, someone had to catch the minnow" he purred.
Snakepaw glared "that still does not mean you have to steal my catch",
ashpaw narrowed his eyes at snakepaw "even ones who can't even catch a small fish?" he sneered
"what did you just say" snakepaw whispered in anger.
Ashpaw took a step over his minnow "face it you can't hunt, you almost drowned in the river and
you even were late maybe you should quit and become a medicine cat" he smiled showing his nearly yellow teeth.
Gingerpaw glared at ashpaw "stop mocking him ashpaw, he did nothing wrong to you" she hissed,
ashpaw glared at gingerpaw 'quiet!" he hissed, gingerpaw flatten her ears.
snakepaw snarled "take that back right now..."
"Well it's the truth plus.. maybe your mentors don't like you.." ashpaw chuckled.
Snakepaw glared in frustration at ashpaw That's it! This little furball asked for it! he thought,
he then unsheathed his claws and launched at ashpaw,
unprepared ashpaw was frozen and so snakepaw clawed at ashpaw's pelt,
ashpaw yowled and kicked snakepaw off blood was dripping from his back pelt,
"hey! you can't attack me!" he yowled.
Ashpaw then unsheathed his claws and ran to snakepaw,
Snakepaw dodged and clawed at ashpaw's leg, ashpaw then turned around and grabbed on snakepaw's back and started clawing,
snakepaw yowled feeling hot pain on his back, he then kicked off ashpaw and bite ashpaw's tail,
ashpaw screeched in pain "get off me!"
ashpaw shook snakepaw off making him land on his back.
as ashpaw just stood there snakepaw instantly got up and launched himself at ashpaw
ashpaw ducked under and bite snakepaw's leg,
snakepaw ignored the pain and clawed at ashpaw's belly,
Ashpaw yowled and landed on the ground,
just as snakepaw took a step forward he heard a alarming yowl,
"What in the name of starclan is going on!?".
Snakepaw turned to see nightstar staring at them in alarm along with stoneheart and tigerstripe,
ashpaw instantly got up and glared at snakepaw
"Snakepaw started it he attacked me when i did nothing wrong!" he hissed,
"nothing wrong!? you mocked me saying I would never become a warrior!"
snakepaw snarled.
"Enough you two!" stoneheart hissed,
Nightstar padded up to them both she look ashamed now
"Snakepaw, even though he mocked you, you should of ignored it instead of attack and ashpaw"
she turned to him
"You should never mock someone know matter what they do or are and you also fighted
so you both broke the warrior code"
snakepaw tilted his head "but nothing in the warrior code says anything abou-"
"Silence!" nightstar hissed.
"you both must be punished, ashpaw you will be suspended from training for a moon while snakepaw
you must be punished for two moons" she meowed,
snakepaw widen his eyes "What!? bu-"
"No! do as I say go now!" she hissed,
Ashpaw padded in front of snakepaw and casted him a glare "well I hope it was worth it mouse brain"
he hissed then padded off to the medicine den,
Snakepaw stared at his paws in shame
"Oh starclan why..?"
Chapter six
Two moons have passed since the fight with ashpaw, Nightstar had sent two guards to keep an eye on snakepaw
and ahspaw incase they try to run away or hunt.
Snakepaw stared at the stone wall thinking about what he did
Maybe I should not have attacked Ashpaw.. snakepaw thought with guilt,
but then he remembered how ashpaw mocked him saying that he should quit being a warrior and snakepaw glared
He deserved it a bit.. That should teach him from messing with me he thought.
But just as he can continue to think Nightstar and stoneheart padded in the den,
"Snakepaw.. we would like to talk with you in my den in private" nightstar meowed and stoneheart nodded,
snakepaw hesitated for a second then finally he nodded and stood up
Talk to me? About what? he thought,
Nightstar nodded and turned around padding away with stoneheart, snakepaw followed them out.
As snakepaw was looking around camp he spotted ashpaw near the fresh kill pile with his buddy wetpaw,
as snakepaw was about to enter the den he heard ashpaw jeer
"hello snakepaw, first time out? hope it was fun in that den all alone and dark"
wetpaw chuckled and snakepaw glared
"no no snakepaw it's not worth it just ignore them and they'll leave you alone" he thought.
Snakepaw padded in the den to see nightstar laying in her nest and stoneheart sitting next to her,
"greetings snakepaw" stoneheart dipped his head,
"so snakepaw, we've recorded how you been doing for the past moons and so far.. you've been doing a bit bad.."
Nightstar explained
snakepaw's heart dropped "Bad? what do you mean?" snakepaw whispered,
"Well.. you could not catch a single fish, you almost drowned, you were late, and you attacked an apprentice"
nightstar listed.
Snakepaw's pelt bristle in anger "ashpaw deserved it! he was mocking me and plus! stoneheart was
the one that sent me to the river even though I can't swim yet!" he hissed,
"Well snakepaw, you should of ignored ashpaw instead of attacking and you should of told stoneheart
that you were not ready yet so that still was your fault" she pointed out.
Snakepaw ignored her
"so.. am I here just to be told I'm doing bad?" he asked
"well there was also something.. it's just we got you here to tell you that.. if you keep messing up..
you will go to medicine cat training.." she meowed,
snakepaw widen his eyes more and felt his fur bristle more but this time in fear and he clawed at the stone floor
B- become a medicine cat..? he thought,
"and w-what happens if I also fail at that..?" he asked.
Nightstar looked at stoneheart in worry and turned back to snakepaw
"well.. I guess you prefer to live with the two-legs or live alone.." she meowed in a low voice,
snakepaw widen his eyes up even more in fear
Is she saying she's gonna exile me!? he thought frighten by this.
"So just try to do good okay?" she asked
snakepaw lowered his head and nodded slowly "yes leader...." he whispered and he padded out of the den slowly,
as he padded out of the entrance he spotted ashpaw near the entrance with his ear near the entrance then
in an instant he went to the fresh kill pile with wetpaw
snakepaw was guessing ashpaw was hearing the whole conversation and he went to tell wetpaw about it.
Snakepaw didn't really care he was to worried and sad and he padded to the apprentices den
"If I fail at becoming a warrior or medicine cat I'll be exiled.. I must find a way to train better"
Chapter seven
A day passed since nightstar told snakepaw about his warrior training,
snakepaw padded through camp still worrying about yesterday
I must train hard! he thought Otherwise I get exiled!
though as he was about to pick up a minnow from the pile he heard a shriek
"My kit where is my kit!"
snakepaw ran near the nursery and saw Lizardtail looking around worry in her eyes, brownkit stood there
"foxheart.. why is mother afraid..? did we do something bad?" he asked
"No.. just go play with the moss balls we got you yesterday outside" she nudged brownkit softly away.
Snakepaw tilted his head A kit is missing? Must be Tinykit he thought,
he then saw nightstar walk into the nursery
"It's alright lizardtail I sent out two patrols to look for your kit they will find him"
she comforted lizardtail,
"And if they don't?" she asked but nightstar did not answer.
snakepaw shook his head and padded off
"don't worry.. they'll find him.. I'll hunt near the forest.. maybe I can pratice hunting there.." he thought.
Snakepaw padded out of the entrance he widen his eyes
Stoneheart never took me here! he thought,
as he padded around he sniffed a mouse
snakepaw turned to see a flash of brown fur near a pile of leaves
he crouched Oh I'm gonna catch you! he thought sneering,
though just as he was about to leap he heard mewling near a bush behind him.
He turned around confused What's that sound? he thought,
snakepaw padded near the bush and behind the bush he saw a
white kit with green eyes, he then realized it was tinykit
So this is where the kit is, what's she doing out here? he thought
but just as snakepaw can continue to think he noticed something moving slowly behind the kit
he then realized it was a snake.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in alarm There's a snake behind the kit, it'll kill her! I must save her!
the kit continued to look around, the snake slithered closer hissing softly and then as it was about to launch
snakepaw leaped forward and bite the snake,
the snake tumbled it was in snakepaw's jaws, it tried to escape but snakepaw kept it and then
without warning snakepaw bite into the snake's neck feeling it's soft flesh and warm blood.
The kit watched snakepaw in horror it's eyes widen
finally the snake was no longer moving so snakepaw dropped it
he stared at the snake in shock then three cats padded behind the kit
tigerstripe, tinypounce, and scartail,
"what in the name of starclan are you doing here sna-"
tigerstripe stopped and looked at the dead snake in shock
"did.. did you just kill that snake..?" he asked
snakepaw nodded slowly Am I in trouble..? he thought,
scartail nodded "well we found the kit so lets head back all of us" he meowed.
The four cats walked back tigerstripe had tinykit in his jaws
snakepaw was next to scartail
"scartail..? am I in trouble?" he asked worried,
"well... you saved the kit from a snake but.. you left camp without permission so.. I don't know.."
he murmured.
When they finally made it back lizardtail was the first to come out of the nursery and joy filled her eyes
"Oh my precious kit your safe!" she yowled, lizardtail ran up to tinykit and started grooming his fur
"were you alright? did you know where you were? did something try to kill you?" she asked,
tigerstripe padded behind the kit "he was going to be bitten by a snake but.. snakepaw killed it.." he explained,
"snakepaw.. killed a snake..? he saved my kit..?" she turned at snakepaw but before she could speak
nightstar yowled "may all cats young and old come here beneath the boulder for a clan meeting!"
at once everyone padded near the boulder, tigerstripe and stoneheart along with the deputy highslash
were next to the leader, snakepaw padded near
Is she gonna punish me? he thought.
"Today a kit went missing, i sent two patrols to find the kit but.. when we found the kit we found a dead snake
near snakepaw's paws, snakepaw saved the kit by killing the snake that was going to kill the kit and for that courage,
I shall make snakepaw a warrior!" she announced.
Most of the cats cheered while ashpaw and wetpaw stood silent
anger burned in ashpaw's eyes
"that's not fair! he can't even hunt for himself and he was only an apprentice for two moons!" he yowled,
nightstar glared at ashpaw
"would an apprentice have enough courage to save a kit from a snake?" she asked
ashpaw sat their in silent and he then turned away,
snakepaw stood their shocked
I'm becoming a warrior!? he thought.
"Snakepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your clan even at the cost of your life?"
she asked
snakepaw nodded "I do" he answered
"then by the powers of starclan I give you your warrior name!"
"snakepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as.. Snakeleap!" she yowled.
"Starclan honors your courage and bravery and we welcome you as a full warrior of riverclan!"
"Snakeleap! snakeleap! snakeleap!" the cats cheered,
wetpaw glared while ashpaw walked away to the apprentices den
snakeleap stood proudly
"I'm finally a warrior! I proved myself I can be worthy to nightstar!" he thought
"I will serve my clan! even if I'm a bit young I promise I'll be the best I can!"
Chapter eight
A moon passed since snakeleap got his warrior name, snakeleap was sent on patrols, he no longer had to worry, or train
or be bothered by ashpaw.
Snakeleap was chewing on a fish but then nightstar jumped on the boulder,
"Alright everyone one! tonight is the gathering so i will choose some cats to go!" she yowled
"Rabbithop, morningrise, scartail, ratnose, tigerstripe, and snakeleap! these cats shall attend to the
gathering with me!" she announced,
snakeleao widen his eyes I'm going to the gathering? Yes! he thought with excitement.
Nightstar leaped off the boulder and raised her tail for the cats chosen to come,
they all padded behind her, nightstar lead them through the dark forest,
snakeleap thought he could hear whispers Where are they coming from? he thought as he was twitching his ears.
Rabbithop turned to snakeleap "windclan is our neighbors so their near us just in case if you were wondering
what the whispers were all about."
Snakeleap widen his eyes how did rabbithop know what he was thinking?
snakeleap looked up to see bright stars and even a full moon
"so.. Rabbithop.. I've never been at a gathering before so.. what's a gathering?" he asked,
rabbithop chuckled softly
"you see son.. a gathering is when every full moon, all the clans come near the highledge and the leaders announce what's
been going on lately, if the leaders or warriors break the truce starclan will cover up the moon meaning their displeased
at the broken truce which means all the clans have to leave."
Snakeleap widen his eyes
"I heard about starclan when I was a kit.. their our ancestors right?" he asked,
rabbithop nodded "correct son" he answered.
Thats when nightstar leaped below and snakeleap could hear loud talking
rabbithop turned to snakeleap his orange eyes bright
"here we are son, welcome to the gathering",
snakeleap turned then his eyes widen
he saw a huge highledge and below were a ton of cats talking with each other.
"I've never seen so many.." he murmured,
snakeleap leaped from the edge and padded around
he had to flatten his ears a bit as the talking became louder,
snakeleap was not watching so he bumped into rabbithop
"woah never saw you there how about you come sit with me son" he meowed pleased.
Snakeleap hesitated then nodded sitting next to rabbithop,
he then felt him lick his forehead and snakeleap chuckled,
snakeleap then turned at the highledge and saw three more cats next to nightstar
"who our those other three at the highledge?" snakeleap asked
"well son, that bright orange tom is sunstar he is the leader of thunderclan,
that black tom there is blindstar leader of shadowclan, and that light brown tom is runstar leaderof windclan"
rabbitstar explained.
As snakeleap was about to respond blindstar yowled for silence and so every cat became quiet,
"welcome to the gathering all, blindstar you may start" nightstar nodded to the black tom and he nodded back,
"Prey has been running well in shadowclan, two new kits have been born! frogkit and lizardkit"
he announced,
most of the cats cheered and then it was nightstar's turn
"prey has been well in riverclan to! and we have a new warrior today! Snakeleap!' she announced,
some of the cats cheered snakeleap felt proud but he heard some cats
whispering in disbelief
"he looks a bit small is nightstar really sure he is a warrior?" a brown tabby she cat whispered to a black tom,
snakeleap glared and flatten his ears a bit Why are most of the cats judging my size? he thought.
Sunstar then padded up near the edge
"Riverclan has been stealing our prey!" he yowled
the riverclan warriors hissed in disbelief while some widen their eyes
nightstar turned in an instant to sunstar
"riverclan has not! what makes you think of this nonsense?!" she hissed,
sunstar eyed her coldly
"we have been finding dead mice and voles near our territory and you know riverclan is our closest neighbor!"
he spat.
"What kind of proof is that? just because we are the closest does not mean we hunted in your territory
was our scent on the prey? I'm guessing not!" she spat, her warriors yowled in agreement while
the thunderclan warriors hissed,
sunstar padded near her, " you know that you been our enemy for a while! you know what, since I'm feeling calm now I'll instead give you a warning, if we find more dead prey near our border again you will expect trouble from thunderclan!"
he warned her,
"you have bees in your brain if you think we've been hunting in your territory!" she hissed
sunstar started padding close to her his claws unsheathed, he narrowed his eyes
and nightstar then unsheathed her claws as well,
the riverclan warriors started padding near the thunderclan warriors their pelts bristling,
snakeleap crouched his eyes widen
Are they gonna fight!? he thought.
Just as he can respond he noticed a cloud starting to cover the moon a bit and the others noticed to,
"we angered starclan!" runstar yowled in fear,
sunstar widen his eyes and nightstar leaped from the boulder
"well this gathering is over anyway, come riverclan!" she yowled,
her warriors followed her and snakeleap followed, but as he was walking he noticed a shadow of a cat near the trees
it was standing there then it ran
snakeleap narrowed his eyes in confusion Who was that? he thought.
Chapter nine
Snakeleap eyes widen the sky was all black no stars were out,
he looked around he was on sharp grass that pricked his paw pads and all he could see were skinny trees.
Snakeleap padded around Where am I? he thought
then he heard a rustle behind him, the sound made snakeleap bristle his fur
"Okay who's there?" he called out,
snakeleap then turned around and saw a tall, black cat figure staring at him no eyes at all.
"who are you?" he asked in fear,
the figure didn't respond nor move at all, snakeleap got furustated
"I said who are you!?" he hissed, the figure still didn't respond,
snakeleap started padding up to it, but just as he took another step he noticed some blood on the figure's paws,
"What the heck!" snakeleap thought taking a few steps back.
The figure then started padding up to him slowly leaving bloody paw prints behind it,
snakeleap started going backwards his pelt bristling he backed too far and ended up in front of a tree,
snakeleap widen his eyes as the figure got more closer, he unsheathed his claws
"get away from me!" snakeleap yowled closing his eyes.
He then felt his eyes open up fast,
he was back in the warriors den.
Chapter ten
Snakeleap looked around his fur bristling a bit
It was all a dream? he thought, he noticed some sunlight glowing through the cracks of the den, it was morning.
Snakeleap stretched yawning then he noticed that most of the warriors already left,
How long was I asleep for? he thought.
Snakeleap padded out of the den, sunlight burned his eyes
"Agh! bright!" snakeleap hissed in his mind, he half closed his eyes until ten seconds later his eyes were used
to the brightness.
Snakeleap looked around but then he felt warm breath near his shoulder,
he turned to see gingerpaw staring at him
"good morning snakeleap!" she mewed,
"oh, uh.. good morning gingerpaw, how has training been?" he asked her,
"we haven't started yet" she responded then concern lit her eyes
"so snakeleap, are you okay? I heard you yowl in the warriors den five minutes ago, did something
bad happen?" she asked,
snakeleap widen his eyes "oh just a dream, that's all.." he murmured,
I can't tell Gingerpaw about my dream.. he thought.
Gingerpaw understood and nodded
"so anyway how is being a warrior?" she asked
snakeleap nodded "it's been fine lately" he responded
"so hey! wanna share this vole with me?" she asked as she pushed the vole from behind her in front
of him,
"oh sure" he meowed,
then he heard someone coming behind him and he turned to see ashpaw
Oh Starclan not this cat agin.. he thought with annoyance,
"hello gingerpaw! how has your day been?" he asked her cheerfully,
gingerpaw smiled closing her closing her eyes "oh, it's been fine lately thanks for asking" she meowed.
snakeleap stared at gingerpaw then ashpaw
So Ashpaw treats Gingerpaw nicely while he treats me like a Foxheart!?" snakeleap thought.
Ashpaw then turned at snakeleap then back at gingerpaw
"why are you talking to him?" he asked
"well.. he just seems nice that's all" gingerpaw responded,
Ashpaw rolled his eyes not caring then he stared at the vole and his eyes gleamed
"say.. gingerpaw, would you like this share this vole with me?" ashpaw asked
snakeleap felt anger start to rise in him
She asked me to share that vole not you! he hissed in his mind,
"well I asked snakeleap first.. but okay" she meowed
snakeleap almost let his mouth fall in shock
ashpaw nodded in pleasure "okay wait at the fresh kill pile I want to talk with my friend" ashpaw meowed
snakepaw clenched his teeth.
"well.. okay ashpaw" she meowed, gingerpaw padded off near the freshkill.
Snakeleap turned at ashpaw glaring
"what the heck ashpaw! she asked me to share the vole with me!" he spat,
"well you are a WARRIOR so I don't see why you should hang out with us APPRENTICES,
after all.. you have other warriors to hang out with" he sneered.
snakeleap hissed unsheathing his claws
"ashpaw so help me.. you been getting on my nerves, gingerpaw is trying to be nice and you show up
acting as if the vole was not for me but for you, so If you-"
"ah, ah, ah you can't attack me, otherwise.. nightstar will make you an apprentice again.. do
you really want that.." he smirked,
snakeleap hesistated then sheathed his claws
"fair point.." snakeleap thought.
ashpaw then glared taking a step forward
"listen snakeleap, I don't like you nor does anyone else.. I don't know why nightstar made you a warrior
just because you killed a snake..
and just because your a warrior makes you think your better then anyone else..
so snakeleap.. stay out of gingerpaw's way stay out of whitepaw and wetpaw's way and
stay out of MY way!
your a warrior now, go hang out with other warriors and not us
your not an apprentice.. so there is no reason to talk with any of us!" he hissed.
Snakeleap glared
"I know i'm not better then anyone else! but there is no reason to be rude to me!" snakeleap hissed,
ashpaw started padding away carrying the vole then he paused dropping the vole then turning to snakepaw
"well.. if you wanna earn my trust or kindness then stay out of our way warrior" he growled,
ashpaw then picked up the vole and ran to the fresh kill pile".
Snakeleap glared
I know I became a warrior early but.. He did not have to be rude to me.. he thought.
snakeleap then padded off
"if ashpaw wants me to stay out of his way then so be it"
Chapter eleven
"snakeleap wake up" a voice woke up snakeleap
his eyes hurted a bit
"er.. what.. tigerstripe?" snakeleap muttered,
"highslash assigned us on border patrol, get up you can't sleep in"
tigerstripe padded out of the den leaving snakeleap alone.
"well alright then" snakeleap yawned then getting up,
snakeleap padded out of the den looking around, he noticed ashpaw glaring at stoneheart
"where's my mentor I can't find him?" ashpaw growled,
"tigerstripe is on border patrol with snakeleap, fastleap, owleye, and sharpclaw, you will have
to train with me for today" stoneheart explained,
ashpaw rolled his eyes
"why is tigerstripe assigned on patrols a lot?" he muttered
"well he is a senior warrior that's why, now stop complaining like a kit and come with me"
stoneheart chuckled and padded off ashpaw followed.
Snakeleap shook his head Glad I'm not Stoneheart he thought,
he padded around camp and finally he spotted tigerstripe with the others,
"sorry it took a while! i'm here now!" snakeleap ran to them
tigerstripe rolled his eyes
"about time" he snorted
"well? what are we waiting for? lets go" fastleap meowed and started leading the patrol.
The five cats padded through the forest, snakeleap looked around smelling the scent of riverclan,
as snakeleap glanced to the right he noticed the same place to where he killed the snake a moon ago
I guess the bugs finished the snake fast.. snakeleap thought.
Just as snakeleap was about to say something fastleap paused, sniffing the air
"what's wrong fastleap?" tigerstripe asked
"I smell... a thunderclan patrol.." he awnsered,
snakeleap bristled
"a thunderclan patrol?" he thought.
"What! those heap of fox dung!? are they on our territory?" tigerstripe asked, fastleap shook his head
"well.. no, but they are a bit close to the border.. so we must be careful.." he warned,
just as they can continue snakeleap smelled a mouse
Prey! he thought
he unsheathed his claws
"I smell a mouse!" snakeleap hissed
unable to control himself, snakeleap ran off to the scent
"snakeleap NO!" tigerstripe yowled. Snakeleap was close but then he stopped, he looked in front of him
to see six cats in front of him
in the lead was sunpelt, next to him on the right was snakeheart,
behind sunpelt was one small ginger she cat with amber eyes while next to her was the large brown tabby cat
with orange eyes leapspeed, next to him was one gray tom with one white paw and green eyes and next to him
was a orange tabby tom with yellow eyes known as lightningstrike.
All of them stared at snakeleap, their pelts bristling and their eyes showed nothing but hostile.
Tigerstripe and the others ran behind snakeleap their pelts also bristling,
sunpelt took a step forward "so, I see we caught a few cats, don't you think lightningstrike?" sunpelt sneered,
"yea.. a few tresspasers!" the orange tabby hissed.
"So what are you few doing on our territory? are you here to steal our prey?" sunpelt hissed,
"no mouse brain! snakeleap just made a tiny mistake by running into your territory on accedent" owleye explained,
sunpelt snorted in disbeleif
"an accident? was running into our territory just because you smelled prey an accident?" leapspeed growled.
Tigerstripe casted a glare at snakeleap causing him to crouch
Why did I chase that scrawny mouse..? he thought to himself guilty,
"looks like one of them is scared!" the small ginger she cat jeered,
"calm down leaftree" sunpelt meowed then turning to the riverclan patrol
"look, if you all don't leave in the next five seconds we won't hesitate to rip some fur out of yall"
he hissed.
Sharpclaw took a step forward
"i'm not afraid to fight! i'm not showing weakness!" he hissed,
snakeleap was about to protest but judging by the way the thunderclan patrol looked
he and tigerstripe knew it was too late to back down
"warriors attack!" sunpelt yowled.
the cats charged at each other, all hissing and clawing at eachother.
snakeleap was fighting leaftree, he swiped his claw at her face but she dodged quickly and pinned him down
"aww.. is the scared little warrior gonna cry for help?" she mocked,
snakeleap growled then kicking her off,
she landed on her back but got up quickly, rage filled her and she leaped at snakeleap,
he slided under and clawed at her belly.
She yowled in pain and ran off,
tigerstripe was fighting sunpelt,
sunpelt kicked tigerstripe and and clawed his back pelt,
he yowled and then bit his hindleg.
sharpclaw pinned leapspeed down
but then he kicked him off and bite his tail,
sharpclaw yowled
"get off me you peice of mouse dung!"
and in an instant sharpclaw flung him off causing him to land on his spine.
Snakeleap ran to help tigerstripe but something knocked him to the side,
he looked up to see the gray tom
he started clawing at snakeleap,
snakeleap felt warm blood trickle down his pelt and onto the grass,
the gray cat only had a few scratches on him,
snakeleap bit his paw and the gray tom hissed falling off,
but then snakeleap noticed that tigerstripe had one patch of fur missing from his shoulder all bloody,
while sharpclaw only had a few scratched on him owleye had a torn ear and blood trickled down to near his eye.
Snakeleap kicked off the gray tom and raised his tail
"warriors retreat!" he yowled,
instantly the riverclan warriors stopped fighting and ran to snakeleap and so they started
running into the forest,
snakeleap could hear jerring yowls from the thunderclan warriors
"that's right run off!"
"go head into the nursery and cry in shame!"
"when sunstar hears about this he will have all of your's tails!"
As the riverclan warriors limped into camp tigerstripe glared at snakeleap
"look what happen snakeleap! thanks to you, you caused a battle to happen!" he hissed,
snakeleap crouched a bit
"I- I'm sorry.." he whispered in sadness
"Sorry fills no bellies! I don't know why nightstar made you warrior! you clearly act like an apprentice!
maybe even a kit!" he raised his voice harshly.
Snakeleap looked at the floor in shame
"he's right... it's my fault.." snakeleap thought.
Tigerstripe narrowed his eyes
"now thunderclan will want to raid our camp soon! I'm telling nightstar about this..
I hope you get the punishment you deserve" tigerstripe started padding away and so did the
other warriors, leaving snakeleap alone.
"i'm sorry tigerstripe.. it's my fault."
Chapter twelve
Two days have passed since the border fight, nightstar punished snakeleap by making him
do apprentice chores for a quarter-moon.
Snakeleap was sat beside the elders den looking half tired from hunting for the elders,
It's okay Snakeleap.. You only have one more day to do this.. Then
your punishment is over.. he thought,
then a skinny gray tom with blue eyes padded near the entrance
"hello snakeleap.. I have a favor for you.." he meowed.
Snakeleap glanced at the elder and sighed
"yes snowfoot?" he awnsered,
"our beddings a bit dirty.. and old, is it okay if you go to fetch new ones for us..?"
snowfoot asked,
snakeleap dipped his head and stood us
"okay, I'll fetch new bedding" he meowed,
the elder had concern in his eyes
"it's alright snakeleap.. you only have one more day then your punishment is over"
he explained.
Snakeleap nodded then padded off,
just as he passed near the entrance he could hear the two gaurds
talonclaw a dark brown tabby tom with torn ears and yellow eyes
and darkfoot a black tom with two front white paws and green eyes,
"hey snakeleap? fetching bedding for the elders again? sucks that you can't
go border patrolling or hunting with us"
talonclaw sneered then he and darkfoot laughed,
snakeleap flattend his ears and glared as he was passing out of the entrance
Ugh! he thought.
Snakeleap walked through the forest looking around on trees,
he padded up to one and looked around the tree no sign of moss
"ugh, no moss here" snakeleap muttered to himself,
he then padded off but then he noticed a large den with fences,
This must be Twolegplace Morningrise told me about when I was a kit! snakeleap thought.
Snakeleap padded near the fence but then he heard something near the bushes,
he widen his eyes
What was that? he thought,
Ashpaw if your gonna scare me agin like last time I'll claw you! snakeleap thought glaring.
"Are you a wild cat?" a voice spoke behind snakeleap,
turning he saw a sleek, black she cat with one white paw and blue eyes staring at him.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in fear but then narrowed his eyes
"who are you..?" he asked,
the she cat stood herself up
"oh, my name is midnight, my parents named me that because I was all black with blue bright eyes and
I had one white paw so they named me midnight for that" she explained.
Midnight then leaped from the fence and snakeleap noticed that she had no collar on,
"are you a loner?" snakeleap asked, midnight chuckled
"no I'm a house cat I belong with the up walkers"
snakeleap narrowed his eyes more
"then how come you don't have a collar like most kittypets?" snakeleap asked,
"well some up walkers don't give their cats collars" she explained.
midnight then took a step near snakeleap and sniffed him
"you smell like a riverclan cat" she meowed,
snakeleap widen his eyes in shock
"you know about the clans?" he asked,
midnight nodded "when I was little my mother told me stories about them, thunderclan, shadowclan, riverclan,
and windclan, she always said that they were beasts with fleas and that they killed anyone
who trespassed on their territories
and that they eat bones" she explained
"though.. I don't think their like that."
Snakeleap nodded
"your mother must have bees in her brain if she thinks were like that" snakeleap meowed,
midnight chuckled
"your lucky she ain't here right now, she would go nuts if she heard you talking about her"
snakeleap chuckled,
"so anyway.. what's a clan cat like you doing out far from their camp? are you here for something?"
she asked,
snakeleap nodded
"yea I need new fresh bedding for the elders" he explained.
Midnight nodded
"well, I have some near in my garden! I can get it if you want" she offered,
snakeleap smiled nodding
"yes! I need the bedding!" he meowed,
midnight nodded "well okay let me get them for you"
she then hopped on top of her fence and down running,
then after a few heartbeats she came back with fresh moss in her mouth,
she landed near snakeleap and dropped the moss near his paws,
"here you go!"
Snakeleap nodded
"thank you" he thanked,
midnight dipped her head then she took one step forward
"you seem more different then most wild cats I met, most were like
get out of our territory before we claw you! but you, you seem pretty chill for a wild cat" she meowed,
"well.. it's just you seem chill as well" he meowed.
Midnight nodded
"say.. maybe next moon you can come and visit me again, talk to me more about your life" she smiled,
snakeleap closed his eyes
"this kittypet seems more different then most.. well okay then!" he thought.
"Okay midnight I'll come in the next moon" he awnsered,
midnight let out a loud purr
"thank you so much!"
midnight then leaped back up her fence and turned to glance at him
"it was nice meeting you snakeleap! see you soon!"
she then leaped down the fence and she was gone.
Snakeleap smiled nodding then he grabbed the moss and left,
leaving twolegplace.
When he finally returned tigerstripe padded up to him
"where were you? you were gone for thirty minutes!" he hissed,
"oh.. it was hard finding moss that's all" he lied,
tigerstripe narrowed his eyes at him then turned away "alright then" he murmred.
Tigerstripe padded away and snakeleap felt releif wash him
"thank god he did not figure out.. that kittypet seemed nice.. I'll see her again next moon."
Chapter Thirteen
Snakeleap's eyes open, he found himself standing in the same dark forest as he was
last time.
Snakeleap looked around
"the same place as my dream which means.."
snakeleap heard foot steps behind him and he turned to see the same
black cat he saw before but this time it had red glowing eyes that glared at him.
Snakeleap was then teleported near twoleg place why am I in twoleg place?! he thought with alarm,
he then turned and saw a kit laying in the grass
it was all black and had no eyes,
a kit? where's it's mother? snakeleap thought,
thought.. just as he took a step forward he noticed blood on the kits paws,
what the!? snakeleap thought,
then behind the kit the black cat appeared
"danger is coming.." it whispered
snakeleap widen his eyes and unsheathed his claws
"get out of here! I want nothing to do with you!" he hissed.
"Only it's closest kin can stop it.." the black cat whispered again,
snakeleap crouched as it started padding near snakeleap,
he felt alarm wash him
don't hurt me! snakeleap thought,
he then opened his eyes, he was back in the warriors den,
snakeleap looked around his eyes still wide
it was all a dream.. but what did that cat mean danger is coming? he thought.
Snakeleap then heard a cat pad forward near him,
he turned to see whitepaw who was now whitepelt staring at him,
"snakeleap are you okay? you were hissing and mewling in your sleep"
snakeleap shook his head
"no.. no, i'm fine.. I just had a dream.." he meowed.
Whitepelt tilted his head, clearly snakeleap knew it did not convince him,
"are you sure? you could go to the medicine den if you want" he meowed,
snakeleap stood up
"I'm fine okay.." he whispered,
just as whitepelt could speak he heard alarming yowls,
snakeleap widen his eyes
what was that!? he thought,
whitepelt and snakeleap ran out of the warriors den and then noticed three cats padding in the entrance in camp,
snakeleap reconized sunstar,
next to him was snakeheart and leapfoot.
Snakeleap felt a prickle of worry
I hope they aren't here because of the border clash.. he prayed,
nightstar ran out of her den and padded up to sunstar
"what are you doing sunstar?" she asked,
sunstar glared at nightstar "I'm here to talk to you about your warriors" he meowed,
nightstar hesitated for a heartbeat then she nodded "very well, speak."
"A qauter moon ago, my warriors found your's on our territory hunting!" he hissed,
nighstar looked looked calm "yes I know, tigerstripe told me of a cat who caused the mess"
she glanced at snakeleap and in response, he crouched in fear,
"so I punished him by feeding and cleaning the elders for a qauter moon" she explained.
Sunstar's pelt still bristled in anger
"that's not enough!" he spat,
"punishing a cat by taking care of the elders ain't enough to satisfy me!" he hissed.
