◈ SKYFROST ◈

[ -Skyfrost- ]

A single golden leaf pirouetted down an invisible spiral of breeze, gracefully dipping towards the forest floor. It shivered slightly, its fragile frame seemingly ready to be whisked away in a heartbeat by the grasp of another gust of icy wind. It brushed past Skyfrost's cheek and ended its performance of graceful twirls and quivering with a final bow before laying lightly on the ground, unmoving.

Skyfrost moved her gaze away from the lone leaf and inhaled the crisp, frosty leaf-fall air. She stretched her weary muscles, feeling slightly jaded. Times were getting harder for DriftClan to cope, and they already had every warrior focused on hunting for prey. Her ears picked up faint bickering, causing her to rake her glazed eyes across the camp to locate it. Her blue gaze landed on Blazestrike and Marrowtail quarrelling, and she let out a resigned sigh, wondering what was the reason behind their - possibly - hundredth squabble.

The brown tabby tom was glaring fiercely at Marrowtail, his fur bristling. A crowd of DriftClan cats had started gathering around the two toms. It was well-known amongst DriftClan - Blazestrike and Marrowtail had never gotten along. Skyfrost joined the crowd, flicking an ear as she watched the tension between the two warriors rose higher. What is it about now?

"No! You know you shouldn't eat fresh-kill before serving it to your Clan, Marrowtail!" Blazestrike snarled, making no effort to hide his aggression. He was lashing his tail, and his eyes were tinted with blazing amber. "Or have you forgotten, rogue?"

The brown tabby's words seemed to have hit a nerve, as Marrowtail's hackles rose in an instant. "No! Just-"

A large shadow towered over the two squabbling toms, cutting the former rogue's words short. Skyfrost twisted her head to let her blue gaze rest on a sandy-coloured pelt. It belonged to the leader of DriftClan, Claystar. His grief-filled eyes hardened and narrowed as Blazestrike and Marrowtail hastily bowed their heads. He pushed through the crowd of cats and halted before the two toms. "Just what is this about?"

The DriftClan leader's voice was booming, and his paws sent dust scattering away from him, as if they were afraid of the sandy tom's might.

"Claystar..." Blazestrike meowed, sitting down and slowly giving his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. "I-"

"This is the fourth time this has happened this moon," Claystar snapped, cutting Blazestrike off abruptly. "I can't put up with this anymore."

Wait, he actually kept count? Skyfrost mused, twitching her whiskers. She shifted her attention to Blazestrike, who was dumbfounded, but stayed silent. She silently sympathised Blazestrike, who had to face Claystar's wrath at such an inconvenient period of time.

Every cat knew that Claystar's deputy and mate, Sorrelspot, had been brutually killed and laid in the middle of DriftClan territory. It was obvious that the killer was confident that they would not caught, as they displayed their kill in an almost mocking fashion - not only Sorrelspot's body was tossed into the middle of DriftClan's territory, as her pelt was craved with a myriad of claw marks, making her almost unrecognisable.

Sorrelspot had just died the previous day, at Sunhigh, causing Claystar to be more aggressive after the discovery of his mate's cruel death. Claystar only had his sons, Hawkpaw and Runningpaw, left but he seemed to be avoiding them.

Blazestrike stirred from his spot uneasily, while Marrowtail flattened his ears. The brown tabby tom spoke first, his amber eyes meeting Claystar's green eyes defiantly, yet pleading. "Just let me explain!"

"No," Claystar meowed sternly, unsheathing and sheathing his claws. "You will go with Marrowtail and search the elders for ticks and clean their bedding."

Turning to Marrowtail, he narrowed his dim green eyes. "Marrowtail, you're going hunting after. As for you, Blazestrike, you can help Nightwhisper collect herbs."

Blazestrike looked like he wanted to protest, but he held his tongue and turned away without questions. Marrowtail followed curtly, raising his head high. Skyfrost felt a rush of sympathy for the both of them as she watched them leave.

Claystar sighed, shaking his massive pelt. Some cats exchanged glances and muttered. The sandy-coloured tom leapt onto the Stormrock, letting his gaze rest on his Clan. "All cats old enough to catch a snake, gather beneath the Stormrock for a Clan meeting!"

Skyfrost flicked an ear and padded towards the Stormrock, sitting beside Flamepool and his apprentice, Bramblepaw.

"Claystar hasn't appointed a deputy yet... If he's doing it now, he's late. The new deputy will have to shoulder a heavy burden for a long time," the flame-coloured tom noted, his dark black onyx eyes fixated on the Clan leader. Skyfrost dipped her head in agreement.

Koipaw appeared from the apprentices' den, and padded over to sit beside Skyfrost. Skyfrost stared at the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with pride. This is my apprentice. Tomorrow she becomes a warrior. I'm as excited as she is!

"Hey," a meow sounded behind the white she-cat. She turned her head and noticed Blazestrike. The brown tabby tom kneaded his paws at the ground awkwardly and slowly sat behind her. "It's going to be hard for the new deputy, huh?"

"Hey," Skyfrost replied, looking away from his amber eyes to focus on Claystar. She decided that he was a good cat, even if he liked picking fights, especially with Marrowtail. She pricked her ears as Claystar began speaking, and gave Blazestrike a short response. "It would."

"Cats of DriftClan," Claystar began, his eyes sweeping over his Clanmates. "Sorrelspot's death was a tragedy."

Some cats exchanged glances, others started muttering amongst themselves. Hawkpaw's ears flattened while Runningpaw showed no visible emotion. Claystar spoke again, his voice strong. "However, we do not have much time to express our grief. It is after moonhigh, but do not think the new deputy lacks StarClan's approval. I expect every cat to listen and respect my choice."

