This is a collaboration between Kode and Pumpkin Queen.
Prologue[]
The silky cinnamon tabby let out a small purr as she leapt off of the tree, landing smartly on her paws. “You came,” She purred flirtatiously, weaving around the other cat, a tom with fur that blended perfectly into the shadows. If it hadn’t been for her keen sense of smell and his ice-blue eyes, she wouldn’t have seen him.
“Yes, of course I came.” The tom purred, his tone as flirty as hers. He pricked his ears. “Is Maybelle here?”
The tabby shook her head, and an edge of jealousy barbed her words. “That kittypet? No, of course not. Tonight it’s just you and me.” She purred, nuzzling his cheek. The tom let out a purr, and twined his inky black tail with hers.
“Actually,” A third cat snarled, and the hair on the tabby’s short pelt shot straight up, “it’s just the three of us.”
With a screech, the newcomer threw herself at the tabby. She dodged her blow, but her claws were unsheathed and they scraped down her cheek.
The black tom threw himself between the stranger and the tabby, preparing to defend her. The face on the stranger was familiar, and he let out a chuckle, sheathing his claws.
“You’ve improved, Maybelle.” The silky tabby purred, brushing past the dark tom. Maybelle grinned crookedly, sheathing her claws too. “You managed to dodge. You could never dodge before.”
The tabby shrugged, licking a paw and dragging it over an ear coolly. “You aren’t the only one who’s improved, then, are you, Maybelle?” She said. Her voice was light and friendly, but her tone was savage.
“No, I guess not.” Maybelle meowed, just as frostily. “Have you got a problem with that, Drop?” She purred.
Drop narrowed her eyes. “I’ll tell you what I have a problem with-” She growled, but the dark tom interrupted them.
“Stop talking!” He hissed suddenly, diving under a curtain of moss. Drop followed, Maybelle not far behind.
Maybelle sat with her paws tucked under her chest tensely, her ears flattened. Noiselessly, the claws of all three cats slid out at once, and they stared at the curtain of moss.
A silhouette of a feline appeared at the moss curtain. The smells of damp bark and grass must have covered their scent, and the cat turned away.
“No witnesses,” The tom narrowed his eyes at the silhouette. “Dark!” Maybelle protested, but Drop nodded. “No, he’s right.” She meowed, loud enough for the cat to hear. They froze, and Drop exploded out from behind the curtain.
With a slash, the cat crumpled down, blood pooling out of the gash in his neck. Drop recognized the tom, but she only gave his pelt a dismissive nudge and turned away, shaking the blood off her paw.
“Great job, Drop.” Dark purred, weaving around her lovingly. Jealously, Maybelle turned her head, and a spark of satisfaction and triumph bloomed to life in her chest.
Chapter One[]
Brightstar stood on the Talltree, a tree that had crashed down into the camp many moons ago, more than the elders could count. It was a thick tree, tall and wide, draped with moss and lichen. “Let all cats gather around for a clan meeting”, The leader announced, her firm call echoing around the quarry that HeatherClan called their home.
Birchkit let out a squeak of excitement. He was 6 moons old. He had been waiting for this day to happen his whole life - and that wasn’t exaggerating!
“Nutkit, step forward.” Brightstar twitched an ear as Nutpaw nervously pawed forward. “From this day forth, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Nutpaw. Stemclaw, you have the skill to take an apprentice. Your apprentice will be Nutpaw.”
“Nutpaw, Nutpaw, Nutpaw!” The clan cheered, yowling her new name to the sky. Nutpaw touched her muzzle with her mentor, Stemclaw, nervously, and he smiled at her.
“Birchkit, step forward. From this day forth, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Birchpaw. Snowyfalcon, you have trained Tumblebee well, and though the life of a warrior did not suit him, you trained him well. Therefore, you shall be a mentor to Birchpaw.” Brightstar mewed.
“Birchpaw, Birchpaw, Birchpaw,” The clan yowled again.
“Birchpaw! I’m so proud!” Birchpaw's mother, Bluebird, meowed as she licked him on his head, bounding over to him and pushing past Snowyfalcon.
“Stop it! I’m an apprentice now!” He protested, batting at his mother’s muzzle with sheathed claws.
“Whatever you say, darling.” Bluebird purred, rubbing his flank with her muzzle.
“Hey, Birchpaw!” Nutpaw called from across the quarry, just loud enough for him to hear. He pricked his ears in interest. His tail shooting up in goodbye to his mother, he padded towards his childhood friend. “Yeah, Nutpaw?” Birchpaw ran over to her.
“Stemclaw and Falconsnow are saying that we have to gather here to learn how to hunt! I’m so excited!” Birchpaw blinked in surprise, his tail flicking eagerly; “Me too!”
“Come on, - now, Birchpaw, we don’t have all day.” Falconsnow meowed, a bit impatiently. “Nutpaw, you’re coming too! Are you ready?” Stemclaw asked, tipping his head at Nutpaw and Birchpaw. Both apprentices squeaked, “Yes!”
“Come along. We’ll go to the SunClan border, then the SparrowClan border,” Stemclaw instructed.
“I heard that SunClan's mean.” Nutpaw shivered, clawing at the ground nervously. Birchpaw rubbed against her kindly.
“They can be a little ferocious sometimes. We’ll teach you where the boundaries are.” Stemclaw meowed. “Don’t cross them, though. Elders will tell stories of how SunClan used to shred anyone who passed into their territory, but don’t listen to them. They’re just trying to scare you.” He rumbled.
They trotted along, tree after tree after grove of tree, until they saw a large, thick tree draped with moss with holes dug in for climbing. Snowyfalcon stopped, twitching her tail to signal the apprentices to stop.
“This is the Great Sequoia tree,” Snowyfalcon prompted, pointing with her tail to the large tree, “When you get older, we’ll teach you how to climb it. To pass your assessment you’ll have to climb up and back down.”
“Woah! It's HUGE!”, Birchpaw gasped, looking up at the tall tree that loomed over him.
“Can you teach us how to climb?” Nutpaw mewed, pleading with her wide, looking at her mentor desperately, her expression similar to a kit begging to leave the nursery.
Stemclaw mewed, “We’re going to have to at some point. I’ll teach you - follow Snowyfalcon, and watch as she climbs. You NEVER, and I say NEVER, climb below your clanmate. That is dangerous.”
“We won’t”, Birchpaw promised, as they watched the milky-white she-cat scale the tree and clamber down. “You try, Birchpaw,” Snowyfalcon mewed. “You won’t fall.” She meowed reassuringly. “Just drag yourself up using the moss.”
Birchpaw did as she asked, clinging to the moss that draped the try with his two front paws. He took in a deep breath, unsheathing his claws and climbing up carefully. He pushed himself up on a branch below, looking at his mentor and Nutpaw, they looked so tiny from up here, though he was barely off the ground.
“Careful!” Snowyfalcon warned. “You’re up pretty high, and you don’t want to get stuck up there and then not be able to come down.”
Birchpaw climbed to the other side of the tree, where he could see a patrol, cats that he had never seen before.
He looked behind him, and Nutpaw had appeared next to him; her flanks heaved with exertion. Birchpaw blinked in wonder, his friend had climbed up faster than a squirrel!
“This is a-” Nutpaw was broken off by the sound of cats the pair had never seen before, cats with a strange scent.
Birchpaw whispered to her; “Enemies! I think they’re SunClan!”
They both panicked. Birchpaw meowed, “Follow me!” That sound caught the enemy’s attention and the leader of the patrol looked up in the tree, letting out a yowl upon seeing the two apprentices. Birchpaw climbed higher and higher into the tree, looking back to see if the enemy was tracking them.
Soon, Birchpaw poked his head out, and he was looking down onto the clans. He had climbed the whole tree, fueled by terror and adrenaline.
Nutpaw was just behind him, letting out a squeak as she gazed down, looking at all the four clans’ territory. They had made it to the top of the sequoia. He couldn’t believe it!