Nightstar started to bristle a little
"and who made you in charge of my warriors? I punished snakeleap, he has learned his lesson
what punishment do you want for him?" she asked,
sunstar unsheathed his claws "exile him for a moon!" he hissed,
nightstar narrowed her eyes "you want me to exile a cat for a moon just for crossing
into your border on accident?" she sneered.
In an instant sunstar leaped at nightstar and both of them started fighting,
snakeleap widen his eyes stupid border fight! he hissed in his mind,
nightstar scratched sunstar's face but sunstar tripped her over and then pinned her, his face dripping of blood,
then the deputy highslash leaped at sunstar and clawed at his shoulders,
sunstar yowled, he kicked off the deputy and ran near the entrance with his two warriors behind,
"listen nightstar! if we find your warriors on our territory one more time we'll shred you till there is nothing left of you!"
sunstar ran out of the entrance leaving a tiny trail of blood behind him.
Snakeleap felt a surge of relief thank starclan they left... he thought,
nightstar sat there she had a tiny piece of fur torn out, her face was a bit bloody and she had
a bruised paw.
Highslash ran to her "nightstar! are you okay!?" he hissed in worry
she glanced at him and nodded slowly,
highslash got nightstar up and took her to the medicine den,
tigerstripe glared at snakeleap "well I guess that shows what happens when cats cross
the border, hoped you learned your lesson" he growled then padded off.
Snakeleap glared then stared at the medicine den
then he stared at tigerstripe as he padded to the den to comfort nightstar
i'm sorry nightstar... snakeleap thought.
Chapter Fourteen
Snakeleap got up, his brown pelt was dark, it was nighttime.
He looked around making sure everyone was asleep, all the cats were snoring, no
cat made a move or opened one eye,
snakeleap felt relief and relaxed, okay there asleep, good he thought.
Snakeleap stood up and padded out of the warriors den, he padded through camp and then spotted
two guards sitting there
snakeleap narrowed his eyes,
one of the guards a big brown tabby with two black claws and yellow eyes saw him and glared
"snakeleap? what are you doing awake? your supposed to be asleep" his lips drawn back into a snarl.
Snakeleap's pelt bristled a bit but he forced himself to relax "nightstar sent me on border patrol" he lied,
the other guard, a small tabby she cat with green eyes, tilted her head, "all alone?" she meowed in confusion,
snakeleap nodded
the brown tabby rolled his eyes and flicked his tail "fine, you can pass, I don't even understand nightstar these
days" he muttered.
Snakeleap nodded and passed the entrance, snakeleap then ran through the forest, feeling wind breeze against his
pelt, he ignored the pricks the pricked his paw pads, he needed to see midnight.
After three minutes of running, snakeleap made to the large fence where he last met the kittypet,
snakeleap laid down panting, so... tired he thought,
"hello snakeleap!"
he turned to see midnight sitting on the fence, "you look tired, are you okay?" she asked,
snakeleap nodded "yes don't worry i'm fine" he meowed.
Midnight leaped off the fence "so how is clan life doing?" she asked him,
snakeleap hesitated, he thought about the fight between nightstar and sunstar,
"oh.. it was fine.." he muttered
midnight tilted her head, she looked worried "snakeleap.. did sunstar attack you because of the false
prey stealing?" she asked him. Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, his pelt bristled
"midnight.. how did you know about the false accusion?" he asked,
"oh! well I noticed a large group of cats going to some place so I decided to follow them" she explained.
Snakeleap calmed down a bit "you.. when I was going with my group I saw you" he meowed,
midnight widen her eyes "you did?"
snakeleap nodded.
"so.. I heard one of those cats say gathering, what's a gathering?" midnight asked him,
snakeleap sat down and nodded "a gathering is where all the cats of the clans go every moon,
the clan leaders share what has been happening lately, if they break the truce by fighting starclan will
cover the moon" he explained him.
Midnight nodded, "I wish i was a gathering! it sounds nice!" she exclaimed,
snakeleap chuckled "well, you can always sneak in"
midnight purred.
"anyway, I heard you had guards in your camp, how did you get passed them?" she asked him,
snakeleap smiled
"well i had to lie that i was on border patrol" he explained,
Midnight purred loudly then looked confused "wait.. what are patrols?" she asked,
"well, cats have to patrol the borders day and night, just so the other clans keep out of our territory" he explained,
midnight nodded "shadowclan... riverclan.. thunderclan, and breezeclan" she muttered
"windclan you mean" snakeleap chuckled,
midnight chuckled more,
"sorry, it's been a while since i heard of windclan, well, since i met them before.." she muttered,
snakeleap widen his eyes "you met them? how?" he asked,
"well.. six moons ago I wanted to hunt my own prey for the first time but.. windclan chased me out" she explained.
Snakeleap nodded "I got in trouble for crossing into thunderclan border.." he explained,
midnight frowned "oh, poor you.. sorry about that" she meowed,
snakeleap smiled then he widen his eyes, he got a thought about sunstar saying he found dead prey on his border
"so midnight.. have you been hunting in thunderclan territory..?" he asked her,
midnight shook her head "no.. but, I heard about these two dogs, their twolegs let them out once a week,
they might of been hunting in their territory.." she explained.
Snakeleap nodded "thanks, I can tell nightstar about the dogs" he meowed,
midnight smiled, she purred, snakeleap did the same
this kittypet seems great... he thought.
But just as one of them could speak snakeleap heard noises behind him, turning he saw a large maple twoleg padding
up to them, midnight bristled "that's my twoleg you should go now!" she hissed, snakeleap was about to run but
he felt the twolegs paws grab him,
snakeleap yowled "get off me you stinking twoleg!"
the twoleg started lifting him up, midnight yowled in alarm,
snakeleap tried wriggling free but nothing worked,
oh starclan help me! he thought, the twoleg smiled and started patting his head,
snakeleap glared,
the twoleg then started padding to his den, still holding snakeleap,
midnight stood there, alarm shot in her eyes,
snakeleap looked up at the glowing stars, "starclan help me!"
Chapter Fifteen
Snakeleap stood in a forest, the cold wind breezed through his pelt which made him shiver,
he looked around then his eyes widen i'm at the forest? he thought.
Snakeleap sniffed the air and he smelled something, a river clan patrol!
riverclan patrol? snakeleap thought, then he turned from confusion to exited my clanmates are near! I must greet them! he thought.
Snakeleap was about to run but then he felt his eyes open and he was laying on the soft floor,
snakeleap's eyes were widen then he re remembered and sighed with disgust,
ugh I forgot.. i'm in a twoleg den.. he thought.
Snakeleap turned and saw a small fire,
he felt alarm wash in him and his fur bristled "the two leg den is on fire!" he yowled,
"no silly, that's just the fireplace, the fire is kept in it's place and does not spread"
a voice explained,
turning he saw midnight sitting on a large, wide red, soft thing.
Snakeleap felt the fear rush out instantly and he narrowed his eyes "what are you sitting on?" he asked,
"oh this?" midnight looked down on what she was sitting on then back at snakeleap "that's a couch,
two legs like to sit on them sometimes" she explained.
Snakeleap leaped up on the couch and sat next to her and looked around "I wish this was just a dream.." he muttered
under his breath,
midnight then glanced at her paws "i'm sorry my two legs took you here" she apoligized, "I never saw them coming and
I understand you want to be with your clanmates."
Snakeleap then widen his eyes in alarm "my clanmates!" he hissed,
his pelt started to bristle once again, I forgot about them! they'll be so worried about me! he thought,
snakeleap then stood up and shot an apologetic glance at Midnight, "i'm sorry midnight I need to go! my
clanmates will be worried about me so bye!" Snakeleap leaped off the couch and started running
"wait!" midnight yowled but he did not listen, snakeleap paused and looked around, then he spotted a clear sqaure
that showed the blue sky, an escape! he thought,
Snakeleap ran near the window and crouched, gathering all the boost he can, he got ready and then leaped
at the sqaure, but then he felt his face hit something, his face splashed with pain and he fell off, landing
on his back.
Snakeleap clenched his teeth and the pain on his face, "gah!" he spat,
Midnight leaped over to him and nudged him "that was a window, they have a clear wall, I didn't think you were
that dumb!" she meowed,
snakeleap felt shame burn in his pelt but then midnight started to chuckle "don't worry snakeleap!
that happens to me sometimes and some cats when they visit here!"
Snakeleap nodded and then stood up, still feeling pain on his face,
midnight looked worried "I can get a two leg to help you if you want.." she murmured,
snakeleap shook his head "I need to escape.." he whispered,
then he felt more alarm go in him and he started to bristle more and his eyes widen
'I need to get back! I have to!" he yowled, midnight widen her eyes and glared
"calm down snakeleap! yowling about it won't make you escape!" she hissed.
Snakeleap glared at her then he started breathing slowly and started calming down and his pelt bristled less,
"okay fine, your right but.. how will I get back,, they'll be worried about me.." he meowed,
midnight smiled and wrapped his tail around her's "it's okay snakeleap" she meowed
"you can get out, maybe I can help you escape as well,"
snakeleap stared at her then smiled back, then he heard walking noises.
Turning he saw the tall male two leg from last night,
snakeleap bristled and hissed "you kidnapped me you fox heart!" he hissed.
The two leg looked alarm but then he reached out his two pink paws towards him,
snakeleap unsheathed his claws and swiped one paw near the two leg
"get away from me!" he spat,
midnight ran in front of him "calm down snakeleap! just let him pick you up, you'll be alright" she meowed,
snakeleap wanted to protest but kept his jaws shut, he took one step near the two leg with his claws sheathed,
the two leg grabbed him and lifted him up.
The two leg padded to a near by red couch,
he sat down and started petting snakeleap,
snakeleap glared then groaned
I can't stay here forever.. he thought
I must find a way out!
Chapter 16
Snakeleap layed on the couch, two days has passed since he was kidnapped, snakeleap
stared at the ceiling looking worried,
I must get out! he thought
Just as snakeleap can continue to think Midnight ran near him, she looked exited "Our two legs feeding us!" she meowed
"come!" she then turned around and ran,
snakeleap rolled his eyes and then stood up and leaped from the couch,
I hope it's fresh fish.. he thought.
Snakeleap followed to the kitchen and saw a tall, female twoleg grabbing a bag,
she then came to the dishes and started pouring brown pellets in,
Midnight sat there waiting looking happy while snakeleap stood their confused,
when the twoleg was done pouring she left, leaving midnight and snakeleap alone.
Midnight started eating the brown pellets, snakeleap could hear the crunching and the purring from midnight,
he took a step near his dish and stared at the brown pellets, he narrowed his eyes and started sniffing them,
they smell weird.. i'm gonna give them a try.. he thought,
snakeleap dipped his head into the bowl and crunched on some pellets.
Snakeleap's pelt bristled and in an instant he clawed at the flour and forced himself to swallow, the
pellets tasted bittersweet and dry, finally he swallowed the pellets,
"dear starclan these pellets taste disgusting!" he spat in disgust, "how do you eat these?"
midnight shrugged "they just taste good" she replied,
snakeleap wrinkled his nose "how do they taste so good to you?" he asked,
"they just do okay, we have our own likings" midnight meowed.
Snakeleap glared and turned around "yea, well I'm not eating those pellets,
i'll just go hunt prey" he growled,
midnight shrugged "more food for me then" she meowed in dilight,
snakeleap rolled his eyes "have fun" he muttered, he started padding away near the door,
but snakeleap trie getting past the small square at the bottom of the door but it seemed to not moved,
"great, the cat flap is locked! he thought with annoyance,
this is gonna be embrassing! snakeleap muttered under his breath.
Snakeleap gathered all the strengh and finally he started meowing loudly,
midnight flattened her eyes while eating, but snakeleap continued and finally the female twoleg came,
she seemed to be speaking but snakeleap couldn't understand a word,
the two leg crouched in front of the catflap and snakeleap couldn't see what she was doing,
finally she moved and the catflap was open
nice! maybe twolegs aren't that dumb! snakeleap thought with joy.
He then stepped out and looked around,
snakeleap sniffed the air
fresh air! he thought with dilight,
snakeleap walked around looking for prey,
as he climed over a fence by clawing up he spotted a jay bird hopping around,
snakeleap glared ah! a nice juicy bird! he thought,
snakeleap crouched and started crawling towards the bird,
he licked his lips as if he ate some prey,
he narrowed his eyes dumb bird.. does not even notice me.. he thought.
Snakeleap crawled closer to it and then unsheathed his claws
say goodbye bird! he thought,
but just as snakeleap could pounce a hard blow knocked him to the side,
he hit the fence causing his shoulder to hurt,
what the..?! he thought with shock,
snakeleap tried to stand but but he falled weakly,
he then turned his head and saw a large, brown tabby tom with a black tip tail,
four large black paws, and orange eyes, he wore a red collar around his neck,
a kittypet! snakeleap thought.
The brown tabby took a step forward, "who are you intruder?" he growled,
snakeleap finally stood up and tried to remain calm, his shoulder still stinged,
"my name is snakeleap" he answered, the kittypet tilted his head "what kind of name is snakeleap?" he sneered,
snakeleap glared but still stood in his place "who are you?" he asked,
the kittypet narrowed his eyes "and why should I tell you my name huh?" he growled,
snakeleap felt anger burn in his pelt "you don't have to be rude, all I want is to know your name kittypet!"
The brown cat widen his eyes "kittypet..?" he whispered,
then in an instant the cat's face turned into sheer rage and his pelt bristled more,
"YOUR A WILD CAT!" he yowled, "your from the forest! no wonder the name you have!
you shouldn't have come here! get ready to be taught a lesson for trespassing wild cat!" the cat snarled as he
unsheathed his claws, snakeleap widen his eyes in alarm "shoot!" he thought,
before he had time to react the kittypet launched himself at snakeleap and clawed at his back pelt,
snakeleap hissed in pain, feeling blood pour.
Snakeleap managed to kick the kittypet off from him, the tom landed on his back with an oof!
the kittypet instantly got up and again launched himself at him,
snakeleap managed to dodge and heard him curse,
snakeleap then leaped at the kittypet and hit an aim at his muzzle,
the kittypet yowled and ducked away from him.
Snakeleap was about to attack but then he felt a slash of pain on his stomach,
"agh!" he yowled,
snakeleap ran near a bush and looked at his stomach, he saw a large scratch mark on his stomach,
he clawed my stomach! he thought with shock,
before he could move the kittypet launched at snakeleap, grabbed him by the scruff, and flung him to a twoleg den wall.
Snakeleap tried to stand up but his back hurted and he stayed in his position,
snakeleap stared at the kittypet "dude! why are you attacking me! I was just hunting I didn't know
this was your territory!" he yowled, but the kittypet remained hostile "lies!" he screeched,
the kittypet launched himself at him but snakeleap kicked him away and the cat landed
on his back revealing his belly,
his stoumach is revealed! his weak spot! he thought,
snakeleap crouched and then leaped at the kittypet and started clawing at his stomach,
the kittypet yowled and managed to kick him off,
sadly the kittypet didn't look weakened yet and still remained brave,
this kittypet is strong! I can't beat him! I need to escape! he thought.
Snakeleap tried to run but the kittypet ran and shoved him to the wall,
the kittypet started aiming hard kicks at his ribs,
snakeleap grunted with pain and after a heartbeat he kicked him off,
snakeleap ignored the pain in his ribs and launched at the kittypet,
the brown tom dodged quickly and snakeleap landed on the soft grass.
Snakeleap stood up slowly and looked around but the kittypet was gone
where can he be now?! he thought.
Then a hard blow knocked snakeleap off his paws
the brown tom was back,
the kittypet clawed at snakeleap's hindlegs causing him to yowl in pain,
snakeleap managed to kick him off and the kittypet this time landed on his paws,
snakeleap tried to run but it was too much pain for him and he felt weak,
the kittypet shoved snakeleap near the fence and then back to where he layed,
the kittypet kept shoving him around like a toy,
the tom then pinned snakeleap to the ground, the kittypet had a mocking smile on his face,
"I didn't know wild cats were this weak" he sneered,
snakeleap aimed a blow at the kittypet's cheek but it was a weak blow.
the kittypet leaned his muzzle near snakeleap's face and he could feel hot breath hit his face,
"it's time this fight ends don't you agree? I had fun playing with you, now it's time it ends, say goodbye
to your life wild cat" he growled scornfully.
Snakeleap closed his eyes waiting for his death,
good bye riverclan... he thought,
but then he felt the kittypet's weight vanish,
snakeleap opened his eyes and saw midnight snading in front of the kittypet,
"what are you doing here midnight!?" he growled,
midnight lashed her tail side to side, her pelt was bristling, snakeleap never saw her this angry before,
she saved me! he thought with relief.
"Why are you attacking him henry! he did no harm!' she hissed.
Henry snorted in disbelif "your seriously defending a wild cat?"
midnight lashed a claw at henry's face, causing blood to splat on the grass,
henry crouched, blood dripped from his face "midnight! he'll kill you! he's a wild cat they can't be trusted!
they eat bones, have fleas, and kill any cat including house cats like you!" he hissed.
Midnight hissed "that's just rumors! their not true! I've been with snakeleap long enough to know
he is a nice cat! and you should respect him!"
snakeleap stared at midnight in shocked then smiled Midnight.. I, I don't know what to say.. he thought.
Henry growled "that's just lies! your being lied to you idiot!"
"there not lies! you should-"
"MOUSE BRAIN!" henry lashed out and midnight and aimd a blow at her scruff,
snakeleap widen his eyes then felt sheer rage burn into him and his pain felt invisible to him,
"DON'T TOUCH MIDNIGHT!" he yowled, snakeleap shoved henry away, causing him to land on his back.
Snakeleap leaped on top of henry and started clawing at his chest, he felt blood spill on his paws,
henry yowled of pain,
snakeleap cuffed the kittypet's ears and kicked him near a fence,
henry's ears were now bleeding and his face dripped blood on the grass,
just as he was about to do something snakeleap launched at him and clawed at his back,
henry cursed out loud and managed to kick snakeleap off.
Snakeleap then looked at henry's tail
this battle ends now! he thought,
snakeleap launched at henry and bit his tail hard with all his strengh,
henry screeched in pain
"GET OFF ME GET OFF ME!"
Snakeleap let go and faced henry
"leave now!" he hissed,
henry looked shock then he glared
"fine! hunt here for all I care! trespass on my territory I don't care! all you are is a scrawny excuse for a cat!"
he hissed,
henry ran to his catflap and entered the den leaving a tiny blood trail behind.
Snakeleap nodded with relief he's gone now, gone... he thought,
snakeleap turned to midnight who was standing there, blood dripped from her scruff,
she padded up to him "i'm sorry henry attacked you, he's vicious with cats these days.." she meowed,
she then looked at snakeleap and her eyes widen in shock
"snakeleap your bleeding!" she whispered,
snakeleap looked at his wounds but he tried to remain calm "no.. I'm fine.. I-"
his sentence was cutoff as he felt pain around him and he laid on the grass,
"your not fine snakeleap! I'll take you to my twolegs! they'll heal you up in no time!"
she meowed.
Midnight picked up snakeleap and started carrying him back,
snakeleap stared up at midnight then at the grass
"thank starclan she's safe.." he thought but then a dark thought came
but what if henry returns?... what if he tries to kill us?
snakeleap worried for a second then he started to turn calm
no, no.. henry won't ever return... ever.
Chapter seventeen
Snakeleap padded through a forest, this time the sky had stars that shined brightly.
he looked around confused, where is that black cat? he thought.
As he glanced to his right he saw a shiny white cat sitting there, her back turned,
"hello?" snakeleap meowed, the glowing cat still sat in it's place,
snakeleap felt his pelt bristle a bit,
"leave.." the cat whispered,
snakeleap widen his eyes "what?" he asked,
the bright cat turned around and showed that it was faceless "leave the place.." it whispered again.
As snakeleap was about to speak he felt a paw touch his shoulder,
his eyes opened wide and saw Midnight sitting in front of him
"how are your wounds feeling?" she asked,
snakeleap then remembered the fight with henry yesterday, how he almost got killed,
he turned to his stomach where the large wound was, he touched it and in an instant, pain slashed through his stomach,
he clenched his teeth until the pain died away,
"it looks like my wounds still hurt.." he murmured.
Midnight still remained calm, he guessed that she was not surprised,
she then sighed "well today I found a cat that knows about medicine, he can heal you" she meowed,
snakeleap tilted his head, "but.. what about the two leg you said would heal me..?" he asked.
Midnight looked down at her paws in shame
"well.. I tried telling them but.. they just walked away" midnight meowed though her voice sounded
a little angry,
she then stood up, "anyway, want me to get the cat?" she asked,
snakeleap thought long then he nodded,
midnight purred then leaped from the couch and ran to the kitchen,
I wonder who this cat is snakeleap wondered.
After a minute midnight appeared and behind her was a tall, sleak, tom with full black pelt, one white paw,
and green gazing eyes.,
the tom leaped on the couch next to snakeleap and dipped his head
"hello there, my name is Crow, i'm a loner but I have great knowledge about herbs" he meowed.
Snakeleap dipped his head back "oh, hello then" he murmured, a loner? should I trust him..? he thought,
midnight leaped on the couch next to crow, "he came to me when i was looking for help, he says
he knows about herbs and can heal you" she explained,
crow padded in front of snakeleap "midnight, I would kindly like you to get off the couch
and let me work on snakeleap please" he ordered,
midnight nodded and leaped off the couch, crow then sat next to snakeleap
"so tell me, are you bleeding and do you have any wounds?" he asked,
snakeleap nodded and showed him his stomach wound, his torn back fur, and his right ear
which was torn a little bit, he also told him about his bellyache he had since yesterday and his right eye hurting
a bit.
Crow nodded "okay let me fetch my herbs will quick" he turned near the window at the back of the couch and
dipped his head near the bottom, when he came back, he holded some herbs in his jaws,
he grabbed a yellow flower with four petals,
"these are celandine, they help soothe weakened eyes" he explained,
snakeleap nodded in intrest,
"now show me your right eye and let me apply it" he meowed,
snakeleap crouched a bit and showed his right eye,
crow then crunched the celandine and juice trickled into snakeleap's right eye,
snakeleap closed his left eye and allowed the juice into his eye.
Once it was done Crow then turned and grabbed some purple blue berries,
"these are juniper berries" he meowed, "they can help with bellyaches, help trouble breathing,
and give strengh" he explained.
Snakeleap nodded, Crow then pushed the berries to snakeleap's paws,
"now, I want you to eat them" he meowed,
snakeleap crouched and took some bites, Thank starclan these don't have to go in my eye he thought.
Crow nodded in pleasure, "ah, you did well" he then turned to midnight who was sitting there watching,
"midnight!" he called "I want you to come here for a second" he meowed, midnight nodded and leaped up on the couch,
crow grabbed something behind him and he holded a yellow flower,
"this is marigold, it helps cure infected wounds, if not too late, you have to chew the petals, or.. leaves
into poultice, use this on snakeleap's wounds if they are infected" he explained.
Midnight widen her eyes in intrest then nodded "okay sir" she meowed.
Crow smiled then he turned a tiny bit serious "now... midnight... I want you to leave us alone.. so I can have a talk
with your friend snakeleap.. wait outside" he murmured,
midnight nodded 'well.. okay" she meowed then leaped off the couch and padded away,
what does crow want to talk to me about? snakeleap thought,
crow then turned to snakeleap "now that midnight is gone... it's time we talked" he meowed 'in a low voice
which sent a chill down snakeleap's spine,
crow took a step forward and his face was serious "listen snakeleap, your not meant to be here..
I want you to escape this place and never come back.." he said,
snakeleap widen his eyes a bit "what do you mean?" he asked in a low voice,
"you know what I mean snakeleap.." he meowed "this place is not safe.. go back to the clans,
never visit this place... ever" he growled.
Snakeleap bristled in fear, "but.. what about midnight..?" he asked,
"stop visiting her as well.." crow meowed, he then leaped off the couch and started padding away,
he pasued and glanced at snakeleap
"trust me, it's for you're own good" he meowed.
Crow padded out and was gone,
snakeleap layed there, still frightened and confused about what he said,
what does he mean it's for my own good? he thought,
midnight padded in, "what did crow talk to you about?" she asked, sounding concern,
snakeleap didn't want to tell her about crow telling him to leave
"well.. he told me to take care of my wounds.." he lied.
Midnight closed her eyes and nodded "makes sense, i'll leave you alone now.. get some rest" she meowed,
as she padded off, snakeleap couldn't help wonder what crow meant,
i'll leave tonight crow.. but i'll still visit midnight.
Chapter eighteen
Snakeleap opened his eyes, he looked behind him at the window and saw the moon shine,
this place is not safe... go back to the clans, never visit this place.. ever.
Crow's words rang in snakeleap's mind since yesterday, he couldn't stop thinking about
what he told him, snakeleap stood up and glared,
he's right, I need to leave, go back to where my true home lies! he thought,
this was the night he would leave,
snakeleap then thought about midnight, how worried she would be,
I may be leaving.. but i'll still visit you.. I promise he thought.
Snakeleap leaped from the couch and started padding to the kitchen,
his bellyache and his eye felt better since crow gave him herbs,
snakeleap saw the catflap, I hope it's not locked.. he thought,
he took a step forward and reached his paw at the catflap,
to his surprise the catflap opened,
those twolegs forgot to lock the catflap! he thought.
He padded out the catflap and felt grass touch his paws, he was outside,
the wind breezed through his fur, the stars shined brightly across the sky.
The outside world! he thought,
snakeleap padded towards the fence and leaped on top of it, he looked to his right and
near a twoleg den he saw henry sleeping next to a window,
snakeleap glared, he got thoughts about the fight with him,
well i'm leaving! he thought.
Just as snakeleap was about to leap he heard a voice behind him,
"snakeleap?"
he turned and saw midnight standing there,
she took a step forward and asked "what are you doing on the fence? you should be sleeping
it's nighttime."
Snakeleap stared at his paws then glanced back at midnight, "i'm leaving.." he meowed at last,
midnight wide her eyes a bit in astonishment, "leaving.." she whispered,
snakeleap nodded, feeling shame run down his pelt.
"but.. why? you could of stayed here all you wanted.. I would be glad letting you stay" midnight murmured,
snakeleap nodded then leaped down the fence and padded towards her
"I like this place, and I like you, I really do" he meowed then glanced back the fence,
"but my home is not here.. my clanmates are worried about me.. I must return.. my home is not in twoleg place, my home is in the forest.. I hope you understand that.." he explained,
Midnight did not say a word for a minute, then she nodded and took a step forward,
"I understand" she meowed,
"I know that your destiny lies in the forest and not in twoleg place, you'll still visit me right?" she asked.
Snakeleap smiled and nodded "i'll still visit you" he meowed, he then padded towards the fence and leaped on top of it,
he shot a last glance at midnight smiling, then he leaped down on the grass,
in front of him was the forest, his home.
You made the right choice snakeleap he thought,
snakeleap shot a last glance at the fence then he started running towards the forest.
Chapter nineteen
Snakeleap ran through the forest, feeling wind slide through his fur.
I'm coming clanmates! he thought.
Snakeleap scented Riverclan camp near, he was close.
Then as he was about to think he bumped into something soft, "hey watch it!" a cat hissed.
Turning Snakeleap saw Tigerstripe in front of him along with owleye and Whitepelt.
Tigerstripe hissed but then his eyes widen in shock as he stared at Snakeleap,
"s- Snakeleap.. is that you?" he stuttered in shock.
Snakeleap nodded, Owleye along with Tigerstripe were shocked while Whitepelt
bristled with exitement and ran up to snakeleap purring,
"Snakeleap your back!" he yowled, rubbing against snakeleap's chest.
Tigerstripe nodded then narrowed his eyes "where have you been?" he asked,
snakeleap padded in front of Tigerstripe "i'll talk to the leader, may I come?" he asked.
Tigerstripe hesitated then nodded, turning away, and flicking his tail.
Snakeleap followed him, whitepelt was still purring while owleye was saying nothing,
owleye turne to snakeleap while padding "it's good to have you back young warrior" he meowed, dipping his head.
Two minutes later they were back at camp, Tigerstripe jumped down and instantly padded
into the leaders den,
he must be telling nightstar the news snakeleap thought,
then some of his clanmates started noticing him and their eyes went shock, cats were murmuring
"is that snakeleap?"
"where has he been?"
"he better have a good explanation to his sudden disappear."
Snakeleap nodded, Nightstar padded out of the den and leaped on the boulder, staring down at Snakeleap.
Highslash sat next to he,
"may all warriors old and young come here beneath the boulder for a meeting!" nightstar called,
in an instant, all the cats padded around, Ashpaw who was now Ashheart sat closer to the boulder
with Wetpaw who was now Wetfoot at his side.
Gingerpaw who was now Gingerfluff sat near Snakeleap along with Morningrise and Rabbithop.
"Today a warrior who went missing for a while has returned!" nightstar announced,
shocked yowls greeted her. and some hissed.
Nightstar raised her tail for silence then glanced at Snakeleap.
"now," she begun "snakeleap, where have you been?" she asked,
Highslash bristled "you better have a good explanation to this" he hissed softly.
Snakeleap thought about how he sneaked out to meet midnigh and got captured,
he thought of a lie and after a heartbeat he found one.
"Actually I do" he meowed, "I went on border patrol to check the borders, but then a twoleg captured me! I had to stay for a few days cause it kept in a cage, luckily it left my lock open and I escaped" he explained.
Shocked yowls rose in the air, Ashheart bristled "so you were a kittypet!?" he hissed with disgust,
Wetfoot glared at snakeleap, his pelt bristling as well.
Highslash glared at him, after two minutes nightstar raised her tail and the yowls died away.
"so you were captured, that explains everything" she meowed,
"but you did miss out on hunting and border patrolling, and you went on border patrol without
my permission, i'll let my cats vote on wether you can stay or not" she announced.
Nightstar then raised her attention at her warriors "so clanmates! should we keep snakeleap or not!" she yowled,
Morningrise nodded "I would always forgive my son no matter what, he should stay!" she meowed.
Rabbithop nodded "I agree with my mate!" he yowled at nightstar, some of the warriors nodded but
then Ashheart rose his voice in the air
"why should we keep a traitor! he spent some time as a kittypet! we should exile him and send
him back to his kittypet life!" he yowled,
"I mean, why let him stay! it's obvious he's just gonna get captured again! he missed out on hunting and protecting his clan! get rid of him!" ashheart yowled.
Wetfoot nodded and some yowls rose in the air of agreement,
Snakeleap glared at ashheart and his fur bristled with anger
how dare he! he thought with anger.
But then Gingerfluff's voice rose in the air which died the yowls
"he is still loay to Riverclan no matter what!" she yowled
"he may have been captured and missed some time but he deserves a second chance!" she yowled,
some cats nodded and Whitepelt meowed "I mean, why blame him, it's the twoleg that captured him" he murmured.
Lizardtail nodded and stared at her two kits "plus, he saved my kit a while ago, I should be grateful" she meowed,
staring at her kits with love.
Rabbithop glared at ashheart "your argument is weak ashheart! snakeleap is staying wether you like it or not!" he snarled "he is my son!"
Ashheart glared at rabbithop and unsheathed his claws, before he could say anything Nightstar raised her tail and meowed
"I have made my choice" she begun softly, "and I say... Snakeleap may return to Riverclan" she announced.
Some of the cats cheered while some just padded back to their dens, Ashheart glared at Snakeleap, his pelt bristling, he then stood up and padded to his den with wetfoot padding behind him.
morningrise padded next to snakeleap "Ashheart must have a furball stuck in his throat" she teased then padded off.
Highslash nodded at snakeleap while Tigerstripe glared at him
"it better not happen again" he growled,
Snakeleap nodded "I promise" he meowed.
As the other warriors padded to their dens, snakeleap followed,
he gathered some moss from outside and carried it inside.
He started making the bedding and heard Ashheart muttering to himself "that leader has nuts in her brain..
Snakeleap rolled his eyes in annoyance, finally when he was done he laid down, but he couldn't sleep.
I hope midnight is alright.. he thought.
Don't worry, I'll visit you in a quater moon,
I promise.
Chapter twenty
Snakeleap felt a paw prod his shoulder, his eyes opened in slits.
Turning he saw Rabbithop standing over him,
"time to go to the gathering" he whispered.
Snakeleap opened his eyes more though still feeling tired,
Already two days passed... time speeds up quick he thought.
Snakeleap stretched, yawning then nodded at Rabbithop
"alright" he meowed,
Rabbithop nodded and padded out of the entrance.
Snakeleap crawled out and saw Whitepelt waiting for him,
"did Nightstar choose you to go to the gathering?" he asked, tilting his head.
Snakeleap nodded and Whitepelt smiled
"nice!" he sqeaked.
As Nightstar called for her chosen cats to come with her, Snakeleap padded beside Whitepelt.
While padding through the dark, misty forest, Snakeleap leaned over Whitepelt,
"so.. is Ashheart coming?" he asked,
Whitepelt shook his head "he was chosen to stay and guard the camp tonight" he answered proudly.
Snakeleap felt a small prickle of relief but only nodded and said nothing.
Snakeleap pricked his ears up as he heard cats in the distance talking and laughing,
guess were close then he thought,
Once the cats made it, Snakeleap sat near his clanmates and Whitepelt sat beside him.
