Warriors: The New Clans

Chapter Five

 Sagestar was dozing in her nest when Nightbranch padded into the den. "Sorry to wake you Sagestar, but all patrols have been made for the day." He mewed, flicking his tail. Sagestar blinked her amber eyes and gazed up. "Of course." She yawned, sitting up. She felt tuffs of fur poking up, so she turned and quickly groomed them down. Nightbranch waited for her to finish, he seemed to want to say something.

Once done, she turned to him. "Yes?" She asked. "I was wondering who you planned to take with you to the gathering, that's all...I know it's a couple more sunrises away but I can't stop thinking about it." Nightbranch admitted, looking at his paws. Sagestar laughed slightly, but gently put her tail on his shoulder. "I'm not sure, how about we pick together. Come on, we might as well go get something to eat while we talk."

The two padded out of the den, side by side. Sagestar noticed Meadowcloud was speaking to Rainpaw, the she-cat's amber gaze happily bright. She then padded over to the fresh-kill pile, but noticed it was empty. "Sorry! I should of said that the dawn patrol just left not long ago!" Nightbranch mewed in guilt. Sagestar just chuckled and shrugged. "It's fine, now sit." She settled down, and Nightbranch did the same. "So why do you want to go to the gathering so much?" Sagestar couldn't help but ask. She was excited to, but she still wanted to hear from him. Nightbranch started to speak happily, and Sagestar listened. Suddenly her eyes caught movement from the warrior's den, and she noticed Silvermist slip out.

Sagestar suddenly seemed to hear her heart beat. It seemed so loud that she was scared Nightbranch might hear. She tried to pull away, but suddenly Silvermist's light blue gaze met hers. They stared at each other for what seemed seasons, until Silvermist looked away. Her face hot, she quickly turned back to Nightbranch, who was still going on. 'Thank Starclan he didn't see me staring at Silvermist...he'd think i'd have bees for a brain.' Sagestar thought with guilt. "But nevermind that, who do you think we should take to the gathering?" Nightbranch suddenly asked. "U-Uh..." Sagestar felt lost for words. She shook her head quickly and then spoke. "Perhaps D-Doepelt, Meadowcloud, Greypaw, and Skywing?" Nightbranch nodded and then spoke up. "Lets also take Rainpaw and Silvermist then." He added. She blinked in shock at his name but then nodded. "Of course. I'm going to go for a walk though, i'll be back in a little bit." Nightbranch nodded and got up. He headed for the nursery.

Sagestar watched as he slipped inside before she padded out of camp. She thanked the small noises she heard above and around her, helping thoughts stay off her mind as she walked down a path. Soon she found herself jumping over some rocks, and heading near the river that cut off the way to the Gathering place. She listened to the sounds of the river, enjoying the soft roars. She then dipped her head close to the water and lapped up the cold taste. When she turned she noticed Silvermist jump up to the clearing she was in. "Hello Sagestar." He mewed polietly, dipping his head. She nodded to him, although she felt her heart beating fast.

The two sat there in silence for awhile, watching the water. In a way, Sagestar felt scared to break the silence the tom gave her. Suddenly he spoke. "I want to thank you for letting us join those sunrises ago. Greypaw and Rainpaw are learning well. Their mother would be so proud of them." He let out a sad sign. "I hate to ask...but what happened to her?" Sagestar tilted her head slightly. Silvermist's eyes were expressionless. "Her name was Flower. We lived in a huge group far away from here. I lead the group, along with another two cats. She was one of those two. She was given a message to come here, and so we did. I not long after became her mate, and we had Rainpaw and Greypaw." Sagestar noticed he was trembling. She without thinking sat closer to him, wrapping her tail around the tom. He said nothing against it, so she stayed where she was.

"Flower grew sick because of the winter's harsh storms. Our healers didn't know what to do, for we had no herbs to help us. She then just grew worse...and worse..the group started to grow worried, and some younger cats started to rebel." He took a breath. "Eventually, it was only Flower's sister, Snowheart...who stayed. The rest of her family, her mother, sisters, brothers, father....they left her. But Snowheart trusted me, and wanted to help be there for the kits." He shook his head, looking into the river. Sagestar was staring at him with wide eyes. "Flower didn't make it, but she died without much pain in the end. We carried on in her memory, and then when we arrived we found out parts of the group had joined the clans around here. The only place they didn't join was here."

When Sagestar didn't comment, he spoke again. "That's why we came here instead. We've had no where else to go, and no one wanted us." Sagestar suddenly got up. "Come on, let's hunt. We shouldn't dive on sad memories, we should make new ones." She purred before racing back the way she came.

At first she thought he wasn't following her, but then she realized he was hard on her heels. She laughed and raced along, before suddenly stopping. She opened her mouth and let scents drift in her mouth. She noticed the faint scent of squirrel. She crouched and glanced around, before noticing the small fluffy creature along the roots of a tree. She flicked an ear before suddenly pouncing, catching it without it even noticing. She quickly killed it, and looked up as Silvermist padded up with a crow. "Nice! Let's head back!" She called, though her mew was muffled. The two padded along, enjoying what the forest had to give to them.