He had let out a satisfied purr when he spotted the enemy getting closer, but far away below the tree. He could see a tiny shape of his mentor, Snowyfalcon, and his friend’s mentor, Stemclaw, take off running into the forest. Birchpaw called, “I’m the king of the world and Nutpaw is the queen!” The small white shape tipped her head but said nothing, she was too far down to hear.
Nutpaw mewed, ‘That would mean that we’re mates,’ with a blink of surprise. She worked at the bark under her paws, shooting an anxious glance down at the SunClan cats.
“Yuck!” Birchpaw spat, “I only wanna be friends with you. Fine, you’ll be my sister, and we’ll be the royal family.”
“Me too.” Nutpaw meowed. "Not mates." She looked below, and there was the enemy, halfway up the tree and gaining faster, three large cats. She heard one of the warriors spit, “ Next time, they will rethink crossing the border!”
Clearly Birchpaw had heard and whispered to Nutpaw, “ Come this way. I think I can see a way down. But why would they think we're trespassing?” Nutpaw followed, jumping branch to branch.
“Follow me-e!” Birchpaw jumped, but landed wrong and was plummeting to the floor of the forest. Wind whistled in his ears and he let out a yowl of fear.
“No!” Nutpaw yowled. She tried to go after him, by climbing, but she was too slow. Birchpaw was laying on the forest with a shock of surprise. Snowyfalcon ran up to him and nudged the limp body. Birchpaw moaned weakly, his tongue lolling.
A SunClan cat jumped down from the tree and hissed at Snowyfalcon. “Get away, and your little apprentice too!” The cat hissed, before turning tail and pelting away into the shadows of SunClan territory. Nutpaw mewed, “Where is Stemclaw?” “He went to get Flowerberry,” Snowfalcon mewed. “This looks pretty bad.”
Chapter Two[]
Nutpaw nosed Birchpaw's limp form, sprinkled with herbs and lavender to cover up the foul scent of chokeweed. He wasn't dead, but Nutpaw wasn't sure he'd recover. She pushed the thought away; of course he'd recover! Then they'd hunt and patrol together and- "Nutpaw, are you in here?"
She raised her head to see Stemclaw padding into the medicine cat's den. "Oh, hey." She meowed, turning away to look at Birchpaw again. "How are you holding up?" Stemclaw asked, laying his tailtip on her shoulder.
She sighed. "I'm doing... okay. I miss him. Every day, I-" She let out a sob, turning away from Birchpaw's body, too, so she was staring at the rocky floor below them, below the nests of bracken and moss.
Stemclaw nodded. "It's okay to grieve. You need time to understand what's going on. I hope that you find peace, Nutpaw." He meowed, lingering for only a moment before turning and slipping out of the den.
"Birchpaw?" She meowed, pressing her nose to his fur. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" She squeezed her eyes, trying to compress the tears that were forming, but a few slid out. She buried her face in her paws miserably. "I miss you," She choked out. "I miss you all the time. Stemclaw took me hunting, did you know that? I learned the basic crouch. I forgot it as soon as I learned it so I could learn it again with you."
She let out another sob, and then the tears flowed freely. "I- This is my fault. I distracted you on the tree, and I couldn't get down fast enough, and I- I- I miss you," She fumbled, pawing at the ground. "I can't wait for you to be better. When- When you're awake, we're going to go to the Gathering together, and we'll make our nests in the apprentices' den together..."
She kept talking, and slowly the days slipped by. Nutpaw was never far from Birchpaw's side, no matter the urgency of the situation. Stemclaw was the only one who would keep his distance, and Nutpaw battled with the urge to walk out of camp and train every day. Every time she felt it, she'd remind herself of Birchpaw's scream as he fell through the air, landing with a crunch on the ground.
Nights blurred into days and back into nights, and before Nutpaw knew it it was the night of the Gathering. Birchpaw was still asleep, with no sign that he was alive except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. "Nutpaw?" Snowyfalcon poked her head into the medicine den. Nutpaw shifted so that the white she-cat could enter, but she didn't move her miserable gaze from Birchpaw.
"It's time for the Gathering," She mewed gently. Nutpaw shook her head. "I'm not going. I can't leave him." Snowyfalcon sighed. "You must, Nutpaw! He's going to recover, and you're not helping him by moping around. You barely eat these days, you'll starve yourself before you see even a sliver of movement from him!"
The outburst seemed to surprise Snowyfalcon as much as it did Nutpaw, but she hid her resentment with a shake of her head. "No, I can't. I can't leave him. What if he wakes up and I'm not here?"
"He's not going to wake up tonight!" Snowyfalcon exploded. "He might never wake up, can't you see that? You need to get on with your life or it'll slip away in front of you!" Nutpaw froze, and then her anger and despair flooded out of her. "No! I can't leave him, I can't, I can't, I can't! he needs me!" She yowled. Snowyfalcon tried to calm Nutpaw down, but she was thrashing. "Help!" Snowyfalcon yowled, and three warriors surged in. Each one pinned one of Nutpaw's legs down, and someone forced poppy seeds between her jaws, forcing her to swallow. She let out a low moan and slipped into unconciousness.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
"W- Where am I?" Nutpaw asked, blinking in the bright daylight. A sunny, busy forest sprawled out in all directions. Birds chattered in trees while mice scurried around her, pausing to soak up sun in the sunbeams that filtered in through the leaves.
"Nutpaw, is that you?" A familiar voice purred from above. She leapt to her paws, craning her neck. "Birchpaw!" She meowed in excitement. Not bothering to thing, she hauled her way up the nearest tree, jumping onto the same branch he had draped himself over. "You're okay!" She purred, nuzzling him.
Birchpaw blinked. "Of course I'm okay. One moment, I was falling through the air down at the Great Seqoia, and the next I'm here! Only, I couldn't find any more cats. Someone must have brought me here and healed me, then left." He meowed. "Where've you been?"
Nutpaw twitched her whiskers. "In the clan, of course! Everyone was so worried when you didn't wake up, but I knew that you'd come back," She purred, pressing herself up against Birchpaw. He frowned. "Didn't wake up? What do you mean? I've been here the whole time!"
Nutpaw shook her head slowly. "No, I- that can't be right. I remember, we dragged your body back to camp. Your broken bones mended but for some reason you wouldn't wake up. Then I wanted to stay with you because it was time for a gathering, but Snowyfalcon said I had to go with her. I don't remember what happened next."
Birchpaw blinked, understanding slowly dawning in his eyes. "Ohh, I get it now! We're dreaming! I guess this is StarClan, then." He mused, glancing around. "But why is StarClan so empty?"
Nutpaw shrugged. Happiness was clouding her senses and she twined her tail with Birchpaw. "I don't know. But let's just stay here, you and me. We're together now, can't we just be happy?"
Birchpaw let out a purr, nuzzling Nutpaw. "You're my best friend. If you're with me, I'll always me happy." His words sent a churn of apprehension through Nutpaw. Somehow, the words 'best friend' didn't feel right anymore. "Yeah." She purred, forcing her thoughts away. "Always happy. That sounds pretty good to me."
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Nights had passed. Days had blurred by, and Nutpaw and Birchpaw were happy. They were together, and they were happy.
"We need to leave." Birchpaw announced one day, dropping a fat mouse in front of Nutpaw. She blinked up at him. "Leave? Why? What's wrong with this place?" She asked, gesturing with a sweep of her tail towards the forest.
"Don't you miss our clanmates? Our parents?" He winced. "Okay, not your parents. But... our mentors? In HeatherClan, we could be warriors. Here we're-" "Anything we want to be!" Nutpaw interrupted, her eyes shining. "Rogues." Birchpaw concluded firmly. "We're just rogues! I want to be a warrior, Nutpaw. Don't you remember climbing the tree?"
