IvyClan's predestined story/(1): Heatherstar's Special Life

## Prologue

Desertclaw stared at Novastream, kind of lost in that moment. Why would they ever be in a relationship? Novastream was a little scared of meeting Desertclaw that day because she thought that somebody from her Clan would follow her. "I shouldn't be here, Desert," said Novastream. Why would Novastream even say that?

He sighed and said, "Novastream, you shouldn't say that. But we're from the rival Clans. They would never let us live together." Novastream looked back at him.

"You know I like to see you often, Nova," he continued in a friendly way. She blushed but she still was a little nervous.

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "Let's be friends for now, okay."

Desertclaw nodded. "Agreed." They both shook paws and went back to their Clans. They came here to their meeting place everyday.

Eventually, they fell in love and decided to start a family. About three moons later, I was born. My mom named me Heatherkit. My aunt Begoniaflames is the medicine cat of the Clan. "Who do you think is the father of the kit?" she asked.

Novastream hesitated to say anything. "Most toms already have mates. Do you have a mate?" Begoniaflames asked firmly.

Novastream shrugged. Begoniaflames continued, "Well, I already asked the toms. Nobody remembered cheating on their mate, if they had one. And the toms that are still single don't remember being with you."

Novastream put her paws on her face trying to ignore what Begoniaflames just said. Begoniaflames was very angry. She yelled, "You mated outside of the Clan. Don't expect me to help you after this."

## Chapter 1: My First Day

I stared out the nursery as Mama slept disturbingly.

I was given food by Darkstorm. The deputy was Leapear, and the leader was Hailstar. The medicine cat was my older aunt, Begoniaflames, who apparently didn't like Mama for mating with Papa, who wasn't in our Clan. She seemed to dislike me more. Mama told me to stay away from her, and I obeyed.

Darkstorm came and handed me a mouse. I put my paw on it.

"So, Nova's feeling off today, isn't she?" he said, chuckling. I shrugged.

"So, uh, Heatherkit, do YOU know who your father is?" he asked. Mama told me not to tell anyone who it is, so I merely said, "No, sir."

Darkstorm nodded and said, "Well, Heatherkit, try not to wander. See ya!" With that, he left the nursery.

The idea of wandering around in camp was so crucical to me that I wanted to do it. But I didn't want to disobey him. But I really couldn't fight the urge to do it. Mama was sleeping, and there weren't really any other queens or kits, except for one who was expecting. I didn't see any difference in her belly, however. She was sleeping, too.

I snuck out of the nursery and saw a bright light. It happened to be pretty. But I also saw a lot more cats, too. I didn't recognize anyone, but I thought the one standing on Highrock was the leader. I also saw apprentices training with their mentors. It was lively. Darkstorm was one of the cats to be training with his apprentice, too. I didn't know who the apprentice's name was, however.

I knew Leapear was the deputy, but I didn't know who he was at all. I just heard Mama and the other queen talking about him. Then I spotted a familiar face. My aunt.

She was scolding an apprentice for hurting himself during training and dragged him to her den. I was worried she might see me and tell somebody, especially like Darkstorm, who told me not to wander. But thankfully, she didn't.

Then Darkstorm saw me and made an expression I couldn't understand.

"Heatherkit..." Darkstorm said concerningly, "be careful. You're running through the training grounds."

Then an apprentice ran from her mentor to look at me.

"Oh look! It's a cute kit!" she said. She turned to her mentor and asked her if she was that cute. I learned that was her own mother.

"Oh, of course, Juniperpaw," her mom said. "But don't get distracted. You're going to be a warrior in four moons." The apprentice named Juniperpaw nodded and continued training. Then I remembered what Darkstorm said and ran out of the training grounds.

I entered another den, which happened to be the medicine cat's den. When I realized that, I frowned. Thankfully, Begoniaflames wasn't there. There was only an apprentice.

"Hi," I said. He turned towards me and smiled. "I wish there were still more kits than you. After Forestpaw's apprentice ceremony, there were no more kits. At least
you came."

I smiled, knowing I was the only kit in the Clan... for now. "How about that queen?" I asked him.

He thought, and then said, "Her name is Greenstripe. My mentor says I'll start learning how to help queens kit. I helped a bit when your mother was kitting."

I frowned once he said "mentor." I realized he was the med. cat apprentice, and his mentor can only be none other than my aunt.

"Your mentor is my mom's sister. She hates my mom since-" I stopped abruptly, knowing I should pretend not to know the "rumors" which are true.

"Since your mom mated outside the Clan?" he said, finishing the sentence.

"Um, I guess so," I replied. It came to me that I didn't know his name. "What's your name, anyway? Mine's Heatherkit, because I have violet eyes."

He looked closely at my eyes. "Your mother has violet eyes, too," he remarked. Then he frowned and said, "Oh, my name. My name is Seapaw. I'm Juniperpaw's brother, do you know her?"

I remembered Juniperpaw and how she said I was cute. "Yeah. she was training with your mom."

He frowned again, and replied, "Our mom? We have different moms, But we're considered littermates still. Because we have the same dad."

"Oh," I said. "Well, I'll see you, bye!"

I visited other dens, too, including the elder's den, and got to hear stories from my grandfather about the Clan.

"When I was your age, I used to run around and wander everywhere, like you are doing right now," he said, chuckling. Aridfox was his name. He also told me about his mate, who was older than him, and was already dead. She was also Novastream's mother.

It was a great time as a kit. I loved mischief, and used to steal some of the herbs, put rocks on warriors' backs while they were sleeping. When Mama found out about the herbs, she didn't discipline me or do anything. She just smiled.

I was scared about my apprentice ceremony, however. I didn't know what to expect.

## Chapter 2: The Apprentice Ceremony

I soon learned who all the cats were in the Clan, and finally knew who the leader and deputy were. Juniperpaw was now Juniperstrike, and most the apprentices were already warriors. There was still Forestpaw left, though. I learned that he was Darkstorm's apprentice and son, too, a surprising discovery for me.

I was out of my nursery staring at Highrock. My mom was also anxious. I also saw Greenstripe, who had given birth to two toms and a she-cat, unlike Mama, who only had one kit. Me. I also knew I may never have a littermate, because Mama can't mate with Papa again.

At six moons, I knew I should have the ceremony soon. Then Darkstorm came and said, not to me but Mama, "Leapear's dead. A pack of rogues killed him. Hailstar says I can be the new deputy."

Novastream shrugged and said, "Well, if you want to take the position, go ahead." Darkstorm nodded and ran back to Hailstar. I realized Mama & Darkstorm had a very, very long-lasting relationship. All the way when they were kits, maybe.

"Darkstorm, you are now the deputy, then," Hailstar said. He looked me in the eyes. "And we have to do a little something, too..."

I beamed. Finally! After hours of waiting!

Hailstar climbed onto Highrock and announced, "All cats old enough to catch their prey! Gather here for a meeting under Highrock!"

All the cats came. Hailstar turned to me, and took a deep breath. My heart was pounding a lot.

"Heatherkit," the leader began, "you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Heatherpaw. Your mentor will be"—I was thinking that he was going to pick my mom, but... I was surprised—"Aridclaw. I hope she will pass down all she knows to you."

He cleared his throat, and called out Aridclaw's name. "Aridclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have proven yourself to be strategic and disciplined. You will be the mentor of Heatherpaw, and I expect you to pass down all you know to her."

Aridclaw nodded, and touched noses with me. But I was frowning a bit. I suddenly heard the Clan chanting, "HEATHERPAW! HEATHERPAW!" a few times before finally stopping. I went up to Mama and smiled at her. Then the ceremony ended.

I was surprised I was the only one at the ceremony to be celebrated, because as a kit, I usually saw warrior ceremonies, together, and Juniperstrike was with some other tom cat named Applestark. But, it obviously didn't matter.

I was still confused why Hailstar didn't pick my mom as my mentor, like Juniperstrike with her mom. I suddenly realized that Aridclaw looked like Juniperstrike's mom.

While Aridclaw & Hailstar were talking, I slipped right into the conversation, and asked, "Hailstar, why did you pick Aridclaw as my mentor, instead of my mom?"

Hailstar stared at me for a few seconds, then explained, "Well, I was planning on making Novastream your mentor, but thought of it otherwise. She *did* mate outside of the Clan, which I'm sure is forbidden love. So I decided to pick Aridclaw, which you might be quite comfortable of, her being Darkstorm's mate."

I was staring at the floor. Then I looked up, starled. "Really?" I almost shouted. "But-but-" Aridclaw smiled, then said, "Juniperstrike? Oh, yes, dear, that's my daughter. Forestpaw is my son, and also Darkstorm's son. I have three children, while he only has two. His are Forestpaw & Juniperstrike. My child, who is not his... is Seapaw. He was a weird one, a few moons younger than Juniperstrike."

Hearing this information made me think about it, ignoring the rest of Hailstar & Aridclaw's conversation.

Finally, I asked, "Why did you want to be my mentor? Didn't you already mentor once? Couldn't Juniperstrike do it?"

Aridclaw looked at me and bit her lip. "Juniperstrike wasn't ready for an apprentice yet. She was two moons short after being a warrior. And besides, I wanted another apprentice to mentor."

Then Hailstar nodded at her, got up and said, "Well, then, I'll leave you two to train, and talk."

I watched him leave as I was pondering all the things in my head. Novastream not being able to mentor because of a warrior code Aridclaw being Juniperstrike's mother? And also, she was Seapaw's mother, too. It was a lot to remember.

Aridclaw turned to me and said, "So, let's train, Heatherpaw. Have you been playing with other kits?"

I didn't remember playing with any kits. Greenstripe's kits were born when I was four moons old, and by that time, two expecting queens joined the mix. After that, I was always outside. I didn't expect the new kits to be up and ready to play immediately.

"No," I said. Aridclaw frowned. "I understand. But that means you don't know how to do basic things."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like this," she said, crouching down, and leaping a distance. "It's called pouncing. Or leaping, or jumping. Whatever you want to call it."

I tried doing it myself. It worked a little.

"Sure," Aridclaw said, "but work on that a bit."

She shrugged and did a swipe into the air. "That is how you normally claw an enemy." Then she took out a mouse. I looked at it.

"So, as your mentor, I have to teach you how to hunt & patrol, which are the basic things you can do to help the Clan," she explained. "To hunt, you have to hide behind something, usually a bush or shrub, making sure not to let it see you"—she was demonstrating as she was talking—"and pounce on it once you have your chance."

She pounced on the mouse. "Leaping is very, very crucial. Oh, I also forgot." I looked a little confused. Aridclaw said, "I also have to teach you about the warrior code, to make sure nobody breaks it. I think your mother and father might have been two of them. I wonder who your father is, and which Clan he is even from. Anyway..."

I started learning a lot about the warriors' ways, and learning about the best ways to help your Clan. I also started learning how to hunt mice, and to do a basic defensive attack. I thought that Aridclaw was really good.

I went into the apprentice's den at nighttime, when I had eaten a few mice I had learned to catch, and saw Forestpaw wide awake. He looked much older than me.

"Forestpaw? Are you awake?" I asked him quietly.

He blinked and said, "Your mentor is my mother, right? I'm twelve moons old. You're only about six."

"Yeah, I know. You became an apprentice when I was born," I replied. "Is your father being nice with you?"

He gave a little chuckle, saying, "Nice? He's like any other mentor. Anyway, it's your first night here, right?"

"Yeah," I replied, then I smiled. I easily slept in my moss bed. It was a pleasant day for me, becoming an apprentice and all.

