“No,” Ashstar yelled, “this cannot ever happen!”
The air was filled with black smoke, for some reason Fernpaw wasn’t crawling on her belly like her mother had always told her to do if there were ever a fire. No, Fernpaw didn’t even feel the black smoke go down her throat. Instead she stood strait up and smelled something beyond the smoke; she couldn’t exactly smell it properly. But it didn’t smell familiar. She was sure of this. The strange thing smelled like a cat, yet older, more important and strangely not very much so alive.
It came over the hill. It looked like a cat; it shimmered mysteriously in front of fast approaching fire.
“Flee!” it yowled, “Flee! You need to leave! Come back in 3 moons, when your ground will be more plentiful than ever a part of our forest was. Listen to me young cats as you run. Where deathberries once grew shall grow sweetberries with tastes so wonderful cats will eat them with their prey! Now flee!”
But Fernpaw did not flee. She advanced towards the strange cat. It stopped howling and looked at her expectantly. What should she do? What could she do?
“Truly and honestly,” she mewed softly, “who are you and which clan are you in?”
“It does not matter who I am,” it meowed softly, “I am from Starclan. Fernpaw you have a great gift.” Suddenly his rough red pelt was mixed with the roaring flames as they swallowed him up.
Fernpaw awoke with a start. Her friend Tanglepaw was playing wrestling with her even though she wasn’t making a move to defend herself, when her friend finally stopped and realized she didn’t want to play Tanglepaw meowed; “You were yowling in your sleep,” she commented, “ ‘Truly and honestly, who are you and what clan are you from?’ ” she snickered, “Who were you talking to?”
“You know what,” Fernpaw mewed thoughtfully, “I think it was, you know, that ginger tom… Fireheart, that’s his name!”
“Yeah,” mewed Tanglepaw dreamily, “sometimes I dream I’m Sandstorm and a handsome ginger tom loves me!” She glanced at Redpaw, sound asleep and Fernpaw stifled a chuckle at her orange tabby friend. Because even Graynose, the old hard of hearing elder knew Tanglepaw was sweet on Redpaw, Redpaw did not.
Just then Ashstar entered the apprentice den and told the two they had either better go on the hunting party or quiet up their mewing.
The two departed the camp. They brought back six voles, three rabbits and a magpie and they had a huge discussion on Pinekit, Needlepelt’s poor blind kit.
“He can’t be blind!” wailed Tanglepaw, “last night he came to me when I flicked my tail!”
“It’s okay, Tanglepaw,” Fernpaw mewed to her knowingly, “at least he’s not deaf.”
Poor Tanglepaw, thought Fernpaw, all of her siblings were deaf or blind and they were all taken by a badger… She hoped Needlepelt wouldn’t have to go through that.
“I suppose…” Tanglepaw mewed mournfully, than trailed off.
They walked all the way back to camp in an uncomfortable silence, not catching anything more than a mouse.
When they got back to camp there was tension in the air. Fernpaw could tell something was wrong. She went to Cinderfur, who usually knew what was going on.
“Oh, Fernpaw,” She sighed and paused, “Ashstar just found seven little kits at the entrance of the camp… All little gray tiny kits, there are four toms and three she-cats.”
“Oh my Starclan!” exclaimed Fernpaw, “The poor things, all alone in the world…” Then she thought of her mother and father, but she shook that thought out of her head. She had Sandpelt and Tanglepaw and, and Waterpaw, Gorgepaw and Heartpaw, her adoptive siblings…
“Fernpaw?” mewed Tanglepaw, “Feeernpaw… are you there?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry…” stuttered Fernpaw, “I was thinking, about, well, you know…”
“Oh, sorry Fernpaw,” mewed Tanglepaw sympathetically, “Let’s get these to the fresh kill pile, okay?”
Fernpaw didn’t respond to keep herself from bursting into tears, but she nodded her head and started to walk.
When they reached the kill pile they saw Tigerclaw with three birds, two mice and four voles. Despite being named after a legendary traitor, Tigerclaw had a pretty gentle soul, but when Fernpaw saw him with so much meat and her clan being in such great need being leafbear, she forgot all her worries and confronted him.
“You can’t need all that to eat and I suggest you return most of that to the pile right now!”
“Calm down, Fernpaw!” exclaimed Tigerclaw, surprised, “I was bringing these to Needlepelt, she took in the seven kits from the entrance!”
Fernpaw felt so embarrassed she wanted to run and hide underneath a bush. But she had one more question.
“Do you know what clan they’re from?”
