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paige-and-opal-inc · 3 years

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Rogues of the Shadows-Chapter 6

By: Paige Turner and Opal Dreemurr

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Warnings: Anxiety, Family Fighting,

Link: Wattpad

Leo happily walked through the forest, his training so far had been going great! He had learned the hunters crouch, gotten a grasp of the territory, and had learned so much! It still hurt to think that he had been lied to by his mother, and that his father didn’t even want him, but he didn’t want to focus on that. Right now he was only concerned about catching a mouse.

As he lowered his nose and began sniffing, he caught a different scent. It was from the kits he had stayed with in the nursery. He remembered Butterflykit, she was almost as energetic as him, but the other two didn’t really talk to him. He stalked through the forest, hoping to surprise them, when he picked up on a rather loud conversation.

“We shouldn’t be out here. What if something bad happens, we could get eaten or caught.” This came from Robinkit, who was the more timid one.

“Come on Robinkit! Nothing’s gonna happen! We’re too sneaky to be caught!” Butterflykit exclaimed, and now Leo could see them. Butterflykit was almost hard to spot with her black and brown patches, while Robinkit’s partially white coat made her stand out.

“We deserve to be out here! Those other kits haven’t even been here for that long and they can go outside of the camp! Why shouldn’t we be able to?!” This came from Sparrowkit, who seemed to sparkle. Her white spots reflected the sun while the brown ones gave a splash of color to her.

It was at this point that Leo decided to simply walk out instead of scaring them, he wanted to be nice, and they seemed a bit scared. Were they not supposed to be out here? I’m sure someone would notice if they went out without permission.

“Hi!” He said cheerfully, and they all jumped, staring at him with wide eyes, “I didn’t know you guys were out here. Do you want to help me catch a mouse?” He asked, and Sparrowkit spoke after a few moments.

“We would love to... but we can’t right now. We have to hunt alone.” She said.

“But you guys are with each other. That isn’t alone.” He pointed out with confusion.

“Alone together,” She told him.

“I- well maybe it won’t be so bad if I help! You look young to be out here. Oh! I could bring you back to Shorttail! He said I should bring back something bigger than my paw, and I’m pretty sure you're at least a bit bigger.” He joked, but they just stared at him, then each other.

After a pause she blurted out, “Look! There’s a twoleg!” Leo swerved his head, twolegs were supposed to be really bad. How could one have gotten on Shadowclan territory?! But he saw nothing, and turned his head again when he heard a high pitch “Run!”.

“We could get eaten or caught!” They had lied! They had snuck out of the camp!

Leo was surprised by how strong the shame was in his chest. He had been tricked by kits who weren’t even allowed out of the camp. It had been so easy for them to trick him! Of course there couldn’t be a twoleg! They were so loud and smelled so strong! How could he have fallen for that?!

Leo didn’t know what to do. Should he chase after them? Tell Shorttail? Shorttail! He would be expecting him back with a mouse by now! Leo hurried, luckily it didn’t take him long to find one since it was Newleaf.

“There you are! I think we should work on some battle moves next. Or we could hunt together so I could see your skills.” Shorttail exclaimed once he got back.

“I would rather go back to camp. I don’t feel too good.” Leo said, not able to meet Shorttails eyes.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, “Did you run into any trouble? Anything I need to report to Pebblestar?” And for a moment Leo almost told him. He opened his mouth, ready to get back at the girls who had tricked him, who had embarrassed him, who were probably bragging about outsmarting an apprentice who should’ve known better. But something stopped him, he didn’t know what, but something made him close his mouth.

“What is it?” Shorttail asked.

“I- uh, it’s nothing.” Leo muttered, already turning towards camp. He walked, avoiding bramble, stewing in his thoughts. Imagining what they’re saying at camp. There was an apprentice who was tricked by kits! They told him there was a twoleg right behind him, even though it was totally unbelievable he fell for it! What a joke! His mind taunted him, and Leo had to swallow a growl. Those kits were terrible! He felt a burning anger, he felt it scorch his heart.

“Leopaw, we need to talk.” Shorttail said, and Leo noticed that he had stopped walking.

“What’s there to talk about?” Leo asked in a flat tone.

“That! It’s obvious something happened when I sent you out to hunt. You were bubbly and happy when I sent you out and then when you came back you were in such a bad mood I could’ve mistaken you for a fox!” Shorttail told him, and Leo bit back a sharp reply.

“I- I just lost some prey alright.” Leo lied, ignoring the guilt. Mama said never to lie! Part of himself protested, Yeah, well. She said a lot of things. The anger in him replied, and Leo stiffened his body. Was it all a lie? Did she even love him?

No! I can’t think that. Things have just gotten good, don’t ruin it!

“I’m sorry. I’ll- I’ll try to get over it.” Leo said, hating the way his voice cracked.

“It’s okay to lose prey and get mad about it.” Shorttail said, and there was something in his voice that snapped Leo out of it.

“I- okay.” Leo said softy, now feeling a more normal bad. They continued to camp without talking. When they got there Leo dropped his mouse on the prey pile then went over to Dapple and Grace.

“You’re back late. What kept you?” Grace asked.

“I had trouble finding a mouse.” Leo lied, once again ignoring the guilt.

“Okay,” She said, before turning her attention back to Dapple, “What’s up with you? You’ve been acting weird ever since that meeting. Were the other cats really that bad?”

Dapple waited a few seconds before answering, “I just- no. It wasn’t them.”

“Then what is it?” Leo asked, eager to know.

“It’s medicine cat business. You’ll find out at the gathering.” Dapple told them, and Leo couldn’t ignore the hurt that she wouldn’t tell them.

“The what?” Grace asked, and Leo felt surprised. Did he really know something Grace didn’t know.

“That gathering. You know, when all the clans meet. It should be happening soon.” Dapple said, and Leo was again surprised by the lack of mockery in her voice. If they were in the forest Dapple would have teased Grace, and they probably would’ve ended up fighting. But here they hadn’t gotten into a fight once!

“How should I know that?! There’s only one cat willing to talk to me, and all he wants to do is insult Mother and insult me.” She huffed, and when no one said anything she continued to complain, “He’s just so terrible! How does he expect me to do anything right when he won’t tell me how?! I should get to choose my mentor! After all, I was able to fight off some of these so-called warriors with barely a scratch!”

“Well since I’m such a bad mentor maybe I could teach you some respect by having you check the elders for ticks.” Leo and his sisters jumped as Braveclaw came up behind them, and Leo couldn’t help but feel… afraid? Grace was about to say something but Shorttail came up behind Braveclaw with a less tense look on his face.

“You should go with her Leo.” He said.

“I’ll get you guys the mouse bile. Come on.” Dapple told them, and they all got up to leave. As they made their way towards the medicine den Sparrowkit approached him, and Leo suppressed a growl.

“Leopaw, I need to talk to you.” She said, and when he didn’t say anything she continued, “It’s really important, and I want to talk to you alone.” Leo looked at her, then at his sisters. I could just yell at her, she doesn’t seem to be in trouble so I could just tell everyone. Different thoughts on what he could do for revenge ran through his head, but honestly he just wanted to get what she wanted to say over with.

“Fine. You two start without me, I’ll be there in a moment.” Leo told them, and he began to follow Sparrowkit to a less crowded part of camp.

“Leopaw, I’m really sorry. I- I just panicked. I just didn’t want to get in trouble again, Pebblestar said that he might have to keep me in the nursery extra long if I keep messing things up, and I didn’t want that to happen so I did the only thing I could think of. I’m really, really sorry that I upset you.” She said quickly, and Leo felt something in his chest. What was it he heard her say, Those other kits haven’t even been here for that long and they can go outside of the camp! Why shouldn’t we be able to?! Maybe she wasn’t just impatient, maybe she actually just wanted to become an apprentice. As he thought about it kinda made sense, there was no malice when she told him about the twoleg, and she seemed really sincere.

