River (Book 1) A Warriors Fanfiction

Chapter 10

•Sunpaw•

     Sunpaw shut his eyes tight. He held his breath and counted the seconds till he drowned. One. Two. Three. Four. By fifteen, he was already starting to want to go up for air but he forced himself to stay in the murky depths of the dark water. He heard the sound of someone else plunging in near him, but he didn't care. Teeth grasped his scruff and yanked upwards. Paws churned the water around him and thrusted up. Sunpaw fought his savior to let go. The cat dragged up out of the dark, gushing, sucking water. He spluttered and coughed up a mouthful of water.
"What did you do that for?" He demanded angrily, yet weakly from his drowning session. The cat before was a bright orange tom. He seemed vaguely familiar. The orange tom huffed.
"Don't you want to be saved?" He asked. Sunpaw shook his head. "You were drowning, for StarClan's sake!" The elder cat added.
     "I did that on purpose! I want to end my miserable life!" Sunpaw retorted. He lashed his tail. "Why else do you think I would hurl myself in? I've had enough with my horrible life!" His hackles were up, his fur bristling. Suddenly his eyes widened in disbelief. "Brackenstar?" He asked incredulously."What are you doing outside of Clan territory?"
The orange tom scoffed.
"Nevermind what I'm doing here. What about you? You're a mere apprentice!" Brackenstar exclaimed. Sunpaw raced to come up with a good answer.
     "I'm no apprentice! My name is-" his heart was thumping so loudly against his chest he was sure even RiverClan all the way across the lake could hear it. "Sun, just Sun." He finished quickly. "I'm a-a loner." He saw the SkyClan leader eyeing him suspiciously.
     "Sunpaw? You're not a loner! You're a ThunderClan apprentice. The medicine cat apprentice, if I'm not mistaken. What are you doing here?" He asked, circling around Sunpaw. Sunpaw felt uneasy.
"I told you!" He stated. "I'm here to end my miserable life! That's all there is to it." He turned to walk away from the bright orange tom. Brackenstar darted ahead and cut off his escape. Sunpaw hissed to himself. Just then, two SkyClan cats came trotting up behind him.
     "Brackenstar," the she-cat puffed, "where did you go? Who's that?" She added, obviously seeing Sunpaw for the first time. Brackenstar growled.
     "This is a bird-brained, runaway, ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice named Sunpaw." He replied. The other cat sniffed Sunpaw. He scooted away angrily.
"Get away! I don't like little apprentices sticking their noses in my fur!" He snapped. The young orange-and-white cat snorted, as though he was laughing.
     "I may be small, but I'm older than you. You haven't even been an apprentice for a moon!" He laughed again, his eyes twinkling. Sunpaw's eyes grew round.
     "I-I'm sorry," He stammered. Brackenstar padded up to stand next to him.
"Show some respect for others." He grunted. Suddenly all of them bushed out their fur. Sunpaw could sense danger nearby. Please don't have a vision right now, He willed himself. He usually had one when he was upset or excited about something. Every cat instinctively put their backs against one another and slid out their claws. The over-whelming stench of rogue flooded over them.
"Well, well, well. What do have here?" A she-cat stepped out from the line of trees, with three others behind her. She was dusty brown, while the tom next to her was yellow. The other she-cat was tick-furred and a very dark gray. The last was so mangy and dirty that Sunpaw couldn't tell what color it was. "What do we have here?" The brown she-cat repeated.
Brackenstar stepped forward. "You have no right to threaten us!" He hissed. She hissed right back. The yellow tom and the dark gray tabby advanced and circled around the group of Clan cats.
"I can do what I like." The she-cat snarled. "And I want to take all of you back to my camp as prisoners. Tell me your names. All of you!" Sunpaw jumped as she leapt towards him. He could hear a growl rising in her throat.
"S-Su-Sunp-paw." He stuttered nervously. The gray tabby she-cat hissed in his ear. He jumped again. "S-Stop!" He pleaded. The rogues laughed.
"I admire your bravery, little one." Sunpaw jumped yet again as he thought he heard a voice whisper in his ear. Neither of the rogue she-cats were near him anymore. In fact, no cat was close enough to whisper to him without another cat hearing them. "I can see your confusion." The voice continued. "I'm over here." He whipped around and locked eyes with the mangy cat behind the dusty brown she-cat. "Here I am." The voice chuckled. "Your name is Sunpaw, right?"
How do you know that? Sunpaw shot back. What's your name? It was clear now that this cat was a tom. The mangy cat stared him down, his gaze seeming to burn right through the young apprentice. "That's not your business. And nevermind, you can call me the Growler." He answered. "Tell me what you're doing here." He almost seemed to grunt. "We don't get many visitors." His dark, murky eyes twinkled from across the clearing. He was mysterious and mystifying to Sunpaw. He seemed to hold all the answers, but withheld them from others. "Tell me." He seemed to growl, snapping Sunpaw back to their conversation.
I'm here because I ran away from my home.
     "Which Clan?" The mangy cat prompted. His voice was rich and deep, not at all what a mangy, old cat's voice would be like. Sunpaw was astonished. How do you know about the Clans? He asked.
     "Sunpaw! Pay attention!" Brackenstar interrupted. "We're currently being 'imprisoned.'" He mimicked one of the rogues. She snarled at him. Sunpaw looked around, startled. How much time had passed while he and the Growler had been talking? He began to walk with Brackenstar towards the edge of the clearing, into the woods.
     "We are the Descendants." The Growler whispered. "We are descendants of the Ancients. She will never forgive Jay's Wing for making our ancestors leave the lake. She has sworn vengeance against the Tribe and the Clans." Sunpaw's eyes went wide.
Who is 'she?' He asked. The Growler glanced over at him slyly. "Light." He whispered. His voice was suddenly raspy, as though he was very old. Sunpaw realized that the mangy tom was actually padding beside him. Now that he was close, Sunpaw could see that he had deep hazel eyes. Not warm at all, but cold and uninviting. "The one leading you away right now. I'm going to leave now. Light will get suspicious and her consequences will not be few or feeble. Hurry up now, I'll keep talking to you."
     Sunpaw nodded. What is your actual name? He asked. The mangy cat hissed in his head.
     "That's none of your business, Sunpaw." His tone had changed; he sounded as though he was considering murdering someone at that moment. His voice was harsh and flat. The Growler hurried to catch up with the yellow tom ahead of Brackenstar's Clanmates, Mossypaw and Beepaw.