Snakeleap then turned to talk to Whitepelt
"so what happened when I was gone?" he asked,
Whitepelt closed his eyes "Eh, Nightstar sent out finding patrols for you and they did smell a bit of your scent,
but they of course couldn't find you."
Snakeleap turned his gaze away, he stared at some other cats who were talking with eachother.
He took a step closer to hear what they were saying,
"I heard they found their missing warrior again!" one of them, a brown tabby with green eyes meowed,
"dang, I never thought that cat would come back" the other one a black tom with orange eyes meowed.
A silver gray tom with blue eyes took a step forward, his eyes gleaming with mischeif,
"I heard that his scent was found near twoleg place" he sneered,
the other two cats gasped
"really? no way!" the tabby laughed,
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes.
The black tom chuckled "I bet that cat wants to become a kittypet or something!"
"yea! we all know kittypets live easy life's being lazy" the silver tom sighed.
Snakeleap glared and thought about Midnight
not all of them are lazy! he thought with anger, but the cats continued,
"not only are they lazy but they also eat kittypet slop!" the tabby meowed with disgust.
The black tom winkled his nose and his pelt bristled,
"disgusting!" he spat, "I heard they taste awful!"
The silver tom chuckled
"maybe that's the life that the cat wants" he sneered.
Snakeleap felt rage build in him and his claws scraped the earth floor,
as he was about to confront them he heard Whitepelt's voice behind him,
"take it easy snakeleap, save that anger for your next battle."
Snakeleap took deep breaths and started to calm down,
but when he turned to face Whitepelt snakeleap felt all the blood turn to ice,
the black cat from his dreams was with whitepelt circiling him.
Whitepelt didn't seem to notice and looked fine,
"Darkness is coming..." the black cat whispered "only it's closest kin can stop it."
snakeleap bristled
leave!
but then when he blinked the cat was gone.
"you okay snakeleap?" whitepelt asked,
snakeleap tried to calm down and then he nodded slowly.
Then Blindstar's yowl made all of the cats silence,
he took a step forward "welcome all to the gathering! it's nice for all of you to be here" Blindstar dipped his head.
He turned to Nightstar and nodded,
"two days ago our missing warrior has returned!" she announced and glanced at snakeleap in the crowd,
snakeleap nodded but couldn't get that black cat out od his mind,
only it's closest kin can stop it.... his words rang in his mind.
As nightstar meowed about prey running well, sunstar took a step forward,
"Prey has been fine aswell, but more prey has been found!" he glared at Nightstar.
"don't accuse us! it was the dogs! snakeleap told me it was the dogs that killed the prey!" she hissed,
"prove it!" a thunderclan she cat yowled at nightstar.
Nightstar nodded
"snakeleap reported to me that on some nights the dogs are let loose in twoleg place,
they also like to eat prey and are very dangerous, they could be the ones killing your prey sunstar" she glared at him with challenge in her eyes.
"Foolish proof!" he spat, "you can't ever trust snakeleap! not since the border clash, and how he was a
kittypet for a while! he could be a lier!" he hissed.
"Liar!"
"Liar!"
cats yowled in the air all around him,
snakeleap crouched and bristled with fear and anger, he could feel Whitepelt bristling next to him,
they think i'm lying! he thought with alarm.
Nightstar raised her tail "enough!" she yowled,
when the voices went down she turned to Sunstar,
"no warrior of mine would lie!" she hissed, "riverclan is leaving this gathering, we are doing extra border patrolling from now on, just so your warriors don't even think about trying to attack us!"
Nightstar leaped from the highledge and gathered her warriors, Sunstar stared at her codly but said nothing.
Snakeleap padded next to whitepelt and his fur was still bristling,
extra patrolling... next moon I must be careful.. Or I'm dead!
Chapter twenty one
"Got you!" Snakeleap prodded at midnight,
she chuckled "not fair!"
Snakeleap nodded 'is fair!" he laughed,
Midnight crouched and then springed at Snakeleap, causing him to roll over
and Midnight stood on his chest lightly.
"I win!" she cheered.
Midnight got off and Snakeleap stood up puffing,
"wow! despite me being in a clan your fast!" he gasped, trying to catch air.
Midnight nodded "I had pratice with my mother when I was a kit" she admitted and she layed down on the moor,
Snakeleap padded and layed down next to her, "do you.. have siblings?" he asked.
Midnight nodded slowly "well yea but.. well.. let me tell you a story" she meowed.
"A while ago my mother was mates with a tom, the tom loved her but she sorta did not,
late she gave birth to his kits which were my siblings.
A moon later she met my father Hal, A big black tom with blue eyes and two white ears.
She truly loved her and Hal loved her back. later she had me only, her former mate figured out about me and her new mate and so one night he attacked my father in rage.
Hal managed to kill him but... he broke up with my mother cause he discovered about her former mate.
Hal left, leaving the kits with my mother, she was alone now.
My siblings.. bullied me.. because they were older then me and.. about my father hal.."
she explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart ache and he got closer to her until he can feel her warm her,
"I had siblings to, but they both died.. one was a stillborn while the other caught greencough and died.." he explained.
Midnight turned to him with sadness in her eyes,
"oh snakeleap, I'm sorry to hear that.." she whispered.
Snakeleap nodded, "it's alright, I got used to having no siblings.." he meowed.
He then stared at the sky and the stars shined and he widened his eyes,
"looks like starclan is watching us.." he murmured.
"starclan?" midnight meowed in confusion in intrest, "what's starclan?" she asked him.
Snakeleap let out a big sigh and then explained,
"well, starclan is our dead ancestors, they watch over us and look after us.
It's where good cats go, if they follow the warrior code and behave.
But.. when they are forgotten they fade away.."
Midnight nodded then looked serious and worried,
"and.. what about the bad?" she meowed, "where do they go?" she asked.
"They go to the dark forest, also known as the place of no stars. basically it's wher cats who did to much harm and suffering go,
there forced to walk alone with nobody and there is no stars or prey there.." he explained.
"Sad.." Midnight murmured,
"So.. how was the gathering?" she asked,
Snakeleap then looked worried "well..! Thunderclan still thinks were stealing prey.. and.. just to make sure they don't attack us, Nightstar sent out extra border patrols.." he explained.
Midnight stood up shocked, "what!? then.. how can you visit me again..?" she asked worried.
Snakeleap looked down "I guess we stop visiting each other for a while.." he murmured.
Midnight widen her eyes, "but.. I'll miss you!" she whispered.
Snakeleap flattened his ears then a thought came in his mind, "you.. can join our clan" he offered,
Midnight looked shocked at his offer and stood still.
"Snakeleap.. I would like to join, but... my twoleg will miss me, besides, I like hearing stories about clans
but not living in it.." she explained.
Snakeleap felt disapointed at the rejection but said nothing, "well your choice then" he meowed.
Snakeleap looked up and saw it was almost morning, "I should proably get back.. my clan will wonder where I am"
he meowed and started to pad off.
"wait snakeleap!" Midnight called, "you'll visit me soon right?" she meowed padding in front of him.
Snakeleap stared at her then nodded "when the patrols died down a bit I will" he meowed,
Midnight purred and rubbed her head against his chest.
Snakeleap purred then started padding off.
As he walked through the forest he smelled a cat scent,
Is someone else here.. it can't be Midnight he thought.
Then when he turned he saw The black cat behind him,
"You!" Snakeleap hissed,
"darkness is coming.." it whispered.
Snakeleap bristled "stop stalking me and leave me alone!" he hissed, padding off.
I should ignore that cat..
Ignore him..
Chapter twenty two
Two days have passed, Snakeleap laid curled in his nest.
His eyes were shut tight and his ears were flat,
I hope Nightstar stops sending extra patrols... he thought.
Then a shadow loomed over him and snakeleap felt annoyance tug him,
oh starclan, so help me if it's that black cat again then I swear I'll-
"uh.. Snakeleap?" a voice meowed.
Snakeleap opened one eye and saw Whitepelt standing over him,
"oh! it's just you, thank starclan.." he murmured as he let out a sigh of relief.
Whitepelt tilted his head "who did you think it was mouse brain?" he asked confused,
Snakeleap stared at him then glanced away,
"eh, I thought.. you were Sunstar, that's all" he murmured.
Whitepelt chuckled then his gaze turned serious,
"snakeleap.. I want you to come outside and follow me as far, so that we can have a talk" he meowed.
Hmm.. far away from my clanmates.. what is Whitepelt up too..? he thought.
Snakeleap streched and let out a yawn then he nodded
"yea sure.." he murmured,
Whitepelt nodded and padded outside the warriors den.
Snakeleap padded after him, trying not to wake up the warriors.
Whitepelt and Snakeleap padded out the entrance and ran through the forest.
Snakeleap tried to keep up but Whitepelt seemed to be ahead of him.
Snakeleap crawled through a bush and felt a spider web grab on to his face,
"err!" he hissed, shaking the cob web off and continued to follow Whitepelt.
Finally Whitepelt stopped and crouched down on the grass and sticks,
Snakeleap sat down, he was panting and he felt his claws dig the floor.
"thank starclan we stopped running!" he sighed with relief,
Whitepelt nodded then he narrowed his eyes,
"so snakeleap, where were you two days ago last night?" he asked.
Snakeleap tilted his head then glared a bit,
"I was border patrolling, making sure no thunderclan cats were on our territory" he lied,
"you know them, they think were stealing prey."
Whitepelt glared "lier.." he whispered,
snakeleap started to feel his pelt bristle a bit
what's he up too.? he thought.
Whitepelt stood up and his pelt was still flat,
"who was that black cat?" he whispered,
Snakeleap crouched, "what black cat..?" he murmured.
Whitepelt shook his head,
"the black she cat with blue eyes!" he spat out, "who was she?" he asked.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in fear, his pelt bristled more and he took a step back as he felt his heart quicken.
"you know...?" he whispered,
Whitepelt nodded, "I followed you to the moor and found you talking, laughing, and joking around with her" he explained.
Snakeleap hesitated and was full of shock, then he glanced down, "midnight.." he whispered.
Whitepelt tilted his head, "what?" he meowed, Snakeleap glared, "I said Midnight!" he hissed.
Snakeleap stood up and calmed down a bit, "the black she cat is Midnight.." he murmured.
Whitepelt's eyes lit up in confusion, "is she a loner?" he asked, Snakeleap shook his head.
"No.. She's a kittypet.. but she does not wear a collar like most.." he meowed, he gathered all the breath then closed his eyes,
"Some time ago when I was collecting bedding I met her, at first I thought she was like most kittypets, lazy, hostile, and
a bit not knowing of clans, but she proved me wrong... she was a difrrent kittypet.. we both understood each other
and we made each other happy... So when I was captured by twolegs.. she comforted me... she even saved me from a hostile kittypet that nearly killed me. And she got a healer named crow to heal me up.. the thing is.. I love midnight.. not in a friendship way.. I mean I actually love her... and I know she shares the same feelings as me.. sure! she does not want to join a clan but... she loves hearing stories about them.. and she admires me.. just like how I admire her.." he explained.
Whitepelt's eyes soften and he was no longer glaring, "you love her..?" he whispered,
Snakeleap nodded, he expected to feel him yell at him but instead Whitepelt nodded,
"I understand... but.. you know what happens next, right?" he meowed.
Snakeleap tilted his head, "what do you mean?" he asked.
Whitepelt sighed, "you know what I mean snakeleap.. kits" he meowed,
Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, "kits? you sure Midnight would have my kits?" he asked.
Whitepelt nodded, "well onec you fall deep in love with someone, they expect kits.." he murmured,
he padded past Snakeleap. He then paused and looked back at his shoulder, "are you coming?" he asked.
Snakeleap took a step forward, "are you going to tell highslash or Nightstar?" he asked,
Whitepelt stared at him for a second then shook his head,
"your my best friend Snakeleap.. I would never tell anyone your secret!" he chuckled a bit.
"But... are you sure you wanna continue visiting her?" he asked,
Snakeleap looked down,
yes! I love her..
Snakeleap looked at whitepelt and nodded.
Whitepelt nodded and padded away, leaving snakeleap behind.
Snakeleap padded after him,
I hope he actually doesen't tell anyone... he thought.
but.. would Midnight really expect my kits?
Chapter twenty three
Snakeleap padded to the fresh kill pile, he looked around and saw a plump vole on the pile.
There a bit sour but.. guess I should eat it.. he thought.
Three days have passed, it was now the fourth day of leaf bare.
Hunting has been hard, no prey is out, and an elder Lostfoot died of starvation.
Snakeleap padded near the warriors den, sat down, and took a tiny bite out of the vole.
He shut his eyes down hard as he felt the sour taste, near the nursery brownkit and Tinykit laid next to Lizardtail,
"mommy, i'm hungry! I want milk.." Tinykit whined softly.
Lizardtail shook her head sadly,
"I'm sorry Tinykit.. I don't have any milk to spare right now.." she murmured.
Snakeleap closed his eyes and looked away,
poor kits! I hate leaf bare... he thought.
Just as he could stand up Tigerstripe padded next to Snakeleap,
"Snakeleap! your needed, Nightstar wants you, come" he meowed and padded away.
Snakeleap shook his head and padded away, leaving the vole half eatened.
Snakeleap turned and saw Tinykit crawling slowly towards the vole,
Snakeleap continued to pad to Tigerstripe.
Nightstar was waiting near the entrance with seven warriors including her deputy Highslash,
Snakeleap pounced near her, "so what did you need me for?" he asked.
Nightstar nodded, "I meeting Sunstar to discuss about the stolen prey, You have been chosen to come" she explained,
Snakeleap tilted his head, "you sure it's a good idea? Sunstar might get mad.." he murmured.
Highslash glared and took a step forward,
"do you dare doubt our leader Snakeleap?" he hissed softly,
Snakeleap took a step back and gulped nervously, "uh.. no Highslash" he meowed quickly.
Highslash nodded and padded next to Nightstar,
"warriors head out!" she yowled and ran through the entrance, her warriors followed and Snakeleap was behind.
They ran trhough the forest, snow crunched under their paws.
Snakeleap clenched his teeth as he felt cold air and cold snow touch him,
Ugh! so cold! he spat in his mind.
Ashheart who was in front of two warriors looked behind his shoulder at Snakeleap,
"keep up!" he hissed.
Snakeleap glared and ran faster.
Then thunderclan scent tanged his nose,
we must be near! he thought,
after two minutes he saw the thunderclan warriors all sitting there at the high ledge, waiting there.
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
this is the gathering place! why meet here? he thought.
Nightstar leaped on the boulder and dipped her head at Sunstar,
Snakeleap looked around and then realised that almost every warrior of thunderclan was here.
Why would Sunstar bring every warrior here if they were going to discuss? he thought,
Snakeleap pricked his ears up as he heard some riverclan warriors murmuring,
"this is bad"
"why would Sunstar bring every warrior here?"
"are they going to attack?"
Sunstar dipped his head, "greetings Nightstar" he meowed coldly,
Nightstar nodded,
Sunstar stood up, "so tell me.. why would you want to meet us here? hm" he asked,
Nightstar took a step forward,
"I would like to discuss about the prey stolen" she meowed.
Sunstar twitched his ear and his eyes gleamed of intrest and mischeif,
"are you here to admit to us that you and your warriors have been stealing prey from us?" he sneered.
Snarls of outrage from the riverclan warriors rose in the air, then Nightstar silenced them by rasing her tail,
"we have not been stealing prey Nightstar" she meowed.
Sunstar snorted, "really? then why are we here?" he meowed,
"well we would like to show proof that dogs have been stealing the prey and not us" she explained.
Sunstar bristled, "so you still believe your warrior?" he meowed, "how cute."
Snakeleap felt anger in him and he stood up,
"it was the dogs I swear!" he yowled at Sunstar.
Nightstar glared at Snakeleap which caused him to crouch,
Sunstar glared at Nightstar, "how can it possibly be dogs that did this?" he asked.
Nightstar nodded, "the twolegs let out their dogs at night, they love to run around in the forests.
they also love prey, they can be the issue Sunstar" she explained.
Yowls of agreement rose in the riverclan cats, Sunstar lashed his tail side by side.
"that's the proof!? your proof is weak Nightstar!" he hissed.
Nightstar glared "why would we want to eat prey with fur in it! were riverclan, think about that!" she hissed back.
Sunstar glared, "do dogs really love mice?" he hissed softly.
Nightstar glared as Sunstar continued,
"Snakeleap could be lieng, after all, he was a kittypet for a while" he murmured,
"I was captured by two legs you mouse brain!" Snakeleap yowled.
Sunstar turned his gaze at Snakeleap,
"since when were you leader!?" he hissed.
Nightstar took a step forward at sunstar,
"we have nothing to do with the prey, the dogs were" she meowed,
Sunstar glared "you are an idiot Nightstar! how can you believe a warrior?" he spat.
Nightstar starting walking slowly towards Sunstar,
"take that back now" she whispered.
Sunstar unsheathed his claws, "make me! you stole the prey admit it!" he yowled.
With a hiss Nightstar leaped at Sunstar and started clawing at him,
The thunderclan warriors started battiling the riverclan warriors,
Highslash leaped at leapfoot and bit his hindleg, Leapfoot yowled and kicked him in the muzzle.
Snakeleap crouched,
Oh dear starclan! he thought with alarm.
He felt a sudden slash of pain on his back fur,
Snakeleap crouched down and clawed at the attackers stomach,
he heard a hiss and felt a paw slash across his face.
Snakeleap started standing up but a paw kept him down,
"remember me?" a voice hissed softly in his ear.
Snakeleap then reconized Leaftree,
"you may have beaten me last time but this time I'll win!" she hissed.
Snakeleap kicked her off and clawed at her back pelt,
"no you won't!" he hissed back and slashed across her face.
Leaftree yowled and launched herslef at Snakeleap but missed,
Snakeleap grabbed her scruff and threw her to owleye who turned in surprised and attacked leaftree.
meanwhile Whitepelt was attacked by two older warriors,
A tall gray tabby slashed a bit of fur from his shoulder, causing him to yowl in pain.
Snakeleap started running through the battiling cats towards Whitepelt,
He kicked the gray tabby away and bite down onto the small brown tabby's fur,
she screeched and ran away, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Whitepelt looked at Snakeleap with blood dripping down his face,
"t- thanks" he murmured,
Snakeleap nodded and leaped away.
Highleap bit into leapfoot's scruff,
"you won't win this!" leapfoot spat, blood dripped from his shoulder,
Highleap bit down his tail and made leapfoot screech,
"get out of here!" Highleap hissed.
Leapfoot glared and leaped away, Sunstar bit down on Nightstar's leg and blood dripped,
Nightstar tried to slash at Sunstar but blood dripped in her eyes so she missed.
Sunstar took some fur from her leg,
Nightstar leaped at Sunstar but he dodged away easily.
"too slow!" he taunted as he clawed at her shoulder.
Snakeleap tried to run near and help her but something slammed into his side,
turning he saw Sunpelt standing over him,
"kittypet!" he hissed and aimed a hard blow at his shoulder.
Snakeleap felt more rage burn into him and so he aimed a hard kick at his rib,
Sunpelt yowled and Snakeleap got up and slashed his face.
"I'm not a kittypet!" he yowled as he aimed another punch at Sunpelt's face,
he hissed as blood dripped from his face and ran away.
Snakeleap looked around and noticed that most of the riverclan warriors were having the most wounds,
Thunderclan had less and they outnumbered them.
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
were outnumbered! he thought.
"warriors retreat!" Nightstar yowled as she leaped away from Sunstar and started running,
her warriors leaped away and followed nightstar, Snakeleap glanced back and followed.
As he was running with them he heard Sunstar yowl of victory,
he glared.
Once they made it back to camp, Nightstar panted and collapsed,
"Nightstar! you okay?" Highslash yowled as he ran towards her.
Lizardtail padded out of the nursery with shock in her eyes,
"what happened here!?" she hissed.
Highleap and Tigerstripe carried Nightstar into the medicine den,
Snakeleap padded up to Lizardtail,
"Sunstar and his warriors attacked us, since we were outnumbered we had to retreat!" he explained.
Lizardstripe crouched and Snakeleap padded away, he padded into the warriors den and collapsed tired.
Foxheart padded into the den
"snakeleap? are you okay? do you need your wounds checked on?" she asked,
He shook his head
"no.. I'm fine.. just need some time alone.." he murmured.
Foxheart nodded and padded away,
Snakeleap curled up,
I knew this was a bad idea.. he thought.
Snakeleap closed his eyes tight shut then finally he fell asleep.
Chapter twenty four
Snakeleap felt a paw prod his shoulder,
Whitepelt..? he thought.
But when snakeleap looked up he saw Midnight standing over him,
Snakeleap felt shock and horror in him and his eyes widen instantly.
"Midnight!? what are you doing here?" snakeleap whispered,
Midnight had shock and happiness in her eyes,
"I want to tell you something! it's important! follow me" she whispered back.
Snakeleap looked around and the cats still were asleep,
"how did you get here without waking everyone up?" he asked.
Midnight looked annoyed,
"I sneaked in and I'm quiet, now come!" she padded out of the den.
Snakeleap looked around one more time then stood up and followed Midnight.
They snuck through the entrance and finally they were out in the forest,
Midnight walked and Snakeleap was behind,
where is she taking me..? he thought.
Snakeleap noticed that she looked a tiny bit bigger then before,
had she been eating too much? he thought as he stared at her.
Finally after two minutes Midnight sat down, Snakeleap noticed that she looked excited and as if
she was gonna burst into joy.
"so.. what is it that you needed me for?" he murmured,
Midnight smiled, "I have great news Snakeleap!" she meowed.
Snakeleap tilted his head and nodded, "and what is it?" he asked,
Midnight stood up,
"i'm expecting your kits!" she announced with joy.
Snakeleap froze in his spot, his eyes widened and he felt shock take over him.
His heartbeat turned fast,
"k-kits! no way! is this true?" he whispered.
Midnight nodded and Snakeleap suddenly felt joy,
"i'm gonna be a father!" he yowled, "Midnight this is amazing! I wonder how many kits will have! what they look like!
this is amazing!"
Midnight nodded,
"the best part is their our kits" she meowed.
Snakeleap wanted to say more but then suddenly, he thought about his clan, what they would do,
"wait.. but I'm a clan cat while your a kittypet? who will raise them?" he asked.
Midnight tilted her head then finally her eyes brightened,
"well.. I could give you half the kits and keep the rest, and if I have one kit I can give it to you!" she explained.
Snakeleap looked stunned, "keep? but.. you would be alone.." he murmured.
Midnight nodded, "it's alright.. It matters if your happy.. if I kept the kit you would be sad." she murmured.
"but hey! I might have more then you think! we could split the kits!" she meowed.
Snakeleap smiled, "true! well I hope they turn into fine cats!" he meowed as he stared at her belly,
"so.. when are they due?" he asked,
Midnight shrugged, "two moons I geuss" she meowed.
Snakeleap nodded, "I should get back!" he meowed,
Minight ran in front oh him with worry in her eyes,
"wait! will you keep this our secret?" she asked in a low voice.
Snakeleap stared at her in shock then he nodded with a smile,
"I promise" he meowed and started padding off.
When he was in camp he already found Whitepelt standing there,
"she's expecting your kits?" he asked,
Snakeleap nodded.
Whitepelt padded up towards him, "so.. when you take the kits to the clan? how will you raise them?" he asked,
Snakeleap turned to the nursery, Lizardtail was curled up with her two kits.
"Lizardtail will be able to look after my kits.. she has plenty of milk" he meowed,
Whitepelt nodded in agreement and started padding to the warriors den.
"hope this goes well.." he muttered under his bearth as he headed in.
Snakeleap sat outside and stared at the moon,
"I hope my kits get accepted to the clan once they are born.." he muttered under his breath.
I promise they will be welcome here.
Chapter twenty five
Snakeleap padded through the forest, fog surrounded the air and made things harder to see.
Snakeleap looked around, he narrowed his eyes, trying to see where he was.
Just then he heard twigs crack behind him, his pelt bristled a bit and his ears pricked up.
What was that? he thought,
Snakeleap tried looking around but everything was foggy.
Suddenly he heard a loud snap behind him which made him jump in surprise and fear.
Snakeleap widen his eyes and started running as fast as he could.
He heard leaves shaking and footsteps behind him,
something's chasing me! could it be a fox? or a badger!
Ever since he was a kit, he heard tales about badgers, how they were huge and were able to kill full grown warriors.
Just then he tripped on a twig and he landed on his stomach,
he heard footsteps padding in front of him.
Snakeleap blinked his eyes open and saw the black cat that he saw in his dreams staring at him,
his pelt instantly bristled more and this time with anger.
"You again!" he spat as he stood himself up, glaring at the cat in front of him.
The black cat narrowed his dark red eyes, "time is running little... darkness is coming.." he whispered.
Snakeleap felt more rage burn into him,
"you've been telling me that darkness thing over and over again and i'm sick of it!"
Snakeleap took a step forward, "you should leave and never come back!" he growled in a low voice,
the black cat stood up,
"I can't leave, darkness is coming.. I must warn you.. before everything is too late.." he murmured.
"SHUT UP!" snakeleap yowled,
he unsheathed his claws and leaped at the black cat.
The black cat disapeared and snakeleap landed on the grass.
"Show yourself!" snakeleap yowled in rage,
he felt something prod his shoulder and his eyes went open.
Tigerstripe loomed over him and he narrowed his eyes,
"what's all that hissing about?" he murmured,
Snakeleaplooked down at his paws and dared not to look at him.
"I.. I just had a nightmare.." he murmured.
Tigerstripe nodded, "anyway.. Nightstar and Highslash want to talk to you.. don't be late!" he meowed and padded out of the entrance.
Snakeleap streched and yawned then padded out of the entrance,
as he padded towards the leaders den he saw Highslash waiting outside,
he turned his orange gaze at snakeleap and nodded,
"looks like your here, good. Anyway enter nightstar's den, she wants to speak with you" he meowed and padded in.
Snakeleap rolled his eyes, Tigerstripe told me already.. he thought,
as he padded into the leader's den he saw nightstar laying in her nest with highslash sitting next to her.
"you needed me?" Snakeleap asked,
Nightstar nodded, "so.. we have come to ask, who told you about the dogs?" she asked.
Snakeleap felt his heartbeat go faster and his eyes widen,
"well.. I, I saw dogs,, they were padding in the direction to the thunderclan border" he lied.
Highslash narrowed his eyes, "and how do you know where the thunderclan border is?" he asked in a low voice.
what kind of qeustion is that? he thought,
"the border attack a while ago.. " he meowed.
Highslash nodded slowly while Nightstar narrowed her eyes,
"snakeleap, you could of been seeing things.. maybe the dogs were not going in the direction of the thunderclan border" she meowed.
Snakeleap bristled a tiny bit,
"they were!" he hissed.
Highslash took a setp forward and glared,
"control your temper!" he hissed,
Snakeleap nodded sadly and sat down, Nightstar nodded and she continued,
"now, be honest with me Snakeleap, were the dogs really going in the direction of the thunderclan border?" she asked slowly.
Snakeleap took a deep breath and begun,
"i'm honest Nightstar, the dogs were killing the prey, and hopefully thunderclan can stop being blind to the truth" he meowed.
Nightstar closed her eyes and after a minute she nodded,
"very well Snakeleap, you may head out" she meowed.
Snakeleap nodded slowly and started walking out.
When he was near the freshkill pile he saw Ashheart staring at him with a micheif stare and he was holding a scrawny, black bird.
"were you in trouble? what was it about?" he sneered,
just as Snakeleap can reply, owleye walked near Ashheart.
"Ashheart, why in the name of starclan are you eating right now, you were assigned on hunting patrol" he meowed.
Ashheart glared at him then let go of the bird and padded off.
"hopefully we might find some prey in this winter.." owleye muttered under his breath.
Snakeleap looked at the pile, he saw the bird lyying there,
he grabbed the bird and started padding off towards the warriors den.
I can't lie to Nightstar.. he thought as he tore of a wing from the bird and started munching.
Dear starclan help me..
Chapter twenty six
"psst! Snakeleap!" a voice whispered in his ear.
Snakeleap opened his eyes and found a black tom with green eyes standing over him,
"who.. are you?" Snakeleap whispered as he stood up slowly.
The tom shook his head,
"did you forget?" he meowed in shame,
Snakeleap took a closer look at the tom and realized it was Crow,
the cat how healed him.
"Crow?" snakeleap whispered in shock, Crow rolled his eyes,
"who else would it be?" he meowed.
Snakeleap shook his head slowly, "what.. what are you doing here in riverclan camp..?" he asked,
his voice still low.
"I want to talk to you about something.. something important" Crow meowed.
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes then nodded and started following him out the entrance.
As they padded through the forest Crow, Snakeleap could hear distant barking sounds.
"Ignore that" Crow meowed, "those are just dogs, they love to make a lot of noise,"
Snakeleap rolled his eyes and flattened his ears,
"I can tell" he growled in annoyance.
Crow padded up near a twoleg fence and Snakeleap leaped up with him, as they were padding forward
the barking grew louder and louder.
Snakeleap looked to his right and saw two, large dogs barking at them,
Crow bristled and hissed at the dogs,
"shut up!" he spat.
Crow then continued walking and finally leap down to the grass, as Snakeleap leaped down with him he
noticed that it looked a bit like the place where he got attacked by henry.
"uh.. Crow, is this place safe, cause I was attacked by a kittypet and I almost died so.. is this place safe?" he murmured,
Crow tilted his head and looked confused,
"I thought Clan cats were supposed to be strong" he murmured, "don't worry, this place is kittypet free" he assured him.
Crow sat down, "anyway.. sit down" he meowed,
Snakeleap nodded and sat down.
"now.. why have you brought me here?" Snakeleap asked,
Crow closed his eyes,
"do you know a black cat with red eyes?" he asked softly.
Snakeleap widen his eyes and felt anger start to burn in him,
"I know this black cat with red eyes that just keeps popping up in my dreams and tells me something about danger!"
he hissed.
Crow nodded, "I see you know him" he meowed, "that's Aegeus" Crow murmured.
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes, "what kind of name is Aegeus?" he asked,
Crow smiled, "It's a greek name" he meowed,
Snakeleap widen his eyes, feeling more confusion,
"greek? what's that?" he asked.
Crow shrugged a tiny bit,
"well.. I've been with two legs for a while and I heard the name "Greek" I one time heard a twoleg mention
Aegeus as a greek name" he explained.
Snakeleap shook his head slowly,
"so.. how do you know that black cat?" he asked,
Crow stood up, "I knew him when he was alive" he meowed.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, "alive?" he whispered,
Crow nodded,
"five years ago I met him wandering down the streets, he explained that he used to live in Thunderclan, but left because
there was too much violence happening. He renamed himself Aegeus after his father who was a kittypet,
all he wanted was peace over the clans, he even wanted to protect them. Me and him became friends, we both shared the same thoughts
and got along just fine. one day a year later he got ran over by a car and died, I was sad but later knew that even
though he was dead his soul would continue to live. And I remembered him telling me that when he dies,
he will visit cats in dreams and warn them of dangers coming.. so that way.. he can protect them.." Crow explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart soften and his anger left him,
no wonder... he thought.
"but wait.. if he only comes in dreams just to warn cats of dangers, am I in danger?" Snakeleap asked,
"could be.." Crow meowed,
"what do you mean? why have you brought me here?" snakeleap meowed though his voice shook a bit.
Crow looked worried,
"your clan is in danger.. if this danger is not stopped, it could wipe out all the clans.." he explained,
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
"but.. what is this danger? how do I stop it?" he murmured and unsheathed his claws and his pelt bristled.
Crow stood up and started walking away,
"you will figure out shortly.. I decided to bring the message cause I thought you would listen to me more.."
he murmured, Crow leaped on the fence then leaped down waliking away to the streets.
Snakeleap sat there staring in confusion and worry,
danger is coming.. first that black cat named Aegeus warned me.. now him..
what sort of danger is coming..?
Chapter twenty seven
Snakeleap padded through camp and noticed the fresh kill pile was low,
I should proably go on hunting patrol he thought.
Snakeleap looked around and saw Nightstar talking with her deputy Highslash,
Snakeleap started walking up to them.
Nightstar glanced at him,
"Snakeleap? you have something to ask?" she murmured, Snakeleap nodded.
"I noticed the fresh kill pile was low, may I go on hunting patrol?" he asked,
Highslash narrowed his eyes while Nightstar nodded,
"very well" she meowed, just as Snakeleap started walking away Nightstar called him.
"Make sure you come back early!"
Snakeleap nodded and padded through the entrance,
once he was out he started walking around, sniffing for prey.
He then smelled a Vole,
Hope this vole is plump! he thought as he started to crouch,
he padded near the scent and saw brown fur moving.
He narrowed his eyes and saw a almost plump vole walking around,
Snakeleap smiled and was gathering boost, but before he could leap he heard movement behind him.
He turned and flicked his ear,
who's there? he thought with wonder,
"hello?" he meowed softly, then he started padding towards the bush and then saw Midnight walk out from behind.
"Hello Snakeleap!" she greeted, Snakeleap felt relief and smiled, "midnight!" he greeted.
Snakeleap padded up towards her, "how you been?" he asked,
Midnight nodded, "i've been fine lately!" she answered,
before Snakeleap could talk he noticed that her stomach looked normal and not swollen.
"Midnight!" he meowed with exitement "you gave birth!"
midnight nodded, "I almost forgot to tell you! anyway wanna see?" she asked,
Snakeleap nodded fast,
Midnight nodded and started leaping away.