“I might have overreacted a bit.” Leo admitted, “I know that I didn’t really do anything to earn an apprenticeship, all I did was come here just to get rejected by a bad excuse for a father. I understand wanting to be able to change things, I forgive you.”

“Really?! Thank you!” Sparrowkit said with such a joyful squeal that Leo couldn’t help but be happy, “I need to get back to my mom, but after you train tomorrow would you want to hang out? I could show you some moves I came up with!”

“Sure, that’d be fun!” Leo responded, and watched as Sparrowkit bounded happily toward the nursery. With a better mood Leo turned toward the elder’s den and started to help Grace, though there wasn’t much work to be done.

“She’s cute isn’t she?” The elder who had been in the medicine den when they first arrived asked. Leo looked at her in surprise, and didn't say anything.

“You did make her very happy, and soon you’ll be able to spend much more time with her.” An orange and black she-cat told him. Why were they so interested in Sparrowkit? Did she say something before she came to talk to him?

“I guess we’ll train together when she’s an apprentice.” Leo said, confused. The two elders chuckled, but didn’t say anything else. Leo decided not to think about it and just finish his task.

Leo was practically tackled when he came back from his training the next day. Sparrowkit led him over to an empty part of camp, where her sisters were waiting.

“I can’t wait! I’m gonna learn so many moves!” She exclaimed.

“Mom said we could only watch Sparrowkit. Don’t get us in trouble again.” Robinkit said, and Butterflykit nodded towards the nursery. Cloudears was watching them from the entrance, and Leo knew she would step in if Sparrowkit started going against what she said.

“Maybe instead of me showing you some moves you could use me as practice for the ones you came up with.” Leo said after a few seconds, he could go easy on her. And maybe it would make a good impression on her mom. Their dad, Mudpelt, already seemed to hate him.

“I’ll go ask!” Sparrowkit shouted as she ran towards her mother. She was really fast despite being so small, and the joy in her face as she came back made Leo happy too.

“She said yes!” She squeaked, and Leo couldn’t help but smile. They stood opposite from each other, and stared at each other for a moment. Sparrowkit crouched down, though she was a bit unbalanced, and leaped at him. Leo sidestepped out of the way, and backed up as Sparrowkit stopped, skidding on the dirt. Leo pounced on her before she could turn around.

“I win!” He said as he got up, his heart beating fast.

“Lets go again! This time you attack me!” She ordered, and they got back into their spots. As he jumped towards her, she darted under him, which made him falter as he landed. Before he could regain his balance he felt a sudden weight on top of him.

“Beat that!” She shouted from on top of him. He thought for a moment, he could either let her win, or he could roll over and throw her off. He decided he wanted to keep the fight going as he went limp under her.

“Giving up so quickly?” Sparrowkit asked, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

“Far from it,” Leo told her, just before rolling over, being careful not to squish her, and ending up on top of her. “What were you saying about winning?” He asked smugly as he stepped back from her. The dirt on her made it look like some of her brown spots had grown, her amber eyes reflected his reflection back at him, and he realized that he was also covered in dirt.

“I want to try it next!” Butterflykit squealed, and even though it was fun he didn’t want to spend all day fighting, “What about you Robinkit?!” Leo looked at her but before she could say anything Cloudears walked up.

“I think that’s enough for today. Plus you're covered in dirt Sparrowkit!” She said, and with that they all went back to the nursery, while Leo went to sit with Grace and Dapple, who had begun eating without him.

“Wow Leo, the elders weren’t wrong.” Grace said out of the blue when he got there.

“What?” He asked, slightly confused.

“You’ll figure out soon enough.” Dapple sighed, and Leo couldn’t help but feel some concern for her.

“Are you sure you don't want to talk about what’s been bothering you?” Leo asked as he exchanged a glance with Grace.

“Its- I can’t. The gatherings tomorrow anyway, so it won’t be that long.” She said, and they continued to talk without mentioning the gathering or what was bothering Dapple. When he went to sleep that night he couldn’t help the thrum of happiness that seemed to keep him awake. Things were finally good, no fighting, no going to bed hungry. I hope it’s like this forever. He thought before his eyes drifted close.

Leo woke up being nudged by Sparrowkit. What was she doing here?

“Leopaw! Get up!” She said excitedly.

“Why are you in the apprentice den?” He asked groggily.

“That doesn’t matter! You gotta get up to go to the gathering!” Sparrowkit continued to talk, but Leo barely processed it. Shorttail had sent him to get some sleep before having to leave for the gathering, though he felt like he hadn’t slept a wink. As he waited for his grogginess to go away he realized that Sparrowkit was still talking.

“Y’know you don’t have to add the ‘paw’ at the end.” He said with a yawn, only to be met by a stunned look.

“Don’t add the paw?! But that’s the most important part! It says that you’re starting to become a warrior! You can do so many things that you can't do as a kit!” Leo didn’t answer as he got up, padding towards the front of the den.

“How could you not use the paw? I know you didn’t grow up a clan cat but the paw makes you one!” Leo’s fur prickled at that last sentence. He was a clan cat now. Did that just make everything else before unimportant. Did the paw make the rest of his life just something that happened before the clans.

“Well how about since we’re friends you can call me Leo, but the rest of the clan can use the paw.” His voice came out a bit less cheery, and he could tell Sparrowkit was giving him a look.

“Well…” she trailed off, “if you not having ‘paw’ with your name is something you want to do, then fine, but when I get it, I’ll need it.” Leo finally looked at her, her eyes were serious, yet still somehow sparkling.

“I can understand that Sparrowkit.” He said, and the sparkle went to the rest of her face as she smiled.

“Great! Now hurry and go so you can hurry back to tell me what happened!” Sparrowkit said as she playfully pushed him out of the den. He ran to get where the group of cats going to the gathering was, making sure to find his sisters.

“Finally woke up,” Dapple asked teasingly, giving him a peculiar look. Even though Leo returned it with a smile he could tell both his sisters were nervous. With Grace pacing and muttering, and Dapple trying to keep it more discreet.

“We need to stay by each other and close to the back. That way if a fight breaks out we can get out. Unless they attack from behind, then we need to be more towards the front. If we’re in the middle we could get stuck in the chaos, and didn’t they mention something about a rock. If it gets bad we could probably climb on that.” Grace muttered half to herself, and Leo had to stifle a sigh.

“It isn’t an attack Grace. There’s a truce at the meetings. And plus Dapple has to be with the medicine cats.” He said, and Grace looked at him as if he didn’t understand something.

“It’s a truce between clan cats.” She told him in a tone that made her sound like Royaltail, Leo challenged her with his own look, until she turned and began muttering again. Leo looked at the cats who were going, there was Shorttail, Braveclaw, Leopardspots, Lavenderstripe, Cherrypaw, a few elders and other warriors.

What would the other clans be like? Leo was so busy thinking, trying to weed out the lies their mother had told them when talking about the clans, that he didn’t notice until Grace snapped at him that they were leaving. Leo couldn’t help but be nervous, and he noticed that the others seemed tense as well, especially Dapple and Lavenderstripe. The smell of the thunderpath got stronger, and Leo ran up to his mentor’s side.

“Hey Shorttail,” He said, “what’s wrong with everyone. You told us that gatherings were usually exciting.”

“Huh,” Shorttail responded, taking a moment to process what Leo had said, “Oh. Well everyone’s pretty sure that Pebblestar is going to confront Windclan at the gathering.” Windclan’s the clan that was so fast no cat could escape from their claws, wait, no. Leo tried to think about what that could actually mean. They were fast, but what else, and why was Pebblestar going to confront them.

“Why?” He asked, and Shorttail gave him a wide eyed look.

“Have you not been paying attention? A few days ago a patrol came back that scented Windclan on our territory. It was mixed with the smell of a mouse, which means that they crossed the border and hunted our prey.” Shorttail said, “You really gotta start talking to cats beside your sisters,”

Leo felt a flash of anger, but swallowed what he was going to say. Mama wasn’t wrong when she said that clan cats cared a lot about their borders. Leo was quiet the rest of the way there, going back towards Grace, who was still ready for an attack.

