EmrY0l_UUAAqvhW

[spoiler title=”~Chapter 2~”] She woke up in a meadow. A field with daisies, hitting against each other. She looked around confused. She wasn’t in LeafClan for sure. Was she in BreezeClan? I’m probably dreaming. She got up and sniffed for a mouse. But she smelled nothing. The sun was setting quicker than she could imagine.
“Hello.”
  A mew made her jump. She spun around to see who could be present. A pretty ginger-and-white tabby she-cat stood on a rock. “Who are you?”  Plumpaw asked. The she-cat didn’t reply, just stilled where she was. 
Then she gathered herself up, and walked off, disappearing behind the rock, her plumy tail brushing the wet grass gently.
“Wait!” Plumpaw called. Nothing but sheer silence filled the air along with the echoes of her voice. Weird, She thought, listening to the word ‘wait’ ring in her ears over and over again, each time, getting quieter. Should I follow her? She padded forward gingerly.
Then the she-cat popped her head over the rock again. “Follow me.” She mewed, only to disappear behind the rock. Her voice was wispy and soft, it also echoing throughout the field of daisies. Plumpaw obeyed. She sniffed for the she-cat, her scent was unfamiliar and didn’t smell anything like the clan territories. She was sitting around a lake, which seemed to be endless. The dawn-lit sky mirrored on the lake, making it look gorgeous. She settled beside the she-cat with caution and turned towards her. The she-cat didn’t return her gaze, staring out on the meadow, as if there was something there Plumpaw couldn’t see.
“Why am I here?” Plumpaw asked, trying hard not to sound like a kit.
 The cat didn’t answer, she sat motionless, gazing at the lake, not leaving its glazed stare. 
“Who are you?” She asked impatiently. 
“That is not important.” She shot Plumpaw a stern look. “What’s important is that you have great trouble ahead of you.”  Plumpaw tipped her head and blinked, her pelt twitching nervously.
“Your clan is in great danger. You must find it.” She stared back ahead at the lake.
“But if you’re from StarClan, don’t you know what it is?” Plumpaw countered. 
“Even StarClan can’t read messages that we can’t identify. But I feel it, Plumpaw.” She knows my name! 
Her emotionless gaze clouded into a pure white and began to fade. She whispered, “You must search for it and stop it from affecting your clan.” 
“No, wait!” She yowled with desperation in her mew. 
She was gone. Nothing but the lake and the flowers surrounded Plumpaw. You must hurry, darkness is coming your way, your clan is in great danger.

“WAKE UP!” A yowl jerked her awake, she sat up quickly. She then saw Sunpaw, looming over her. “What are you, a dormouse?” Sunpaw snorted with a mroow of laughter. 
“Shut up!” Plumpaw batted at her playfully. 
“Let’s go! We’re training together!” She squealed. Should I tell her about the dream? She still could vaguely remember the dream. But then if she tells her, would Sunpaw believe her? No. If I tell anyone, it would be Gorsestar or Smalltail. Maybe Leafpaw would understand. 
“Come on! Nightstripe and Vinepool are waiting!” Sunpaw urged. Plumpaw bounded to their mentors. 
Nightstripe was sitting patiently with his tail wrapped around his paws, while his daughter, Vinepool, was sprawled on the ground, stretching. “Took you a while,” the dark tabby she-cat yawned and then flicked her tail.
“Sorry,” She mewed apologetically. 
“It’s okay,” She mewed. “Now, are we gonna stand until I go to the elders’ den?” Vinepool flicked her tail.
“Of course not, you’re still plenty young.” Nightstripe purred and touched his nose to her muzzle. “Let’s go.” They padded into the tunnel and there were leaves scattered everywhere on the ground. How am I supposed to hunt if there are leaves everywhere? Her body trembled from the chill that hung in the air. 
“Here.” Nightstripe stopped. Plumpaw looked around. This part of the forest was clear, it contained bushes to hide in, tree stumps, and rocks.
“This is perfect!” Sunpaw chirruped. 
She leaped onto the tree stump and pounced squarely on a stick, snapping it in half. “Are we gonna fight you? Are you gonna pretend to be a SilentClan warrior?”
