Falconheart took a drink from the chilly river. He knew that this river went through what would be AshClan territory but he hoped that SunClan would have a river in their territory. The only one they had before was right near the border to the gathering hollow. Falconheart took a step back from the river and shook his pelt free of pine needles and snow, he had no idea how AshClan could stand living in this forest of pine needles. He flicked his tail with annoyance, all night he had been pulling the stupid needles out of his pelt. He hoped that he wouldn't have to stay here much longer.
"Cats of the Clans!" Falconheart looked over his shoulder as he heard his mother's call. "Gather around! We have chosen the cats for the journey around the territories." Falconheart took one last drink and hurried over to where the Clans had gathered. He sat down beside Lionclaw near the front of the group, waiting patiently for the announcements.
"Now that we're all gathered," Shadowstar began. "We will be announcing the cats who are going." He looked over the crowd. "Pigeonpelt, Tallsong and Rainpaw from MoonClan will be going." The cats of MoonClan stood up, Rainpaw looking particularly excited, and stood together.
Timbertail stepped forward. "Stumptail, Twigheart and Brackenheart will be going for LichenClan.
Riverstar spoke up next. "From AshClan I will be sending, Lilyclaw, Nightheart and Rabbitpaw." Falconheart noticed that Rabbitpaw didn't exactly look thrilled, her eyes filled with trepidation and she lowered her head. Falconheart wondered how a cat could be so skittish, Rainpaw was younger than her and she couldn't wait to get going.
"Finally," Dawnstar started, looking over her Clan. "I've chosen Flamepetal, Sedgepaw and Falconheart." Falconheart lifted his head, blinking in slight surprise. Falconheart stood up, excited that he was going to be one of the first to see the new territories.
"You all should set out as soon as possible." Riverstar instructed. "I'd expect it to take you all at least two days if you explore each territory thoroughly."
"We should leave now." Pigeonpelt mewed, instantly taking charge. Falconheart knew that Pigeonpelt was the oldest warrior here, just older than Twigheart. Normally Falconheart would complain about having to follow the orders of another Clan cat, but he had been doing that for the past moon, he would be okay doing it for a few more days.
"Where are we going to start?" Tallsong questioned her Clanmate.
"We should head that way," Pigeonpelt motioned with his head. "We'll search each territory thoroughly. We'll only be covering half of what I assume will be AshClan territory and if we don't find a camp for AshClan we'll search the other half.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Lilyclaw nodded her head as did Nightheart and Rabbitpaw. Falconheart flattened his ears, he was less than excited about having to travel with Nightheart. Somehow, she knew about his training with Falconclaw. Though he had no idea how a cat from another Clan would even figure that out. His own Clanmates, with the exception of Honeypaw had no idea and even Honeypaw didn't know who he was training with.
"Let's head out." Pigeonpelt mewed and with some farewells to their Clanmates, the group of cats headed out away from their makeshift camp. Falconheart looked around as they began their first moments of exploration. Falconheart sniffed around the territory, it was covered in snow but he knew it wouldn't last for long. As great as pine trees were, Falconheart longed to see SunClan's future territory.
The patrol searched the pine forest, looking for different features that AshClan could use in their new territory. On the other side of the river they found a sandy area that Lilyclaw and Nightheart agreed could be used for an apprentice training area. Falconheart walked alongside Flamepetal and Sedgepaw as the cats searched the pine forest.
The day continued on and the patrol searched the pine trees until the trees started to thin out. Through the few remaining pine trees Falconheart could see bare trees in the distance. They reminded Falconheart of the trees back in SunClan territory. Could this be SunClan's new territory? Falconheart had to stop himself from running ahead of his patrol mates.
"Looks like this could be the end of AshClan territory." Pigeonpelt mewed as they neared the different trees. "It almost looks like the old AshClan and SunClan border."
"Borders will have to be discussed once we establish our territories." Lilyclaw added, a slight edge to her mew. Falconheart narrowed his eyes at the gray tabby she-cat. Already trying to take more territory than you need? Falconheart flicked his tail but kept his silence, there was no need to start an argument right now.
"Let's just continue. Twigheart urged and started leading the way. They padded deeper into this forest and Falconheart felt a sense of familiarity. I think this could be SunClan's new home. Falconheart held his head high and walked through the forest with a newfound sense of confidence and hope.
