Jadesetp's Path

Warrior Tribes 

(Contribute to Erin Hunter's Warriors Series)

Jadestep's Path

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Dear Reader,

Jadestep’s story is very interesting. She is a sweet cat to meet. In this story, you will find out that Jadestep was never actually born into a tribe but was taken to a tribe. This is Jadestep’s time for her story.
-Owlscreech

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​Cats (Rouges, Kittypets, etc.)

Jade-a white she-cat with a black spot around her blue eye (Blue and yellow eyes) (kit of Gem-Stone)

Hitch-a black and white tom (kit of Gem-Stone)

Gem-Stone-a black she-cat

Pitch-a black tom

Bruno-a silver and gray tabby tom

Skitter-a tortoiseshell tom

Jigsaw-a black tabby she-cat

Tribe Cats:

Blackleaf (Blackest Leaf)-black tabby tom (Healing Cat)

Fur in the Gorse (Gorsefur)-greenish-brownish tabby tom (Leader of Tornado Tribe)

Heatherbracken (Heather in the Bracken)-a brown she-cat (Deputy of Tornado Tribe)

Brownivy (Ivy of Brown)-brown tom

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Hi. My name is Jade. My story begins in the forest. Not as a forest cat or a lost kittypet. Just a plain old rouge. I was only five months old when something happened that broke our family apart. I was with my one season old brother, Hitch. My mother is named Gem-Stone and my father is Pitch. Hitch was watching over me while my dad was out hunting. You see, we rouges can hunt for ourselves and fight a tiny bit. But I didn’t know how to yet. Anyway, back to the story. “Gem-Stone, I need to talk to you and the kits.” meows my father. I was surprised to see him shuffle his paws along the ground. “Come on Jade.” purrs Hitch nudging me over to Gem-Stone and Pitch. Gem-Stone looked at her mate curiously. “What is it?” she asks after Hitch and I sit beside her. “Well.” he whispers. “I think we should talk alone.” Pitch looks at me and Hitch in sorrow and apology. I stared back at him in confusion. What was father so sad about, I thought. “Come on Jade!” yowls Hitch playfully. “Let’s play.” But for once, I didn’t want to play. I just wanted to watch my parents talk. “Nah.” I mew. “I want to watch mother and father.” Hitch sighs. “Fine.” he mews. “I’ll watch with you.” I plopped myself on the ground and looked over at them. I felt dizzy when I saw Gem-Stone’s fur start to bristle while she unsheathed her claws. “What’s happening?” I whisper in a frightened voice as Gem-Stone started yelling at Pitch. “I-I-I don’t know.” stammers Hitch as his neck fur rose. “But it can’t be good.” 

After what seemed like forever for me, I saw Pitch walk away slowly and Gem-Stone walk towards us with a sad look on her face. “Where’s father going?” asks Hitch. “I don’t know and I don’t care.” she spat. I huddle against Hitch as I heard her angry tone. Then her gaze softened. “I’m sorry.” she meows. “I didn’t mean to say it like that. It’s just…” Gem-Stone stopped in her tracks. “Never mind your father. Let’s go to a twoleg place to stay for a while.” “Why?” I ask. “Where’s father going?” demands Hitch. Gem-Stone turned around with a big sigh. “There is something I must tell you about Pitch.” she murmurs. “Sit down my kits.” I sat down beside Hitch and Gem-Stone. “Your father came from Blood Tribe.” explains Gem-Stone. I stared at her in horror. Blood Tribe was the most fearful group of cats you’d ever meet! “What?” mews Hitch in a scared voice. “Is he still in Blood Tribe? Did he want to kill us?” Gem-Stone shook her head. “He didn’t want to kill you. He loved you. He doesn’t live in Blood Tribe anymore but he is still a threat. We can never see him for a while.” explains Gem-Stone. “But how are we going to catch our food?” wails Hitch. “He was the one that supplied us with food.” Gem-Stone licked him and me on the head. “We’re going to stay with twolegs for a while.” “Twolegs?” Hitch and I repeat. “Why twolegs?” “Because your father caused us a great threat so now we have to shelter for a while.” she explains. “We’ll be staying with Bruno, my brother or known as your uncle.” “Yay!” I cry. “We’re staying with Uncle Bruno!”

