MossClan

MossClan

In the forest, there live several groups of cats. Now, they are not just any cats, but they are Clan cats. To you, they may just be wild cats, but in truth, they have assembled into something you may find hard to imagine. They live in Clans where they hunt for their elders and kits. They have a leader and warriors. They train apprentices and have a healer. But the most interesting Clan of all may in fact be Mossclan. Now you will hear Mossclan's story.

Moonstar yowled from on top of the tree-ledge, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the tree-ledge for a Clan meeting!" Her meow echoed throughout the camp as Lynxclaw, the deputy, sat on his branch of the tree-ledge. "Lynxclaw, today our ceremony will involve a position on the tree-ledge." Moonstar informed him. Lynxclaw hopped off of the branch and gathered with his Clan.

"Darkpaw," Moonstar mewed as Darkpaw approached, "from this day forward you will be known as Darkstorm, for all of the trouble you have caused these past moons." She placed her muzzle on top of his head as she whispered, "May StarClan guide your paws, young one." As her clan was chanting the new warrior's name, she looked at them and mewed, "As your leader, I have one more announcement. I am heavy with Lynxclaw's kits." As the cheering of the new warrior's name died out, the Clan meowed in approval of new kits.


****

It had been several moons, and now Moonstar was birthing. Lynxclaw could barely stand to hear his mate's cries coming from the nursery. He stepped in for a moment as his mate wailed, "Lynxclaw! Please, come help me!"

"Hush, it's all over now." Petalblossom, the medicine cat, mewed as she licked at the thin sack around the kit.

As she nipped the cord on the kit, Lynxclaw stared in astonishment as he meowed, "Only two?" Petalblossom looked up. She held one of the tiny kits in her mouth.

"She's dead! My baby's dead!" Moonstar wailed.

"Yes, but the other one's alive. We still have him." Lynxclaw purred as he lifted the little orange kit and placed it by it's mother's belly.

Petalblossom took the little female by the scruff and mewed through a mouthful of fur, "Name her, if you wish."

Moonstar looked very thoughtful for a moment, until at last she meowed, "Sweetkit, for the very look on her cold face."

Petalblossom dissappeared out of the nursery. Lynxclaw looked longingly at the orange bundle of fur on his mate's belly as he said, "How about Flamekit, for he had the strength to survive."


****

"Flamepaw, let's go to the training clearing!" Darkstorm meowed to his apprentice. Flamepaw bounded over to the clearing as Darkstorm followed. Flamepaw crouched into a fighting position. Darkstorm readied himself for a good training session. He knew that Flamepaw had outstanding talent, but he did not know that Flamepaw would eventually lead his Clan to victory among the forest, and be one of the best warriors MossClan had ever seen.

Darkstorm yowled as Flamepaw raked claws down his stomach. Flamepaw slid out from underneath Darkstorm, coming out between his legs, and jumped on his back before Darkstorm knew what was happening. Flamepaw bit into Darkstorm's scruff, then flopped off onto the ground.

Darkstorm was amazed. "But, how...I didn't even have a chance to do anything!" he mewed in utter astonishment.

Flamepaw, still laying on the ground, flicked his gaze towards Darkstorm. "Maybe i'm just that good." he meowed.

He immediately jumped up as he heard Moonstar's yowl. "Kittypets!" she hissed. "What do you want?" she continued.

"Um...hi! I'm Emily!" the black-and-white she-cat mewed. The other one, a brown tabby, was fatter than Emily. "And he's Zeb! And we like to be petted! PET MEEE!!" Emily shreiked.

"Hush, Emily. We have run away from our smelly twolegs to join your Clan." Zeb informed Moonstar.

"This dump is what we were looking for?" Emily asked. Zeb glared at her.

Poppystripe, Petalblossom's sister, watched as her leader meowed, "We could use new warriors. Welcome to the Clan." Mintpool, the medicine cat apprentice, widened her eyes in disbelief. Her leader had just accepted them without even seeing their worth. If they had any. Especially that Emily.

Frostwave, Moonstar's sister, was coming back from hunting when she saw two kittypets standing right outside the camp. No! They were going inside the camp! She ran towards them. She froze. The clan was WELCOMING them! A squirrel dangled limply in her jaws as she gazed at her leader in question.

"Hello, Frostwave! These are Emily and Zeb, soon to be apprentices of MossClan." Moonstar mewed. She leapt onto the tree-ledge and yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the tree-ledge for a Clan meeting!" Frostwave dropped the squirrel on the fresh-kill pile when she heard a tiny mewling coming from behind her.

