One night I couldn't sleep, so I lay in bed thinking about my stories and ideas for some new ones. It was then a thought came to me; what if Longtail had been a she-cat? How would that have changed the story? A lot, I would think. Originally, I thought this would be a short story, but as I thought of it the idea evolved into so much more.
UPDATE: I've edited this chapter a bit.
"Lucky to become an apprentice," caterwauled a voice over the ripples of shocked whispers from the group of cats.
Rusty craned his neck and spotted a pale tabby cat standing up and glaring defiantly at their leader.
Bluestar ignored the tabby and continued to address the whole Clan. "Lionheart and Whitestorm have met this young cat, and they agree with me that we should train him with the other apprentices."
A deafening uproar of protests rose from the crowd as Rusty glanced around nervously while his fear-scent came off of him in waves.
"Where does he come from?"
"Which Clan does he belong to?"
"What a strange scent he carries! That's not the scent of any Clan I know!"
Then one yowl in particular sounded out above the rest. "Look at his collar! He's a kittypet!" It was the pale tabby again. "Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. This Clan needs wild-born warriors to defend it, not another soft mouth to feed."
Lionheart bent down and hissed into Rusty's ear. "That tabby is Longtail. She smells your fear. They all do. You must prove to her and the rest of the Clan that your fear won't hold you back."
The ginger tom could not move. How could he ever prove to these fierce cats that he wasn't just a kittypet?
The tabby continued to jeer and mock him. "Your collar is a mark of the Twolegs, and that noisy jingling will make you a poor hunter at best. At worst, it will bring the Twolegs into our territory, looking for the poor lost kittypet who fills the woods with his pitiful tinkling."
Rest of the crowd of cats began meowing in agreement to the she-cat's taunts.
Longtail went on, well aware that she had the support of her audience now. "The noise of your treacherous bell will alert our enemies, even if your Twoleg stench doesn't!"
Lionheart hissed into Rusty's ear once more: "Do you back down from her challenge?"
Still the ginger tom did not move, but this time he was trying to pinpoint Longtail's position. There she was, just behind a dusky brown she-cat. Rusty flattened his ears, narrowed his eyes and, hissing, leaped through the startled cats to fling himself onto his tormentor.
Longtail was completely unprepared for Rusty's attack. She staged sideways, losing her footing on the sunbaked earth. Filled with rage and desperate to prove himself, Rusty dug his claws deep into the tabby's fur and sank in his teeth. The two cats locked in a screaming, writhing tussle flipped and somersaulted around the clearing. The rest of the Clan was forced to spring away to avoid the battling duo.
As the ginger tom scratched and struggled, he suddenly became aware that he no only felt fear, only exhilaration. Through the roaring of blood in his ears, he could hear the cats around them meowing with excitement.
Then Rusty suddenly felt his collar tighten around his neck. Longtail had gripped it between her teeth and was tugging at it. Rusty felt a horrid pressure at his throat. Unable to breathe, he began to panic. He writhed and twisted, but the movements only made the pressure worse. Gulping for air, he summoned up all his strength and tried to pull away from Longtail's grip. And as suddenly as it started, with a loud snap, he was free.
Longtail tumbled away from him, sending up a cloud of dust and dirt as she tried to keep her balance. Scrambling to his paws, Rusty looked around. The pale tabby she-cat had used her long tail to keep herself balanced, and dangling from her teeth was Rusty's collar, mangled and broken.
Letting out a thunderous yowl, Bluestar silenced the noisy crowd and leaped down from the Highrock. Rusty and Longtail did not move, fixed to their spots, gasping for air. Clumps of fur hung from their ruffled coats. Rusty could feel a cut stinging above his eye. Longtail's left ear was badly torn, and blood dripped down her lean shoulders onto the dusty ground. The two cats stared at each other, hostility still blazing in their eyes.
Bluestar stepped forward and took the collar from Longtail's jaws. She placed it on the ground in front of her and meowed, "The newcomer has lost his Twoleg collar in a battle for his honor. StarClan has spoken its approval – this cat has been released from the hold of his Twoleg owners, and is free to join ThunderClan as an apprentice."
With green eyes, Rusty looked at Bluestar and nodded his acceptance. He stood up straight and stepped forward into a shaft of sunshine, welcoming the warmth on hi sore muscles. Rusty lifted his head proudly and looked at the cats that surrounded him. This time no cat argued or jeered. He had shown himself to be a worthy opponent in battle.
Bluestar approached Rusty this time and placed the shredded collar on the ground in front of the ginger tom. She touched his ear gently with he nose. "You look like a brand of fire in the sunlight," she murmured. "You have fought well." Then she turned to the Clan and announced, "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Firepaw, in honor of his flame-colored coat."
Stepping back, she along with the rest of the Clan waited for the young tom's next move. Without hesitating, Rusty turned and kicked dirt onto his collar as though burying his dirt.
Longtail growled and limped out of the clearing toward a fern-shaded corner. The other cats split into groups, murmuring to each other excitedly.