"And you almost dying?" Nutpaw spat, getting to her paws. "Yeah, I do. I also remember getting force-fed poppy seeds and being pinned down under my clanmates. I remember the sound of your bones cracking, I remember your screams as we carried you back to camp."
"What happened to training and hunting side-by-side? What happened to forgetting the hunter's crouch so you could learn it again with me?" Birchpaw demanded. "Sometimes, at night, when you weren't here, I would hear you. I know what you promised me, why can't you stick it throgh?"
"Well, Birchpaw, what am I supposed to say to that? That's the life we were offered, but we got something better! Why can't you see that? I- I'm not going back, and you don't have to go back home either!"
Birchpaw stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. "Yes," He finally murmured, "I do." He turned and plunged into the forest. Nutpaw didn't follow, staring numbly at the ground where he had stood. Minutes passed. "Fine!" She screeched suddenly, startling every bird in the trees around her. "Leave, then! See if I care!" She yowled, clawing at the empty air. But she did care. She did.
Chapter Three[]
Birchpaw awoke. He could scent the smell of leaves and herbs. He must've been in the medicine-cat’s den. He heard a voice outside.
It said, “Let’s go!” although he didn’t know who it was for a moment.
Stemclaw meowed, “We have to go to the gathering!”
“The gathering?” Birchpaw moaned. “I’m so stiff.”
“Yes, we gotta hurry!”
Birchpaw stood up, he had felt a jabbing pain in his ribs, but he trotted along quickly so he could see his mentor, Snowfalcon.
“You're healed? Come on then,” Snowfalcon mewed, looking back at him from the entrance to camp. He felt that same throbbing pain that he felt earlier, although he still trotted along to the gathering place.
“Look! I think that's it!” Birchpaw gasped. There were four trees, and next to each tree, there was a huge rock. Each one was carved to represent the clans. StoneClan, there was a stone drawn on the tree; HeatherClan, there was some heather put at the spot, draped over the tree’s roots, SunClan had a bright object, and SparrowClan had a sparrow dropped at the tree.
“Which one is ours?” Snowyfalcon quizzed, nudging him in the ribs. Birchpaw gasped for air.
“Maybe the one with the heather around it, since we’re HeatherClan?” Birchpaw guessed.
“Go and meet other apprentices, and don’t spoil anything,” Stemclaw nudged Birchpaw.
Birchpaw walked around, feeling as though something were wrong; a nagging feeling that he just couldn’t shake. He found a group of apprentices bunched up together, chattering and gossiping.
“Hi! I’m Birchpaw!”, Birchpaw meowed, padding up to them.
“Are you new?” An unfamiliar apprentice questioned.
“Made an apprentice a day ago,” Birchpaw meowed quickly. “Along with Nutpaw, but she’s…” He looked around. “I guess she didn’t come.”
“Did anything exciting happen?”, The same apprentice spoke, “Also, I’m Rushpaw of SparrowClan.”, The tom meowed.
“I’m Silverpaw of StoneClan.”, a silver she-cat purred,“I did catch a mouse. Nothing really exciting.” Now he remembered what had happened with Nutpaw. She was back in the forest.
“I’m Dappledpaw, of SunClan.” Another apprentice meowed, “This is my first gathering. Don’t do anything bad, you have to pick the ticks off the elders! I almost had a battle, but my mentor, Acornfire, told me not to. I saw a cat fly out of a tree and Acornfire confront the mentor! I think it was HeatherClan by the scent. ”
“I did climb a huge Sequoia. I went all the way to the top with Nutpaw. She isn’t here She h-” A sharp pain interrupted him, and he almost collapsed, stumbling and catching his balance before he toppled down.
“ Are you ok? You were almost going to faint?” Silverpaw meowed, pressing herself to his side to steady him.
“I-I’m Totally fine Nothing t-”, that same pain in his chest interrupted him and he stumbled- trying to catch his breath, but he stumbled over.
“Are you that cat that fell from the tree? I recognized your scent, and you're not fully healed.” Dappledpaw meowed frankly, peering at him.
Birchpaw gasped for air, “Y-yes.” He finally meowed. “That’s me.”
“Where’s the other apprentice? Nutpaw, I think your mentor called her,” Dappledpaw tipped her head to one side.
“She wasn’t feeling good, so she decided not to come. You know how it is,” Birchpaw lied. “Almost leaf-fall, and whitecough’s dangerous.”
Dappledpaw shrugged. “Oh, okay.” Silverpaw supported his weight. “Here, sit down.” She meowed, helping him get down.
“Thanks,” He gasped, his chest heaving. “I managed to wake up for the Gathering, but I was asleep for a moon; no lie.” He purred with amusement.
Silverpaw blinked at him. “Wow! You must be so brave to do that,” She purred, twitching her whiskers in awe.
“Yes, I rather think he is, too.” A familiar voice purred. Birchpaw’s eyes widened and he looked back to see Nutpaw clambering up the rock to sit next to Birchpaw.
“Nutpaw!” He blinked in surprise. “You came back!” Dappledpaw made a small curious humming noise. “Back? From where?”
“F- From camp,” Birchpaw stammered. “Yeah. It was lonely without you,” Nutpaw meowed with a sly smile. Birchpaw twitched his whiskers into a smirk; this was their inside joke.
“Anyways, everybody, this is Nutpaw. Nutpaw, everybody.” He meowed, introducing her. Nutpaw’s paws scuffed the ground with embarrassment, but she smiled.
“Hi, Nutpaw! I’m Silverpaw,” Silverpaw purred, pricking her ears at Nutpaw. “It’s nice to meet you!”
“It was so brave of you to try and run down after Birchpaw when he fell!” Dappledpaw meowed, her eyes shining. “I was there!”
Nutpaw looked surprised. “You were- Oh, you must be from SunClan! It’s lovely to meet you, though I do suppose it’s your clan’s fault that he fell, because you were chasing him.” Nutpaw meowed, though there was no hostility in her voice.
Dappledpaw nodded. “My mentor can get carried away sometimes. It doesn’t matter; he’s fine now.” Birchpaw let out a strangled pant, and she flicked an ear back. “Almost fine now.”
In turn, the other apprentices introduced themselves. Nutpaw looked cheerful enough, but her paws were still, something that almost never happened with Nutpaw.
Birchpaw opened his mouth to ask if she was okay when the leaders, conversing quietly on the boulders, began the Gathering.
“HeatherClan will begin.” Brightstar meowed. “As most of you have heard, one of our apprentices, Birchpaw, was severely injured in a fall from the Great Sequoia. Because of this, HeatherClan will no longer be climbing on the tree.” She meowed. “He is one of two new apprentices, the other being Nutpaw.”
The clans cheered, and Birchpaw felt as though he’d turned into the most massive cat around; all eyes were on him.
The Gathering ended quickly, and Birchpaw felt himself be nudged towards a large holly bush by Nutpaw. He nodded, sliding under it. “What’s wrong?” He meowed seriously.
She sighed. “I… I think I’m going to leave HeatherClan.”
Chapter Four[]
“No, you can’t! You have me!” Birchpaw wailed, not bothering to keep his voice down. Nutpaw shushed him, looking around nervously. Panic welled up inside her at the fear in his gaze - he didn’t want to go with her. “I know! That’s why I want you to come with me!”
Birchpaw widened his eyes in horror. “L- Leave HeatherClan? But it’s our home! Our families are there!”
Nutpaw blinked back her tears. “It’s not my home anymore, Birchpaw.” She mumbled. “A lot of things changed when you were asleep. I can’t stay there anymore.” She buried her face in her paws.
Birchpaw declared, “If you're leaving, then I’m coming with you!”
“That would be nice. I would love that.” Nutpaw meowed, “Let’s go to sleep, together, for the last time.”
They walked back to camp in silence, though their tails were twined. They split paths at the medicine den, Birchpaw entering, while Nutpaw walked into the apprentices' den.
When they woke up, they were in the same bright forest of before. Nutpaw jumped up and down eagerly. The same throbbing pain hurt him, and he couldn’t get up.
