Warrior Meows: Dawn

## Authors and Editors

Warrior Meows: Dawn is a book written by Pandapelt (25NOVA), and is edited by Jaystar (Briarmist). It is a big project, and is still incomplete. Please do not edit any parts of Warrior Meows: Dawn, for we have worked insanely hard on it.

## Parts

Part 1: NightClan Trespasser

Part 2: Relocation

Part 3: Wolf Attack

Part 4: Embers

Part 5: Confrontation

Part 6: Deputy

Part 7: Disappearance

Part 8: Gone

Part 9: Rescue

## NightClan Trespasser

*Pandapelt ran through the forest, in search of food for WillowClan.* Suddenly, he tracks down a mouse. Slowly, he creeps on it, one light step at a time. Suddenly, somebody behind him moves. The mouse senses this movement, and runs into his den. Pandapelt turned around, knowing whoever it was that made the movement would have to pay. He sees another movement. And Pandapelt pounces! He lands on top of a she-cat, which smells like NightClan. Pandapelt attempts to pins down the trespasser, but they break free and run off into the distance, fast as a rabbit.

“This is something I must tell Jaystar,” thinks Pandapelt.

Suddenly, two cats show up.

“Ermineheart! Darkclaw!” cries Pandapelt, “I found a trespasser on our territory!”

“Which clan?” demands Darkclaw.

“NightClan, I think.”

Ermineheart pipes up: “You think? Are you sure?”

Pandapelt considers this for a moment, and replies, “Yes I am sure, and it was a she-cat.”

“Jaystar needs to know about this immediately. Come on, let’s return to camp.” says Darkclaw.

At the camp, Pandapelt and Darkclaw rush to Jaystar’s den, and without hesitation, Pandapelt tells Jaystar the news.

Surprisingly, Jaystar takes this mildly, and simply says, “Very well, we will tell NightClan not to trespass again.”

Darkclaw and Pandapelt left the den, and both noted with much surprise how mildly Jaystar took this case. Trespassing was against the Warrior Code, and Jaystar was a very strong enforcer of this code. Although, over the course of a few days, he had broken the code in many ways, including when he became mates with Darkclaw, while Darkclaw was a medicine cat. It was against the medicine cat code to have a mate or kits, but that was exactly what Jaystar did. Pandapelt made an effort not to bring up this subject with Darkclaw, but Darkclaw sensed this.

“You are thinking about us being mates again, aren’t you?” inquires Darkclaw.

“Well, yes, I mean, Jaystar needs to follow the code to be leader, but he has broken multiple codes, I can’t argue that he is definitely fit to be a leader, though.” replies Pandapelt.

Darkclaw nods, and they walk to the fresh-kill pile to pick out their food. Pandapelt  chooses a thrush, and Darkclaw chooses out a chaffinch.

“It has been quite a day,” says Darkclaw, “and I suppose maybe we should get some sleep for tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me.” replies Pandapelt.

Darkclaw walks off to Jaystar’s den, and Pandapelt heads to his own.

## Relocation

The next day, Pandapelt woke up to a conversation in his guest room. Nutpaw and Ermineheart were having a discussion about the fact that Nutpaw was too young to travel to the clan borders alone. It occurred to Pandapelt that Nutpaw loved Ermineheart one way or the other, because he always came to see her. Pandapelt offered to take Nutpaw to one of the borders on a border patrol, which he considered for quite some time. Ermineheart twitched slightly, but neither Nutpaw or Pandapelt noticed.

“I would like to go to the ThunderClan border, please,” said Nutpaw finally.

“The ShadowClan border has not been checked in a while, I will take Echomist with me.” said Ermineheart.

Nutpaw and Pandapelt explored the ThunderClan border for a while, before Nutpaw finally wanted to go to the RiverClan border. After a long long day of exploring every single border, Pandapelt collapsed into his den and fell quickly asleep.

The next day, Jaystar called a meeting, and all the cats gathered around the Highledge.

