Authors Note: This is a rewrite of our older fic A Blazing Comet, which some of you may know as the spinoff of our other fic The Lunar Destiny, which is the story told from the sane and realistic point of view of Cometpaw. It may not hurt to read The Lunar Destiny if you don't mind terrible trollfics because this ties into that deeply.
I do hope you enjoy.
Though the dark moon blinds us all, follow the tail of a comet and order will be restored.
The words, silky yet unfamiliar, whispered at the corner of Cometkit's mind. Just out of reach, scratching at the edges of his awareness but always forgotten whenever he tried to focus on it. For the entirety of his rather short life thus far, he could always feel it in his mind, but could never make out the words. Even now, at six moons of age, these words were still out of his reach, a prophecy he could not hear.
He could feel something big and soft prod at his side, a paw? It shook him gently as a soft and comforting voice reached his ears, "Cometkit? Wake up, dear," his mother, Frostwing, whom he thought to be the most beautiful cat in the camp with her sleek white fur and eyes that shone brighter than the stars. At her insistence, he cracked his own eyes open, "Today is a very special day, Cometkit, do you know what today is?"
What was today? His mind was still caught up in the web of dreams and sleep, it was hard to focus let alone remember any dates.
But, a moment passed before a he scrambled to his paws, excitement prickling through his body as he jolted awake as he realized just what today marked for him. "My ceremony!" he mewed, "I'm being apprenticed today!"
Oh, this was the day he had been looking forward to since he could remember! The day he began training as a warrior, the day that he could make his clan proud and dedicate himself to defending and caring for it just at it had defended and cared for him while he was a kit! His heart swelled within his chest at the thought of all the good he could do.
"Correct" Frostwing purred, bending down to lick his forhead, smoothing out some tufts of fur up there, "you're going to be such an amazing apprentice. I'm so proud of you."
Heat stung at his body, embarrassment flushing through him, "Mom," he complained weakly. He loved her, he really did, but it was embarrassing when she did that among the other cats. The younger kits were in there, for StarClan's sake! He could see Tornadokit and Floodkit watching them with eyes wide. He had to admit they had strange names, not that he would dare say it to their faces, then again, 'Cometkit' wasn't all that normal for a name either.
As he tried to sidestep away from his mother, she gently knocked him back into place, "You are my darling little son, and I will mother you as much as I want to," she said, a scolding tone but he knew she was only teasing him.
They laughed for a little while, the other kits joining in to tackle and congratulate Cometkit for finally getting to move out of the nursery and him assuring them that they would follow suite in just a few moons. He loved playing with them, they were good kits, excitable and innocent and just so fun to be around.
As he was with the younger ones, his mother moved over to the nest to try and wake up his sister. Shaking her gently, speaking to her until she resorted to giving her a few hard prods to wake up.
Lunarkit… his joy turned into irritation faster than a bird falling from the sky.
He and his sister had a… poor relation to put it simply. He didn't hate her, no, she was his littermate he doubted he could bring himself to hate Lunarkit. But that didn't mean he didn't find her irredeemably annoying and obnoxious. The she-cat was always trapped in her own little world where she saw herself as the top cat, she acted as though she were better than anyone and everyone, only did what she wanted to. It just… frustrated him!
Even more, the rest of the Clan seemed to bend to her every desire.
Not wanting to deal with her so early in the day, Cometkit said his goodbyes to the rest of the kits and made his way out into the clearing. He was out of the den just as Lunarkit was waking up, and even outside he could hear her obnoxiously loud voice screeching through the air in her high and mighty excitement.
No doubt as soon as she realized what was going on today, everything would become even more centered around her. Great.
He hadn't even made it to his usual spot to sit as cats began gathering when a streak of black- oh, excuse me, a streak of dark purple almost black rushed past him in a hurry. Pushing past every cat in her way as she made it to the very front of the crowd. No one seemed to mind the rude shoves and lack of apologies from his sister, though he knew they'd be at his throat if he pulled the same stunt.
Their own Clan leader, Fallingstar, paid no mind to her usual behavior as the meeting was started.
He almost didn't notice his mother approaching until she butted her head against him to force him to stand, herding him away from his usual spot to sit up front with his sister. He felt uncomfortable up front, with the crowd of cats behind him, but sat up tall for his mother as she beamed in pride beside him.
The ceremony went off without a hitch. Lunarkit behaved in her usual selfish and self-centered nature, it quickly became all about her and Cometkit was certain that Fallingstar wasn't even preforming the ceremony correctly in the first place. That bothered him a little bit, a ceremony done incorrectly couldn't be a good sign, but no one seemed to notice or care so maybe he was just imagining it?
Lunarpaw was made apprentice to Graniteheart, a big, broad shouldered warrior that could plow through most of any cats when one got him charging. He was intimidating in appearance, but most of the Clan knew that he was nothing but a big softie on the inside. The young tom could only hope that his sister didn't walk all over the warrior, but knew in his heart that it was exactly what she would do.
To his own amazement, as he was named Cometpaw, he was given Blueflame as a mentor. Not what he would have expected seeing as the she-cat had only been made a warrior a short while ago. Just a few moons ago she was cleaning out the elders' dens and bringing fresh kill to the nursery. Blueflame was a powerful cat, even if she was still young, and struck a level of fear into other cats that was hard to copy. She was quiet, always watching, always seemed to know what was going on.
In honesty, Cometpaw was a little intimidated that he was going to be her apprentice. He just prayed to StarClan he could live up to whatever expectations the warrior had of him.
He was hesitant as he reached up to touch noses with his mentor. She didn't say anything, not unusual in the least, but it still took all his willpower not to shrink under the scrutiny of her stony gaze. He wanted to speak, but he felt like he'd be breaking an unspoken rule if he spoke up without his mentor letting him.