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It had taken us a moon to get there but we finally had reached Uncle Bruno’s twoleg den. “Stay here.” instructs Gem-Stone as she went up to a window and scrapped on the glass until a silver and gray tabby tom appeared coming through the twoleg door. “Hey Gem-Stone!” greets Bruno. “What’re you doing here?” “Hi Bruno. I’ll tell you everything later but right now I need to ask you if we could stay with you for several moons.” explains Gem-Stone. Bruno looked at her in surprise but just nodded his head. “Oh thank you Bruno!” purrs Gem-Stone gratefully. Bruno looked embarrassed. “Now, I’m going to hunt for my kits one last time before we go into our new home. Let Jade and Hitch play outside for a bit.” meows Gem-Stone rushing off. “Thank gosh.” I mutter under my breath. I hate twolegs. “So how’s it going?” purrs Bruno coming up. “Not so good.” I meow. “Not so good?” repeats Bruno. “It turns out that our father, Pitch came from Blood Tribe.” whispers Hitch lowering his head. Bruno’s eyes open wide in surprise. “Now, now.” he purrs. “Your father still loves you. How about you two go and play or do you want to take a look inside the twoleg nest?”  “Yeah!” agrees Hitch. “I wanna look inside Uncle Bruno’s twoleg nest!” “No!” I shriek. “I hate twolegs!” “Why do you hate twolegs?” meows Hitch in surprise. Bruno just looked at us. “Because twolegs killed our younger sister, Skittle.” I whisper. There was dead silence between us both. I felt sorrow reflect off of Hitch as he lowered his gaze. Then his head shot up again. “We still need to find a place away from Blood Tribe. Besides, that was a long time ago.” he meowed.

“Come on Jade, let’s go look inside your new home. Shall we?” purrs Bruno. I take a step back. I can’t let what happened to my younger sister go. I just can’t. “Jade.” meows Bruno sternly as he takes a step towards me. “You’re getting awfully close to the thunder path.” As Hitch and Bruno keep coming closer, I start to back up until I feel the black, hard surface of the thunder path beneath my paws. “Jade! Get off the thunder path now!” growls Bruno. But I can’t stop. I keep going until I’m in the middle of the thunder path. “Jade!” shrieks Hitch as a monster suddenly appears. I freeze. I look straight in the direction of the monster. I try to run but I can’t move. I’m frozen with fear. As the monster gets closer and closer, the screams of Bruno and Hitch start to fade over the loud rumbling. I shut my eyes tight and wait for the end. Out of nowhere, the monster shoots right past me; or at least I’m right under it. I’m so scared and relieved. I wasn’t going to end up like my sister, Skittle. I look around to find Hitch and Bruno wailing in agony. They think I’m dead, I think. I’m just about to race over to them when I stop in my tracks; if I go back there, I’ll live with twolegs. I look on the other side of the thunder path. If I go that way, I think, I’ll still be a rogue. All of a sudden, a rush of monsters zoom past me. I look to see that Bruno and Hitch are crouching down and lowering their heads. This is the perfect time to run, I think. I look side to side, there are no more monsters coming. I scamper as quickly as I can across the thunder path but since I am still a kit, I was pretty slow and soon enough, I heard the distant roar of another monster. 
Just as it zoomed by, I jumped onto the opposite side of the road that Bruno and Hitch were. I swallowed hard, I would miss them but I never ever want to become a kittypet. Ever. ​

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Four seasons later…                                       
I still live in the forest but I’m only five seasons old which is still pretty young for being a lone rogue. All in all, life is pretty good. I taught myself how to hunt and fight and I’m proud to say I could fight off any Blood Tribe warrior. Oh and that’s another thing, I haven’t seen Blood Tribe around for a long time now or not at all. I also haven’t seen Hitch, Uncle Bruno, Gem-Stone, or Pitch yet either. To be honest, I’m kind of glad because otherwise they would scold me for faking my own death. I love being a rogue. I bet Hitch is getting stuffed full of food; as fat as ever while I’m hunting for my food and staying active. Anyway, I’m also friends with two rogues named Skitter, a tortoiseshell tom and Jigsaw, a black tabby she-cat. Jigsaw is seven seasons old and so is Skitter. We were out hunting for our food today when Jigsaw told us a little story that got my attention. “Did you guys ever see a black tom wandering around these forests?” asks Jigsaw while we all ate our plump mice. Me and Skitter both shake our heads. “They say he had two kits but the mother sent him away after he told her that he came from Blood Tribe.” she explains. I freeze. That story sounded a lot like what happened with me, Hitch, Pitch, and Gem-Stone. “Do you know any of the cats’ names?” I ask urgently. Jigsaw shook her head. “No.” she replies. 