Nightstripe flinched at the mention of SilentClan but Vinepool remained her posture, her eyes fixed on Sunpaw. “We’re not battle training, Sunpaw. We’re learning to hunt. We can battle train another time,” Vinepool meowed. 
“Okay…” Sunpaw groaned, drooping her shoulders, and jumped off the stump in disappointment.  
“Come,” Nightstripe sat down and beckoned both of them to where they stood, “show us your hunting crouch.”  Sunpaw was the first to start, her eyes blazing and her short fur ruffled.
Sunpaw dropped down into a crouch, forepaws extended, haunches tucked in. Vinepool pawed a leaf in front of her tail-lengths away.
She narrowed her eyes as the wind blew it, not leaving her gaze. Then she wiggled her haunches and pounced on it and looked at her mentor, eyes gleaming with pride. “Good job, Sunpaw! You were born a warrior!” Vinepool praised. 
“That was so good!” Plumpaw bounded up to her.
Sunpaw licked her chest fur, embarrassed that she was being the center of attention.
Nightstripe nodded with approval and said, “When you’re hunting, you need to be very quiet. If your prey hears you, you lose your kill.”
Vinepool lowered into a crouch, her tail a whisker length from the ground, she kept her eyes on Sunpaw, who wasn’t paying much attention. “You want to hold your breath and keep as still as possible. If you need to, breath through your nose.” Vinepool continued forward, only a couple of mouse lengths away from her littermate, who was gazing in awe at the leaves swaying towards the ground. Her mentor, intent on her sister, wiggled her haunches and thrust herself up in the air, lunging towards Sunpaw. Sunpaw turned at the wrong time and was knocked from under her paws as Vinepool landed squarely on top of her.
“That wouldn’t have happened if you paid attention,” She said, an indignant tone in her voice.
Nightstripe purred and shifted his eyes towards Plumpaw, meeting his yellow eyes. “Plumpaw,” he beckoned. “Why don’t you try?”
Could I be as good as Sunpaw? Uneasiness rose in her throat. She dropped into a crouch and tried to imitate Vinepool, but her paws trembled and fell over on her side. “Ugh,” She scoffed.
“Good try. How about we try again?” Nightstripe asked. Then she remembered that she could pounce well on Snowpaw’s back. She adjusted her haunches and wiggled them. She lifted off and pounced on the dead leaf, her paws planting on top of it.
 “Great job, better than your first one,” Nightstripe said, his tail brushing her tide.
“Can we try to hunt something? I’ve been waiting for this all day.” Sunpaw flicked her tail with impatience.
“You can try,” Vinepool licked her paw and drew it over her ear, “but, I doubt you’ll catch anything.” 
Sunpaw huffed. “Thanks for the encouragement.” 
“Come on, Sunpaw. Let’s see if we can catch anything on our first day!” Plumpaw nudged her. 
“Stay together! And stay upwind!” Nightstripe called. 
Sunpaw waved her tail excitedly and strolled forward. Plumpaw, trailing behind, shivered in the icy wind that weaved its way around the trees. Her littermate seemed unbothered by the leaf-fall chill, despite her thin coat. “Aren’t you freezing?” Plumpaw hissed. 
Sunpaw turned her head and mewed, “Nope. You just got to move around.” Sunpaw shook out her short fur and glanced back at Plumpaw again, “You’re just slow. You should move faster, you know.”
“Like that will do anything,” she muttered. Plumpaw pushed faster, attempting to warm up. Plumpaw pricked her ears, twitching them this way and that, and heard rustling from a nearby bush.
“How about we split up?” Plumpaw suggested. “I don’t think we’ll catch anything if we stay together.”
“But Nightstripe said we have to stay close.” Sunpaw tipped her head, uncertainty flashing in her gaze.
“Well, at this rate,” she snorted, “we’ll come back empty-pawed.”
Sunpaw stood, thinking about it, then nodded. “You’re right. Let’s split up.”
Plumpaw stalked into the undergrowth then turned her head back to Sunpaw, “Meet me here when you’re done?” Sunpaw’s response was a wave of her tail. Plumpaw continued to pursue the noise quietly, her paws making little to no sound underneath the frosty earth.
