Leaves

Welcome
This is my story, well, rather our story, based on cats/users from around the wiki. I hope you enjoy. :)

(If you're cat/mate wasn't included, tell me on the talkpage and I'll correct that. There was a lot of confusion with some forms.)

Ch. 1
Leaf-bare was coming to a close, leaving behind a dead, dark green and brown forest. The sounds of dripping snowmelt sliding off leaves was almost deafening if one chose to really listen. A patch off ferns rustled almost undetectably as a small, golden-brown she-cat slithered through them, her whole body becoming one fluid movement.

A few cat-tails away was her prey; a thrush. She lifted her head, taking a quick scent-check of the area before continuing, and rushed in, her claws unsheathing quickly as she approached the bird. It let out a loud cluck of fear as it’s long wings began to flap frantically, trying to get away, but the she-cat was already on top of it, delivering a quick death blow.

She picked up the fresh-kill proudly, her eyes alight with the delight of the hunt-

“Mousestep!”

The golden-brown she-cat jolted out of her sleep, her green eyes searching for her caller. They settled on a large black tom sitting in the middle of the entrance to the bramble den, his silver eyes bright with amusement.

“You were mumbling and calling in your sleep, Mousestep,” he purred.

“Darkthorn,” she half-sighed half-growled. Mousestep got onto her paws and stretched luxuriously. “Am I needed for something?” she prompted.

“I don’t know.”

Mousestep stared back, baffled. Then why wake me up? she wanted to wail, but instead just padded out of the den drowsily. “Thanks, I guess it was time to get up anyways,” she meowed, stifling a yawn.

“Honestly, Mousestep,” Darkthorn sighed, his head shaking.

The golden she-cat felt her fur bristle slightly, but it was nothing anyone would notice. “Yes?”

“I’m your brother!” he exclaimed. “It’s okay to step on my tail once and a while, especially when I do something uncalled for like waking you.”

Fury burned at her tongue, singeing it and making her want to lash out with a cruel word or two. Her shoulders seemed to shrug on their own as she said, “Oh, well. It’s fine, really.” She took a pointed glance at the sky. “I should’ve been up by now.” Mousestep hoped that would end the conversation, but behind her the familiar paw steps of her sister sounded.

“Honestly, Darkthorn,” Bramblepath growled slightly. “Stop trying to taint our sister! Just because she doesn’t go sneaking off in the middle of the night like you.” Darkthorn sent his sister an angry glare, but she kept on going. “Whoops? Was I not supposed to know about that? Well, then, perhaps you should be a bit lighter on your paws. We are warriors now, you know.”

Mousestep ducked out the conversation, knowing she wasn’t needed for them to continue. Her sister and brother would bicker over anything, but she knew it was all in good humor.

The she-cat padded out to the center of the clearing, letting out a deep purr as the hot sun warmed her fur. The leaf-bare had been long and had stolen several cats from all the Clans, but she knew that a harsh winter meant that they would have a rich, albeit short, new-leaf coming.

Mousestep snatched up a fat squirrel and took it over near where a few warriors sat, waiting to leave or go out on a patrol. All around the camp seemed to brim with life.

Near the bramble encased nursery played the newest additions to ThunderClan; Birdkit and Cinderkit, playing with a large wad of moss while their mother and father, Cliffheart and Rocktail, looked on lovingly.

“Mousestep.” The warrior turned at her name to see her apprentice, Mudpaw, making her way over. “Are we going out today?”

The mentor shook her head. “Not together at least. You’ll be on a hunting mission today. Rocktail wants me to assess Goldenpaw today, since he wants to stay in the camp with Cliffheart for a few more days.”

Mudpaw visibly brightened at the idea of going out on her own. “Where do you want me to go?”

Mousestep flicked her ear thoughtfully. “Goosewing is taking Sunpaw along the ravine, and I’m taking Goldenpaw to the owl tree. You should probably try near the river. Since it’s starting to heat up, prey will be looking for it to cool them off.”