"What's that over there?" Falconheart looked to see Rainpaw bounding over to something she had spotted in the distance.
"Rainpaw, wait!" Tallsong cried after the apprentice and chased after her. "We don't know what could be hiding in these territories!"
Rainpaw came to a stop and turned to the patrol with confusion in her eyes. "I'm not running off far, I just saw something." She turned her head down, looking at something just in front of her. Falconheart and the rest of the patrol followed Tallsong and Rainpaw to whatever it was that the apprentice had discovered.
Falconheart looked down at what she found. There was a den in the ground, but it was collapsed, leaving a mound of earth and grass. "It's a collapsed badger den." Brackenheart mewed. "We used to have on in LichenClan territory."
"Badgers?" Sedgepaw flattened her ears slightly, looking around with concern. "Is there badgers around here?"
Twigheart sniffed the air. "I don't think so," The pale brown she-cat mewed. "I can't scent any, and if this den is collapsed there's a good chance the badger left it behind or was killed in it."
"We should still be on the lookout, though." Lilyclaw added. "If a badger lived here once it could live here again."
"Are badger's bad?" Sedgepaw questioned, looking up at Flamepetal and Falconheart.
"They can be," Flamepetal mewed. "Windflight and Blazeheart, Dawnstar's parents, were killed by a badger. With enough cats a badger can be easily dealt with."
"Plus," Falconheart added, nudging Sedgepaw. He wanted to soothe any fears that she might have. "With what we've faced on this journey, how scary could a badger possibly be?"
"It's mousebrained to think that way." Falconheart's fur stood on end at the sharp tone of Nightheart. He met the AshClan warrior's yellow gaze, twitching his tail in annoyance. "Just because you can fight a coyote doesn't mean you can fight every other creature in the forest."
"I saved you from a coyote didn't I?" Falconheart sneered, he remembered seeing Nightheart cornered by one of the wretched creatures. He had fought it off and saved her life.
"Leave it to a SunClan cat to brag about saving someone's life." Nightheart's gaze burned with irritation.
"Nightheart." Lilyclaw snapped, baring her teeth. "We've been spending the past moon together, you can handle a few more days with Falconheart." She stared down Nightheart who avoided Lilyclaw's gaze. "And if you can't then I suggest you head back to the others now and send someone who can keep a level head, understand?"
Nightheart flattened her ears and stared at the ground, anger and embarrassment sparking in her eyes. "Yes, I understand." Falconheart held his head high until he felt Flamepetal's green gaze burning into his pelt.
"The same goes for you Falconheart." She growled. "You may be a warrior now but you still have all the arrogance you did as an apprentice. Either respect the cats you're with or keep your tongue to yourself."
Falconheart flattened his ears as well, he hadn't been scolded like that in a while. He just nodded and kept silent. "As interesting as a collapsed badger den is," Pigeonpelt mewed. "I suggest we move on." The patrol left the badger den behind and continued moving through the bare, snowy forest.
As they did with the pine forest, the patrol scoured the new territory. In the distance, Falconheart could hear the bubbling of a river. He looked around, seeing the glistening water through the trees. The river from where they had arrived had gone through the entirety of the pine forest and must have continued up through this forest.
"I wish we could fish." Rainpaw sighed. "We haven't had any fish since before leaf-bare." She dropped her head sadly. "I miss eating fish and being able to swim."
"Hopefully in our new territory we'll have all the fish we can eat," Tallsong purred. "And a beautiful river to swim in."
Falconheart couldn't agree with the need to swim or eat fish, but he did relate on missing his home. He missed the towering trees overhead, sunning himself in SunClan camp under the warm, sunhigh rays.
"I think I see a hollow." Twigheart mewed. "Didn't Honeypaw and Pebblestep say that SunClan's camp was in a stone hollow?"
Falconheart nodded, quickly stepping up beside Twigheart. He squinted through the trees and saw what Twigheart had seen. It was a stone hollow, but there didn't seem to be much in it. "I remember most of what Honeypaw told me about the camp she saw." Falconheart responded. "We should explore it."