She pressed herself to the earth as close as she could, perking her ears, searching for the rustling sound again. Her eyes scanned around herself warily, hoping she’ll spot some prey happening to scurry past.
Plumpaw was about to give up when something small caught her attention. A bushy tail bobbed up and down as if it were taunting her. That must be a squirrel, she thought, her tongue swiping over her jaws. She crept forward silently, remembering what Vinepool had said; You want to hold your breath and keep as still as possible. If you need to, breathe through your nose. 
Plumpaw inhaled through her nose and exhaled carefully so she wouldn’t alert the squirrel. Her tail barely brushed the surface as she drew one paw over another. The squirrel’s tail wagged as it stilled. It perked up and caught Plumpaw’s gaze. She pelted towards it and the squirrel darted away in alarm, its bushy tail high behind it. Plumpaw yowled in frustration as it leaped onto a nearby tree trunk and skittered its way to the branches.
Plumpaw glared at the squirrel as it chittered tauntingly at her from a high branch. You’re lucky you smelled me before I got my claws on you. She steered away and thought, I must have been downwind. Her tail twitched irritably as she turned her head back at the squirrel. Better luck next time. 

***

Plumpaw and Sunpaw came back. 
Sunpaw impressively caught a vole and Plumpaw caught a mouse, but she wasn’t entirely proud of it. The mouse was already darting away from her and clumsily, she tumbled on top of the mouse, killing it. Heat rushed in her pelt as she recalled it. Was Nightstripe watching me? The thought horrified her but she shook it off and ducked into the bush tunnel. That sundown, Plumpaw trudged back to camp while Sunpaw, looking active and full of joy, trot ahead. 
“Tiring, huh?” mewed Nightstripe, who appeared at her side. Plumpaw nodded slowly, still holding the mouse in her jaws.
“It’ll become easier, I promise. Training gets better as time goes by. By then you’ll be doing your assessment.” He pressed his nose to her head, “Besides, I think you did well today,” He added. Thank StarClan, he wasn’t watching me after all! Plumpaw nodded, suppressing a sigh of relief, and turned to stack her mouse upon the pile.
Plumpaw dropped her mouse as she passed the fresh-kill pile, fully stocked from the hunting patrols. 
“I see you caught a mouse.”
Plumpaw whirled around to see Oaktail, her father. The brown tabby gazed down at her, pride and delight glinting in his eyes.
“I’m very proud of you and your sisters.” He gently grasped Plumpaw and pulled her close only to lick her in between her ears. “I can’t wait to watch you three grow up and become wonderful cats.” 
Plumpaw let out a slow sigh and endured her father’s licks of affection. His tongue began to rub her head fur the wrong way, but she couldn’t care less. She needed this. 
“Now,” He paused, “get some rest, you have more training to do tomorrow.” He stepped away from her to join Nightstripe and Vinepool, murmuring in a hushed tone.
The day was coming to an end, the sky created a luminescent light of a fiery glow. Plumpaw didn’t want to wait for her assessment. She couldn’t help but flick her tail impatiently because of how badly she already wanted to be a warrior.
A sudden pang of realization occurred to her. The dream! I have to tell Smalltail about the dream! Then she remembered she was exhausted, she wasn’t even hungry; and wasn’t in the mood to tell Smalltail, he’ll be questioning her for moons, knowing the small medicine cat. She trudged her way to the apprentice den like a lumbering badger. 
As she slipped into the apprentice den, stray twigs snagged on her pelt which made her wince and grimace. Doesn’t this den get trimmed? Her pelt spiked with irritation because she couldn’t bear another day of training and trimming the apprentice den. It doesn’t help that the apprentice den was rather full, and there was barely any room to sleep. She flicked her tail in annoyance and padded towards the back end of the den, where Sunpaw and Snowpaw chatted away. 
As she approached, Snowpaw noticed her and her eyes lit up. “Plumpaw, there you are! Where have you been? What did you catch?” 
“A mouse,” She mumbled.