When they got there Leo was amazed by the amount of cats. There were four huge oak trees, and a huge rock in the center of a clearing. Two cats were sitting on it, one had shaggy, gray fur and was covered in scars, while the other was older, but smaller. With an almost silver pelt and piercing green eyes.

“The gray one is Flystar, she’s the leader of Windclan.” Shorttail whispered, “and the other is Echostar, he leads Riverclan. Flystar has a dreadful temper, but Echostar isn’t as bad.” Pebblestar signaled the clan to enter with a flick of his tail, and Leo felt as though his heart would beat out of his chest. Grace was growling, but it couldn’t be heard over the chatter of the cats.

“You can go ahead and talk with the other apprentices, but be wary of Windclan, we don’t know what they’re up to.” Shorttail told him, before running off in a different direction. Leo stood there for a second, wondering what to do. All these cats look the same, which one’s which. Am I not supposed to speak to Windclan or should I just be careful around them? Maybe I can find Grace or Dapple.

“Sometimes Shorttial forgets he has an apprentice.” A voice behind Leo said, making him jump.

“Braveclaw! What are you doing here?” Leo exclaimed startled, before realizing what he just said.

“In case you didn’t know I’m a part of Shadowclan.” He said dryly, and Leo could hear a huff from behind him.

“Well we’ve barely seen you, so how would we know?” Grace snapped, and Leo couldn’t help but agree.

Braveclaw let out a tired sigh before continuing, “We can’t let our apprentices wander around without supervision, especially new ones. Come one, I’ll introduce you to some trustworthy cats.” Grace mumbled something, but Braveclaw ignored it and turned around, beckoning them to follow. Grace just sat down, but Leo followed, remembering what Shorttail had said earlier.

They approached a pair of older apprentices, apparently not accompanied by mentors. They were both brindled, though one was a lighter brown than the other. Braveclaw walked up to them, though they were in the middle of a sparring match.

When they were seemingly done Braveclaw asked, “Where’s Creektooth?” Instead of answering his question they both looked at Leo, much to his dismay.

“Is this a new apprentice?” The lighter she-cat asked.

“What’s his name?” Her littermate said with the same enthusiasm.

“How many moves does he know?” The she-cat said again.

“Is he a good hunter?” The tom asked.

They started another round of questions before getting cut off by Braveclaw.

“Don’t ask him too many questions, but I need to know where Creektooth is.” He said, finally getting the apprentices attention.

“Oh, he went that way,” The she-cat said, pointing into a thicker part of the crowd with her tail. Leo started to walk with Braveclaw before he stopped and turned around.

“Leopaw you stay here, talk with these two.” And before Leo could reply Braveclaw was already out of site. He looked back to the cats and opened his mouth to say something before being cut off by the tom.

“Leopaw? What sort of name is that?” The dark one asked, and Leo felt a familiar annoyance at being cut off.

“You’re not from around here are you?” The she-cat asked, eyeing him with a look he couldn’t quite place, “I’m Newtpaw.” She introduced herself with a rather haughty tone, though there was a look of playfulness in her eyes.

“I’m Bouncepaw!” her brother said, and after a second added, “The better one.” Newtpaw gasped and shoved Bouncepaw, and it wasn’t until after they both were laughing that Leo realized he had tensed up. This is the clans, remember that. Littermates don’t fight here.

“So Leopaw-” Bouncepaw started before being cut off by Leo.

“Just Leo please.” He asked, and after sharing a surprised look Bouncepaw continued.

“Right, okay. So Leo, what exactly led you to the clans?” He questioned before being scolded by Newtpaw.

“You can’t just ask that! What if it was something bad? Sorry for him Leo, usually he isn’t this nosey.” Newtpaw said, and in response Bouncepaw tackled her, starting yet another mock fight. Leo flicked his tail back and forth, reminded of Grace’s and Dapple’s fights, except these two had no intention of actually hurting each other.

“So what’s it like outside the clans? Are there twolegs at every turn? Savage rogues and winters with no food? Devoid of love and warmth?” Bouncepaw asked once he was pinned by his sister.

“It was really nice actually. We lived in a forest kinda like this one. Oh! There was this tree that had pink leaves in Greenleaf!” Leo was excited to share the good parts of his home, focusing on the memories of being told stories of the clans.

“A pink tree?” Newtpaw exclaimed, breaking Leo out of his thoughts.

“There’s no way that’s a thing, unless a twoleg made it.” Bouncepaw wrinkled his nose, and Leo couldn’t help but feel a pint of anger, did all the clan cats really think that low of rogues and the world outside of the clans.

“I’ve never actually seen a twoleg, and I’ve only seen a thunderpath when traveling to the clans. The leaves were more like petals, and they fell and landed in the prettiest patterns. I experience much less hate out there than in the clans. What’s Riverclan have that’s so great?” Leo couldn’t stop the bitterness in his voice at the last sentence, and both of them gave him a surprised look.

“Yeah, well. We Riverclan cats can swim.” Newtpaw boasted, puffing out her chest.

“And we’re much better at hunting fish than any other cat!” Bouncepaw added, pride in his eyes. Leo swallowed the instinct to tell them about how his sisters had saved him and how Grace was able to defeat warriors with no training, and instead decided to change the subject.

“What about the other clans?” Leo asked, earning another weird look.

“Thunderclan cats are bossy and can’t keep their nose out of other cats business and Windclan cats are cowards who run away from everything.” Newtpaw said with a glint of amusement. Before Leo could ask about the others, the leaves rustled at the other end of the clearing and yet another group of cats emerged. This one was led by a really young leader, her golden eyes flashed in the growing darkness. Leo jumped once again when Braveclaw appeared at his side, ushering him over to where Shadowclan was gathering.

“Come one, the gathering is starting.” He whispered, and they moved over to where Grace had been sitting.

“But what about Starclan, aren’t they joining?” Grace asked, and Leo looked expectantly at Braveclaw, wondering the same question.

“Starclan?” Braveclaw said confused, he opened his mouth a second time, before being silenced by a shout from the rock. The chatter stopped, and the clans seemed to turn their attention to the rock. Leo looked up to the rock and waited for the gray one, Echostar, to speak.

“Riverclan has been doing well this Newleaf. I am proud to announce that Mosstail has given birth to four healthy kits.” Leo had no idea who Mosstail was, but the cheers and congratulations from the others encouraged him to join. Echostar nodded to the younger she-cat.

As she began speaking Leo’s mind started to wander, I wonder if Sparrowkit is still up. If she is then she must be driving everyone crazy. Leo thought with a smile about a tired Robinkit trying to calm down Sparrowkit. Realizing that he had begun to doze Leo shook himself and watched as the leader nodded to Flystar.

“Windclan has been doing well. We have had more than enough prey, and our cats are flourishing.” Leo heard a low growl from Braveclaw as Flystar spoke.And as he looked around he could see that most of Shadowclan was tense, even Shorttail seemed upset.

“Shadowclan has two new apprentices, Leopaw, Grace, and a now medicine cat apprentice Dapplepaw.” Pebblestar announced.

Leo felt a bit embarrassed as all eyes moved to them and the clans started calling their names. He couldn’t see Dapple but he would guess she was embarrassed as well. Grace was tense near him, but he could see irritation at the fact that Pebblestar had added “paw” to his name. Sure he had accepted it but it was out of politeness rather than wanting it.

“Our warriors have also scented Windclan on in our territory, along with the scent of prey.” Pebblestar said in a darker tone, and a tense sush fell over the clans.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Flystar replied, and both leaders leveled each other with a stare, “My cat’s aren’t dumb enough to risk their lives running over the thunderpath for a few frogs.” Pebblestar looked calm from what Leo could see, but it seemed that the rest of Shadowclan was bristling.