Five minutes has passed and Snakeleap still felt like he was gonna burst with exitement,
I can't wait to see them! they'll look great! he thought,
finally Midnight came back, in her jaw was a kit.
She dropped the kit softly,
the kit was a black tom with one white paw and a white tip tail, it's eyes were closed and it let out a mew of hunger.
"Meet your son Snakeleap" she meowed softly,
Snakeleap stared at the tiny kit, his eyes full of delight and softness,
this kit is gorgeous! he thought with delight.
"Midnight... this kit is gorgeous.." he murmured softly with happiness,
Midnight smiled and nodded.
"Does it have other siblings?" Snakeleap asked,
Midnight shook her head,
"no, it was born alone" she meowed.
Snakeleap closed his eyes and felt guilt wash him,
"you sure you want me to have the kit?" he asked,
Midnight nodded, "as long as your happy, then i'm happy" she meowed.
Snakeleap smiled and nodded, "I promise i'll take good care of him" he meowed and licked Midnight's cheek.
Snakeleap bent down and picked up the kit, the kit mewed again,
he started padding back to camp,
lizardtail will be the mother of him.. she can raise him he thought.
He stared at the kit that was dangling from his jaws, it mewed again,
I wish I can tell him that i'm his father.. he thought with sadness.
As Snakeleap padded through the entrance the kit let out another mew, this time louder,
when he entered camp he noticed that most cats started padding up to him.
"is that a kit?" one asked.
Just as he can reply more cats started padding up to him and looking at the kit and sniffing it.
"that's a kit!"
"where did it come from?"
"how did you find it?"
Before he can speak he heard Nightstar yowl and all the cats turned and were silence.
Nightstar padded up to him and stared at the kit,
"what have you brought Snakeleap?" she asked softly.
"I- It's a kit" Snakeleap stuttered, Ashheart padded up to him and sniffed the kit,
then his nose wrinkled in disgust, "it smells like a kittypet!" he hissed.
Wetfoot padded up and sniffed it and also wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Snakeleap, where have you found this kit at?" she asked,
snakeleap thought for a second then he nodded,
"I found this kit near twolegplace, it was laying there mewling sadly, it was left there. I decided to bring it here" he explained.
Some cats gasped while others just stared at him,
"what do you wish to do with the kit?" Nightstar asked.
"I want the kit to be rasied in Riverclan" Snakeleap meowed,
shocked gasps filled the air, Nightstar raised her tail and the gasps died away.
Nightstar looked calm,
"I shall let my clan decided" she meowed. Nightstar turned to her warriors,
"cats of Riverclan! do you wish for this kit to stay or leave?" she asked.
Rabbithop nodded and so did Morningrise, Stoneheart and owleye nodded as well.
Tigerstripe narrowed his eyes at the kit and shook his head slowly,
Ashheart unsheathed his claws and his pelt bristled,
"why should we keep that revolting stench!?" he hissed.
Snakeleap felt anger burn in him and Ashheart continued,
"that kit is a kittypet! kittypets are lazy and soft! just like that kit!
What good will that kit do? NOTHING! nothing at all. All the kit will do is eat our freshkill and
just lay in his nest all day! we should leave that kit out there for good!" Ashheart hissed.
Wetfoot nodded in agreement,
"you're right! that kit does not belong here!" he meowed with a hint of sneer in his voice.
Snakeleap felt rage burn into him more and more,
how dare he talk to my son like that! he thought.
Just as Snakeleap could reply, Stoneheart leaped in front of Ashheart and Wetfoot,
"how dare you two! that kit belongs here and needs us! if we let him out there he will die.
I say we should keep him! after all, the warrior code says that we should not neglect a kit in danger no matter where they came from! I never knew you two could be such fox hearts" Stoneheart hissed.
Ashheart glared while Wetfoot spat,
Nightstar gave an approving nod at Stoneheart,
"well said" she meowed.
"I have come to decide that this kit will stay in riverclan and will be raised as a warrior!" Nightstar meowed.
Snakeleap smiled with relief,
thank starclan! he thought.
Nightstar turned to Lizardtail,
"Lizardtail.. will you raise this kit as your son?" she asked,
Lizardtail nodded,
"I will be glad to raise this kit" she meowed.
tinykit narrowed her eyes while brownkit let out a tiny hiss.
Snakeleap nodded and padded up to Lizardtail, he gave her the kit and she padded off into the nursery with the kit.
Nightstar nodded,
"this conversation is now over" she meowed,
as cats started to seperate snakeleap could not stop looking at the nursery.
I'll miss that kit.. but I know Lizardtail will raise him well...
one day i'll tell him who his real parents are..
One day...
Chapter twenty eight
Two days have passed since the arrival of Darkkit.
Snakeleap had hard times sleeping, he stayed awake, thinking about his son Darkkit.
"Snakeleap!" a voice meowed,
Snakeleap turned and saw Stoneheart standing at the entrance,
"you seem to be staying in your den all day, anything wrong?" he asked.
Snakeleap glanced down then shook his head,
"no, everything is fine.." he murmured.
Stoneheart looked worried,
"you must be hungry.. why don't you go to the freshkill pile and pick something to eat, the hunting patrols are back" he meowed.
Snakeleap hesitated but finally he stood up and padded out of the den.
I guess Stoneheart is right.. he thought.
As he walked near the freshkill pile he noticed Lizardtail padding out of the den, holding Darkkit.
She padded into the medicine den, Brownkit and Tinykit stared at the den,
they both glared and their pelt's bristled.
Snakeleap tilted his head,
do they like darkkit? he thought.
"that's not fair! how come Darkkit is getting so much attention?" Tinykit hissed,
"I don't know! He shouldn't even get this much attention just because he is adopted! don't forget he was a kittypet before!" he spat.
Snakeleap glared at them but decided to ignore them and padded to the freshkill pile.
He picked up a vole and started to munch on it.
Just as he was munching he noticed Ashheart and Wetfoot talking to eachother,
"how's Darkkit doing?" Wetfoot asked.
"ever since his arrival he's been getting much attention!" Ashheart hissed.
Wetfoot glared instantly
"why" he asked, Ashheart shrugged,
"I have no idea. Maybe cause of his kittypet roots" he suggested with a hint of scorn.
Snakeleap glared,
"how do you know that Darkkit was born with kittypet roots?" Wetfoot asked,
"he was near twolegplace duh!" Ashheart snarled.
Wetfoot snorted in disbelief, as if what he stated was dumb,
"anyway, Nightstar has bees in her brain if she thinks that it's good taking in a kittypet!" Ashheart growled.
Wetfoot nodded,
"agreed, Riverclan needs pure blood in this group" he meowed.
Snakeleap growled,
How dare they talk about my son like that! he thought.
"That kit is a kittypet, all it will do is lay around and wait for freshkill to be handed to him!" Ashheart snarled,
"or sneak away during a battle and eat kittypet food!" Wetfoot sneered.
Ashheart nodded,
"That kittypet will be scared when it goes into battle, he will loose in a one in one fight with someone!" he sneered.
Wetfoot closed his eyes,
"Nightstar should of rejected it" he meowed.
Ashheart snickered,
"agreed! that kit should of been left in the wild to die!" he sneered.
Snakeleap had enough of the mockery, he left his hald eaten vole and padded towards them.
Ashheart did not notice Snakeleap marching towards him, he was busy laughing.
Instantly, Snakeleap unsheathed his claws and slashed Ashheart across the cheek.
Ashheart landed on the floor, blood poured a bit from his cheek and stained a bit of the grass.
As he stood up slowly, Snakeleap spotted shock in his eyes,
he turned towards Snakeleap and his pelt started to bristle.
"what was that about!?" he hissed,
Snakeleap glared,
"how dare you talk about darkkit that way! he does not deserve to die!" he spat.
Wetfoot stood on his paws and started running away,
"were you listening to us?" Ashheart hissed in a low voice.
Snakeleap took a step forward,
"I heard everything.. How you said that Nightstar should of left darkkit to die in the wild!" he hissed.
Ashheart took a step forward,
"what I said does not concern you! why do you even care for a kit that does not even belong to you? you should care for yourself more then others! that kit has bad blood! he's a kittypet! a kittypet that does not even belong in this clan!" he snarled.
Snakeleap felt pure rage burn into him and he started padding slowly towards Ashheart,
"take that back right now..." he snarled.
Ashheart unsheathed his claws,
"make me.." he growled.
Just before the two could fight, Nightstar ran in between them,
"what in the name of Starclan is going on!" she hissed.
Stoneheart, the big gray tom with orange eyes padded next to her.
Ashheart stared at Nightstar with shock and instantly sheathed his claws,
"oh! uh.. well.." he meowed in a tiny voice but Nightstar cutted him off.
"you two looked like you were going to fight! we do not tolerate fighting in the clan!" she hissed.
Ashheart glared and his tail swished side to side,
"Snakeleap started it anyway.." he murmured.
"that does not matter! if I catch you two trying to fight with each other again then you two will be assigned to apprentice duties for a moon! got it?" she hissed.
Snakeleap nodded while Ashheart nodded slowly and instantly padded into the warriors den.
Snakeleap padded away and padded into the medicine den,
he spotted darkkit being looked over by Foxheart,
though his eyes still not opened he already was walking a bit.
Snakeleap felt love in him as he stared at his kit,
don't worry.. I won't let anyone talk trash to you!
anyone..
Chapter twenty nine.
Snakeleap padded through camp,
he felt his stomach growl of hunger so he decided to get some prey.
Just as he was about to move he heard a mew behind him,
turning he saw Darkkit standing there, his eyes were now open and they were green like him.
he has my eyes.. Snakeleap though with love as he stared at the kit.
"who are you..?" Darkkit mewed in a tiny voice,
Snakeleap purred,
"hello young one, my name is Snakeleap" he greeted.
The kit's eyes widen with intrest
"you're a warrior?" he asked,
Snakeleap nodded.
Darkkit then let out a exited mew and bounced up and down,
"I want to be a warrior! check out this move!"
he jumped up in the air and booped Snakeleap on the nose softly.
Snakeleap let out a laugh,
"you are a Warrior indeed!" he purred.
Darkkit mewed with happiness and started running away with tail high,
Snakeleap stared after him, smiling,
Already he has his mothers cheerfulness he thought.
Snakeleap stared as Darkkit padded over to his siblings who were having a nice chat,
they were now Tinypaw and Brownpaw, they became apprentices a moon ago.
Darkkit reaced out a paw and prodded Tinypaw's leg in response she jumped up and her pelt bristled.
"hello! want to play moss with me?" Darkkit mewed playfully,
Brownpaw narrowed his eyes,
"were apprentices! we don't play kit games" he scoffed.
"but it's fun!" Darkkit mewed.
Tinypaw hissed which made Darkkit jump back in fright,
"play moss ball with someone else or a friend, or even if you have one"
she meowed scornfully.
Tinypaw stood up and started padding away and brownpaw followed.
Darkkit let out a sad sniff,
Snakeleap stared at Darkkit and started padding towards him,
"it's alright Darkkit, I'll play moss ball with you" he offered.
Darkkit turned to Snakeleap with happiness in his eyes,
"really!?" he meowed.
Snakeleap nodded and grabbed a moss ball that was near the elders den.
Just as he tossed it to darkkit he felt nothing but happiness and joy,
Playing moss ball with your own kit is one of the greatest things in your life..
I hope I get a chance to tell Darkkit the truth one day..
(sorry if short!)
Chapter thirty
(POV of Darkkit)
"Well, I better go on Hunting"
Snakeleap meowed sadly.
Darkkit's eyes widen sadly
No play time?
As Snakeleap started to walk away Darkkit ran behind him and grabbed at his leg,
"Please! I want to play Moss ball More!" Darkkit begged.
Snakeleap shook his head sadly,
"maybe if I'm not tired or hurt when I get back then we can play again"
Snakeleap meowed.
Darkkit nodded and let go and Snakeleap started walking away.
Darkkit was now alone and bored,
Ugh! what do I do now? there's nothing to do and my siblings don't play with me!
Just then he saw Tinypaw and Brownpaw talking with eachother near the apprentices den,
looks like there back.. maybe I can ask.. they maybe changed their mind..
Darkkit hoped.
Darkkit slowly walked towards them nervously,
Brownpaw then caught his eyes and growled,
"what could you want now?"
Darkkit crouched then stood up and acted brave,
"I want to play mossball with you" he meowed.
"This again?"
Tinypaw meowed in annoyance,
Brownpaw stood up,
"I'm not playing with a little pipsqeak like you!"
he hissed.
Darkkit took a step,
"but were siblings! you two are my brother and sister" he mewed.
Tinypaw rolled her eyes,
"Blood does not matter, you don't matter." Tinypaw murmured.
Brownpaw nodded,
"Yea! you stole our mother from us! (...) were going now, I don't wanna hear this conversation anymore!"
Brownpaw growled and stood up.
As they started to walk away Brownpaw glanced back at Darkkit with a threatining gaze,
"and so help me.. if you ask one more time you are going to wish you never asked!"
he hissed then walking away to the apprentices den.
Darkkit sat there in sadness and glanced at Lizardtail was was eating near the freshkill pile,
I never stole their mother from them.. she loved us all equaly and kitted us all!
Then Darkkit started getting dark thoughts,
what if he was stealing their mother's attention, what if he did not matter at all.
Am I really.. stealing their mother..
Darkkit thought with sadness as he continued to watch Lizardfang,
Is that why my siblings hate me?
Chapter Thirty three
Snakeleap carried two mice and a shrew in his jaws,
as he padded into camp he noticed Darkkit sitting alone near the nursery.
His head was down so Snakeleap could not see his expression.
Does he have any kit to play with at all? he thought with sadness.
"I see your back Snakeleap!" A voice said.
Turning he saw Nightstar standing in front of him,
"this is all I could catch" Snakeleap meowed.
Nightstar nodded,
"Leaf bare is gone and prey is just starting to come it takes time, put your prey on the pile"
she meowed then padded away.
As Snakeleap padded to the pile, Ashheart, who was sitting there stared at what he carried with scorn in his eyes.
"that's all you could catch? That won't feed the clan!" he sneered.
"Ashheart don't be disrespectful!"
Foxheart warned him, she sat on the other side munching on a mouse.
Ashheart wanted to protest but thought better,
Snakeleap placed his prey on the pile and padded away.
"how did the hunt go?"
Whitepelt fell in beside him.
"I only caught two mice and one shrew." Snakeleap meowed.
Whitepelt nodded,
"Do you think Ashheart's favorite food is shrew?" Whitepelt asked joking.
Snakeleap let out a purr,
"maybe" he meowed.
As Snakeleap sat down he turned at Darkkit in the distance.
Darkkit pounced on a white feather and started tossing the feather around playfully.
Snakeleap purred with amusement and continued to watch.
"You need to keep away from darkkit" Whitepelt meowed.
Snakeleap stared in shock for a second then glared,
"why though? who will he play with then? He has no one" he meowed.
Whitepelt turned,
"he has no one yes, but if you continue to play with him cats will suspect your the father and once they figure out they will punich you" he explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart break more,
he would have to keep away from his own son to not get him into punishment.
What's more sad is he had no one, his siblings would not play with him and the other cats keep distant from him due to his roots.
"How will I tell Darkkit the truth?.." he whispered.
"Don't worry.. One day he will figure it out.. I promise" Whitepelt murmured to him.
Snakeleap nodded and smiled,
"your a good friend.." he whispered.
Just as Whitepelt could respond a loud sqeaul of horror rose to the air.
Turning, Snakeleap saw darkkit crouched, his pelt bristled and his eyes widen in fear.
Standing over him was Ashheart,
"back off kittypet! That was my Mouse!" Ashheart hissed.
"I- I'm sorry! I did not know!" Darkkit mewed in a tiny voice.
Ashheart snarled,
in a instant he pinned Darkkit with his paw that was unsheathed.
"Please! let me go! I'm sorry! I won't touch your mouse again!" Darkkit wailed.
Ashheart narrowed his eyes,
"I'm not letting you go easy, kittypets should learn when to know which is their's and which is not! I despise kittypets like you!"
He yowled, then lunged at darkkit and bit his scruff hard.
Darkkit wailed in pain.
Blood came out of his scruff and then Ashheart tossed him in the air.
Darkkit landed on his feet but did not have enough time to react as Ashheart kicked him hard.
Darkkit thudded agaisnt a tree with a groan.
Ashheart lunged again and bit his scruff and started shaking roughly.
Snakeleap glared and his pelt bristled with rage,
How dare you hurt my SON!
Snakeleap lunged at Ashheart and pushed him to the side,
Darkkit dropped,
Ashheart got up and glared at Snakeleap.
"You Heap of Fox dung! How dare you!"
Ashheart hissed.
just as Ashheart was about to lunge Foxheart lunged in between them,
"Stop Arguing you two! Ashheart!" Foxhheart turned to Ashheat, "That kit done nothing wrong! There's no need to attack a kit like that!" She hissed.
Foxhheart picked up the kit and padded in the medicine den,
Ashheart glared at Snakeleap.
"You will pay for this.. and so wil that kit!" Ashheart hissed before running off.
Snakeleap glared.
Hurt that kit and see what happens..
Chapter thirty four.
A few weeks passed. Darkkit laid in the nursery, still thinking about what Ashheart did.
He had got less sleep since and never went to the fresh kill pile. He always stayed in the medicine den,
always worried that Ashheart would come back and do something to him.
I have to stay in here.. Darkkit thought.
He Heard footsteps behind him, turning quickly in fright he saw Foxheart.
"don't worry it's just me" she chuckled softly.
She sat beside Darkkit,
"great news, today is your apprentice ceremony!" she meowed.
Darkkit stood up,
"ceremony?" he asked.
"your finally six moons old!" Foxheart replied.
Darkkit was about to speak but he heard a cat yowl and he instantly ran outside.
Tons of cats surrouned a huge boulder with Nightstar on top.
I hope Ashheart is not my mentor.. he prayed to Starclan.
"Let all cats young and old gather around the boulder for something special!" Nightstar yowled.
As More and more cats gathered Darkkit noticed Ashheart in the distance looking filled with rage.
What's wrong with him? Darkkit thought.
"Today a kit is becoming an apprentice, darkkit come forward!" Nightstar commaned.
Darkkit took a step forward proudly.
"Darkkit, you will be given a mentor and be taught in the ways in our code. You shall learn
how to fight and hunt and when the time comes you will be a warrior." Nightstar explained.
Nightstar leaped down and touched his forehead with her nose,
"darkkit, from this moment on until you become a warrior, you will be known as darkpaw!"
Darkpaw felt joy surge through him,
Finally! he thought.
Turning he saw his older siblings Tinypaw and brownpaw staring at him with scorn.
I'll train better than you two mouse brains! darkpaw thought as he glared at them and stuck his tounge out.
"now.. Darkpaw, your mentor will be..."
"Ashheart!"
Darkpaw stared at her in sheer shock,
Wait what..?
Chapter thirty five
What!? Snakeleap stared at Nightstar in disbelief.
Out of all the cats! It had to be Ashheart!
Snakeleap had never forgotten what Ashheart did to darkpaw weeks ago,
he had never thought that Ashheart would become mentor to Darkpaw, Snakeleap's own son!
Once Ashheart and Darkpaw greeted eachother with anger, Snakeleap turned to Nightstar who was padding into her den.
I'm talking to her right now! he thought with anger.
He stood up and padded into her den,
Nightstar laid in her den but she instantly opened her eyes when she heard Snakeleap pad in.
"What is it" she murmured.
Snakeleap bristled with rage,
"How could you! Ashheart is not the right mentor to darkpaw! Do you know what he did to him a few weeks ago?"
Nightstar showed a tiny emotion in her eyes,
"I knew you would defend him.. he is your son after all" she whispered.
Snakeleap took a step back in sheer shock,
"y- you know!?" he whispered.
"Yes, don't think I never noticed you leave to see her" Nightstar meowed.
"then.. how come you never exiled me..?" Snakeleap asked.
Nightstar turned away,
"My mother was a kittypet, but that does not make me weak does it? This clan does need more warriors. But yes, what you did was wrong." she meowed.
Snakeleap turned,
"I love Midnight, no matter what I'll always love her" he meowed.
Nightstar nodded,
"I understand but you need to stop visiting her" She meowed.
Snakeleap wanted to protest but he nodded instead slowly.
"But you still need to change Darkpaw's mentor! Ashheart hates kittypets and hates him! who knows what he will do to him"
Snakeleap growled.
Nightstar shook her head slowly,
"Ashheart hates kittypets yes, but he is a strong warrior. He will be able to make Darkpaw a strong warrior to. He will be a fine mentor to darkpaw" she meowed.
Snakeleap could not beleive what he was hearing, Ashheart was strong yes, but also bad tempered.
Snakeleap turned around and padded out in anger.
He was still in shock that she knew about his love with Midnight,
he was upset about having to stop visiting Midnight forever.
He was more angry with Ashheart being Darkpaw's mentor.
What training would be taught?, what will happen to darkpaw?
I hope Darkpaw will be fine..
Chapter thirty six
Darkpaw stared at the sky in shock and anger.
Ashheart's my mentor..? Why!? he thought.
Darkpaw sat there in astonishment, not even saying a single word.
A paw prodded his shoulder, he turned around and saw Morningrise.
"Congrats on your apprentice ceremony! Ashheart is a strong warrior you are lucky to have him as a mentor!" she meowed.
Darkpaw narrowed his eyes and flattened his ears,
Lucky? pfft! You mean Unlucky? he thought with scorn.
It was bad enough when he was a kit his siblings never played with him and sometimes mocked him, but having cat Ashheart as a mentor is worse.
Morningrise showed concern,
"Anything wrong Darkpaw?" She asked with worry.
Darkpaw shook his head,
"No, just tired.." He lied.
Morningrise stared for a second then nodded sielently and padded off.
As Darkpaw got up he noticed Snakeleap storm out of the leaders den with shock and anger.
What's his deal?
Darkpaw thought with confusion.
Darkpaw noticed and looked at the apprentices den,
he padded towards it and scented it.
"That's what all apprentices do in Riverclan" A voice said.
Turning he saw Brownpaw standing over him.
"need help?" He asked with scorn.
Darkpaw bristled,
"I can help myself thanks!" he hissed.
Without another word he padded into the apprentice den leaving Brownpaw standing there in shock.
Darkpaw turned and noticed, he felt a glimmer of sastifaction in him.
Well that got him to shut up! he thought with sastifaction.
As he looked around he noticed Tinypaw in the den,
she instantly noticed him when he took two steps near a random nest.
"I see the kit finally became an apprentice?" Tinypaw sneered.
She stood up,
"I doubt you will become a warrior" she meowed scornfully.
Darkpaw bristled,
"Like you could do better! You might as well get your fur torn in seconds!" he snarled.
Tinypaw stared in shock then growled in anger and padded off.
Darkpaw stared after her then looked down,
Do I have to be angry to get what I want? he thought.
"hello newest apprentice" a voice meowed.
Turning he saw Stoneheart in front of him.
"Ignore them, you will train hard. Especially when you have Ashheart as a mentor" he meowed.
Darkpaw turned away in shame,
"You must be tired, well your training starts tommorow and Morningrise said you were tired so try and get some rest for a bit" Stoneheart meowed and padded out of the den.
Darkpaw felt like Stoneheart was right, he just needed rest.
darkpaw curled in his moss and closed his eyes.
Dear Starclan I hope things go well tommorow..
Chapter Thirty seven coming soon!
Book by maddiek
Thunderclan:
leader: Sunstar: Bright orange tom with yellow eyes
Deputy: Leapfoot: Dark brown tom with one torn ear and green eyes
Medicine cat: mothflight: light brown she cat with green eyes
warriors:
Sunpelt: Orange tom with brown eyes
Snakeheart: Black tom with yellow eyes
Lightstep: White she cat with blue eyes (deaf)
jaywing: gray tom with blue eyes
Queens: none
Elders: Flatear: Skinny brown tom with blind gray eyes
Shadowclan: Leader: Blindstar: Black tom with two torn ears and yellow eyes
deputy: Snaketail: normal brown tom with orange eyes
medicine cat: blazepelt: orange tom with green eyes
Warriors:
Shadowheart: Black tom with brown eyes
leapswift: brown tom with one white paw and orange eyes
tigerheart: orange tabby tom with yellow eyes
Swiftrunner: gray tom with orange eyes
queens: Lillypad: White she cat with green eyes (Expecting kits)
Elders: none
Windclan:
Runstar: Light brown tom with orange eyes and a scar on his shoulder
Deputy: Flightfoot: Light gray tom with blue eyes
medicine cat: Dusk: A dark brown she cat with orange eyes and scars on her face (Was a rouge once)
Warriors:
WindFoot: brown tom with green eyes
halftail: orange tom with green eyes and two white ears (tail got caught in foxtrap)
tigerclaw: Big black tom with scars on his back and red eyes
queens: None
elders: lostear: Skinny white tom with yellow eyes (ears got badly damaged a lot by a fox)
skinnytail: Short brown tom with green eyes has black stripes on head and back.
Riverclan:
Nightstar: Black and white she cat with blue eyes
deputy: Highslash: Brown tom with orange eyes
Medicine cat: FoxHeart: light orange she cat with red eyes and a big fluffy tail
Warriors:
Snakeleap: big brown tom with green eyes, Two front white paws and a black tip tail
Morningrise: orange she cat with orange eyes and a white tip tail
Tigerstripe: Large brown tabby tom with yellow eyes
owleyes: gray tom with white underbelly and yellow eyes.
Scartail: A black tom with yellow eyes and one front white paw
tinypounce: white short she cat with purple eyes
Queens: Lizardtail: Brown she cat with white underbelly and red eyes
(Kits: Tinykit: White tom with green eyes, brownkit: brown tom with four black paws and black tip tail)
Elders: Lostfoot: black skinny tom with only one orange eye (Other one was clawed out by a badger)
nightpelt: Black tom with blue eyes and one white front paw
prologue
It was night, the wind breezed through the grass. The moon shined brightly and so did the stars,
near the moor
A rabbit was chewing on some of the grass,
Suddenly a black long tom with white tip tail covered in stars ran towards the rabbit,
the rabbit was about to run but the tom caught it and gave it the death bite.
The tom picked up the rabbit and padded towards a glowing entrance,
on the other side of the entrance were other cats talking, playing, and hunting.
The black tom looked around the cats, finally he padded up to a brown sleek she cat with green eyes,
the tom dropped the rabbit at her paws his blue eyes showed brightly.
The she cat turned to the rabbit and sniffed
"A rabbit? you realise we eat fish right?" she asked,
the black tom shrugged
"well, rabbits taste good, you should try one" he meowed.
The she cat gave a doubt look at him than finally she took a bite out of the rabbit,
the black tom watched
"So.. what do you think of it?" he asked,
the she cat nodded "it taste fine" She admitted.
the tom spotted a bit of worry in her eyes
he took a step forward
"is there... something wrong?" he asked,
the she cat looked away from his gaze though after a heartbeat she turned around
"our leader.. hawkstar says that.. danger is coming to Riverclan soon..
I don't know what it is.. he keeps saying that Riverclan will be wiped out" she gazed at him with worry.
The tom shrugged
"why should we be worried pebbleheart? were in starclan, it's not our problem"
the tom touched his tail with her's though she still looked upset,
"It's my clan Rushtail!" she spat
"I know were in starclan but if riverclan gets destroyed than part of riverclan in starclan will
be as well!" pebbleheart hissed.
Rushtail looked at her worried than he touched her paw
"We'll.. hawkstar is crazy.. maybe he is just joking... plus.. even if danger was coming
Riverclan will be strong enough to face it, I promise we will be alright" Rushtail smiled
Pebbleheart stared at him and finally she smiled a bit
"well.. I guess you're right... Hawkstar can joke around sometimes.. even when he was alive" she meowed.
Rushtail padded closer to her just to comfort her more,
even though rushtail could be right Pebbleheart still looked a tiny bit doubtful
if hawkstar is right please let riverclan be safe!
Chapter one
"Mom get off me! I'm fine!"
Snakekit hissed in annoyance, his mother Morningrise kept grooming him,
"No my kit, you're fur is a mess we can't do the ceremony with you're fur looking
Like a mess" Morningrise meowed.
Snakekit wanted to protest but he knew better than to argue with his mother so he kept his mouth shut,
Morningrise stopped grooming and looked at the bright blue sky her eyes filled with emotion,
"I'm sure if you're siblings were alive.. They would become fine aprrentices.." She murmured,
Snakekit got memories of his two siblings Featherkit and robinkit,
Featherkit was a stillborn while robinkit attracted greencough and died,
Ever since than his mother became more protective of Snakekit.
Morningrise got up and started padded away "you're ceremony starts in a few minutes, go explore and don't get you're fur messed up!"
She called over her shoulder as she went to join her mate rabbithop, a brown tom with one white paw.
Snakekit nodded and got up, he glanced at his mother for a heartbeat than padded off.
Snakekit looked around he spotted the elders talking to each other
Snakekit Looked around in shock
"So many cats here than I thought.." He murmured to himself,
Just as snakekit was about to speak he bumped into something large
He looked up to see a tall boulder
Snakekit stared at it in shock
"That rock is large.. What is it?" He meowed to himself.
"It's a large boulder" a voice answered
Snakekit turned around to see a dark orange she cat with green eyes standing near him,
Behind the she cat were three other cats
A dark gray tom with blue eyes and black spots,
A brown tom with one white left paw and Amber eyes
And a white Tom with yellow eyes.
The she cat padded up to him "the boulder is where the leader gives out announcements or ceremonies"
She meowed,
announcements? Snakekit thought,
" What kind of announcements? " he asked
The dark gray tom padded up next to the she cat
"That we are becoming apprentices" he meowed proudly.
apprentices? so am I! He thought
Snakekit bounced up and down
"I'm becoming an apprentice to" snakekit meowed.
The gray kit looked a bit doubtful at him And tilted his head
"You look a bit small to become an apprentice" the gray kit murmured.
Snakekit glared at him, small!? He thought with annoyance
The she cat nudged the gray tom "you realise sizes sorta don't matter, he is six moons old" she meowed.
The she cat turned to snakekit
"I'm gingerkit the gray tom is ashkit, the brown tom is wetkit and the white Tom is whitekit"
She introduced.
Snakekit tilted his head "those... Are nice names, I'm snakekit" he introduced himself,
Whitekit and gingerkit nodded approvingly while wetkit and ashkit gave an confused stare
"Snakekit? What kind of name is that? Why are you named that? We're you're parents snakes?"
Ashkit sneered,
Snakekit glared
"My parents are not snakes!" He spat
Ashkit gave a doubtful look "uh.. Yea sure sure okay" he mewed.
As snakekit took a step forward he heard a calling sound
"May all cats old and young come here beneath the boulder for a clan meeting!" The leader nightstar called.
" Our ceremony! " webkit meowed with excitement bouncing up and down,
Snakekit stood next to the other three while the rest of the cats gathered around
He looked around everyone wants to be at our ceremony! he thought with gladness,
NIghtstar raised her tail for silence and the voiced died down,
"Today we will have five new apprentices! They are all six moons and I'm sure they will become
Great warriors one day!" Nightstar yowled.
"Ashkit, wetkit, whitekit, and gingerkit come here at once! " nightstar called,
At once the four kits padded forwards their tails high up,
"Ashkit you will be known as ashpaw! You're mentor will be stoneheart!" He announced,
Ashpaw came in and touched noses with stoneheart nodding at each other,
As whitepaw, gingerpaw, and wetpaw got their mentors it was finally snakekit's turn.
"Snakekit come here at once!" The leader called,
Snakekit padded up his tail high as well,
finally! i'm gonna become an apprentice! Snakekit thought with gladness,
Nightstar nodded "snakekit you will be known as snakepaw, and tigerstripe will be you're mentor!"
She nodded to the huge Orange Tom with black stripes and green eyes
Snakepaw padded up to his mentor and touched noses with him.
"Snakepaw! Ashpaw! Wetpaw! Gingerpaw! Whitepaw!" The cats yowled,
Snakepaw smiled
"My clanmates! I promise I'll train to be the best warrior ever! "
Chapter Two
"Wake up Snakepaw! time for training!"
Snakepaw bounced up in shock, looking behind him he saw wetpaw standing at the entrance,
Snakepaw stretched yawning "alright i'll be there in a second" he whispered.
Wetpaw glared at him
"okay good, don't forget you're not a snake you can't sleep in bed all day like them" he meowed padding off.
Snakepaw glared i'm not a snake! he thought.
Snakepaw padded out of the entrance, he looked around until he finally found his mentor Stoneheart with
ashpaw, gingerpaw, wetpaw, and whitepaw with their mentors all staring at him,
Stoneheart stood up and dipped his head at him "welcome Snakepaw" he greeted,
Ashpaw turned to wetpaw "took him long enough" he whispered in wetpaw's ear.
Snakepaw stared up at his mentor "so.. what do we do today" he asked,
"well young apprentice, today we will learn how to hunt near this river" stoneheart pointed his tail at
the stream with pebbles, in the river were fish swimming.
snakepaw widen his eyes "Woah.." he whispered
fishing seems fun! he thought,
owleyes padded up next to Stoneheart and Tigerstripe
"you each will try to catch a fish on you're own than we can see if you have any problems,
we can help you Understood?" he asked
"understood" the five apprentices meowed.
