Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors series!
Title: Berry Paint
Summary: Stories of four warriors- one from each Clan- who're a bit off from the others, sexuality and/or gender wise.
Warnings: effeminate gay character.
Chapter Title: Sandkit (ThunderClan)
...
Leader: Barkstar- brown tom with bright brown eyes.
Deputy: Skyfur- white tom with blue eyes
Medicine Cat: Crowear- gray she-cat with a black ear.
Warriors-
Clawpelt- brown tom with a scar across his muzzle.
Rocknose- mottled gray and white she-cat.
Smokewhisker- tri-colored brown and red she-cat.
Grayscreech- gray and brown tom.
Apprentice; Silverpaw
Queens-
Whitesong- white she-cat with blue eyes. Mother to Sandkit (sandy yellow tom with blue eyes).
Yelloweye- blue she-cat with yellow eyes. Mother to Nutkit (brown striped she-cat with distended lower jaw) and Brownkit (thin brown she-cat with blue eyes).
Mousetail- black she-cat with blue eyes. Mother to Crykit (gray-ish brown tom) and Rowankit (brown tom with black stripes.)
Apprentices-
Silverpaw- silver she-cat with blue eyes.
Elders-
Blackeye- long-haired black tom.
Milkpelt- yellow tom with green eyes.
Tallclaw- black and white she-cat.
Silverpaw ducked into the camp carrying a branch of berries that just dangled above the ground. The silver she-cat held them out as far away from her as possible, fearful of getting some of the juices in her fur.
"Collecting herbs?" Tallclaw called. The black and white she-cat was sunning herself in the middle of the clearing, her denmate Milkpelt by her side.
"That's no herb I've ever seen." Milkpelt mused, tasting the air. "Did Crowear find a new one?"
Silverpaw shook her head, veering towards the nursery. "They're not for Crowear."
"You found some!" Brownkit cried, bursting out of the nursery. The familiar yellow pelt of Sandkit flashed by her side. "Just in time, too!"
The apprentice gently set the branch down. "Here you go. Crowear says they're safe, so long as you don't try and eat a bunch of them."
Sandkit gave them a hesitant sniff. "Can they kill you?"
"Give you a bellyache, maybe." She snorted. "What do you two want with these, anyway?"
Brownkit puffed out her small chest. "I'm gonna help Sandkit look pretty for our apprentice ceremony!"
Silverpaw turned to him with curious eyes. He shuffled his paws.
"If we even have our apprentice ceremony." He stated sensibly. "Nutkit might not be better yet."
Confined to the medicine den after hurting her jaw on some stones- she'd climbed part of the way of the quarry, then fallen fast first- the two kits had sworn they would wait for her to become 'paws. It'd already been the better part of a moon since their expected day, and Nutkit was getting better, save for her bottom teeth, which now protruded from her muzzle.
She shook her head stubbornly. "Crowear says Nutkit can be an apprentice now. It has to be today!"
"Silverpaw!" Her mentor, Grayscreech, called. "We're going hunting."
"Coming." She called back. "See you two later."
Sandkit watched her pad away. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Brownkit?"
Brownkit frowned at him. "Don't you want to look pretty?"
He winced. "Yes. But what if everyone laughs?"
"Let them laugh." She sniffed, crushing the berries into a paste. Her paw turned purple from the mess. "They don't know the first thing about beauty. Now, duck your head."
Sandkit obediently bent his head and closed his eyes, feeling a paw trail over his right eyelid. "Does it look good on me?"
"It makes you smell good. Turn around. I wanna give you some stripes."
Sandkit presented his back. His ears pricked at the sounds of Rowankit and Crykit tumbling out of the nursery.
"What are you doing?" Rowankit wrinkled his nose.
"We're making ourselves look good." Brownkit meowed distractedly, focused on her work. "It's not every day you become a 'paw, you know."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, but was unable to keep the longing out of his voice. Rowankit and Crykit, only three moons old, had time to spare yet. "Hey, Sandkit. Come play with us?"
Sandkit hesitated. "Maybe later." He gave his chest a few licks, attempting to be nonchalant. "This stuff has to dry."
"Fine." He snapped. "Cone one, Crykit. Let's leave the she-cats to the nursery." Rowankit stuck his tail in the air and marched away. Crykit hesitantly examined his pelt, giving an experimental sniff.
"It smells weird." He told him. "But not in a bad way."
"Thanks." He purred. Crykit scurried away at Rowankit's call.
"Hey, look." Brownkit pointed a messy paw at Whitesong and Yelloweye; the two she-cats were sharing a piece of prey. "Let's go show them how good we look!"
Sandkit nodded and stood up, admiring his striped pelt. Brownkit, covered in irregular splotches of juice, was purring as they raced across the clearing. "Look at us!"
"Sandkit, what happened to your fur?" Yelloweye blinked at them, mouth full of vole. She swallowed. "And Brownkit! Not you, too."
"Don't we look good?" She stuck out her chest. "I did it myself!"
"It does look very good." Whitesong purred, although there was a gleam of anxiety in her eyes. "But you don't want to keep that on all day, do you? What about your ceremony?"
"That's why we put it on! We wanna look extra special for our ceremony." Brownkit meowed.
Mousetail padded over, giving the kit a swift lick between the ears before grabbing a squirrel. "Face it, you two. These kits have never done things normally."
"They look good." Rocknose hummed, sharing tongues with Blackeye. Everyone was hovering near the camp, unwilling to miss such an important day.
"Thanks!" Brownkit pushed him away from the group. "Let's go show Nutkit."