“This is Silverstar, my new mentor!” Nutpaw purred.
“Hello, Nutpaw, is this your friend?” A voice interrupted them, not sounding patricularly interested. It belonged to Silverstar.
“Yes! This is Birchpaw.” Nutpaw replied with a blink.
“Lets get him a mentor,” Silverstar meowed. Silverstar walked away into some bushes with purpose.
“Where am I?” Birchpaw asked Nutpaw.
“Oh! You're going to love this place," Nutpaw meowed, dodging the question.
“Your new mentor is Brokenfox." Silverstar's voice interrupted the conversation; she had returned already, “She’s a silverish reddish tabby.”
“Hello. I’m Brokenfox. Get up!” Brokenfox kicked Birchpaw in the ribs, looming over him. Birchpaw saw Nutpaw look away, then hurry after Silverstar who was padding away.
Birchpaw yelped, “That hurts!”
“What, did you fall out of a tree or something?” She growled, batting at his muzzle.
He winced. “Actually, yes. Yes I did.”
“Well come here. It's important,"
“I can’t stand up!”, Birchpaw grumbled, churning at the grass with his hind paws.
"Well, I’ll pick you up!” Brokenfox dragged him to a spot in the trees, then hauled him up onto the first branch.
“What is it, Brokenfox?” Birchpaw asked.
“You ask a lot of questions”, Brokenfox snarled. ”My real name is Thornnose. My aunt pulled me in here, and I never broke free. I’m good.”
“I thought all ShadeClan cats were bad!” Birchpaw burst out. "Wait, you're good, and you never broke free? Then this is-"
"ShadeClan."
"WHAT?!" Birchpaw exploded, nearly toppling off the branch.
“Shhhhh! I have to tell you something else.”
“Ok,” Birchpaw went into a whisper.
“It's... about Nutpaw.”
“What about Nutpaw?”
“A nut will fall from the heather, and will go into the shade. The thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper into the shade, and the birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long roots of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs.” Brokenfox meowed.
“What does this mean!”, Birchpaw exclaimed loudly. Thornnose grimaced, batting at his muzzle. “Sorry," He added in a whisper.
“You have to wake up”, Brokenfox suddenly mewed and touched her nose to his. He saw a flash of light, and he smelled the scent of herbs around him once again.
“A nut will fall from the heather, and will go into the shade. The thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper into the shade, and the birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long roots of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs...”
Chapter Five[]
“Birchpaw you're here! I was worried sick!” Flowerberry exclaimed later that night, when Birchpaw limped into the medicine den. “You didn’t come back from the Gathering!”
“Do you know the cat, Brokenfox, or Thornnose?” Birchpaw asked, ignoring her.
“She’s my littermate. Sadly, she was trapped in ShadeClan.” Flowerberry whispered, grief in her voice.
“She told me this prophecy.” Birchpaw meowed, scuffing at the ground with his paws. “I thought, since you’re the medicine cat, that you would know what it means.”
“What is it?" Flowerberry asked, peering at him.
“A nut will fall from the heather, and will go into the shade. The thorn in the shade will pull the nut deeper into the shade, and the birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long roots of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs.”
“Hm…I don’t know where to start.” Flowerberry meowed, and licked her paw, so she could think.
“Brokenfox said it was about Nutpaw.” Birchpaw meowed.
“I GOT IT! The nut is Nutpaw, and you mist be the birch, but… what else? I can't see her going to the dark forest willingly.” She mused.
“But I did.” Birchpaw murmured.
“WHAT?!”
“Yeah. I passed out, Nutpaw was there.”
“I think it's your job to pull her out," Flowerberry meowed.
“I- I can’t take it! How? I'm just an apprentice!” Birchpaw yowled.
“I have to sort herbs. Do you wanna help-" Flowerberry began.
“Birchpaw! Come here!" Nutpaw called.
“What is it?” Birchpaw meowed, walking over to her with a limp and leaving Flowerberry in the medicine cat's den.
“We have to escape camp, remember?” Nutpaw whispered. Her eyes widened. “You’re still coming, right?”
“Y-Yeah.” Birchpaw stuttered, his fiery eyes betraying his nervousness.
“Come here," Nutpaw whispered. They slid out into the bushes together, quickly escaping from the camp.
“I smell a patrol.” Birchpaw meowed.
“Come up the Great Sequoia!” Nutpaw whispered, pointing with a paw.
“I thought at the gathering we were banned?” Birchpaw blinked curiously.
“Just climb it!” Nutpaw whispered, her expression showing she was shocked as he was when he heard the words.
The climbed high into the tree, so they could see the entirety of clan territory. From below, far off, the HeatherClan camp was visible, encircled in a ring of white and purple heather.
“Where are we going, exactly?” Birchpaw demanded in a whisper, though there was nobody around.
“I’m living here.” Nutpaw declared, “Because I wanna be separated from clan life. This is the first place I thought of. I will even make a nest, like birds! I mean, we have nests in the apprentice’s den, why not here, too!”
“That’s crazy! I can’t live up here, but I can lie about you.” Birchpaw exploded. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t leave HeatherClan. Not- Not even for you.” He murmured.
Grief shone in Nutpaw’s eyes, but she knew she couldn’t change his mind. She nodded. “Tell them I’m...” Nutpaw gulped, “Dead. And you buried my body.”
He let out a small breath, a sigh that knew that nothing was okay, that nothing would ever be okay again. He gazed into her beautiful eyes one last time.“I-I will," Birchpaw meowed, touching his nose to her forehead. She was long-limbed, but he was even taller.
Birchpaw climbed down the tree, “Bye...” Birchpaw mumbled, looking back up at Nutpaw - this was the last time he’d ever see her again. He staggered. The pain was terrible, the grief was worse. But the aching wasn’t as bad as he had thought it would be, and he walked back to camp raggedly.
He let out a deep breath, and yowled, “Nutpaw’s dead!” The words echoed around camp, as the cats started to hear.
“What now?” An elder, Yarrowfur, came out of the elder bush - Nutpaw’s grandfather. “What did you say?” He demanded.
“Nutpaw’s dead! She’s dead. Nutpaw is dead!” His words echoed around camp, bouncing wall-to-wall across the quarry.
“Nutpaw’s dead? My darling is dead?” A tortoiseshell she-cat coming out of the bushes of the warriors den - Amberpoppy, Nutpaw’s mother - yowled.
“I already buried her,” Birchpaw meowed, pushing sorrow into his voice. It wasn’t hard.
“We sit vigil for her tonight.” Brightstar meowed, grief resonating in her voice. "What happened?"
"We went out together for some fresh air. We were walking, ans a snake shot out of the bushes. I killed it, but it bit her. She was dead by the time I was through with the viper." Birchpaw explained. Suddenly, Birchpaw circled around and buckled his knees; falling to the ground. The grief in his heart was fresh, and the tears began to fall.
Chapter Six[]
Nutpaw was climbing down to get some moss when a familiar scene caught her nostrils. “Birchpaw!” She meowed slightly louder than usual, raising her head.
“Here. Have these. I have a sparrow, and a vole.”
“Thanks! Could you carry that up there?” Nutpaw asked.
“Sure!” Birchpaw meowed, giving her a nod. and carried the prey in his mouth to the top, and placed it on a large twig.
“I have to go. I’m on a solo mission.”
“Ok! See ya soon!”
Birchpaw climbed down, out of Nutpaw’s sight and started to pat the moss into the twigs and branches.
“I’ll be fine up here, I promise.” Nutpaw thought, reassuring herself. She worked her claws into the bark, letting out a large sigh.
She yawned, stretching, and flicked her tail in a show of dismissiveness. Truly, though, she was miserable. She watched Birchpaw go, her heart aching.
After a moment, she tucked her paws under her chest and settled down, closing her eyes. Within moments, her mind was in a different place.