"okay ashpaw and whitepaw you two start" tigerstripe commanded
whitepaw and ashpaw nodded and both padded up near the river, whitepaw crouched his tail high,
than a heartbeat later his paws slashed at the water though he caught nothing,
Stoneheart shook his head "No whitepaw, you can't make any noise when hunting fish and don't go splashing like that
you might scare all the fish away" he explained,
than at a second try whitepaw dived down and when he appeared he had a minnow in his jaws
ashpaw stood next to him with also a minnow he had his tail high proudly,
stoneheart dipped his head approvingly "well done you two " he meowed.
Tigerstripe called for Wetpaw and gingerpaw, they both padded up and started trying to catch a fish
Gingerpaw failed twice while wetpaw only failed once,
Finally it was Snakepaw's turn
'alright snakepaw, it's your turn' he meowed,
finally my turn! snakepaw thought with joy,
Snakepaw padded up near the river, he looked around and finally he spotted a carp,
he crouched trying not to make a sound and finally he dived his head down to catch the fish
though when he got up nothing was in his jaws
"it's alright snakepaw just do it at the right time and focus okay" owleyes meowed,
Snakepaw glared at the river i'll catch it this time! he thought.
For the past four times snakepaw had caught nothing, whenever a fish swimmed by he would try to catch it but
he of course caught nothing,
Ashpaw stood over his minnow glaring at Snakepaw
"hurry up snakepaw! I know you're not that stupid at hunting!" he yowled,
snakepaw glared at Ashpaw and so he tried again two times.. though snakepaw
did not seem to have any luck,
"wow you can't even catch your own fish? i've seen kits who can hunt better than you!"
ashpaw sneered,
Snakepaw glared at ashpaw and hissed,
gingerpaw glared at Ashpaw and so did whitepaw while wetpaw just chuckled a bit,
stoneheart glared at ashpaw
"ashpaw! there is no need to be rude to Snakepaw! he just needs more pratice!"
he meowed
Ashpaw snorted "yea sure.."
"okay apprentices let us show you the borders for a bit" tigerstripe meowed.
ashpaw bounced up "nice! I hope we meet some Shadowclan warriors!" he mewed,
Stoneheart shook his head "lets not" he murmured,
Snakepaw stared at him feeling doubt wash him
I could not even catch a single fish! not even a tiny one! he thought
snakepaw stared down at his paws for a second than he got up
it's okay snakepaw.. it's your first day.. maybe in the next moons you'll learn how to hunt and fight better!
Snakepaw thought,
then I can prove ashpaw wrong!
Chapter three
two days has passed it was a new day for snakepaw,
Snakepaw followed his mentor Stoneheart near a river.
behind snakepaw was gingerpaw, Ashpaw, wetpaw, and whitepaw with their mentors
owleyes, tigerstripe, riverheart and flighthigh,
Stoneheart froze and so did the others
"alright you five today we will learn about battle moves" he announced,
Battle moves! snakepaw thought,
Ashpaw bounced for joy and so did wetpaw while gingerpaw nodded and whitepaw just stood there.
"okay so today we will learn about the splash, basically all you do is
go underwater than when your near your enemy grab them!"
stoneheart explained,
The five apprentices nodded than stoneheart turned to snakepaw and gingerpaw
"okay Snakepaw be the enemy and gingerpaw try and grab him"
Snakepaw flattened his ears
why do I have to be the enemy? he thought with worry.
"okay snakepaw get in the river and pretend you're the enemy"
stoneheart commanded.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in fear
but I don't know how to swim! he thought with worry,
Snakepaw wanted to protest but he also did not want to disobey his mentor so he started
padding up to the river,
when he was only a mouse length near he froze in fear
I can't... he thought
Ashpaw growled
"hurry up snakepaw! your taking to long are you scared?"
Snakepaw glared at ashpaw
scared! I'll prove him wrong!
in an instant he jumped in the water.
Snakepaw widen his eyes as he felt the freezing water touch his pelt
so cold! he thought,
Snakepaw tried to swim back but than he started sinking
"no!" he yowled
Snakepaw started thrashing around trying not to drown but nothing worked
Gingerpaw stared in horror and so did whitepaw while ashpaw narrowed his eyes
"he'll be fine.." he murmured.
Gingerpaw turned to ashpaw in an instant glaring at him
"fine FINE!? he can't swim he might drown to death!" she spat,
"Hold on snakepaw!" Stoneheart yowled
Snakepaw was now under water still thrashing
though he slowly stopped as he was getting tired
someone... help.. he thought
just as he was about to close his eyes and give in he felt something grab his scruff
and started swimming back.
Snakepaw looked to see Stoneheart swimming him back up,
Finally they made it out, Stoneheart dropped Snakepaw and in an instant
snakepaw jerked forward and threw up water.
i'm alive! Snakepaw thought with joy,
Gingerpaw ran forward to him
"Snakepaw are you okay!?" she asked him worrying,
snakepaw nodded slowly.
He than turned to see the leader Nightstar running towards them
"What happened?" she asked,
stoneheart almost drowning me that's what! snakepaw thought with anger as he glared at stoneheart.
Tigerstripe padded up to the leader
"We were gonna learn about the splash, snakepaw was sent to swim in the river but he
almost drowned.. good news though is that Stoneheart saved him"
He explained,
Snakepaw glared stoneheart sent me even though he never taught me how to swim! he thought.
The leader nodded "Okay, send Snakepaw to the medicine den and let him stay there for tomorrow"
she meowed,
Snakepaw widen his eyes
why though i'm fine! he thought with anger and confusion.
Ashpaw padded up to Snakepaw
"next time, don't drown" he meowed
"Stoneheart sent me even though I never learned how to swim yet!" he hissed,
Ashpaw narrowed his eyes "then learn faster" he hissed back and padded away.
Snakepaw glared at him, he stood up weakly and padded with them.
Chapter four.
Two days have passed since the day he almost drowned,
Snakepaw was curled up in his nest.
As he rolled around in his nest Foxheart padded in
"good news snakepaw, two days have passed you can now go back to training" she announed,
Snakepaw glared at her "I should never have been sent here, was not even sick!" he meowed.
"well.. Nightstar just wants all her apprentices safe, when she was a kit she got the same treatment from hawkstar"
Foxheart let out a soft chuckle,
Snakepaw turned away.
Foxheart touched his flank with her tail
"You'll become a warrior one day I promise"
Snakepaw stared at her than nodded
As foxheart started padding out she paused and turned at him
"oh, and..make sure you never... well er.. I better go check on Lizardtail.. she is expecting kits.."
Foxheart murmured, she than padded out of the den.
Snakepaw stared in confusion
never what? never drown? yea i'll make sure to tell Stoneheart to teach me to swim!
Snakepaw thought.
He stretched yawning then padded out of the den,
snakepaw spotted Stoneheart in the distance near the elders talking
i'm so not training with him after what he did!
he thought glaring at stoneheart.
Snakepaw spotted Tigerstripe near the fresh kill pile chewing on a vole,
"maybe he can train me for a bit" he thought,
just as snakepaw took a step forward he heard a loud yowl in the nursery,
What the heck was that!? Snakepaw meowed his pelt bristling.
"looks like lizardtail is having her kits" a voice came from behind snakepaw,
he turned to see his father Ratnose standing near him his brown pelt and yellow eyes and one white right paw.
"Kits? where do they come from..?" snakepaw asked,
ratnose stared at him as if he was crazy for a second then he closed his eyes
"Err... well.. you see... it's-"
he was cutoff as morningrise stood next to him
"Don't tell him.. let him figure out when he is older" she meowed,
Ratnose nodded.
Snakepaw tilted his head but before he could speak he heard another loud yowl, the yowling continued for a bit and snakepaw had to flatten his ears, finally after a long while of yowling, he heard foxheart let out a yowl of joy. Snakepaw widen his eyes and ran,
He ran into the nursery to see Lizardtail curled around with her two kits
one white kit and the other was a brown kit with a black tip tail and four black paws,
Scartail was curled next to lizardtail they both had love in their eyes.
Snakepaw stared at the kits his eyes widen
is this how tiny I was when I was a newborn? he thought,
"Snakepaw get over here!" a yowl came from behind him,
oh right, I'm training with tigerstripe for now snakepaw thought.
he padded out of the den to see Tigerstripe glaring down at him
"you missed training today! Foxheart says your fine so you should of been here with me to train!" he snarled.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in shock
"Tigerstripe I'm sorry I-"
"Hush! I'll let you off the hook for once but next time show up!" he spat,
Ashpaw glared at him his eyes full of scorn, wetpaw had the same expression while gingerpaw gave him a helpless glance
and whitepaw just stared at his paws.
As tigerstripe started padding off snakepaw heard him muttering under his breath
"starclan what is with this apprentice.. first he can't catch a single fish, then he almost drowns and now this."
Snakepaw glared then stared at the paws
great... now he's starting to think i'm useless.. he thought,
Snakepaw then stood up and started padding to the apprentices den,
Oh starclan I hope i'm not late again..
Chapter Five
A day has passed since Lizardtail had her kits, Snakepaw was padding througjh camp
looking for his mentor Stoneheart who he still had not forgiven.
As he finally found the river Tigerstripe, owleye, Stoneheart, and the apprentices were already there,
"So you finally showed up, glad your not late this time" Tigerstripe sniffed,
Snakepaw nodded glaring.
Owleye stepped forward "okay all of you today you will try and catch a fish today see if you can catch one"
he explained,
Tigerstripe nodded "we will record your process and inform it to the leader were watching you all" he growled.
The three mentors padded away leaving the apprentices with river,
ashpaw snickered "Hope you all can catch fish, maybe one fish" he casted a glance at snakepaw,
"so just cause I can't catch fish makes you think your better than me" he thought glaring at ashpaw then turned to the river.
The apprentices begun snakepaw crouched looking for a fish,
he saw one swimming near by a silver one,
when he dived his head in the water and came out he of course had nothing,
Ugh! Why am I so bad at hunting!? snakepaw thought with annoyance.
Snakepaw then saw a minnow swimming nearby,
he dug his claws in the ground Oh I'm gonna catch you.. he thought,
But just as he was about to dive down ashpaw dived in and came out with the minnow in his jaws,
"hey! that's my fish!" snakepaw snarled,
"well you weren't gonna catch it anyway, someone had to catch the minnow" he purred.
Snakepaw glared "that still does not mean you have to steal my catch",
ashpaw narrowed his eyes at snakepaw "even ones who can't even catch a small fish?" he sneered
"what did you just say" snakepaw whispered in anger.
Ashpaw took a step over his minnow "face it you can't hunt, you almost drowned in the river and
you even were late maybe you should quit and become a medicine cat" he smiled showing his nearly yellow teeth.
Gingerpaw glared at ashpaw "stop mocking him ashpaw, he did nothing wrong to you" she hissed,
ashpaw glared at gingerpaw 'quiet!" he hissed, gingerpaw flatten her ears.
snakepaw snarled "take that back right now..."
"Well it's the truth plus.. maybe your mentors don't like you.." ashpaw chuckled.
Snakepaw glared in frustration at ashpaw That's it! This little furball asked for it! he thought,
he then unsheathed his claws and launched at ashpaw,
unprepared ashpaw was frozen and so snakepaw clawed at ashpaw's pelt,
ashpaw yowled and kicked snakepaw off blood was dripping from his back pelt,
"hey! you can't attack me!" he yowled.
Ashpaw then unsheathed his claws and ran to snakepaw,
Snakepaw dodged and clawed at ashpaw's leg, ashpaw then turned around and grabbed on snakepaw's back and started clawing,
snakepaw yowled feeling hot pain on his back, he then kicked off ashpaw and bite ashpaw's tail,
ashpaw screeched in pain "get off me!"
ashpaw shook snakepaw off making him land on his back.
as ashpaw just stood there snakepaw instantly got up and launched himself at ashpaw
ashpaw ducked under and bite snakepaw's leg,
snakepaw ignored the pain and clawed at ashpaw's belly,
Ashpaw yowled and landed on the ground,
just as snakepaw took a step forward he heard a alarming yowl,
"What in the name of starclan is going on!?".
Snakepaw turned to see nightstar staring at them in alarm along with stoneheart and tigerstripe,
ashpaw instantly got up and glared at snakepaw
"Snakepaw started it he attacked me when i did nothing wrong!" he hissed,
"nothing wrong!? you mocked me saying I would never become a warrior!"
snakepaw snarled.
"Enough you two!" stoneheart hissed,
Nightstar padded up to them both she look ashamed now
"Snakepaw, even though he mocked you, you should of ignored it instead of attack and ashpaw"
she turned to him
"You should never mock someone know matter what they do or are and you also fighted
so you both broke the warrior code"
snakepaw tilted his head "but nothing in the warrior code says anything abou-"
"Silence!" nightstar hissed.
"you both must be punished, ashpaw you will be suspended from training for a moon while snakepaw
you must be punished for two moons" she meowed,
snakepaw widen his eyes "What!? bu-"
"No! do as I say go now!" she hissed,
Ashpaw padded in front of snakepaw and casted him a glare "well I hope it was worth it mouse brain"
he hissed then padded off to the medicine den,
Snakepaw stared at his paws in shame
"Oh starclan why..?"
Chapter six
Two moons have passed since the fight with ashpaw, Nightstar had sent two guards to keep an eye on snakepaw
and ahspaw incase they try to run away or hunt.
Snakepaw stared at the stone wall thinking about what he did
Maybe I should not have attacked Ashpaw.. snakepaw thought with guilt,
but then he remembered how ashpaw mocked him saying that he should quit being a warrior and snakepaw glared
He deserved it a bit.. That should teach him from messing with me he thought.
But just as he can continue to think Nightstar and stoneheart padded in the den,
"Snakepaw.. we would like to talk with you in my den in private" nightstar meowed and stoneheart nodded,
snakepaw hesitated for a second then finally he nodded and stood up
Talk to me? About what? he thought,
Nightstar nodded and turned around padding away with stoneheart, snakepaw followed them out.
As snakepaw was looking around camp he spotted ashpaw near the fresh kill pile with his buddy wetpaw,
as snakepaw was about to enter the den he heard ashpaw jeer
"hello snakepaw, first time out? hope it was fun in that den all alone and dark"
wetpaw chuckled and snakepaw glared
"no no snakepaw it's not worth it just ignore them and they'll leave you alone" he thought.
Snakepaw padded in the den to see nightstar laying in her nest and stoneheart sitting next to her,
"greetings snakepaw" stoneheart dipped his head,
"so snakepaw, we've recorded how you been doing for the past moons and so far.. you've been doing a bit bad.."
Nightstar explained
snakepaw's heart dropped "Bad? what do you mean?" snakepaw whispered,
"Well.. you could not catch a single fish, you almost drowned, you were late, and you attacked an apprentice"
nightstar listed.
Snakepaw's pelt bristle in anger "ashpaw deserved it! he was mocking me and plus! stoneheart was
the one that sent me to the river even though I can't swim yet!" he hissed,
"Well snakepaw, you should of ignored ashpaw instead of attacking and you should of told stoneheart
that you were not ready yet so that still was your fault" she pointed out.
Snakepaw ignored her
"so.. am I here just to be told I'm doing bad?" he asked
"well there was also something.. it's just we got you here to tell you that.. if you keep messing up..
you will go to medicine cat training.." she meowed,
snakepaw widen his eyes more and felt his fur bristle more but this time in fear and he clawed at the stone floor
B- become a medicine cat..? he thought,
"and w-what happens if I also fail at that..?" he asked.
Nightstar looked at stoneheart in worry and turned back to snakepaw
"well.. I guess you prefer to live with the two-legs or live alone.." she meowed in a low voice,
snakepaw widen his eyes up even more in fear
Is she saying she's gonna exile me!? he thought frighten by this.
"So just try to do good okay?" she asked
snakepaw lowered his head and nodded slowly "yes leader...." he whispered and he padded out of the den slowly,
as he padded out of the entrance he spotted ashpaw near the entrance with his ear near the entrance then
in an instant he went to the fresh kill pile with wetpaw
snakepaw was guessing ashpaw was hearing the whole conversation and he went to tell wetpaw about it.
Snakepaw didn't really care he was to worried and sad and he padded to the apprentices den
"If I fail at becoming a warrior or medicine cat I'll be exiled.. I must find a way to train better"
Chapter seven
A day passed since nightstar told snakepaw about his warrior training,
snakepaw padded through camp still worrying about yesterday
I must train hard! he thought Otherwise I get exiled!
though as he was about to pick up a minnow from the pile he heard a shriek
"My kit where is my kit!"
snakepaw ran near the nursery and saw Lizardtail looking around worry in her eyes, brownkit stood there
"foxheart.. why is mother afraid..? did we do something bad?" he asked
"No.. just go play with the moss balls we got you yesterday outside" she nudged brownkit softly away.
Snakepaw tilted his head A kit is missing? Must be Tinykit he thought,
he then saw nightstar walk into the nursery
"It's alright lizardtail I sent out two patrols to look for your kit they will find him"
she comforted lizardtail,
"And if they don't?" she asked but nightstar did not answer.
snakepaw shook his head and padded off
"don't worry.. they'll find him.. I'll hunt near the forest.. maybe I can pratice hunting there.." he thought.
Snakepaw padded out of the entrance he widen his eyes
Stoneheart never took me here! he thought,
as he padded around he sniffed a mouse
snakepaw turned to see a flash of brown fur near a pile of leaves
he crouched Oh I'm gonna catch you! he thought sneering,
though just as he was about to leap he heard mewling near a bush behind him.
He turned around confused What's that sound? he thought,
snakepaw padded near the bush and behind the bush he saw a
white kit with green eyes, he then realized it was tinykit
So this is where the kit is, what's she doing out here? he thought
but just as snakepaw can continue to think he noticed something moving slowly behind the kit
he then realized it was a snake.
Snakepaw widen his eyes in alarm There's a snake behind the kit, it'll kill her! I must save her!
the kit continued to look around, the snake slithered closer hissing softly and then as it was about to launch
snakepaw leaped forward and bite the snake,
the snake tumbled it was in snakepaw's jaws, it tried to escape but snakepaw kept it and then
without warning snakepaw bite into the snake's neck feeling it's soft flesh and warm blood.
The kit watched snakepaw in horror it's eyes widen
finally the snake was no longer moving so snakepaw dropped it
he stared at the snake in shock then three cats padded behind the kit
tigerstripe, tinypounce, and scartail,
"what in the name of starclan are you doing here sna-"
tigerstripe stopped and looked at the dead snake in shock
"did.. did you just kill that snake..?" he asked
snakepaw nodded slowly Am I in trouble..? he thought,
scartail nodded "well we found the kit so lets head back all of us" he meowed.
The four cats walked back tigerstripe had tinykit in his jaws
snakepaw was next to scartail
"scartail..? am I in trouble?" he asked worried,
"well... you saved the kit from a snake but.. you left camp without permission so.. I don't know.."
he murmured.
When they finally made it back lizardtail was the first to come out of the nursery and joy filled her eyes
"Oh my precious kit your safe!" she yowled, lizardtail ran up to tinykit and started grooming his fur
"were you alright? did you know where you were? did something try to kill you?" she asked,
tigerstripe padded behind the kit "he was going to be bitten by a snake but.. snakepaw killed it.." he explained,
"snakepaw.. killed a snake..? he saved my kit..?" she turned at snakepaw but before she could speak
nightstar yowled "may all cats young and old come here beneath the boulder for a clan meeting!"
at once everyone padded near the boulder, tigerstripe and stoneheart along with the deputy highslash
were next to the leader, snakepaw padded near
Is she gonna punish me? he thought.
"Today a kit went missing, i sent two patrols to find the kit but.. when we found the kit we found a dead snake
near snakepaw's paws, snakepaw saved the kit by killing the snake that was going to kill the kit and for that courage,
I shall make snakepaw a warrior!" she announced.
Most of the cats cheered while ashpaw and wetpaw stood silent
anger burned in ashpaw's eyes
"that's not fair! he can't even hunt for himself and he was only an apprentice for two moons!" he yowled,
nightstar glared at ashpaw
"would an apprentice have enough courage to save a kit from a snake?" she asked
ashpaw sat their in silent and he then turned away,
snakepaw stood their shocked
I'm becoming a warrior!? he thought.
"Snakepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your clan even at the cost of your life?"
she asked
snakepaw nodded "I do" he answered
"then by the powers of starclan I give you your warrior name!"
"snakepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as.. Snakeleap!" she yowled.
"Starclan honors your courage and bravery and we welcome you as a full warrior of riverclan!"
"Snakeleap! snakeleap! snakeleap!" the cats cheered,
wetpaw glared while ashpaw walked away to the apprentices den
snakeleap stood proudly
"I'm finally a warrior! I proved myself I can be worthy to nightstar!" he thought
"I will serve my clan! even if I'm a bit young I promise I'll be the best I can!"
Chapter eight
A moon passed since snakeleap got his warrior name, snakeleap was sent on patrols, he no longer had to worry, or train
or be bothered by ashpaw.
Snakeleap was chewing on a fish but then nightstar jumped on the boulder,
"Alright everyone one! tonight is the gathering so i will choose some cats to go!" she yowled
"Rabbithop, morningrise, scartail, ratnose, tigerstripe, and snakeleap! these cats shall attend to the
gathering with me!" she announced,
snakeleao widen his eyes I'm going to the gathering? Yes! he thought with excitement.
Nightstar leaped off the boulder and raised her tail for the cats chosen to come,
they all padded behind her, nightstar lead them through the dark forest,
snakeleap thought he could hear whispers Where are they coming from? he thought as he was twitching his ears.
Rabbithop turned to snakeleap "windclan is our neighbors so their near us just in case if you were wondering
what the whispers were all about."
Snakeleap widen his eyes how did rabbithop know what he was thinking?
snakeleap looked up to see bright stars and even a full moon
"so.. Rabbithop.. I've never been at a gathering before so.. what's a gathering?" he asked,
rabbithop chuckled softly
"you see son.. a gathering is when every full moon, all the clans come near the highledge and the leaders announce what's
been going on lately, if the leaders or warriors break the truce starclan will cover up the moon meaning their displeased
at the broken truce which means all the clans have to leave."
Snakeleap widen his eyes
"I heard about starclan when I was a kit.. their our ancestors right?" he asked,
rabbithop nodded "correct son" he answered.
Thats when nightstar leaped below and snakeleap could hear loud talking
rabbithop turned to snakeleap his orange eyes bright
"here we are son, welcome to the gathering",
snakeleap turned then his eyes widen
he saw a huge highledge and below were a ton of cats talking with each other.
"I've never seen so many.." he murmured,
snakeleap leaped from the edge and padded around
he had to flatten his ears a bit as the talking became louder,
snakeleap was not watching so he bumped into rabbithop
"woah never saw you there how about you come sit with me son" he meowed pleased.
Snakeleap hesitated then nodded sitting next to rabbithop,
he then felt him lick his forehead and snakeleap chuckled,
snakeleap then turned at the highledge and saw three more cats next to nightstar
"who our those other three at the highledge?" snakeleap asked
"well son, that bright orange tom is sunstar he is the leader of thunderclan,
that black tom there is blindstar leader of shadowclan, and that light brown tom is runstar leaderof windclan"
rabbitstar explained.
As snakeleap was about to respond blindstar yowled for silence and so every cat became quiet,
"welcome to the gathering all, blindstar you may start" nightstar nodded to the black tom and he nodded back,
"Prey has been running well in shadowclan, two new kits have been born! frogkit and lizardkit"
he announced,
most of the cats cheered and then it was nightstar's turn
"prey has been well in riverclan to! and we have a new warrior today! Snakeleap!' she announced,
some of the cats cheered snakeleap felt proud but he heard some cats
whispering in disbelief
"he looks a bit small is nightstar really sure he is a warrior?" a brown tabby she cat whispered to a black tom,
snakeleap glared and flatten his ears a bit Why are most of the cats judging my size? he thought.
Sunstar then padded up near the edge
"Riverclan has been stealing our prey!" he yowled
the riverclan warriors hissed in disbelief while some widen their eyes
nightstar turned in an instant to sunstar
"riverclan has not! what makes you think of this nonsense?!" she hissed,
sunstar eyed her coldly
"we have been finding dead mice and voles near our territory and you know riverclan is our closest neighbor!"
he spat.
"What kind of proof is that? just because we are the closest does not mean we hunted in your territory
was our scent on the prey? I'm guessing not!" she spat, her warriors yowled in agreement while
the thunderclan warriors hissed,
sunstar padded near her, " you know that you been our enemy for a while! you know what, since I'm feeling calm now I'll instead give you a warning, if we find more dead prey near our border again you will expect trouble from thunderclan!"
he warned her,
"you have bees in your brain if you think we've been hunting in your territory!" she hissed
sunstar started padding close to her his claws unsheathed, he narrowed his eyes
and nightstar then unsheathed her claws as well,
the riverclan warriors started padding near the thunderclan warriors their pelts bristling,
snakeleap crouched his eyes widen
Are they gonna fight!? he thought.
Just as he can respond he noticed a cloud starting to cover the moon a bit and the others noticed to,
"we angered starclan!" runstar yowled in fear,
sunstar widen his eyes and nightstar leaped from the boulder
"well this gathering is over anyway, come riverclan!" she yowled,
her warriors followed her and snakeleap followed, but as he was walking he noticed a shadow of a cat near the trees
it was standing there then it ran
snakeleap narrowed his eyes in confusion Who was that? he thought.
Chapter nine
Snakeleap eyes widen the sky was all black no stars were out,
he looked around he was on sharp grass that pricked his paw pads and all he could see were skinny trees.
Snakeleap padded around Where am I? he thought
then he heard a rustle behind him, the sound made snakeleap bristle his fur
"Okay who's there?" he called out,
snakeleap then turned around and saw a tall, black cat figure staring at him no eyes at all.
"who are you?" he asked in fear,
the figure didn't respond nor move at all, snakeleap got furustated
"I said who are you!?" he hissed, the figure still didn't respond,
snakeleap started padding up to it, but just as he took another step he noticed some blood on the figure's paws,
"What the heck!" snakeleap thought taking a few steps back.
The figure then started padding up to him slowly leaving bloody paw prints behind it,
snakeleap started going backwards his pelt bristling he backed too far and ended up in front of a tree,
snakeleap widen his eyes as the figure got more closer, he unsheathed his claws
"get away from me!" snakeleap yowled closing his eyes.
He then felt his eyes open up fast,
he was back in the warriors den.
Chapter ten
Snakeleap looked around his fur bristling a bit
It was all a dream? he thought, he noticed some sunlight glowing through the cracks of the den, it was morning.
Snakeleap stretched yawning then he noticed that most of the warriors already left,
How long was I asleep for? he thought.
Snakeleap padded out of the den, sunlight burned his eyes
"Agh! bright!" snakeleap hissed in his mind, he half closed his eyes until ten seconds later his eyes were used
to the brightness.
Snakeleap looked around but then he felt warm breath near his shoulder,
he turned to see gingerpaw staring at him
"good morning snakeleap!" she mewed,
"oh, uh.. good morning gingerpaw, how has training been?" he asked her,
"we haven't started yet" she responded then concern lit her eyes
"so snakeleap, are you okay? I heard you yowl in the warriors den five minutes ago, did something
bad happen?" she asked,
snakeleap widen his eyes "oh just a dream, that's all.." he murmured,
I can't tell Gingerpaw about my dream.. he thought.
Gingerpaw understood and nodded
"so anyway how is being a warrior?" she asked
snakeleap nodded "it's been fine lately" he responded
"so hey! wanna share this vole with me?" she asked as she pushed the vole from behind her in front
of him,
"oh sure" he meowed,
then he heard someone coming behind him and he turned to see ashpaw
Oh Starclan not this cat agin.. he thought with annoyance,
"hello gingerpaw! how has your day been?" he asked her cheerfully,
gingerpaw smiled closing her closing her eyes "oh, it's been fine lately thanks for asking" she meowed.
snakeleap stared at gingerpaw then ashpaw
So Ashpaw treats Gingerpaw nicely while he treats me like a Foxheart!?" snakeleap thought.
Ashpaw then turned at snakeleap then back at gingerpaw
"why are you talking to him?" he asked
"well.. he just seems nice that's all" gingerpaw responded,
Ashpaw rolled his eyes not caring then he stared at the vole and his eyes gleamed
"say.. gingerpaw, would you like this share this vole with me?" ashpaw asked
snakeleap felt anger start to rise in him
She asked me to share that vole not you! he hissed in his mind,
"well I asked snakeleap first.. but okay" she meowed
snakeleap almost let his mouth fall in shock
ashpaw nodded in pleasure "okay wait at the fresh kill pile I want to talk with my friend" ashpaw meowed
snakepaw clenched his teeth.
"well.. okay ashpaw" she meowed, gingerpaw padded off near the freshkill.
Snakeleap turned at ashpaw glaring
"what the heck ashpaw! she asked me to share the vole with me!" he spat,
"well you are a WARRIOR so I don't see why you should hang out with us APPRENTICES,
after all.. you have other warriors to hang out with" he sneered.
snakeleap hissed unsheathing his claws
"ashpaw so help me.. you been getting on my nerves, gingerpaw is trying to be nice and you show up
acting as if the vole was not for me but for you, so If you-"
"ah, ah, ah you can't attack me, otherwise.. nightstar will make you an apprentice again.. do
you really want that.." he smirked,
snakeleap hesistated then sheathed his claws
"fair point.." snakeleap thought.
ashpaw then glared taking a step forward
"listen snakeleap, I don't like you nor does anyone else.. I don't know why nightstar made you a warrior
just because you killed a snake..
and just because your a warrior makes you think your better then anyone else..
so snakeleap.. stay out of gingerpaw's way stay out of whitepaw and wetpaw's way and
stay out of MY way!
your a warrior now, go hang out with other warriors and not us
your not an apprentice.. so there is no reason to talk with any of us!" he hissed.
Snakeleap glared
"I know i'm not better then anyone else! but there is no reason to be rude to me!" snakeleap hissed,
ashpaw started padding away carrying the vole then he paused dropping the vole then turning to snakepaw
"well.. if you wanna earn my trust or kindness then stay out of our way warrior" he growled,
ashpaw then picked up the vole and ran to the fresh kill pile".
Snakeleap glared
I know I became a warrior early but.. He did not have to be rude to me.. he thought.
snakeleap then padded off
"if ashpaw wants me to stay out of his way then so be it"
Chapter eleven
"snakeleap wake up" a voice woke up snakeleap
his eyes hurted a bit
"er.. what.. tigerstripe?" snakeleap muttered,
"highslash assigned us on border patrol, get up you can't sleep in"
tigerstripe padded out of the den leaving snakeleap alone.
"well alright then" snakeleap yawned then getting up,
snakeleap padded out of the den looking around, he noticed ashpaw glaring at stoneheart
"where's my mentor I can't find him?" ashpaw growled,
"tigerstripe is on border patrol with snakeleap, fastleap, owleye, and sharpclaw, you will have
to train with me for today" stoneheart explained,
ashpaw rolled his eyes
"why is tigerstripe assigned on patrols a lot?" he muttered
"well he is a senior warrior that's why, now stop complaining like a kit and come with me"
stoneheart chuckled and padded off ashpaw followed.
Snakeleap shook his head Glad I'm not Stoneheart he thought,
he padded around camp and finally he spotted tigerstripe with the others,
"sorry it took a while! i'm here now!" snakeleap ran to them
tigerstripe rolled his eyes
"about time" he snorted
"well? what are we waiting for? lets go" fastleap meowed and started leading the patrol.
The five cats padded through the forest, snakeleap looked around smelling the scent of riverclan,
as snakeleap glanced to the right he noticed the same place to where he killed the snake a moon ago
I guess the bugs finished the snake fast.. snakeleap thought.
Just as snakeleap was about to say something fastleap paused, sniffing the air
"what's wrong fastleap?" tigerstripe asked
"I smell... a thunderclan patrol.." he awnsered,
snakeleap bristled
"a thunderclan patrol?" he thought.
"What! those heap of fox dung!? are they on our territory?" tigerstripe asked, fastleap shook his head
"well.. no, but they are a bit close to the border.. so we must be careful.." he warned,
just as they can continue snakeleap smelled a mouse
Prey! he thought
he unsheathed his claws
"I smell a mouse!" snakeleap hissed
unable to control himself, snakeleap ran off to the scent
"snakeleap NO!" tigerstripe yowled. Snakeleap was close but then he stopped, he looked in front of him
to see six cats in front of him
in the lead was sunpelt, next to him on the right was snakeheart,
behind sunpelt was one small ginger she cat with amber eyes while next to her was the large brown tabby cat
with orange eyes leapspeed, next to him was one gray tom with one white paw and green eyes and next to him
was a orange tabby tom with yellow eyes known as lightningstrike.
All of them stared at snakeleap, their pelts bristling and their eyes showed nothing but hostile.
Tigerstripe and the others ran behind snakeleap their pelts also bristling,
sunpelt took a step forward "so, I see we caught a few cats, don't you think lightningstrike?" sunpelt sneered,
"yea.. a few tresspasers!" the orange tabby hissed.
"So what are you few doing on our territory? are you here to steal our prey?" sunpelt hissed,
"no mouse brain! snakeleap just made a tiny mistake by running into your territory on accedent" owleye explained,
sunpelt snorted in disbeleif
"an accident? was running into our territory just because you smelled prey an accident?" leapspeed growled.
Tigerstripe casted a glare at snakeleap causing him to crouch
Why did I chase that scrawny mouse..? he thought to himself guilty,
"looks like one of them is scared!" the small ginger she cat jeered,
"calm down leaftree" sunpelt meowed then turning to the riverclan patrol
"look, if you all don't leave in the next five seconds we won't hesitate to rip some fur out of yall"
he hissed.