But what I didn't know at the time, was that there were tons of dangers lurking about the Clan, one of which caused Leapear to die.

## Chapter 3: The First Danger to Heatherpaw

It started out as a normal day as usual, and it was the second moon of me being an apprentice, too. I met up with my Clanmates to eat some breakfast. I ate a hare that somebody else caught, and found new ways to hunt food.

And I also interacted with Forestpaw a bit. He seemed nice. Seapaw, being the med. cat apprentice, (And being my aunt's apprentice, too) was learning how to collect herbs and such. Juniperstrike was also being a good member of the Clan, and she was also my mentor's daughter (and Darkstorm's daughter and Forestpaw's sister, too). But I wished she could have been my mentor.

It wasn't until then I saw adult cats being distressed, (including my mentor & her daughter)

It didn't make any sense to me, because I've never seen them like that before. I heard one of my Clanmates saying, "Oh, dear, honey, great StarClan, what do we do about those pesky rogues?"

Obviously, I was confused, and so were the kits. But Forestpaw seemed to know, and I seemed to look up to him. He was thirteen moons and his warrior ceremony was only a moon away. I would be proud to say he learned a lot during his apprenticeship.

So I asked him. "Forestpaw? Uh, do you know what's happening here?"

He turned towards me and touched noses with me. "Ah, so good to see you again, Heatherpaw. What's happening? There are rogues on the side of the border. The older ones think they're going to attack us again. We need to be careful."

I blinked. "Again? They attacked us before?" I almost yelled.

He nodded solemnly. "Some cats, like your mentor, and my mentor are going to patrol. They probably won't be back for a while," he replied.

Then I decided to change the subject to Seapaw, who was still an apprentice, for a reason I didn't know at the time.

"Um, ok," I responded a little loudly. "How about Seapaw? I thought he was older than you? Yet he's still an apprentice."

Forestpaw nodded and said, "He's a special kind of apprentice, a medicine cat apprentice, and their training takes longer than warrior apprentices' training. Probably it's because of so many remedies to memorize and visions to interpret..."

Then I thought about Seapaw saying that Juniperstrike and him had different mothers. They actually had different fathers.

I decided to go to the medicine cat's den, ignoring the fact Begoniaflames was there. When I walked inside, I saw Seapaw trying to carefully place cobwebs over a huge wound with my aunt supervising him. The cat's name was Feathersky, She was also one of the apprentices while I was a kit. I knew, one of my Clanmates. I was shocked to see her hurt.

"What happened?" I whispered. Feathersky yelped as Seapaw touched a senstive part of her wound, and whimpered, "A-A-A rogue a-a-attack-ked m-me while I-I was hunting!"

Seapaw looked up at me and shrugged. Begoniaflames frowned.

"Can't you see we are trying to focus, Heatherpaw?!" my aunt snapped at me.

"Yes, I can see that," I calmly replied. I sat down in a wide corner of the den.

When the treatment was finished, Begoniaflames insisted that she stay here until her wound heals almost completely.

Then when Seapaw was free, I whispered to him, "Why did you say you had different mothers? My mentor gave birth to the three of you. And Forestpaw and Juniperstrike's father is Darkstorm. Who is your father?"

Seapaw's eyes widened. Then he whispered, "My mother also mated outside of the Clan, but nobody figured that out." His eyes turned wary. Then he snapped, "Please leave."

I knew I was welcome in the medicine cat's den no more. So I left, trying to keep peace between my Clanmates while they were distressed about rogues and stuff.

I was looking for my mentor all over, but then realized she was on patrol with Darkstorm. I just shrugged and decided to eat some lunch. I ate a bird, and some mice. Then I decided to hunt. I forgot there were rogues on our border, so I saw an foreign cat while trying to catch a shrew.

I almost gasped, but stayed as quiet as I can. The rogue didn't seem to see me, but he saw something else.

I looked in his direction. It was Aridclaw & Darkstorm walking around along with Juniperstrike, the cat named Applestark, and a few other cats, too.

The rogue whistled, and a few more of his teammates came, and they sneaked up on my Clanmates. Then they pounced! I almost shrieked, but still blocked it with my paws. Then one cat bumped into me. I lost my balance and fell over. It was a rogue.

This time, I really did screech, and I tried to run away as fast as I could, the shrew in my mouth. I looked behind me, and I saw the rogue gaining up on me. A few of my Clanmates saw me, and one tried to fight off the rogue! I knew they were all warriors and experienced, so I left the fighting to them.

I managed to run back to camp, and dropped the shrew in the prey-kill pile. Then I thanked StarClan of being able to run away freely with the catch. Then I thought about my Clanmates, who might be in danger, then added that they should be safe.

Then I went to my den and fell asleep in my moss bed.

I woke up a few hours later, when it was in the evening. It wasn't dark, but it wasn't as bright as it was when I fell asleep either.

I wondered what was going on, so I went outside. I suddenly saw my mentor being carried by a few cats. And she had a LOT more wounds than Feathersky did. Juniperstrike gasped, and so did Forestpaw. I also gasped, but my mouth was wide open in awe. I've never seen anybody so hurt before.

I followed Aridclaw to the med. cat's den. When I looked inside, Begoniaflames blinked, startled. And Seap -aw? He almost fainted. Then I recognized Darkstorm as one of the cats carrying her.

"Please heal her, you two," he replied.

My aunt nodded and turned to Seapaw. "Well, then, Seapaw, let's see how you'll heal your mother. Let's hope you do it right, otherwise she could die."

Then Seapaw spotted me across the crowd and looked down sadly. Then he took a few cobwebs and placed them on the wounds. I bit my lip and just decided to train by myself, since Aridclaw was obviously in no condition to do anything.

I felt like it was better if Aridclaw was here, because I wasn't really learning anything new. I was just pouncing over and over, and I had already mastered it.

I decided to try to learn to swipe. I tried clawing an imaginary enemy cat, and tried doing some of the moves that the adult cats did while battling the rogues.

Then I decided to hunt somewhere right outside the border of the Clan. I didn't want to be seen. by rogues, so I hid behind some bushes. Then I saw a bird. I tried to catch it and it got away. I tried doing this for a hour or so, then went to my den to rest.

After resting a bit, I went to the med. cat den, and Aridclaw was unconscious, but also covered with tons of cobwebs. She was almost covered completely with cobwebs.

I saw Seapaw swinging his tail sadly, sitting on the moss bed. Begoniaflames was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened, Seapaw?" I asked.

"What do you think? Aridclaw has lost too much blood during battle and while being carried here. I'm scared she won't last for a few more days!" Seapaw sobbed.

I gulped. Was Aridclaw going to meet the same fate as Leapear? It was too much. "What should we do?" I asked. "She's my mentor!"

Seapaw nodded. "Yeah, I know. We're going to try to treat her with a few herbs for her wounds, but trust me... I don't think it can work!"

Then I wondered why StarClan would put an end to her life, even after I vowed to keep everybody safe.

Then I knew why. Seapaw said so. Mating outside the Clan. I left saying that she will be fine, and ran to Juniperstrike, who was waiting for the elders and the three queens and kits to eat first at the prey-kill pile.

"Hey, uh, Juniperstrike, why didn't you want to apprentice me? I thought you had the right qualities, like Hailstar said, perseverance and selflessness?"

Juniperstrike looked at me, then turned her gaze down. Then she said, "I did. But Aridclaw lied. She also mated outside of the Clan. Why did nobody notice like Begoniaflames found out about Novastream?"

Then I knew why. "Seapaw's eyes are the same as Darkstorm's. Aridclaw had a mate, and her kit looked like her mate. Not like my mom. She never had a mate in this Clan."

Then Juniperstrike's eyes grew wide. "Yes, I suppose that's it. If Aridclaw dies... do you... do you want me to be your mentor?"

I smiled. "Sure, Juniperstrike. I'd love to."

I realized I need to learn things quickly so that I could protect my Clan better, and hopefully end this danger.

I didn't know much about Desertclaw, my father, but soon, I knew which Clan he was from.

## Chapter 4: Desertclaw & Foreststripe

It was the day of Forestpaw's warrior ceremony. There would probably be more people than just him. I remember Seapaw being an apprentice ever since I was born. When was he going to be a medicine cat? Also, something else weird and scary happened later in the day.

Forestpaw woke up jumping with glee & excitement. "I can't wait to be a warrior like my sister!" he exclaimed.

"Congratulations," I said proudly. "I'm proud of you, Forestpaw! I'm happy you're finally going to be a warrior! You are pretty kind and determined to reach your goal! But how about Seapaw? When is he going to be a full med. cat?"

"Ah, thanks, Heatherpaw!" he replied, happy tears coming out of his eyes. I even thought he kissed me on the nose. "I think he's going to be a med. cat today, too."

I nodded, and I was wondering what his warrior name might be. Then Forestpaw said, "Don't you feel like you are going to be alone after I leave?"

"I'm not going to be alone for long. In two moons, those three kits are going to be joining me!" I smiled, chuckling. Then Forestpaw smiled and replied, "Yeah. I hope you learn a lot during your apprenticeship!"

"And I hope you do good as a warrior!" I responded happily. He nodded, and wished me good luck.

I also wished him good luck, and ran off to find my mentor. I searched around in the warrior den... Then my mood darkened. It came to me again. She was injured. She was probably not going to survive, said Seapaw. I frowned.

I entered the den, and saw Seapaw crying, and I also saw a new sight, the saddened mood of Begoniaflames, as if she failed on something. I also felt a little sad because of the sad vibe in the air. I went up to Seapaw and asked, "What's wrong, Seapaw? Why are you crying?"

Seapaw looked up at me and wiped his tears. He sobbed, *"We failed!"* and went back to crying.

"On what?" I asked solemnly. Was Aridclaw paralyzed? Or worse?

"My mother... d-d-*died!"* he yelled. Then my aunt said, "Heatherpaw, we had to bury your mentor's body. You will have to get a new mentor. I've heard Juniperstrike is wanting an apprentice now."

I looked at Begoniaflames' expression. I noticed she looked different. She felt empathy, in what seemed like forever. I nodded. Then she turned to Seapaw.

"Seapaw, I've... I've had a mother die. She died from giving birth to me and Novastream. My dad was devastated. Then everybody started believing it was the medicine cat's error. His name was Pinkroot. I wanted to become an medicine cat to make sure nothing like this happened again," she said, sighing at the end. She slumped down onto the floor.

Then I spoke up and said, "Sea-Seapaw, don't worry, you're going to be a medicine cat soon, and Aunt, don't worry, it wasn't your fault." It was the first time calling her Aunt.

Begoniaflames nodded and told Seapaw, "Yeah Seapaw, don't be sad, besides, your ceremony's this afternoon."

I remembered how happy Forestpaw was this morning. Did he know that his mother died? I decided not to focus on that too much, and decided to focus on the ceremonies.

I spotted Forestpaw and Juniperstrike talking at the prey-kill pile. My grandfather, Aridfox was eating, too.

Begoniaflames ran up to Aridfox, and said, "Dad? What do we do now? The rogues have killed Aridclaw, too! First, they kill Leapear, and then this!" She was anguished, once again, like she normally is.

I went to Forestpaw & Juniperstrike. "You guys, I have really bad news," I said. Juniperstrike looked at me.

"Like what?" she said, her expression drooping.

"I don't want to ruin your happy mood, so this may not be a good idea..." I replied solemnly.

Forestpaw put down his rabbit, and stared. "What is it?" he asked, knowing this may be too sad.

"Seapaw & my aunt couldn't save Aridclaw. Now I need a new mentor...."