“Hello, Nutpaw.” Brokenfox meowed, whipping around to face Nutpaw. Her fur shone in the bright sunlight, and what seemed like wisps of dark vapor clung to her fur. Nutpaw twitched her whiskers into a smile. “Hi!” She chirped. “What are we doing today?”
Brokenfox shrugged. “I’m not sure. Go talk to Silverstar, I saw here near the pools.” She meowed.
Nutpaw nodded. “Okay.” She looked around, scenting the air curiously. The scent of water reached her nose and she padded away from Brokenfox, widening her jaws.
She padded forward, nearly falling into one of the pools of crystal-clear water before she noticed Silverstar. She gave her “mentor” a nod.
“I’m here!” She meowed eagerly. “What are we doing today? Are we going to fight?” She asked, blinking.
"Relax." Silverstar meowed, looking irritated. "We're just going to be scouting out the territory. We've gotten reports of ShineClan on our territory, and we're going to see if it checks out."
Nutpaw blinked in wonder. "ShadeClan and ShineClan have bordering territories? Wow, I never knew that! I mean, I guess since you're both places for dead cats to go..." She trailed off with a shrug. "Anyways. Are we going right now?"
Silverstar nodded. "Yes. I'm just waiting for Bluethistle and Brackensharp. ShineClan cats are dangerous; we must be prepared." She meowed smoothly.
Nutpaw let out a fierce growl, and Nutpaw thought that Silverstar looked impressed. "ShineClan better not be trying to start something with ShadeClan!" She growled. "I'll show them!"
Shinestar shook out her pelt lazily. "Yes, I'm sure you will." She meowed distractedly. "Here, come fish." She flicked her tail and Nutpaw pranced over, peering into the clear water. The surface sparkled in the light, but it seemed like a thin layer of muck made a thick cover.
She twitched her whiskers and plunged in a paw, the muck bursting around her, coating her paw fur.
“Weird!” She exclaimed, drawing back her paw. “What’s that?” She sniffed her paw, flinging it to get the muck off.
“I don’t actually know, but we think that ShineClan’s been poisoning our water supply. The rain comes down in pellets like these, too.”
Nutpaw’s eyes widened. “How can they do that?” She asked in horror, staring with wide eyes at the water.
“We don’t know.” Silverstar sighed, anger flashing in her eyes. “We simply don’t know.”
Chapter Seven[]
Birchpaw scented the air. Squirrel! He thought.
He could see his prey now. He crept up to the squirrel and pounced. The squirrel climbed up a tree with Birchpaw at the squirrel’s tail. He clawed at his prey, and the squirrel fell limp at his claws. He climbed back down with his prey in his jaws and buried it. He went to search for more prey when he found Snowyfalcon.
“You did an excellent job.” Snowyfalcon purred, “I wish Nutpaw was here to see you. When you caught that sparrow, you stalked it fairly well. Add all of that to the Fresh-kill pile and take some prey with you. You deserve a feast.”
“T-Thanks,” Birchpaw meowed.
“Let's go back to camp, now.” Snowyfalcon meowed and walked to the direction of camp, Birchpaw struggling to follow her. He had felt that same pain, from ShadeClan, over and over again. He should really check with Flowerberry soon, he reckoned.
“Snowyfalcon?” Birchpaw called, hopefully loud enough for her to hear.
Snowyfalcon turned and stopped. “Yes?”
“I still feel pain when I fell out of that tree. Can you give me a rest?”
“I thought you were healed.”
“I almost passed out," Birchpaw meowed, staggering for effect.
“Well, better see Flowerberry for that!” Snowyfalcon meowed.
They walked, Birchpaw leaning on Snowyfalcon, until they saw Flowerberry picking herbs near the clan entrance.
“Flowerberry!” Snowyfacon called.
“What is it?" Flowerberry meowed.
“Birchpaw is saying that he hurts," Snowyfalcon declared
Flowerberry sighed, “Bring him here”
Birchpaw stumbled over and flopped on the ground in front of her.
“His rib isn’t healing properly. He has to stay in my den for a few weeks.”
Birchpaw moaned. His pain had worsened. He blinked and passed out.
“Nutpaw?” Birchpaw moaned. There was no reply, but his voice echoed around him, like if he was in a tunnel. He saw the heat of battle.
“A nut will fall from the heather, and will tumble into the shade. Hidden thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper in. A birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long tendrils of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs.” The voice kept on repeating. He saw a hill of enemies rise. It overwhelmed him.
“A nut will fall from the heather, and will tumble into the shade. Hidden thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper in. A birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long tendrils of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs.”, The voice repeated and the image only got worse. The cats of ShineClan were fading and the red outlines were turning into real cats, fighting the fading cats. He saw one cat that didn’t have an outline. A tortoiseshell she-cat, fighting as hard as the others.
That’s Nutpaw! He thought in horror.
The horrid scene faded away into nothingness, and the ground fell beneath him, though he could see nothing but darkness. He was falling!
“Help!” He wailed. No response. He heard a large plop and his eyes fluttered open to see a tortoiseshell she-cat bending over him, before closing once more.
Chapter Eight[]
Nutpaw let out a meow of horror. What was Birchpaw doing in ShineClan? Was he - was he dead?
“No!” She wailed, burying her nose in his fur. “Birchpaw!”
She felt like she was sinking, deeper and deeper and deeper into a chasm. “Please, Birchpaw,” She whimpered, “Be okay.”
Silverstar padded over, her muzzle drenched in blood. She lay her tailtip on Nutpaw's shoulder. "He's dead." She meowed flatly. "He died in battle. He must have fought in his sleep. He's in ShineClan now."
"No!" She wailed, flinching at Silverstar's touch. "He can't be dead! I should be dead! It should've been me!"
"Well, you're not, and he is, so there's nothing you can do. It's time for you to wake up, Nutpaw. Come back soon."
“Okay,” Nutpaw murmured, rising to her paws. Her surroundings quivered, then vanished, replaced by brown and green - leaves and tree trunks.
She dug her claws into the bark of the branch she had fallen asleep on. Birchpaw was gone. There was nothing she could do.
She lowered her head to sniff her claws. They were sharp, still stained with the blood of the ShineClan warriors she had killed.
She could be with him again...
She forced the thought out of her mind. She had fought against ShineClan, there was no way she’d end up anywhere but the Dark Forest!
She let out a sigh through her nose, peering down at the floor below her. This was the branch Birchpaw had fallen off, Nutpaw realized.
This is where we fell apart.
She leapt down, sinking her claws into a branch a few feet below the first branch. She could stay here. That branch had way too many memories.
She sunk to her paws, sucking in ragged breaths. She might as well hunt.
A pigeon pecked at the roots of the tree. She blinked at it for a moment before stealthily clambering down until she could jump safely down. She pounced on the bird before carrying it back up to her perch.
The warm taste of pigeon flooded her senses, and she let out a peaceful moan as she chewed. It was delicious!
She swiped her tongue around her muzzle to clean herself, and then groomed her fur. Drowsily, she settled her head on her paws.
She wasn’t happy, and content wasn’t the right word either. She was… pleased? No, she wasn’t, her heart ached still. Satisfied? Not really.
She rolled her eyes - here she was, getting all philosophical, when Birchpaw was gone.
She buried her face in her paws and closed her eyes, drifting slowly off to sleep.
The territory of ShadeClan stretched out in front of her, and she clambered to her paws. Cats whirled around her, yowling.
“What’s going on?” She murmured to the nearest cat, a scarred white she-cat. He curled his lip. “A lifer. We’re training for battle. We were almost defeated earlier today.”
“Don’t you have to heal your wounds, first?” Nutpaw asked. “It seems cruel to go into battle right after another one.”
“We’re not going into battle,” The tom sneered, “We’re just training. And we don’t have wounds. Only ShineClan cats get those. It’s either all or nothing for us ShadeClan cats, but you wouldn’t know, would you, HeatherClan scum?”
