Eye of the Storm (PineClan tales #1) Chapter one up!

[beech]

OtterClan:
Leader:
Brightstar: a brown tabby-and-white tom with orange eyes.

Deputy:
Mousepelt: a small, dark brown tabby she-cat with a white paw and yellow eyes. Apprentice: Tigerpaw.

Medicine cat:
Kestrelheart: a long-haired, tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

Medicine cat apprentice:
Lionpaw: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with a white tail tip and yellow eyes.

Warriors:
Bramblepelt: a brown tabby tom with a white underbelly and copper eyes. Apprentice: Briarpaw.

Minkcloud: a dark brown tabby tom with a lighter underbelly and green eyes.

Sorrelwhisker: a ginger tabby she-cat with a white muzzle and green eyes. Apprentice: Bluepaw.

Gooseheart: a gray-brown tabby tom with large white paws and yellow eyes.

Palefur: a long-haired, light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Reedpelt: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.

Ratclaw: a black-and-white tom with orange eyes. Apprentice: Cedarpaw.

Hazeltail: a light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes. Apprentice: Minkpaw.

Beenose: a golden-tabby-and-white tom with green eyes. Apprentice: Graypaw.

Duckstorm: a brown-tabby-and-white tom with yellow eyes.

Ivyclaw: a black she-cat with white paws and green eyes.

Harefoot: a long-haired dark brown tabby tom with orange eyes. Apprentice: Pinepaw.

Rocknose: a gray tabby tom with blue eyes.

Sootwhisker: a long-haired, dark gray tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Elders:
Toadclaw: a tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

Rosepelt: a ginger tabby she-cat with orange eyes.

Firestorm: a ginger tabby tom with a white underbelly and green eyes.

Patchface: a calico she-cat with orange eyes.

Apprentices:
Pinepaw: a blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes. Mentor: Harefoot.

Bluepaw: a blue-gray she-cat with green eyes. Mentor: Sorrelwhisker.

Graypaw: a large, gray tabby tom with amber eyes. Mentor: Beenose.

Briarpaw: a brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes. Mentor: Bramblepelt.

Cedarpaw: a dark brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes. Mentor: Ratclaw.

Minkpaw: a dark brown tabby tom with orange eyes. Mentor: Hazeltail.

Tigerpaw: a dark brown tabby tom with golden eyes. Mentor: Mousepelt.

Queens:
Silverflower: a silver tabby she-cat with dark tabby markings and blue eyes. Kits: Smokekit.

Kits:
Smokekit: a gray tabby tom with golden eyes.

SwiftClan:
Leader:
Lightningstar: a long-haired white she-cat with blue eyes.

Deputy:
Breamstorm: a light gray tabby tom with orange eyes.

Medicine Cat:
Lilyleaf: a long-haired white she-cat with yellow eyes.

Medicine Cat apprentice:
None yet!

Warriors:
Bouldercloud: a gray-brown tabby tom with a white tail tip and green eyes.

Gannetclaw: a tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with orange eyes. Apprentice: Cloudpaw.

Goldenpelt: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes.

Acornwhisker: a golden-brown tabby tom with green eyes. Apprentice: Nightpaw.

Cootnose: a black-and-white tom with yellow eyes.

Darkfur: a dark brown tabby she-cat with white patches and orange eyes.

Foxface: a ginger tabby tom with orange eyes.

Beetlestorm: a black tom with green eyes.

Otterpelt: a brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.

Minnowtail: a long-haired gray-and-white tabby tom with orange eyes. Apprentice: Dawnpaw.

Mallowfang: a long-haired white she-cat with green eyes.

Cinderwhisker: a dark gray tabby tom with blue eyes.

Ratpelt: a black tom with white front paws and copper eyes. Apprentice: Poppypaw.

Elders:
Sageclaw: a long-haired light gray tabby tom with green eyes.

Antfang: a dark brown tom with green eyes.

Apprentices:
Dawnpaw: a dominantly pale ginger tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes. Mentor: Minnowtail.

Poppypaw: a dark ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes. Mentor: Ratpelt.

Nightpaw: a black tom with white paws and yellow eyes. Mentor: Acornwhisker.

Cloudpaw: a white tom with copper eyes. Mentor: Gannetclaw.

Queens:
Shellcloud: a light gray tabby she-cat with orange eyes. Kits: Hailkit and Stormkit.

Egretflower: a white she-cat with one blue eye and one yellow eye. Kits: Hollykit, Molekit, and Sootkit.

