SkyClan's Future

'''I decided to write about what I think will happen to SkyClan in the future. Set three moons after Firestar and Sandstorm left. Do not read if you haven't read Firestar's Quest, because it would not really make sense! It is from Tinypaw's point of view! --95.150.240.240 15:27, January 4, 2010 (UTC)'''

Allegiances
Leader- Leafstar

Brown-and-cream tabby she-cat

Deputy- Sharpclaw

Dark ginger tom

Medicine Cat- Echosong

Silver tabby she-cat

Warriors- 

Patchfoot

Black and white tom

(App.- Bouncepaw)

Clovertail

Light brown she-cat with a white belly and legs. Mother of Bouncepaw, Rockpaw and Tinypaw

Sparrowpelt

Dark brown tabby tom

(App.- Tinypaw)

Cherrytail

Tortoiseshell she-cat

(App.- Rockpaw)

Apprentices-

Bouncepaw

Ginger tom

Tinypaw

Small white she-cat, blue eyes

Rockpaw

Black tom

Oueens-

Petalnose

Pale grey she-cat

Kits- Mintkit (Grey tabby tom), and Sagekit (Pale grey she-cat)

Other Cats- (Loners who live in a two groups, except Hutch)

Hutch

Dark brown tabby tom, formerly Shortwhisker of SkyClan

Bella

Black she-cat, Flower's mother, adult

Chip

Ginger tabby tom, Flower's father, adult

Flower

Young tortoiseshell she-cat, about 11 moons, kit of Bella and Chip

Stripes

Young grey tom, about 11 moons, family unknown

Smudge

Elderly black and white tom, Bella's father

Penny

Elderly tortoiseshell she-cat, Bella's mother

Fish

Brown tom, adult, father of Rose and Flash

Rose

Pinkish-brown she-cat, about 7 moons, sister to Flash, kit of Fish

Flash

Boastful young ginger tom, about 7 moons, brother to Rose, kit of Fish

Chapter One
Tinypaw padded across the loose shingle leading away from the low set apprentices den. The sharp stones pushed into her soft pads, causing her to wince. How she envied cats like Cherrytail and Sparrowpelt, who were of SkyClan descent. Their rough pads were perfectly suited to walking over stones, and their strong hind legs made them perfectly suited to SkyClan hunting, especially squirrels, birds and other creatures who live in trees. As far as she was concerned, her mother Clovertail was just a normal loner who had lived a little way along the gorge. Tinypaw paused to raise her head, and spotted the bright newleaf sun rising above the edge of the steep gorge where SkyClan camp was situated. The apprentices' cave was at the bottom of the steep gorge. She could see the medicine cat Echosong's den, a cave at the end of a gentle trickling stream that flows along the bottom of the gorge. The water was slow and shallow, a favourite place for kits to play in, and it supplies a good supply of water to the clan.

If Tinypaw looked to her left she could see the fallen tree that lay high up above the river, the ends resting on the gorge edges. Beyond that was the forest, where lots of rogue cats lived, although she had never met any of them. SkyClan had a few patches of forest on their territory, just not much. Tinypaw loved hunting in the forest. She was too slow to catch any rabbits out in the open, and can't jump high enough up any of the lone trees that most cats hunt from. She was a good stalker though, because she is light and can place her paws down lightly. When she is told to hunt, she always heads to the forest. She could remember Firestar when he and his mate came to rebuild the clan. That was over three moons ago now! He had came from a forest. His entire territory had been forest. It all sounded wonderful to Tinypaw.

A little way to her left, a sloping cliff path led up the rocky gorge wall. A little way up was the nursery den. Petalnose was the only queen there, along with her two kits, Mintkit and Sagekit. The path snaked up with lots of bends, and only a little way up from the nursery was the elders den, where no-one slept yet. Just before the elders cave was a small path that branched off. It led across to Leafstar's den, and then joined anothe adjacent path which led up to the Skyrock, where the clan went to gatherings every full moon, even though there were no other clans to meet with. All the way after the elders den, at the very top was the warriors den, where Patchfoot, Clovertail (Tinypaw's own mother), Sparrowpelt (Tinypaw's mentor) and Sparrowpelt's sister Cherrytail all slept.

Tinypaw padded over to the river. Most of her clanmates were sharing tongues or eating prey. She could see Cherrtail's dappled tortoiseshell pelt and Patchfoot's patchy black and white pelt; the two were sharing a plump grey squirrel. Her belly growled at the sight of prey, but she knew Sparrowpelt had to give her permission after she had done her duties. That was the good thing- there weren't any elders, so she didn't have to fetch any bedding for them! She saw the clan deputy Sharpclaw sitting alone eating a mouse. He had done everything a deputy should, like organising patrols and hunting parties, but was always aggressive towards most cats, including Leafstar. Tinypaw bent down and bagan to lap up the cold, clear water from the stream. It woke her up from her post-sleep status beforehand.

She heard excited mewling and looked up to see the pale grey pelt of Petalnose picking her way carefully down the cliff path. Her grey pelt stood out easily from the pale orange rock. Her two kits scampered energetically around her paws, whining to run ahead. She could hear Petalnose's stern meow to her kits, and the grey tabby tom's tail sank, but he stayed at his mother's side. The small she-cat however, dashed ahead, sending scree sliding down the slope. She caught a paw on a small rock jutting out from the ground, and tripped over. Petalnose mewed in distress and hurtled after her kit, who was turning head over heels down the path. Tinypaw could hear the kit's squeals and sprinted across to the bottom of the cliff path. The she-kit came to a stop right at Tinypaw's paws. Petalnose soon arrived and scooped up her kit. "Sagekit! How many times have I told you not to mess around and to listen to me! You could have badly hurt yourself!" she mewed firmly. "But I am hurt!" Sagekit squealed, turning around and showing her mother a light graze across her pale grey back and a scratch on her front paw. Petalnose's gaze softened and she licked the graze on Sagekit's back, ridding it of grit. Sagekit let out squeaks of pain and fidgeted under her mother's rough tongue. Her brother had carefully made it to the bottom of the slope now, and stood by Petalnose, his eyes wide with concern. "Is Sagekit okay?" he asked. "Yes, just slightly grazed," replied Petalnose. She turned to Sagekit. "Come with me and we'll get some herbs for your back."

Tinypaw purred as the queen and her kits disappeared inside the Whispering Cave, Echosong's den. Sagekit would probably get into a lot more scrapes before she becomes a warrior! She saw Sparrowpelt running towards her. "Hey, Tinypaw! I'm going to take you hunting!" he mewed. Tinypaw nodded and ran over to her mentor. He led the way up the cliff path, not having to slow down at all, his rough pads protecting him against the stones. Tinypaw ran as fast as she could, but the sharp stones hurt her paws. Sparrowpelt was already stood on the grassy top as he turned and called back to his apprentice. "Sorry, I forgot your pads aren't as hard as mine!" he called to her. Tinypaw cast him a glance and reached the top. She leaped as high as she could, and managed to dig her unsheathed claws into the earth on the edge. Tinypaw scrabbled against the rock with her hind paws. She finally managed to pull herself up and lay down panting beside her mentor. "Come on, it will be easy once you're a fully grown warrior," he reasurred her.

Tinypaw followed him over the fields, the soft grass relieving her paws. She sighed as she realised that he was heading to a tall tree