Snowpaw, unaware of her grumpy mood, mewled, “Wow, you guys must be naturals then,” The silver she-cat said, “I could barely catch any prey, let alone a butterfly.” She cringed as she remembered trampling the mouse.
“Oh, chin up, Snowpaw. You just got to be quick!” Sunpaw prodded her playfully.
“I am quick! I beat Plumpaw in a race!” She cuffed Sunpaw over the ear. 
“Bet I’m faster.” 
“Bet you’re not!” 
“Bet I a-”
“Hush!” Beechpaw hissed. Plumpaw slowly lifted her head to see Beechpaw and Maplepaw, their pelts twitching irritably. “Do young apprentices have to be so loud?”
The two shut up quickly. Plumpaw shot Beechpaw an appreciative look, and shoved her nose into her paws, tuning out any noise. 

***

Everything died down and everyone was soon asleep; however, Plumpaw was restless and tossing in her nest. Something felt incredibly wrong but she couldn’t put her paw on in. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with her dream, the more she began to think about it, the more her eyes began to feel heavy. 
She slowly raised, careful not to wake her den-mates, and peeked her head out of the den to see if anyone was on watch.
Reedfur, a dark ginger-and-white tom, looked as if he could barely stay awake. If she could just sneak past without him noticing…
She stealthily sneaked out of the den and padded along the ferns that outlined the camp, her eye still kept on the warrior-on-watch. She managed to find a tight squeeze in the gorse bushes that lead to the outside of the camp. 
Plumpaw dropped into a crouch and carefully crept in between the bushes, careful not to prick herself of the thorns in the bush. Lifting her paws over any thorns and branches that might get caught in her pads and fur, she finally managed to find a breezy exit.
 The night-chill clung to her fur and stung her nose. The forest was quiet and prey was dozing in their nests, as she should be. Her tail brushed slightly against the cold ground, making her shiver. The moon hung high, peeking in through the trees whenever she trod the cold, frost-bitten dirt.
Hopefully, nobody minds if I explore a little, she thought as she looked behind her, making sure nobody was on her tail. Ever since the day they explored the territories, not much was shown except for the borderlines and moon-rocks, there had to be more than that. The blades of grass glimmered eerily from the moonlight. Plumpaw’s fur ruffled from the slight wind while she padded through the dark painted forest. She gazed up at the branches, which were waving calmly along with the clouds in the sky. A nightbird flew overhead and let out a screech of alarm, which startled her. 
Despite being spooked, she moved on. I’ll go get a drink and then come back, maybe then I’ll fall asleep. She could smell the familiar scent of the wet soil and fish of the stream nearby. 

As soon as she reached the stream, she dipped her head to lap up the calm, freezing water.  
A nearby twig snapped. 
Her head shot up in alarm. Her fur pricked with fear as she whipped around trying to find the source of what caused the sound. Plumpaw’s heart pounded as her eyes darted around desperately. 
After what felt like a moon, she let her fur lay flat but continued to look around herself warily. Was someone watching me? The thought burned in Plumpaw’s mind and made her pelt crawl. She shook her fur as if to shake the thought away. 
More sudden paw-steps appeared behind her. Plumpaw wove around quickly and jumped at the sight of a silver tom with a stubby tail.
She hissed, frightened. The tom let out a mrrow of laughter, clearly amused. 
“You can’t just sneak up on somebody like that, you know!” She bristled.
“I didn’t mean to.” The tom’s eyes twinkled. “You should be more aware of your surroundings,” He added with a flick of his stumpy tail. 
A growl rumbled in Plumpaw’s throat and she rapidly began grooming her chest, smoothing down her ruffled fur. 
“Why are you out here so late, anyway? Shouldn’t you be snuggled up in the nursery?” He snorted. 
“I’m an apprentice!” She retorted, growing hot underneath her thick fur. “I came to get a drink. I thought it’d be obvious to you watching me from behind the trees.” 
“Okay, okay.” The silver tom flopped to the floor and sprawled out, basking in the moonlight. 
“What are you doing out here?” Plumpaw asked, angered by his unmoved complexion.
