By Sorrelflower.
Chapter 1
Blossomdew wriggled her haunches, her amber eyes focused on the squirrel, which had it's head in a hole in the ground. It rose with half a nut in it's mouth; it's eyes were confused for a moment, and then they became full of fear. She sank her teeth into it's neck; it wriggled, and then died.
"Nice catch." said a voice.
"Whitebirch!" she gasped. "You startled me." Blossomdew saw the tom cat crouched in a tree above, his grey eyes glistening. He was white in colour, short fur and very light brown and grey markings, much like those of birch tree bark. He jumped down the tree, a coal tit in his jaws.
"Want to go back to camp?"
"Sure." Blossomdew and Whitebirch padded back to the gorge, their prey in their jaws. Blossomdew was a tortoisehell and white she-cat, with amber eyes and long, fluffy fur. She lived in SkyClan, which was under rule of Leafstar. In the camp, Frecklewish's tail was flicking from the medicine cat den, and Sandfur was talking to Harrynose and Fireflower. They put their catches on the fresh-kill pile, and Blossomdew padded away to her parents, Mintfur and Harveymoon, who were eating a squirrel together.
"Good morning, Blossomdew." Mintfur purred after swallowing a piece of squirrel. Harveymoon tried to speak, but his speech was muffled by squirrel fluff. He teased it from his teeth and greeted her. Harveymoon had once been a kittypet and daylight warrior, but he was a full warrior now.
"Hello mother, father." she mewed.
"I saw you walk in with Whitebirch." remarked Mintfur. "Handsome, fine young tom, really - strong, brave..." she exchanged an amused glance with Harveymoon.
"For the thousandth time, he is not my mate."
"Are you sure?" Harveymoon made a mrrow of amusment.
"Positive. I'm going to see Vixenwhisker." Blossomdew made her way up the cliff, and into the nursery.
"Hi, Blossomdew."
"Hi, Vixenwhisker, how are the kits coming along?" Vixenwhisker was just like a vixen - auburn fur, black ears, a paler muzzle, sandy whiskers, amber eyes, a thick, white tipped tail.
"I'm sure they're fine." Vixenwhisker was curled up in her mossy nest in the nursery, her belly swollen with kits.
"So, where's the father?"
"Voletail? He's on border patrol. Where's your mate?"
"He isn't my mate."
"Oh, sure." she purred.
Chapter 2
Blossomdew was curled up on the tree stump. This was her favourite place in the territory. The tree stump was covered almost completly with soft, springy moss, and it stood in a small clearing with a stream running through it. Patches of mint, lavender, and even some poppies grew at the edges. The sunlight dappled her pelt through the trees, and she sighed happily.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Whitebirch!" she jumped when the white tom leapt up onto the tree stump beside her. "Er, sure." Blossomdew curled back up, and Whitebirch sat there too.
"Kits would love playing here." he remarked, and Blossomdew felt his skin go hot with embarrassment.
"Yes, they would." she murmured. Whitebirch relaxed beside her, and his skin cooled. He began to groom her pelt, teasing some scraps of fern out.
"You know, I've heard cats asking me about you. They keep thinking that we're mates." Blossomdew knew where he as going with this. "And I realized that I really enjoy spending time with you, Blossomdew. I... I'd like you to be my mate." he paused, looking deeply into her eyes. She gazed back, thinking deeply.
"I... I'd like you to be mine too." As she said that, Whitebirch let out loud purring, and began to lick her ears, purring with happiness.
Chapter 3
Blossomdew returned with Whitebirch, her tail entwined with his. She noticed her mother and father a few fox-lengths away, looking happy as they spotted her and Whitebirch. From the nursery, Voletail was pacing, and she noticed that Frecklewish and her appprentice, Smokepaw, were no where to be seen. She saw Cherrytail and Sharpclaw gazing up at the nursery, looking anxious; after all, Vixenwhisker was their daughter. Whitebirch was also their son, making him Vixenwhisker's brother. Blossomdew and Whitebirch walked faster.
"Vixenwhisker 's having her kits." Cherrytail mewed when they came over.
"How is she, Voletail?" Sharpclaw yowled up to Vixenwhisker's mate. The brown, short tailed tom looked down at them, his yellow eyes wide and anxious.
"Smokepaw says she's doing fine." he replied, and disappeared a moment later when she heard Frecklewish mew something. Several moments later, Smokepaw appeared, and went toward the medicine cat den.
"Have they been born yet, Smokepaw?" Whitebirch asked the smoke coloured apprentice, who turned her bright blue eyes towrad him.
"Two kits, both toms!" Smokepaw replied cheerfully. "They're so cute!" she whisked into the medicine cat den, and reappeared, with some herbs in her jaws. Blossomdew recognised borage and a spiky leafed one. As an apprentice, she had broken her leg (which had healed, thankfully) and in her time in the medicine cat den, she had learned a bit about some herbs.
"Raspberry leaves?" she asked, anxiously. "Is she bleeding?"
