Java Kennels

Prologue Thornstripe's fur was standing on end as she faced the snarling wolf, twice her size. "Don't suppose you'll be running like a scaredy cat do ya now?" the male wolf growled. She slid out her claws and drew back her lips into a snarl. "I don't think so, buddy!" she hissed, her eyes flickering with fury. He bent down and bared his sharp canine teeth. "Don't you pick fights with me kitty!" the furious wolf snarled. She bounded close to him and pounced, latching her razor sharp claws into his back. The small she-cat dug her claws into his flesh and hissed. The wolf howled in pain and jumped out from under her. He raked his claws down her back and then bit down hard on her shoulder. Blood shattered out as she yowled. The wolf yipped in delight, as he bit down. She ripped away from the wolf and tore down his side. His blood drained out. She leapt on top of him and bit down on his neck, hard. She broke his spine. His eyes grew wide as blood stained his gray pelt. "Y-you fight good for a cat, I like you...." he whimpered as he died. Thornstripe looked at his limp, bloody body. She dragged him behind a bush and ran back to camp. Chapter One Thornstripe padded down the sandy, damp shore of the bay. Her paws beating down on the grainy terrain, leaving obvious pawprints in a trail behind her black tail. As it began to rain, the thoughts about the wolf she had just killed earlier filled her mind with pride and regret. Her wounds made her feel dizzy and sore. The smooth, cold raindrops slid down her shady black pelt, making it sleek and shiny. She had stopped in her pawsteps when the fresh smell of mouse filled her scent glands. She scented the prey out and crouched low to the ground. Thornstripe waited for the perfect moment to attack. She leapt on top of the mouse, and not a moment too soon! She swiftly nipped it’s neck and padded away, the limp prey clutched in her jaws. ~0~ She had reached RuneClan camp, her legs sore from the travel around the territory, and the attack with the intruding wolf. She tossed the mouse into the fresh-kill pile, and then collapsed, exhausted. Sagewhisker, the clan medicine cat, came rushing over when he saw her wounds. “This is serious. What in the world happened!?” He mewed, quite abruptly too. She was taken to the medicine den. Sagewhisker put some goldenrod, for a poultice, and cobwebs on her wounds. When Thornstripe woke up, she understood why she was in the medicine cat den. She looked down at the cobweb on her side and sighed. “Yes. You must stay here until you are healed.” The solid brown tom meowed, knowing she would ask. She grunted . She didn’t want to wait to heal, she wanted to get up and go! As the medicine cat left, she pulled herself up and stumbled out of the den. She attempted to sneak to the warriors den to get a better nest of moss to sleep on. Sagewhisker noticed her and brought her back to the medicine cat den. She decided to give in and stay any way. A moon had passed, Thornstripe was laying on some moss in the den still. She sighed as she rose, she stretched, arching her scarred back. She let out a yawn, showing her fangs. She left the den to see daylight once more. ~0~ As she was finally healed, she was relaxing in the warrior’s den. A sleek, ginger tabby she-cat approached her. It was the deputy, Flamepelt. “Thornstripe, you have been assigned to the Sun-fall patrol. So get ready.” She mewed forcefully. Thornstripe nodded and rushed out of the den. It was Sun-high, the daily hunting patrol had just left. She went to find one of her clanmates, Lilyfur, a pretty tortoiseshell she-cat. She passed the fresh-kill pile, where an abundance of apprentices were gathered eating. Her paws dug into the wet, soft forest floor as she padded towards Lilyfur’s den. The two talked for a while. “I’m a bit peckish, you?” Lilyfur challenged, her short tail waving. They padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Lilyfur bent down and picked up a fat vole, while Thornstripe grabbed the mouse she had caught earlier. Thornstripe padded back to the warrior’s den, the prey clutched in her jaws. Lilyfur laid down first and bit down into the juicy vole. Thornstripe ripped out some flesh from the small mouse she caught, and began to chew happily. “That