I knew it. Their expressions darkened quickly. Then Juniperstrike said, "I'll mentor you then." She was frowning a lot. So was Forestpaw, but he was just chewing the rabbit.

Then Hailstar came to the fresh-kill pile and sat down. He asked, "Why are you sad?" Then I said, "Aridclaw died." He nodded and replied, "Don't be sad, because you will get what you want soon."

I knew he knew what we wanted. Juniperstrike and I wanted to have a mentor-apprentice relationship. And Forestpaw & Seapaw will be full warriors and med. cats.

Then when everybody was finished, Hailstar climbed onto Highrock. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a meeting under Highrock!" he announced.

Everybody came. Then Hailstar said, "Heatherpaw, come forward." I looked a little confused, but then knew what was happening. The only confusion left was why he had to make this public.

"It is unfortunate to say your mentor, Aridclaw has died. But you will have a new mentor. Your mentor will be Juniperstrike. She received excellent training from, yes, Aridclaw, and has proven herself to be courageous and selfless."—I was shocked when he said about the same qualities as I—"Juniperstrike, come forward." Juniperstrike beamed as she walked forward.

"Juniperstrike, you will be the mentor of Heatherpaw. I hope you will pass all you know to her."

Juniperstrike nodded and touched noses with me. I remember that the Clan was chanting my name, but this time, they were quiet, as if trying to figure out exactly what happened. Juniperstrike and I just walked back into the crowd.

Then Hailstar called up Forestpaw. "I, Hailstar, leader of IvyClan, 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. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Forestpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Foreststripe. StarClan honors your kindness and dedication, and we welcome you as a full warrior of IvyClan."

I was happy for Forestpaw. I was wondering where Seapaw & Begoniaflames were. Then Hailstar got down from the Highrock. I was confused.

"What's going on?" I asked Juniperstrike. She replied, "She does the ceremony in front of other med. cats. The med. cat ceremony is the only one not performed by the leader."

I nodded, then said, "I want to see his ceremony. Can I watch from a distance?"

Juniperstrike bit her lip as if she was thinking, then said, "Sure. But I'll come with you."

When we arrived at the moonpool, I saw other med. cats from different Clans. I saw the ceremony was already finished, and Seapaw was now Seaslash. Then I saw him. I knew my father's name was Desertclaw. I saw a cat who had mostly silver fur like me. Juniperstrike noticed it, too. "That cat looks like you," she pointed out.

I heard Begoniaflames saying, "So, Desertclaw, do you have a medicine cat apprentice?"

I suddenly realized. My father was a medicine cat from another Clan. He broke two rules! My mood darkened.

"I don't want to be here anymore," I said.

Juniperstrike looked confused and asked why. I just said I wanted to leave, and ran back to camp.

Then I saw Foreststripe trying to sleep in the warriors' den. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"New warriors are supposed to follow a vigil, you know, stay awake the entire night. So I'm trying to sleep while I can." I nodded. And then I ran around to try and find my mom, and found Novastream.

"Mama, why didn't you tell me Papa was a medicine cat?!" I whispered angrily at her.

She looked at me, shocked. Then she frowned. "I-I don't know. That fact never seemed to matter..." she whispered back, sadly. "I only knew that if I ever had to fight his Clan, I would never have to fight him, at least. He's from SunClan. How did you know?"

"It was because of Seaslash's med. cat ceremony. He was there. He had the same fur coat as me. But he had yellow eyes, not violet like yours," I replied quietly.

Mama's eyes darted wildly and finally settled on her sister coming back from the moonpool. Seaslash seemed very proud to be a full medicine cat, and Begoniaflames seemed proud to be his mentor. I knew Mama wasn't in any mood to talk about Papa so I let it be. So I also focused on the two medicine cats.

I said happily to Seaslash, "Don't you feel proud to be a full medicine cat?"

He nodded a bit, but said, "Well, maybe, but I'm still her apprentice." I didn't know at the time, so I was surprised.

"What? You're still her apprentice?" I almost exclaimed. Begoniaflames answered, "I'm still his mentor until I die or retire. Then he can have an apprentice of his own."

"Oh," I said, nodding. Then Juniperstrike suggested we start training, and so we did. Juniperstrike seemed like a way better mentor than Aridclaw was, because I learned a LOT more with Juniperstrike in one day than I probably could never learn with Aridclaw in all my apprenticeship.

When night fell, I saw Foreststripe sitting down right inside the border. "So you're staying awake," I said, right behind him.

He turned around and saw me. "Oh. Right, yeah," he responded.

"Well, I'm going to go sleep, since you're so lovely guarding the camp," I said, giggling.

He chuckled a bit, too, and said, "Bye, Heatherpaw. Hope you have a nice sleep, alone."

I arrived at my den, so lonely. Even I wasn't so alone while I was a kit. I had my mother with me. I just did my best to sleep.

And then it was morning. Foreststripe's former moss bed was empty right next to me. But I was hoping those three kits would become apprentices soon.

I went to the warriors' den to check up on Foreststripe. He was sleeping, all right, because other warriors were starting to wake. Some warriors were patrolling and hunting, and their guard was up.

Then I spotted the two medicine cats going out to gather herbs. It seemed like they were reluctant to get everything they could. I was proud for Seaslash & Begoniaflames, though. I went to the fresh-kill pile and ate. I looked at the kits who were five moons old and would become apprentices on the next moon.

Then I chuckled. I was going to train a lot this day. And I wanted to become a warrior soon. Eating birds were my favorite, and I learned to catch them, too.

I never knew a full-on battle launched the next moon.

## Chapter 5: Heatherpaw's First Battle

After eating, I went to the warrior cats' den. I hoped I would find my mother, but she was nowhere to be found. I looked around. There were only toms with mates who were queens, my friend, Foreststripe and my mentor, Juniperstrike.

I looked around, and there were only elders, queens and kits. And Begoniaflames.

I wondered where everybody else was, so I wandered out of camp, and saw a cat named Rubyfall running somewhere. I stopped her and asked what in StarClan is going on.

Rubyfall rolled her eyes and replied, "Well, there's a battle going on, and it's dangerous for apprentices, especially ones who are unexperienced."

I frowned, and then said, "Can I at least watch?"

She shrugged. "Sure, but be careful, I guess you can watch to learn fighting moves. We're fighting SunClan."

My eyes widened. SunClan? Mama said Papa was from SunClan! I nodded, knowing there was nothing I can do to stop the fight.

Then I followed her to the battlefield. It wasn't a lot of cats. But there were SunClan cats who didn't realize they were hunting in our territory. I looked around. Obviously, Desertclaw wouldn't be here. I saw my mom fighting, and Seaslash was there to tend to hurt cats.

As Rubyfall advised, I watched them fighting from a distance, and tried to see how they fought. A cat leaped forward to strike and immediately jumped backwards to dodge the enemy cat's attack. Another cat sneaked behind an enemy cat and pounced on their back and pinned them down. Then suddenly, I saw rogues, which happened to have attacked us two moons ago.

They were starting to interfere in the battle. A rogue swiped another cat's face and they fell unconscious. I frowned at this misdemeanor.

I slipped into the battle and tried to claw a rogue. It did little damage, but it distracted the rogue from another Clanmate. Since I was smaller & skinnier, I was faster than the rogue, and I managed to outrun the rogue when he noticed me.

I notified Seaslash of the unconscious cats, and he ran immediately to their aid. I was looking for Hailstar, but he was nowhere. He was probably back at camp, but I didn't see him. But I saw Darkstorm, the deputy, throwing a SunClan cat down, rather cruelly. They don't know about him, I thought. I just shook my head, and told Darkstorm to retreat, because there were rogues here. He was rather startled to see me.

"Please, Darkstorm, they're going to attack us once again!" I yelled.

His eyes grew wary, and replied, "You can't make the decisions around here. I'm the deputy."

I took that as an insult. I argued, "Cats are falling. The rogues are cornering us on all si-"

But he interrupted, and commanded to the adult cats, *"Come on! Fight to your fullest!"*

The rogues were *clearly* surrounding a group of IvyClan warriors, who looked nervous. They were in my current age group when I was a kit.

*"DARKSTORM!"* I hissed very loudly. But then, Darkstorm threw me down. I felt I was falling into someone's arms. I turned around.

It was Juniperstrike, whose gaze was on her father. Her mouth was wide open in horror.

Darkstorm groaned, and narrowed his eyes to slits. "Dear..." he started.

Juniperstrike's voice was trembling. "Dad... you can't-"

But Darkstorm interrupted her, and commanded, "Bring her back to camp. And make sure she doesn't come back until she's a full warrior."

*"BUT-"* I hissed, but Juniperstrike put a paw over my muzzle. When we arrived at camp, she said that Darkstorm was losing his mind.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," Juniperstrike replied. Foreststripe had also happened to learn about this, and consoled me like his sister was doing.

"Darkstorm isn't very well after Aridclaw died, so it's okay. And he doesn't mean what he says," Foreststripe told me.

I nodded. But then Seaslash heard of the news, and must have told his mentor, Begoniaflames about it, too. And Begoniaflames was absolutely NOT happy. I thought she had turned blood red,

She marched up to the warriors den once Darkstorm came back and hissed at the top of her lungs, *"WHAT IN STARCLAN WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO THE APPRENTICE! NOW WE HAVE ALL THESE HURT CATS AND WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF OUR COBWEB SUPPLY!"*

I stared at them, my body starting to overheat. I was so nervous. I bit my lip, looking at Juniperstrike and Foreststripe for some comfort. But they were as startled as I was.

Then Darkstorm shot up into his standing position, and made a fighting stance, in case Begoniaflames tried to attack him physically. I learned that medicine cats get some fighting & hunting training in case of a dire emergency.

He snapped back, *"OH YEAH?! WHAT IF THEY FOLLOW US BACK AND TRY TO ATTACK OUR ENTIRE CLAN?! APPRENTICES DON'T KNOW ALL THAT WELL!"*

I could feel some eyes on me, because some other cats were watching, too, including two kits and an elder. Juniperstrike & Foreststripe weren't looking at me, though. Their focus was on the two cats' violent argument. Suddenly, I noticed Hailstar across the crowd, and kept my eyes fixiated on him. Then I bit my lip.

"Excuse me, excuse me," he said, trying to get through the cats. Then he went between Begoniaflames & Darkstorm, and put two paws up, saying, "Hey, we need to keep peace between our Clanmates. It's not a rule, but it's essential to our Clan's survival."

But then, Darkstorm pushed past Hailstar and tried to leap on Begoniaflames. Novastream was horrified, and tried to stop Darkstorm. I saw my grandfather, Aridfox as one of the cats in the crowd. He was completly and utterly frozen with terror. But he was an elder, so he really couldn't do anything. I wondered why Hailstar wasn't doing anything, but I immediately found out why. "I'm seventy moons old, yet I'm still fulfilling the role as leader. Do you think I could take this?" he said solemnly. He was even older than my grandfather.

I started to sweat all over, knowing I was the cause. Then Foreststripe stepped up, saying I wasn't to blame, and to stop the fight. Then he grasped my paw tightly and brought me to my own den, the apprentices' den, which would be lonely for me for only another moon..

"Do you like Darkstorm anymore?" he asked. I shook my head. He made two enemies this day.

He nodded, "I can see that. But I think everybody thinks that Darkstorm should have listened to you and made everybody retreat."

Then I thought about Hailstar being sixty-one moons older than me. I was nine moons old. A leader that age would have already retired, maybe twenty moons ago, or died earlier. He was also about twenty moons older than Aridfox, and Aridfox retired as an elder before I was even born.