The rest of the patrol agreed and hurried on towards the stone hollow. As they neared it, Falconheart realized it was much bigger than he thought. He could see overgrown brush inside of the hollow, lining the walls.
They reached the stone hollow which was deep in the ground, Falconheart looked over the gray stone, looking for a safe way to get into the hollow. Most sides of the hollow were jagged and too high up to jump into without risking injury.
His eyes scanned the hollow until he found a snowy path leading down into the hollow. "Over here." He motioned with his head and guided the patrol to the path he found. It was slick from the snow, but the patrol made it into the hollow without issue. Falconheart looked around, looking for the signs that Honeypaw had told him about.
In the back of the hollow he saw two caves, one was larger than the other. The leader's den and medicine cat den. Falconheart thought, remembering Honeypaw's description. The leader den was a big cave in the back wall, the medicine cat den was near that and was a smaller cave. Then, there should be a stone den against the back wall. That's the nursery. Falconheart saw all three dens. The elder's den is a bush den near the nursery, and the warrior and apprentice dens are also two bush dens close to each other.
Falconheart didn't see any bush dens, but he did see several overgrown bushes that, with enough work, could easily be made into dens. "This is exactly the camp that Honeypaw described." Falconheart mewed.
"So this is going to be SunClan's new camp?" Sedgepaw bounced around with glee, looking all around the hollow. "It looks so cozy!" Sedgepaw ran over to the large tangle of brush. "This could be my new den!" She continued running around with joy, calling out the dens and excitedly sniffing around.
"This does look nice." Flamepetal breathed out in a half-sigh. "Definitely needs some work but..." Flamepetal approached the brush. "In time it could be a good home for our Clan."
Falconheart agreed, he began exploring as well. It was big, roomy and spacious. The apprentice den would actually be back in the camp with all the other dens. It probably wouldn't be as big but the apprentices would be in the protection of the camp with the warriors.
Falconheart watched Sedgepaw, inspired by her joy and energy. She's so excited. Falconheart thought with a purr. Through the entire journey Sedgepaw had proven herself to be a talented, mature and joyous cat. She was brave, fierce and fought like a fully grown warrior. She'll make an incredible warrior. Falconheart through with a purr.
"We should continue." Twigheart spoke up. "It's nearly dusk and we've only seen two territories." Falconheart hesitated for just a moment, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to move into his camp right now, but Falconheart knew that was impossible. He withheld a sigh and nodded while Flamepetal got the attention of Sedgepaw who quickly returned to the patrol.
"We'll see the rest of SunClan territory and rest in the next camp we find." Pigeonpelt mewed. "Then we'll continue bright and early in the morning."
"What about prey?" Lilyclaw asked. "Will we hunt?"
Pigeonpelt nodded. "Yes, we can hunt once we find a place to rest." With that, the patrol left SunClan camp and continued on their way through SunClan territory. Falconheart was incredibly pleased to find that there was a river in sight just as they left the camp.
As the neared the river, the patrol passed a low hollow in the ground. Falconheart thought as they passed that it could be a good training area for the apprentices. The reached the river and discovered a large stone in the middle of it that provided an easy way to cross.
Once they were across they discovered they were in a small field. They padded for only a few moments before Falconheart spotted another river. This one was bigger and on the other side was a few trees, but with focus Falconheart could see moor through them.
"Think that could be our new territory?" Rainpaw questioned Tallsong and Pigeonpelt. "It looks like moorland, and there's a river!"
"Possibly." Tallsong purred. "I remember what Oneflight and Ravenheart told us to look for in our camp so we'll have to see." The patrol approached the river, it wasn't as easy to cross this one Falconheart realized anxiously as he looked across the river's surface.
Peeking out from the very top were small stepping stones. Falconheart tensed up at the thought of crossing that. He had crossed the river to the gathering hollow but they had been more than the very tips poking out of the water.
"Let's cross." Pigeonpelt didn't waste much time waiting for the others. He stepped on the stones and quickly crossed the stones without fear. Tallsong did the same and so did Rainpaw, leaving the others anxiously waiting.
"Don't be scared!" Rainpaw called. "If any of you fall in we can swim to save you!" She jumped around Tallsong.