 Jaystar announced, “As you all know, out of Hollyfern’s kits, only one survived. That kit is now 6 moons old, and is ready to be apprenticed. Lifekit, from now on, you will be known as Lifepaw. Your mentor will be Pandapelt.”

Pandapelt slowly approached the Highledge, and was flushed with excitement.

“Your training will begin tomorrow.” Jaystar told the two cats.

As Pandapelt returned to his den, he looked around the WillowClan Camp. Nutpaw was talking to Ermineheart. Lifepaw was exploring the apprentice den. Jaystar was sleeping soundly in her den, with Darkclaw by her side. Everything felt like home, just the way Pandapelt liked it.

A few hours later, Pandapelt woke up to Lifepaw shaking him.

“It's raining ice! It's raining ice! We need to leave!” cried Lifepaw.

Pandapelt and Lifepaw ran out of his den. When Hollyfern saw this, she instantly relaxed and ran after them.

The clan approached Twolegplace, looking for a place to stay, when Goldenleaf screeched “Dog!” Some cats immediately jumped into the bushes, and Goldenleaf attacked the dog that was growling at the cats.

Pandapelt looked at Jaystar, expecting him to say or do something, but he seemed overwhelmed by this, and did not know what to do.

Eventually Goldenleaf scared the dog off, ending this terror. All the cats that hid in the bushes came out.

Emberkit mewed, “Is it gone?”

“Kittypets!” yowled one of the clan cats.

A Siamese kittypet told a black-and-white cat, “They smell weird!”

Immediately, Jaystar retorted, “You don’t smell very good yourself.”

The kittypets immediately responded with, “You don’t have to be so mean about it, we just never met you before.”

Jaystar, Darkclaw, and Pandapelt all rolled their eyes. Goldenleaf padded up to Jaystar and said, “They may know a way to get us through Twolegplace, perhaps we should ask them.”

Jaystar grunted, considering this.

“Wh-who are you?” stammered the Siamese.

Goldenleaf started to introduce all the clan cats. When she reached Jaystar, she added, “Don’t get on his nerves.”

The Siamese introduced the kittypets. “I am Blossom, this is Night, and that is Snowflake.”

Both Night and Snowflake introduced themselves with cheerful greetings. Goldenleaf asked for a way through Twolegplace, but the kittypets looked extremely confused.

Snowflake pointed to a field with her tail and said, “That field looks like a good shelter, for whatever reason you need it.”

Jaystar twitched, and Darkclaw rested her tail on his shoulders.

The cats walked to the field, and Goldenleaf remarked, “This is a perfect place to set up camp!”

All the cats nodded, and Blossom decided that they should go home to their twolegs.

Jaystar asked, “So, I suppose this is our new camp?”

Darkclaw replied, “No, this is our new home.”

## Wolf Attack

*Sunshine streamed into the Warrior Den.* Pandapelt woke up with a start. He looked around, and realized that this wasn’t his den. He recalled the many things that happened yesterday, the ice rain, the lookout for a new settlement, and the kittypets.

He ran to the medicine den, where Nutpaw was sleeping. Relief washed over him as he realized that Nutpaw was the only person in the den. Nutpaw had tripped over a thorny bush and hurt his paw on a rock. Pandapelt left the den to visit Lifepaw, who seemed pretty shaken up by the events that happened yesterday.

To his surprise, Lifepaw was already up and chewing on a piece of vole.

When he saw Pandapelt, he bounded up to him and said, “Can we go out hunting today?”

Before he could answer, Jaystar called a meeting.

He said, “Today, I have some important information. A pack of wolves has been spotted by an earlier patrol. Make sure to keep a look out! And also, Pandapelt will be assigned to a new apprentice. Nutpaw will be his new apprentice, and I will take Lifepaw as my own.”

Gasps of surprise flew through the crowd.

Pandapelt bounded down to meet Nutpaw, who was in the apprentice's den with Lifepaw. Both Lifepaw and Nutpaw greeted him rather cheerfully.

