The Feathers of a Falcon, Chapter 1

The sun rose gently over the side of the mountain that was Eaglepaw's home. His russet, reddish-brown tabby pelt with bits of white and black in it glinted in the sunlight, turning the russet into a fiery copper. He looked over beside him at the sleeping bodies of Falconpaw, his sister, and Owlpaw, his brother. Falconpaw's pelt was the exact same as his, except for her more brownish tinge of russet. Owlpaw was a grey and white tabby tom with a bad temper that was, thankfully, never directed at his siblings. Eaglepaw's heart lifted at the sight of them looking so peaceful and calm- they were so, so precious to him, especially after their mother Ravenflight and their father Rowanthorn died. Eaglepaw turned his head around to look at the lavender and pink hued sky. His amber eyes shone with sadness at the memory of his parents. They were alone, in the originally loving AspenClan that was now corrupted with their new leader Fangstar. Rowanthorn was the noble and faithful deputy of the equally noble leader Sunstar, when he drowned in a tragic accident in a river. Sunstar, who was already old and withered, blindly chose Fangstar, then Fangclaw, to be their deputy, oblivious of his new deputy's treachery. One moon later, Sunstar died of greencough, and Fangclaw became Fangstar. Eaglepaw and his siblings were the last ones to be made apprentices before Sunstar passed away, not long after the frail leader went back in his den after the ceremony. Eaglepaw still felt that it was his fault, pestering everycat about being made an apprentice when Sunstar clearly was too fragile to do the task. Sunstar used his last bit of energy in a ceremony.

>How cowardly,< Eaglepaw thought, >Fangstar wasn't there for Sunstar's death, when he was the one who led Sunstar in the den of greencough-infested cats. It was as if he was sorry for what he had done and was afraid to see the result.< Eaglepaw's wry snort of mirthless laughter woke his siblings up. Falconpaw blinked up at her brother sleepily. "'Morning," she mewed drowsily, her words blurred with sleep. Owlpaw glared up at his brother, though Eaglepaw knew he wasn't really mad at him "Thanks for waking me up," Owlpaw snapped, but Eaglepaw knew it was just his brother's way of saying: "Good morning, how did you sleep?". Eaglepaw chuckled at his brother's anger and uncurled his tail that was sitting neatly over his paws. He stood up. "It's about time you two woke up," he scolded them teasingly. "We were supposed to join Jadewing's hunting patrol, right? It's time to go."

Falconpaw shot straight up, eyes alert. "What? The sun's out already? I was going to beg Hawkslash to join the dawn patrol!"
Eaglepaw looked at his outgoing, bright, intelligent sister calmly, but his eyes glittered with amusement. "It's not my fault I wake up early and you don't," he told her.
Owlpaw had sat up, too, and shot his brother a look. "Exactly. It's not my fault I need more sleep, either, so don't wake up again!" He said sharply. "I don't even want to go hunting! There's plenty of prey for us already!"
This time it was Falconpaw's turn to say sharply, "There's enough for US, but what about the rest of the clan? You know it's hard to find prey all the way up here, but the clan still needs to be fed. How can you expect to be fed if you don't do some of the work yourself? Besides, Fangstar told Jadewing to, and remember, the leader's word is law!" She reprimanded the rebellious apprentice.

Fangstar. The word echoed round and round in Eaglepaw's mind as his brother and sister bickered while leaving the apprentices' den together. He was the reason they had to live like this, hunting and working their tails off while Fangstar did none of the work except making slaves of them. The only benefit that came off that was all the cats were stronger than any other clan or non-clan cat, and though Eaglepaw was only halfway through his apprenticeship he already had muscles visible under his pelt, his build lean and strong. But either way, Fangstar needed to be rid of. Eaglepaw didn't even know how the evil leader got his nine lives from StarClan, but only he and Starclan knew what this evil cat had done to destroy the goodness of AspenClan. Fangstar hid his treachery well.

"There you are!" Jadewing exclaimed, standing beside Stonepelt and Ivoryfern, Eaglepaw's and Owlpaw's mentors.
Falconpaw ran up to her mentor. "Jadewing! Sorry we're late," she apologized.
"Yeah, by three heartbeats," Owlpaw muttered and Falconpaw gave him a swipe of her paw on her grumbling brother's left ear, claws sheathed. The three mentors purred in amusement while Owlpaw glared at her.
"Big hunting patrol," Eaglepaw commented as they padded towards the camp entrance tunnel.
"Well, we've got to hunt a lot. Fangstar said four pieces of prey each," Stonepelt told his apprentice. Eaglepaw made a face. That's twenty-four pieces of prey in total! There are only a little more than thirty cats in the clan! Wasn't Amberclaw, the deputy, supposed to tell us what to do in terms of patrols? A sudden yelp was cut off and the russet apprentice looked behind him, startled. Cedarpaw had just gotten a hefty swipe, claws unsheathed, to the side of his head from his mentor Fangstar, who was looking down at the dark brown tom in disgust. "You can't cower like that! Be strong! Stand up straight! Chin up! Whiskers stiff!" Fangstar was thundering at his frightened apprentice. The patrol paused for a moment before going on, with Stonepelt leading and shaking his head. Eaglepaw stopped and looked back once more at the entrance, staring at his leader roaring at the poor Cedarpaw. He narrowed his eyes and made a decision. This clan was not like it was before. They couldn't live there now. Eaglepaw was going to get him and his siblings out of there, with as many of his friends as possible. He turned back towards the tunnel and stepped out of camp, eyes determined and resolved.

Introduction

Have you every wondered why and how FalconClan was created? Why was it even all the way up in the mountains? Who would even live there? This story is the beginning of FalconClan. This story reveals the secrets of lost memories that even the oldest elders in the elders' time don't remember...