Kits:
Hailkit: a pale gray dappled she-cat with golden eyes.

Stormkit: a dark gray tabby tom with orange eyes.

Hollykit: a white she-cat with green eyes.

Molekit: a black-and-white tom with amber eyes.

Sootkit: a black tom with golden eyes.

GorseClan:
Leader:
Fallowstar: a light brown tabby she-cat with a lighter underbelly and yellow eyes.

Deputy:
Flypelt: a black-and-white tom with green eyes.

Medicine Cat:
Foxwhisker: a ginger tabby tom with green eyes.

Medicine cat apprentice:
Patchpaw: a gray-and-white tabby she-cat with orange eyes.

Warriors:
Firepelt: a ginger tabby she-cat with white markings and green eyes. Apprentice: Rowanpaw.

Ashtail: a dark gray tabby tom with a white chest and green eyes.

Crowfur: a long-haired black-and-white tom with orange eyes. Apprentice: Swiftpaw.

Sorrelfang: a tortoiseshell she-cat with white markings and yellow eyes.

Roseclaw: a ginger tabby she-cat with a white muzzle and green eyes.

Lionwhisker: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes. Apprentice: Emberpaw.

Jaypelt: a long-haired gray-and-white tom with gray eyes.

Gingernose: a ginger tabby tom with white paws and green eyes. Apprentice: Heatherpaw.

Kestrelface: a dark brown tabby she-cat with a lighter underbelly and orange eyes.

Robinclaw: a ginger-and-brown tabby tom with white paws and yellow eyes.

Redpelt: a ginger tabby she-cat with a lighter underbelly and green eyes.

Elders:
Whitecloud: a white tom with green eyes.

Apprentices:
Swiftpaw: a black-and-white tom with green eyes. Mentor: Crowfur.

Heatherpaw: a pale ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Mentor: Gingernose.

Rowanpaw: a dark ginger tabby tom with golden eyes. Mentor: Firepelt.

Emberpaw: a tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes. Mentor: Lionwhisker.

Queens:
Alderflower: a dark brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes. Kits: Cedarkit and Briarkit.

Goldencloud: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with golden eyes. Kits: Applekit, Carpkit, and Mistkit.

Pikepelt: a gray-brown tabby she-cat with green eyes. Kits: Mothkit and Squirrelkit.

Kits:
Cedarkit: a dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes.

Briarkit: a dark brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes.

Applekit: a golden-brown tabby she-cat with green eyes.

Carpkit: a golden-brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Mistkit: a pale gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

Mothkit: a gray-brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes.

Squirrelkit: a bright ginger tabby tom with white paws and green eyes.

[beech]

                                                                                                Prologue

Shadows settled on three cats standing around a small, shimmering pool of clear blue water. “What do you think, Gorsestar? Is he the one?” a small, dark brown tabby she-cat asked the bigger, golden-brown tabby.

    “He is,” Gorsestar meowed, “Do you share my opinion, Otterstar?” Otterstar flicked her dark brown tail and looked up into his eyes. The third cat, a small black-and-white tom, stood to the far right silently.

    “Perhaps. That one may do as well,” Otterstar meowed, touching one of her small paws to the cool water. A smaller, blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes appeared in the water. Gorsestar stood up, his neck fur bristling.

    “This one walks a separate path, you know this, Otterstar,” Gorsestar meowed, striking the water to rid it of the young cat’s reflection. Gorsestar was angered by the thought of that she-cat having the fate of the forest in her paws. 

    “Calm down, Gorsestar. Her fate may be sealed already, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t shape the way of the forest today,” Swiftstar, the usually silent tom, meowed, “But Gorsestar is right, Otterstar. This one walks a path that, some day, will intersect with another, and may destroy the forest. She is not the one.”

    Otterstar dipped her head, respectfully. “As you wish, Swiftstar,” she meowed, “I just hope he has the strength and courage to accept his destiny, and the knowledge to know what to do with it.”

    Swiftstar silently agreed, but Gorsestar vocalized his agreement. “Yes, and let’s just hope that he is the right cat. The lives of all these cats rest in our paws,” Gorsestar meowed. He closed his eyes, his pelt being consumed by stars.

    “I say this so all of the forest may hear… Graypaw shall hold the power of the Clans in his paws. He may use this power as he wishes; to shape the forest, and make it his own. To unite the Clans to defeat any task that may require it. To unite his own Clan through any means necessary. Graypaw is the one!”