Suddenly, they heard a howl.

“Get back to camp!” cried Pandapelt.

Jaystar was immediately informed of the howl. And then, they all heard it again, but closer this time.

Before they knew it, a pack of wolves had attacked the camp. Everybody who was available fought. Pandapelt was able to fight off a wolf. He ran to Nutpaw’s side, and together they fended off another wolf.

Then, Nutpaw cried, “My eye!” When Pandapelt looked down, he realized with horror that his apprentice’s eye was damaged beyond repair. Then, they both heard leaves crunching around them.

They both ran to the warrior's den, and thought they were safe, but a wolf had followed them. When the other cats saw that the wolf left them all alone to follow Nutpaw, they realized that the wolf was only after him.

Jaystar realized this too, and ordered, “Form a circle around Nutpaw! The wolves are only after him!”

The wolf attacked again and was able to scratch Nutpaw’s side. Jaystar pounced, but the wolf bit him in the shoulder and threw him off. This caused him to lose a life, and he was down to 8. Lifepaw valiantly fought it off. The wolf ran away whimpering, badly scratched.

Pandapelt, Nutpaw, and Lifepaw brought Jaystar to the Medicine Den. They were all given herbs, and Nutpaw fell unconscious due to his injuries.

“This is why we stay away from wolves,” said Hollyfern sternly, but worriedly.

## Embers

Sunlight streamed through the Warrior’s Den. “Another perfect day to work on my own den,” thought Pandapelt.

While walking through the camp to his site, Goldenleaf ran up to him and cried, “The Medicine Den is on fire! The Medicine Den is on fire!” Instinctively, Pandapelt picked up some balls of wet moss, and hurled them at the fire.

Almost as if it were a response to the moss balls, there was a cry inside the den.

“Flowerkit!” screamed Hollyfern.

Pandapelt, despite his secret fear of fire, charged into the den. Locating Flowerkit dozing peacefully, not knowing what was going on, he picked her up and charged back out the den. During this process, he had inhaled a lot of smoke, and passed out.

Goldenleaf cried, “Get Pandapelt to his den!"

Nutpaw charged into Goldenleaf’s Den, destroying the beautiful weaved twigs and flowers.

“Will he be alright?” asked Nutpaw anxiously.

“He will be okay, he just needs to rest.” replied Goldenleaf.

Jaystar walked into the den, took a look at everything, and said, “Uh, I will come back later.”

“No, you can stay. We were just wrapping up,” said Goldenleaf, “What was it that you wanted to say?”

“I was just thinking, I have a feeling Nutpaw has had enough training to become a full warrior. We were going to have the naming ceremony today.” came Jaystar’s reply.

If Nutpaw was excited, he didn’t show it.

He only asked: “What about Pandapelt? He needs to be there for my ceremony.”

“I am afraid he cannot attend your ceremony. We need more warriors in this foreign land.” was Jaystar’s reply.

“But-” Nutpaw's protest was cut off.

“No buts.” Jaystar interrupted.

## Confrontation

Every WillowClan cat was gathered around the Highledge. This was the first time in WillowClan history that an apprentice was made a warrior while the mentor was absent.

Nutpaw swore the oath, and he would stand guard while all the other cats were asleep. He would not be allowed to talk before sunrise. Most cats felt proud to be able to get to this point, but Nutpaw felt empty. He had wanted his mentor to be there, and through the day he kept hoping Pandapelt would wake up and join him. But that had not happened.

For 2 days, Pandapelt did not wake up. Finally, on the third day, Pandapelt came to. Nutbreeze, hearing this, charged into the medicine den once again, destroying the flowers and twigs again.

Goldenleaf scowled at this, but Nutbreeze did not care. He immediately brought Pandapelt a mouse, his favorite prey. Pandapelt gobbled it up quickly, as he hadn’t eaten for 2 days. Nutbreeze brought him one more mouse, but as Pandapelt wasn’t as hungry this time, he ate slowly while Nutbreeze told him everything except for his naming ceremony.