“Hey! Watch it, that’s the cat that won us the battle.” A smoky-furred tom growled, batting at the scarred tom. The white tom stared at Nutpaw for a moment before turning and surging away amidst the crowd of cats.
Nutpaw turned to stare at the gray tom, but he was gone. She stifled a shiver. That tom had seemed so much like…
Birchpaw.
Chapter Nine[]
“Where am I?” Birchpaw moaned.
“You're in the medicine-cat den. You're safe.” A soft voice mewed.
“I-I dreamed of battling cats! Nutpaw was among the red-outlined ones and the ShineClan cats were fading away! Then a voice mewed ‘A nut will fall from the heather, and will tumble into the shade. Hidden thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper in. A birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long tendrils of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs’. It got only worse. These cats were attacking the weakened ShineClan cats! Then I fell. The ground fell from under me and I woke up here!”
A blurry tortoiseshell she-cat looked at another cat in the room and mewed, “This dream is prophetic.”
The other cat in the room meowed, “He’s my apprentice, not a medicine-cat!”
“That means he’s a part of it.” The blurry she-cat meowed. The blurriness in Birchpaw’s mind started to fade and he saw Flowerberry and Snowyfalcon. Birchpaw moaned.
“Here, eat these.” Flowerberry instructed, pushing a bundle towards Birchpaw. Birchpaw obediently did and ate the foul-tasting herbs.
“Are you OK, Birchpaw?” Snowyfalcon mewed.
“Just a little woozy,” Birchpaw replied.
Flowerberry sighs. “Your mother was worried. She’s he-.”
“Oh darling! You're okay! I heard you had a scary dream!” Bluebird mewed with relief and licked him on the head, “You're my only child! I was worried sick!”
“I know. I knew you would.”, Birchpaw sighed, “I really miss Nutpaw.”
Bluebird licks him on the head again, “ I do, too. Amberpoppy is so sad. How’d she die again?”
“Remember? A snake bit her? I killed it, but she was dead by the time I had.” Birchpaw lied.
“That's so sad!”, Bluebird meowed loud enough so a couple cats could hear her.
“What's all the commotion!” One of the elders yelled gruffly.
“Nothing, Blizzardwing!” Bluebird meowed, rolling her eyes.
“Go to sleep, you have to heal,” the soft mew of Flowerberry rang into his ears.
Birchpaw closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
He could smell blood around him as a hill of bones had risen around him. The red outlining of cats gathered around the hill, and called an attack. A yowl rung from the cats and that same small tortoiseshell she-cat, his friend.
But an attack on what? Birchpaw wondered. Then he saw some cats, some had only silver outlining and some were just like him. He could depict some other cats from the crowd.
There's Snowyfalcon! And Bluejay! Look! Speckfur! What the - Nutpaw is attacking my father! I have to stop her!
Birchpaw leaped into the heap of battle and tackled Nutpaw. “You wont hurt my dad!”, he snapped, pinning her neck to the rocky floor.
Nutpaw let out a growl but didn’t try to knock him off, “Don’t touch me!”
Speckfur looked up. His son was protecting him and he let out a moan, blood blossoming out from a cut on his neck.
“You will not touch your paw on these cats, you got it?” Birchpaw growled at her.
Nutpaw rolled her eyes. “Yes, sure.” Nutpaw meowed.
“Nutpaw! You're being beaten by an apprentice that broke his rib bone! Come on! Go harder!” Silverstar snarled.
Nutpaw sighed, she had known this cat from her birthing. They would always be friends, no matter what. They would get through everything together.
“No.”
“Then you will pay, Nutpaw!” The voice yowled. Silverstar rushed towards her, throwing Birchpaw off and pinning Nutpaw down herself. She raised a paw, about to claw off Nutpaw’s muzzle, when Birchpaw barreled into him. Pain burst on his sides, but he grit his teeth. He let out a gasp and a yowl of terror and pain. Birchpaw almost passed out, but he stood still.
“So, you’re going to save your pitiful friend!”, A new tom snarled, a burly black tom.
“Shadehackle! Don’t hurt him!” Nutpaw snarled. She leaped on the big tom and pinned him, while Birchpaw staggered over and bit Shadehackle’s paw.
“Will you be good?” Birchpaw snarled into his ear.
“Never! I‘m a tru-” His words got cut off by gurgling and he was dead - killed by a blow from Nutpaw to his throat.
Birchpaw lay down, the pain from his sides suffocating. His paws were covered in Shadehackle’s blood and his vision blurring. A voice whispered over and over again ‘A nut will fall from the heather, and will tumble into the shade. Hidden thorns in the shade will pull the nut deeper in. A birch will shine light on the nut, and pull it away from the shade with its long tendrils of experience. When that happens, the nut will roll back to the heather, where it belongs” His eyes closed and he woke up in a place where he could smell many cats around him.
“It's not your time, but we will take you for now. Come with us.” The voices called - one in particular gave him strength. Speckfur!
“Come on now, Birchwing,” A sweet, but quiet, voice called. He saw the black fur of a small she-kit with stars in her pelt, blinking warmly up at him.
“Aspenkit!” He purred, nuzzling his stillborn sibling.
“Come on, Birchwing, Come with us.” Multiple voices called and his vision split into many starry cats.
“Am… Am I dead?”
“You sacrificed yourself. Come with us.” Aspenkit explained. Birchpaw padded forward. His wounds began to heal and his pelt was turning into stars as he walked along the narrow path through the cosmos.
“We’re here.” Aspenkit meowed. Birchpaw can see other starry cats as the hunted starry mice that never died. He saw a portal and looked in it. He saw Nutpaw defending his body from ShadeClan and ShineClan cats alike. How brave!
“An apprentice!” A cat shook its head, looking horrified.
“I wanna go back!”, Birchpaw wailed.
“You have choices, because you died in a dream. Do you want to go back?
“Yes! I wanna go back!”, Birchpaw exploded.
“Follow me.”, Aspenkit meowed and came into a purple portal, “Go inside there, but you must change one cat, Before going in there. You might switch between life and death, but don’t worry. You will be fine.”
Chapter Ten[]
Nutpaw awoke. She had seen Birchpaw in her dream, and she was starting to rethink if living in the tree was ok. She wanted to know if ShadeClan was right. She has to seperate. She felt too tired, so she went back into sleep. She was in a place where stars shine and walked in the soft grass. She could smell a HeatherClan cat, but mingled with stars. Has ShineClan visited her?
“Nutpaw”, The voice meowed softley.
“Who are you?”, Nutpaw demanded.
“Calm down, Nutpaw. It's me, Birchpaw!”
“Birchpaw? Are you dead?”
“Of course! I sacrificed for you!”, Birchpaw meowed.
“Why are you here, with me?”, Nutpaw asked.
“You don’t belong in that tree. ShineClan sent me here. I will come alive when you switch. I want to be with you. I want a friend to be with me.”
“I will, but I like it here! ShadeClan says!”
“ShineClan is better. They have control on you. They will want you. You're a strong warrior. I want to come back alive, just for your sake. Do you want to learn how to hunt?”
“If it's for your sake, then yes, yes I will. I will do both”
Birchpaw instructed Nutpaw in her hunters crouch and to stalk in her dream
“Like this?”, Nutpaw meowed.
“Yes! I can teach you how to catch birds! It's just like catching regular prey”
“Thank you!”, Nutpaw responded.
“Do this for me”, Birchpaw meowed. He was fading quickly.
“Don’t go!”, Nutpaw wailed. He had already disappeared and she fluttered her eyes open. She saw branches and twigs all around her.
“I’m back here”, She thought. All she could do Is wait, wait until she died and join whoever she would join. She stirred out of her nest and climbed up to see her old camp, HeatherClan.
“I will never live with those Flea-bags again”, she thought. She scented a bird and dropped into a hunter's crouch, balancing her weight and pounced, catching the bird and dragging it down to the forest floor. The bird stopped struggling and laid limp at Nutpaw’s paws. Nutpaw scented the air.