The tom popped his head up, “I came here to be alone. That was until I saw you.”
Plumpaw lashed her tail, growing hot despite the cold breeze in the air. The tom pawed at the air as if he were playing with a mouse. “What’s your name, Night-Cat? I don’t usually see someone out by the stream at this time of night.” ‘Night-Cat?’ She snorted. This cat is trying too hard to be charming! 
“Plumpaw,” She muttered, refusing to look at him.
“Plumpaw?” He simpered. “Isn’t that a fruit? You’re not very sweet. You’re feisty.” Mischief sparkled in his eyes.
Her fur smoothed and she lightened up a bit, recognizing the playfulness in his tone. She stared back at him and shot back playfully, “Well, it’s not every day I get snuck up on.” The tom stifled a purr and said, “I’m Birchpaw, I’m from HollowClan.”
“HollowClan?” Plumpaw echoed. What’s a HollowClan apprentice doing so close to TideClan and LeafClan territory? She pondered.
Birchpaw nodded.
“Don’t you cats live in a gorge?”
“Why does every cat ask that?” He twitched his whiskers. “We live in a hollow, hence the name HollowClan.”
Plumpaw sat down and tipped her head to one side, “Why do you come out here?”
“To get away. I never get a chance to be by myself,” He snorted. “Unless you count the dirtplace.”
“Is your clan so full of cats that you can’t be alone?”
“My mentor is rabbit-brained and he’s so overprotective over me so he follows me everywhere,” He grunted. 
“This cat sounds like he could be your father,” Plumpaw purred.
“He is my father.” He hauled himself up, 
“Oh.” Was all Plumpaw could manage. 
“You’re a new apprentice, right?” he asked after a heartbeat, his amber eyes twinkling. 
Plumpaw nodded, “I started two sunrises ago.”
Birchpaw extended his claws, tearing up the brown grass. “Nice, I became an apprentice a moon ago.” His silvery pelt shone brightly in the moonlight as he continued. “It’s fun, just don’t get in trouble,” He sniffed. “Unless you want to pick out the elder’s ticks.”
She stifled a mroow of laughter, “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
The tom stretched, his lithe body rippling, “It’s as bad as it sounds.”
Plumpaw could feel an edge of sleepiness crawl over her pelt. “I’d better get back to my clan. After all, I only came out to get a drink.”
“Okay. See you, Night-Cat,” He replied as he quickly trotted away.
Plumpaw stared back, reluctant to leave. When Birchpaw had disappeared over a boulder, she noticed a frequent break in the darkness. The blades of decaying grass were sparkling from the overnight dew. Clouds, pink and orange, gleamed over a hill, stinging Plumpaw’s eyes. Her heart pounded as she realized she had been out too late. Oh, no! I’d better get back!
She pelted away from the river and back into the undergrowth. She could hear a mockingbird singing in the distance, its voice trilling in the morning sun, which was gradually rising. Thoughts circled her mind, How long have I been out? How long have I been awake? It couldn’t have been too long! 
She gasped as she nearly stumbled over a dashing squirrel, both in a clear panic and unaware they’d both be in a rush. More noise began to rise as everything had seemed to rustle and hop out of their nests. The camp entrance was only fox-lengths away from her paws. She pushed faster and sprang into the bush tunnel that led to the clearing. She felt relieved to be back in the camp, the familiar dens, and tall oak that hovered over her as she lay panting in the frost-bitten dirt.
“Plumpaw!” A voice called. She froze as she had her name being called. Plumpaw gulped and pulled herself together, turning around slowly. She saw nothing. Who called her name? She kept searching for the source of the voice, scanning her eyes around the clearing. Nothing.
She peered to her left and saw Reedfur, who was snoring as his sides gently rising and falling within each intake. Plumpaw suppressed a relieved sigh as he took no notice of her. Dragging her paws to the apprentice den, she desperately pulled herself from the clawing branches of the bush and into her nest. She plopped down, exhausted. 
Her consciousness ebbed away, once panicked and felt, alive, were coming to an end. Plumpaw’s eyes fluttered sleepily as she felt her body relax and drifted away into sleep. [/spoiler]