really hits the spot!” Thornstripe purred delightfully. She continued to eat as her friend finished up. “ACK! It’s sun-fall! Weren't you assigned to a patrol then!?” Lilyfur meowed in shock. Thoughts of worry zapped through Thornstripes mind. “Yes! I have to go!” She wailed as she bounded towards the woods. Chapter TWO Snowbelly almost slipped on the edge of the gorge. He slid down the steep drop, walking across the fallen tree to the other side. The river rushing below the dead bridge. Snowbelly padded behind the waterfall, where dens were carved into the cliff’s wall. He trotted to a large stone, where cats were gathering. Whispering to each other. “Snowbelly!” a tom called out. He was a light sandy yellow. His green eyes where beautiful, like emeralds. His paws where white along with his belly and chest. He had a long white stripe run down his back, and his tail was the same color. “Yes, Sandfur?” Snowbelly mumbled. The white tip of his black tail lashed in response to his friends urgency. The stripes on his back looked like a spine, and were white like his belly up to his muzzle. He licked his one white paw. “It’s Silverrain! She got attacked on her hunt.” Snowbelly shot up to see Sandfur. His eyes were covered in despair. He raced through the crowd of cats to get a simple sight of his sister. He pushed and shoved, but couldn’t break free from the flood of cats. FallenClan indeed was the biggest out of all five clans in the forest. They might be the border that separated ShadedClan and TangledClan from FeatherClan and RuneClan, but they were fierce. He saw a bloody silver pelt through a gap. He yowled, shoving through the group of cats in his way. Sunlight hit his black and white pelt. His one good, lake blue eye stared up at the sky. His chest heaving for air. “Where is she?” he hissed at the cats who had blocked his way. He had to stop her from entering StarClan’s territory. No way in the place of no stars would he let her be taken from him yet. He glanced around him. “She’s in the medicine den now…” Sandfur meowed, leading Snowbelly around the crowd of cats. He looked up to see it was already Sun-Fall. The made their way to the dirt ramp. The two tom’s paws dug into the loose dirt on top. Kicking it up with every step. They entered the largest den at the top, which sat next to the nursery. Inside Silverrain, laid almost limp. Her eyes were pale. “Who attacked her?” Snowbelly hissed, overwhelmed. The medicine cat, Lightningwatcher looked up at him, her eyes vague. The she- cat was grey, and had a vibrant orange and yellow stripe running down her back. Her amber eyes flickered in their direction, pain and grief flooded through her. Lightningwatcher had recently lost her last kin, and her mate. “I just-” Lightningwatcher began when Snowbelly interrupted her. “Who attacked her?!” he hissed once more. He was becoming furious, and harsh. “Attacking who hurt her won't help!” Lightningwatcher bursted out, her amber eyes were dull and just about as lifeless as Silverrain’s. “She is too gone for me to help her now.” Snowbelly felt his friend began sobbing next to him. Sandfur and Silverrain where just recently made mates. Snowbelly felt his heart weigh heavier in his chest. He turned quickly, walking out of the medicine den. “She is actually dead…” Snowbelly dragged himself down the dirt ramp, to the second section right above the dens that were carved down at the floor. He lumbered into the warrior’s den, not bothering to fix his nest, he flopped down. A brown she-cat padded into the den, leaning against Snowbelly’s stomach. “How is she doing?” the brown she-cat mumbled. Snowbelly didn’t look down into her sky blue eyes. She had spots that covered her back, only slightly darker than her pelt. “She’s gone Mouseears.” she looked up at him, her eyes widened. She was shocked. Her small ears didn’t move at all. She was just frozen in time when he had spoken. She finally turned to meet Snowbelly’s gaze. “I’m sorry… we’ll miss her dearly.” she meowed, curling under Snowbelly’s legs. She leaned her weight on him, not moving from her spot from when she had rested. “Have you found yourself a mate yet?” “Likely, we became full warriors a moon ago!” he retorted, jokingly. “Then again, there might be a cat I do