“HeatherClan patrol!”, she thought. She could see the ears of warriors and scurried off a tree.
“Look! A feather with a tree’s scent!”, One of the warriors gasped.
Nutpaw had realized that she didn’t smell like HeatherClan anymore.
“Have trees been catching prey?”, another warrior guessed.
“They will when hedgehogs fly!”an older warrior answered.
“We have to report to Brightstar about this! We’ll have to be catinus of trees!”
“That's mouse-brained!”, the older warrior protested.
“We report everything to her!”, the 3rd warrior growled.
“Oh please, don’t fight! If you do, I’ll rip your pelt off!”, Nutpaw mumbled.
“Wait? Did the tree mumble? Or was that a cat in a tree? We can chase off an intruder!”, the 1st warrior mewed, a new warrior.
“You clearly weren't at the gathering. Brightstar said no to climbing the Great Sequoia ”
“Come on! We have to go back to camp! There's enough prey for all of us!”, the older warrior beckoned with his tail.
The 2 other warriors followed. Nutpaw didn’t dare move until she knew that they were far away. Then she climbed up to put her prey in the pile she had.
She took a blackbird, the one she just caught, and munched on the prey. The prey was juicy and tasty, and she licked her lips when all there was were bones.
“Mmmm”,She thought.
Chapter Eleven[]
“And then, the waters grew higher and higher, reaching out for dry land. It was flooding!”
Birchpaw could sit here for hours and hours listening to stories of history, Like when the 4 clans were made, and floods and when the earth shook. These were all fine stories, known by every elder. Every time a cat repeated a story, it got more exciting, instead of boring. These stories were passed on Moon-to-moon.
“I was engulfed in the water! I paddled up to the surface, and I was swimming! And that's how swimming was created. Go bother Hatchpelt. She has good stories to tell”
“Awwww!”, The kits awed. One thing Birchpaw wanted to do is be alive, although these were stories he’d never heard of. He had heard the great leader, Heatherstar speak with courage that he’d never had.
“Birchpaw? Come here!”, Heatherstar spoke.
“I’m coming, Heatherstar!”, Birchpaw meowed. In HeatherClan, he could see his clanmates, but up here, he could see the 4 great leaders, he could see everyone he’d loved, It was amazing. He sighed, wanting dearly to go back home, in HeatherClan, but he had a job to do up here. Go and save Nutpaw. He trotted to Heatherstar, where she was waiting for him.
“You are doing excellent on Nutpaw, that we should send you back early.”, Heatherstar meowed.
“YES!”, Birchpaw shouted but then whispered,”I would like to.”
“Nutpaw is deciding. You should reassure her more”, Heatherstar meowed. Birchpaw was fading quickly, and focused on Nutpaw beautiful fur and eyes. Then he was in Nutpaw’s dream.
“Nutpaw?”, Birchpaw meowed.
“I’m here!”, Nutpaw called. Birchpaw walked a few steps and saw her in a bramble bush. He ducked inside to see her.
“Follow what is right, Birchpaw whispered. He had to make a prophecy up.
“I don’t know what to do!”She wailed.
“Prophecy! I need to make one up on the fly!”, Birchpaw thought hard.
“If you follow the light ,Little nut, a Birch tree will grow and protect the nut. The nut will be pulled to the light by the roots of the tree, but if you wait too long, the birch will never grow”
“I will not let you down!”She meowed. He was fading quickly. He wanted to be alive, but this was his destiny. ShineClan wants this to happen. He let out a sigh and he was standing with Heatherstar again.
“You did great”, The old leader meowed, “I will send you back, but you will always be a ghost. You can switch on and off.
“But i want to be a regular cat!”, Birchpaw moaned, “Not a flip ghost and cat!”
“I’m sorry I can’t do that. Come in this hill.”
Birchpaw followed. He saw the purple portal again with a note spit out of it. It read ‘Birchpaw’.
“Did the portal accept me?”He thought.
“The portal accepts you. Walk in the portal, and you will be in your body”, Heatherstar meowed, Aspenkit was with them and he licked his surviving brother and Birchpaw walked in the portal. He felt swerving and darkness around him and plopped down to his body. Many cats stood around him.
“They must be mourning me”, He thought. His eyes fluttered open and there he was, the cats sitting vigil for him. He let out a moan and that caught somebody's ears because one cat yowled, “He’s alive!”
He let out another moan and Flowerberry dragged him into her den.
“You did have a deep scar on your side”, Flowerberry meowed,”Where were you?”
“ShineClan”, Birchpaw repeated.
“So. . .They sent you back?”, Flowerberry questioned.
“Yeah, and they healed my wounds”, Birchpaw replied, “Can I go back to sleep?”
“It's probably best if you do.”, Flowerberry replied. Birchpaw focused hard to become a ghost and a glow surged his body and he felt stars tip his whiskers. He focused on Nutpaw and he faded into Nutpaw’s dream.
“Birchpaw?”, Nutpaw called for him.
“Nutpaw!” Birchpaw called.
“I have to really think. I-I think I should go back..”, Nutpaw decided.
Birchpaw smiles. “That's great! I’ll meet you every night”
Nutpaw gives a weak smile, “I want to stay here, but I know the right thing is HeatherClan. Because of the prophecy ‘If you follow the light ,Little nut, a Birch tree will grow and protect the nut. The nut will be pulled to the light by the roots of the tree, but if you wait too long, the birch will never grow’”
“Yeah”, Birchpaw smiled, hot with embarrassment. He was starting to fade away into a ghost.
“Don’t leave me! You are wiser than the elders!”
Birchpaw smiled, “Well, not that wise” and he faded into a ghost, looking at his sleeping body. He focused on the sleeping body and his eyes fluttered open.
“Birchpaw!”, Snowyfalcon meowed, “Your awake! Do you wanna take your assessment?”
“YES!”, Birchpaw burst out and raced outside. He followed Snowyfacon up to the SunClan border.
“I’ll leave you here, Now go and be awesome.”
Birchpaw smiled and raced off into the trees, making sure he didn’t bang into anything. He scented Mouse and followed the scent trail. He soon saw the mouse and pounced within reach. The mouse fell limp at his jays and he buried the mouse to get more prey. By Nightfall, he had 2 mice, a squirrel, and 3 birds.
“Well done, Birchpaw. You passed.”, Snowyfalcon walked out of the bushes.
Birchpaw’s heart fell with joy. He was going to be a warrior!
“Now, go to sleep and put all of this in the Fresh-kill pile. Take some for yourself, too”, Snowyfalcon meowed.
“Thanks!”, Birchpaw meowed with happiness.
“I’ll help you carry all this prey”, Snowyfalcon meowed, carrying 2 birds and a mouse in his jaws. Birchpaw carried the rest all the way back to camp.
“Snowyfalcon, meet me in my den”, Brightstar meowed. Snowyfalcon headed towards the den.
Birchpaw took a blackbird and headed into the apprentices' den.
Birchpaw sighed.
“Hey, Birchpaw? You pass?”, Leopardpaw meowed. Leopardpaw was Bengalspots kit, and her brother, Gorsekit,was ill.
“Yes. Where's Gorsekit?”, Birchpaw asked.
“He’s with his mother. He should be here now.”
“Birchpaw! You pass?”, Gorsekit peered into the den“Yes, Leopardpaw.”, Birchpaw replied. He wanted the soft company of Nutpaw to congratulate him, but she was deciding. Birchpaw sighed.
“What's wrong?”, Leopardpaw meowed, pushing him gently.
“Nutpaw.”, Birchpaw sighed again.
“I can fetch you poppy seeds”, Leopardpaw meowed.
“No, I’m fine.”, Birchpaw meowed. He tucked his paws in and curled his tail around himself and went to sleep. He focused hard on becoming a ghost and with ease, he was in Nutpaw’s dream.