"Hey, Firepaw!"
Rusty turned to greet the gray apprentice with a welcoming sniff.
"Great fight, Firepaw!" mewed Graypaw. "Especially for a kittypet! Longtail is a warrior, although she just finished her training a few sunrises ago. That scar you left on her ear won't let her forget you in a hurry. You've spoiled her good looks, well not that she had much to start with." The gray apprentice chuckled at his little joke.
"Thanks, Graypaw," Firepaw replied. "She put up quite a fight, though!" He licked his front paw and began to wipe clean the scratch above his eye. As he washed, he could hear his new name echoing among the meows of the cats.
When he was finished, he looked around his new home. "Where did Longtail go?"
"I think he was heading toward Spottedleaf's den," Graypaw tipped his head toward the fern-enclosed corner Longtail had disappeared into. "She's our medicine cat. Not bad-looking either. Younger and a lot prettier than most – "
A low growl sounded next to the two cats. The two toms turned and Firepaw recognized the gray tabby cat that had sat behind Graypaw earlier.
"Darkstripe," Graypaw mewed, dipping his head in respect for the warrior.
"Lucky your collar snapped when it did. Longtail is a young warrior, but I can't imagine her being beaten by a kittypet!" the gray tabby spat before stalking away.
"Now Darkstripe," Graypaw hissed to his ginger friend under his breath, "is neither young, nor pretty…"
Just as the ginger apprentice was about to agree with the other, an old gray cat sitting at the edge of the clearing sounded a warning yowl.
"Smallear must smell trouble!" Graypaw meowed, immediately alert.
Firepaw did not have time to look around before a young cat crashed through the bushes and into camp. He was skinny and – apart from the white tip on his long, thin tail and white chest - jet black from head to toe.
Graypaw gasped. "That's Ravenpaw! Why is he alone? Where's Tigerclaw?"
Ravenpaw staggered across the floor of the clear, panting heavily. His coat was ruffled and dusty, and his amber eyes were wild with fear. Longtail, who had just reemerged from the medicine cat's den, was at the small apprentice's side, steadying him.
"Who are Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw?" Firepaw whispered to Graypaw, watching as other cats began to greet the new arrival as the pale tabby tried to calm him down.
"Ravenpaw's an apprentice and Tigerclaw's his mentor," Graypaw explained quickly. "Ravenpaw went out with Tigerclaw and Redtail at sunrise on a mission against RiverClan, the lucky furball."
"Redtail?" Firepaw echoed, thoroughly confused by all the new names.
"Bluestar's deputy," hissed the gray apprentice. "But why on earth has Ravenpaw come back alone?" he added to himself. He lifted his head to hear what Bluestar had to say as the blue leader stepped forward.
"Ravenpaw?" the she-cat spoke calmly, but a look of worry clouded her blue eyes. The other cats, but Longtail, drew back, curling their lips with anxiety.
"What has happened?" Bluestar jumped onto the Highrock and looked down at the trembling black cat. "Speak, Ravenpaw."
Ravenpaw struggled for breath as he steadied himself against the pale tabby, his sides heaved fitfully while the dust around him turned red with blood, but still he managed to scramble up onto the Highrock without the tabby she-cat's help. The black apprentice looked down on the many faces of his Clanmates and suddenly found his breath to declare, "Redtail is dead!"
Shocked yowls rose from the Clan cats, but stayed quiet enough to hear the apprentice explain. "We m-met five RiverClan warriors beside the stream, not far from Sunningrocks. Oakheart was among them."
"Oakheart!" Graypaw gasped beside Firepaw. "He is the deputy of RiverClan. He's one of the greatest warriors in the forest. Lucky Ravenpaw! Wish it could have been me. I'd have really- " The gray apprentice was silenced with a fierce glance from the old gray tom, Smallear.
Firepaw turned his attention back to Ravenpaw.
"Redtail warned Oakheart to keep his hunting parties out of TunderClan territory. He said the next RiverClan warrior to be caught in ThunderClan territory would be killed, but Oak… Oakheart would not back down. He said his Cl-Clan had to be fed, whatever we threatened," Ravenpaw paused to wheeze for a breath. His shoulder wound was still bleeding heavily and he stood awkwardly to keep the weight off of it.
"That's when the RiverClan cats attacked. It was hard to see what was happening. The fighting was vicious. I saw Oakheart had Redtail pinned to the ground, but then Redtail…" Suddenly the apprentice's amber eyes rolled in his head and he lurched sideways. Half scrambling, half falling, he slithered off the Highrock and collapsed on the ground.
Longtail and a pale ginger queen were at his side in seconds, crouching down to check on the black tom. The queen licked Ravenpaw's check briefly before calling out, "Spottedleaf!"
Out of the fern-shaded corner trotted out a tortoiseshell she-cat. She hurried over to Ravenpaw and mewed to the two she-cats to stand back. Then she used her nose to roll the apprentice on his side to get a better look at his wound. She glanced up and meowed, "It's all right, Goldenflower, Longtail, his wounds aren't fatal. But I'll need to fetch some cobwebs to stop the bleeding."