“SHADOWCLAN????” hissed Fernpaw; almost every cat in the clearing was staring at her. She didn’t care though. Shadowclan had been near enemies with their clan, Thunderclan, for what seemed like forever. And Fernpaw also had another reason for hating Shadowclan.
“Shhh!” scolded Tigerclaw, “keep your voice down! I don’t want the entire clan to know!”
“Why not?” pouted Fernpaw, “They’ll just get what they deser…”
“No,” growled Tigerclaw, “It wouldn’t be what they deserved. They’re just kits and they’re still suckling. They don’t know anything about the world and it’s up to Thunderclan to teach them.”
Fernpaw was taken aback by Tigerclaw’s outburst. It was true; he had a body of steel and a heart of gold. At that moment she admired Tigerclaw more than she hated her parents.
“And if I worked that way what would have happened to you then, hmm?” He meowed this slowly and sympathetically, waiting for her reaction.
“You know?” She mewed aghast, her eyes open wide, and “Did she tell you?”
“Who Sandpelt? No, no, my nose told me. And as far as I know only she and I know that your parents are Boulderstar and Moonglow.”
At the mention of her parents Fernpaw shrank down; “And do you know of the, the, the… fight…”
“Yes, I and many others know that the two lovers killed each other in battle for a reason neither you nor I know, but only me, you and Sandpelt know that you are they’re child.”
At this moment Fernpaw wasn’t sure whether she admired or hated the fierce, kindhearted warrior. But she rushed to his side and started to groom him, and he groomed her back.
The fire was blazing behind her, licking at her heels. She remembered what that ginger tom what’s-his-name said and screeched “RUN, RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! WE MUST LEAVEAND RETURN IN THREE MOONS!!!! RUN!!!”
She heard someone in front of her, though she couldn’t see who because of the smoke stinging her eyes; begin to ask a question;
“Where will we…” But the roaring of the fire drowned him out. Smoke filled her lungs, she began to stumble. She yelped in pain as the fire seared her coat. Then she heard someone calling her name, “FERNPAW!”
“Fernpaw, wake up Fernpaw!”
Fernpaw saw her trusted friend Tanglepaw staring looking worried at Fernpaw. Fernpaw inhaled the fresh forest air deeply a few times and then Tanglepaw spoke;
“What happened?”
“What do you mean: ‘what happened’?” asked Fernpaw, still a bit dizzy from waking up so suddenly, “I was sleeping, that is until you woke me up!” Fernpaw had no idea why she was being so snappy; maybe it was because she didn’t get to sleep because she was thinking about her parents, why’d they have to kill each other? Why’d they leave her all alone? Didn’t they know Shadowclan would have the deputy, Ravenclever, become the leader? And if Ravenclever became the leader, they knew he would throw her out? If she hadn’t have made her way to Thunderclan she would have been raven food.
“I mean what happened in your dream,” mewed Tanglepaw innocently, looking hurt, “You yelped and you yowled something about running and returning in three moons?”
“It’s none of your business,” snorted Fernpaw, but she wasn’t thinking about Tanglepaw or the dream, she was thinking about her parents again. Why had they fought? It must have been something much more important than her. Otherwise they would have put they’re problems aside and remembered her.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tanglepaw glare at her and curl up to sleep in the corner.
Tanglepaw didn’t talk to Fernpaw all morning, but Fernpaw didn’t even notice. Tanglepaw didn’t know about her parents. They shared all their secrets except that. And that was all Fernpaw thought about: Why? Why? But at midday, when the sun was right above and all the shadows disappeared, Tanglepaw came crunching through the snow towards her.
“Okay.” Tanglepaw mewed bluntly, dropping a vole beside Fernpaw (her favorite).
“Okay what?” hissed Fernpaw, still sour.
“You’ve been treating me like a kittypet’s litter box, you haven’t spoken to anyone all day and you haven’t eaten anything.” She shoved the vole closer to Fernpaw, “What’s wrong?”
“What’s WRONG???” burst Fernpaw, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong!!! My parents are from Shadowclan and they killed each other in a fight and left me all alone! The leader of Shadowclan kicked me out and if I hadn’t found my way to Thunderclan, I would’ve been crow food!!!”
“But I thought...” Tanglepaw started.
“You thought that my mother was Sandpelt? So does everyone else except Sandpelt herself and Tigerclaw.”
They stared at each other for many minutes, Fernpaw out of breath and Tangle paw in shock.
Finally Tanglepaw said; “Do you want to go for a hunt?”
Now Fernpaw was shocked, “But what about…?”
“Nothing will ever change our friendship!”
They walked of into the woods together. Leaving a vole on the ground behind them.