“I doubt that any cat would risk getting killed by a monster in order to trespass, but if they had a tunnel they could use to avoid it I would say it would be tempting, especially if those cats were lacking in honor.” Pebblestar replied coolly, and as Leo looked over to where Windclan was sitting, he could see that they seemed agitated as well.

“I think we have something more important to announce,” Interrupted Echostar, and the rest of the leaders were quiet before he spoke again, “Fleetnose, please come share what you saw.” At that command a brown tabby leapt onto rock with a somber expression.

“At the latest medicine cat meeting we received a rather… troubling prophecy from Starclan.” He said. Starclan! Wait… a prophecy? How can a bunch of cats predict the future? Whispers started, and whispers turned into talking, which turned into panic. Leo turned to see Grace standing up with her claws out, swiveling her head from side to side as though expecting cats to jump out and attack at any moment.

“What’s the prophecy?!” A cat yelled out.

“Why is it troubling? Is Starclan mad?!” Another yelled out. Chaos seemed to erupt as cats started yowling from all over, Leo fluffed out his tail and on instinct tried to move away, but he was stuck in the middle of Shadowclan, and just started to bump into cats.

A loud shout erupted from the top of the rock, silencing all the cats, “Listen to what we have to say and your questions will be answered!” Fleetnose gave them all a hard look before continuing, “After much discussion we have decided not to reveal the whole prophecy, but we need to ask something of all of you.” After a pause Fleetnose continued, “The rogues that are encountered need to be talked to rather than chased off.”

The noise of the cats began to pick up again, and Leo just wanted to cover his ears. As more questions were answered Leo started to block out the noise by imagining that he was back at his old home. Mama would be watching from the side with him as Grace and Dapple ran around, trying to see who could last the longest, and he would be calling out cheers and encouragement for both of them. And it would be a warm and sunny day that they never got to actually experience all together. Grace and Dapple would make fun of each other and call each other names without fighting. Stripes would lean down and quietly whisper a joke that only they got. He’d laugh, then see that Grace had jumped atop of Dapple, but everything was okay because they were both laughing and happy. He would rush in to join the pile, screaming about a surprise attack. He would playfully nip at their ears, and they would bat at him and call him a Starclan cat. And then-

“Leopaw!” A sharp voice interrupted his thoughts, and he looked around before realizing he had fallen asleep. His dream had been so nice as well, maybe if he closed his eyes once again…

“Leopaw wake up! You cannot fall asleep at a gathering, what was being said was important. It was about a prophecy from Starclan!” Braveclaw scolded him, though it was quiet as to not draw attention.

“He didn’t ask to go to the gathering!” Grace snapped at him, “And who cares about what a bunch of weird cats say anyway?” Grace didn’t try to be quiet, though the chatter of the cats around them seemed to stop most of the cats from hearing her.

“Starclan isn’t a bunch of weird cats.” Bravelcaw said, his voice and eyes cold, “If you paid attention to anything other than your mother’s lies you would know that Starclan are where clan cats go when they die. That they have immense power and can predict the future. That they use this power to help the clans.” Each sentence was said slowly, and at the mention of Mama Grace was about to explode, “If you did anything other than sulking about the clans maybe you would know a thing or two, and maybe you wouldn’t be miserable. No one is forcing you to stay and complain about everything. Leave if you aren’t going to contribute anything more.” Grace looked stunned, and so was Leo.

“I- I don’t sulk,” Grace started, but Braveclaw just stared at her. Grace looked down, and for the first time in a while she seemed small. Leo was afraid to say anything, and as Braveclaw moved to leave with the rest of the clan, Grace seemed to wait before following.

Leo ran to catch up to her, and just before he caught up he heard her mutter, “Maybe I wouldn’t sulk if someone actually acted like they wanted to talk to me.”

#warriors #warrior cats #warriors oc #oc #orignial story #orginal writing #family fighting #shadowclan #warriors fanfic

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topinforma · 7 years

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“Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times I let him sleep.” Kids in NY are sleeping in since the schools are closed today. But if you worked for Deutsche Bank on the mortgage side you may not be sleeping well: the DOJ is probing people who worked in DB’s mortgage unit.” No one likes being probed. Shifts in minimum wage may be causing people to lose sleep. Many cities and states have raised their minimum wages in recent years, but many of those laws leave at least one group out: tipped workers, such as waiters. The gap is most pronounced in Massachusetts, where minimum wage earners make $11 per hour while tipped workers make $3.75 an hour.

“I rob banks because that’s where the money is.”

If Willie Sutton were alive he could probably count the number of new, de novo, banks in the last several years on two hands. But things are heating up, possibly in expectation of an easier regulatory environment. The U.S. is seeing startup banks: eight banks filed applications with the FDIC in 2016. This is a far cry from the peak when you would see 250-300 applications.

One thing non-depository mortgage banks don’t have to deal with is Basel. Bank for International Settlements General Manager Jaime Caruana expects the Trump administration’s approach to regulatory reform to affect coordination of Basel IV capital rules for banks. “This will probably take some time, but we need to wait for the position of the Americans — and we don’t know yet,” Caruana said. The word “limbo” popped up, and no one likes being there.

US bank stress test scenarios for the ’17 CCAR (Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review) came out. As a reminder to non-bankers, since non-depository lenders don’t have to worry about it, CCAR is a regulatory framework introduced by the Federal Reserve to assess, regulate, and supervise large banks and financial institutions. The Fed seems to envision a more severe downturn in economic conditions compared to the 2016 testing cycle. And we’ll probably see more questions about commercial real estate in 2017 since the ’17 CCAR assumptions include a larger focus on commercial real estate prices compared to the ’16 scenarios.

Certainly depository bank M&A continues unabated. In Pennsylvania, the Bryn Mawr Trust Co ($3.4B) will acquire Royal Bank America ($828mm) for about $127.7mm in stock (100%) or about 2.47x tangible book. In Texas Vista Bank ($395mm) will acquire Hamlin National Bank ($84mm). Green Dot Bank ($1B, UT) will acquire prepaid debit card company UniRush, LLC for $147mm in cash and an earn-out of at least $20mm. UniRush has 175,000 active cardholders, offers RushCard and is backed by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. In Illinois Multi-bank holding company First Busey Corp ($5.4B) will acquire First Community Financial Bank ($1.3B) for about $235.8mm in cash (10%) and stock (90%) or about 2.1x tangible book.

In divestiture news, French bank BNP Paribas will offer 25mm shares of its subsidiary First Hawaiian Bank (HI) as it seeks to reduce its roughly 83% ownership stake down to about 62% and raise an expected $984mm. Dutch banking giant ABN Amro said it will cut 60% of its senior management jobs and cut the number of top executives by 50%, as it moves to cut costs. The bank remains 70% owned by the Dutch government.

Servicing prices influences borrower’s rates.

Let’s see what’s been happening over the last month or two. The talk a few months back in MSR trading wasn’t credit or prepayment speeds, necessarily, but rather the size of offerings. MountainView Servicing Group was the exclusive sales advisor to a $3.19 billion FHLMC/FNMA/GNMA servicing portfolio. The 100% retail originated portfolio consists of Conventional: 100 percent fixed rate 1st lien product, 3.875% WAC, 752 WaFICO, 78% WaLTV, $191k avg loan amount, with top states: Texas (27.2 percent), California (8.0 percent), Virginia (6.0 percent), and Maryland (4.7 percent); and Government: 100 percent fixed rate 1st lien product, 694 WaFICO, 96% WaLTV, 3.78% WAC, $177k avg loan amount, with top states: Texas (20.8 percent), Florida (7.4 percent), California (7.2 percent), and Ohio (5.2 percent).