Foreststripe then said, "Do you want me to tell you something else?" I shrugged a reply. He answered, "I don't think Hailstar is keeping him as deputy." Then he kissed me on the cheek, and went out of the den for patrolling duties. I fell asleep soon after that.

I woke up the next day at midnight, and as usual, nobody was in the den. I slowly crept up to the warriors' den. Everybody was asleep. The medicine cat's den. Both asleep. Nursery. I looked at the kits who were six moons old already, and Greenstripe, who didn't have to be a queen anymore. The two queens already had the kits, too, and there were a lot more queens now. But everybody was fast asleep.

I decided to peek into the leader's den.

"I suppose you're fully awake, Heatherpaw?" a voice said right behind me. I jumped forward, and turned around. I saw Hailstar's face. I decided to ask him the questions I so wanted answered.

"You said you were seventy moons old?" I asked him.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I'm seventy-one now. Why do you ask?"

"Well, um, I heard that most leaders retire when they're fifty or sixty moons old. You're also older than my grandfather, who's an elder!" I answered

He nodded and said, "Well, I don't want to retire yet. I want to keep going till I die. Seems like I've been keeping myself healthy and safe all these moons. And when you talk about Aridfox,,," he replied.

"He and Lilaclight were great warriors... until Lilaclight died of greencough. And Aridfox was too sick to keep serving himself to the Clan. My glorious children, all weaken-" he said, but I interrupted with, *"Children?!"*

Hailstar was a bit startled at first, and then said, with a elated smile on his face. "Yes, no miscommunication here. Children. Aridfox and Lilaclight were my kits."

I thought about it. "So you're my great-grandfather?!" I exclaimed. He nodded and said, "My mate's name was Waterpelt. She used to be a loner, but I asked the leader at the time, Birchstar, and he took her in. We fell in love, too. Then we had kits. She died later of old age. And then there's Violetcreek & Pinkroot."

"P-P-Pinkroot?! What about him?!" I yelled silently, trying to process this in my head.

"Pinkroot was Lilaclight's mate till he reverted to a med. cat. I remember they had four kits, and two died of greencough, like Lilaclight... The other two survived, but they're not in the Clan anymore. One went to Sun-"

I interrupted at SunClan. *"What?! SunClan?!"*

"Yes, SunClan, and the other went to another Clan, I don't know which. And Violetcreek was Aridfox's mate. She was lost, as an apprentice, and then Aridpaw at the time saved her, and brought her back to our Clan. Violetpaw got accustomed to the Clan, and I say, she was playful and strong. Then she became my son's mate. I don't know what happened, but it was rumored she died because of Pinkroot's error with helping her kit. At least Novastream and Begoniaflames were saved. And then Novastream was nineteen moons old when she had you, Heatherpaw. She said that the cat's name was Desertclaw, but she didn't tell me any more. Did she tell you anything?"

I shook my head and lied, "No, I think she feels insecure."

Hailstar blinked for a bit, then replied, "You are brave, curious, and strategic, my dear. You can make it through all the way. Now go to sleep." I nodded.

But when I went back and tried to sleep, it didn't work. So I just slowly crept out of my den, and went to the border. Then suddenly I heard rustling. I heard a cat say, "An apprentice, Jay,"

I backed down, but then a cat leaped in my direction, and tried to run away. I knew they knew where our Clan camp was. They were following me. Then they happened to enter the camp, and I hid behind a boulder.

Another cat said, "Oooh, cats. Should we steal from their prey pile? And even take the crowfood?" Another cat than that one added, "And maybe we can creep into the nursery and steal a kit?"

I bit my lip. I knew those cats were evil. Then I looked in the leader's den's direction. Hailstar was there, frowning at the moderately large group of rogues. I decided to walk up to him. "Hailstar! Should we alert them? The warriors?" He didn't even question about my presence here at this moment. He just said to wait.

The rogues were padding into the apprentice's den, and said there was no one in there. I was relieved I was even awake. Hailstar shook his head, and said to me, "Stay here, Heatherpaw." He walked into the warriors' den said for everybody who wasn't hurt to wake up and fight.

Some cats straggled out of their den, and were shocked to see intruders. Then a notorious battle began. I hoped nobody would get hurt. Darkstorm hissed and said he would sleep. I also went back to sleep. I finally slept, until maybe an hour later I was woken up by Juniperstrike. "What?" I asked.

"They're gone. Hailstar said that you were the first to notice them, too," she replied, smiling. Then she frowned. "But they might be back. Be careful."

I nodded and woke up at dawn. I ate breakfast, then heard Hailstar announcing something. I thought it was the apprentice ceremony, but it was something like a elder ceremony.

Hailstar called up a cat's name. "Falcongold, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go join the elders?"

"It is," she replied.

"Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest." Then everybody called out her name, and just decided to go along with them. Then when it ended, Feathersky ran up to Falcongold, and said, "Mom, but you aren't *that* old!" So it was her mom, I thought.

Then at last, Hailstar commenced the apprentices' ceremonies. "Cedarkit, Highkit, Redkit," he called.

I zoned out at the beginning of the ceremony, but immediately pulled myself back in when he said, "Your mentor will be Foreststripe." I was startled at first, but then proud that he had an apprentice, like his sister. I paid attention to the rest of Hailstar's ceremony.

"Foreststripe, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Darkstorm and have proved yourself to be kind and dedicated. You will be the mentor of Redpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him." Foreststripe had marched up proudly to the front, and touched noses with Redpaw at the end. Then he looked at me and winked. I knew a little what it meant.

Cedarpaw's mentor was Feathersky, and Highpaw's mentor was a cat named Deerhedge. That concluded the ceremonies.

I was happy they'd be joining me tonight. Then I invited them three to the apprentices' den.

"It looks more empty than the nursery," remarked Cedarpaw.

"Are you in *love* with my mentor?" slyly teased Redpaw.

"It's nice here," simply implied Highpaw.

The three mentors arrived, wanting to train their apprentices. "Ok, so I *heard* that, Redpaw!" Foreststripe said, grinning. Feathersky snorted into her paws. Deerhedge didn't think anything was funny. I thought it was funny, though, so I giggled. Redpaw blushed humorously. Cedarpaw & Highpaw just shrugged.

I certainly had a great time showing them around the den and the camp. And then their mentors took over the job of supervising them with hunting, fighting, patrolling, etc. Juniperstrike was still my mentor, and I was still her apprentice, so we still frequently trained, hunted, patrolled & studied the warrior code.

I could only thank Juniperstrike, because the fighting skills were what I needed to defend myself. I became a warrior two moons short of my time.

## Chapter 6: Unexpected Victory

Juniperstrike and I were training a lot. She was becoming a *very* good mentor, probably better than a senior warrior themself!

And Foreststripe was doing a great job training Redpaw. I couldn't be more proud for him!

I was ten moons old at this time, and the same day something happened to Darkstorm which caused something else surprising to happen.

It was a beautiful day, and it was evening time. I noticed it had started to get cold, and some trees' leaves started to turn reddish shades, shrivel up and fall off the tree. But I admit it was fun playing with the leaves with the kits & Redpaw. Redpaw's littermates were more serious, however, so they didn't join in.

I saw Hailstar looking very distressed, after going on a detailed hunt, and bringing back as much food as we can. "Hailstar?" I asked him. "What's wrong?"

Hailstar turned to me, his wrinkled face looking even more wrinkled with his expression. "Heatherpaw, um, you might not like Darkstorm anymore, but where is he? He's on a hunt for four hours straight!"

I bit my lip and suddenly saw Juniperstrike running here with a mouse in her mouth. She also looked distressed. "Hailstar, I know where he is!"

And then we followed Juniperstrike to the location. We saw Darkstorm unconscious there, and his left hind leg was in a very weird position, as if it were curved.

Hailstar gazed at him and noticed his leg, too. Then he looked at the tree he was right next to. "He might have fallen off a tree while hunting! How long has he been here?!" He was tapping his feet uncomfortably.

"I don't know!" Juniperstrike answered in panic. "I just found him now!"

They carried Darkstorm back to camp and into the med. cat's den. I saw Seaslash's face twist into a freaked- out one, and Begoniaflames stared at his leg. "Did his leg break into shards?" Begoniaflames asked in disgust. It certainly looked like that.

Then Seaslash got out some comfrey roots, broom and bindweed, and used them on his leg. Then Darkstorm woke up. He was howling in pain. "MY LEG!" he cried.

I certainly didn't want to be in his position. I wouldn't even want that to happen to my worst enemy.

Then Hailstar said, "Darkstorm, do you wish to retire if it feels you are too injured to be a deputy?"

I was confused. I thought deputies were there until they died. But anyways, Darkstorm nodded, wincing in pain. Which meant he was forced to retire as an elder.

I bit my lip, thinking who should be the deputy now. Foreststripe also learned about this and came here. He was not happy at all. He frowned the entire way the other cats carried him to the elder's den.

"I'm sorry, Foreststripe," I said, when the cats were finished. "But I don't think the damage is reversible." He nodded understandingly. Then he did this weird kind of hug (which was an embrace) and left.

Hailstar shook his head, frowning, too. Then he climbed onto Highrock and announced a meeting. It was a deputy ceremony, I knew. I listened to the ceremony, seeing who would be the next one. He said, "The deputy is ..." I was holding my breath. I looked at all the cats around here and tried to remember which one have mentored an apprentice before.

"...Juniperstrike," he said, finally. Some people gasped, including Juniperstrike herself. I gasped, too. She wasn't finished mentoring me. But then again, when Darkstorm was picked, he wasn't finished mentoring Foreststripe.

I was happy for my mentor, and touched noses with her. Foreststripe also touched noses with her, happily. I saw Darkstorm smile a bit.

I was proud of her, and now she was the one to lead the Clan's warriors into battle.

Then Redpaw walked up to her and congratulated her. I was happy that people were happy for her, too. By this time, it was nighttime, and some people had drifted off to sleep. Juniperstrike suggested I study the warrior code a bit more and memorize everything. I learned that a deputy needs to be appointed before moonhigh.

After a while, I was sent to my den by Juniperstrike. It wasn't lonely in there anymore, because the apprentices joined me. I easily fell asleep because of that.

By the next day, I saw Begoniaflames trying to collect some nuts & herbs. I got permission from the person who seems to love me more than his family (Foreststripe), and ventured out to follow her secretly.

I hid behind a bush while she was picking cob nuts. I heard rustling from another bush. Begoniaflames jumped backwards, startled. I was also startled, but didn't make a noise. "WHO'S THERE!" Begoniaflames yelled at the thing. Then suddenly, a snout poke out of the bush. It didn't look like a cat's snout. It was more longer. Then it leaped out of the bush, and I saw it's full image. It had hind legs like us, but it had longer ears and a shorter, more hairier tail. It was much bigger than me, I could say.

Begoniaflames whimpered, "DOG!" Then I leaped out of the bush and onto the dog. The dog tried to bite me, but it didn't work. I was on the top of his back and dug my claws in hard. But it did bite Begoniaflames, on her arm.

I shrieked, then dug my claws in harder. My aunt dropped all the herbs she was carrying and tried to run away. But it bit her a second time, on her leg. I knew I had to get help, but I couldn't control the dog. How would I know how to handle a dog if I had never seen one before? I was sure Juniperstrike never seen one either.

So I tried to call for help. It turned out the cat named Applestark was hunting in this area and arrived immediately. His expression when he came was as if he expected an apocalypse to happen right where he was standing.