"A little; they were born a bit early, but it's not very serious. She'll recover in no time."
Blossomdew waited. There was a small queue of cats, waiting to get a glimpse of the new kits. Vixenwhisker was still tired from kitting, so only two cats at a time was allowed to visit her. Cherrytail and Sharpclaw came out.
"They're beautiful!" Cherrytail purred to Blossomdew and Whitebirch.
"Next." Frecklewish called. Blossomdew and Whitebirch padded into the nursery. Clovertail dozed on the other side of the nursery. In a soft nest of moss and bracken, Vixenwhisker lay, her tail curled around two tom kits, one ginger tabby and one black.
"Aww, they're cute!" Whitebirch whispered, as not to wake the sleeping kits.
"Do they have names yet?" Blossomdew asked.
"The ginger tabby is Foxkit, and the black is Nightkit." Vixenwhisker murmured sleepily.
Chapter 4
Foxkit and Nightkit played happily, sqeauking with delight as Blossomdew flicked her tail to and fro, dancing it out of reach whenever one of them pounced onto it. Vixenwhisker was washing herself. Whitebirch was out on border patrol with Tinycloud, Sandyfoot, Ebonyclaw and Cherrytail. Apparently, a badger had been scented inside the territory, and they were going to investigate. Fireflower padded up to Leafstar, and mewed about the possibiltiy of a badger attack.
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would a bunch of badgers come here?" but Leafstar had a haunted look in her eyes - she was nervous. Blossomdew then remembered Echosong, the former medicine cat. There had been badger scent on the ground where Echosong's scent had stopped adruptly. There had been a bit of blood, and Echosong had not been seen since that fateful day several moons ago. Whether Echosong was still alive, she had no idea at all.
She almost jumped out of her pelt when Vixenwhisker padded up to her.
"You look... tired, Blossomdew." She meowed. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Fine, Vixenwhisker... absolutly fine." but her friend looked doubtful as she gazed at her. Whitebirch and the patrol had been gone an awfully long time.
Chapter 5
The whole clan was obviously worried, with the patrol being gone for so long. So Leafstar organised three patrols which would each search a part of SkyClan territory. But Blossomdew was tired of waiting. She knew that something had happened. So she had headed into the forest with the only cat that wasn't busy - Smokepaw. She would have asked Vixenwhisker, but of course the young queen was tending to her kits.
"Shouldn't we head back?" Smokepaw mewed. "It's almost night time - we'll be missed."
"Smokepaw, you are quite a wanderer yourself. You tend to wander off at random times - StarClan knows where. Watch that root, Smokepaw." too late. Smokepaw gave a startled sqeauk as she tripped. She hauled the apprentice to her paws, and they carried on.
"Come on, we should climb the trees. We'll get a better view of the forest." Blossomdew leapt onto an oak tree, and began to climb. Smokepaw followed, her white tail tip standing out against her pelt and the bark of the tree. They leapt from tree to tree, looking down and around for the missing patrol.
"Wouldn't we hear Ebonyclaw's collar?"
"And hedgehogs might fly, Smokepaw; you know she stuffs moss under it to keep it quiet. I think we should go back to the ground, now." they made their way down the tree, and to the ground. And then they heard a yowl - a yowl of distress.
Chapter 6
Blossomdew froze as she heard the screech. She knew who it was.
"That's Tinycloud!" she gasped.
"We have to get to her!" yowled Smokepaw, and she began to run toward the sound. Blossomdew raced after the apprentice, who was Tinycloud's daughter.
"Wait, Smokepaw! It might not be safe!" Blossomdew tried to catch up to her, but Smokepaw's smaller size gave her the advantage. Blossomdew willed herself to run faster. Finally, she exploded out of some bushes, skidding to a stop. Whitebirch was clinging to a rock, his birch-bark patterned pelt soaking wet.
"Blossomdew!" he cried.
"Whitebirch!" she flung herself into the river, swimming towards him. But then there was a dark shape. A massive pile up of logs, branches, and river debris loomed above them. Smokepaw and Tinycloud were drapped on one branch, both unconcious. Sandyfoot was sitll concious, his claws sunken into a log. The pile hit her and Whitebirch, and everything was going dark. The last thing she heard was a yowl, of Sandyfoot and Ebonyclaw.
Chapter 7
Her head felt like it had been rammed into a stone wall. She was lying on a sandy river bank, the water gently washing up the shore. Her legs felt wobbly as she staggered to her paws.
"Blossomdew. Are you alright?" there was a small voice. Cherrytail was there, supporting her.
"Whitebirch...Smokepaw... where is everyone?"
"I don't know." whispered Cherrytail.
"We have to find them - and Ebonyclaw, Sandyfoot and Tinycloud. They can't be that far."
"Cherrytail, Blossompaw? Is it really you?" they whipped round. A silver shape was in the bushes - one that neither of them had seen for moons. Only one would call her Blossompaw, as she had disappeared just before she had recieved her warrior name.
Echosong!