I’ve seen two Incenter Mortgage Advisor packages; the first was for $1.45 Billion in Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Bulk MSR offering. The 6,500-loan package had a $222k average loan amount, 4.151% WAC, 90% O/O SFR, 77% purchase, 77% WaLTV; the second offering is for a $4 Billion FHLMC 23,000+ loan package. The portfolio has a 3.952% WAC, 76.6% WaLTV, 752 WaFICO, 92% O/O, 67% SFR 27% PUD, 56% Purchase, and a current escrow balance of $29mm.

Phoenix Capital’s Project Valor: a $2.4 Billion GNMA, 98% Fixed 30, 1% Fixed 15, <1% ARM, 3.837% (F30) Note Rate; 3.408% (F15) Note Rate; 3.134% (ARM) Note Rate, $200k average loan amount, 684 WaFICO, 99% WaLTV, Geography: 9% TX, 9% FL, 6% GA, and is 100% retail. Project Sparta is a $35-60 Million per month flow package. The seller estimates the flow will be on average similar to October through December production; Conventional: approximately $30-$35 million per month, 84% Fixed 30, 16% Fixed 15, avg bal $232K – $269K, 56% purchase origination, 100% retail originations, 90% single family/PUD properties, 91% OO, 42% MD, 40% VA, 12% NC, 750 WaFICO, 79% WaLTV; Government: approximately $20-$25 million per month, 59.7% VA, 36.6% FHA, 3.7% USDA, avg bal $245K – $252K, 82% purchase originations, 100% retail originations, 94% SFR/PUD properties, 99% OO, 39% VA, 36% MD, 19% NC, 705 WaFICO, and 97% WaLTV.

RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing has been selected as the sole servicing partner by Point, for its growing portfolio of fractional residential real estate assets. Under the agreement, RoundPoint will manage assets acquired by Point. Homeowners sell Point a fractional interest in their properties in exchange for a tax-deferred lump sum without interest rates or monthly payments. Within 10 years, the homeowner exits the agreement by either selling their home or buying out Point. Most homeowners use the capital to diversify their wealth, invest in their businesses, renovate their homes, or pay off debts. Point provides homeowners with a brand- new finance solution that aligns homeowner and investor interests and, for the first time, investors can buy fractional interests in owner-occupied residential real estate through a digital platform.

The weather outside is frightful…

This winter has been harsh in most parts of the country. Even California, at least the northern portion, has seen an unusual amount of rain and snow. What are lenders and investors doing in terms of disaster updates? Hey, and don’t forget, if you need a flood map, FEMA’s your place!

In response to the severe storms, tornadoes and Straight-line winds and in response to a Federal Disaster Declaration, M&T Bank will enforce the Disaster Re-Inspection Policy for all Georgia properties located in the counties of Berrien, Cook, Crisp, Dougherty, Turner, Wilcox. The same is true for Mississippi Counties of Forrest, Lamar, Lauderdale, Perry.

Because of severe storms, tornadoes and straight-line winds in Georgia (Georgia Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-line Winds (DR-4294 and DR-4297), FEMA declared a major disaster area. Loans scheduled to close in these areas may need to be delayed until confirmation of the property’s condition can be obtained. Plaza will reassess the collateral for these loans and prepare them for closing as soon as possible.

The SunWest Mortgage disaster area policy is as follows: For loans submitted with an appraisal dated on or before the incident period end date or for those submitted without an appraisal, Sun West will require an interior and exterior inspection prior-to-funding or purchase of any loans with subject properties that are determined to be at risk. The inspection must verify that the property is sound, habitable and in the same condition as when it was appraised.

Per FAMC’s Correspondent Lending Bulletin, effective immediately, a buyer will be allowed to assume the seller’s flood insurance policy and retain the same rates provided the loan is not a construction loan and the policy states it is transferrable. Please review the updates to the Flood Disaster Protection Act chapter of the manual for specific requirements. Also, FAMC has updated its guidelines to align with FHA’s current 4000.1 policy, as announced in FHA INFO#16-64. The total amount of required repairs must not exceed $10,000 for HUD REO properties insurable with a repair escrow.

NewLeaf issued the following information regarding active loans in the pipeline: Because of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds occurring in Georgia from January 21, 2017 (incident start date) through January 22, 2017(incident end date), the President issued a federal disaster declaration on January 26, 2017 for the following counties: Berrien, Cook, Crisp, Dougherty, Turner and Wilcox. All subject properties in the areas impacted by the disaster require evidence that the subject sustained no damage from the identified disaster. If the subject property is in an impacted area, with a completed appraisal dated prior to the incident start date, a 1004D re-inspection completed by the Appraiser must certify that the property is free from the applicable natural disaster damage.

Capital Markets: interest rates go up and down

And this week it’s been down. Those who follow the 10-year yield as a benchmark saw its yield hit 2.33% Wednesday morning. Why? Lack of turmoil overseas, perhaps. Or some thinking that the expected “Trump Bump” to the U.S. economy may not happen overnight. Who thought it would? We had the usual small movements between coupons, securities, and maturities, and the NY Fed was in doing its usual buying of $1-2 billion a day. The improvement paused when the Treasury auctioned off its 10-year T-note, but its yield still ended the day at 2.35% and its price improved nearly .375. The 5-year T-note and agency MBS prices improved .125-.250, depending on coupon.

This morning we’ve already clocked in with the usual Thursday Initial Jobless Claims (-12k to 234k; 101 weeks below 300k). At 10AM ET we’ll have December wholesale inventories, as if that stat ever moves markets, but later we’ll have the Treasury peddling $15 billion of 30-year bonds. The 10-year’s yield is sitting around 2.36% and agency MBS prices are down/worse .250 versus Wednesday’s close.

Jobs and Announcements

Compass Analytics is actively seeking Business Analysts to support expansion of the product teams in its Washington DC and Irvine, CA offices. This role will be very hands-on and involve all phases of product management ranging from analysis and requirements gathering to functional design, testing, and implementation. “Strong project management, communication, project implementation skills are required in addition to agile development methodologies. The ideal candidate will have mortgage or finance industry experience, 2+ years business analyst experience, and working knowledge of SQL and SDLC tracking systems. Compass is an innovator in the exciting and growing FinTech industry and offers a unique opportunity for growth and experience, with a casual-yet-focused, fast-paced work environment including an outstanding compensation and benefits package. Interested candidates should email a cover letter with resume to Marketing Manager Sarah Slagle.”

Pacific Union Financial, LLC continues to expand its national footprint and enhance the Distributed Retail management team with the hiring of new Retail Regional Vice President, Ron Agasar. Mr. Agasar has more than 30 years of experience in retail mortgage management and will lead sales efforts in the Northeast Region. If you’re considering a career move and want to explore opportunities with Pacific Union Financial, contact him at the link above.

Flagstar Bank has added a heavy hitter to its all-star team of warehouse lenders. The new team member is Heather Slapak who comes to Flagstar after an 18-year career as a relationship manager in warehouse lending. Flagstar’s been in the warehouse biz since 1991, and under the leadership of industry veteran, Joe Lathrop, since 1999. It offers lines from $1M to $100M with no minimum volumes required to be sold to Flagstar’s wholesale division. Borrowers receive a dedicated relationship manager and a dedicated processor-no phone queues. You can reach Heather at (248) 408-0078.

In more retail personnel news, congrats to Brian Jensen! Inlanta Mortgage, Inc. announced the addition of 26-year veteran Brian as its Regional Vice President of Business Development. Last year Inlanta moved its corporate headquarters to a new building to accommodate expanding staff, added 4 branches in the 4th quarter, and is focused on expand its footprint in Colorado, Texas, and in the North East. Inlanta Mortgage was established in 1993 and has grown to 39 branches in 16 states and over 250 employees. If you are a mortgage professional and looking to make a career change, please contact Brian Jensen at 630-927-0380.

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hemeruni · 14 days

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genius thought came to me. Turner and Winona? Turnona?? Do we agree chat???

Chat can we get a hype train started /silly

I LIKE them okay, they’ll find eachother in every universe no matter the circumstances :)

(Also another name for the two would be winner which is very funny to me… epic win!! Wooo!! We’re winners!!! Ya!!!)