"What is this animal?!" he yelped. I realized he might have not seen one either. But he was a warrior, so he should do something! "HELP!" I shrieked. The dog was charging right at him. He leaped out of the way and also leaped onto its back. Then Applestark started scratching it. But it provoked the dog even further, and we both were screaming while we were dangling on its back. My aunt was also screaming, but it bought her time to try and run away.

"HELP!" Applestark and I called at the top of our lungs. It was no use. Maybe only Begoniaflames and us could hear the call. And the prey.

But Begoniaflames managed to run away. Then I realized the dog was running in the direction of our camp. I hoped somebody would notice it soon. Then suddenly, it jumped on Begoniaflames a third time, but she dodged and alerted Hailstar. Then Hailstar called a battle to fend off the dog and to rescue us. Then Juniperstrike said something which surprised me a lot.

"My mate and my apprentice! How did they get up there?!" she panicked.

"Mate?!" the she-cat Rubyfall replied. "Since when did you become mates?!" "Yeah, sis!" Foreststripe added. "Did you do it in secret?!"

I didn't pay much attention to that, though, because the dog was being way too ferocious and I could barely concentrate on anything but it. Then most of the unhurt and awake warriors fought off the dog, and Seaslash rescued Begoniaflames and put her in their own den. Then he got some cobwebs and broom, and slowly placed them on her wounds.

And so, they managed to fend off the dog. I decided I should ask Juniperstrike and Applestark about their relationship.

"When did you guys become mates?" I asked.

Juniperstrike replied, "Ever since you became my apprentice. But we're not going to have kits yet, not until you become a warrior. Because queens have to quit their job as mentors."

I understood how much Juniperstrike wanted to mentor me. So I nodded. "Well, okay," I replied.

As usual, Juniperstrike always asked me if I wanted to train, unlike Aridclaw or maybe any other mentor. We trained four or five times a day, and Juniperstrike was probably learning something, too.

I accepted, and we trained. While training, Juniperstrike said I was doing a VERY good job, and that I learned by myself. But I said it was only her that did a great job training me, because when I was only eight moons old, the time when she started mentoring me, I was WAY off on my skills. She nodded, and asked me to catch a falcon.

I was pretty nervous when I tried to catch it, but I knew Juniperstrike was a very good mentor, even though she had bad training from Aridclaw. I wonder who else taught her. The falcon was on a tree.

I slowly stalked up to the falcon while it was perched, then... I leaped! My paws got on the falcon, but it wasn't fully in my grip. I got its wings, but it was trying to escape. Then I bit its neck, but one of its talons scratched my face. I bit it again and took it in my mouth down the tree. I put it down, and it was weak, and then with one swipe, it died.

Juniperstrike saw this and she seemed to think it was unbelievable I could catch that, even though she told me to. Then she clapped her paws. "Good job, Heatherpaw !" she said, congratulating me. "Seems like you know how to catch difficult prey now. Now let's do fighting training."

"So, if you are being attacked, and pinned down— pretend to pin me to the ground—then you have to put your paws on their shoulders and push them as hard as you can"—she was demonstrating, and she was doing it lightly—"and then when you're free enough to escape, roll out of their grip, and continue fighting!" She did a fake swipe that barely touched my pelt, and I merely laughed. Then she shrugged and asked, "Continue?"

I nodded, and we learned some more defense techniques, like what to do if you're being pulled by an enemy to a territory, and also some escape techniques, like when you're injured or blinded.

Then we brought the stuff we hunted (including the falcon) back to camp, and ended our training.

We saw the kits playing, and then once we put our prey into the fresh-kill pile, they licked their lips. The elders and queens were already eating, though.

There were some people crowding around Begoniaflames, but Seaslash told them to leave, because he couldn't concentrate if they were watching "eerily" at him & his mentor (I don't know why she would still be his mentor though).

Other people were eating or sleeping. It seemed like a sleepy day. What happened must have spread across the Clan.

Foreststripe was the first one to actually ask about my feelings about the dog. "Are you sure you were okay? You're still an apprentice, and you didn't even know what that was! I didn't know what it was either, until some older people said it was a 'dog.' What is a dog?"

"I'm *okay,* Foreststripe. It's not like anybody died. Besides, my mentor's mate was there," I replied.

"Sure," he said. "My sister mated with him secretly. They were also in the same ceremonies."

"I know, I know. But you don't have to be VERY protective of me. I am an apprentice, and in three moons, I'm going to be a warrior! And who cares about their relationship?"

"I'm not trying to babysit you, but still, I wouldn't want you to be hurt like Aridclaw and Leapear and all the rest," Foreststripe replied. He ignored the part about his sister and Applestark. "But..." He leaned closer to me. "I will love you like family." Then he kissed me on the cheek, and started eating the falcon I caught. I didn't feel like eating after that, or speaking about the dog or Begoniaflames, so I just walked back to my den. I didn't know I slept.

I woke up and I didn't know what happened. But it was very close to nighttime. A lot of cats were calling it a day and were going back to their dens. I was very close to being twelve moons old. I didn't want to go out of my den again, but, I was too curious.

I slowly crept out, but this time I stayed close to my den and peered out. It was Hailstar looking down and up, back and forth. He was pacing around uncomfortably and also yawning. I wondered what had gotten into him, or... well, everybody. Applestark and I were on the dog, big deal. At least neither of us got injured, and Begoniaflames didn't really get that much harmed by a simple dog... right?

I was still watching Hailstar doing his weird behavior for a few minutes, and then Hailstar gave up and fell back asleep in his own den. It was weird how the Clan was being so distressed, I couldn't even comprehend it. Sooner or later, I knew why.

There was a dog there. And a cat. And they were speaking to each other. I was so confused why, however. Why are the dog and the cat allying? The cat ran to the prey pile. The dog went to the leader's den. I shivered, hoping something wouldn't happen. But, I decided to do something. I creeped up to the leader's den silently.

In there, the dog was trying to look at the den and I thought he wanted to steal something. I was too scared to go into the den. But then... something very frightening happened. The dog bit Hailstar's neck, and Hailstar didn't do anything. But I was surprised to see a phenomenon: Hailstar was still alive!

Hailstar woke up, and he was surprised. The dog also looked confused, but especially not for the same reasons. Then I saw the cat at the prey pile.

He was stealing food and going somewhere with it. I frowned, knowing that we were going to have no food left. It was tragic, because I heard it was almost leaf-bare, and we needed to stock up all the food. In leaf-bare, food doesn't rot so quickly like it does in the hot sunny days.

While he was going, I made a run for it, and went to the warrior's den. I thought about waking up everybody, but after what happened with Darkstorm, I felt like noboby might believe me. So I woke up Foreststripe only, and told him to look outside.

"What's the fuss?" he asked. "It's the middle of the night, or, well, dawn."

I showed him the cat, and Foreststripe was wideeyed. "Did you alert Hailstar?" he asked. I forgot to tell him about the dog. Suddenly, I heard more padding, Again, the rouges! "No," I said whispering. "There's a dog with him and is trying to kill him!"

I woke up all the warriors, and they looked cranky, indeed. I told them why, and Foreststripe backed me up. Then they got into action. They gasped when they saw the leader and the dog.

"What happened?!" asked Juniperstrike.

"Goodness me!" remarked Feathersky.

"What in StarClan?!" spat an angry Deerhedge.

Then I saw the cats. "Oh my..." I remarked quietly, seeing there were a lot of rouges. They just wanted to take down the Clan as soon as possible, but I wasn't going to ever let that happen as long as I would ever live! I stared at the rouges, and at the other cat. "It's a kittypet," said Greenstripe, mother of Redpaw, Cedarpaw & Highpaw. "They wouldn't know how to fight very well."

Then I replied, "That's why they came at night. To steal when our Clan was in a subconscious state."

"I never knew you were such a genius," complimented Rubyfall. I decided to fight, too, but just the kittypet. I was confused what a kittypet was until Greenstripe said it is raised by Twolegs, and not part of a Clan. And Twolegs have fur only on their heads, while the rest is bare skin, and they have five fingers on their hands and feet. I thought that weird, since I never seen anyone other than cats have more than five fingers, and separate parts for hands and feet.

The kittypet looked startled, but then tried to look brave by baring its teeth and hissing. But I scratched he in the nose, and jumped on his back. The kittypet lost balance and fell to his side, and I had the opportunity to claw him fiercely before he got up.

Juniperstrike happened to run into the leader's den and I didn't know what was happening inside there. I only hoped nobody got slaughtered by that dog.

The kittypet was a little *too* easy, because he had really bad aim, and he swiped softly, too. Then I slashed him in the stomach, and he toppled into a small pile of leaves. He was breathing heavily, but he scratched my ear, and kicked me down. I got up quickly, and used one of the evasive maneuvers to move out of the way, and used a lot more offensive and defensive techniques.

The kittypet was hissing, but I crawled under his stomach, and stabbed there. Then I leaped and pinned him down. I kept scratching him and resisting him and hissing at him. Then he stopped. To make sure he had given up, I made a long cut into his chest, and clawed his cheek.

Then I demanded, *"WHERE'S OUR FOOD!"* He didn't say anything. Then I saw a pile of food, hidden away in some leaves. The kittypet wheezed as I went to that pile. Rubyfall saw the kittypet, and then looked at me, "Say, should I take it from here, Heatherpaw?" she said, cracking her knuckles. I didn't know if Rubyfall knew what I was doing but I just shrugged, and Rubyfall began beating the tar out of that kittypet.

I looked at the food, and tried to take it all back with my mouth, but I was dropping food all along the way. I came back to go get it, until I saw two rouges cornering me, and blocking my way. "Well, well, isn't it the puny?" one of them said, stuffing one of the mice MY Clan caught into their mouth.

"Yup," the other one replied, "this one is a real mouse right here." I didn't understand what he meant, until he stepped forward. He was HUGE compared to me. He looked as big as the dog from last time. I whimpered, and tried to call for help, but I can only squeak. The kittypet is only a teeny bit bigger than me, but I couldn't fight someone that big.

Then the rouges went into their leaping stance, and tried to remember the evasive maneuver for when a cat is leaping on you. They both leaped onto the same spot where I was, but I simply leaped a great distance from them out of the way. But it wasn't great enough to get away from them. Worse, I saw six more eyes peeking through the trees. They belonged to three more rouges.

Luckily, Hailstar came to my rescue, and so did Foreststripe, Seaslash & Feathersky.

Obviously, Seaslash didn't fight a great deal, but he heard what was going on, and came to help hurt cats. But he did try to lure cats from my attention by scratching them on their ear or nose.

My mouth was gaped open when I saw what in the Dark Forest happened to Hailstar. He had so many bruises, and he was bleeding so much from his neck and his forehead. He wasn't even fighting that much.

*"What?!"* I screamed. Foreststripe responded, "He isn't capable of fighting as much as us because he's aged ---not to offend you, Hailstar---and I think he lost three lives to that horrendous dog for that reason! Got that news from my sister..."

I managed to be rescued, and was being guarded by Seaslash, but I asked, "What happened to Juniperstrike?! She also ran into there!" Foreststripe bit his lip and looked down. Juniperstrike came here, limping, but she wasn't as bad as Hailstar, although she had a bite in her front leg, and a lot of blood and mud smeared over her, and a tiny cut on the side of her head.

"I tried to fight the dog, but at least I killed that dog with a severe slash-stab attack. Must have been blessed by StarClan, me and Hailstar could have dropped dead!" she said, whimpering. Seaslash frowned a *LOT.* I remembered that they were half-siblings. He replied, "This can also be an omen. Leaf-bare's so close it can hit us like a rock, and everybody's getting injured! And our cobwebs are still so low! Jeez, after what happened with my mentor, I am too scared to go out there again!"