Chapter 8
"Where have you been?" spluttered Cherrytail.
"It's a long story..." Echosong sighed. "Alright, I was wounded by a badger, as you may know. I was so... so dizzy, so confused. I could barely know where I was going. I remember falling into a river, and being swept down it... and I ended up a long, long way from here. I've been travelling for moons. How in StarClan did you get here?"
"Well, me and Smokepaw went out to find a missing patrol, and somehow we all ended up in the river... and that's it. We've got to find them all!" Blossomdew mewed, looking around.
"Firstly, who is Smokepaw?"
"Tinycloud's daughter - gray with a white tail tip, blue eyes."
"I saw a young cat like that at dawn - but she ran off at the sight of me." Echosong's face then creased into a frown of concerntration. "Let's split up. Who are we looking for?"
"Whitebirch - you'll know him as Whitepaw. And Tinycloud, Sandyfoot and Ebonyclaw." Cherrytail turned to some pine trees, and looked back. "We'll meet back here at noon with anyone we find."
Chapter 9
Blossomdew was still shocked as she padded toward some ferns. She hadn't seen Echosong for so long! Leafstar and Frecklewish would be delighted to see her.
"Whitebirch, Smokepaw?" she called. "Sandyfoot, Tinycloud, Ebonyclaw? Are you here?" she listened for a reply, to hear nothing. She sighed, and went back toward the shore, toward some rocks. Maybe a cat had been caught there? Just then, A dark ginger leg poked out, followed by the pale ginger body.
"Sandyfoot!" she sprang forward, and pulled him out.
"What happened?" he asked in a dazed voice. "Where are we?"
"I don't know, just help me look for the others, okay? I'll explain when we get back." together, they headed back into the forest.
"Ebonyclaw, Tinycloud?" Sandyfoot called.
"Whitebirch, Smokepaw?" Blossomdew yowled. Suddenly, they froze, hearing a cry through the trees.
Chapter 10
"Help us!" they both knew the voice. They began to run, and then they bursted into a clearing. Smokepaw lay with her eyes closed, her ear torn and bleeding. Tinycloud shielded her from the fox, which now had a triumphant gleam in its eyes. As it plucked Tinycloud from the ground and tossed her aside, throwing her against a tree, Sandyfoot yowled, and threw himself onto the fox to defend his half sister and her kit.
"Get Smokepaw into that tree!" screeched Blossomdew to Tinycloud, who had staggered to her paws. "I'll take care of the fox with Sandyfoot!" as the white she-cat grasped her daughter's scruff and began to haul herself and the unconcious Smokepaw up a pine tree, Blossomdew leapt into battle, into the whirlwind of fur. The fox snapped and snarled as she and Sandyfoot fought, and then, together, they pushed up with their hindpaws, sending it flying into a bramble bush. As it tried to tear itself free, she and Sandyfoot clawed their way up the pine tree to Tinycloud and Smokepaw. Blossomdew suddenly lost her footing, and she hung there by her front paws, yowling in panic. The fox had freed itself, and was leaping, trying to snap at her dangling paws and tail. But then with her flailing hindpaws, she lashed at one of its eyes, and it howled, its eye now bleeding and swollen. Tinycloud and Sandyfoot locked their teeth in her scruff, and hauled her up to safety.
Chapter 11
Smokepaw groaned, and her blue eyes fluttered open. Tinycloud let out a squeak of relief, and nuzzled the gray she-cat's cheek. Echosong had applied some marigold to her ear, as well as Tinycloud's, Blossomdew's and Sandyfoot's injuries from the fox. Echosong had found Ebonyclaw, but Cherrytail had not yet returned - and where was Whitebirch? It was well past sun-high. Whilst the found cats fretted over their injuries, she took a step back toward the forest, and slunk off. They were so concerned by Smokepaw that they wouldn't notice her gone for a while; she was going to find Cherrytail and her mate herself.
"Whitebirch!" she called. A few birds fluttered up from the trees. "Cherrytail! Where are you?" Blossomdew plodded through the woods, trying to find any of them - she wasn't going back empty pawed. Suddenly, a familar scent tickled her scent glands; she was relieved. Whitebirch! She began to follow the trail through the forest. Soon she found tracks. But she became increasingly concerned.The tracks were uneven. Only three tracks, not four. That meant he was walking on three legs! He was injured!
"Whitebirch!" she yowled, failing to notice the gorge in front of her.
"Blossomdew!" screeched Cherrytail, barreling into her.
"Cherrytail! There you are!" she gasped. "What -"
"It's Whitebirch!" wailed Cherrytail. "I saw him on a ledge, down there!" Blossomdew peered over the edge. There was Whitebirch, unconcious, lying on the edge. His hind paw was matted and red with blood.
"Oh no!" Blossomdew whispered. How on earth were they going to get him out?
"I'll go back to get Echosong and anyone you've found!" Cherrytail mewed, and turned, running back the way they came. "We'll figure something out, and get him out of there, I promise!"
More Coming Soon!