After a few more days in the medicine den, with Pandapelt constantly being updated by Nutbreeze, Pandapelt was once again able to perform warrior and mentor duties. When Pandapelt wanted to take Nutbreeze out for a training session, however, Jaystar stopped them. Nutbreeze quickly dashed away before Jaystar could tell Pandapelt. Pandapelt, however, sat and listened, and he suddenly understood.

Nutbreeze avoided Pandapelt for a few days, but Pandapelt approached him as he was leaving the Warriors Den.

Nutbreeze, sensing he could not avoid the conversation, asked, “Why didn’t you wake up for my naming ceremony?”

Taken back, Pandapelt replied gently, “Nutbreeze, I cannot decide whether or not I wake up. I was unconscious, and I am truly sorry that I missed your ceremony.”

Still slightly miffed, Nutbreeze proceeded to go on a hunting session.

Pandapelt sighed, and supposed that Nutbreeze was simply independent of him. Would it ever be the same again?

## Deputy

It was a stormy night. Ermineheart, along with a few other cats, had gone hunting. A few hours later, all the cats came back, except for Ermineheart. Each and every one of them was dripping wet and wide-eyed. When Jaystar came out to ask what happened and where Ermineheart was, all of them were silent. They simply walked past him to their respective dens. Not the best way to treat your clan leader.

In the morning, all the cats on the patrol with Ermineheart seemed to have recovered from their shock. Jaystar once again inquired what had happened and where Ermineheart was, they told him how they were hunting at the edge of their territory, near the river. Ermineheart was chasing a mouse, when she slipped and fell into the river. Ermineheart could swim, but the water in that specific part of the river was extremely fast and dangerous, and she drowned. Nobody else knew about this. Jaystar slipped back into his den and quietly thought about this.

After a few hours, Jaystar emerged from the den and called a meeting. He told all the clan members about Ermineheart, and how she had drowned.

Many cats called about how a new deputy had to be chosen, and Jaystar eyed every single one of the cats with concentration. Seeing how Nutbreeze was extremely focused, he thought about his progress as a warrior.

After several minutes of quick thinking, he announced, “Nutbreeze will be your new deputy.” All the cats cried, “Nutbreeze! Nutbreeze! Nutbreeze!” Nutbreeze seemed genuinely surprised as he approached the Highledge.

After the ceremony, Ermineheart’s body was found by a patrol drifting down the slower parts of the river. She was carried back and laid on the ground. Those closest to her sat and shared tongues with her for one last time. Then, she was buried. Nutbreeze did most of the burying, seeing as he loved her.

For the night, Nutbreeze slept right next to her position in the ground. He did this for the next few weeks.

## Disappearance

Pandapelt awoke to some crying outside. He suspected that it was Nutbreeze crying for Ermineheart, as he had been doing for many, many moons. When he walked out to try to comfort Nutbreeze, it turned out that Nutbreeze was calling for Jaystar.

This was strange, since Jaystar rarely ever left the camp. Pandapelt asked Nutbreeze what all the fuss was about, and he assured him that Jaystar was in the camp. It is true Jaystar had been a bit strange lately and stayed in his den all the time, so he told him that's where he was. Nutbreeze said that he knew this, and the first place he checked was his den, but he wasn’t there.

This surprised Pandapelt considerably, and Pandapelt ran to his den to check. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t there! Instinctively, he ran to Darkclaw, as she was his mate, and if anybody knew where Jaystar was, it would be Darkclaw. Darkclaw did not know either. Nutbreeze immediately set up patrols to thoroughly search through their territory. Although their new territory was huge, Nutbreeze was determined to find him.

Five patrols were sent out that day, and only three returned. Seven patrols were sent the next day, with 2 searching for each missing patrol, and three searching for Jaystar. None of the patrols or Jaystar was found, but only six patrols returned that day.

On the third day, Nutbreeze became the new leader, who would now be called Nutstar. However, he refused to appoint a deputy, or receive his nine lives, for he claimed that, “Jaystar will find us, or we will find Jaystar.”