Anyways keep the asks coming! I love these so far

#ask answered #my art #sparklecare #darkermatters au #turner newleaf #winona roll #turnona #they mean so much to me I love the OCs (organic creatures) ❤️

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hemeruni · 1 month

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Turner Newleaf just looks like Hemera but by god I still love her to bits

She’s a hedgehog also that automatically makes her 25 times better

Thank you DarkerMatters 💥

#ramblings #darkermatters au #turner newleaf #I could do the funniest thing rn but #I shall wait later #hehehehe

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paige-and-opal-inc · 3 years

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Rogues of the Shadows-Chapter 2

By: Paige Turner and Opal Dreemurr

Masterpost

Previous | Next

Warnings: Nightmares, Death Mention, Fighting, Sibling Fighting, Fire,

Summary: In the world of warriors that you already know and love we bring you a whole new set of characters. Follow three kits as they go on a journey to learn what their mother never told them. From learning to love yourself to learning to deal with the mistakes of your past, these kits are faced with many challenges. Based on the amazing series of warriors, created by Erin Hunter.

Link: Wattpad

Song

Even though she was dreaming, Grace still felt awake. Her dream slowly faded into a nightmare. The smell of her mother taunted her. She dashed through the ferns but felt like there was no end to the running. No matter how far she ran her mother would always be out of reach. Her breathing and feet both became heavy. This couldn’t be a dream, everything felt so real.

Grace could tell the difference between her dream place and her actual dreams. In her dream place, she could hunt and taste the food she ate. In her actual dreams, the food either disappears before she can eat it or it all has the same flavor, the taste of her own morning breath. In the dream place, she could really feel the things around her. In her dreams, she couldn’t feel anything. In the dream place, she could also smell. Her dreams only came with the smells of the den. The weirdest thing of all was definitely what she could hear. In the dream place, she heard voices. They seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. She had never heard them outside of her dreams, and they usually never gave her more than a word.

“ Leave.” The voices echoed, no emotion to the word.

Are they telling me to wake up so I leave the dream place? Grace wondered, almost tripping over a bramble.

Then leave turned into lead. This time the voices were more urgent, the whispers turning to screams.

I get TWO words tonight?! Grace thought, Why tonight?! Why now?!

“I can’t fail her again! I can’t leave! I need to get to her!” Grace yelled, fighting the voice’s requests. Shame filled her as she thought of what had happened when her mother died, the state she and her littermates were in. She wasn’t by her mother’s side when she died.

“Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!” Grace screamed, “I can’t- I can’t-” Grace fell to the ground, pain shooting up her paw as she landed in thorns. She stammered as more and more thorns seemed to appear and loop around her. Grace felt more shame and despair as she laid there, the scent of her mother fading. She had failed. She had failed again, and in that moment Grace was certain of only one thing, the fact that all she could do was fail.

Suddenly she was shaken awake and was back in the den again. Leo was looking intensely at Grace while Dapple was sitting in the entrance, just staring out into space. The sun warmed the den, and a cool breeze swept into the den. Stepping outside Grace knew she had slept way too late, the sun was high in the sky and most likely no food had been caught. The muscles in her body were cramped and sore, and there were even some scratches. Grace began to stretch but couldn't help but notice the way Leo was looking at her.

“What’s the matter?” She asked.

Leo hesitated but still asked, "Were you having a nightmare?”

“You could say that.” She confessed.

Leo looked so spooked, “You were twitching and tossing and turning. There must have been a thorn in your bedding because you were even scratched.” he explained.

“Hey, let’s go visit mom’s tree.” Grace exclaimed, not wanting to think about the nightmare anymore.

“But, I’m hungry.” He said, and Grace felt more guilty at the fact that she hadn’t gotten them any food. But that could wait, she needed to visit the tree.

“I’ll hunt after our visit.” Grace promised, turning towards the entrance so she wouldn’t have to look at the disappointment of Leo’s face.

She strided out of the den assuming that both her siblings would follow behind her. They didn’t immediately follow but, eventually footsteps could be heard behind her. It was only the beginning of Newleaf but the forest was beautiful. It was their first Newleaf, but the beauty seemed to be overshadowed by the lack of food they ate. If the forest can recover from Bareleaf maybe in time she could move on from this pain.

There was still a little bit of snowmelt but it too would soon disappear. Grace glanced behind her to make sure Leo and Dapple were following and they were, but with annoyed and tired faces. Grace lifted herself up the steep hill. On top would be the tree they had buried their mother near, the one she had always told them about. Grace needed to make sense of this new dream and the tree always helped her think.

The tree was huge. The roots, which were bigger than her, were weaved into the ground. But the best part of all were the beautiful pink blossoms littered all over the branches of the tree. Their mother took them there once and told them that when Newleaf begins it’s the prettiest thing in the forest.

She was right. Grace thought, unable to take her eyes off of the blossoms. Looking down she saw a pile of flower petals, the neatness of it standing out against the scattered petals surrounding it.

No wonder he looked so tired, Grace thought, I wish you were here Mother. I wish you could help me help them. I wish you could help me understand my dream. I wish that you didn’t- didn’t- Grace couldn't finish her thought, and instead just focused on the pile.

She didn’t know how long she was staring at them for. What she did know was that Dapple interrupted.

“Grace!” Dapple hissed, clearly fed up with standing around.

“What?!” Grace hissed back.

“Leo and I are hungry. Also, Leo is getting too sad to be here. Can we leave?” She asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

“I’ll hunt in a moment.” Grace offered, hoping that soon the answer she was looking for would appear. All she had to do was wait, and it would be here. She just knew it.

“NO, you’ll do it now!” Dapple demanded, “We’ve been waiting all morning for you to wake up! Stop being a mouse and think of someone else but yourself!” she exclaimed.

Grace couldn’t believe the words that just left Dapple’s mouth. How dare Dapple order her around. At least she was hunting! At least she was helpful! Grace bared her teeth and claws.

“I do everything for you guys! I hunt! I protect! I entertain! Hey I even let you decide if you want to learn how to hunt for yourself, which by the way you don’t!” Grace yelled, finally looking up at Dapple. “Now I’m asking you guys to do this simple thing in return for me AND YOU WON’T!” Grace yelled with every bit of rage she had.

She heard a whimper from behind them, but before she could do anything. Leo was up and running.

“Look at what you did!” Dapple said, but Grace didn't care. She ran after him, accidentally knocking Dapple over in the process. Grace started running faster than usual with the thought of catching up with her younger brother. She hated being the runt of the litter but she made up for that by being the strongest and the fastest of them.

They ran deep into the forest, farther than Grace had ever gone. Now Leo was jumping through bushes and around trees to lose Grace. But she was getting closer, even though she was still a few tail lengths away behind him. She tried to ignore the fact that this was just like her nightmare. That she was chasing someone she loved, but couldn’t get to them. That she was failing again, and had already failed.

“Leo! Leo! Come back I’m sorry! Ok I’m sorry! Dapple was right! Dapple’s always right! I just got sick of her always being smarter than me.” She cried out as she chased him around all the trees. Then suddenly he stopped and turned around, almost causing her to fall into him.

“ You don’t need to be as SMART as Dapple!” He shouted, even though she was right in front of him.

“What?” She wheezed, confusion and tiredness taking over her mind.

“And Dapple doesn’t have to be as fast or clever as you! AND YOU CERTAINLY DON’T HAVE TO FIGHT EVERYDAY!!” He screeched with a scratchy, cracked up voice. Exhausted, he fell into her chest.

“I’m sorry..” She whispered, a familiar feeling of shame starting to bubble.

“I know, but I’m not the one you need to be sorry too.” He whispered with his eyes closed leaning into her. She turned around to see Dapple’s face covered in dirt.

“What's up with you?!?!” Dapple snapped. “ SERIOUSLY what is your PROBLEM!!”