“I’ve decided, Birchpaw. I’m coming back!”, Nutpaw declared.
Birchpaw smiled, “Not to brag, but I’m a warrior at Sunhigh. He’s going to give my name and all!”
“That's amazing!”, Nutpaw purred, “I’ll see you soon!”
“Well, I have to go back.”, Birchpaw meowed.
“See ya at sunhigh!”, Nutpaw meowed.
“See ya!”, Birchpaw meowed and he blinked his eyes,
“Let all cats old enough come here for a clan meeting!”, Brightstar yowled. Birchpaw raved to the clearing.
“Today, One of our apprentices will become warriors. Birchpaw step forward.”
Birchpaw bounced up-and-down and stood in the middle of the clearing, head high.
“Birchpaw, from this day forth, you will be known as Birchsparrow. ShineClan honors you for your selflessness and your bravery.”
“Birchsparrow! Birchsparrow! Birchsparrow!”, The clan cheered.
“I also have another announcement. Gorsekit was ill and now he’s ready to become a apprentice. Gorsekit, step forward”
Gorsekit bounded over to the center of the clearing.
“Gorsekit, you are now known as Gorsepaw. Your mentor will be Birchsparrow.”
“Gorsepaw! Gorsepaw! Gorsepaw!” The clan cheered.
Chapter 12[]
“N- Nutpaw?” The voice was horrified as Nutpaw padded into camp. She shrunk away from Amberpoppy. “But you’re d- dead!”
“Obviously I’m not.” She muttered, flicking an ear back. “Where’s Birchpaw?” Amberpoppy tried to formulate a sentence, but ended up letting out a yowl.
Nutpaw let out a growl and stormed off to the apprentices’ den, but it was empty. The medicine cats’ den!
She raced towards it, slipping through the entrance. There he was, sleeping. Nutpaw’s meow cracked. “Birchpaw.”
Flowerberry let out a sharp scream. “Nutpaw!” She shrieked. “How are you alive?”
Birchpaw’s eyes shot straight open. “Nutpaw!” He purred, nuzzling her. “You did come back!” Flowerberry let out a strangled mew. “Help!” She screeched.
Within moments, the medicine den was flooded with warriors ready to defend their medicine cat. They all pulled up short when they saw Nutpaw.
“You’re alive!” Yarrowfur pushed his way through the crowd to nuzzle his granddaughter, but she backed away, hissing. “I’m only here for Birchpaw!” She snarled. “He gave me a prophecy and he was dead!”
“You were dead, too!” Amberpoppy protested, her eyes wide as moons. “A snake bit you and Birchsparrow buried you!”
“I was never dead!” She spat. “I just couldn’t stand being in this clan any longer!”
“So he lied!”, Amberpoppy snarled.
“Y-Yes”, Birchsparrow stuttered.
“So, you lied and we grieved for nothing!” Amberpoppy snapped.
“Y-Yes. But she’s here now.” Birchsparrow flattened his ears.
“You lied to the whole clan!” Amberpoppy yowled, unsheathing her claws. Nutpaw let out a fierce yowl, unsheathing her own. Everyone froze. This was not the same Nutpaw who had been a part of HeatherClan. This Nutpaw was dangerous. This Nutpaw could kill them all easily.
“Don’t touch him!” She snarled. “It was my idea!”
Amberpoppy’s eyes widened and she stepped back. “Oh.” She mewed, her voice tiny. “I didn’t know that.”
Nutpaw’s eyes blazed. “You shouldn’t have to! He didn’t do anything wrong! See, this is why I wanted to leave HeatherClan.” She spat.
“Where did you go?” Cloudmoss mewed, padding forward. “SunClan? SparrowClan? StoneClan?” She pressed.
“Neither.” Nutpaw raised her chin. “I lived in the Great Sequoia tree, and I trained every day and every night in ShadeClan.”
Brightstar let out a gasp. “ShadeClan? You - you fought for ShadeClan? Surely not by choice, though, right?”
Nutpaw lashed her tail in fury. “I was loyal to ShadeClan. I would have fought to the very last of my ability if Birchpaw hadn’t died in battle.” She growled.
“He was in a battle?” Bluebird shrieked. “Against you?” She marched forward, but Nutpaw batted her muzzle and she stumbled back.
“I would have killed him.” She snarled. “And I would’ve liked it, too - except he was too soft. Why would I enjoy killing him when I could have killed Silverstar?” She lashed her tail again. “So don’t think for a moment that I’ll enjoy a day in HeatherClan.”
“Why did you even come back if you hate our clan?” Bengalspots demanded, lashing her tail. Nutpaw glared at the no-longer queen - her kits would be apprentices by now. “Because of Birchpaw. He’s the only reason I’m putting up with any of you mange-pelts.”
“We’re glad to have you back, Nutpaw, even if you aren’t glad to be back.” Brightstar meowed softly. Nutpaw lashed her tail and turned away, back to Birchpaw who was staring at her with wide eyes.
“Can I go hunting with Birchsparrow? I wanna learn”, Gorsepaw asked
“ Yes, you can.” Birchsparrow meowed.
Birchsparrow got up and followed his mentor, shooting Nutpaw in an apologetic look. “Sorry”, he mouthed.
“Can I come?” Nutpaw asked, glaring at Brightstar.
“No. We have to sort this out,” Brightstar meowed evenly.
Nutpaw let out a long sigh of exasperation. “I left because the only cat that respects me is Birchpaw. I couldn’t stand clan life, so I made a nest in the tree and I lived there. I visited ShadeClan in my dreams. It was my fault that he died. I attacked his father, Speckfur, and he stopped me. He told me not to raise a paw over the ShineClan cats. Shadehackle was going to attack me, when Birchpaw got in the way and we killed him. I know Birchpaw was dead, so what was life living for? I stayed in that tree until Birchpaw visited me in a dream and told me to follow what is right. I did and now I'm here with you ninnies.” She growled.
Brightstar flicked an ear back. “Go with Stemclaw. I suppose since you’ve been training, even though it was in ShadeClan, you’re both ready to become warriors. Birchsparrow can go with you and Gorsepaw.”
Nutpaw nodded, though inwardly she was seething. Become a warrior of HeatherClan? She’d rather die!
She padded forward and the cats in the medicine den cleaved a path to let her through. She flattened her ears and stepped into the sunlight.
Chapter 13[]
Nutpaw flicked her tail, wrapping it around her paws. Half a moon had passed since her return, and today was her warrior ceremony. Birchsparrow’s had been nearly four days ago, and she had laughed aloud when she heard his name.
“I swear to ShadeClan, if she names me Nutheart or Nutlight I’m going to kill myself.” She whispered in Birchpsparrow’s ear. Birchsparrow laughed. “I’m sure she won’t.”
“Let all cats gather around for a clan meeting!” Brightstar yowled, throwing her head back. She sat neatly on the tree trunk, waiting patiently for her clan to gather.
Birchsparrow sat proud where he was, while Nutpaw sat with her shoulders hunched.
Nutpaw shook out her pelt. “Ugh, just start it already!” She muttered, so that nobody but herself could hear.
“I, Brightstar, leader of HeatherClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Nutpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”
“I do.” For Birchsparrow, she added inwardly. And only for him.
“Then by the powers of ShineClan, I give you your warrior name. Nutpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Nutshade. StarClan honors your honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of HeatherClan.”
Nutshade raised her head. This name was fitting. She twitched her whiskers as her so-called clanmates yowled her name.
Birchsparrow nuzzled her. “I knew you could do it!” He purred, twining his tail with hers. Nutshade batted at him playfully. “Yes, yes, it was fine, it was… fun. You’re smothering me!” She mewed in amusement.
“Nutshade! Nutshade! Nutshade!”, The clan cheered. She heard Birchsparrow yowl the loudest. Nutshade smiled at him, her eartips burning.
Everything will be okay. She thought.