After a week, search patrols were canceled, for they kept disappearing. If this disturbed Nutstar in any way, he did not show it.

## Gone

Two moons after Jaystar’s disappearance, hunting patrols started to disappear. Everybody was terrified, for this meant they had to risk their lives to get food. Nutstar, although calm during the search patrols’ disappearances, showed that he, too, was terrified. Things were getting out of hand.

In order to prevent more hunting disappearances, each hunting party now had 4-5 cats, instead of the usual 2-3. This meant less cats to guard the camp though, and the camp was attacked by rogues. Many cats disappeared, until at one point, it was just Pandapelt, Vinestorm, Goldenleaf, and Lifestorm. All four of them were absolutely petrified.

After a few days, they decided to stick together and start to work together to hunt and stay safe. After a week of wandering around, all of them, dirty, tired, thirsty, and hungry, they heard a cry. Realizing that this might be the cry of a rogue, they all hid.

Quietly watching, the cat- or rather, two cats, came into view. At first they were unrecognizable. Both were skinny and their fur was mottled. Then, as they got closer, all four of them realized that it was Jaystar being chased by a rogue! However hungry or tired they were, they charged. The rogue, realizing he was outnumbered, retreated with a hiss.
Jaystar did not know who the four cats were, but he was courageous enough to approach them with a hiss.

Pandapelt cried, “Jaystar it’s us! Pandapelt, Vinestorm, Goldenleaf, and Lifestorm!”
Immediately, Jaystar stopped hissing and let his fur flatten out. “W-w-what?” he stammered.

“Yes it’s us! There aren’t any of us left!” They whimpered together. Suddenly, a deep, dark voice behind them said, “That’s great. Now we can catch all of you.”

## Rescue

The five remaining cats fled from the rogue. Although Jaystar was extremely tired from running already, he still ran as fast as he could. They managed to outrun the rogue. Nobody knew who he or she looked like, but they guessed it was a tom.

After a few days, they managed to get back to their former camp, which turned out to be the new rogue camp. They could not do anything except watch as their clanmates were beaten and starved. After a day of spying on the camp, the five remaining cats grouped together and discussed what they should do.

Lifestorm suggested that they charge head-on, but all the others ruled that one out, saying it was suicide. Pandapelt suggested that they snuck into the camp and bring their clanmates out. This was ruled out, as the camp was built so that it only had one entrance, which was heavily guarded. Goldenleaf and Vinestorm had no suggestions at all. Jaystar, however, thought that they should…

After they finally finished discussing the plan, they had a good night’s sleep, far away from camp, and woke up for a fresh start. Jaystar sprinted towards the camp along with the four others.

About halfway to the camp, they split up, each of them going in separate directions, but Jaystar still charged head-on like a bull. When he came into view of the camp, the guards noticed him immediately and gave chase. About three-quarters of the rogues that were not guarding the entrance also gave chase.

This left about five rogues, which counted up as 3 elders, 1 apprentice, and 1 warrior. You must not think that while Jaystar drawed the rogues away, the other four were doing nothing, they had surrounded the camp and got in, taking the former hostages out. The warrior and apprentice noticed, and gave a cry so loud the entire forest could hear them.

Almost immediately, the rogues chasing Jaystar abandoned the chase and headed back towards the camp, realizing that this was a diversion.

The rogues made it back just in time to see the others leave. Obviously, they gave chase, and Jaystar was hot on their tails. The rogues were not able to catch them, but they threatened to take revenge for this.

The WillowClan cats kept running, well out of their territory. When they got to what they thought was a safe spot, they counted the remaining cats. Unfortunately, more than half of the WillowClan cats were killed by the rogues.

The WillowClan cats had nowhere to go. They were driven out of their field camp by wolves, out of their forest camp by rogues, and there was no promising land that showed itself to the WillowClan cats. Weak and in utter defeat, it seemed Jaystar had no ideas, until...