like.” Snowbelly dozed off, not long after their conversation. Drifting off to a world of no wrong or good. She was there again. The she-cat from RuneClan. She ran with the wind. Her shaded black pelt was beautiful. Snowbelly padded forward, reaching one paw out for her. She turned to meet his gaze. Her eyes pierces through him. She lashed her tail. Leaping off into the mist. Disappearing from his sight. ~0~ It had been a moon since Silverrain had died. Chapter Three Thornstripe reached the forest to come face to face with some very impatient cats. “Where were you!?” A white coated tom hissed with anger in his tone. “Uhh, well I-I’m s-sorry I didn’t mean-” She began. “Shut up that’s enough from you.” He growled. “Yea, shut up!” A tan she-cat mocked. Thornstripe was on the verge of tears but held it back, she would be strong, she was not going to let those fleabags get to her. The head of the patrol scampered ahead, while the others trailed behind. Thornstripe padded along. The others were inhaling the old scents of clans, while Thornstripe realized a strange movement nearby. She opened her mouth, a smell of TangledClan filled her scent glands. “Enemy cats??” She hissed, under her breath. The black she-cat removed the thought from her head. It was a stale scent, nothing for her to worry about. She shifted her weight for a moment and caught up with her assigned patrol. She sniffed the air, only to smell an old FallenClan scent. Not helpful. “Here. We will patrol the border, along our side of the gorge.” The leader of the patrol, a white tom, with black tips on his paws, meowed. Thornstripe fixed her amber eyes on the trees across the gorge, the ones that lead to FallenClan. They haven't been seen for a while, they must be cooped up in their oversized camp. She patrolled along the ferns scattering the edges of the steep, rocky gorge. “Over here!” A she-cat yowled, in surprise. Thornstripe bounded over, wind rippling through her finely groomed pelt. The sun hid behind a cloak of clouds, making the day just as gloomy as it was last moon. “What in the name of StarClan is going on?!” The patrol leader hissed at the she-cat, his blue eyes flooded with alarm. Faint hissing and yowling could be heard in the distance. It was across the gorge. “A battle!” The she-cat meowed in shock. The tom, the leader of the patrol, growled. “That’s none of our business! Mouse-brain!” He hissed, picking up the cat by the scruff of her neck. The battle appeared to be between some FallenClan warriors and a group of rogues. Blood was shattering fiercely over there, it seemed bad. Cats were falling, and dying. Were those nasty rogues coming to RuneClan next? CHAPTER FOUR Blacktail let out a yowl that echoed through the camp, summoning all cats to gather around. Snowbelly had padded up to the large rock that stood in front of the waterfall. “As we all know the new moon is almost upon us.” Blacktail began, flicking the white tip of his tail. Lightningwatcher’s amber eyes flickered across the clan as she sat on a smaller stone on Blacktail’s right side. Her new apprentice, Ebonypaw, sat next to her. On Blacktail’s right side is the deputy’s rock, but no deputy occupied it yet. “We already know this…” Snowbelly murmured, other cats around him were aswell speaking. “We, as the biggest clan will provide prey and herbs for the night.” Blacktail began, his ruby eyes flickered across the crowd of cats. Blacktail was the only cat in so long to have such odd colored eyes. FallenClan was also not only unique for bringing resources all the time, but for allowing female leaders and medicine cats to have mates and kits. “We will let Lightningwatcher share what information she has with us.” Blacktail reassured the clan. Snowbelly shot up, pushing past Mouseears and Sandfur. He made his way to the front of the crowd where Blacktail stood tall. His muscles tense. Blacktail had noticed Snowbelly’s urge to go. “The cats that will hunt for prey this new moon are…” Blacktail meowed, his eyes flickered across the clan. “Mouseears, Snowywhiskers, Moonflower, Dawnpetal, and Snowbelly.” “Yes!” Snowbelly meowed under his breathe. Chapter five

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02:34pm on Nov 19

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