Good, I think relieved. “Guys,” starts Skitter. “I’m thinking of hoping on a boat and traveling.” Me and Jigsaw stare at him in shock. “At first I thought you were going to say that you wanted to become a kittypet.” I meow. “I would never ever do that Jade.” purrs Skitter. “Anyway, why travel?” meows Jigsaw. Skitter looked at her. “I want to explore new places.” he replies. “If you’re going, then I’m coming with you.” meows Jigsaw affectionately. I look at my friends in shock. They’re both going away. Both my friends look at me expectantly. “Sorry guys.” I start. “I-I-I just can’t go. This is my home and I was basically born in the forest. I belong here.” Skitter and Jigsaw both come over to me and put their heads on my shoulders. “If that’s what you want.” mutters Skitter. “You were a great friend Jade.” “Yeah.” agrees Jigsaw. “I’ll see you sometime. Good bye.” I wave good bye to them. I look after them in sadness as they race through the forest. “No I really am a lone rogue.” I mutter under my breath as I stand up and stretch my legs. I start running deeper into the forest until the sun is setting over the horizon. I make a comfortable nest under a hedge. I dream that night. A starry cat figure appeared in my dreams. “Who are you?” I growl unsheathing my claws. But the brown tom does not answer. He just walks away. “Come back!” I cry as I follow the tom into a narrow entrance. As I enter, I look around in astonishment. Tons of cats are everywhere. It’s like a camp of some sort, I think looking around. All of a sudden the piercing gaze of the brown tom looks me directly in the eye. “This is where you belong.” whispers a voice carried away by the wind. All of a sudden a black tabby tom is in front of me, staring straight through me. I turn around to see a muscular, handsome green and brown tabby tom looking back at the tom. Then I hear a voice that comes from the green and brown tabby tom. “Are you sure about this prophecy?” the tom asks. “Positive.” replies the black tabby tom. “But there are no cats in this tribe with one eye yellow and the other blue.” meows the other tom. Tribe? I think. “Wait a second!” I mutter. “I have one eye blue and the other yellow.” I focus deeply on the two cats. All of a sudden a third cat walks up. “Greetings.” meows the green and brown tabby tom. “Greeting. I came to tell you I will be leading a border patrol.” explains the brown she-cat walking away. “A border patrol?” I repeat but the cats don’t seem to hear me. “As I was saying, there is not a single cat in this tribe that has one eye blue and the other yellow.” meows the green and brown tabby tom. “Brownivy didn’t say it had to be in the tribe.” ends the black tabby tom before turning away. “I’ll be in the healing den if you need me.” Who’s Brownivy? I echo in my mind. All of a sudden the brown tom starts to stare at me again. Then everything started to make sense; or at least one thing did. I stare back at the brown tom. “Are you Brownivy?” I ask. “Why did you bring me here?” But just like that, I snap awake to find the sun high in the air. Still dizzy from my strange dream, I stagger out of my tiny nest as my paws carry me farther out into the forest. All of a sudden, the strong scent of water hits my nose. I look up to the sky. No storm clouds are in sight. The sky is clear. I look around, the ground isn’t wet and there are no puddles on the ground either. Then why do I smell water? I walk out further to smell water scent everywhere. All of a sudden a brown shape moves close to me.

I look at it curiously. When the brown shape comes closer, I can make out the brown she-cat; just like in my dream! But this time, she isn’t alone. She has three other cats following her. Before I can make out anymore cats, the brown she-cat pounces on top of me. I’m so scared, I feel as if I’ve lost all the fight in my because now I’m just batting at the fairly strong she-cat as if she were a dead mouse. The brown she-cat pins me down easily. “What are you doing in Tornado Tribe territory?!” she spits at me. I stare at her in shock and horror. A tribe was mentioned in my dream! And so was the brown she-cat! What does it all mean, I think. “Answer me!” she yowls. I snap awake and look into the she-cat’s angry glare. “Are you from Blood Tribe?” spits a white tom. I shake my head. “N-n-n-no I don’t. I-I-I’m a rogue who didn’t mean to wander into your territory.” I stammer looking honestly at the brown she-cat who still has me pinned down. All of a sudden a black tabby rushes up. Could it be, I think. Yes! It is; it’s the black tabby tom from the dream! “Hold it Heatherbracken!” yowls the tabby rushing up with a bundle of leaves in his mouth. So the brown she-cat’s name is Heatherbracken, I think. “Who is this?” he asks. “This is a rogue we found trespassing on our territory.” explains the white tom. “Shall we give her a beating?” “No Cloudyair. Take her back to camp,