The rouges were not backing off, but neither were we going to, either. Hailstar suggested the three of us move away from the fight (Juniperstrike, me and him), and go to the med. cat's den. I had a few bruises and scratches from that kittypet fight, and I got scratched by the rouges a few times, too, also I'm only an apprentice so I could see why he wanted me to go, too.

Feathersky was saying, "What do we do about them, I mean, what will happen to Juniperstrike & Hailstar?!"

Foreststripe replied, "How about Heatherpaw?"

Feathersky responded, "She's hurt, too, but there isn't a chance SHE could die from her injures!"

"I know it's only a little, but she is an apprentice..."

Then suddenly, Feathersky yelped, and a rouge knocked her in the head hard, and she fell to the ground. I gasped, because I saw that Foreststripe was thrown to the ground and scraped hard on the pelt of his belly. He was also kicked. Feathersky screeched as her arm was being grazed by multiple rouges, and she was pinned down by some other rouge. Seaslash looked around frantically, and he was staying at a safe distance, but he did not know how to help the two without getting cornered, too, so he rested his eyes on us, for some help, maybe.

Then I thought something *horrific* was going to happen at the moment. Foreststripe was coughing as a rouge punched him in the chest.

*"NOO!"* I shrieked, running towards him. He was about to be stabbed and slayed. I accidentally did something which might have wiped me out but didn't.

*"Heatherpaw?!"* Hailstar & Juniperstrike yowled.

Feathersky screamed, too, but also for another reason, she was going to be murdered. Hailstar called more cats to help fight the rouges, and that gave Seaslash time to rescue Feathersky, at least. Suddenly, my paw felt slashed and the rouges were shocked to see me again.

*"HEATHERPAW!! GET FORESTSTRIPE OVER* HERE WHERE I AM, AND I'LL DO THE REST!" *Seasla-* -sh yelled. It was so confusing, and my head was woozy.

"I'LL TRY!" I yelled back. With that, I dragged Foreststripe (he was trying to walk by himself, too) while the other warriors were fighting off the rouges who could have murdered Foreststripe if I hadn't stepped up to help him.

Seaslash was thankful, and so was Foreststripe, for saving his life. I looked at my bleeding paw, and we all had to be sent in to the med. cat's den.

Begoniaflames couldn't move that much anymore, and her arm and leg were much weaker after a while, so she couldn't go out to find herbs, or help cats in battle, but she could still help heal cats in the den & sort herbs. She and Seaslash healed us, and tried to use other herbs than cobwebs to cover the wounds and heal them.

"It-it *HURTS!"* Foreststripe yelped as Seaslash was trying to lay some broom on his cuts. Begoniaflames was putting some comfrey root on her grandfather (I just realized that Hailstar and my aunt had the grandparent- grandchild relationship).

It wasn't so hard for me and my mentor, since we had minimal cuts and bruises (I didn't have any cuts), and we were being still.

Juniperstrike frowned and asked, "How long do we stay?" Seaslash replied, "Heatherpaw can go immediately. The rest of you have to wait individual times depending on the severity of your injuries." I was relieved I could go right now, because I hated to be cooped up, but I felt sad for the rest of them. It was surprising how Feathersky & Foreststripe got more hurt than I would have thought, but then again, Hailstar was much more hurt.

Hailstar's time was unknown, but Juniperstrike could stay for a few hours, and I was happy, because we could train by morning time...

But then before I left, Hailstar said that I was very heroic, and warned everybody, otherwise everything could have been left in serious chaos. I tried to remember back.

Hailstar was the only one awake, and he was being murdered over and over by the dog (Juniperstrike said he lost three lives from the dog), and he could have lost ALL his lives from that, and he might not have been able to warn the Clan of the danger. The kittypet could've stolen everything, and the rouges that came later could have murdered everybody in their sleep... or worse!

Hailstar also said I saved the food, and took the pain that was in my paw to save Foreststripe. Then he gave me a *really* great deal, but I couldn't even understand what in StarClan I was hearing. He told me I was going to be made a warrior two moons short of my time, at twelve moons old. He said the good deeds I did is good enough for me to be a deputy, too! I was elated!

Everybody congratulated me, even my aunt, who was usually so grumpy with me & Mama, and she said that I did a good job, too, sacrificing myself, and going great lengths to save my Clan.

It was great seeing that happen, but I also hated all the attacks and cats being hurt. And I was also happy about my early warriorship. But there was some bad things that happened, like with Hailstar, and good things like with Juniperstrike. It was because of what happened this day... that some crazy things happened.

## Chapter 7: Snow, Heathermoon & Juniperstar!

It was a very weird day. I thought that was weird, anyway. I was going to be a warrior, but people also got hurt. I couldn't believe it at all.

I saw that people were trying to sleep, but I slept at nighttime—it was dawn—so I didn't feel sleepy at all. Instead, I ate a few hares, because I was very hungry. It was starting to get colder than usual. Then I realized it was very close to leaf-bare.

I was pacing around, looking at the trees with no leaves, and those who do, those leaves were red and very close to falling off their parent tree. I looked at the many leaves everywhere. Then I climbed up a tree, and it felt very unusual having no leaves surrounding me, giving me comfort. Yep, I thought. Leaf-bare is coming as fast as the sun is rising. I looked at the sunrise. It was beautiful, but I knew it would be shorter days.

I looked at our dens, and a lot of them were sleeping. It was very distressing, thinking about what happened a few minutes ago. It was very frightening to even think about it. I looked at my cobweb-covered paw. So I decided to think about leaf-bare.

I heard rumors of leaf-bare being a very bad thing, less prey & herbs. Was it really bad? It was also cold, and some cats got sick. I tried not to focus on that right now, until I saw it. A snowflake. It fell on my paw. I tried to look at it, but it melted. Two more fell. Then a dozen. A hundred dozens. It was snowing! I was shocked that everybody couldn't see it snow. It was amazing. But suddenly, I felt a chill in my spine.

I forgot that it was cold. Before it got any colder, I climbed down the tree and went back to my den. It was toasty warm in my den, and saw the apprentices were still snoozing. Then a queen woke up and said, "Another very sunny day! Oh, it's snowing!"

I went up to the nursery and asked her, "Are you sure it was sunny? It was scary!"

She looked confused. "What on earth do you mean?"

I realized the queens, elders & kits must have slept through this misdemeanor, and they hadn't gone to know about it yet. Did Redpaw, Cedawpaw & Highpaw also sleep through it, too? I knew they were going to be shocked when they saw their mentors (Foreststripe, Feathersky & Deerhedge) badly injured! (Deerhedge wasn't very injured, but she had fresh bruises.)

I told her everything, and her mouth was gaped open. "WHAT?! And we slept through this?!" she exclaimed. Her name was Fishtail. I sadly nodded. Then I told her about my heroic deeds, and she was even more shocked.

Everybody woke up later, and Hailstar did the ceremony. All the elders, queens and kits (and the other apprentices) were very confused, but everybody else was happy for me. Other ceremonies happened, too.

Hailstar called my name, and I walked forward.

"I, Hailstar, leader of IvyClan, all 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. By the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Heatherpaw, from now on, you will be known as Heathermoon.. StarClan honors your bravery & intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of IvyClan."

I heard cats cheering my new warrior name. I was very proud of myself. It was amazing. I realized Redpaw & Cedarpaw looked at their mentors, and looked very... surprised. Then I was told by Hailstar that I couldn't do a vigil because I was injured. I wasn't THAT injured, though, but he insisted I stay in camp.

Foreststripe & Feathersky told their apprentices that they were injured, so they can only train them about the warrior code. Redpaw & Cedarpaw frowned, and yes, they were confused. The news spread around about what happened, and then everybody knew. Almost all of the cats who fought got at least a bruise.

I was feeling fine, however, and I think a lot of cats have recovered (emotionally) from that incident. I was glad everybody was fine, even though they were still injured. But then I thought about Hailstar.

Hailstar was still injured, but he lost three lives at once. And he was bleeding, too. And he was put on very few cobwebs to stop him from bleeding too much. But he was still bleeding, and he had to stay in the med. cat's den to be monitored at all times. Aridfox (my grandfather and Hailstar's son) was distressed when he heard this even happened. He got the news from his daughter (and my aunt).

And then there's my aunt, Begoniaflames. My mentor wasn't that weak when she was bit. She was fine, she was only limping. But Begoniaflames was acting *very* weak after the bites in her limbs. She couldn't walk anymore, and she was getting weaker by the day. She could only use one of her arms to heal & sort herbs. It was a sad sight. I was wondering two things...

Why did this happen to my aunt, and not my mentor (not that I would want it to happen to her, too)? Did the dog that bit my aunt have poison or something? It was something I found out later.

Also, will my aunt retire because of this? She isn't very suitable to do much as a med. cat anymore. Novastream, my mother, was very saddened, and so was my grandfather.

Anyways, I tried to focus on other things, like the fact I was a warrior now! And it was still snowing. I was kind of glad it was snowing at my ceremony, it looked beautiful. I was only twelve moons, too. So yeah. I was also a little sad I couldn't do a vigil for my Clan, just because I was merely injured. Everyone I knew had done a vigil, (except for the med. cats) including Foreststripe! But that was fine.

I was still healing the bruises, but I was totally okay. The pain in my paw went away, but it still had cobwebs on it, and there were still cuts on it.

I wanted to ask my mom about leaf-bare, she was twenty-nine moons then. Surely she must have experienced it before.

"Mama, do you know much about leaf-bare?" I asked her when she was eating. That got her started on the topic.

"Sure, Heatherpa-moon, I mean, that's so hard to remember, yeah, leaf-bare. The last time we had leaf-bare was fourteen moons ago, when I was pregnant with you. It wasn't that hard, because my sister and Seapaw at the time had collected a ton of herbs, enough to support us through the whole leaf-bare. And our Clan had collected enough prey to feed the entire Clan. The snow melted twelve moons ago, when you were born. That's probably why you never saw a leaf-bare so far in your life... And I am very sad that you have to see it when the Clan is in such a desperate state..." she said, sighing at the end.

I was eating a mouse, and I looked confused about what she said at the end. "What do you mean 'desperate state'?" I asked.

She looked at me sadly. "Heathermoon... dear... Seaslash said he had no more cobwebs left after treating you and the others, and he was low on other herbs, too! My sister can't even go out of her den, and well, Seaslash is too scared something will happen to him while he's foraging for herbs, like what happened to your aunt, so he only goes if two warriors go with him. And our prey isn't that much plentiful as last leaf-bare. The many fights with the rogues have weakened us, too. All the warriors have at least a tiny injury, including you!" Novastream replied.

I was shocked when I heard my mom say that. Did we really have so less of our necessities to survive in leaf-bare? I really liked the snow... but then, it sometimes got too cold for me to stay out there for too long.

I nodded, and then saw that Seaslash and Begoniaflames walking into their den. Seaslash was helping my aunt. I greeted a good luck to my mom, and left to follow them two. Begoniaflames & Hailstar were there. So was Seaslash and a few others. I listened in on their conversation.

"I don't think... I can do my job anymore. I'm too weak. It's leaf-bare, also. How long will I stand?" Begoniaflames was saying.

"You're retiring? Because of your weak limbs?" Seaslash said in reply.

"It's up to her whether she wants to retire of an injury or not," Hailstar told Seaslash. He turned to Begoniaflames and asked, "Do you really wish to give up your role as a medicine cat and join the elders?"

Begoniaflames looked at Hailstar, and then her apprentice, Seaslash. He was biting his lip and looking down. My aunt was trying to open her mouth to speak.