As Spottedleaf sprinted back to her den, all eyes turned to the entrance of camp when a mournful howl was sounded from its direction.
A massive dark brown tabby, later revealed to be Tigerclaw, staggered in with the lifeless body of a cat with a long ginger tail, Redtail. Tigerclaw explained what happened after he placed the deputy in the middle of camp.
Graypaw then proceeded to explain many things to the ginger apprentice; such as the ritual of sharing tongues with fallen Clanmates, StarClan, Silverpelt, and how Dustpaw would need a new mentor now that Redtail, who was his mentor, is dead.
Firepaw then noticed Tigerclaw getting up and heading over to where Spottedleaf, Ravenpaw, and Longtail were below the Highrock. He noticed the medicine cat pressing cobwebs to the black apprentice's shoulder wound. Curious, he turned to Graypaw, "master" of all knowledge. "What's Spottedleaf doing?"
"Stopping the bleeding. It looked like a nasty cut. And Ravenpaw seemed really shaken up. He's always been a bit jumpy, but I've never seen him this bad before. Let's go and see if he's woken up yet."
The two made their way over to the spot where Ravenpaw lay and settled a little away as to wait until Tigerclaw had finished speaking.
"So, Spottedleaf," Tigerclaw addressed the tortoiseshell with a confident meow, seemingly ignoring Longtail. "How is he? Do you think you can save him? I've spent a lot of time training him up, and I don't want my efforts to be wasted at the first battle."
White Longtail's shoulder fur fluffed up at the rude comment, Spottedleaf remained calm as she looked down at her patient. "Yes, a pity if, after all your valuable training, he dies in his first fight, eh?" he meowed teasingly in a soft mew to the much larger and stronger warrior.
"Will he live?" Tigerclaw demanded.
"Of course. He just needs to rest."
Tigerclaw snorted and looked down at the motionless black shape. He jabbed Ravenpaw with one of his front claws. "Come on, then! Get up!"
Ravenpaw didn't move.
"Look at the length of that claw!" Firepaw hissed.
"Too right!" replied Graypaw with feeling. "I know I wouldn't want to get into a fight with him!"
Longtail looked ready to snap at the dark tabby, but again Spottedleaf was faster in responding. "Not so fast, Tigerclaw!" the tortoiseshell placed her paw over the warrior's sharp talon and gently moved it away. "This apprentice needs to keep as still as possible until the cut has healed. We don't want him opening his wound by jumping about trying to please you. Leave him alone."
The dark tabby stiffened and seemed about to speak when Spottedleaf mewed teasingly, "Even you know better than to argue with a medicine cat, Tigerclaw."
Tigerclaw's amber eyes flashed at the little she-cat's words. "I wouldn't dare argue with you, dear Spottedleaf," he purred forcefully. He turned to leave when he spotted Firepaw standing next to Graypaw. "Who's this?" he asked the gray tom.
"He's the new apprentice," Graypaw mewed.
"He smells like a kittypet!" snorted the warrior.
"I was a house cat," Firepaw boldly meowed, "but I am going to train to be a warrior."
Tigerclaw looked at the ginger tom with interest. "Ah, yes. Now I remember. Bluestar mentioned that she had stumbled across some stray kittypet. So she's actually going to try you out, is she?"
Firepaw sat up very straight, wanting to impress the distinguished Clan warrior. "That's right," he meowed.
"Then I shall watch your progress with interest," he meowed before stalking off.
"Do you think he liked me?" Firepaw asked.
"I don't think Tigerclaw likes any apprentices!" whispered Graypaw.
Just then Ravenpaw stirred under the soothing licks Longtail was giving him. Twitching a pair of large black ears, he hissed, "Has he gone?"
"Who? Tigerclaw?" replied Graypaw, trotting over to him. "Yep, he's gone."
"Hi, there," Firepaw began, about to introduce himself.
"Go away, both of you!" Spottedleaf protested. "How am I meant to help this cat with all these interruptions!" She twitched her tail impatiently and then added as an afterthought, "You can stay, Longtail."
"Come on, Firepaw," Graypaw meowed, leading the ginger tom away. "I'll show you around camp. See you later, Ravenpaw."
As they walked around camp, Firepaw remembered a question that he wanted to ask since Ravenpaw showed up. "What's going on between Ravenpaw and Longtail? They seem pretty close."
"Of course they're close, Ravenpaw is Longtail's half-brother!" Graypaw explaimed. "But they are closer then most half-siblings. Robinwing, their mother, died when Ravenpaw was young and he never really adjusted after that. Longtail took special interest in his half-brother around then for some reason."
"Ah," Firepaw meowed in acknowledgement. It calmed the odd feeling in his chest knowing they were related. It was then that the ginger tom noticed that feeling for the first time that day, but he did not know what it was or even when it started. He shrugged it off and tired to pay attention to Graypaw as the wise gray apprentice rambled on about Clan life some more.
As you have surely noticed, I've changed some other things around.