Sharpclaw took a step forward
"i'm not afraid to fight! i'm not showing weakness!" he hissed,
snakeleap was about to protest but judging by the way the thunderclan patrol looked
he and tigerstripe knew it was too late to back down
"warriors attack!" sunpelt yowled.
the cats charged at each other, all hissing and clawing at eachother.
snakeleap was fighting leaftree, he swiped his claw at her face but she dodged quickly and pinned him down
"aww.. is the scared little warrior gonna cry for help?" she mocked,
snakeleap growled then kicking her off,
she landed on her back but got up quickly, rage filled her and she leaped at snakeleap,
he slided under and clawed at her belly.
She yowled in pain and ran off,
tigerstripe was fighting sunpelt,
sunpelt kicked tigerstripe and and clawed his back pelt,
he yowled and then bit his hindleg.
sharpclaw pinned leapspeed down
but then he kicked him off and bite his tail,
sharpclaw yowled
"get off me you peice of mouse dung!"
and in an instant sharpclaw flung him off causing him to land on his spine.
Snakeleap ran to help tigerstripe but something knocked him to the side,
he looked up to see the gray tom
he started clawing at snakeleap,
snakeleap felt warm blood trickle down his pelt and onto the grass,
the gray cat only had a few scratches on him,
snakeleap bit his paw and the gray tom hissed falling off,
but then snakeleap noticed that tigerstripe had one patch of fur missing from his shoulder all bloody,
while sharpclaw only had a few scratched on him owleye had a torn ear and blood trickled down to near his eye.
Snakeleap kicked off the gray tom and raised his tail
"warriors retreat!" he yowled,
instantly the riverclan warriors stopped fighting and ran to snakeleap and so they started
running into the forest,
snakeleap could hear jerring yowls from the thunderclan warriors
"that's right run off!"
"go head into the nursery and cry in shame!"
"when sunstar hears about this he will have all of your's tails!"
As the riverclan warriors limped into camp tigerstripe glared at snakeleap
"look what happen snakeleap! thanks to you, you caused a battle to happen!" he hissed,
snakeleap crouched a bit
"I- I'm sorry.." he whispered in sadness
"Sorry fills no bellies! I don't know why nightstar made you warrior! you clearly act like an apprentice!
maybe even a kit!" he raised his voice harshly.
Snakeleap looked at the floor in shame
"he's right... it's my fault.." snakeleap thought.
Tigerstripe narrowed his eyes
"now thunderclan will want to raid our camp soon! I'm telling nightstar about this..
I hope you get the punishment you deserve" tigerstripe started padding away and so did the
other warriors, leaving snakeleap alone.
"i'm sorry tigerstripe.. it's my fault."
Chapter twelve
Two days have passed since the border fight, nightstar punished snakeleap by making him
do apprentice chores for a quarter-moon.
Snakeleap was sat beside the elders den looking half tired from hunting for the elders,
It's okay Snakeleap.. You only have one more day to do this.. Then
your punishment is over.. he thought,
then a skinny gray tom with blue eyes padded near the entrance
"hello snakeleap.. I have a favor for you.." he meowed.
Snakeleap glanced at the elder and sighed
"yes snowfoot?" he awnsered,
"our beddings a bit dirty.. and old, is it okay if you go to fetch new ones for us..?"
snowfoot asked,
snakeleap dipped his head and stood us
"okay, I'll fetch new bedding" he meowed,
the elder had concern in his eyes
"it's alright snakeleap.. you only have one more day then your punishment is over"
he explained.
Snakeleap nodded then padded off,
just as he passed near the entrance he could hear the two gaurds
talonclaw a dark brown tabby tom with torn ears and yellow eyes
and darkfoot a black tom with two front white paws and green eyes,
"hey snakeleap? fetching bedding for the elders again? sucks that you can't
go border patrolling or hunting with us"
talonclaw sneered then he and darkfoot laughed,
snakeleap flattend his ears and glared as he was passing out of the entrance
Ugh! he thought.
Snakeleap walked through the forest looking around on trees,
he padded up to one and looked around the tree no sign of moss
"ugh, no moss here" snakeleap muttered to himself,
he then padded off but then he noticed a large den with fences,
This must be Twolegplace Morningrise told me about when I was a kit! snakeleap thought.
Snakeleap padded near the fence but then he heard something near the bushes,
he widen his eyes
What was that? he thought,
Ashpaw if your gonna scare me agin like last time I'll claw you! snakeleap thought glaring.
"Are you a wild cat?" a voice spoke behind snakeleap,
turning he saw a sleek, black she cat with one white paw and blue eyes staring at him.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in fear but then narrowed his eyes
"who are you..?" he asked,
the she cat stood herself up
"oh, my name is midnight, my parents named me that because I was all black with blue bright eyes and
I had one white paw so they named me midnight for that" she explained.
Midnight then leaped from the fence and snakeleap noticed that she had no collar on,
"are you a loner?" snakeleap asked, midnight chuckled
"no I'm a house cat I belong with the up walkers"
snakeleap narrowed his eyes more
"then how come you don't have a collar like most kittypets?" snakeleap asked,
"well some up walkers don't give their cats collars" she explained.
midnight then took a step near snakeleap and sniffed him
"you smell like a riverclan cat" she meowed,
snakeleap widen his eyes in shock
"you know about the clans?" he asked,
midnight nodded "when I was little my mother told me stories about them, thunderclan, shadowclan, riverclan,
and windclan, she always said that they were beasts with fleas and that they killed anyone
who trespassed on their territories
and that they eat bones" she explained
"though.. I don't think their like that."
Snakeleap nodded
"your mother must have bees in her brain if she thinks were like that" snakeleap meowed,
midnight chuckled
"your lucky she ain't here right now, she would go nuts if she heard you talking about her"
snakeleap chuckled,
"so anyway.. what's a clan cat like you doing out far from their camp? are you here for something?"
she asked,
snakeleap nodded
"yea I need new fresh bedding for the elders" he explained.
Midnight nodded
"well, I have some near in my garden! I can get it if you want" she offered,
snakeleap smiled nodding
"yes! I need the bedding!" he meowed,
midnight nodded "well okay let me get them for you"
she then hopped on top of her fence and down running,
then after a few heartbeats she came back with fresh moss in her mouth,
she landed near snakeleap and dropped the moss near his paws,
"here you go!"
Snakeleap nodded
"thank you" he thanked,
midnight dipped her head then she took one step forward
"you seem more different then most wild cats I met, most were like
get out of our territory before we claw you! but you, you seem pretty chill for a wild cat" she meowed,
"well.. it's just you seem chill as well" he meowed.
Midnight nodded
"say.. maybe next moon you can come and visit me again, talk to me more about your life" she smiled,
snakeleap closed his eyes
"this kittypet seems more different then most.. well okay then!" he thought.
"Okay midnight I'll come in the next moon" he awnsered,
midnight let out a loud purr
"thank you so much!"
midnight then leaped back up her fence and turned to glance at him
"it was nice meeting you snakeleap! see you soon!"
she then leaped down the fence and she was gone.
Snakeleap smiled nodding then he grabbed the moss and left,
leaving twolegplace.
When he finally returned tigerstripe padded up to him
"where were you? you were gone for thirty minutes!" he hissed,
"oh.. it was hard finding moss that's all" he lied,
tigerstripe narrowed his eyes at him then turned away "alright then" he murmred.
Tigerstripe padded away and snakeleap felt releif wash him
"thank god he did not figure out.. that kittypet seemed nice.. I'll see her again next moon."
Chapter Thirteen
Snakeleap's eyes open, he found himself standing in the same dark forest as he was
last time.
Snakeleap looked around
"the same place as my dream which means.."
snakeleap heard foot steps behind him and he turned to see the same
black cat he saw before but this time it had red glowing eyes that glared at him.
Snakeleap was then teleported near twoleg place why am I in twoleg place?! he thought with alarm,
he then turned and saw a kit laying in the grass
it was all black and had no eyes,
a kit? where's it's mother? snakeleap thought,
thought.. just as he took a step forward he noticed blood on the kits paws,
what the!? snakeleap thought,
then behind the kit the black cat appeared
"danger is coming.." it whispered
snakeleap widen his eyes and unsheathed his claws
"get out of here! I want nothing to do with you!" he hissed.
"Only it's closest kin can stop it.." the black cat whispered again,
snakeleap crouched as it started padding near snakeleap,
he felt alarm wash him
don't hurt me! snakeleap thought,
he then opened his eyes, he was back in the warriors den,
snakeleap looked around his eyes still wide
it was all a dream.. but what did that cat mean danger is coming? he thought.
Snakeleap then heard a cat pad forward near him,
he turned to see whitepaw who was now whitepelt staring at him,
"snakeleap are you okay? you were hissing and mewling in your sleep"
snakeleap shook his head
"no.. no, i'm fine.. I just had a dream.." he meowed.
Whitepelt tilted his head, clearly snakeleap knew it did not convince him,
"are you sure? you could go to the medicine den if you want" he meowed,
snakeleap stood up
"I'm fine okay.." he whispered,
just as whitepelt could speak he heard alarming yowls,
snakeleap widen his eyes
what was that!? he thought,
whitepelt and snakeleap ran out of the warriors den and then noticed three cats padding in the entrance in camp,
snakeleap reconized sunstar,
next to him was snakeheart and leapfoot.
Snakeleap felt a prickle of worry
I hope they aren't here because of the border clash.. he prayed,
nightstar ran out of her den and padded up to sunstar
"what are you doing sunstar?" she asked,
sunstar glared at nightstar "I'm here to talk to you about your warriors" he meowed,
nightstar hesitated for a heartbeat then she nodded "very well, speak."
"A qauter moon ago, my warriors found your's on our territory hunting!" he hissed,
nighstar looked looked calm "yes I know, tigerstripe told me of a cat who caused the mess"
she glanced at snakeleap and in response, he crouched in fear,
"so I punished him by feeding and cleaning the elders for a qauter moon" she explained.
Sunstar's pelt still bristled in anger
"that's not enough!" he spat,
"punishing a cat by taking care of the elders ain't enough to satisfy me!" he hissed.
Nightstar started to bristle a little
"and who made you in charge of my warriors? I punished snakeleap, he has learned his lesson
what punishment do you want for him?" she asked,
sunstar unsheathed his claws "exile him for a moon!" he hissed,
nightstar narrowed her eyes "you want me to exile a cat for a moon just for crossing
into your border on accident?" she sneered.
In an instant sunstar leaped at nightstar and both of them started fighting,
snakeleap widen his eyes stupid border fight! he hissed in his mind,
nightstar scratched sunstar's face but sunstar tripped her over and then pinned her, his face dripping of blood,
then the deputy highslash leaped at sunstar and clawed at his shoulders,
sunstar yowled, he kicked off the deputy and ran near the entrance with his two warriors behind,
"listen nightstar! if we find your warriors on our territory one more time we'll shred you till there is nothing left of you!"
sunstar ran out of the entrance leaving a tiny trail of blood behind him.
Snakeleap felt a surge of relief thank starclan they left... he thought,
nightstar sat there she had a tiny piece of fur torn out, her face was a bit bloody and she had
a bruised paw.
Highslash ran to her "nightstar! are you okay!?" he hissed in worry
she glanced at him and nodded slowly,
highslash got nightstar up and took her to the medicine den,
tigerstripe glared at snakeleap "well I guess that shows what happens when cats cross
the border, hoped you learned your lesson" he growled then padded off.
Snakeleap glared then stared at the medicine den
then he stared at tigerstripe as he padded to the den to comfort nightstar
i'm sorry nightstar... snakeleap thought.
Chapter Fourteen
Snakeleap got up, his brown pelt was dark, it was nighttime.
He looked around making sure everyone was asleep, all the cats were snoring, no
cat made a move or opened one eye,
snakeleap felt relief and relaxed, okay there asleep, good he thought.
Snakeleap stood up and padded out of the warriors den, he padded through camp and then spotted
two guards sitting there
snakeleap narrowed his eyes,
one of the guards a big brown tabby with two black claws and yellow eyes saw him and glared
"snakeleap? what are you doing awake? your supposed to be asleep" his lips drawn back into a snarl.
Snakeleap's pelt bristled a bit but he forced himself to relax "nightstar sent me on border patrol" he lied,
the other guard, a small tabby she cat with green eyes, tilted her head, "all alone?" she meowed in confusion,
snakeleap nodded
the brown tabby rolled his eyes and flicked his tail "fine, you can pass, I don't even understand nightstar these
days" he muttered.
Snakeleap nodded and passed the entrance, snakeleap then ran through the forest, feeling wind breeze against his
pelt, he ignored the pricks the pricked his paw pads, he needed to see midnight.
After three minutes of running, snakeleap made to the large fence where he last met the kittypet,
snakeleap laid down panting, so... tired he thought,
"hello snakeleap!"
he turned to see midnight sitting on the fence, "you look tired, are you okay?" she asked,
snakeleap nodded "yes don't worry i'm fine" he meowed.
Midnight leaped off the fence "so how is clan life doing?" she asked him,
snakeleap hesitated, he thought about the fight between nightstar and sunstar,
"oh.. it was fine.." he muttered
midnight tilted her head, she looked worried "snakeleap.. did sunstar attack you because of the false
prey stealing?" she asked him. Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, his pelt bristled
"midnight.. how did you know about the false accusion?" he asked,
"oh! well I noticed a large group of cats going to some place so I decided to follow them" she explained.
Snakeleap calmed down a bit "you.. when I was going with my group I saw you" he meowed,
midnight widen her eyes "you did?"
snakeleap nodded.
"so.. I heard one of those cats say gathering, what's a gathering?" midnight asked him,
snakeleap sat down and nodded "a gathering is where all the cats of the clans go every moon,
the clan leaders share what has been happening lately, if they break the truce by fighting starclan will
cover the moon" he explained him.
Midnight nodded, "I wish i was a gathering! it sounds nice!" she exclaimed,
snakeleap chuckled "well, you can always sneak in"
midnight purred.
"anyway, I heard you had guards in your camp, how did you get passed them?" she asked him,
snakeleap smiled
"well i had to lie that i was on border patrol" he explained,
Midnight purred loudly then looked confused "wait.. what are patrols?" she asked,
"well, cats have to patrol the borders day and night, just so the other clans keep out of our territory" he explained,
midnight nodded "shadowclan... riverclan.. thunderclan, and breezeclan" she muttered
"windclan you mean" snakeleap chuckled,
midnight chuckled more,
"sorry, it's been a while since i heard of windclan, well, since i met them before.." she muttered,
snakeleap widen his eyes "you met them? how?" he asked,
"well.. six moons ago I wanted to hunt my own prey for the first time but.. windclan chased me out" she explained.
Snakeleap nodded "I got in trouble for crossing into thunderclan border.." he explained,
midnight frowned "oh, poor you.. sorry about that" she meowed,
snakeleap smiled then he widen his eyes, he got a thought about sunstar saying he found dead prey on his border
"so midnight.. have you been hunting in thunderclan territory..?" he asked her,
midnight shook her head "no.. but, I heard about these two dogs, their twolegs let them out once a week,
they might of been hunting in their territory.." she explained.
Snakeleap nodded "thanks, I can tell nightstar about the dogs" he meowed,
midnight smiled, she purred, snakeleap did the same
this kittypet seems great... he thought.
But just as one of them could speak snakeleap heard noises behind him, turning he saw a large maple twoleg padding
up to them, midnight bristled "that's my twoleg you should go now!" she hissed, snakeleap was about to run but
he felt the twolegs paws grab him,
snakeleap yowled "get off me you stinking twoleg!"
the twoleg started lifting him up, midnight yowled in alarm,
snakeleap tried wriggling free but nothing worked,
oh starclan help me! he thought, the twoleg smiled and started patting his head,
snakeleap glared,
the twoleg then started padding to his den, still holding snakeleap,
midnight stood there, alarm shot in her eyes,
snakeleap looked up at the glowing stars, "starclan help me!"
Chapter Fifteen
Snakeleap stood in a forest, the cold wind breezed through his pelt which made him shiver,
he looked around then his eyes widen i'm at the forest? he thought.
Snakeleap sniffed the air and he smelled something, a river clan patrol!
riverclan patrol? snakeleap thought, then he turned from confusion to exited my clanmates are near! I must greet them! he thought.
Snakeleap was about to run but then he felt his eyes open and he was laying on the soft floor,
snakeleap's eyes were widen then he re remembered and sighed with disgust,
ugh I forgot.. i'm in a twoleg den.. he thought.
Snakeleap turned and saw a small fire,
he felt alarm wash in him and his fur bristled "the two leg den is on fire!" he yowled,
"no silly, that's just the fireplace, the fire is kept in it's place and does not spread"
a voice explained,
turning he saw midnight sitting on a large, wide red, soft thing.
Snakeleap felt the fear rush out instantly and he narrowed his eyes "what are you sitting on?" he asked,
"oh this?" midnight looked down on what she was sitting on then back at snakeleap "that's a couch,
two legs like to sit on them sometimes" she explained.
Snakeleap leaped up on the couch and sat next to her and looked around "I wish this was just a dream.." he muttered
under his breath,
midnight then glanced at her paws "i'm sorry my two legs took you here" she apoligized, "I never saw them coming and
I understand you want to be with your clanmates."
Snakeleap then widen his eyes in alarm "my clanmates!" he hissed,
his pelt started to bristle once again, I forgot about them! they'll be so worried about me! he thought,
snakeleap then stood up and shot an apologetic glance at Midnight, "i'm sorry midnight I need to go! my
clanmates will be worried about me so bye!" Snakeleap leaped off the couch and started running
"wait!" midnight yowled but he did not listen, snakeleap paused and looked around, then he spotted a clear sqaure
that showed the blue sky, an escape! he thought,
Snakeleap ran near the window and crouched, gathering all the boost he can, he got ready and then leaped
at the sqaure, but then he felt his face hit something, his face splashed with pain and he fell off, landing
on his back.
Snakeleap clenched his teeth and the pain on his face, "gah!" he spat,
Midnight leaped over to him and nudged him "that was a window, they have a clear wall, I didn't think you were
that dumb!" she meowed,
snakeleap felt shame burn in his pelt but then midnight started to chuckle "don't worry snakeleap!
that happens to me sometimes and some cats when they visit here!"
Snakeleap nodded and then stood up, still feeling pain on his face,
midnight looked worried "I can get a two leg to help you if you want.." she murmured,
snakeleap shook his head "I need to escape.." he whispered,
then he felt more alarm go in him and he started to bristle more and his eyes widen
'I need to get back! I have to!" he yowled, midnight widen her eyes and glared
"calm down snakeleap! yowling about it won't make you escape!" she hissed.
Snakeleap glared at her then he started breathing slowly and started calming down and his pelt bristled less,
"okay fine, your right but.. how will I get back,, they'll be worried about me.." he meowed,
midnight smiled and wrapped his tail around her's "it's okay snakeleap" she meowed
"you can get out, maybe I can help you escape as well,"
snakeleap stared at her then smiled back, then he heard walking noises.
Turning he saw the tall male two leg from last night,
snakeleap bristled and hissed "you kidnapped me you fox heart!" he hissed.
The two leg looked alarm but then he reached out his two pink paws towards him,
snakeleap unsheathed his claws and swiped one paw near the two leg
"get away from me!" he spat,
midnight ran in front of him "calm down snakeleap! just let him pick you up, you'll be alright" she meowed,
snakeleap wanted to protest but kept his jaws shut, he took one step near the two leg with his claws sheathed,
the two leg grabbed him and lifted him up.
The two leg padded to a near by red couch,
he sat down and started petting snakeleap,
snakeleap glared then groaned
I can't stay here forever.. he thought
I must find a way out!
Chapter 16
Snakeleap layed on the couch, two days has passed since he was kidnapped, snakeleap
stared at the ceiling looking worried,
I must get out! he thought
Just as snakeleap can continue to think Midnight ran near him, she looked exited "Our two legs feeding us!" she meowed
"come!" she then turned around and ran,
snakeleap rolled his eyes and then stood up and leaped from the couch,
I hope it's fresh fish.. he thought.
Snakeleap followed to the kitchen and saw a tall, female twoleg grabbing a bag,
she then came to the dishes and started pouring brown pellets in,
Midnight sat there waiting looking happy while snakeleap stood their confused,
when the twoleg was done pouring she left, leaving midnight and snakeleap alone.
Midnight started eating the brown pellets, snakeleap could hear the crunching and the purring from midnight,
he took a step near his dish and stared at the brown pellets, he narrowed his eyes and started sniffing them,
they smell weird.. i'm gonna give them a try.. he thought,
snakeleap dipped his head into the bowl and crunched on some pellets.
Snakeleap's pelt bristled and in an instant he clawed at the flour and forced himself to swallow, the
pellets tasted bittersweet and dry, finally he swallowed the pellets,
"dear starclan these pellets taste disgusting!" he spat in disgust, "how do you eat these?"
midnight shrugged "they just taste good" she replied,
snakeleap wrinkled his nose "how do they taste so good to you?" he asked,
"they just do okay, we have our own likings" midnight meowed.
Snakeleap glared and turned around "yea, well I'm not eating those pellets,
i'll just go hunt prey" he growled,
midnight shrugged "more food for me then" she meowed in dilight,
snakeleap rolled his eyes "have fun" he muttered, he started padding away near the door,
but snakeleap trie getting past the small square at the bottom of the door but it seemed to not moved,
"great, the cat flap is locked! he thought with annoyance,
this is gonna be embrassing! snakeleap muttered under his breath.
Snakeleap gathered all the strengh and finally he started meowing loudly,
midnight flattened her eyes while eating, but snakeleap continued and finally the female twoleg came,
she seemed to be speaking but snakeleap couldn't understand a word,
the two leg crouched in front of the catflap and snakeleap couldn't see what she was doing,
finally she moved and the catflap was open
nice! maybe twolegs aren't that dumb! snakeleap thought with joy.
He then stepped out and looked around,
snakeleap sniffed the air
fresh air! he thought with dilight,
snakeleap walked around looking for prey,
as he climed over a fence by clawing up he spotted a jay bird hopping around,
snakeleap glared ah! a nice juicy bird! he thought,
snakeleap crouched and started crawling towards the bird,
he licked his lips as if he ate some prey,
he narrowed his eyes dumb bird.. does not even notice me.. he thought.
Snakeleap crawled closer to it and then unsheathed his claws
say goodbye bird! he thought,
but just as snakeleap could pounce a hard blow knocked him to the side,
he hit the fence causing his shoulder to hurt,
what the..?! he thought with shock,
snakeleap tried to stand but but he falled weakly,
he then turned his head and saw a large, brown tabby tom with a black tip tail,
four large black paws, and orange eyes, he wore a red collar around his neck,
a kittypet! snakeleap thought.
The brown tabby took a step forward, "who are you intruder?" he growled,
snakeleap finally stood up and tried to remain calm, his shoulder still stinged,
"my name is snakeleap" he answered, the kittypet tilted his head "what kind of name is snakeleap?" he sneered,
snakeleap glared but still stood in his place "who are you?" he asked,
the kittypet narrowed his eyes "and why should I tell you my name huh?" he growled,
snakeleap felt anger burn in his pelt "you don't have to be rude, all I want is to know your name kittypet!"
The brown cat widen his eyes "kittypet..?" he whispered,
then in an instant the cat's face turned into sheer rage and his pelt bristled more,
"YOUR A WILD CAT!" he yowled, "your from the forest! no wonder the name you have!
you shouldn't have come here! get ready to be taught a lesson for trespassing wild cat!" the cat snarled as he
unsheathed his claws, snakeleap widen his eyes in alarm "shoot!" he thought,
before he had time to react the kittypet launched himself at snakeleap and clawed at his back pelt,
snakeleap hissed in pain, feeling blood pour.
Snakeleap managed to kick the kittypet off from him, the tom landed on his back with an oof!
the kittypet instantly got up and again launched himself at him,
snakeleap managed to dodge and heard him curse,
snakeleap then leaped at the kittypet and hit an aim at his muzzle,
the kittypet yowled and ducked away from him.
Snakeleap was about to attack but then he felt a slash of pain on his stomach,
"agh!" he yowled,
snakeleap ran near a bush and looked at his stomach, he saw a large scratch mark on his stomach,
he clawed my stomach! he thought with shock,
before he could move the kittypet launched at snakeleap, grabbed him by the scruff, and flung him to a twoleg den wall.
Snakeleap tried to stand up but his back hurted and he stayed in his position,
snakeleap stared at the kittypet "dude! why are you attacking me! I was just hunting I didn't know
this was your territory!" he yowled, but the kittypet remained hostile "lies!" he screeched,
the kittypet launched himself at him but snakeleap kicked him away and the cat landed
on his back revealing his belly,
his stoumach is revealed! his weak spot! he thought,
snakeleap crouched and then leaped at the kittypet and started clawing at his stomach,
the kittypet yowled and managed to kick him off,
sadly the kittypet didn't look weakened yet and still remained brave,
this kittypet is strong! I can't beat him! I need to escape! he thought.
Snakeleap tried to run but the kittypet ran and shoved him to the wall,
the kittypet started aiming hard kicks at his ribs,
snakeleap grunted with pain and after a heartbeat he kicked him off,
snakeleap ignored the pain in his ribs and launched at the kittypet,
the brown tom dodged quickly and snakeleap landed on the soft grass.
Snakeleap stood up slowly and looked around but the kittypet was gone
where can he be now?! he thought.
Then a hard blow knocked snakeleap off his paws
the brown tom was back,
the kittypet clawed at snakeleap's hindlegs causing him to yowl in pain,
snakeleap managed to kick him off and the kittypet this time landed on his paws,
snakeleap tried to run but it was too much pain for him and he felt weak,
the kittypet shoved snakeleap near the fence and then back to where he layed,
the kittypet kept shoving him around like a toy,
the tom then pinned snakeleap to the ground, the kittypet had a mocking smile on his face,
"I didn't know wild cats were this weak" he sneered,
snakeleap aimed a blow at the kittypet's cheek but it was a weak blow.
the kittypet leaned his muzzle near snakeleap's face and he could feel hot breath hit his face,
"it's time this fight ends don't you agree? I had fun playing with you, now it's time it ends, say goodbye
to your life wild cat" he growled scornfully.
Snakeleap closed his eyes waiting for his death,
good bye riverclan... he thought,
but then he felt the kittypet's weight vanish,
snakeleap opened his eyes and saw midnight snading in front of the kittypet,
"what are you doing here midnight!?" he growled,
midnight lashed her tail side to side, her pelt was bristling, snakeleap never saw her this angry before,
she saved me! he thought with relief.
"Why are you attacking him henry! he did no harm!' she hissed.
Henry snorted in disbelif "your seriously defending a wild cat?"
midnight lashed a claw at henry's face, causing blood to splat on the grass,
henry crouched, blood dripped from his face "midnight! he'll kill you! he's a wild cat they can't be trusted!
they eat bones, have fleas, and kill any cat including house cats like you!" he hissed.
Midnight hissed "that's just rumors! their not true! I've been with snakeleap long enough to know
he is a nice cat! and you should respect him!"
snakeleap stared at midnight in shocked then smiled Midnight.. I, I don't know what to say.. he thought.
Henry growled "that's just lies! your being lied to you idiot!"
"there not lies! you should-"
"MOUSE BRAIN!" henry lashed out and midnight and aimd a blow at her scruff,
snakeleap widen his eyes then felt sheer rage burn into him and his pain felt invisible to him,
"DON'T TOUCH MIDNIGHT!" he yowled, snakeleap shoved henry away, causing him to land on his back.
Snakeleap leaped on top of henry and started clawing at his chest, he felt blood spill on his paws,
henry yowled of pain,
snakeleap cuffed the kittypet's ears and kicked him near a fence,
henry's ears were now bleeding and his face dripped blood on the grass,
just as he was about to do something snakeleap launched at him and clawed at his back,
henry cursed out loud and managed to kick snakeleap off.
Snakeleap then looked at henry's tail
this battle ends now! he thought,
snakeleap launched at henry and bit his tail hard with all his strengh,
henry screeched in pain
"GET OFF ME GET OFF ME!"
Snakeleap let go and faced henry
"leave now!" he hissed,
henry looked shock then he glared
"fine! hunt here for all I care! trespass on my territory I don't care! all you are is a scrawny excuse for a cat!"
he hissed,
henry ran to his catflap and entered the den leaving a tiny blood trail behind.
Snakeleap nodded with relief he's gone now, gone... he thought,
snakeleap turned to midnight who was standing there, blood dripped from her scruff,
she padded up to him "i'm sorry henry attacked you, he's vicious with cats these days.." she meowed,
she then looked at snakeleap and her eyes widen in shock
"snakeleap your bleeding!" she whispered,
snakeleap looked at his wounds but he tried to remain calm "no.. I'm fine.. I-"
his sentence was cutoff as he felt pain around him and he laid on the grass,
"your not fine snakeleap! I'll take you to my twolegs! they'll heal you up in no time!"
she meowed.
Midnight picked up snakeleap and started carrying him back,
snakeleap stared up at midnight then at the grass
"thank starclan she's safe.." he thought but then a dark thought came
but what if henry returns?... what if he tries to kill us?
snakeleap worried for a second then he started to turn calm
no, no.. henry won't ever return... ever.
Chapter seventeen
Snakeleap padded through a forest, this time the sky had stars that shined brightly.
he looked around confused, where is that black cat? he thought.
As he glanced to his right he saw a shiny white cat sitting there, her back turned,
"hello?" snakeleap meowed, the glowing cat still sat in it's place,
snakeleap felt his pelt bristle a bit,
"leave.." the cat whispered,
snakeleap widen his eyes "what?" he asked,
the bright cat turned around and showed that it was faceless "leave the place.." it whispered again.
As snakeleap was about to speak he felt a paw touch his shoulder,
his eyes opened wide and saw Midnight sitting in front of him
"how are your wounds feeling?" she asked,
snakeleap then remembered the fight with henry yesterday, how he almost got killed,
he turned to his stomach where the large wound was, he touched it and in an instant, pain slashed through his stomach,
he clenched his teeth until the pain died away,
"it looks like my wounds still hurt.." he murmured.
Midnight still remained calm, he guessed that she was not surprised,
she then sighed "well today I found a cat that knows about medicine, he can heal you" she meowed,
snakeleap tilted his head, "but.. what about the two leg you said would heal me..?" he asked.
Midnight looked down at her paws in shame
"well.. I tried telling them but.. they just walked away" midnight meowed though her voice sounded
a little angry,
she then stood up, "anyway, want me to get the cat?" she asked,
snakeleap thought long then he nodded,
midnight purred then leaped from the couch and ran to the kitchen,
I wonder who this cat is snakeleap wondered.
After a minute midnight appeared and behind her was a tall, sleak, tom with full black pelt, one white paw,
and green gazing eyes.,
the tom leaped on the couch next to snakeleap and dipped his head
"hello there, my name is Crow, i'm a loner but I have great knowledge about herbs" he meowed.
Snakeleap dipped his head back "oh, hello then" he murmured, a loner? should I trust him..? he thought,
midnight leaped on the couch next to crow, "he came to me when i was looking for help, he says
he knows about herbs and can heal you" she explained,
crow padded in front of snakeleap "midnight, I would kindly like you to get off the couch
and let me work on snakeleap please" he ordered,
midnight nodded and leaped off the couch, crow then sat next to snakeleap
"so tell me, are you bleeding and do you have any wounds?" he asked,
snakeleap nodded and showed him his stomach wound, his torn back fur, and his right ear
which was torn a little bit, he also told him about his bellyache he had since yesterday and his right eye hurting
a bit.
Crow nodded "okay let me fetch my herbs will quick" he turned near the window at the back of the couch and
dipped his head near the bottom, when he came back, he holded some herbs in his jaws,
he grabbed a yellow flower with four petals,
"these are celandine, they help soothe weakened eyes" he explained,
snakeleap nodded in intrest,
"now show me your right eye and let me apply it" he meowed,
snakeleap crouched a bit and showed his right eye,
crow then crunched the celandine and juice trickled into snakeleap's right eye,
snakeleap closed his left eye and allowed the juice into his eye.
Once it was done Crow then turned and grabbed some purple blue berries,
"these are juniper berries" he meowed, "they can help with bellyaches, help trouble breathing,
and give strengh" he explained.
Snakeleap nodded, Crow then pushed the berries to snakeleap's paws,
"now, I want you to eat them" he meowed,
snakeleap crouched and took some bites, Thank starclan these don't have to go in my eye he thought.
Crow nodded in pleasure, "ah, you did well" he then turned to midnight who was sitting there watching,
"midnight!" he called "I want you to come here for a second" he meowed, midnight nodded and leaped up on the couch,
crow grabbed something behind him and he holded a yellow flower,
"this is marigold, it helps cure infected wounds, if not too late, you have to chew the petals, or.. leaves
into poultice, use this on snakeleap's wounds if they are infected" he explained.
Midnight widen her eyes in intrest then nodded "okay sir" she meowed.
Crow smiled then he turned a tiny bit serious "now... midnight... I want you to leave us alone.. so I can have a talk
with your friend snakeleap.. wait outside" he murmured,
midnight nodded 'well.. okay" she meowed then leaped off the couch and padded away,
what does crow want to talk to me about? snakeleap thought,
crow then turned to snakeleap "now that midnight is gone... it's time we talked" he meowed 'in a low voice
which sent a chill down snakeleap's spine,
crow took a step forward and his face was serious "listen snakeleap, your not meant to be here..