As they were walking, the subject of the abandoned kits came up. Fernpaw bit her tongue because she wasn’t sure if Tigerclaw wanted Tanglepaw to know that they were Shadowclan.
“I wonder what clan they’re from?” Fernpaw forced herself to say.
“Are you kidding?” asked Tanglepaw, “I went into the nursery and I could smell the Shadowclan from 5 strides away, even though I could tell that they had been sprayed by skunk, rolled in sweet grass and dunked in the river!”
“The poor things!” exclaimed Fernpaw, “That Ravenclever, I refuse to call him Ravenstar because he doesn’t deserve to be leader of anything. Except maybe crows like himself!”
Tanglepaw started to laugh at her friend, but stopped and pricked her ears, Fernpaw did the same.
All at once they tore into the heather, chasing a plump winter hare. Fernpaw got to it first, digging her claws into its neck and then biting it. For a second she sat and licked her paws, enjoying her victory and waiting for Tanglepaw to catch up.
As soon as she did she asked; “How come you run so fast?”
Fernpaw shrugged, “Maybe it’s for…” She stopped herself, she was about to say “it’s for when the fire gets here.” But then she remembered it was just a silly dream.
“Maybe it’s for what?” asked Tanglepaw.
“Maybe it’s for Sandpelt, her favorite is hare!”
Tanglepaw seemed satisfied but Fernpaw knew Sandpelt’s favorite was field mouse. She hated hare.
When they arrived back at the camp, there was a huge ordeal going on by the nursery. Fernpaw went to see what was going on while Tanglepaw put their catches in the pile.
“What happened?” asked Fernpaw, “Is everyone okay?”
“Hopefully,” said Ashstar, “Needlepelt is very worried though.”
“Why?” asked Fernpaw, “what happened?”
Ashstar sighed and took awhile to respond, “Pinekit was stolen.”
“By a hawk?” asked Fernpaw, astonished, “or a badger?”
Tigerclaw walked up behind them, looking disgusted. “No,” he growled, “not a badger or a hawk. It smells like Shadowclan has something to do with this.”
“SHADOWCLAN?” exclaimed Fernpaw, “again?”
Tigerclaw gave her a warning look. But Ashstar laughed.
“Yes,” he said calmly, “the kits are from Shadowclan. But we are making it seem we don’t know. That traitor Ravenstar doesn’t know who he’s fooling with.”
“Are you sure it’s Ravenstar?” asked Fernpaw”
“Yes” said Tigerclaw smugly, “It’s got his stink all over it.”
Fernpaw sniffed around a bit, it seemed to her she did smell the dirty leader of Shadowclan, but something else too.
8
Her eyes flew open as she realized the other scent, well hidden by the reek of ShadowClan.
“We need to find him quickly!” she yowled, “get Shadowflower too!” Shadowflower was the medicine cat. She would be needed.
Now that she pinpointed it the smell filled her nostrils, the stench of deathberries.
She ran, feeling as if the ground was flying out from beneath her. She had to save Pinekit. He just couldn’t go.
She barely noticed the passing bracken as she followed the scent. Finally, as they came near the ShadowClan border, they heard mewling. It was Pinekit.
Shadowflower had caught up with Fernpaw; “He’s in pain,” she meowed softly, scooping the deathberries out of his mouth. She force fed him yarrow to make him throw up. He threw up and stopped shaking so violently, there were little red specks in her barf.
“Thank you so much Fernpaw,” she mewed and bowed her head, “you saved Pinekit’s life.” She looked up, her eyes glowed with gratitude. Fernpaw felt her heart swell with pride. Surely her mentor, Graycloud, would think she was ready to be a warrior now.
Sure enough, Graycloud praised her for being such a good tracker and Ashstar promised her a warrior ceremony at sunhigh.
* * *
At sunhigh Ashstar yowled; “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting.
Fernpaw bounded out of the apprentice den, freshly groomed. Waiting for Ashstar to call her up.
Ashstar flicked his tail at her to join him. “I, Ashstar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Fernpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?”
Fernpaw’s eyes shone; “I do.”
“Then by the power of Starclan,” he yowled, “I give you your warrior name: Fernpaw, from this moment onward you will be called Ferntail. StarClan honors your strength and intelligence and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan.”
“Ferntail, Ferntail!” the clan yowled, Ferntail felt like she was going to burst with pride.
As soon as it settle down, Ashstar meowed; “Also, I would like to say that we will launch an attack on Shadowclan, they will pay for what they did to Pinekit.”
Ferntail admired her leader as the clan cheered. All she thought about during her silent vigil was that Shadowclan would pay.
To be continued in ‘Ferntail’s Dream’…
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