"Frostwave, wait for me!" Treekit wailed. Frostwave was next to him in one leap. She grasped him by the scruff and carried him to the meeting.

"I would like to address two new apprentices." Moonstar announced. Treekit's eyes widened as he whispered to himself, "Treepaw." But who else? Did Moonstar have a kit that was too good to play with Treekit? "Emily. Zeb. Come forth. Zeb, from this day, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Rainpaw, for you carry the familiar scent of rain on your pelt. Emily, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Patchpaw, for your patchy fur." the leader meowed.

Treekit's heart sank. "What about me?" Treekit whispered to his mother.

"Not for another moon, my son." Frostwave mewed.

"Rainpaw, your mentor will be...Poppystripe. Lynxclaw, you can be Patchpaw's mentor." Moonstar continued.

Flamepaw's eyes glittered as he saw Patchpaw, and he could barely hear the Clan chanting the new apprentices' names. Patchpaw's stomach suddenly felt like it was filled with butterflies, a feeling she had never experienced before, when she saw the flaming orange pelt of the cat that her destiny was intertwined with.


****

"From this day forward, you will be known as Flameheart." Patchpaw mewed.

"Yes, thank you Patchstar." Flamepaw mewed as he dipped his head in grattitude.

"Don't be so dramatic, Flamepaw. It's just a game. Say, 'Thanks', not 'Thank you Patchstar'. And don't dip your head." Patchpaw meowed.

"But that's what you do in real life!" Flamepaw replied, annoyed.

"Whatever." Patchpaw mewed as she hopped off of the small rock she was standing on. "Hey Poppystripe! Can Rainpaw come with me to the swinging branch?" she meowed.

Poppystripe glared at her. "You can't go out until all of the hunting patrols are back. You know that. You would scare off all the prey!" Poppystripe replied.

"Well, can he train with me then?" Patchpaw asked.

"I guess, But keep your claws sheathed! Darkstorm still has those scars from Flamepaw." Poppystripe called as Patchpaw bounded over to the fresh-kill pile where Rainpaw was dropping a vole.

"Hey, Rainpaw! Do you wanna go train? Poppystripe said it was okay." Patchpaw meowed.

Rainpaw looked at her. "What about Lynxclaw?" he meowed.

They heard a huge voice ask, "What about me?" They shrieked like kits and ran towards the training clearing.

They were panting hard, so as soon as they reached the clearing, they both flopped onto the ground. Flamepaw had heard Patchpaw ask to train, so he made sure he got there first.

Flamepaw and Darkstorm stared as their training session was interupted. "Shoo flies, shoo." Darkstorm meowed as he shoved Patchpaw and Rainpaw away.

"But, but...he knew we were coming here!" Patchpaw protested.

"Well, we're here now, so I suggest you leave before I tell Lynxclaw that you have been disturbing the warriors again." Darkstorm meowed.

"Warriors! FlamePAW is no warrior! He's nothing but a lowly apprentice! He's just a mouse-brained, crow-food eating, dog loving-" Rainpaw began, but was cut short when Darkstorm smacked him on the top of his head.

Darkstorm hissed furiously, "For the next moon, YOU will be the one to change all of the bedding! YOU will be the one to put bile on the elders! YOU will be the one that stays in the camp while everone else goes HUNTING!!!" as he turned away he added, "And as long as I am a warrior, you will NEVER see a gathering!"

As Darkstorm walked away, Rainpaw felt crushed. He ran into the apprentices' den and began to cry. "Stupid Flamepaw!" he thought. You may think this would just lead to some rivalry between the two young cats, but truly, it would lead to something far more dangerous.

****
Moonstar stretched and hopped onto the tree-ledge. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the tree-ledge for a clan meeting!" she meowed. once all the cats had gathered, she announced, "These cats will come to tonight's gathering. Lynxclaw, Poppystripe, Petalblossom, Flamepaw, and Treepaw, my new apprentice."

Treepaw's ears perked up. How unofficial! He liked it. He hopped up beside Lynxclaw as his clan meowed a wave of "Treepaw!"s.

"Now, if you were not picked, I will tell you why. Darkstorm, Frostwave, you must protect the clan while we are gone. Mintpool, if anyone gets hurt here, you can help them. Rainpaw, you are currently being punished by Darkstorm." Rainpaw winced with embarrassment as his leader spoke. "Patchpaw, Lynxclaw does not believe you are ready yet. Leopardpool, Poppytalon, it is up to you whether you stay here or not." Moonstar continued.

Poppytalon looked up and mewed, "I think i'll stay. There's no use for an old tom like me to come."