Together they stumbled over to Crowear's den. Nutkit poked her head out of the entrance, sharp little teeth glittering in the light.
"Wow." She breathed. "Can I try some?"
"Of course." Brownkit purred at her sister. "There's plenty for everyone."
Sandkit felt more confident in himself as they helped sleek Nutkit's fur with juice. The sensation of berry clinging to his fur was new, but not particularly bad.
He liked this. He liked being pretty.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet me at the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Brownkit squealed. "It's time!"
Sandkit felt the weight of everyone's stares on his pelt as he stood before Barkstar. The brown tom lifted his chin, eyes glowing with pride.
"ThunderClan, this is the strongest we've been in many moons. What we've lacked in apprentices, we've made up for in queens and kits. I'm honored to be your leader, to hunt and fight alongside every one of you, and even prouder to present the newest apprentices to the Clan."
"Nutkit," Nutkit jumped. "You feared you would be last, so you will go first. From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Nutpaw. Clawpelt," The brown tom lifted his head. "You are strong and brave. Pass these traits onto Nutpaw."
Nutpaw skittered across the clearing to touch noses with him. Clawpelt silently shifted so she could sit next to him.
"Sandkit, from this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sandpaw. Rocknose, you are compassionate and kind. You'll be a good match for Sandpaw."
I got Rocknose! His heart soared as he pelted over to the brown and gray she-cat. She likes my fur; she likes me!
"Brownkit, from this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Brownpaw. Smokewhisker, you have a lot to teach her. Mentor her well."
Sandpaw watched Brownpaw touch noses with her mentor with pride. We're going to train together!
"Nutpaw! Sandpaw! Brownpaw!"
Rocknose prodded him with her nose. "Ready for a tour of the territory?"
Sandpaw's paws tingled with excitement. Once he knew his way around, he could hunt and gather berries whenever he pleased. "More than ready."
"We did it!" Brownpaw tackled him, battering his side playfully with her paws. "We're apprentices! Did you see Barkstar's face when we came out? He was so impressed!"
Smokewhisker rolled her eyes. "I've got a long apprenticing ahead of me, don't I?"
Brownpaw was unfazed by her new mentor's words. "Can we go with? Please!"
"Of course. It'd be silly to go separate ways now." Smokewhisker called to Clawpelt. "Want to come with us?"
Nutpaw looked at Clawpelt pleadingly. He heaved a sigh. "Alright. Might as well."
"We've got quite a group." Rocknose purred, leading the way through the tunnel. The three apprentices walked side by side, staring at the world around them.
"They look like they fell in a berry bush." Clawpelt groused.
Brownpaw's ears pricked. "Are we gonna see the different borders?"
"It'd be mouse-brained of us not to. Wouldn't want you streaking after a squirrel into a different territory." Smokewhisker gave them a severe look. "Never cross into another Clan's territory, you hear me?"
Brownpaw screwed up her nose. "Everybody knows that!"
"Good. The more you know, the fewer mistakes you'll make."
Sandpaw bristled at the warrior's tone. Rocknose ran her tail across his spine comfortingly. "Mistakes are an important part of learning." She murmured in his ear. "Don't worry about it."
Clawpelt froze. "I hear cats." He warned.
"We're on our side of the border." Rocknose meowed coolly. "And they're on theirs. We have nothing to fear."
"Hello, Brackentuft." Smokewhisker called to the head of the patrol. A brown she-cat dipped her head.
"Showing new apprentices the border?" Brackentuft meowed, eyeing them dubiously.
"You bet."
"You should get them cleaned up. It's embarrassing, having them walk around like that."
Sandpaw felt his body deflate. Who was he kidding? He didn't look pretty; he looked mouse-brained.
"Hey, we like looking like this!" Brownpaw defended. "It helps us blend in." Nutpaw nodded and lifted her chin, inadvertently baring her bottom fangs more.
Brackentuft slowly blinked at them before shaking her head. "ThunderClan. Always coming up with something new." Baffled, she dipped her head to the apprentices. "It was nice meeting you, little ones. Stay on your side of the border, and we won't have any problems."
"See you next Gathering." Smokewhisker called as the patrol disappeared into the underbrush. "Annoying furball."
Rocknose touched the tip of Sandpaw's ear with her nose. "Don't worry about what they think."
Sandpaw jerked away. "No. She had a point. I look silly." He shook himself, pelt burning with shame. "I wanna wash it off."
"But-" Brownpaw started to say.
"We'll wash with you." Nutpaw broke in, casting her sister a glance. "Sorry, Sandpaw."
Sandpaw curled closer into himself in the apprentice den. His fur felt oddly empty without the berry paint to make it shine, but he'd have felt bad if he'd stained Silverpaw's careful work.
I shouldn't have bothered.
"Hey, Sandpaw?" Nutpaw tapped his side with a paw. "Listen. Cats from other Clans might not get it, but ThunderClan gets it. We get it." She paused. "You really do look pretty."
He slowly stretched out. "Really?"
"Definitely. We love you. ThunderClan loves you. Don't listen to them, okay?"
"...Okay." He said, blinking. The idea of it seemed impossible to pull off, but he'd try. "I love you, too."
Author's Note; Our first character- the ever lovable Sandpaw!
Seriously. I love this fussy little dork. Give him a hand.
(Not all gay men are effeminate, I know. But some are, and Sandpaw just ended up being one of them.)
Quick look into the future; we've got a gay tom, a lesbian she-cat, a trans she-cat, and a nonbinary cat. The nonbinary is the finale.
-Mandaree1
