Sparkdust's POV

"From this day forward, you will be known as Mistnose. May the three of you become fine, fearless, and strong warriors." Marshstar finished, touching Mistnose's shoulder. Misty had been given her full name and so had her sister, Firefly and their neighbor Foxtail. Foxtail was given the name Foxtuft and Firefly was given the name Fireflywing. It had been half a moon since Marshstar allowed them into the Clan.

The three had made major progress. Mistnose and Fireflywing had quit their whiny voices when the warriors had complained about it. Meanwhile, Foxtuft was strong and independent from the beginning.

I had gotten my warrior name a few days before then. I prayed to Blazeflame that she was proud of me, even though deep down I already knew she was.

"Dreamkit, step forward," Marshstar demanded, standing tall and serious. Dreamkit scampered over with her pelt prepared and her eyes gleaming with excitement and pride. I glanced over at her mother, Snowfern. She was once very depressed and devastated ever since Rosekit and Thunderkit had passed on, but as her only surviving young kit stood in front of our leader, she became very pleased for her beautiful and confident kit.

Marshstar flicked his tail and lowered his gaze. "Dreamkit, you are now six moons old, meaning you are ready to become an apprentice. From now until you become a warrior, you will be known as Dreampaw. Your siblings are looking down on you with pride, little one," Dreampaw's little tail twitched. "Blossomfrost will be your mentor. I trust she will give you all the skills you will need to survive the deadly infection spreading." Blossomfrost hurried over to touch noses with her new apprentice.

"Dreampaw! Foxtuft! Fireflywing! Mistnose!" RockClan cheered merrily, all of the warriors in sync. I looked over at Lark - who was sitting beside me. He was cheering along with us.

Marshstar raised his tail for silence after the ones up front had taken their places again. "Now lose the collars. You can hang them on a branch or in a bush or even throw them in the river, I don't care. Just don't wear them," Marshstar waited for Fireflywing and Mistnose to take them off patiently. Silverfeather took her place beside Marshstar. She was healthy again. Her silver pelt was shiny, her face was full, her body was getting her muscle back, and her eyes were filled with delight instead of shock and sickness.

Half the Clan had bet that she was going to die by the next quarter-moon. We all assumed Stormcloud would become deputy. I felt bad for having no faith in our deputy, but at the end of the day, who's to say I won't die either?

"Sparkdust, you haven't lead a patrol yet. Take Stormcloud and Snowfern with you upstream." I nodded and collected the two as Blossomfrost, Dreampaw, and Tigerstripe were announced to leave downstream. Lark joined our patrol without a word said. I gave him a confused glance but he only gestured for us to continue on.

The seasons were changing drastically. The leaves were falling and shriveling up, the air was becoming chiller, and the motivation to get up was lessening. A small breeze blew through my thin pelt, sending shivers down my spine.

I sped up my pace without realizing it as we followed the stream upwards. Feeling noble and honored to be leading my first patrol, I lead them confidently. I looked to the left at a suddent movement. Amberpaw was leading a patrol with Blackwind and Chipkit. I assumed Chipkit was now Chippaw with Blackwind as a mentor and that Amberpaw got her warrior name.

Amberpaw was practically bolting away from Blackwind and Chippaw away from the stream. "Amberthroat! Wait for us!" Chippaw squealed, running after the halted warrior. Amberthroat... What a pretty name. I shook my head to get rid of the thought. I couldn't be disloyal to my Clan at a time of need.

We climbed a small hill silently. Snowfern was panting by the time we came to the top. I assumed it was because she wasn't used to being a warrior anymore. We sniffed the air and all at once, I got a huge whiff of a rotting carcass. I knew it wasn't a cat, but an animal I had never met before.

Lark and Stormcloud seemed to have smelled it as well. "We should follow it, Sparkdust. There might be infected cats or dogs roaming around." Lark advised, his eyes narrowed to a deadly slit. I bowed my head to him and trotted after the trail of the reeking smell.

The patrol only had to go a few tail-lengths to find a huge, light brown animal. It had hooves like that of a sheep. It had bones like branches coming out of its skull and cloudy, black eyes. The dead animal had a long, bony muzzle, a thick dark brown nose, and long, muscular hind legs. One hing leg was split open, a white, glistening bone jabbing out of its skin. It looked like it had been trying to run away from something. It's chin was high, its branches almost touching its shoulders. Their front legs were skinnier but they still had quite a bit of muscle.

It looked like some kind of a majestic creature. I was fascinated at how big and strange it was. The neck was torn open as well as its stomach, letting their pink insides hang out and smear on the undergrowth. I looked past the creature.