"Well then." Lilyclaw said, her voice tense. "Let's just do it." The gray tabby she-cat cautiously stepped up to the river banks, placing a tender paw on the first stone. Falconheart heard a deep breath from the AshClan she-cat and she crossed slowly and shakily. Lilyclaw reached the other side and turned over to look at her patrol mates. "It's not too bad, just be careful."
Falconheart watched the other cats cross, he noticed that Rabbitpaw in particular was terrified. Despite her shaking, the small apprentice crossed without incident. When it finally came to Falconheart he had to force himself to be brave. If the most skittish apprentice can cross this river then I should be able to as well. Falconheart took a deep breath and held his head high.
He placed his paws on the stones, feeling the icy water lap at his toes. Suppressing a shiver, Falconheart put one paw in front of the other and continued to cross. He was nearly over when he felt his hind paw slip off the rock and into the water.
Alarm shot through his entire body and in a split second he imagined his body falling into the river below. Freezing and drowning with no way to reach the surface. The alarm send him leaping from the current rock he was on to the other side of the river.
He landed panting, his fur puffed out and his heart racing. From around him, Falconheart could hear laughter from his patrol mates. He looked at them, puffing up even more when he saw how much they were laughing at him.
"You alright, Falconheart?" Lilyclaw asked with an amused purr.
"Y-yes." Falconheart struggled to smooth down his fur and despite the chilly air his entire pelt burned with embarrassment. "I just slipped." He added under his breath. They waited for the rest of the cats to cross before they moved on.
Still feeling the embarrassment bite under his skin, Falconheart kept quiet as they crossed the moor.
"This reminds me so much of our old moor!" Rainpaw exclaimed. "This has to be our new home! I know it!" With Rainpaw's excitement guiding them, Falconheart and the rest of the patrol travelled through the moorland. It didn't take long before they spotted a deep hollow in the moor.
"That's it!" Once again, Rainpaw ran ahead of everyone else without looking back.
"Rainpaw!" Tallsong called out. "Stop! You shouldn't run off!" The dark gray she-cat took off in a sprint after the apprentice. Falconheart was surprised at how quickly they moved.
"That apprentice needs to learn how to control her excitement." Lilyclaw mewed. "She's gonna get herself into trouble."
As Lilyclaw spoke, Falconheart heard a shrill cry coming from ahead. "That's Rainpaw!" Pigeonpelt cried and the entire patrol took off running after Tallsong and Rainpaw. Falconheart ran as fast as he could, praying that Rainpaw would be okay.
They skidded to a stop at the base of a the hollow. Falconheart searched the hollow for Rainpaw. He spotted her tangled up in a patch of brambles. Tallsong was already beside the brambles helping get the apprentice out.
"Are you alright?" Pigeonpelt questioned with concern in his mew.
"Yeah," Rainpaw sighed, trying to pull herself out of the brambles. "I just tripped."
"You shouldn't have ran ahead." Tallsong sighed, ripping away a large bramble. "You could've gotten seriously hurt. We don't know what's in these territories. We've already talked about this."
"I know." Rainpaw flattened her ears. "I'm sorry." Tallsong fasted her teeth into Rainpaw's scruff and ripped her out of the brambles. Rainpaw let out a squeak of pain as she was pulled. She left behind tufts of black fur and Falconheart noticed blood drawing from a few spots.
"You should be fine." Tallsong set the apprentice down. "Wash the injuries and we should rest." Tallsong looked around. "This looks like what Oneflight and Ravenheart described to me." Tallsong looked around. "That's the leader's den." She motioned towards a pile of rocks in the center of the hollow. "We should sleep there."
"Pigeonpelt, Flamepetal and I can go hunting." Lilyclaw volunteered. "The rest of you start resting. We have a long day tomorrow. We need to find LichenClan territory, a gathering hollow, a place to talk with StarClan and find a camp for AshClan."
Falconheart didn't even want to hunt, he was cold and exhausted from walking all day. He and his patrol mates went into Shadowstar's future den. Lilyclaw and the others returned shortly after with prey. The patrol ate and quickly went to sleep.
Falconheart stayed close to Flamepetal and Sedgepaw. He closed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion of his journey weighing down on his shoulders. The moment Falconheart closed his eyes, he slipped into a refreshing sleep.