Chapter Four

Day three of being out of camp. The warriors reported that the camp still wasn't totally drained, so we still had to stay in this small clearing. Orchidblossom was making me walk around the territory so that my paw could heal better, but man it hurt! Especially when everyone was to busy to go with you, and you keep stepping on things. Finally, Snowpaw said she was able to come walking with me. I was really depressed, seeing all the trees I could have been climbing if I hadn't let Lionpaw's retort get to me."Don't be so sad!" Snowpaw chided as we rested under a tree."Why were your claws so deep in the wood anyways?" I gave her my 'I can do whatever I want look'."It's just that, Lionpaw seemed to be making fun of me for jumping at the sound of thunder, and I didn't want to look weak." I glared again when Snowpaw laughed.

"You're scared of thunder?" She purred loudly, then clamped her tail in her mouth when she realized what she said."Oh, sorry." She flattened her ears with embarrassment. I sighed and looked away."It's okay. It probably sounds stupid." I could tell Snowpaw was nervous, because she kept shifting her paws."We should probably go back. Hopefully your paw gets better soon." We both trudged back in silence.

Basically, the rest of my day was B-O-R-I-N-G. Turns out Lionpaw got a fever from falling in the water, and Snowpaw was too busy flirting with Whirlpaw. I finally decided to go take a nap in the warm sun, then I heard Desertstar yowl."All those old enough to catch their own prey gather together for a clan meeting!" I padded over to a tall rock where Desertstar had established himself. I realized that my paw didn't hurt that bad, and I was hardly limping."I think it's about times we announced some warriors and apprentices!" My eyes glittered suddenly. Of course, I had no idea that it made my appearance more appealing to the toms."Snowpaw, step forward."

Snowpaw was in front of Desertstar before I could see her move."You have trained long and hard as an apprentice of Stealthclan. Do you promise to take on the responsibility of a full warrior?" Snowpaw shook her head so hard I though it was going to fall off and roll away."Yes!" She purred with pleasure."Then by the power of Starclan, I grant you your warrior name. Snowpaw, you shall now be known as Snowbird. Starclan honors your fun and excitement." SnowBIRD trotted happily over to me."Dreamingpaw, step forward." I slowly did so, trying to look more majestic and powerful."You have trained long and hard as an apprentice. Not just here, but in another clan and on your own. Do you promise to take on the full responsibility of a warrior?" I slowly nodded, and suddenly my mind was at a loss for words.

"Then by the power of Starclan, I grant you your warrior name. Dreamingpaw, you shall now be known as Dreamingstrike. Starclan honors your power and honesty. Dreamingstrike. My mind echoed as I returned to my place in the crowd. It had a nice ring to it, I liked it. For the rest of the ceremony, I was pretty much dumb-founded. All I heard was that Whirlpaw became Whirlwind, and Lionpaw became Lionfritz. Then there were some new apprentices or something like that."We're warriors!" Snowbird pronounced proudly."Now we can do all sorts of things!" I rolled my eyes at her, but still happy that she was the one who found me.

Lionfritz headed back to the medicine cat den. He still had a fever, so I wondered why he was made a warrior. Whirlwind came over to us, and Snowbird got all blushy. I left them alone, then headed to the forest. As I a nice glade I laid down to bask in the sun since I didn't get to it. I heard a rustle come from the edge of the glade. Faintly, in the back of my mind, I remembered Whirlwind's warning. Don't go anywhere alone, or he'll do it himself. Who was he again? I narrowed my eyes when Treejump came through the ferns."What do you want?" I licked my paw, and suddenly my stomach started tying itself in knots."Oh, nothing much really." He unsheathed his claws and ran them down the trunk of a tree.

"Just want you gone." He continued his reply while advancing towards me."Gone?" In a flash, everything came back to me. Treejump working for Tigerstar and Flick, whoever Flick was. My eyes widened when I realized again that Treejump was about to kill me. I screamed and began to run. I felt my paw get stronger, and realized that Starclan was helping. Of course, to my distress, I heard Treejump pounding after. If I can just make it back to camp, I'll be safe! I swerved into the direction of camp, then remembered it was flooded with water. I also remembered that I could swim, and the rest of the clan can't. I continued in that direction, and jumped in.

You know, it's a strange sensation, flying into a pit of water to save your life. It's a mixture of terror and excitement. As soon as I hit the water, I willed my paws to paddled through the clear rainwater. I heard Treejump splash in after me, then him flailing in the water. I looked back to see him sinking down. Even though it twisted my heart to see him like that, I knew he was trying to kill me. I pulled myself back out and ran to camp.

~~~

"Help! Treejump fell into the water!" Everyone turned to look at me."I was working on my paw, and I saw him fall in! I can't pull him! Hurry!" Everyone rushed out of the make-shift camp, everyone but Whirlwind. He padded over to me calmly."You led him there, didn't you?" I nodded slowly."He was trying to kill me....." Whirlwind looked at the sky in agitation."Didn't I tell you not to go in the forest alone." I sighed heavily."Yes, but I forgot. It's not like it's bad." Whirlwind glared at me."Oh it's not bad. It's worse. All you've done is angered Flick more. He's either gonna come kill you, force me to kill you or he will kill me, or send one if his other horrible rouges like Pound." I felt tears brimming my eyes. Despite how much my father had yelled at me, I still wasn't used to it.

I snapped my head up to stare Whirlwind eye to eye."Well, I'm sorry I ruined your dainty little life. My don't you just go flirt with your girlfriend and everything will be better for you!" I growled heavily and stormed away to the warriors den. Right now, I felt like my only friend was Lionfritz, and it was his fault I broke my paw! I scraped together some other moss, but didn't make it to comfortable since we weren't staying here. I laid there with my eyes wide open until I heard the clan come back."Treejump is dead!"