The gray apprentice looked slightly ambitious, and it took Mousestep a movement to figure out why. Then she remembered the recent dispute over the Sunningrocks again. The apprentice was probably hoping to see some action, but Mousestep knew there wouldn’t be any. Patrols would be watching very carefully, and intervene if anything started.

“Mousestep!” Bramblepath called. The warrior’s green eyes flickered to where her sister was. Darkthorn was trotting out of the camp, seething. “Mind if Forestpaw joins Mudpaw? She’s been dying to get out on her own for a bit.”

Mousestep nodded. “Sounds good.” As Bramblepath padded off for her apprentice, she turned to her own. Mudpaw didn’t look disappointed in the least that her friend was now joining her. “You don’t have to stay with each other the whole time, but you need to know where the other is, okay?”

The tortoiseshell dipped her head and began to race out of the camp, catching up to an eager Forestpaw.

The golden-brown warrior took a deep breath, trying to locate Goldenpaw so they could get a move on. “Rocktail, where is she?”

“Elders den.” The happy father didn’t even bother looking up from his kits.

Mousestep nodded and make her way over to elder’s den, where she found Goldenpaw removing fleas from Honeyfoot’s pelt.

“Much better, thank you Goldenpaw,” the elder she-cat purred.

“Ready?” Mousestep asked.

The tom nodded, clearly eager to get going. “Where will we be hunting?”

“Twoleg place,” she said with a flick of her tail, padding out.

The apprentice remained silent for a moment before asking, “Will I become a warrior after this?”

The young warrior shook her head. “Rocktail just wants to know where you are. You just became an apprentice,” she added with a purr.

“Rocktail became a warrior before Willowsky, even though she’s older,” he pointed out hopefully.

Mousestep chuckled, liking Goldenpaw’s optimism. “I think you’ll need more than a moon’s experience before becoming a warrior.”

“Fine, I’ll go with two, and then three more before becoming deputy,” Goldenpaw conceded.

Mousestep shot him a confused glance. “And where in those three moons are you planning on training an apprentice?”

It was evident the tom had already thought everything out as his chest puffed with satisfaction. “I’ll be such a great one, that they’ll immediately be made a warrior,” his tone contained a mocking note.

“Oh, but of course,” she purred. Her ears pricked as the top’s of the twoleg nest’s became visible. “I want you to stay fairly close to the twoleg nests, but don’t go in them. Meet me at the thunderpath.”

The tom’s amber eyes become solemn and focused as she spoke, gearing himself up. Goldenpaw gave small nod and took off.

Mousestep waited a few heartbeats before leaping into a nearby tree and following, trying to keep undetected.



Goldenpaw leapt at a small thrush, killing it with one deft swipe.

“Well done,” Mousestep nodded, leaping out of her tree. The tom looked startled for a moment, his hackles rising, but they quickly settled.

“How’d I do?”

“What do you think?”

Goldenpaw looked thoughtful. “Pretty well. Although I did miss that squirrel and my stalking technique for a mouse I caught was lousy.”

Mousestep smiled. “You were fine; even senior warriors make mistakes. The fact that you recognized them is good.” You also need to scent check the area more often, and be aware of everything around you, she thought, remembering the rabbit he had startled and not even noticed. But the tom was looking joyful and she wouldn’t burst his bubble.

A strange scent caught her attention in some ferns nearby. Without a word, she padded over, shuffling through them until she discovered some poorly buried shrew bones.

Goldenpaw, curious, craned his neck up to take a look. Immediately, he became defensive. “I didn’t-”

“I know you didn’t eat,” Mousestep assured him, sniffing the remains thoroughly. “I was watching.” The warrior became grim as she locked onto the scent. “Goldenpaw, take a sniff. What do you smell?”

The young apprentice bent down, inhaling deeply before snorting violently as he identified the scent as well.

“ShadowClan!”