[beech]

Chapter One

The taste of an oncoming storm danced in the air like a feather falling slowly to the ground. Pale eyes traveled over the sparsely covered ground as they walked into the small clearing that was surrounded by trees.

    Graypaw, the young gray apprentice from OtterClan, looked around at the cats from the other Clans that were gathering. Bluepaw, his sister, walked beside him. Their other sister, Pinepaw, wasn’t allowed to go for going against Brightstar’s orders and leaving the camp in the middle of the night when she knew it wasn’t safe.

    Graypaw and Bluepaw had promised to tell her everything that happened at the gathering, but now that it was going on, Graypaw was feeling nervous. There were so many other cats there. “Why don’t you two go see the apprentices from the other Clans?” Mousepelt, the deputy of OtterClan, suggested. 

    “Good idea, Mousepelt!” Bluepaw exclaimed and led the way over to the small group of apprentices sitting near the stream. Tigerpaw followed him, being the other apprentice that was allowed to the gathering from OtterClan. Tigerpaw was two moons older than Bluepaw and Graypaw, as were his siblings. 

    The group consisted of a small tortoiseshell she-cat, a large white tom, a pale ginger tabby she-cat, a black-and-white patched tom, and a dark ginger tom. Graypaw waved his tail slightly as he approached the group behind his sister. “Hello!” the small, tortoiseshell she-cat chirped, “I’m Dawnpaw!”

    Graypaw felt a strange twinge of emotion in his heart as Dawnpaw spoke, but the emotion was too foreign for him to understand. It still intrigued him and he decided he’d bring it up to his mother, Palefur, later or he’d bring it up to his mentor, Beenose. He dipped his head politely to Dawnpaw.

    “I’m Bluepaw, and this is my brother Graypaw,” Bluepaw meowed, gesturing to herself then to Graypaw, “And this is Tigerpaw; he’s not our brother.” Tigerpaw nodded his head and sat down next to the dark ginger tom.

    “I’m Cloudpaw,” the white tom introduced himself; “Dawnpaw and I are from SwiftClan. I assume you’re from OtterClan from that smell that’s coming off of you.” Bluepaw snorted, and opened her mouth to say something but Tigerpaw interrupted her.

    “Yes, we’re from OtterClan,” Tigerpaw meowed and swiped his bushy brown tail over Bluepaw’s mouth. Bluepaw spat and sat down next to Graypaw, indignation prickling at her pelt and rolling off of her like waves. Even Graypaw could tell how angry she was.

    “I’m Heatherpaw, and this is Swiftpaw and Rowanpaw,” Heatherpaw meowed. Graypaw dipped his head to the pale ginger she-cat and the other two apprentices. Dawnpaw trotted over to Graypaw and the feeling returned to his chest, causing his heart to beat slightly faster.

    “What’s it like to live off of fish?” Dawnpaw asked innocently, though Graypaw got the impression that there was a more malicious intent to her words than it originally appeared. Graypaw shrugged.

    “It’s nothing special. It’s just food like what you eat,” he replied, focusing on nothing more than her words. She could tell that no one was paying attention to them anyway as they were talking quietly among themselves.

    “Well I wouldn’t want to eat those slimy things all the time,” Dawnpaw said with a shiver. Graypaw didn’t have enough courage to say something snappish like most of his Clan-mates would to defend them. Why did they expect him to retort to silly tongue lashings in order to appear strong?

    “Well I’m not too fond of it either,” he admitted, “Nor am I fond of swimming or getting my paws wet.” He hadn’t ever really shared his feelings with any of his Clan-mates, for silly reasons. He always worried they’d mock him for being a “drypaw”, even though he knew that they wouldn’t. Sometimes Graypaw felt he didn’t even belong in his Clan though.

    “Then why do you live there?” Dawnpaw asked and tilted her head. She seemed innocent enough again, but Graypaw still could tell that there was some sort of meaning to her words, like she had asked them for a reason.

    Graypaw felt eyes burning into his pelt, and he noticed Tigerpaw watching him, as though he wanted to hear what Graypaw had to say. Graypaw’s pelt burned with embarrassment; had he seen how unwilling he’d been to defend their Clan?

    “Because it’s my home, and it’s where I was born. I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he meowed, sincerely, though his words weren’t directed at Dawnpaw, as they were directed at Tigerpaw. Tigerpaw narrowed his eyes before standing up. 

    “We should head back to our own Clans now. I’m sure the gathering is about to start,” Tigerpaw meowed. Graypaw bit back an insult. Why does he think he’s so great? He’s barely older than me! He has no business being such a bossy furball, Graypaw thought to himself.