***
Sunpaw awoke sometime later in a big den full of cobwebs. It was dusty except for a few faint pawprints. It looked as though it hadn't been used in as many moons as the Growler had been alive. He got up and stretched. He quickly remembered the young RiverClan tom who had been sleeping when they had come in the night before and sat back down promptly. Brackenstar and Beepaw were huddled next to each other across the cave. Mossypaw slept near them, her glossy pelt shining the early morning sun light.
"Good morning." Sunpaw looked over the see the dark gray RiverClan tom watching him. Amusement glimmered in his eyes. Sunpaw sniffed.
"Good morning." He replied curtly. The warrior laughed. His bright blue eyes shone.
"My name's Riverstorm. What's yours?" He asked. Sunpaw looked away a moment, considering whether to answer the older tom.
"Sunpaw." He stated. He twitched uncomfortably, feeling as though eyes were boring into the back of his pelt. He turned around quickly to see a silvery gray she-cat standing there.
     "Good morning, Riverstorm. Good morning, Sunpaw. Would you kindly wake up your companions?" She dipped her head to each of them and padded away. Sunpaw went over the SkyClan cats, but Riverstorm stood fixed to the spot, gazing after the she-cat. He shook himself and followed her out of the cave.
     "Where are you going?" Sunpaw blurted. Riverstorm swung around.
     "None of your business." Sunpaw's tail twitched angrily. He was sort of happy that he had accidentally stepped on the young warrior's face in the dark last night. None of your business, indeed. Sunpaw felt as though he had heard that a lot lately. None of your business, Sunpaw. That's not for you to know, Sunpaw. Stop being nosy, Sunpaw. Mind your own business. Keep out of my fur! Sunpaw lashed his tail. He ran out of the cave into the woods. He didn't care that some cat was chasing after him.
     "Sunpaw! Wait!" It was Beepaw. He caught up to Sunpaw and stood in front of him, blocking his path. "Stop it, Sunpaw. You have to stay at the cave. Didn't you hear Light say that there would be serious consequences if we tried to escape?" Sunpaw shook his head and sighed. He headed back towards the cave wearily. Suddenly an orange-and-white tom appeared from behind a tree.
     "Have you seen a dark gray tom from RiverClan?" He asked. Beepaw's eyes bugged out.
     "That's Cranestar." He whispered into Sunpaw's ear. Sunpaw took a step back.
     "Maybe." He answered. A sharp nudge from Beepaw silenced him before he said more.
     "Is his name Riverstorm?" Cranestar asked. Sunpaw nodded fearfully. Beepaw gulped beside him. Cranestar's eyes gleamed. "Take me to him."