Warrior Cats Sign in the Water Chapter 2

 Hi! Sorry for the delay. Here's Chapter 2!!

 

 As Jemma sat under a bush she thought about tomorrow morning. She thought about her sister’s face when she had told her she was leaving. She had seemed so sad. Jemma walked to her food dish. Finally! They had decided to feed her. She sat down to eat. Despite the horrible taste, she ate quickly and was soon done. With her stomach mostly full she fell asleep.

        When she awoke it was time to go. She headed over to Sapphira’s garden to say goodbye. “Sapphira, Sapphira! Where are you? I came to say goodbye!” she shouted. Sapphira padded out the cat door, looking very sad. “Sapphira, I know you’ll miss me, and I’ll miss you too. But I think you are overreacting. I promise that if I don’t like it there, I will come straight back home and see if I can live with you.” Jemma said. “You promise?” she asked. “I promise. Will you come and see Finn with me?” Just then, Finn’s voice sounded behind them. “No need. I’m already here.” he said. “I brought you this.” He handed her over a skinny blackbird.

         “Thank you, Finn. I can never catch anything more than a leaf.” Jemma said thankfully. “You’re welcome. Maybe you’ll learn how to hunt in the clans. I wish you a happy life in the forest.” Finn replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I’ll miss you both. Will you come to the edge of the tallwalker gardens with me?” Jemma asked. “Of course. Right, Finn?” Sappira meowed. “Oh, uh, sure. Well, I’d better stay. I’m getting older and, you know, I can’t jump fences like I used to. Sorry. I would if I was younger. Goodbye Jemma. I will miss you a lot.” he said regretfully. “It’s all right, Finn. I understand. Goodbye.” Jemma said after she had eaten the blackbird. “I guess we should be off.” Sapphira said. “Bye Finn!” Jemma meowed to the old cat as they started off. Finn just sat there with a blank look on his face.

         The sisters climbed fence after fence. Finally they saw the end of the gardens. It was a way off, but they might be able to get there by sundown. “We are almost there!” Jemma cried excitedly. “Can we rest? I’m tired and hungry.” Sapphira said wearily. “I’m sorry Sapphira, but if we want to get to the forest by sundown we have to keep going.” “OK, I just don’t want you to leave. I am going to be so lonely without you.” “You’ll have Finn.” “I know, but that’s not the same.” Sapphira said. “Look! We’re almost there. Let’s hurry!” Jemma meowed excitedly. “I can’t go any further. Please, can’t we rest? I can’t take another step.” “Well, we’re almost there. Maybe we should take a break, just for a few minutes though.” “Thank you so much! My paws are about to fall off!” Sapphira purred quietly.

       Finally the sisters found a place to rest. As they quietly lay down under a big oak tree, Jemma slowly fell asleep. In her dreams, two cats were in a forest, taking a walk. “Kestrelclaw, why did you want to talk? This is against the warrior code, you know.” a spotted she cat said. “Yes Spottedfeather, I know, but I wanted to talk to you. I was wondering, well, Shadestar won’t give me an apprentice. It’s like he doesn’t trust me. I was wondering if, well, maybe I could join your clan. The night I thought of it I had a dream. Air told me no. They said that I would get an apprentice soon enough. I was wondering if you could reason with them and try to get them to let me.” Kestrelclaw said. “No! It’s against the warrior code! I won’t. I’m sorry Kestrelclaw. You know I love you. I just had to go with Lightningstar when we were together. I’ a medicine cat now. I’m sorry. Goodbye.” Spottedfeather said, and she walked off. Then the dream faded.

       Jemma was awakened by Sapphira, who was now full of energy. “Jemma, you fell asleep. It’s already sunrise. If you want to get there soon you’d better get going.” she said. “You’re not coming? I thought you were.” Jemma meowed. She decided that the dream wasn’t important, so she didn’t tell her sister, but she did have one question about it. Who was Air? Maybe she would find out in the clans. “My Tallwalker will be worried by now. I have to go. Come see me soon!” Sapphira cried as she jumped back over the fences. Jemma looked at the barn that she and her sister had slept by. Maybe she could find food in there. Pushed by the hunger in her stomach, she headed into the barn.