"Yes, it-it is what I-I wish," she finally responded.

"Then may StarClan bless you as long as you live, and thank you for your work as a medicine cat," he replied quietly. She nodded, and was helped by Seaslash to the elder's den. I saw him take her there. Begoniaflames looked at me solemnly.

I was kind of expecting this to happen, but still, it's sad for someone to retire because of an injury. She was still pretty young.

And then I looked at Hailstar, who was sitting quietly in the med. cat's den. I wanted to talk to him.

"Hailstar?" I called. He looked at me. I came into the den. "Are you feeling better?" He didn't answer immediately. He was looking tired, and coughed. He also had eye bags.

"The answer to that would be the opposite of that," he replied a little later. "I am feeling worser than before." I was shocked. "But why?" I asked.

"Seaslash had diagnosed me with whitecough. I also can't heal as quickly. This is my last life, and I'm afraid the road for me will end right here..." he replied sorrowfully.

I didn't know that Hailstar was going to die. And I heard that we were low on herbs, especially the ones which can treat whitecough. Then Seaslash came over, and said to Hailstar, "I have to go to a med. cat meeting at the moonpool, so I won't be there to watch you, but I'll ask for catmint to solve the whitecough."

He nodded and kept coughing. I felt bad that Hailstar had to endure all this, and that he could die. I mean, he's seventy-three moons old, and he's old. Much older than almost all the elders! I remembered what I said to Hailstar about my father, Desertclaw.

"Hailstar, can I tell you something before you die?" I asked him.

"Sure, Heathermoon, you're my great-granddaughter. If it's a bad thing or secret, I won't be mad at you," he replied quietly.

"I might have talked to you about this before... but my mother actually had me with a medicine cat named Desertclaw! She and him were meeting each other at times, but I think it stopped when I was born."

"Actually, he reverted to a med. cat," a voice said behind me. Hailstar and I looked at the cat. It was Novastream, my mother.

"I'll tell you the story..." she said, frowning. I perked up and listened...

*Novapaw was lost, and she didn't know where IvyClan was, kind of like her mother, who got lost. Then she met Desertpaw, a warrior apprentice.*

*"Hey, are you lost?" asked Desertpaw. "I'm Desertpaw, who are you?"*

*"Erm... I'm Novapaw... nice to meet you?" she replied. Novapaw didn't know who this apprentice was or to trust him. Then he asked, "I know the way to a lot of Clans, which one is yours?"*

*"IvyClan," she replied. "Oh, sure, it's pretty close," Desertpaw replied. He led her the way, and she saw her home, and her father & sister worried about her.*

*"Where were you? Got lost on a patrol again?" yelled Begoniapaw.*

*"Stop reminding me of your mother, Begoniapaw," Aridfox calmly told Begoniapaw. Begoniapaw looked confused, and stopped talking.*

*"Well, a nice apprentice named Desertpaw got me here," said Novapaw.*

*"Sure," Begoniapaw replied teasingly. "Are you in love with him?"*

*"No!" Novapaw responded. "You're a medicine cat apprentice, you don't know anything about love!" Begoniapaw looked offended.*

*A few moons later, Novapaw was given her warrior name, but Begoniapaw was still an apprentice, because of her med. cat training.*

*Novastream was also given an apprentice at the same time of her ceremony. It was Seapaw. She started training him, and she was hoping he would learn quickly,*

*Then when she was teaching him to patrol, she saw Desertpaw, or rather, with his warrior name, whatever it was. He recognized Novastream, and came up to her, and introduced themselves again with their warrior names. Desertclaw was his name.*

*But then, while they were talking, a band of rogues came.* "OH NO!" *shrieked Novastream, as they clawed Seapaw. She wanted to do something, but she didn't know what. Desertclaw climbed up a tree, and tried to hide somewhere, but he took a misstep and fell out of the tree. Novastream was hiding in a bush, and the rogues left. She checked Seapaw's pulse and breathing, and it was okay, but he was bleeding. Then she checked Desertclaw. Desertclaw woke up.*

*"W-w-w-what happened?" he asked. Novastream bit her lip. "Bad things happened," she replied.*

*"My leg!" he howled. Novastream frowned and asked which Clan he was from. He said he was from SunClan.*

*Then he told her where it was, and she took him there, where the leader was shocked. Then she took Seapaw back to IvyClan, and Hailstar was also shocked.*

*"What happened?" asked Hailstar. Begoniapaw replied, "I knew you couldn't do anything right with apprentices!" "Shut up!" yelled Novastream.*

*It was sad because Seapaw couldn't be a warrior apprentice anymore, and neither could Desertclaw be a warrior.*

*They met each other every half-moon, and tried to be careful while getting to their place. Novastream learned that he didn't retire, but instead became a medicine cat. He asked about Seapaw, and she said that he also became a medicine cat apprentice, but she thought it was weird because her sister was the med. cat now.*

*So Novastream was pretty traumatized about that incident, and so was Seapaw & Desertclaw. Suddenly, Desertclaw & Novastream fell in love, and started to do weird stuff. And then one time, Novastream didn't come back one night, and Hailstar was worried. Desertclaw also reported from Begoniaflames that he didn't come.*

*That was when, the next day, Novastream found she was pregnant, and two moons later, she had Heatherkit.*

*Two moons later, she left the Clan to go visit SunClan, and found Desertclaw working as a med. cat, and he had an apprentice, too. Then Desertclaw looked confused, and Novastream told him everything about what happened, and why she couldn't meet him. all this time.*

*Desertclaw frowned and said that they shouldn't meet anymore. Their friendship started to fade, and Novastream never wanted to speak of him again...*

*Until Heatherpaw brought it up a few times...*

And now, too. I saw Seaslash was listening, too, and I was frowning. So was Hailstar. "What?" said Hailstar, quivering, and coughing. Then Seaslash replied, "Yup, I still got those scars from those rogues. At least Novastream got away from them..."

"You got back from your meeting so quickly?" asked Hailstar, coughing even more. I knew it was going to get worse.

"Yes, Hailstar, but I haven't got the catmint from any of the other medicine cats... sorry," he replied wistfully.

"That's fine, get"—he coughed—"it when"—he coughed again—"you can," Hailstar responded.

I hoped Hailstar would get better. His whitecough & his wounds. Otherwise, I might not be able to process it. But he did live a very good life. Being the leader, having children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren! He was seventy-three, and I loved him and his work as a leader. In fact, he had the longest leadership of everybody, I think.

I went on a hunt and found some mice and hares to put in the fresh-kill pile. I met Foreststripe, who was training with Redpaw still, Redpaw fell down, but Foreststripe encouraged him to get up and hunt some more.

And since I was a warrior, I could have an apprentice of my own, too. But I wonder why I didn't get one right at my warrior ceremony like my mom. Maybe because I was injured (barely)? I looked at my paw. It looked fine to me, only tiny cuts.

I continued being a good warrior, and then I saw a twoleg, like Greenstripe described them. It had short hair, and its' skin was black. It was heading towards the camp with some kind of sharp thingy (a knife). I was a little scared, but I hid behind a bush.

It heard the rustling in the bush, and stopped to stare at it. I held my breath, trying to be ready for what it might do next. It just shrugged and tip-toed away, towards the camp. It obviously looked confused what was going on. It took out the sharp thing, and I had to tell Juniperstrike (not Hailstar, he's too weak to make an announcement)! I tried to sneak out of the bush as quietly as possible, and told Juniperstrike, who was in the warrior's den.

*"Juniperstrike! THERE'S A TWOLEG NEAR THE CAMP!"* I called at the top of my lungs. *"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"*

She nodded, and told the warriors to come, the apprentices to watch, and the queens, kits & elders to stay back. *"EVERYBODY, COME ON!"* she yelled.

At first, the cats (including me & Juniperstrike) started hissing at the twoleg, and it looked startled, but it held up the sharp thing, and tried to stab Deerhedge. Then Applestark. Then Novastream!

I finally clawed its bare arm, and it screamed. Too bad it didn't have fur to partially shield that. It finally ran away screaming when cats started to scratch it.

"Good job everyone, we got rid of that weird twoleg!" announced Juniperstrike, and everybody cheered, including cats who didn't fight.

One apprentice named Bearpaw said, "Great job!" Another apprentice named after Begoniaflames remarked, "Now I know how to scare away twolegs in the future!"

We celebrated by hunting and eating the prey. Honestly, I didn't think it was something great, but then again, almost nobody in this Clan had ever seen a twoleg, maybe except for Hailstar and the other elders. And Greenstripe, she knew what it was, but Novastream, one moon older than her didn't.

Later in the day, I visited the nursery, and there was a kit half-moon late in being apprenticed. His name was Birchkit. His name reminded me of the leader before Hailstar, Birchstar. He had a sister named Ivypaw, born exactly at the same time as Birchkit. His parents were named Applenose & Pineheart. I've seen Applenose in the nursery, and in the camp, but never her mate, Pineheart. Makes me think about what happened to this family.

Birchkit looked gloomy, and he looked like he was thinking. He seemed to be thinking about his sister. His sister was an apprentice, but he was not.

"Hey, what's wrong, Birchkit?" I asked him, trying to cheer him up.

"Hi," he replied. "You're Heathermoon, right? The cat who saved the Clan and was made a warrior at twelve moons?"

"Uh huh," I replied, "Are you thinking about Ivypaw? Who became an apprentice?"

"Kind of. I'm thinking of who I want to be. A warrior or a medicine cat? A warrior or a medicine cat?"

"So you called off the ceremony for further thought?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. I heard the med. cat's mentor, Begoniaflames retired and Seaslash can have an apprentice."

"So... have you thought about it now? Maybe a med. cat apprentice?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Thank you for helping me decide, Heathermoon!"

"There's only one problem."

Birchkit looked confused. "Like what?"

"The leader is very sick. He can't go onto Highrock..." I said, biting my lip.

He frowned. "Then what?" he asked dismally.

"Wait... someone else does it, and you know who that is!" I suddenly replied, thinking about Seaslash.

"What? Like who?"

I called Seaslash and asked him to do the ceremony for Birchkit. He looked surprised, and asked where to do it.

"Don't you remember where it was?" I asked, pointing to our camp. "Oh," Seaslash replied.

He told Hailstar, and he did the ceremony. And Birchkit was now Birchpaw! Ivypaw and Applenose looked relieved. Seaslash & Begoniaflames also looked relieved. I was being proud of Birchpaw, even though he wasn't related to me. (Or was he? The secret comes later in the chapters...)

And Applenose came over to thank me for getting his son ready to be an apprentice. Then I saw Seaslash teaching which herbs are which to Birchpaw, and he seemed really interested.

So then I ate, and went to sleep in the warrior's den. I couldn't stop thinking about Hailstar and what would become of him. I also wanted to know who Pineheart was. Hailstar also said about his two grandchildren leaving IvyClan & going to other Clans. I wanted to meet them all. It would have to do for later.

Next day, I woke up. I was thirteen moons old at the time. Which is why I felt great. But the greatness didn't last long. Hailstar's whitecough has extended into greencough, and his wounds weren't healing. Seaslash & Birchpaw have only found very few cobwebs, and other herbs, too. Not even catmint.

My grandfather, Aridfox, also got whitecough, and so did Highpaw. I bit my lip at this problem.

Seaslash took Birchpaw to the medicine cat's meeting, and I can tell that he wanted the catmint.

Hailstar was still sleeping, but he looked very frail and weak. The dog killed him. And Begoniaflames. Now... my great-grandfather is dying. It was a sad sight to see.