Heatherbracken.” orders the black tabby racing away. Heatherbracken stared in confusion after the tabby. I look after the tabby gratefully. I heard a sigh from Heatherbracken as she assembled her cats. “Cloudyair, Tallbreeze, and Rainstorm, take her back to camp while I go back to camp to report.” instructs the she-cat racing off. So I just found out that Cloudyair is the white tom, Tallbreeze is a gray tom, and Rainstorm is a blue and gray tom. “Get up.” growls Rainstorm prodding me with a paw. I reluctantly get up and stagger all the way to their so called “camp”. When I pad in through the entrance, it’s the same one like my dream had where Brownivy lead me here! All of a sudden everyone stares at me. I feel hot. “Sit.” commands Rainstorm. “Fur in the Gorse! We have a visitor!” “Is it from Star Tribe?” growls Fur in the Gorse stepping out of his miny den. I stare at the brown and green tabby in astonishment! It’s the tom from my dream! “Who is this?” asks Fur in the Gorse coldly coming up to me. I press myself to the ground at his piercing gaze. “Blackleaf may I have a word with you?” meows the tabby tom. The black tabby tom from before nods his head and follows. So that’s his name, I think.

After what seemed like forever, they finally came out of the den. “I have decided that this…what’s your name?” asks Fur in the Gorse. “J-J-Jade.” I stammer. “Ok then Jade.” continues the tabby tom. “I have decided that Jade, will stay if she likes. As long as she wants.” Yowls of dismay broke out in the clearing. I wince. This was a once in a life time opportunity. “Thank you for your offer.” I manage to say. “I’ll take it.” There was dead silence as cats started to look at me coldly. “Very well.” starts Fur in the Gorse. “Before I pick one of the apprentices to show her around, we will have a naming ceremony for Jade.” “I hope I don’t get picked to show her around.” whispers a brown tabby tom. “How about No-Face?” yowls one of the toms. “She’s a disgrace to Tornado Tribe.” “Silence!” growls Fur in the Gorse lashing his tail. “She will have a proper naming ceremony and a proper name.” Fur in the Gorse beckoned me forward. I felt so nervous I barely moved. “Jade, you are ready to become a an apprentice. Your mentor will be Blackleaf.” meows Fur in the Gorse pointing at the black tabby tom. “You will become a healing cat apprentice. This means you will help cats that are injured in your tribe.” Blackleaf came up and touched noses with me; his eyes shining with relief. “Jade, in costume of the code, you will be known as Jadestep.” finishes Fur in the Gorse. Mutters of congratulations could barely be heard. But I didn’t let that stop me. “Now who would like to show Jadestep around?” asks Fur in the Gorse. There was dead silence. My heart sank. “I will.” volunteers a grey she-cat. Fur in the Gorse nods his head as he heads into his den with Heatherbracken behind him. “Hi there Jadestep.” greets the she-cat happily. “My name is Whirlwind. I’m in training to be a warrior.” I didn’t even bother asking what she meant. I was too excited. “Anyway.” she meows. “I’ll show you around. Over here is the healing den where you will sleep with your mentor, Blackleaf. He treats cats with injuries.” Whirlwind pointed at the neat and tidy rows of leaves and flowers.. 
“This is the warrior den. Where warriors sleep; Heatherbracken, Tallbreeze, Summerair, Rainstorm, Stormcloud, Mistycloud, Lightningscar, and Cloudyair all sleep here.” she explains pointing at the mossy nests in a corner. “And behind the warriors den is the dirt place. And over here is the apprentice den; where I sleep along with Cracklefur, Boomingthunder, and Windpool.” I nod my head in astonishment. Tribe life was so organized! “This is the to-be-mother’s den where she-cats go when they’re close to their kitting or have kitted.” continues Whirlwind pointing at a sheltered den. “Take a look inside.” orders Whirlwind walking inside. I follow in. “This is Windyhill and Floodwater. Floodwater is the mother of Sonic and Lightning. Windyhill is the mother of Sun. One of her other kits died.” whispers Whirlwind in sorrow. I nod my head and take it all in.

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Seven more seasons later…

I’m a full healing cat of Tornado Tribe now! I’m so happy. But my mentor died. But that is Tornado Tribe’s secret of how he died. Anyway, now Whirlwind, Cracklefur, Boomingthunder, and Windpool are warriors and Sunshadow, Sonicboom, and Lightningshear became apprentices. And one of them is my apprentice, Sonicboom. I’m so proud of her! She is co-operating well. Windyhill is dead; so is the deputy of Tornado Tribe, Heatherbracken. Tallbreeze gratefully took her place after we sat vigil for her. To be honest, no other cat either than Tornado Tribe knows that I’m a rogue which is perfect with me; I don’t need someone else to know. I haven’t seen Hitch, Uncle Bruno, Gem-Stone, Pitch, Skitter, or Jigsaw at all for the past seven seasons. But all in all, my life is great! It’s better than it used to be! Thank you so much for listening to my story and now that you could at least feel a little sympathy for me. Thank you for listening.

-Jadestep

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