A New Horizon Book 2: The Dying Forest {COMPLETE}

Chapter 1

Falconpaw reached SunClan's camp entrance, made of twisting brambles as a form of protection. He brushed through the entrance and placed his fresh-kill on the pile. As the sun continued to rise, so did SunClan. Applespots and Sandfoot were talking outside of the elder's den, sharing a piece of fresh-kill. Applespots hadn't joined the elders den yet, and Sandfoot wasn't very old either. Falconpaw learned that Sandfoot joined the elder's den because of a wound that didn't heal properly and hurt whenever she tried hunting or fighting. Applespots still had quite a few moons as a warrior left, but Falconpaw did notice something off about the she-cat. A distance in her green eyes, something he didn't quite understand.

"Falconpaw!" Falconpaw jumped slightly, turning away from the chatting queens and looking behind him. It was Larkpaw, her green eyes sparkling. "I get to do my first assessment today!" Falconpaw lifted his head slightly, Larkpaw and her littermates Pikepaw and Sorrelpaw became apprentices a little over a moon ago and they were all coming along with great progress.

When the three littermates became apprentices it was a lot of mixed feelings for Falconpaw, on the bright side he had other apprentices to talk to other than Earthpaw and Mudpaw, and he was no longer the youngest apprentice in the den. However, the apprentice den had become a lot more crowded and Larkpaw and Sorrelpaw didn't know when to keep their mouths shut for the night. Falconpaw still wasn't allowed to train with other apprentices, not after accidentally scratching Earthpaw two moons ago. Earthpaw had long forgiven him, but Cherryleaf didn't think that Falconpaw had a good control on his temper.

Falconpaw's mind drifted to the day when he hurt Earthpaw, which hadn't been the worst thing to happen that day. Falconpaw had decided to explore beyond SunClan territory, into the Twolegplace. It was there when he met the mysterious, dangerous she-cat Echoheart. He had heard her name before, but after she attempted to kill him; Falconpaw couldn't help but feel a looming feeling of dread every time he set paw into the forest. Run all you want, little apprentice. I will find you again!

Echoheart's words echoed in his mind every day and night, he hadn't told anyone else about his experience, not his sister or either of his mentors. He didn't want anyone knowing he was stupid enough to go into dangerous territory, territory that most cats in SunClan had probably never seen before.

"Hey, are you in there?" Larkpaw pulled Falconpaw out of his thoughts and he refocused on the young apprentice.

"Yes, sorry Larkpaw." Falconpaw looked around, taking a deep breath. "I'm assuming that it will be an assessment for Pikepaw and Sorrelpaw as well?"

"Yep!" Larkpaw's spirit had returned, her eyes shimmered. "We're all being tested together.

"Well, do your best." Falconpaw gave the apprentice a nod and she bounded off towards her mentor, Yarrowtail. Sorrelpaw and Pikepaw weren't far behind, with Flamepetal and Adderstrike following close behind their apprentices. Falconpaw watched the three littermates, their heads close together as they indulged in the excitement of their assessment. Falconpaw looked away, trying to ignore the feeling in his chest. He could've had training with his littermate, but she chose to be a medicine cat.

Falconpaw shook that thought out of his head, on the subject of his sister he began padding towards the medicine cat den. He wondered if Honeypaw would be there or not, despite them having a pretty intense argument a while back they made up after their mother and leader of SunClan, Dawnstar told him to apologize for the things he had said. Falconpaw truly didn't believe what he had said, but he did wish he had her to train beside.

Inside the medicine den, Falconpaw was welcomed by the heavy scent of herbs. Pebblestep had her nose buried in her herb store and Honeypaw was sitting by her nest, sorting herbs. Closer to the entrance was Snakewhisker, his hind leg stretched out and covered in herbs. Snakewhisker had fallen out of a tree and broken his leg, as a result he was confined to the medicine cat den until it was healed. Falconpaw assumed it would be soon, he'd been in the medicine cat den for over two moons.