    Everyone started to head back to where their Clans were separated into three groups. “Graypaw, wait!” Dawnpaw called to him and Graypaw turned around to see the tortoiseshell she-cat impatiently shifted her paws. She seemed so tiny and unintimidating now, unlike before when it had seemed impossible to have a proper conversation with her for fear of embarrassing himself.

    “What is it, Dawnpaw?” he asked, politely. He looked around to make sure no one was looking and he walked over to her. Dawnpaw smiled as he approached and her tail started to wag quickly. He blinked down at her.

    “Meet me here tomorrow night!” she meowed quietly but excitedly. Graypaw narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know much about the warrior code yet, but he knew very well that meeting with a cat from another Clan outside of a gathering, and without your Clan, was probably breaking it.

    “Why?” he asked, deciding to ask a different question than the one that was burning into his pelt. Dawnpaw let out an impatient and slightly frustrated sounding sigh.

    “Just do it. We don’t have time to talk about it right now. If I see you here tomorrow night, I’ll know you felt it too, if not, then I’ll know you don’t feel the same,” she meowed and headed off to stand beside her large, broad-muscled Clan-mates.

    Graypaw’s heart beat faster, much faster. She felt it too! The same, strange emotion! What could this mean? He thought to himself as he returned to his Clan-mates. He jumped as Bluepaw touched his shoulder with her tail.

    “Ah! Bluepaw, what do you want?” he demanded, annoyed that he had startled her so much. Bluepaw let out a soft mrrow of laughter. Graypaw felt embarrassed once again.

    “Why were you talking to that apprentice from SwiftClan?” she asked, worry creeping into her tone. Graypaw couldn’t figure out why she was worried; if she suspected he was going to meet with her, she should be angry; if she thought that Dawnpaw was going to replace her as his friend, she should be jealous, but, worry? Worry made no sense in this situation.

    He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Lightningstar, leader of SwiftClan, starting the gathering. Graypaw silently thanked StarClan and turned to the white she-cat who was standing on a branch on the large tree.

    “This Leaf-bare has been fine for SwiftClan. We have three new warriors; Foxface, Cootnose and Goldenpelt,” Lightningstar announced, “We chased off a badger that was making its home at the border with the unclaimed territory.” Lightningstar flicked his tail uneasily and looked at Brightstar.

    “Speaking of which, I believe we should discuss this territory,” Lightningstar meowed. Brightstar exchanged a nervous glance with Fallowstar but he dipped his head.

    “What do you wish to discuss, Lightningstar?” Brightstar asked, politely.

    “It seemed fairly silly to leave such a large piece of territory unclaimed. Perhaps SwiftClan could take this territory,” Lightningstar meowed. Brightstar’s hackles rose. OtterClan commonly used this land to hunt in, and every Clan knew this, even though it was unclaimed.

    Brightstar let his hackles lie flat. “Why would you want that territory? It’s all just pine trees and that one pesky cave. Everyone knows why it’s unclaimed; it’s useless,” Brightstar meowed, properly.

    “Yes, but there’s plenty of prey on that territory, and it’s all just going to waste. If not, maybe we could split the territory up between all three Clans,” Lightningstar suggested. 

    “Thank you, Lightningstar, for that generous offer,” Fallowstar meowed, sarcastically, “But I don’t think GorseClan would have any use for the land. We’d have to travel through OtterClan every single time we wanted to hunt.”

    Lightningstar looked into Brightstar’s eyes. “What do you say, Brightstar?” Lightningstar asked. Graypaw stood to his paws, his hackles raised and his fur fluffed up so he looked bigger than he already was.

    “That territory is rightfully OtterClan’s!” Graypaw snarled and he heard snarls of agreeance from his Clan-mates. SwiftClan looked eager to defend their leader too as they jumped up quickly. Dawnpaw was a bit less enthusiastic and she occasionally glanced at Graypaw.

    Brightstar raised his tail for silence. “You can’t expect us to decide this right now. We’ll give you our answer by the next gathering,” Brightstar meowed. Lightningstar nodded in agreement. 

    As OtterClan traveled back to their camp that night, Graypaw found himself thinking of Dawnpaw repeatedly.

[oenomaus]

0-0 Is he in love with Dawnpaw or something?!

[beech]

Let's just say GraypawxDawnpaw may be the reason why Dawnstar hated Graystar so much.

[oenomaus]

Ahh