It was easy to feel the momentary tension in the chilly leaf-fall air as Claystar raised his muzzle high, sunlight gleaming off his pelt. "I say these words before StarClan, so that Sorrelspot may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of DriftClan will be Skyfrost."

It seemed like the air around Skyfrost had contracted and vanished. There was nothing left to breathe on; pure shock filled her. She was DriftClan's deputy. Cats began to call her name hesitantly, and Blazestrike called the loudest of all, his eyes gleaming in approval. Skyfrost exhaled and ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Wait!" A cat meowed from somewhere, but Skyfrost was too dazed to figure out who it was. "Skyfrost's apprentice isn't even a warrior yet!"

"I am aware," Claystar bit back tartly. "But her apprentice becomes a warrior tomorrow. Skyfrost is a hardworking cat and deserves this rank. Unless you want to wait until her apprentice becomes a warrior, now will suffice. Any other cats that disagree should consult me."

The Clan silenced and dispersed into their own groups. Koipaw turned to her mentor, eyes shining in pride. "Congratulations!"

Skyfrost dipped her head in thanks and chuckled nervously. Sensing the ground beneath her paws vibrate and hearing the beat of pawsteps, the white she-cat looked up and noticed Silverpaw, Wavepaw, and Rowanpaw approaching them.

Bramblepaw turned to the side and dipped her head to Skyfrost. "Congratulations!"

"Yeah! You certainly deserve this!" Silverpaw purred, and shifted his eyes to Koipaw. "You're really lucky that Skyfrost is your mentor! Wow, the apprentice of the deputy... cool!"

Koipaw let out a mrrow of amusement and flicked her tail. "Y-Yeah! It really is an honour."

Koipaw and Silverpaw locked eyes momentarily. Koipaw quickly looked away, ears flicking back, seemingly embarrassed. Bramblepaw narrowed her eyes at the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat and lashed her tail, not hiding her hostility. The apprentices fell silent.

"Anyways," Wavepaw began, breaking the silence. "I just wanted to tell you - congratulations. You're going to be a great deputy - I know it."

Skyfrost gave the tom a grateful purr, her earlier anxiousness slowly fading. Koipaw glanced at Wavepaw and smiled longingly. Skyfrost's whiskers twitched, a smile inching up her face. Oh, Koipaw. I wish you luck.

Rowanpaw, an unusually-coloured tortoiseshell tom, puffed out his chest in pride. "Maybe Stagwing will let me transfer from him to you. Then I'll have an even higher chance of becoming leader!"

"Oh, shut up," Bramblepaw snapped, suddenly in a bad mood. "You're such a mouse-brain."

"Hey! Just because you're one moon older than me doesn't mean you have to order me around," Rowanpaw retorted, his hackles rising.

"Oh, yeah?" Bramblepaw challenged, her eyes narrowing. "Want to see who's better?"

"Apprentices, why don't you stop arguing and go play with the kits?" Skyfrost suggested. "They'll be happy to see you."

"Okay!" Silverpaw exclaimed, turning and racing towards the nursery, his golden tail flicking behind him, beckoning the others to follow. Bramblepaw grunted and followed, with Koipaw trailing behind the chocolate tortoiseshell she-cat. Wavepaw waved a goodbye to Skyfrost with his tail and strode after Koipaw, catching up with the deputy's apprentice.

"See you later, deputy," Rowanpaw smirked, turning away and ambling toward the nursery.

"Congratulations," Blazestrike meowed from behind the white she-cat, making her jump in surprise. "I'm happy for you."

Skyfrost turned and faced the brown tabby tom, cracking a small smile. "Thank you."

"Do you want to go hunting soon?" Blazestrike asked suddenly, looking down at his paws. "I'd really like to spend some time with you."

The white she-cat looked at him in surprise, but kept her composure. In truth, she was excited and happy that the brown tabby asked her. "That sounds wonderful! But right now, we need to get to serious work. Can you lead a patrol to renew the scent markers between EclipseClan? I recall Claystar wanting you to gather herbs for Nightwhisper, so you can look for some on the patrol."

She paused, pondering about who she should assign to Blazestrike's patrol. "Bring Iceglare, Fallingfeather, Troutsplash, and Falconpaw."

"Sure," Blazestrike meowed, dipping his head before padding off to find the cats that would accompany him on the patrol.

Skyfrost smiled softly as more cats came to congratulate her. She felt happy. Even happier than when she had been made an apprentice or warrior. Even though her appointment was late and her apprentice was not yet a warrior, it seemed that her Clanmates were slowly accepting that.

I'm deputy, Skyfrost thought with pride. And I'm going to serve my Clan until the very end!

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▣ Author's Note ▣

And here's the first chapter! Some of the older readers may have read this like... Four times, but please bear with me! I'm making some edits here and there for chapters one to three. So from chapter four onwards, it will be new.

What are your thoughts on Claystar?

Who do you think murdered Sorrelspot? Was it a rogue, rival or someone else?

What are your views on a late deputy appointment?

The next chapter will be in EclipseClan's point of view. Not everyone will appear in every chapter, but don't be disappointed! I'll try my best to include everyone, but no promises.

So far, I haven't thought of an update schedule, but I'm planning on updating at least once a week.

Please do vote and share your views! It'll be wonderful to know what you think. Feel free to leave feedback, though constructive criticism is preferred over opinions. Thank you for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed!

** Big thanks to WarriorzLove for allowing me to write this! **

** The image attached to each chapter will be a representation of the season set in the chapter. **