I want you to escape this place and never come back.." he said,
snakeleap widen his eyes a bit "what do you mean?" he asked in a low voice,
"you know what I mean snakeleap.." he meowed "this place is not safe.. go back to the clans,
never visit this place... ever" he growled.
Snakeleap bristled in fear, "but.. what about midnight..?" he asked,
"stop visiting her as well.." crow meowed, he then leaped off the couch and started padding away,
he pasued and glanced at snakeleap
"trust me, it's for you're own good" he meowed.
Crow padded out and was gone,
snakeleap layed there, still frightened and confused about what he said,
what does he mean it's for my own good? he thought,
midnight padded in, "what did crow talk to you about?" she asked, sounding concern,
snakeleap didn't want to tell her about crow telling him to leave
"well.. he told me to take care of my wounds.." he lied.
Midnight closed her eyes and nodded "makes sense, i'll leave you alone now.. get some rest" she meowed,
as she padded off, snakeleap couldn't help wonder what crow meant,
i'll leave tonight crow.. but i'll still visit midnight.
Chapter eighteen
Snakeleap opened his eyes, he looked behind him at the window and saw the moon shine,
this place is not safe... go back to the clans, never visit this place.. ever.
Crow's words rang in snakeleap's mind since yesterday, he couldn't stop thinking about
what he told him, snakeleap stood up and glared,
he's right, I need to leave, go back to where my true home lies! he thought,
this was the night he would leave,
snakeleap then thought about midnight, how worried she would be,
I may be leaving.. but i'll still visit you.. I promise he thought.
Snakeleap leaped from the couch and started padding to the kitchen,
his bellyache and his eye felt better since crow gave him herbs,
snakeleap saw the catflap, I hope it's not locked.. he thought,
he took a step forward and reached his paw at the catflap,
to his surprise the catflap opened,
those twolegs forgot to lock the catflap! he thought.
He padded out the catflap and felt grass touch his paws, he was outside,
the wind breezed through his fur, the stars shined brightly across the sky.
The outside world! he thought,
snakeleap padded towards the fence and leaped on top of it, he looked to his right and
near a twoleg den he saw henry sleeping next to a window,
snakeleap glared, he got thoughts about the fight with him,
well i'm leaving! he thought.
Just as snakeleap was about to leap he heard a voice behind him,
"snakeleap?"
he turned and saw midnight standing there,
she took a step forward and asked "what are you doing on the fence? you should be sleeping
it's nighttime."
Snakeleap stared at his paws then glanced back at midnight, "i'm leaving.." he meowed at last,
midnight wide her eyes a bit in astonishment, "leaving.." she whispered,
snakeleap nodded, feeling shame run down his pelt.
"but.. why? you could of stayed here all you wanted.. I would be glad letting you stay" midnight murmured,
snakeleap nodded then leaped down the fence and padded towards her
"I like this place, and I like you, I really do" he meowed then glanced back the fence,
"but my home is not here.. my clanmates are worried about me.. I must return.. my home is not in twoleg place, my home is in the forest.. I hope you understand that.." he explained,
Midnight did not say a word for a minute, then she nodded and took a step forward,
"I understand" she meowed,
"I know that your destiny lies in the forest and not in twoleg place, you'll still visit me right?" she asked.
Snakeleap smiled and nodded "i'll still visit you" he meowed, he then padded towards the fence and leaped on top of it,
he shot a last glance at midnight smiling, then he leaped down on the grass,
in front of him was the forest, his home.
You made the right choice snakeleap he thought,
snakeleap shot a last glance at the fence then he started running towards the forest.
Chapter nineteen
Snakeleap ran through the forest, feeling wind slide through his fur.
I'm coming clanmates! he thought.
Snakeleap scented Riverclan camp near, he was close.
Then as he was about to think he bumped into something soft, "hey watch it!" a cat hissed.
Turning Snakeleap saw Tigerstripe in front of him along with owleye and Whitepelt.
Tigerstripe hissed but then his eyes widen in shock as he stared at Snakeleap,
"s- Snakeleap.. is that you?" he stuttered in shock.
Snakeleap nodded, Owleye along with Tigerstripe were shocked while Whitepelt
bristled with exitement and ran up to snakeleap purring,
"Snakeleap your back!" he yowled, rubbing against snakeleap's chest.
Tigerstripe nodded then narrowed his eyes "where have you been?" he asked,
snakeleap padded in front of Tigerstripe "i'll talk to the leader, may I come?" he asked.
Tigerstripe hesitated then nodded, turning away, and flicking his tail.
Snakeleap followed him, whitepelt was still purring while owleye was saying nothing,
owleye turne to snakeleap while padding "it's good to have you back young warrior" he meowed, dipping his head.
Two minutes later they were back at camp, Tigerstripe jumped down and instantly padded
into the leaders den,
he must be telling nightstar the news snakeleap thought,
then some of his clanmates started noticing him and their eyes went shock, cats were murmuring
"is that snakeleap?"
"where has he been?"
"he better have a good explanation to his sudden disappear."
Snakeleap nodded, Nightstar padded out of the den and leaped on the boulder, staring down at Snakeleap.
Highslash sat next to he,
"may all warriors old and young come here beneath the boulder for a meeting!" nightstar called,
in an instant, all the cats padded around, Ashpaw who was now Ashheart sat closer to the boulder
with Wetpaw who was now Wetfoot at his side.
Gingerpaw who was now Gingerfluff sat near Snakeleap along with Morningrise and Rabbithop.
"Today a warrior who went missing for a while has returned!" nightstar announced,
shocked yowls greeted her. and some hissed.
Nightstar raised her tail for silence then glanced at Snakeleap.
"now," she begun "snakeleap, where have you been?" she asked,
Highslash bristled "you better have a good explanation to this" he hissed softly.
Snakeleap thought about how he sneaked out to meet midnigh and got captured,
he thought of a lie and after a heartbeat he found one.
"Actually I do" he meowed, "I went on border patrol to check the borders, but then a twoleg captured me! I had to stay for a few days cause it kept in a cage, luckily it left my lock open and I escaped" he explained.
Shocked yowls rose in the air, Ashheart bristled "so you were a kittypet!?" he hissed with disgust,
Wetfoot glared at snakeleap, his pelt bristling as well.
Highslash glared at him, after two minutes nightstar raised her tail and the yowls died away.
"so you were captured, that explains everything" she meowed,
"but you did miss out on hunting and border patrolling, and you went on border patrol without
my permission, i'll let my cats vote on wether you can stay or not" she announced.
Nightstar then raised her attention at her warriors "so clanmates! should we keep snakeleap or not!" she yowled,
Morningrise nodded "I would always forgive my son no matter what, he should stay!" she meowed.
Rabbithop nodded "I agree with my mate!" he yowled at nightstar, some of the warriors nodded but
then Ashheart rose his voice in the air
"why should we keep a traitor! he spent some time as a kittypet! we should exile him and send
him back to his kittypet life!" he yowled,
"I mean, why let him stay! it's obvious he's just gonna get captured again! he missed out on hunting and protecting his clan! get rid of him!" ashheart yowled.
Wetfoot nodded and some yowls rose in the air of agreement,
Snakeleap glared at ashheart and his fur bristled with anger
how dare he! he thought with anger.
But then Gingerfluff's voice rose in the air which died the yowls
"he is still loay to Riverclan no matter what!" she yowled
"he may have been captured and missed some time but he deserves a second chance!" she yowled,
some cats nodded and Whitepelt meowed "I mean, why blame him, it's the twoleg that captured him" he murmured.
Lizardtail nodded and stared at her two kits "plus, he saved my kit a while ago, I should be grateful" she meowed,
staring at her kits with love.
Rabbithop glared at ashheart "your argument is weak ashheart! snakeleap is staying wether you like it or not!" he snarled "he is my son!"
Ashheart glared at rabbithop and unsheathed his claws, before he could say anything Nightstar raised her tail and meowed
"I have made my choice" she begun softly, "and I say... Snakeleap may return to Riverclan" she announced.
Some of the cats cheered while some just padded back to their dens, Ashheart glared at Snakeleap, his pelt bristling, he then stood up and padded to his den with wetfoot padding behind him.
morningrise padded next to snakeleap "Ashheart must have a furball stuck in his throat" she teased then padded off.
Highslash nodded at snakeleap while Tigerstripe glared at him
"it better not happen again" he growled,
Snakeleap nodded "I promise" he meowed.
As the other warriors padded to their dens, snakeleap followed,
he gathered some moss from outside and carried it inside.
He started making the bedding and heard Ashheart muttering to himself "that leader has nuts in her brain..
Snakeleap rolled his eyes in annoyance, finally when he was done he laid down, but he couldn't sleep.
I hope midnight is alright.. he thought.
Don't worry, I'll visit you in a quater moon,
I promise.
Chapter twenty
Snakeleap felt a paw prod his shoulder, his eyes opened in slits.
Turning he saw Rabbithop standing over him,
"time to go to the gathering" he whispered.
Snakeleap opened his eyes more though still feeling tired,
Already two days passed... time speeds up quick he thought.
Snakeleap stretched, yawning then nodded at Rabbithop
"alright" he meowed,
Rabbithop nodded and padded out of the entrance.
Snakeleap crawled out and saw Whitepelt waiting for him,
"did Nightstar choose you to go to the gathering?" he asked, tilting his head.
Snakeleap nodded and Whitepelt smiled
"nice!" he sqeaked.
As Nightstar called for her chosen cats to come with her, Snakeleap padded beside Whitepelt.
While padding through the dark, misty forest, Snakeleap leaned over Whitepelt,
"so.. is Ashheart coming?" he asked,
Whitepelt shook his head "he was chosen to stay and guard the camp tonight" he answered proudly.
Snakeleap felt a small prickle of relief but only nodded and said nothing.
Snakeleap pricked his ears up as he heard cats in the distance talking and laughing,
guess were close then he thought,
Once the cats made it, Snakeleap sat near his clanmates and Whitepelt sat beside him.
Snakeleap then turned to talk to Whitepelt
"so what happened when I was gone?" he asked,
Whitepelt closed his eyes "Eh, Nightstar sent out finding patrols for you and they did smell a bit of your scent,
but they of course couldn't find you."
Snakeleap turned his gaze away, he stared at some other cats who were talking with eachother.
He took a step closer to hear what they were saying,
"I heard they found their missing warrior again!" one of them, a brown tabby with green eyes meowed,
"dang, I never thought that cat would come back" the other one a black tom with orange eyes meowed.
A silver gray tom with blue eyes took a step forward, his eyes gleaming with mischeif,
"I heard that his scent was found near twoleg place" he sneered,
the other two cats gasped
"really? no way!" the tabby laughed,
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes.
The black tom chuckled "I bet that cat wants to become a kittypet or something!"
"yea! we all know kittypets live easy life's being lazy" the silver tom sighed.
Snakeleap glared and thought about Midnight
not all of them are lazy! he thought with anger, but the cats continued,
"not only are they lazy but they also eat kittypet slop!" the tabby meowed with disgust.
The black tom winkled his nose and his pelt bristled,
"disgusting!" he spat, "I heard they taste awful!"
The silver tom chuckled
"maybe that's the life that the cat wants" he sneered.
Snakeleap felt rage build in him and his claws scraped the earth floor,
as he was about to confront them he heard Whitepelt's voice behind him,
"take it easy snakeleap, save that anger for your next battle."
Snakeleap took deep breaths and started to calm down,
but when he turned to face Whitepelt snakeleap felt all the blood turn to ice,
the black cat from his dreams was with whitepelt circiling him.
Whitepelt didn't seem to notice and looked fine,
"Darkness is coming..." the black cat whispered "only it's closest kin can stop it."
snakeleap bristled
leave!
but then when he blinked the cat was gone.
"you okay snakeleap?" whitepelt asked,
snakeleap tried to calm down and then he nodded slowly.
Then Blindstar's yowl made all of the cats silence,
he took a step forward "welcome all to the gathering! it's nice for all of you to be here" Blindstar dipped his head.
He turned to Nightstar and nodded,
"two days ago our missing warrior has returned!" she announced and glanced at snakeleap in the crowd,
snakeleap nodded but couldn't get that black cat out od his mind,
only it's closest kin can stop it.... his words rang in his mind.
As nightstar meowed about prey running well, sunstar took a step forward,
"Prey has been fine aswell, but more prey has been found!" he glared at Nightstar.
"don't accuse us! it was the dogs! snakeleap told me it was the dogs that killed the prey!" she hissed,
"prove it!" a thunderclan she cat yowled at nightstar.
Nightstar nodded
"snakeleap reported to me that on some nights the dogs are let loose in twoleg place,
they also like to eat prey and are very dangerous, they could be the ones killing your prey sunstar" she glared at him with challenge in her eyes.
"Foolish proof!" he spat, "you can't ever trust snakeleap! not since the border clash, and how he was a
kittypet for a while! he could be a lier!" he hissed.
"Liar!"
"Liar!"
cats yowled in the air all around him,
snakeleap crouched and bristled with fear and anger, he could feel Whitepelt bristling next to him,
they think i'm lying! he thought with alarm.
Nightstar raised her tail "enough!" she yowled,
when the voices went down she turned to Sunstar,
"no warrior of mine would lie!" she hissed, "riverclan is leaving this gathering, we are doing extra border patrolling from now on, just so your warriors don't even think about trying to attack us!"
Nightstar leaped from the highledge and gathered her warriors, Sunstar stared at her codly but said nothing.
Snakeleap padded next to whitepelt and his fur was still bristling,
extra patrolling... next moon I must be careful.. Or I'm dead!
Chapter twenty one
"Got you!" Snakeleap prodded at midnight,
she chuckled "not fair!"
Snakeleap nodded 'is fair!" he laughed,
Midnight crouched and then springed at Snakeleap, causing him to roll over
and Midnight stood on his chest lightly.
"I win!" she cheered.
Midnight got off and Snakeleap stood up puffing,
"wow! despite me being in a clan your fast!" he gasped, trying to catch air.
Midnight nodded "I had pratice with my mother when I was a kit" she admitted and she layed down on the moor,
Snakeleap padded and layed down next to her, "do you.. have siblings?" he asked.
Midnight nodded slowly "well yea but.. well.. let me tell you a story" she meowed.
"A while ago my mother was mates with a tom, the tom loved her but she sorta did not,
late she gave birth to his kits which were my siblings.
A moon later she met my father Hal, A big black tom with blue eyes and two white ears.
She truly loved her and Hal loved her back. later she had me only, her former mate figured out about me and her new mate and so one night he attacked my father in rage.
Hal managed to kill him but... he broke up with my mother cause he discovered about her former mate.
Hal left, leaving the kits with my mother, she was alone now.
My siblings.. bullied me.. because they were older then me and.. about my father hal.."
she explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart ache and he got closer to her until he can feel her warm her,
"I had siblings to, but they both died.. one was a stillborn while the other caught greencough and died.." he explained.
Midnight turned to him with sadness in her eyes,
"oh snakeleap, I'm sorry to hear that.." she whispered.
Snakeleap nodded, "it's alright, I got used to having no siblings.." he meowed.
He then stared at the sky and the stars shined and he widened his eyes,
"looks like starclan is watching us.." he murmured.
"starclan?" midnight meowed in confusion in intrest, "what's starclan?" she asked him.
Snakeleap let out a big sigh and then explained,
"well, starclan is our dead ancestors, they watch over us and look after us.
It's where good cats go, if they follow the warrior code and behave.
But.. when they are forgotten they fade away.."
Midnight nodded then looked serious and worried,
"and.. what about the bad?" she meowed, "where do they go?" she asked.
"They go to the dark forest, also known as the place of no stars. basically it's wher cats who did to much harm and suffering go,
there forced to walk alone with nobody and there is no stars or prey there.." he explained.
"Sad.." Midnight murmured,
"So.. how was the gathering?" she asked,
Snakeleap then looked worried "well..! Thunderclan still thinks were stealing prey.. and.. just to make sure they don't attack us, Nightstar sent out extra border patrols.." he explained.
Midnight stood up shocked, "what!? then.. how can you visit me again..?" she asked worried.
Snakeleap looked down "I guess we stop visiting each other for a while.." he murmured.
Midnight widen her eyes, "but.. I'll miss you!" she whispered.
Snakeleap flattened his ears then a thought came in his mind, "you.. can join our clan" he offered,
Midnight looked shocked at his offer and stood still.
"Snakeleap.. I would like to join, but... my twoleg will miss me, besides, I like hearing stories about clans
but not living in it.." she explained.
Snakeleap felt disapointed at the rejection but said nothing, "well your choice then" he meowed.
Snakeleap looked up and saw it was almost morning, "I should proably get back.. my clan will wonder where I am"
he meowed and started to pad off.
"wait snakeleap!" Midnight called, "you'll visit me soon right?" she meowed padding in front of him.
Snakeleap stared at her then nodded "when the patrols died down a bit I will" he meowed,
Midnight purred and rubbed her head against his chest.
Snakeleap purred then started padding off.
As he walked through the forest he smelled a cat scent,
Is someone else here.. it can't be Midnight he thought.
Then when he turned he saw The black cat behind him,
"You!" Snakeleap hissed,
"darkness is coming.." it whispered.
Snakeleap bristled "stop stalking me and leave me alone!" he hissed, padding off.
I should ignore that cat..
Ignore him..
Chapter twenty two
Two days have passed, Snakeleap laid curled in his nest.
His eyes were shut tight and his ears were flat,
I hope Nightstar stops sending extra patrols... he thought.
Then a shadow loomed over him and snakeleap felt annoyance tug him,
oh starclan, so help me if it's that black cat again then I swear I'll-
"uh.. Snakeleap?" a voice meowed.
Snakeleap opened one eye and saw Whitepelt standing over him,
"oh! it's just you, thank starclan.." he murmured as he let out a sigh of relief.
Whitepelt tilted his head "who did you think it was mouse brain?" he asked confused,
Snakeleap stared at him then glanced away,
"eh, I thought.. you were Sunstar, that's all" he murmured.
Whitepelt chuckled then his gaze turned serious,
"snakeleap.. I want you to come outside and follow me as far, so that we can have a talk" he meowed.
Hmm.. far away from my clanmates.. what is Whitepelt up too..? he thought.
Snakeleap streched and let out a yawn then he nodded
"yea sure.." he murmured,
Whitepelt nodded and padded outside the warriors den.
Snakeleap padded after him, trying not to wake up the warriors.
Whitepelt and Snakeleap padded out the entrance and ran through the forest.
Snakeleap tried to keep up but Whitepelt seemed to be ahead of him.
Snakeleap crawled through a bush and felt a spider web grab on to his face,
"err!" he hissed, shaking the cob web off and continued to follow Whitepelt.
Finally Whitepelt stopped and crouched down on the grass and sticks,
Snakeleap sat down, he was panting and he felt his claws dig the floor.
"thank starclan we stopped running!" he sighed with relief,
Whitepelt nodded then he narrowed his eyes,
"so snakeleap, where were you two days ago last night?" he asked.
Snakeleap tilted his head then glared a bit,
"I was border patrolling, making sure no thunderclan cats were on our territory" he lied,
"you know them, they think were stealing prey."
Whitepelt glared "lier.." he whispered,
snakeleap started to feel his pelt bristle a bit
what's he up too.? he thought.
Whitepelt stood up and his pelt was still flat,
"who was that black cat?" he whispered,
Snakeleap crouched, "what black cat..?" he murmured.
Whitepelt shook his head,
"the black she cat with blue eyes!" he spat out, "who was she?" he asked.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in fear, his pelt bristled more and he took a step back as he felt his heart quicken.
"you know...?" he whispered,
Whitepelt nodded, "I followed you to the moor and found you talking, laughing, and joking around with her" he explained.
Snakeleap hesitated and was full of shock, then he glanced down, "midnight.." he whispered.
Whitepelt tilted his head, "what?" he meowed, Snakeleap glared, "I said Midnight!" he hissed.
Snakeleap stood up and calmed down a bit, "the black she cat is Midnight.." he murmured.
Whitepelt's eyes lit up in confusion, "is she a loner?" he asked, Snakeleap shook his head.
"No.. She's a kittypet.. but she does not wear a collar like most.." he meowed, he gathered all the breath then closed his eyes,
"Some time ago when I was collecting bedding I met her, at first I thought she was like most kittypets, lazy, hostile, and
a bit not knowing of clans, but she proved me wrong... she was a difrrent kittypet.. we both understood each other
and we made each other happy... So when I was captured by twolegs.. she comforted me... she even saved me from a hostile kittypet that nearly killed me. And she got a healer named crow to heal me up.. the thing is.. I love midnight.. not in a friendship way.. I mean I actually love her... and I know she shares the same feelings as me.. sure! she does not want to join a clan but... she loves hearing stories about them.. and she admires me.. just like how I admire her.." he explained.
Whitepelt's eyes soften and he was no longer glaring, "you love her..?" he whispered,
Snakeleap nodded, he expected to feel him yell at him but instead Whitepelt nodded,
"I understand... but.. you know what happens next, right?" he meowed.
Snakeleap tilted his head, "what do you mean?" he asked.
Whitepelt sighed, "you know what I mean snakeleap.. kits" he meowed,
Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, "kits? you sure Midnight would have my kits?" he asked.
Whitepelt nodded, "well onec you fall deep in love with someone, they expect kits.." he murmured,
he padded past Snakeleap. He then paused and looked back at his shoulder, "are you coming?" he asked.
Snakeleap took a step forward, "are you going to tell highslash or Nightstar?" he asked,
Whitepelt stared at him for a second then shook his head,
"your my best friend Snakeleap.. I would never tell anyone your secret!" he chuckled a bit.
"But... are you sure you wanna continue visiting her?" he asked,
Snakeleap looked down,
yes! I love her..
Snakeleap looked at whitepelt and nodded.
Whitepelt nodded and padded away, leaving snakeleap behind.
Snakeleap padded after him,
I hope he actually doesen't tell anyone... he thought.
but.. would Midnight really expect my kits?
Chapter twenty three
Snakeleap padded to the fresh kill pile, he looked around and saw a plump vole on the pile.
There a bit sour but.. guess I should eat it.. he thought.
Three days have passed, it was now the fourth day of leaf bare.
Hunting has been hard, no prey is out, and an elder Lostfoot died of starvation.
Snakeleap padded near the warriors den, sat down, and took a tiny bite out of the vole.
He shut his eyes down hard as he felt the sour taste, near the nursery brownkit and Tinykit laid next to Lizardtail,
"mommy, i'm hungry! I want milk.." Tinykit whined softly.
Lizardtail shook her head sadly,
"I'm sorry Tinykit.. I don't have any milk to spare right now.." she murmured.
Snakeleap closed his eyes and looked away,
poor kits! I hate leaf bare... he thought.
Just as he could stand up Tigerstripe padded next to Snakeleap,
"Snakeleap! your needed, Nightstar wants you, come" he meowed and padded away.
Snakeleap shook his head and padded away, leaving the vole half eatened.
Snakeleap turned and saw Tinykit crawling slowly towards the vole,
Snakeleap continued to pad to Tigerstripe.
Nightstar was waiting near the entrance with seven warriors including her deputy Highslash,
Snakeleap pounced near her, "so what did you need me for?" he asked.
Nightstar nodded, "I meeting Sunstar to discuss about the stolen prey, You have been chosen to come" she explained,
Snakeleap tilted his head, "you sure it's a good idea? Sunstar might get mad.." he murmured.
Highslash glared and took a step forward,
"do you dare doubt our leader Snakeleap?" he hissed softly,
Snakeleap took a step back and gulped nervously, "uh.. no Highslash" he meowed quickly.
Highslash nodded and padded next to Nightstar,
"warriors head out!" she yowled and ran through the entrance, her warriors followed and Snakeleap was behind.
They ran trhough the forest, snow crunched under their paws.
Snakeleap clenched his teeth as he felt cold air and cold snow touch him,
Ugh! so cold! he spat in his mind.
Ashheart who was in front of two warriors looked behind his shoulder at Snakeleap,
"keep up!" he hissed.
Snakeleap glared and ran faster.
Then thunderclan scent tanged his nose,
we must be near! he thought,
after two minutes he saw the thunderclan warriors all sitting there at the high ledge, waiting there.
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
this is the gathering place! why meet here? he thought.
Nightstar leaped on the boulder and dipped her head at Sunstar,
Snakeleap looked around and then realised that almost every warrior of thunderclan was here.
Why would Sunstar bring every warrior here if they were going to discuss? he thought,
Snakeleap pricked his ears up as he heard some riverclan warriors murmuring,
"this is bad"
"why would Sunstar bring every warrior here?"
"are they going to attack?"
Sunstar dipped his head, "greetings Nightstar" he meowed coldly,
Nightstar nodded,
Sunstar stood up, "so tell me.. why would you want to meet us here? hm" he asked,
Nightstar took a step forward,
"I would like to discuss about the prey stolen" she meowed.
Sunstar twitched his ear and his eyes gleamed of intrest and mischeif,
"are you here to admit to us that you and your warriors have been stealing prey from us?" he sneered.
Snarls of outrage from the riverclan warriors rose in the air, then Nightstar silenced them by rasing her tail,
"we have not been stealing prey Nightstar" she meowed.
Sunstar snorted, "really? then why are we here?" he meowed,
"well we would like to show proof that dogs have been stealing the prey and not us" she explained.
Sunstar bristled, "so you still believe your warrior?" he meowed, "how cute."
Snakeleap felt anger in him and he stood up,
"it was the dogs I swear!" he yowled at Sunstar.
Nightstar glared at Snakeleap which caused him to crouch,
Sunstar glared at Nightstar, "how can it possibly be dogs that did this?" he asked.
Nightstar nodded, "the twolegs let out their dogs at night, they love to run around in the forests.
they also love prey, they can be the issue Sunstar" she explained.
Yowls of agreement rose in the riverclan cats, Sunstar lashed his tail side by side.
"that's the proof!? your proof is weak Nightstar!" he hissed.
Nightstar glared "why would we want to eat prey with fur in it! were riverclan, think about that!" she hissed back.
Sunstar glared, "do dogs really love mice?" he hissed softly.
Nightstar glared as Sunstar continued,
"Snakeleap could be lieng, after all, he was a kittypet for a while" he murmured,
"I was captured by two legs you mouse brain!" Snakeleap yowled.
Sunstar turned his gaze at Snakeleap,
"since when were you leader!?" he hissed.
Nightstar took a step forward at sunstar,
"we have nothing to do with the prey, the dogs were" she meowed,
Sunstar glared "you are an idiot Nightstar! how can you believe a warrior?" he spat.
Nightstar starting walking slowly towards Sunstar,
"take that back now" she whispered.
Sunstar unsheathed his claws, "make me! you stole the prey admit it!" he yowled.
With a hiss Nightstar leaped at Sunstar and started clawing at him,
The thunderclan warriors started battiling the riverclan warriors,
Highslash leaped at leapfoot and bit his hindleg, Leapfoot yowled and kicked him in the muzzle.
Snakeleap crouched,
Oh dear starclan! he thought with alarm.
He felt a sudden slash of pain on his back fur,
Snakeleap crouched down and clawed at the attackers stomach,
he heard a hiss and felt a paw slash across his face.
Snakeleap started standing up but a paw kept him down,
"remember me?" a voice hissed softly in his ear.
Snakeleap then reconized Leaftree,
"you may have beaten me last time but this time I'll win!" she hissed.
Snakeleap kicked her off and clawed at her back pelt,
"no you won't!" he hissed back and slashed across her face.
Leaftree yowled and launched herslef at Snakeleap but missed,
Snakeleap grabbed her scruff and threw her to owleye who turned in surprised and attacked leaftree.
meanwhile Whitepelt was attacked by two older warriors,
A tall gray tabby slashed a bit of fur from his shoulder, causing him to yowl in pain.
Snakeleap started running through the battiling cats towards Whitepelt,
He kicked the gray tabby away and bite down onto the small brown tabby's fur,
she screeched and ran away, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Whitepelt looked at Snakeleap with blood dripping down his face,
"t- thanks" he murmured,
Snakeleap nodded and leaped away.
Highleap bit into leapfoot's scruff,
"you won't win this!" leapfoot spat, blood dripped from his shoulder,
Highleap bit down his tail and made leapfoot screech,
"get out of here!" Highleap hissed.
Leapfoot glared and leaped away, Sunstar bit down on Nightstar's leg and blood dripped,
Nightstar tried to slash at Sunstar but blood dripped in her eyes so she missed.
Sunstar took some fur from her leg,
Nightstar leaped at Sunstar but he dodged away easily.
"too slow!" he taunted as he clawed at her shoulder.
Snakeleap tried to run near and help her but something slammed into his side,
turning he saw Sunpelt standing over him,
"kittypet!" he hissed and aimed a hard blow at his shoulder.
Snakeleap felt more rage burn into him and so he aimed a hard kick at his rib,
Sunpelt yowled and Snakeleap got up and slashed his face.
"I'm not a kittypet!" he yowled as he aimed another punch at Sunpelt's face,
he hissed as blood dripped from his face and ran away.
Snakeleap looked around and noticed that most of the riverclan warriors were having the most wounds,
Thunderclan had less and they outnumbered them.
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
were outnumbered! he thought.
"warriors retreat!" Nightstar yowled as she leaped away from Sunstar and started running,
her warriors leaped away and followed nightstar, Snakeleap glanced back and followed.
As he was running with them he heard Sunstar yowl of victory,
he glared.
Once they made it back to camp, Nightstar panted and collapsed,
"Nightstar! you okay?" Highslash yowled as he ran towards her.
Lizardtail padded out of the nursery with shock in her eyes,
"what happened here!?" she hissed.
Highleap and Tigerstripe carried Nightstar into the medicine den,
Snakeleap padded up to Lizardtail,
"Sunstar and his warriors attacked us, since we were outnumbered we had to retreat!" he explained.
Lizardstripe crouched and Snakeleap padded away, he padded into the warriors den and collapsed tired.
Foxheart padded into the den
"snakeleap? are you okay? do you need your wounds checked on?" she asked,
He shook his head
"no.. I'm fine.. just need some time alone.." he murmured.
Foxheart nodded and padded away,
Snakeleap curled up,
I knew this was a bad idea.. he thought.
Snakeleap closed his eyes tight shut then finally he fell asleep.
Chapter twenty four
Snakeleap felt a paw prod his shoulder,
Whitepelt..? he thought.
But when snakeleap looked up he saw Midnight standing over him,
Snakeleap felt shock and horror in him and his eyes widen instantly.
"Midnight!? what are you doing here?" snakeleap whispered,
Midnight had shock and happiness in her eyes,
"I want to tell you something! it's important! follow me" she whispered back.
Snakeleap looked around and the cats still were asleep,
"how did you get here without waking everyone up?" he asked.
Midnight looked annoyed,
"I sneaked in and I'm quiet, now come!" she padded out of the den.
Snakeleap looked around one more time then stood up and followed Midnight.
They snuck through the entrance and finally they were out in the forest,
Midnight walked and Snakeleap was behind,
where is she taking me..? he thought.
Snakeleap noticed that she looked a tiny bit bigger then before,
had she been eating too much? he thought as he stared at her.
Finally after two minutes Midnight sat down, Snakeleap noticed that she looked excited and as if
she was gonna burst into joy.
"so.. what is it that you needed me for?" he murmured,
Midnight smiled, "I have great news Snakeleap!" she meowed.
Snakeleap tilted his head and nodded, "and what is it?" he asked,
Midnight stood up,
"i'm expecting your kits!" she announced with joy.
Snakeleap froze in his spot, his eyes widened and he felt shock take over him.
His heartbeat turned fast,
"k-kits! no way! is this true?" he whispered.
Midnight nodded and Snakeleap suddenly felt joy,
"i'm gonna be a father!" he yowled, "Midnight this is amazing! I wonder how many kits will have! what they look like!
this is amazing!"
Midnight nodded,
"the best part is their our kits" she meowed.
Snakeleap wanted to say more but then suddenly, he thought about his clan, what they would do,
"wait.. but I'm a clan cat while your a kittypet? who will raise them?" he asked.
Midnight tilted her head then finally her eyes brightened,
"well.. I could give you half the kits and keep the rest, and if I have one kit I can give it to you!" she explained.
Snakeleap looked stunned, "keep? but.. you would be alone.." he murmured.
Midnight nodded, "it's alright.. It matters if your happy.. if I kept the kit you would be sad." she murmured.
"but hey! I might have more then you think! we could split the kits!" she meowed.
Snakeleap smiled, "true! well I hope they turn into fine cats!" he meowed as he stared at her belly,
"so.. when are they due?" he asked,
Midnight shrugged, "two moons I geuss" she meowed.
Snakeleap nodded, "I should get back!" he meowed,
Minight ran in front oh him with worry in her eyes,
"wait! will you keep this our secret?" she asked in a low voice.
Snakeleap stared at her in shock then he nodded with a smile,
"I promise" he meowed and started padding off.
When he was in camp he already found Whitepelt standing there,
"she's expecting your kits?" he asked,
Snakeleap nodded.
Whitepelt padded up towards him, "so.. when you take the kits to the clan? how will you raise them?" he asked,
Snakeleap turned to the nursery, Lizardtail was curled up with her two kits.
"Lizardtail will be able to look after my kits.. she has plenty of milk" he meowed,
Whitepelt nodded in agreement and started padding to the warriors den.
"hope this goes well.." he muttered under his bearth as he headed in.