“STOP! What would mama want?!” Leo yelled, now off of her. Fear and urgency in his eyes.

“Leo’s right. We should listen to him.” Grace said.

“No. No. No. NO!” Dapple screamed. She scared away nearby birds with a scream like that. She looked so overwhelmed, and Grace began to feel pity mix with the shame. Then Dapple began to sprint away. Grace turned to Leo and he had that look on his face again. Knowing she had to catch her, Grace whipped around and ran after yet another sibling on the same day. Why am I chasing everyone today?

Grace yelled, “Come on Dapple! Wait! where are you going!?”

“HOME!” Dapple screeched, taking a sharp turn towards the clearing. Grace quickly and easily caught up with her sister now running in unison with her. Dapple burst into the den and curled up in a ball, hissing at Grace.

“I don’t understand!” Dapple hissed.

“I’m sorry about what I did! OK? I regret it! Is that what you wanted!?” Grace screeched. Dapple’s fur raised.

“I don’t understand how you forgive others so easily...How- how you could BE the better cat?! How are you able to right your wrongs?! How can you give APOLOGIES instead of ignoring the problem?! Show FORGIVENESS instead of revenge!” Dapple arched her back and hissed.

“That’s what mother always tells us to do.” Grace stated, knowing it was the obvious answer. Dapple was silent. Her face calmed down, and she sat down with her tail curled around her paws.

“I probably get that from whoever our father is.” Dapple jokingly admitted, and Grace gave a small chuckle. She had never really thought about their father, but it was nice to talk about him like it wasn’t forbidden.

Soon they were laughing together. They threw jokes back and forth for a while, cheering each other up. A roll of thunder made them both jump, and for a split second they knew they were forgetting something. Then fear filled both of them.

“LEO!” Grace and Dapple screamed.

They both darted out of the den and into the forest. Dapple called out his name as Grace opened her mouth, trying to find Leo’s scent. But Grace found a much worse scent. Her head snapped up and she locked eyes with Dapple. Smoke.

Going against her instincts Grace took off running towards the source. Soon Grace began to see fire. The hill with their mother’s tree black and burning, along with everything on the other side of it. The area of forest where they last saw Leo.

That didn’t stop Grace though. That thought only made her go faster. She was getting closer and closer to the edge of the fire. Or was the fire burning closer to her?

“I’M GOING IN!” Hissed Grace over the howling wind and crashing thunder to her sister.

“ YOU’RE CRAZY!!” She hissed back.

“LEO COULD BE IN THERE.” Grace shouted.

Dapple thought for only a second before coming up with a response.

“Stay safe.” Dapple demanded.

Grace ran straight into the burning forest. Immediately smoke filled her senses. CRASH! A tree fell beside her quickly swallowed in flames, embers flew everywhere and she hissed in pain as some landed on her. The dirt she ran in was dry and black, instead of the wetness she had felt earlier.

“LEO!!” She coughed. "LEO!!” She forced out louder. Grace dodged the angry walls of flame that tried to surround her. She kept her tail up high and ears pinned back trying not to catch fire. She squinted her eyes fighting hard to keep them open. The heat and smoke was starting to make her dizzy but she would keep fighting until she found him. She had already lost one cat she loved, she wasn’t going to lose another.

She was running faster than ever before when she heard the voice ring in her head,

LEAVE!

Grace bared her teeth, I’m losing it! Can this smoke even make me hear voices?!

The heat was starting to hurt her paws. She needed to find Leo before they both burned in this forest. Every moment she wasted the flames around her grew taller.

“LEO!” Her scream quickly turned into a cough.

LEAD!

SHUT UP! She scolded the voices in her head.

Grace was losing hope and breath. That’s when she saw him. Leo was lying unconscious in between the roots of a tall tree. As she got closer she saw blood was trickling down his paw. She panicked for a second before realizing it was mouse blood. There was a mouse stuck in Leo’s claws and stained red.

“Leo!” She wheezed in joy. He didn’t flinch at her saying his name or even wake up.

How am I gonna get him out of here if I can’t wake him up!? Grace panicked

LEAVE. LEAVE. LEAD.

She tucked her head into the dirt to try to get rid of the ringing in her ears. Then a smell came through stronger than smoke. It was the scent of her mother. All of the sudden she knew exactly what to do. She grabbed onto Leo’s neck scruff and dragged him as if he were a dead piece of prey. The fact that Grace’s younger brother was bigger than her was not helping but, she still had to try. The dizziness was really kicking because of the combination of eating nothing and being drowned by smoke.

While dragging Leo through any path she could find Grace heard a whisper.

“This is the end?”

Was that Leo or the stupid voice in her head? Grace began to reflect as the ashes covered every fur on her body. If this was the end would she have any regrets?

Yes, not being able to save Leo.

Grace snaps out of it. She won’t just accept her fate. She still has the will to escape.

She used every muscle in her body to keep going.

Come on Leo. Wake up! Please!

More trees fell behind her, she barely made it past them each time. Then she began to hear yelling. She couldn’t make out what they were saying but, she knew they weren’t the voices in her head, and it couldn’t be Leo. As she got closer to home she could begin to make out the words being shouted.

“ Grace! Leo! HURRY!” Yelled Dapple’s voice. Grace could even hear the coughs between Dapple’s words. Grace squinted her eyes but her vision was pretty fogged up by smoke and ash. Grace’s stomach sank.

The fire grew all the way to our den! Grace realized.

She saw Dapple on top of the stump that made up their den. Dapple was frantically scanning her eyes around the den looking for something. Grace could feel her body growing weaker, and could barely drag Leo up to the top of the stump. She laid him down gently to talk to Dapple.

“What are you looking for? We gotta go! Come on help me with Leo!” Grace shouted.

“Herbs or at least a flower from mom’s tree!” Dapple coughed.

Grace grew upset. They needed to leave now! There was a fire swallowing their home and she was looking for herbs and flowers.

LEAD! They screamed in her head again.

“The value of herbs means nothing when everything around us is crumbling down! Come on, follow me.” Grace coughed up.

She continued to pull Leo but now with Dapple’s help. The more she thought, the weaker she became. She wanted to give up but she knew she couldn’t. Her siblings still needed her. She needed to be there to help them and comfort her. She needed to lead them.

Everything behind them was on fire.

LEAVE, Range the voice.

Then Leo woke up. Violently he coughed. He gasped for air only to cough it back up. Leo cried in pain. She could feel him trying to move but, twitching back in pain.

We have nowhere to go! If we leave the forest we’d be out in the open. I have to stay calm!

Then her nose got caught on a smell that wasn’t smoke. It was the smell of her mother, followed by the dream place scent. Grace knew that this time, they could all scent it. Her and Dapple exchanged a look, then Leo forced his way past them. Stumbling, but still running. Soon Grace and Dapple were beside him. The familiar smell flooded her nose and fought back the smell of smoke. Grace was faster than her siblings but, she had never had the strength to run this fast, and neither had them. Her siblings had caught up to her now, and they were running in unison.

LEAVE! Hissed the voice in her mind like a bomb.

Lead. Whispered a voice that was unmistakably her mom.

She wanted to stop and chase after the sound of her voice but, soon they got to the tree line, and fled into a field. Her mother's scent disappeared along with the rest of her dream place. Grace felt like she was choking, but on frustration and sadness as well as ash.

The field was soon soaked by rain that had started to pour. Leo continued to cough, the sudden strength gone. Though the rain washed off the ash, it still made the three of them shiver. They were all coughing. They were all hungry. They were all miserable.

When Grace went over to Leo the wind howled, whipping cold rain in their faces. Grace curled up with her littermates for warmth that night. No one could talk but, that was fine, nobody had anything to say.

That night Grace dreamed of prey but, none of it was real. Later in her dream all the prey burned to ashes. She caught some mice under her paws but, before she could put them in her mouth they turned into Dapple and Leo. She screamed until her ears hurt as she fell back. She woke up when they began to burn. Grace never wanted to see that.

