The Dawn of Night | A Warriors Fanfiction ✔

Chapter 36

Eaglekit batted at his sister. "You can't catch me, Froststar!" he squealed.

Frostkit fluffed up her fur, unsheathing her tiny claws. "You can't get me either!"

"I'm Alderstar, and I'm going to eat you both!" Alderkit jumped up and down, flattening his miniscule ears.

Falconwing looked on in admiration, but Sunstorm saw him glance uneasily back at Bluestripe.

"It's over, Falconwing," she assured him softly. "She has her kits now."

The tom flicked his ears. "I know. But it doesn't feel the same. I am glad that Redflame is back."

"You should be."

A cold breeze fluttered above their heads. They saw the clouds fly by as a sparrow sent out a call.

"I'm going to go hunting," Sunstorm told him. "Tell the kits." She padded over the grass and through the bramble tunnel, wind ruffling her bright fur.

Pale leaf-bare sun cast a shadow on the forest floor. Sunstorm knew there was no real good place to hunt now, and she wandered close to the ShadowClan border to see if perhaps there was a squirrel to snatch.

Suddenly she heard a hoarse, sharp cough from just over the border. Her heart seemed to stop.

"Water," a voice cried, although Sunstorm was unsure where it was coming from.

"Who's there?"

A silver tabby poked her head out of the bushes. "Please," she begged. "It is Quietclaw of ShadowClan. I need your help."

"For what? I serve ThunderClan alone," Sunstorm snapped. But her mother's-heart softened when she saw the pitiful looked in the old cat's eyes.

"I am very ill. I only need water, and—if you can—your medicine cat. I have greencough, child..."

Sunstorm's ears flicked, unsure what she was supposed to do.

"Why are you across the Thunderpath?" she asked wearily.

"That is my Clan's business," Quietclaw rasped. "Please, young warrior."

There was a small pond only a few fox lengths away. There couldn't be any harm in leading an ill cat to drink, could there? StarClan, please tell me I'm making the right decision, she prayed silently.

Sunstorm pressed her nose into the tabby's fur. She smelled of sickness indeed, and it worried her—but there was something else, too: the stench of the Thunderpath rubbed all over her pelt. "Come," she ordered.

The senior warrior came to her paws and limped after Sunstorm to the small body of water. Greencough was not to be trifled with, and the younger she-cat kept her distance.

"Do you still need a medicine cat?" Sunstorm ventured awkwardly. Quietclaw, she saw, only nodded.

Darkspot followed after Sunstorm, a leaf-wrap in his jaws. "How far away is she, Sunstorm? Windpelt is very sick and I'm afraid the senior warriors may catch whatever she has." He swallowed a bit as if he was nervous.

"Just past the Thunderpath," she replied hurriedly, quick on her paws.

"The Thunderpath? I don't have time to be serving other Clans that far!" Darkspot stood defiantly.

Sunstorm whipped around, eyes wide. She knew something was wrong. How long had Quietclaw been sick?

"You're a medicine cat, aren't you, mouse-brain?" she yelled. "Your life is dedicated to helping cats regardless of your Clan! Or have you forgotten that? Are you a coward, only afraid of losing your patients?" her tail was waving back and forth by now.

Darkspot dropped his leaf bundle on the floor and looked her in the eye. "Who are you to say that to me?" he whispered. "Leave. I will find her on my own."

Sunstorm watched him pick his bundle again and trot off into the shrubbery. She felt embarrassed. He was right—why would she say that?

Light dappled on Sunstorm's pelt. The forest was changing somehow, whether she was aware of it or not. A new dawn. She lay there until the warriors of StarClan shone in the dark brightness, as if they were speaking to her. And suddenly she could forget about whatever illness it was and her quarrel with Darkspot; she was far from camp, but the still night air was comforting.

"Sunstorm."

Sunstorm glanced behind her. A familiar scent tinged the air—one she had smelt recently, yet moons ago.

"Buttonweasel?"

A scruffy, wall-eyed cat padded into the moonlight. But he didn't look old and far-gone like the Buttonweasel Sunstorm had known; his fur was ruffled, but it looked like a young tom with eyes only slightly off, like one that might have been in the glory days of Buttonweasel.

Beside him two other cats came out as well; one Maplestar, and the other a red tom that smelt of ShadowClan. The three cats just blinked, slowly coming closer to her.

Buttonweasel spoke first.

"Look for the Stars," he murmured. "For there will be one of them among you..."

The ShadowClan warrior looked at her with soulful eyes. "Protect her," he whispered.

Suddenly in a gust of wind the StarClan cats faded, and Sunstorm heard a familiar voice behind her.

It was Bluestripe, talking to someone behind her. It was all of Sunstorm's other littermates, and they were all staring at her.

~End of Book One. Look out for the sequel, The Sign of the Stars, also by Blue_Sun_Moon~

~If you're interested on reading into other cats' lives in our own version of the special edition novellas, check out Buttonweasel's Tales by AGreenwood1, who wrote a lot of the chapters in this book and edited each and every one for your enjoyment. If BT gets a lot of views/votes, she will publish even more.~

Buttonweasel's Tales (Completed: https://www.wattpad.com/story/141980202-buttonweasel%27s-tales-a-warriors-novella-fanfic )

Hickorywing's Prophecy (Ongoing: https://www.wattpad.com/story/143462634-hickorywing%27s-prophecy )