Snakeleap sat outside and stared at the moon,
"I hope my kits get accepted to the clan once they are born.." he muttered under his breath.
I promise they will be welcome here.
Chapter twenty five
Snakeleap padded through the forest, fog surrounded the air and made things harder to see.
Snakeleap looked around, he narrowed his eyes, trying to see where he was.
Just then he heard twigs crack behind him, his pelt bristled a bit and his ears pricked up.
What was that? he thought,
Snakeleap tried looking around but everything was foggy.
Suddenly he heard a loud snap behind him which made him jump in surprise and fear.
Snakeleap widen his eyes and started running as fast as he could.
He heard leaves shaking and footsteps behind him,
something's chasing me! could it be a fox? or a badger!
Ever since he was a kit, he heard tales about badgers, how they were huge and were able to kill full grown warriors.
Just then he tripped on a twig and he landed on his stomach,
he heard footsteps padding in front of him.
Snakeleap blinked his eyes open and saw the black cat that he saw in his dreams staring at him,
his pelt instantly bristled more and this time with anger.
"You again!" he spat as he stood himself up, glaring at the cat in front of him.
The black cat narrowed his dark red eyes, "time is running little... darkness is coming.." he whispered.
Snakeleap felt more rage burn into him,
"you've been telling me that darkness thing over and over again and i'm sick of it!"
Snakeleap took a step forward, "you should leave and never come back!" he growled in a low voice,
the black cat stood up,
"I can't leave, darkness is coming.. I must warn you.. before everything is too late.." he murmured.
"SHUT UP!" snakeleap yowled,
he unsheathed his claws and leaped at the black cat.
The black cat disapeared and snakeleap landed on the grass.
"Show yourself!" snakeleap yowled in rage,
he felt something prod his shoulder and his eyes went open.
Tigerstripe loomed over him and he narrowed his eyes,
"what's all that hissing about?" he murmured,
Snakeleaplooked down at his paws and dared not to look at him.
"I.. I just had a nightmare.." he murmured.
Tigerstripe nodded, "anyway.. Nightstar and Highslash want to talk to you.. don't be late!" he meowed and padded out of the entrance.
Snakeleap streched and yawned then padded out of the entrance,
as he padded towards the leaders den he saw Highslash waiting outside,
he turned his orange gaze at snakeleap and nodded,
"looks like your here, good. Anyway enter nightstar's den, she wants to speak with you" he meowed and padded in.
Snakeleap rolled his eyes, Tigerstripe told me already.. he thought,
as he padded into the leader's den he saw nightstar laying in her nest with highslash sitting next to her.
"you needed me?" Snakeleap asked,
Nightstar nodded, "so.. we have come to ask, who told you about the dogs?" she asked.
Snakeleap felt his heartbeat go faster and his eyes widen,
"well.. I, I saw dogs,, they were padding in the direction to the thunderclan border" he lied.
Highslash narrowed his eyes, "and how do you know where the thunderclan border is?" he asked in a low voice.
what kind of qeustion is that? he thought,
"the border attack a while ago.. " he meowed.
Highslash nodded slowly while Nightstar narrowed her eyes,
"snakeleap, you could of been seeing things.. maybe the dogs were not going in the direction of the thunderclan border" she meowed.
Snakeleap bristled a tiny bit,
"they were!" he hissed.
Highslash took a setp forward and glared,
"control your temper!" he hissed,
Snakeleap nodded sadly and sat down, Nightstar nodded and she continued,
"now, be honest with me Snakeleap, were the dogs really going in the direction of the thunderclan border?" she asked slowly.
Snakeleap took a deep breath and begun,
"i'm honest Nightstar, the dogs were killing the prey, and hopefully thunderclan can stop being blind to the truth" he meowed.
Nightstar closed her eyes and after a minute she nodded,
"very well Snakeleap, you may head out" she meowed.
Snakeleap nodded slowly and started walking out.
When he was near the freshkill pile he saw Ashheart staring at him with a micheif stare and he was holding a scrawny, black bird.
"were you in trouble? what was it about?" he sneered,
just as Snakeleap can reply, owleye walked near Ashheart.
"Ashheart, why in the name of starclan are you eating right now, you were assigned on hunting patrol" he meowed.
Ashheart glared at him then let go of the bird and padded off.
"hopefully we might find some prey in this winter.." owleye muttered under his breath.
Snakeleap looked at the pile, he saw the bird lyying there,
he grabbed the bird and started padding off towards the warriors den.
I can't lie to Nightstar.. he thought as he tore of a wing from the bird and started munching.
Dear starclan help me..
Chapter twenty six
"psst! Snakeleap!" a voice whispered in his ear.
Snakeleap opened his eyes and found a black tom with green eyes standing over him,
"who.. are you?" Snakeleap whispered as he stood up slowly.
The tom shook his head,
"did you forget?" he meowed in shame,
Snakeleap took a closer look at the tom and realized it was Crow,
the cat how healed him.
"Crow?" snakeleap whispered in shock, Crow rolled his eyes,
"who else would it be?" he meowed.
Snakeleap shook his head slowly, "what.. what are you doing here in riverclan camp..?" he asked,
his voice still low.
"I want to talk to you about something.. something important" Crow meowed.
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes then nodded and started following him out the entrance.
As they padded through the forest Crow, Snakeleap could hear distant barking sounds.
"Ignore that" Crow meowed, "those are just dogs, they love to make a lot of noise,"
Snakeleap rolled his eyes and flattened his ears,
"I can tell" he growled in annoyance.
Crow padded up near a twoleg fence and Snakeleap leaped up with him, as they were padding forward
the barking grew louder and louder.
Snakeleap looked to his right and saw two, large dogs barking at them,
Crow bristled and hissed at the dogs,
"shut up!" he spat.
Crow then continued walking and finally leap down to the grass, as Snakeleap leaped down with him he
noticed that it looked a bit like the place where he got attacked by henry.
"uh.. Crow, is this place safe, cause I was attacked by a kittypet and I almost died so.. is this place safe?" he murmured,
Crow tilted his head and looked confused,
"I thought Clan cats were supposed to be strong" he murmured, "don't worry, this place is kittypet free" he assured him.
Crow sat down, "anyway.. sit down" he meowed,
Snakeleap nodded and sat down.
"now.. why have you brought me here?" Snakeleap asked,
Crow closed his eyes,
"do you know a black cat with red eyes?" he asked softly.
Snakeleap widen his eyes and felt anger start to burn in him,
"I know this black cat with red eyes that just keeps popping up in my dreams and tells me something about danger!"
he hissed.
Crow nodded, "I see you know him" he meowed, "that's Aegeus" Crow murmured.
Snakeleap narrowed his eyes, "what kind of name is Aegeus?" he asked,
Crow smiled, "It's a greek name" he meowed,
Snakeleap widen his eyes, feeling more confusion,
"greek? what's that?" he asked.
Crow shrugged a tiny bit,
"well.. I've been with two legs for a while and I heard the name "Greek" I one time heard a twoleg mention
Aegeus as a greek name" he explained.
Snakeleap shook his head slowly,
"so.. how do you know that black cat?" he asked,
Crow stood up, "I knew him when he was alive" he meowed.
Snakeleap widen his eyes in shock, "alive?" he whispered,
Crow nodded,
"five years ago I met him wandering down the streets, he explained that he used to live in Thunderclan, but left because
there was too much violence happening. He renamed himself Aegeus after his father who was a kittypet,
all he wanted was peace over the clans, he even wanted to protect them. Me and him became friends, we both shared the same thoughts
and got along just fine. one day a year later he got ran over by a car and died, I was sad but later knew that even
though he was dead his soul would continue to live. And I remembered him telling me that when he dies,
he will visit cats in dreams and warn them of dangers coming.. so that way.. he can protect them.." Crow explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart soften and his anger left him,
no wonder... he thought.
"but wait.. if he only comes in dreams just to warn cats of dangers, am I in danger?" Snakeleap asked,
"could be.." Crow meowed,
"what do you mean? why have you brought me here?" snakeleap meowed though his voice shook a bit.
Crow looked worried,
"your clan is in danger.. if this danger is not stopped, it could wipe out all the clans.." he explained,
Snakeleap widen his eyes,
"but.. what is this danger? how do I stop it?" he murmured and unsheathed his claws and his pelt bristled.
Crow stood up and started walking away,
"you will figure out shortly.. I decided to bring the message cause I thought you would listen to me more.."
he murmured, Crow leaped on the fence then leaped down waliking away to the streets.
Snakeleap sat there staring in confusion and worry,
danger is coming.. first that black cat named Aegeus warned me.. now him..
what sort of danger is coming..?
Chapter twenty seven
Snakeleap padded through camp and noticed the fresh kill pile was low,
I should proably go on hunting patrol he thought.
Snakeleap looked around and saw Nightstar talking with her deputy Highslash,
Snakeleap started walking up to them.
Nightstar glanced at him,
"Snakeleap? you have something to ask?" she murmured, Snakeleap nodded.
"I noticed the fresh kill pile was low, may I go on hunting patrol?" he asked,
Highslash narrowed his eyes while Nightstar nodded,
"very well" she meowed, just as Snakeleap started walking away Nightstar called him.
"Make sure you come back early!"
Snakeleap nodded and padded through the entrance,
once he was out he started walking around, sniffing for prey.
He then smelled a Vole,
Hope this vole is plump! he thought as he started to crouch,
he padded near the scent and saw brown fur moving.
He narrowed his eyes and saw a almost plump vole walking around,
Snakeleap smiled and was gathering boost, but before he could leap he heard movement behind him.
He turned and flicked his ear,
who's there? he thought with wonder,
"hello?" he meowed softly, then he started padding towards the bush and then saw Midnight walk out from behind.
"Hello Snakeleap!" she greeted, Snakeleap felt relief and smiled, "midnight!" he greeted.
Snakeleap padded up towards her, "how you been?" he asked,
Midnight nodded, "i've been fine lately!" she answered,
before Snakeleap could talk he noticed that her stomach looked normal and not swollen.
"Midnight!" he meowed with exitement "you gave birth!"
midnight nodded, "I almost forgot to tell you! anyway wanna see?" she asked,
Snakeleap nodded fast,
Midnight nodded and started leaping away.
Five minutes has passed and Snakeleap still felt like he was gonna burst with exitement,
I can't wait to see them! they'll look great! he thought,
finally Midnight came back, in her jaw was a kit.
She dropped the kit softly,
the kit was a black tom with one white paw and a white tip tail, it's eyes were closed and it let out a mew of hunger.
"Meet your son Snakeleap" she meowed softly,
Snakeleap stared at the tiny kit, his eyes full of delight and softness,
this kit is gorgeous! he thought with delight.
"Midnight... this kit is gorgeous.." he murmured softly with happiness,
Midnight smiled and nodded.
"Does it have other siblings?" Snakeleap asked,
Midnight shook her head,
"no, it was born alone" she meowed.
Snakeleap closed his eyes and felt guilt wash him,
"you sure you want me to have the kit?" he asked,
Midnight nodded, "as long as your happy, then i'm happy" she meowed.
Snakeleap smiled and nodded, "I promise i'll take good care of him" he meowed and licked Midnight's cheek.
Snakeleap bent down and picked up the kit, the kit mewed again,
he started padding back to camp,
lizardtail will be the mother of him.. she can raise him he thought.
He stared at the kit that was dangling from his jaws, it mewed again,
I wish I can tell him that i'm his father.. he thought with sadness.
As Snakeleap padded through the entrance the kit let out another mew, this time louder,
when he entered camp he noticed that most cats started padding up to him.
"is that a kit?" one asked.
Just as he can reply more cats started padding up to him and looking at the kit and sniffing it.
"that's a kit!"
"where did it come from?"
"how did you find it?"
Before he can speak he heard Nightstar yowl and all the cats turned and were silence.
Nightstar padded up to him and stared at the kit,
"what have you brought Snakeleap?" she asked softly.
"I- It's a kit" Snakeleap stuttered, Ashheart padded up to him and sniffed the kit,
then his nose wrinkled in disgust, "it smells like a kittypet!" he hissed.
Wetfoot padded up and sniffed it and also wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Snakeleap, where have you found this kit at?" she asked,
snakeleap thought for a second then he nodded,
"I found this kit near twolegplace, it was laying there mewling sadly, it was left there. I decided to bring it here" he explained.
Some cats gasped while others just stared at him,
"what do you wish to do with the kit?" Nightstar asked.
"I want the kit to be rasied in Riverclan" Snakeleap meowed,
shocked gasps filled the air, Nightstar raised her tail and the gasps died away.
Nightstar looked calm,
"I shall let my clan decided" she meowed. Nightstar turned to her warriors,
"cats of Riverclan! do you wish for this kit to stay or leave?" she asked.
Rabbithop nodded and so did Morningrise, Stoneheart and owleye nodded as well.
Tigerstripe narrowed his eyes at the kit and shook his head slowly,
Ashheart unsheathed his claws and his pelt bristled,
"why should we keep that revolting stench!?" he hissed.
Snakeleap felt anger burn in him and Ashheart continued,
"that kit is a kittypet! kittypets are lazy and soft! just like that kit!
What good will that kit do? NOTHING! nothing at all. All the kit will do is eat our freshkill and
just lay in his nest all day! we should leave that kit out there for good!" Ashheart hissed.
Wetfoot nodded in agreement,
"you're right! that kit does not belong here!" he meowed with a hint of sneer in his voice.
Snakeleap felt rage burn into him more and more,
how dare he talk to my son like that! he thought.
Just as Snakeleap could reply, Stoneheart leaped in front of Ashheart and Wetfoot,
"how dare you two! that kit belongs here and needs us! if we let him out there he will die.
I say we should keep him! after all, the warrior code says that we should not neglect a kit in danger no matter where they came from! I never knew you two could be such fox hearts" Stoneheart hissed.
Ashheart glared while Wetfoot spat,
Nightstar gave an approving nod at Stoneheart,
"well said" she meowed.
"I have come to decide that this kit will stay in riverclan and will be raised as a warrior!" Nightstar meowed.
Snakeleap smiled with relief,
thank starclan! he thought.
Nightstar turned to Lizardtail,
"Lizardtail.. will you raise this kit as your son?" she asked,
Lizardtail nodded,
"I will be glad to raise this kit" she meowed.
tinykit narrowed her eyes while brownkit let out a tiny hiss.
Snakeleap nodded and padded up to Lizardtail, he gave her the kit and she padded off into the nursery with the kit.
Nightstar nodded,
"this conversation is now over" she meowed,
as cats started to seperate snakeleap could not stop looking at the nursery.
I'll miss that kit.. but I know Lizardtail will raise him well...
one day i'll tell him who his real parents are..
One day...
Chapter twenty eight
Two days have passed since the arrival of Darkkit.
Snakeleap had hard times sleeping, he stayed awake, thinking about his son Darkkit.
"Snakeleap!" a voice meowed,
Snakeleap turned and saw Stoneheart standing at the entrance,
"you seem to be staying in your den all day, anything wrong?" he asked.
Snakeleap glanced down then shook his head,
"no, everything is fine.." he murmured.
Stoneheart looked worried,
"you must be hungry.. why don't you go to the freshkill pile and pick something to eat, the hunting patrols are back" he meowed.
Snakeleap hesitated but finally he stood up and padded out of the den.
I guess Stoneheart is right.. he thought.
As he walked near the freshkill pile he noticed Lizardtail padding out of the den, holding Darkkit.
She padded into the medicine den, Brownkit and Tinykit stared at the den,
they both glared and their pelt's bristled.
Snakeleap tilted his head,
do they like darkkit? he thought.
"that's not fair! how come Darkkit is getting so much attention?" Tinykit hissed,
"I don't know! He shouldn't even get this much attention just because he is adopted! don't forget he was a kittypet before!" he spat.
Snakeleap glared at them but decided to ignore them and padded to the freshkill pile.
He picked up a vole and started to munch on it.
Just as he was munching he noticed Ashheart and Wetfoot talking to eachother,
"how's Darkkit doing?" Wetfoot asked.
"ever since his arrival he's been getting much attention!" Ashheart hissed.
Wetfoot glared instantly
"why" he asked, Ashheart shrugged,
"I have no idea. Maybe cause of his kittypet roots" he suggested with a hint of scorn.
Snakeleap glared,
"how do you know that Darkkit was born with kittypet roots?" Wetfoot asked,
"he was near twolegplace duh!" Ashheart snarled.
Wetfoot snorted in disbelief, as if what he stated was dumb,
"anyway, Nightstar has bees in her brain if she thinks that it's good taking in a kittypet!" Ashheart growled.
Wetfoot nodded,
"agreed, Riverclan needs pure blood in this group" he meowed.
Snakeleap growled,
How dare they talk about my son like that! he thought.
"That kit is a kittypet, all it will do is lay around and wait for freshkill to be handed to him!" Ashheart snarled,
"or sneak away during a battle and eat kittypet food!" Wetfoot sneered.
Ashheart nodded,
"That kittypet will be scared when it goes into battle, he will loose in a one in one fight with someone!" he sneered.
Wetfoot closed his eyes,
"Nightstar should of rejected it" he meowed.
Ashheart snickered,
"agreed! that kit should of been left in the wild to die!" he sneered.
Snakeleap had enough of the mockery, he left his hald eaten vole and padded towards them.
Ashheart did not notice Snakeleap marching towards him, he was busy laughing.
Instantly, Snakeleap unsheathed his claws and slashed Ashheart across the cheek.
Ashheart landed on the floor, blood poured a bit from his cheek and stained a bit of the grass.
As he stood up slowly, Snakeleap spotted shock in his eyes,
he turned towards Snakeleap and his pelt started to bristle.
"what was that about!?" he hissed,
Snakeleap glared,
"how dare you talk about darkkit that way! he does not deserve to die!" he spat.
Wetfoot stood on his paws and started running away,
"were you listening to us?" Ashheart hissed in a low voice.
Snakeleap took a step forward,
"I heard everything.. How you said that Nightstar should of left darkkit to die in the wild!" he hissed.
Ashheart took a step forward,
"what I said does not concern you! why do you even care for a kit that does not even belong to you? you should care for yourself more then others! that kit has bad blood! he's a kittypet! a kittypet that does not even belong in this clan!" he snarled.
Snakeleap felt pure rage burn into him and he started padding slowly towards Ashheart,
"take that back right now..." he snarled.
Ashheart unsheathed his claws,
"make me.." he growled.
Just before the two could fight, Nightstar ran in between them,
"what in the name of Starclan is going on!" she hissed.
Stoneheart, the big gray tom with orange eyes padded next to her.
Ashheart stared at Nightstar with shock and instantly sheathed his claws,
"oh! uh.. well.." he meowed in a tiny voice but Nightstar cutted him off.
"you two looked like you were going to fight! we do not tolerate fighting in the clan!" she hissed.
Ashheart glared and his tail swished side to side,
"Snakeleap started it anyway.." he murmured.
"that does not matter! if I catch you two trying to fight with each other again then you two will be assigned to apprentice duties for a moon! got it?" she hissed.
Snakeleap nodded while Ashheart nodded slowly and instantly padded into the warriors den.
Snakeleap padded away and padded into the medicine den,
he spotted darkkit being looked over by Foxheart,
though his eyes still not opened he already was walking a bit.
Snakeleap felt love in him as he stared at his kit,
don't worry.. I won't let anyone talk trash to you!
anyone..
Chapter twenty nine.
Snakeleap padded through camp,
he felt his stomach growl of hunger so he decided to get some prey.
Just as he was about to move he heard a mew behind him,
turning he saw Darkkit standing there, his eyes were now open and they were green like him.
he has my eyes.. Snakeleap though with love as he stared at the kit.
"who are you..?" Darkkit mewed in a tiny voice,
Snakeleap purred,
"hello young one, my name is Snakeleap" he greeted.
The kit's eyes widen with intrest
"you're a warrior?" he asked,
Snakeleap nodded.
Darkkit then let out a exited mew and bounced up and down,
"I want to be a warrior! check out this move!"
he jumped up in the air and booped Snakeleap on the nose softly.
Snakeleap let out a laugh,
"you are a Warrior indeed!" he purred.
Darkkit mewed with happiness and started running away with tail high,
Snakeleap stared after him, smiling,
Already he has his mothers cheerfulness he thought.
Snakeleap stared as Darkkit padded over to his siblings who were having a nice chat,
they were now Tinypaw and Brownpaw, they became apprentices a moon ago.
Darkkit reaced out a paw and prodded Tinypaw's leg in response she jumped up and her pelt bristled.
"hello! want to play moss with me?" Darkkit mewed playfully,
Brownpaw narrowed his eyes,
"were apprentices! we don't play kit games" he scoffed.
"but it's fun!" Darkkit mewed.
Tinypaw hissed which made Darkkit jump back in fright,
"play moss ball with someone else or a friend, or even if you have one"
she meowed scornfully.
Tinypaw stood up and started padding away and brownpaw followed.
Darkkit let out a sad sniff,
Snakeleap stared at Darkkit and started padding towards him,
"it's alright Darkkit, I'll play moss ball with you" he offered.
Darkkit turned to Snakeleap with happiness in his eyes,
"really!?" he meowed.
Snakeleap nodded and grabbed a moss ball that was near the elders den.
Just as he tossed it to darkkit he felt nothing but happiness and joy,
Playing moss ball with your own kit is one of the greatest things in your life..
I hope I get a chance to tell Darkkit the truth one day..
(sorry if short!)
Chapter thirty
(POV of Darkkit)
"Well, I better go on Hunting"
Snakeleap meowed sadly.
Darkkit's eyes widen sadly
No play time?
As Snakeleap started to walk away Darkkit ran behind him and grabbed at his leg,
"Please! I want to play Moss ball More!" Darkkit begged.
Snakeleap shook his head sadly,
"maybe if I'm not tired or hurt when I get back then we can play again"
Snakeleap meowed.
Darkkit nodded and let go and Snakeleap started walking away.
Darkkit was now alone and bored,
Ugh! what do I do now? there's nothing to do and my siblings don't play with me!
Just then he saw Tinypaw and Brownpaw talking with eachother near the apprentices den,
looks like there back.. maybe I can ask.. they maybe changed their mind..
Darkkit hoped.
Darkkit slowly walked towards them nervously,
Brownpaw then caught his eyes and growled,
"what could you want now?"
Darkkit crouched then stood up and acted brave,
"I want to play mossball with you" he meowed.
"This again?"
Tinypaw meowed in annoyance,
Brownpaw stood up,
"I'm not playing with a little pipsqeak like you!"
he hissed.
Darkkit took a step,
"but were siblings! you two are my brother and sister" he mewed.
Tinypaw rolled her eyes,
"Blood does not matter, you don't matter." Tinypaw murmured.
Brownpaw nodded,
"Yea! you stole our mother from us! (...) were going now, I don't wanna hear this conversation anymore!"
Brownpaw growled and stood up.
As they started to walk away Brownpaw glanced back at Darkkit with a threatining gaze,
"and so help me.. if you ask one more time you are going to wish you never asked!"
he hissed then walking away to the apprentices den.
Darkkit sat there in sadness and glanced at Lizardtail was was eating near the freshkill pile,
I never stole their mother from them.. she loved us all equaly and kitted us all!
Then Darkkit started getting dark thoughts,
what if he was stealing their mother's attention, what if he did not matter at all.
Am I really.. stealing their mother..
Darkkit thought with sadness as he continued to watch Lizardfang,
Is that why my siblings hate me?
Chapter Thirty three
Snakeleap carried two mice and a shrew in his jaws,
as he padded into camp he noticed Darkkit sitting alone near the nursery.
His head was down so Snakeleap could not see his expression.
Does he have any kit to play with at all? he thought with sadness.
"I see your back Snakeleap!" A voice said.
Turning he saw Nightstar standing in front of him,
"this is all I could catch" Snakeleap meowed.
Nightstar nodded,
"Leaf bare is gone and prey is just starting to come it takes time, put your prey on the pile"
she meowed then padded away.
As Snakeleap padded to the pile, Ashheart, who was sitting there stared at what he carried with scorn in his eyes.
"that's all you could catch? That won't feed the clan!" he sneered.
"Ashheart don't be disrespectful!"
Foxheart warned him, she sat on the other side munching on a mouse.
Ashheart wanted to protest but thought better,
Snakeleap placed his prey on the pile and padded away.
"how did the hunt go?"
Whitepelt fell in beside him.
"I only caught two mice and one shrew." Snakeleap meowed.
Whitepelt nodded,
"Do you think Ashheart's favorite food is shrew?" Whitepelt asked joking.
Snakeleap let out a purr,
"maybe" he meowed.
As Snakeleap sat down he turned at Darkkit in the distance.
Darkkit pounced on a white feather and started tossing the feather around playfully.
Snakeleap purred with amusement and continued to watch.
"You need to keep away from darkkit" Whitepelt meowed.
Snakeleap stared in shock for a second then glared,
"why though? who will he play with then? He has no one" he meowed.
Whitepelt turned,
"he has no one yes, but if you continue to play with him cats will suspect your the father and once they figure out they will punich you" he explained.
Snakeleap felt his heart break more,
he would have to keep away from his own son to not get him into punishment.
What's more sad is he had no one, his siblings would not play with him and the other cats keep distant from him due to his roots.
"How will I tell Darkkit the truth?.." he whispered.
"Don't worry.. One day he will figure it out.. I promise" Whitepelt murmured to him.
Snakeleap nodded and smiled,
"your a good friend.." he whispered.
Just as Whitepelt could respond a loud sqeaul of horror rose to the air.
Turning, Snakeleap saw darkkit crouched, his pelt bristled and his eyes widen in fear.
Standing over him was Ashheart,
"back off kittypet! That was my Mouse!" Ashheart hissed.
"I- I'm sorry! I did not know!" Darkkit mewed in a tiny voice.
Ashheart snarled,
in a instant he pinned Darkkit with his paw that was unsheathed.
"Please! let me go! I'm sorry! I won't touch your mouse again!" Darkkit wailed.
Ashheart narrowed his eyes,
"I'm not letting you go easy, kittypets should learn when to know which is their's and which is not! I despise kittypets like you!"
He yowled, then lunged at darkkit and bit his scruff hard.
Darkkit wailed in pain.
Blood came out of his scruff and then Ashheart tossed him in the air.
Darkkit landed on his feet but did not have enough time to react as Ashheart kicked him hard.
Darkkit thudded agaisnt a tree with a groan.
Ashheart lunged again and bit his scruff and started shaking roughly.
Snakeleap glared and his pelt bristled with rage,
How dare you hurt my SON!
Snakeleap lunged at Ashheart and pushed him to the side,
Darkkit dropped,
Ashheart got up and glared at Snakeleap.
"You Heap of Fox dung! How dare you!"
Ashheart hissed.
just as Ashheart was about to lunge Foxheart lunged in between them,
"Stop Arguing you two! Ashheart!" Foxhheart turned to Ashheat, "That kit done nothing wrong! There's no need to attack a kit like that!" She hissed.
Foxhheart picked up the kit and padded in the medicine den,
Ashheart glared at Snakeleap.
"You will pay for this.. and so wil that kit!" Ashheart hissed before running off.
Snakeleap glared.
Hurt that kit and see what happens..
Chapter thirty four.
A few weeks passed. Darkkit laid in the nursery, still thinking about what Ashheart did.
He had got less sleep since and never went to the fresh kill pile. He always stayed in the medicine den,
always worried that Ashheart would come back and do something to him.
I have to stay in here.. Darkkit thought.
He Heard footsteps behind him, turning quickly in fright he saw Foxheart.
"don't worry it's just me" she chuckled softly.
She sat beside Darkkit,
"great news, today is your apprentice ceremony!" she meowed.
Darkkit stood up,
"ceremony?" he asked.
"your finally six moons old!" Foxheart replied.
Darkkit was about to speak but he heard a cat yowl and he instantly ran outside.
Tons of cats surrouned a huge boulder with Nightstar on top.
I hope Ashheart is not my mentor.. he prayed to Starclan.
"Let all cats young and old gather around the boulder for something special!" Nightstar yowled.
As More and more cats gathered Darkkit noticed Ashheart in the distance looking filled with rage.
What's wrong with him? Darkkit thought.
"Today a kit is becoming an apprentice, darkkit come forward!" Nightstar commaned.
Darkkit took a step forward proudly.
"Darkkit, you will be given a mentor and be taught in the ways in our code. You shall learn
how to fight and hunt and when the time comes you will be a warrior." Nightstar explained.
Nightstar leaped down and touched his forehead with her nose,
"darkkit, from this moment on until you become a warrior, you will be known as darkpaw!"
Darkpaw felt joy surge through him,
Finally! he thought.
Turning he saw his older siblings Tinypaw and brownpaw staring at him with scorn.
I'll train better than you two mouse brains! darkpaw thought as he glared at them and stuck his tounge out.
"now.. Darkpaw, your mentor will be..."
"Ashheart!"
Darkpaw stared at her in sheer shock,
Wait what..?
Chapter thirty five
What!? Snakeleap stared at Nightstar in disbelief.
Out of all the cats! It had to be Ashheart!
Snakeleap had never forgotten what Ashheart did to darkpaw weeks ago,
he had never thought that Ashheart would become mentor to Darkpaw, Snakeleap's own son!
Once Ashheart and Darkpaw greeted eachother with anger, Snakeleap turned to Nightstar who was padding into her den.
I'm talking to her right now! he thought with anger.
He stood up and padded into her den,
Nightstar laid in her den but she instantly opened her eyes when she heard Snakeleap pad in.
"What is it" she murmured.
Snakeleap bristled with rage,
"How could you! Ashheart is not the right mentor to darkpaw! Do you know what he did to him a few weeks ago?"
Nightstar showed a tiny emotion in her eyes,
"I knew you would defend him.. he is your son after all" she whispered.
Snakeleap took a step back in sheer shock,
"y- you know!?" he whispered.
"Yes, don't think I never noticed you leave to see her" Nightstar meowed.
"then.. how come you never exiled me..?" Snakeleap asked.
Nightstar turned away,
"My mother was a kittypet, but that does not make me weak does it? This clan does need more warriors. But yes, what you did was wrong." she meowed.
Snakeleap turned,
"I love Midnight, no matter what I'll always love her" he meowed.
Nightstar nodded,
"I understand but you need to stop visiting her" She meowed.
Snakeleap wanted to protest but he nodded instead slowly.
"But you still need to change Darkpaw's mentor! Ashheart hates kittypets and hates him! who knows what he will do to him"
Snakeleap growled.
Nightstar shook her head slowly,
"Ashheart hates kittypets yes, but he is a strong warrior. He will be able to make Darkpaw a strong warrior to. He will be a fine mentor to darkpaw" she meowed.
Snakeleap could not beleive what he was hearing, Ashheart was strong yes, but also bad tempered.
Snakeleap turned around and padded out in anger.
He was still in shock that she knew about his love with Midnight,
he was upset about having to stop visiting Midnight forever.
He was more angry with Ashheart being Darkpaw's mentor.
What training would be taught?, what will happen to darkpaw?
I hope Darkpaw will be fine..
Chapter thirty six
Darkpaw stared at the sky in shock and anger.
Ashheart's my mentor..? Why!? he thought.
Darkpaw sat there in astonishment, not even saying a single word.
A paw prodded his shoulder, he turned around and saw Morningrise.
"Congrats on your apprentice ceremony! Ashheart is a strong warrior you are lucky to have him as a mentor!" she meowed.
Darkpaw narrowed his eyes and flattened his ears,
Lucky? pfft! You mean Unlucky? he thought with scorn.
It was bad enough when he was a kit his siblings never played with him and sometimes mocked him, but having cat Ashheart as a mentor is worse.
Morningrise showed concern,
"Anything wrong Darkpaw?" She asked with worry.
Darkpaw shook his head,
"No, just tired.." He lied.
Morningrise stared for a second then nodded sielently and padded off.
As Darkpaw got up he noticed Snakeleap storm out of the leaders den with shock and anger.
What's his deal?
Darkpaw thought with confusion.
Darkpaw noticed and looked at the apprentices den,
he padded towards it and scented it.
"That's what all apprentices do in Riverclan" A voice said.
Turning he saw Brownpaw standing over him.
"need help?" He asked with scorn.
Darkpaw bristled,
"I can help myself thanks!" he hissed.
Without another word he padded into the apprentice den leaving Brownpaw standing there in shock.
Darkpaw turned and noticed, he felt a glimmer of sastifaction in him.
Well that got him to shut up! he thought with sastifaction.
As he looked around he noticed Tinypaw in the den,
she instantly noticed him when he took two steps near a random nest.
"I see the kit finally became an apprentice?" Tinypaw sneered.
She stood up,
"I doubt you will become a warrior" she meowed scornfully.
Darkpaw bristled,
"Like you could do better! You might as well get your fur torn in seconds!" he snarled.
Tinypaw stared in shock then growled in anger and padded off.
Darkpaw stared after her then looked down,
Do I have to be angry to get what I want? he thought.
"hello newest apprentice" a voice meowed.
Turning he saw Stoneheart in front of him.
"Ignore them, you will train hard. Especially when you have Ashheart as a mentor" he meowed.
Darkpaw turned away in shame,
"You must be tired, well your training starts tommorow and Morningrise said you were tired so try and get some rest for a bit" Stoneheart meowed and padded out of the den.
Darkpaw felt like Stoneheart was right, he just needed rest.
darkpaw curled in his moss and closed his eyes.
Dear Starclan I hope things go well tommorow..
Chapter Thirty seven coming soon!