The ground behind it was torn up, looking as if it was running until it fell. Lark was examining the forest beyond the scene. "I think there are some infected animals near here." He pointed out without looking at us. His fur was on end and his tail was lashing from side to side.

The buzzing of flies flying around the creature annoyed me. I padded away to stand by Lark.

My ears went up straight and instantly my claws unsheathed when the sound of something growling came from behind the trees' trunks. My heartbeat sped up when two infected cats staggered towards us. One was once black with chunks of fur missing from its body. Dried blood from decaying flesh and bite wounds had caused its ragged pelt to clump up. The other was orange with a missing ear and eye. Blood had dried over its entire right side of its face. Its flank was freshly bleeding as if it had recently died and came back.

Lark jumped right in without saying a thing. He landed on top of the slow black cat and clawed at its face from behind it. The cat collapsed and groaned, trying to bite him with snapping, drooling jaws. The orange cat hurried over to Lark. Snowfern crouched behind the brown dead creature, trembling and whining. Stormcloud smashed into the other cat before it could get to Lark. I joined in heroically.

I helped Lark attack the black one, aiming for its face. It stood up and threw Lark off of him and stumbled towards me. It was emotionless and took every hit I gave him as if I was a weakling.

Smashing him in the face several times, I began to grow tired. I backed away the opposite way of the stream and tripped over a stick. The black cat opened its jaws to bite my leg. Blood and pink drool dripped on my chest and neck. Frozen from shock, I stayed put out of horror. Its breath was horrid and putrid. Blood sprayed onto my face and chest as a stick pierce through the back of its head and through its left eye. The monster went limp instantly, blood dripping through the wound and through its wide open jaws.

Breathing heavily, I scampered to my paws. Lark let go of the stick from his mouth and let the infected dead cat drop. The orange cat was still fighting Stormcloud. Lark tried to get the stick from out of the black cats head, but it was completely stuck.

I ran over to Stormclouds opponent and smashed his head against the tree it was walking past. Over and over I hit the cats bloody head against the tree trunk until its head was jelly. An explosion of blood and brains was all over the trees' trunk. Everyone around me was completely still with awe. Their faces were saying, "Did such a young warrior do such a thing?" 

I backed away, panting heavily.

Exhausted, frightened, and weak, we retreated back to camp on wobbly legs.

When I entered the camp, they all gasped. Shadowflower dashed over to me as soon as they laid eyes on me. "Are you bit?" She asked, sniffing my body. I glanced to my paws and realized I was a bloody mess.

I looked at Marshstar who was arguing with Whitefeather, Ghostglow, and Wildstar. "Well?" Shadowflower growled loudly. I glanced over at her without a sure expression, just a blank face. "No. We got in a fight with two infected cats. Lark and I killed them." She narrowed her eyes at me but reluctantly nodded slowly. Shadowflower sniffed the others thoroughly for a few moments to confirm no one was bit.

She hurried off to Marshstar. "Double the patrols upstream. Sparkdust's patrol found two infected cats, both of them were killed. They're caked in blood." She muttered to him. In the middle of Wildstar's argument, Marshstar glanced over his shoulder and examined my patrol briefly. He looked back to Shadowflower and murmured something to her.

I wondered what Marshstar was arguing about with Wildstar and two of her warriors.

Shadowflower meowed while she passed me, "Go clean yourselves up downstream." I bowed my head. "Lark, Stormcloud, we have to go clean ourselves up. Snowfern, you didn't have a part in the fighting but you can come with us if you would like,"

Snowfern shook her head quickly and laid down. She watched her tail twitch with wide eyes. Lark lead Stormcloud and I downstream. As we passed by Marshstar, I overheard the word "loner" and something about him being involved being said. I didn't think anything of it.

A frosty breeze blew by harshly. The three of us were quiet until Stormcloud broke the silence. "Leaf-bare is coming quickly," He muttered. I nodded in agreement.

The three of us headed silently from there downstream. We didn't stop until we couldn't see our camp any longer. Sighing, I quietly stepped into the stream. I found it hard to stay in place with the current pulling at my legs. I shuddered from the intensely bitter stream. My paws began to go numb. Stormcloud and Lark hopped in as if it was nothing. Stormcloud slowly lowered himself into the cold water while Lark just did it and got it over with. The blood on our pelts came out easier than we expected so we got to rush back to camp quickly.

As we entered camp, I noticed Marshstar was furious about something. I assumed it was about the argument with Wildstar. All the patrols were back now and as I examined them all, I found out not one of them had found the zinnia flower we needed so badly.
***
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Hope you enjoyed, have a good week of school!

P_A83 out!