       It was dark, but the smell of mice and hay was everywhere. Her ears pricked as she heard a sound of something moving. Was there something other than a mouse in this barn? “Hello!? Hello? Is there someone here?” “Get out of our territory. No cats but us are allowed in here.” a menacing voice growled in reply.

A golden tom with green eyes stepped out of the darkness. “What are you doing here?” He looked at her collar. “Ah, a housecat. Why aren’t you with your Tallwalkers? They are probably very worried, pampered cat.” He said rudely. Then a grey tabby she-cat stepped out and looked at the tom. “Leave her alone, Leaf. She looks hungry and ungroomed. Maybe we should give her a chance to explain herself.” The cat turned to Jemma. “What’s your name?” she asked. “Jemma. I don’t mean any harm. I didn’t even know that this was your barn.” answered Jemma. The she-cat turned back to Leaf. “See? She didn’t know. We should give her a mouse or two and let her go.” “But Sky! She’s trespassing! You know what the rules are. We either fight or give her a warning. I think we should give her a warning and make her leave, no mice.” Leaf hissed. Then he turned to Jemma. “Leave here and never come back!” he spat.

        “Leaf!” Another she-cat was speaking now. “Is this how you would treat our kits at this age? I would hope not.” The she-cat said as she stepped out of the darkness. She was a pretty calico with light green eyes, and Jemma could see that she was close to kitting. Just then, Leaf’s eyes softened as he padded up to his mate. “No, I would never treat our kits poorly.” He glared at Jemma. “But this kit, well, she’s an intruder! You never know what intruders hide.” Leaf hissed. “I am not a kit! I’m a day away from being 6 months. That’s half of a year!” Jemma said. “Well, Sky and I are 20 months. That makes us almost a year old. And Lila here is 18 months. Ha!”

       “Why are you arguing about your age? You two are acting like kits!” Sky purred.  Immediately Leaf jumped away from Jemma. Lila whispered to her, “Don’t mind him. He loses track of his dignity sometimes.” Jemma understood. This cat only wanted to protect his loved ones. “What brings you here anyway?” Sky asked. “I am looking for the clans. I heard about them from a friend, and I want to join them.” “Oh, I see. Well, you’re heading in the right direction. You see that field over there? That’s Grassclan territory. You will probably be there at about sunhigh if you leave soon.” Jemma purred. She was almost there!

       Just then, Lila brought Jemma a plump mouse. “Here, you look hungry.” she meowed. “Jemma purred gratefully and crouched down to eat it. It was much better than the blackbird. The flavors danced in her mouth, and made her want more. After she had finished, she eagerly thanked Lila. “Thank you. I have never tasted mouse before. Could I try to catch one?” she asked. “Of course. You can eat what you catch.” Lila purred. Leaf glared at Jemma. She crouched down and pricked her ears. She heard a mouse not far off. As if it were instinct, she glided across the barn floor. Now she could see the mouse. She waited a moment, and then pounced. Not a moment too soon, the mouse ran. Jemma chased after it, and then caught up to it. Triumphantly, she brought it to Leaf. She put it down at his paws, and beconed him to eat it.

        Then something changed inside the tom. His eyes softened as he crouched down to eat. When he had finished, he thanked Jemma, and then something unexpected happened. “I am sorry for the way I have acted. You have proved that you are a kind cat.” he said, and then beckoned to Sky and Lila. The three rouges then hid in the shadows, but Jemma could hear them whispering to one another. Then Leaf showed himself. “Would you let me travel with you?" he asked.

Oooh, a cliffhanger. Hope you liked it! :) I'm still working on the 3rd chapter but I will post it soon!