"If Poppytalon is staying, so am I." Leopardpool mewed as she rubbed against her mate.

"Okay, then we'll go now. It's getting late." Moonstar meowed. "Come on, everyone." she mewed as she walked towards the camp exit. Lynxclaw, Petalblosssom, Poppystripe, Flamepaw, and Treepaw followed.

As they arrived, the apprentices gathered with the other clan's apprentices. There were few others: Snakepaw of Fernclan, Breezepaw of Streamclan, and Bloodpaw and Firepaw of Darkclan. Treepaw was amazed. He had never seen or smelled a cat outside his clan. To him, Breezepaw smelled absoluteley delightful. A smell he would later find out was the scent of fish. "Hi. My name's Treepaw." he said to Breezepaw.

Breezepaw looked up in interest and mewed, "I'm Breezepaw. Of Streamclan.". Treepaw jumped as Shadowstar, leader of Darkclan, began the meeting.Treepaw wondered if he would ever see Breezepaw again as she left him to sit with her clan.

Willowstar screeched with rage as Shadowstar continued to accuse Fernclan of stealing prey from Darkclan. "Enough!" Moonstar yowled as Shadowstar raked his claws down Willowstar's flank. Willowstar meowed in fury as she tried to keep herself from breaking the truce. Orangestar shook his head in disbelief.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck a tree, and it toppled over, crushing Firepaw. Shadowstar meowed as he went to the tree. Cloudfur schreeched," NO!!! Our son!!!" as she joined her mate, Shadowstar. She began to furiously tug at the tail that stuck out from under the tree. The other clans all began to leave, wanting to get out of the rain.

As Flamepaw was about to leave, he ran to Firepaw. He pushed on the tree with all his effort as Shadowstar stared at him in astonishment. Cloudfur began to push the tree, too, and it rolled away and revealed a flat, squashed, body. "He's gone." Cloudfur whispered. Flamepaw turned around and began to walk home, all alone.

Shadowstar called out, "Thank you!" as Flamepaw dissappeared into the woods. Once he was back at the camp, Flamepaw thought of Firepaw's flat body. He shivered at the thought.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the tree-ledge for a clan meeting!" Moonstar yowled. "I have greencough, and I fear I may join Starclan soon. Leaf-bare has come again, and I do not wish to spread the disease, so Lynxclaw will lead you untill I recover. Untill then, I will reside in Petalblossom's den." she said, and then hopped down. Meows of sorrow rang through the camp as Moonstar lay in Petalblossom's den.

The apprentices were in their den, and, as Treepaw lay, he thought of Breezepaw. Her smell. Her eyes. Her silver fur. And her beautiul face. He longed to see that face again. He shifted to face Rainpaw, who was still awake. "Rainpaw, have you ever wanted something you couldn't have?" he mewed softly.

"I have always longed for a sense of smell. Poppystripe has fits because I can't follow a trail."

"How did you lose your scent?"

"When I lived with twolegs," Treepaw hissed as Rainpaw said twolegs, "there was a fire. They didn't come for me, so I tried to escape. The fire burned my nose.That's why I can't smell. And why I left my twolegs. And why I love the rain. The rain saved me..."

"Wow." Treepaw said as he rolled over.

"And I also want to rip Flamepaw's throat out."

"Why?"

"Everyone says he's better than me. Poppystripe always says 'Be more like Flamepaw. Flamepaw can actually smell! Flamepaw works harder than you, and that's why he'll be a warrior long before you.' I hate him."

Flamepaw jumped up with a hiss. "People say i'm better than you because I am!" He stormed out of the den, waking Patchpaw.

"Stupid Flamepaw. He stepped on my tail." she mewed.

In her den, Petalblossom shook her head and muttered, "Breaking the truce. How stupid is Darkclan? Now we will all pay for their mistake." She settled into her nest. "Oakflower! It's you! It's been so long since you visited!"

Oakflower looked at Petalblossom for a moment before saying, "You know I only come when there is something bad to tell you."

Petalblossom's head drooped. "I suppose I did know that."

"I have something to show you." Oakflower mewed. Suddenly the two cats weren't in the den anymore, but a wide, open clearing.

"The camp." Petalblossom meowed.

"Look around." Oakflower mewed. Petalblossom gasped as she saw the moon above fade away. And away with it went the livliness of the camp. The whole place darkened and became lifeless. Then, over the horizon came a manificent fire. At first, Petalblossom was scared, until she realized that wherever the fire went, life and joy followed. She let herself be engulfed by the flames.

She awoke with a jolt. She knew what this dream meant.

.