I ate and patrolled, and found a rogue. The rogue unsheathed his claws and said, "You're on my border!"

"No, this is IvyClan territory? Since when did you get to claim land for yourself?" I replied calmly.

That got him angry, and he leaped. But I remembered what Juniperstrike taught me, and fought off the rogue as easy as pie. I used a slash-stab attack, where I stick my claws deep into his flesh & move it up or down, therefore creating a VERY serious wound.

The rogue fell to the ground, and demanded I leave him be. I saw he stole a sack of food from some Clan, and decided to take it for ourselves, becuase anyway, we were desperate for prey in leafbare. There were a lot of cats living in this Clan now.

Then I saw Hailstar whispering something in Juniperstrike's ear. I listened closely. "Make Heathermoon deputy... and call yourself Juniperstar," Hailstar was whispering. Juniperstrike, er, star nodded, and said, "Goodbye, Hailstar, everybody says good-bye."

I frowned. Then Hailstar smiled and closed his eyes. Then he was still. I finally came out of my hiding place, and shook him. "HAILSTAR?!" I yelled. Other people heard me, and came here, like Fishtail, Applenose, Foreststripe, and Redpaw.

"Sis, what happened to him?!" Foreststripe asked. I got to know him more, and found out he has a crush on me.

"Yeah!" several other cats said in unison.

"He... he died. Of greencough," Juniperstar said.

"Wait, what, Juniperstrike?!" yelled Darkstorm.

She took a deep breath and replied, "I am not Juniperstrike anymore. I am Juniperstar." Everybody looked shocked, and Juniperstar stared at everyone.

"When are they gonna come back?" she asked. "I need to tell them Hailstar has died."

"I'll do that," said Applenose.

Seaslash and Birchpaw came back, but they had catmint now. They were shocked when they saw they were too late. He hesitated, but then said, "Let's go, Juniperstar... to get your nine lives..."

Everybody watched them leave, and Birchpaw went with them.

I frowned, but then said to Foreststripe, "Well, Hailstar's dead. Nothing we can do can bring him back. But the thing is, he's now in StarClan. It was his last life."

He nodded. "Well, I guess I should be a little happy for my sister, now Juniperstar."

I nodded in agreement. I got to know Foreststripe more, but he tried to do romantic stuff with me. I just shrugged. Then I got to talk about stuff we wanted to do. It was a lot.

Juniperstar came back proudly, and so did Birchpaw & Seaslash. "Ok, for the deputy," she announced. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a meeting under Highrock. I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of IvyClan is..."

I waited. My heart was pounding. I remembered that Hailstar was proud of me. He said my good deeds were enough to be a deputy. "Heathermoon," Juniperstar finished. Everybody was cheering for me, but I didn't even have an apprentice, and I was younger than fourteen moons, which is when people normally became warriors, which was weird. But I was happy I was the new deputy, and Juniperstar was the new leader.

I was proud of myself, and looked at my paw. There was some fur ripped out with a few scars on it where the rogue had scratched it. I still remembered what I wanted to find out... Pineheart, and the other two children of Lilaclight, my great-aunt.

Sooner or later, I found love, and found myself having triplets with that same person. I also did stuff as a deputy before that. I was only young, though, so I got hurt during kitting. And Redpaw happened to find love, too. Except they didn't mate. It was very exciting.

## Chapter 8: A new mate & kits

I was proud of Juniperstar and myself for being the leader & deputy. I continued being a good warrior, and patrolled and hunted when I had time. But I still wondered about Pineheart and my mother's four cousins.

One time, I saw Foreststripe & Redpaw training. I smiled at them and saw Seaslash was training Birchpaw very well. I was already healed, and so was everyone else who didn't have to retire. There were more apprentice ceremonies, but it wasn't like listening to Hailstar. This time, everybody was listening to Juniperstar.

I saw Fishtail smiling up at her kits, and she was cuddling her mate, Pouncerain. They sure looked proud. But she had more kits, so she had to stay a queen. I bit my lip to see if I would get one, but nah. One cat became the second med cat apprentice, whose name was Mottledpaw (Fishtail's daughter), and Seaslash was biting his lip.

Greenstripe. Deerhedge again with an apprentice. And even Applenose. I was fond of Applenose, but I wondered why she never talked about her mate.

I never got an apprentice or Novastream. Did Hailstar tell Juniperstar never to give an apprentice to Novastream or something? Was it because of what happened to Seaslash? And did Juniperstar think I couldn't handle an apprentice yet?

Well, I was only fourteen moons old, and I wanted to follow up on my responsibilities before I took on an apprentice. So it was fine for me... for now.

Then suddenly, I looked at Foreststripe, and I felt an emotion I had never felt before. Was it a type of happiness? Excitement? Or was it completely something else?

"Hey, Foreststripe," I said. "Did you like the ceremony?"

"Um, yeah," said Foreststripe. "But you didn't get an apprentice, Heathermoon."

"That's fine, Foreststripe, I want to clear up some things before I take on an apprentice. Like maybe..."

"Hmm..." Foreststripe was saying, "do you want to come with me to this cherry tree I found?"

"Sure... I guess, Let's go," I said. "And what do we do after?"

"I'll decide," Foreststripe said eerily.

We went to the cherry tree, and climbed up. Then we sat on the branches. The snow was melting, and I could see blossoms. The view looked even prettier than the cherry tree alone. It was almost new-leaf. New-leaf was coming. And I was very accustomed to new-leaf, I was born in it and it's my second time coming around.

"Isn't it pretty?" asked Foreststripe.

"It sure is," I said. It looked very beautiful. Then Foreststripe licked my pelt and said, "Why don't we eat?"

I nodded and looked deeply into his heterochromic eyes (he has one greenish-gray eye and one solid green eye). Foreststripe caught us both rabbits and we ate. We then talked about life and other things, and what we enjoy in life.

Then when we were finished, we then sat right next to each other, and our pelts were touching each other. Foreststripe put his paw on mine and touched noses with me. I rested my tail on his, and then we playfully did something. He said, "You know, since I met you, I had a crush on you, and I was waiting for you to become a warrior. But I was trying to think of what to say." I nodded.

"So now, I confess my love to you," he said. I said, "And I accept it!" I smiled, and I was playing around with him.

When we finished, we went back to camp. Then I realized what happened. Foreststripe & I became mates.

"Yeah, so, what do we do now? Tell everyone?" I asked.

"Nah, let's keep it a secret like my sis," he replied.

I blinked at him. "Oh really. And might I reply that this would be an exciting thing to happen?" I replied.

We walked back, and Juniperstar was thinking in her den. I asked her, "What's going on, Juniperstar?"

"I had a dream. It was about Darkstorm and three other people. Greenstripe, your mother, and somebody named Pineheart..." she replied. Pineheart?! I thought. Wait, him? No way!

"Did Pineheart have a mate?" I asked.

"Well, no," replied Juniperstar.

"Oh," I said, sadly. I really wanted to know more about this cat. His origins. And what did he have to do with Applenose?

But then suddenly, Juniperstar started screeching.

"What's going on now?!" I yelled.

*"I-I-I AM-AM FEELING TOO MUCH PAIN!"* she yowled. I called Seaslash in to try to find out what's going on. Then he did some testing and looked utterly shocked. Then Seaslash called in Juniperstar's mate, Applestark, and Birchpaw and Mottledpaw.

I looked confused, but Seaslash told Birchpaw and Mottledpaw to watch, and gave Juniperstar a stick. Applestark clearly looked confused, too. Juniperstar grinded her teeth on that stick while a liquid was coming of her stomach.

Then three kits came out. Seaslash diagnosed their gender. Two she-cats and a tom.

"I'll name the tom after the previous leader, Hailstar, and who might be the next leader, Heathermoon, for this she-kit. Then the other one... Redkit," she said.

I was shocked for a while, because... *SHE WAS KITTING?!* It was a lot to take in. She didn't even look anything like that. Applestark only looked a little shocked, however.

Foreststripe looked confused when I told him the news. "What?" he asked. "What are you talking about? She was *having kits?!"* He sure must have been reeling from the news. After all, he was now an uncle. And Darkstorm a grandfather.

Seaslash looked at me firmly. "She only told me, Begoniaflames and Applestark about this because she didn't want to become a queen, or she would probably not be deputy or leader anymore."

Juniperstar nodded. "I'm glad that I had kits now."

I was still confused. "Why would you not be deputy if you were having kits now?"

"Well, queens can't exactly do warrior duties, can they? Much less deputy or leader duties," said Juniperstar.

It was still confusing for me because I was a deputy, too. "Do you have to be a queen now?"

"Not really. The kits can stay in the leader's den."

I wasn't sure if there was a rule in the warrior code where a female leader's kits stayed in the leader's den (after all, *she* was the one who taught me all about it), but I supposed it made sense, since the kits had to be nursed from *some* queen.

"Better question, why have kits and not tell me?!" Foreststripe exclaimed in shock. "I could've taken care of you! You're my older sister after all!" It felt weird that my mate was my mentor's brother, and also the leader's brother.

"I won't have any more kits," Juniperstar replied simply, then got up quickly. "Now if you want to help me, you can help me take these kits to the leader's den."

Foreststripe looked like he begged to differ, but he shrugged and took Heatherkit to Juniperstar's den. I watched Juniperstar and Applestark take Redkit and Hailkit, too.

Then I wondered about myself and Foreststripe. We mated secretly, too. Was I going to have kits? Hopefully not since I was still a deputy.

I went to the prey pile and saw Novastream there. For some reason, she seemed to not be happy to see me. I had no idea why, of course, so I asked.

Novastream growled, "It's nothing... important."

I was shocked. It was the first time I've seen her really angry. But then again, ever since Hailstar died and I became the deputy, she always seemed to be sort of angry at something, kind of like Begoniaflames before. Now it was the opposite. Begoniaflames mellowed greatly after she retired, but Novastream was flaming up by the days. It seemed like I was closer to my aunt than my mother now.

I also saw her talking to Darkstorm and Greenstripe about something secret, but it sounded sort of... weird. As if they were plotting something. I had no idea what it was about, so I shrugged it off. But what I *did* want to know was Pineheart and my mother's four cousins, and Novastream and Begoniaflames seemed like the only two who knew.

"Uh, do you know about Pineheart by any chance?" I asked, but she sighed.

"Pineheart... is from SunClan. Why do you want to know?"

*What?!* In StarClan! My eyes widened. How many cats from IvyClan were mating with other Clan cats?! I was half-Clan, and so was Seaslash, but it turns out Birchpaw and Ivypaw are, too? I frowned severely. Is this just a coincidence? How can this happen? I didn't want to ask Applenose about it because I thought it would be sensitive. Turns out I was right.

"Uh... nothing." I had something to hide, too, you know.

Novasream sighed again, and asked a very intrusive question (well, probably not *that* much to other cats, but definitely was to me). "Heathermoon, what is going on between you and Foreststripe?"

I felt like I flushed. I stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"Looks like I was right. I will probably be a grandmother soon," she continued, frowning. I frowned, too, not just at her knowing, but when she frowned at becoming a grandmother. I get that she *probably* didn't want to be a mother in the first place since she mated outside of the Clan, and she didn't have any more kits or mate with anyone. But shouldn't she be happy for *me* being a mother, if that happens?

"Aren't you happy? And also, how did you know?" I asked, confused.

"Well, it *is your* life. And I could easily tell from you spending so much time together."

"Um, okay." I walked away from her since I was getting uncomfortable, for the first time in my lifetime. I was usually never uncomfortable around her before, even if she was nervous about Desertclaw or something.