As the cats dispersed, the two apprentices and their mentors stayed where they were, sitting in silence, surprisingly it turned out Lunarpaw could be quiet for more than five second. The silence was disturbed when Graniteheart spoke up in his deep rumble of a voice.
"How about we kick off this experience with giving you two a tour of the territory?" he offered, looking at the apprentices, "I'm sure you two would love to know where everything is. Don't want you to get lost and wander into SunClan territory by mistake."
Cometpaw found himself nodding beside Blueflame, it would be awful not to mention embarrassing to accidentally cross into another cats' territory because he didn't know where the border was. But, to no surprise, Lunarpaw twitched her tail in irritation at the idea, narrowing her eyes as she spoke up an objection.
"I want to train!" she demanded childishly, and Cometpaw had to resist the urge to heave a heavy sigh at her requests. Yet, when Graniteheart didn't pose any resistance and instead just blindly agreed to her demands, he had to resist the urge to give into his annoyance yet again.
He already felt sorry for the tom. No one deserved to suffer through dealing with his sister.
The two were already leaving the camp when he looked up at his mentor, pawing at the ground nervously, contemplating whether he should dare ask or not. But with the way she was looking at him, it was as though she was waiting for him to speak up. That helped to bolster his courage to ask, "I'd… if it's okay with you of course, I'd rather tour the territory rather than jumping into training." He was hesitant as he spoke, not sure if it was his place to or not. He wanted to be a good apprentice, not a pawful of one that the warrior was eager to get rid of.
But his mentor was nodding, walking towards the entrance, "Good choice. I want you to be familiar with the Clans territory before anything else," she said, her voice was soft and steady, with undefiled authority lacing each word. She was certainly a more strict mentor than Graniteheart, "this territory is your home, and you need to understand what it is you'll be risking your own life to defend when trouble comes."
As she walked along the forest floor with Cometpaw following, few words were spoken between them. Blueflame would only give a brief explanation of what they would pass by. The clearing where they would be training, the stream where they would get water or wash their paws.
Moss covered the trees and padded the floor, it would be easy to get moss for nests or for any other need his duties would require it for.
It took a while, but when they reached the border his mentor had him walk along it. She was much more chatty now, giving him warnings and tidbits on the other clans as they reached each border, even had him strengthen some of the scent markings, showing him how it was done even.
"This is the border we share with SunClan," she said as she pawed at a flat stone that acted as one of the border markers, "They are decent cats, good allies to rely on. I'd say that if there was ever a clan a cat needed to run to for help, SunClan would be the best choice to go to." Cometpaw could only nod as they walked, making sure to keep that bit of information in mind. He'd never met a SunClan cat, but he'd trust his mentors opinion of them.
By the time they were returning to camp the sun was beginning its dip down below the horizon and Cometpaws paws were so sore, as though they were ready to fall off any second. He'd never walked for that long before, but it was kind of exciting in a way. He was looking forward to whatever tasks Blueflame would have him do tomorrow.
Blueflame had assured him that he would grow used to the distance they walked, and before long his paws wouldn't even hurt anymore walking around the territory.
"I want you to go to Bleedingheart's den when we get back, get something for your paws," Blueflame instructed as they approached the entrance, "Then get something to eat and rest. You'll have a lot of work tomorrow."
At the mention of eating, his stomach gurgled loudly much to his shame. But his mentor paid it no mind, just dipping her head under the bramble hanging over the entrance and making her way over to a few other warriors and the apprentice hurried his way to the medicine cats den to do as he was instructed.
The sooner he got his paws checked out, the sooner he could eat.
But, he had to slow his pace when he noticed the difference of the clan. They seemed so… excited? But he couldn't understand why, had something happened while he and Blueflame had been out?
Ducking into the den, he was face to face with the medicine cat who purred in greeting, "Cometpaw, it is nice to see you. I suspect you need something for your paws?" the older she-cat said as Cometpaw sat down.
"How could you tell?" he asked in good humor as the cat went to mix up some herbs for him. He tilted his head in greeting as Gingerpaw approached him, "Hello."
"Hello, Cometpaw," she said, and like the rest of the clan she was buzzing with excitement, "Did you hear about Lunarpaw?" she asked, and that got him to tilt his head in curiosity. What stupidity had his sister got wrapped up into this time? "Lunarpaw died fighting a badger, but then she came back to life!" the medicine cats apprentice exclaimed.
Cometpaw almost choked on the very air he was breathing, "what?"
The older she-cat gave a small laugh, "Well, she didn't actually die, but, she was really close to it, and then she woke up and was perfectly fine, like a miracle from StarClan," she explained to the tom, "it was amazing! I'd never seen anything like it before! Then Fallingstar declared that she was going to be leader after him!"
The reddish furred tom could only stare at her, searching for some kind of hint that she was joking. His mind couldn't comprehend what he had just heard as it being reality. It just didn't make any sense at all. Their leader had decided to make Lunarpaw a leader when she was of age? Lunarpaw? He cared for his sister, but, Lunarpaw was a terrible choice for a leader! She was arrogant, selfish, dimwitted and had too few redeeming qualities, yet she was a candidate for leadership?
Wasn't that also kind of a heavy weight to put on a cat who had just been made an apprentice? With all due respect, he had to wonder what Fallingstar was thinking!
His mind was too wrapped up over what he'd learned that he was just vaguely aware of his paws being finished in their treatment, stumbling out of the den with his mind in a haze. It took him a few minutes to recover, but just barely. His body was on autopilot as he began nibbling on a small mouse, trying to understand what was going on.
Lunarpaw was going to be leader.
Just… why? Who in their right mind thought that was a good idea?