She woke up to a sunrise, her siblings were still curled up next to her. Right where she left them. They looked so peaceful in their sleep but the fire had taken its toll. Getting up to hunt, Grace thought of how surprised and excited they would be to wake up to food.

She went further out into the tall grass, knowing other animals must have come here to escape too. She first tried to pick up a scent. The smell of smoke was still there, but it was weaker than the day before. She crouched closer to the ground to pick up a stronger scent. Then she found something that smelled of smoke, but with the smell of rabbit under it. She crawled, chasing the scent. A few tail lengths in front of her she saw the grass shaking. There wasn’t any wind, and the smell was so strong, it had to be the squirrel.

Grace quietly unsheathed her claws, and slowly drew in a breath. When the rabbit was in sight she pressed herself closer to the ground. Finally she pushed herself up into the air and pounced onto the rabbit. The young rabbit was bigger than she was and was putting up a fight. It just escaped it’s death, it wasn’t about to give up it’s life now. Well neither was Grace. She dug her claws and teeth deeper into the rabbit, refusing to let go. Finally she bit the neck, and it went limp.

She dragged the dead rabbit back to her siblings. They were still asleep so she went back to hunt more. This time she found a mouse, it wasn’t much, but between the fire and the nightmare, she was just so tired.

I don’t want to go back to sleep. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them in my dream. Even if I do fight with Dapple I don’t want her in my mouth or burning.

Grace spent the rest of the early morning watching the sun finish rising and her littermates sleep. She stared at her sister as she slowly blinked her eyes open.

“Good morning.” Dapple yawned.

“When Leo wakes up we’ll eat then go back into the forest to see what we can salvage.” Grace said while Dapple stretched.

Dapple shook her head then answered, “Why? It’s all depressing ash!”

“We have nowhere to go Dapple!” Grace hissed.

Then Leo opened his eyes, and Grace knew she couldn’t start another fight. They instead began to eat. Grace felt so much better after the first bite. They couldn't pace themselves, not after what they just went through. Grace looked at Dapple, motioning her head outside. If they were gonna fight they could at least do it away from Leo.

“Where did you get all this?” Leo asked.

“We’re not the only one who retreated to this field.” Grace answered, smiling at him.

Soon they finished, and she got up to leave. Once it was all bones Grace headed toward the “depressing ash”.

“Grace?” Leo squeaked, giving her a worried look.

“We’re not going back in there!” Dapple hissed while she followed her sister into the remains of the forest.

“I told you we have nowhere to go! We can’t risk going into clan territory and I won’t let us become useless kittypets!” Grace shouted. She dug her claws into the ground with rage.

“Why do you even want us around if you're not gonna listen to us? Why didn’t you just leave us in the forest to burn if this is how much you care about us!?” Dapple yelled.

“Take. That. Back.” Grace hissed. Her nightmare was coming back to haunt her in the daytime. She glanced over at Leo for a second and saw the fear that was consuming him. “Follow me. We’re going into the forest.” Grace commanded, and Dapple reluctantly began to walk. Her attempt to calm Leo down by stopping the argument meant nothing when they entered the forest.

“I would never want you guys to burn. Not in any world. I would sacrifice myself every time.” Grace admitted, though she didn’t get an answer.

They walked past their old den, the stump was reduced to a small chunk of wood covered in ash. The smell of smoke was so overwhelming. They wandered around looking for any sign of life. They walked in silence, until out of nowhere Dapple exploded.

“We can’t stay here!” She exclaimed.

“Dapple we’ve been over this-” Grace began.

“But we do have somewhere to go! And it’s not the twolegplace!” Dapple said. She stared Grace in the eyes. Grace couldn’t look away but she didn't know what to say so she just scowled at Dapple.

“The clans aren’t bad.” Dapple began, but Grace walked away unable to listen to this mouse dung.

“Grace why won’t you just listen!?” Dapple shouted.

“You have bees in your brain, Dapple! Did you ever pay attention to mother’s stories?!” Grace hissed, still not looking at her sister. She continued to walk away. She wanted what Dapple was saying to be true because she was losing hope. She had only seen wet piles of ash, black sticks standing where trees had been. Nothing in this forest was salvageable from what she was seeing.

“Mother lied to us!!” Dapple screamed, and Grace stopped dead in her tracks.

Dapple caught up to Grace and continued, “Mom told me before she died that the clans are good and that we needed to find our father, Braveclaw, in the Shadowclan.”

Grace glanced at Leo who seemed excited. How could he be excited?! He had nothing to be excited about! He was lied to by Dapple and their mother. How could they lie to their own family?! Grace bared her teeth and pounced on top of Dapple.

“How could you keep this from us?! How?! We could have been in the clans with family already!” She yelled. Grace held her sister down to the ground. She had her entire body weight on her sister and more. Even though she was the runt, she was better when it came to fighting.

Grace turned her head and looked at her scared brother shaking in fear.

“Our own family lied and kept secrets from us! Why aren't you mad?!” She hissed. She immediately regretted it because it only scared him more.

“We could have met our father! We could have missed this awful heartbreaking fire!” Grace said, as a wave of sadness hit her. She dug her claws into Dapple.

“Stop it! Please!” Leo screamed. The second it took for Grace to turn her head and look at Leo, Dapple escaped from under her.

“Dapple! Everything is ash! What if mom was delirious when she was dying? Huh? What if we get there and they attack us?!” Grace asked. Dapple's ears were pinned back and the truth is Grace had no idea where to go next. She was figuratively running circles and getting nowhere. She didn’t know what to believe or who to trust. That still didn’t stop the anger she felt towards Dapple. Grace had asked her if their mother had said anything important, and she denied it! Grace decided to show her anger the only way she knew.

Grace pounced on Dapple, sinking her claws into her back. Grace didn’t know what to say. Dapple ejected her claws and slashed Grace on her chest. Grace heard some mewing but didn't stop this time. She flipped Dapple onto her back and was about to cut Dapple again but her claws landed on Leo. He had jumped in between to try to stop the fighting.

“Oh my- Leo I am so sorry! You're bleeding, we- we need to get something to stop it!” Grace gasped and backed away. It looked like she really hurt him.

“NO! I don’t care about my back! I don’t want you two fighting! It doesn’t help! EVER!” Leo screamed. No one word could describe the feeling Grace was feeling in this very moment. She felt her body freeze.

Grace glanced over at Dapple as she began to speak, “Leo, don’t be silly! Of course you care about your back? You don’t want it to get infected. Wait here I’ll get something to help it!”

She ran off without an answer from Leo. Grace looked over at Leo but he just grunted and buried his face into his paws. Grace tried to talk to him but he just got up and walked a few steps in the other direction as soon as she opened her mouth. He had turned the other direction, refusing to look at or talk to his sister. Grace laid down too sad and guilty to think.

Dapple returned with only a small amount of plants, which she said could heal. Grace barely listened. She could barely even think. Slowly her sadness turned to shame and regret. Leo wouldn’t look at them. Grace couldn’t look either. She began to lick the blood out of her paws.

No one seemed to be able to talk so they all took a nap. When they woke up Dapple was the first to talk.

“Look guys I messed up bad by keeping this a secret- but we can’t be mad at each other forever. I say we vote on what we do next… So what do you guys think?” Dapple asked. Her voice and body language was hesitant but her face looked very hopeful. Leo still didn’t speak but he turned toward them.

“I’ve been thinking this through and I think we should go. Dapple’s right there’s nothing to salvage from all this ash… Except maybe a twig.” Grace admitted. That joke was able to get a little giggle from Leo, but it was more bitter than cheerful.

There was silence, all eyes were on Leo to be the final vote.

#warrior cats #warriors #warrior oc #warrior fanfic #original story #oc #tw fire #tw nightmares #fighting #sibling fighting #tw death mention #angst #warrior fanfiction

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