Warriors: Salmonstar's Fate

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Just act normal and be friendly. And if this ThunderClan apprentice wants to be rude, then ignore her.

"Hi! I'm Salmonpaw. What's your name?" she asked, walking over to the light gray she-cat.

"Crazypaw," the ThunderClan apprentice replied.

Crazypaw? That's a weird name. I don't think anyone in RiverClan would give their kit an awful name like that.

She didn't say that out loud. "Cool!" she shouted instead, faking cheerfulness. "Did you hear about the lightning bolt and the fighting at the Gathering yesterday?"

Of course she did, mouse-brain! Crazypaw and that WindClan apprentice were there! "I wish I'd been there!" Salmonpaw continued. "A real fight and I could've seen what fire looks like! I wonder what it's like to walk across the tree-bridge and..."

"I was there," Crazypaw interrupted. "And trust me, you should be glad you weren't there. Stonepaw and I nearly died."

How dumb are cats of other Clans? Swimming is a simple solution! "How?" Salmonpaw couldn't help but blurt out. "All you had to do was swim across the lake!"

Perhaps I should demonstrate how easy it is. "Watch this!" she yowled, leaping into the lake.

Salmonpaw enjoyed the cold water soaking her fur and relaxing her muscles. She climbed out eventually and shook herself dry. She noticed a gleam of annoyance appear briefly in Crazypaw's green eyes and remembered that cats of other Clans didn't like getting wet. "Sorry," she muttered, but the ThunderClan apprentice didn't seem to hear her.

"See? Swimming is easy!" she declared.

I feel sorry for other Clans. What fun do they have if they can't swim without drowning? RiverClan really is the best Clan!

"Not for us," Crazypaw sighed. "We're from ThunderClan and WindClan. We haven't trained for swimming."

"That's sad," she responded. "A Clan that doesn't swim? Life must be so boring! Swimming is so much fun!"

A sudden thought entered her mind. I bet she's hungry.

Salmonpaw sat down by the lake, feeling small waves lap at her paws and carry sand back with them as they retreated. A fish, even smaller than the ones in the stream, swam by. She pounced, thankfully not missing while Crazypaw was watching. She dropped it by the ThunderClan apprentice's forepaws. "Here! You can eat it if you're hungry," Salmonpaw meowed.

Crazypaw looked hesitant. It was clear to Salmonpaw that she didn't want to eat the fish. She sniffed it and instantly pulled back, wrinkling her nose with disgust. "What is that thing?" the ThunderClan apprentice demanded.

Isn't it obvious? "A fish," she answered. "They're delicious!"

Crazypaw leaned forward and took a tiny bite of it. Her eyes widened and Salmonpaw could tell she didn't enjoy it. "Did you like it?" she asked anyways.

"Uh, yeah," Crazypaw lied. "You can have the rest though. I'm not hungry."

Salmonpaw was happy to eat the fish but wasn't sure the warrior code allowed it. Well...I'm not on a hunting patrol so I guess I can eat it before feeding the Clan.

The RiverClan apprentice devoured it quickly. I can't believe she's being this nice. I expected her to be mean and everything but she actually reminds me of Rainpaw!

They chatted for a little while longer. Salmonpaw told her about how wonderful it was to live in RiverClan and Crazypaw informed her on the life of ThunderClan. The poor cats...I remember how awful it was sleeping the forest with those crowded trees on my journey. They have to put up with that every night! How can they see StarClan?

Plus they're stuck with eating tasteless land creatures! I'm glad I've never eaten a mouse or a bird and I don't plan to try it unless I have to! And they climb trees? Aren't they scared of falling?

Mosspool and Icewhisker returned with Owlfeather, Reedsplash, Ripplecloud, and Hollystorm. They carried the two apprentices to the RiverClan camp and walked into Troutstar's den. Salmonpaw assumed she wasn't invited to follow, but as soon as they disappeared inside of the large bramble thicket, she crept over towards it. Troutstar gave them permission to stay in the medicine cats den with Leafwhisker, who was full medicine cat now that Dawnshine had moved to the elders den, but it was only until they were well enough to return to their own Clans.

The cats emerged from the den after that only a few tail-lengths away from where Salmonpaw was eavesdropping. Fortunately, no one noticed her. "What are your names?" Mosspool growled to Crazypaw.

"I'm Crazypaw and that's Stonepaw," the light gray she-cat sighed.

A/N: I noticed. Salmonpaw doesn't seem as loud, cheerful, kit-like or dumb as she did in Crazystar's Battle but it doesn't really fit her personality in this book. I kind of like it more where she's just being friendly instead of super loud and slightly annoying :) Tell me what you think please and hope you enjoyed!