with wings, why crawl [open]

Blazepaw was in camp basking in the sun. As her gaze swept the camp, the red she-cat spotted a small kit stepping out of the nursery for the first time. She trotted over and gave a welcoming nod. “Hey, little guy! I’m Blazepaw, what’s your name?”

Specklepaw noticed Blazepaw talking to a kit. "I'm sure you will! when you become an apprentice, you get to do all sorts of cool stuff! just the other day, I was fighting this really big and gruesome fox!" Specklepaw rambled happily, hoping to make a new friend.

Blazepaw smiled at the kit’s chipper attitude. She noticed his attention span was really short, kinda like her! She happily twitched her ears as Specklepaw approached. Hanging out with friends, this was the life!

Blazepaw paused a bit when Magpiekit mentioned Gatherings. “Truth be told, we’ve never been to a Gathering. The last one was when I was younger than you, and I heard it was a disaster.”

Blazepaw took a deep breath. “It all began with a vicious SkyClan cat. I never met him, but I hope I never do. He killed his own father and took over the Dark Forest. They invaded the clans that night, and ever since the shadowy Dark Forest cats have lurked in our camp and StarClan have been gone. I’ve never seen them, but I’m told they appeared as tiny points of light in the night sky, like little mini-moons.”

Specklepaw nodded grimly. "Exactly! their right here in camp! see that grumpy old flea-bag over there? he's one of them!" Specklepaw declared, using her tail to point at a cat on the other side of camp. of maybe that was one of her clanmates, she couldn't be sure.

“Chill, kit,” Blazepaw said. “Don’t fight them and they won’t fight you. You don’t need to worry until one tries to talk to you. But always keep one eye out, just in case.”