"I'm so BORED." Eavan complained, yawning and leaning against the rotating fan.
"Summer stinks." Alden agreed. Austin nodded sleepily, absently picking up a copy of Dawn, by Erin Hunter. She opened it thoughtfully. Her eyes scanned the page, and froze on the word Firestar. An idea sparked as she read.
"Hey, you guys, let's go get Shay and Bran from down the street, and then go get Zack and Vaon from the other side of their house. Grab your sleeping bags, and we'll go down to the woods and camp out. We'll become warriors and rule the forest as true forest cats." Austin raised her eyebrow, daring her friends to challenge her.
"Sweet!" Eavan grinned, eyes narrowing as she formed a plan in her head. "But let's go get my little sister. She'll be an apprentice and...how about Lily from next to my house. She'll be an apprentice too." Austin nodded her approval.
"Good. Alden? You wanna?" she asked, looking at the silent boy who was blowing his long hair out of his face.
"uh," he grunted. Always the strong and silent type. Heaven forbid he actually utter two complete sentences in a row.
"Let's get going, then. But first we need permission." Austin groaned inwardly. Her parents weren't very….comfortable with camping.
They went downstairs and wheedled and whined until her parents gave consent. Grabbing some food, some water bottles, and their sleeping bags, they ran outside. The three split up, agreeing go grab the rest of their friends and siblings, and to meet back at Austin's house in ten.
Austin got Shay and her brother, Brandon (Bran for short) and helped them convince their parents to let them sleep in the woods behind her house. When they got back to her house, her other friends were already at the meeting place, along with four people that they hadn't originally invited. Lily's 8 year old brother, Brian, Shay's friend, Kristin , and Kristin's brother, Josh, had tagged along. Eavan's sister's, whose name was Sarah, had a friend, who was called Nathan that also wanted to come.
"Ok guys, let's get going," Austin called, and they all trouped back behind her house, and then into the woods. They scouted around, finally deciding on a small clearing. They all put their stuff down in the clearing, and sat down.
"So, since I'm not sure I know everyone, how about we introduce ourselves? I'll go first." Austin grinned, thinking, So I've got this leader thing sewn up...
"Hello. My name is Silverstar. I have silvery-white fur, green eyes, and one of my ears is spotted brown. I am leader of Thunderclan." She motioned for Alden to go.
"Um, hi. I'm White…..Whiteclaw, I suppose." he shrugged. Then he frowned.
"Hang on, why do you get to be leader? If we're gonna play Warriors, then we need a medicine cat to tell us who the leader should be." Silverstar scowled at him, then gawked.
"Wow! You spoke in two complete sentences!" Alden,Whiteclaw,glared. Someone, Bran, Silverstar found out later, spoke up,
"Yeah, leader Silverstar, the one who will lead us to the manicure shop to get our claws pampered." A reallylame joke, but the jibe hit home. Silverstar,who was not to be a 'star' much longer that night whirled, looking from face to face, daring someone to fess up.
"In case you didn't know, I pride myself on my TOMBOYISHNESS!!" She yelled, glaring furiously. Josh whispered,
"Hey, is that a word? Or is her ego playing up again?" The wanna- be- leader spun around, lashing out at the child with a furious kick. Then, realizing he was at apprentice age, used her momentum to fuel a spin. The others laughed as she sprawled in a heap. She stood up cheeks flaming. Eavan started to talk.
"Hey, Austin-" Austin turned slowly, with a purpose, cutting her off.
"My. Name. Is. Silverstar." This was the last straw, forcing the others rose up against her.
"Come on, I want to be leader," at least five other voices said.
"No fair, Austin!"
"Come on, give us a chance!"
"You have to have a medicine cat to elect the new leader!" Whiteclaw, Alden, shouted. A cloud drifted over the disappearing sun. Shay looked up nervously. Her eyes turned glassy for a moment, and then cleared.
"I'll be medicine cat!" Her voice rose over the din. Silverstar looked at her. Small, quiet, and smart, Shay would be the perfect medicine cat. She nodded, and motioned to everyone to quiet. They did, after a while.
"Ok, let's take a vote. Who wants to be medicine cat?" Sarah and Shay raised their hands. The want-to-be leader shook her head at Sarah.
"I'm sorry Sarah, but you're too young. You could be Shay's apprentice." Sarah's eyes shone and Shay nodded.
"Yes!" Shay said, "My name shall be Leafear, and this is my apprentice….uh...um...How about..." she paused dramatically
"Healingpaw?" Sarah raised her eyebrows skeptically. Eavan spoke up.
"Naw, Healingpaw's to obvious."
"Flowerpaw?" Leafear tried again. This time Vaon spoke up.
"No, too...flowery." Leafear growled deep in her throat.
"Ok, then you pick a dumb name." She muttered. Eavan shot a look at her sister.
"Hey Sarah...How about Grasspaw?" Grasspaw's eyes shown.
"Yes, Thank you, Eavan," she said, in an attempt at stiff formality.
"Good," Silverstar approved, "But now I suppose you're going to have to find something like moonstone or moonpool before I can be leader…" She said, directing her words at Leafear. The medicine cat nodded emphatically.
"If you are to become leader. I need a strong sign from Starclan first." The rest of the group looked at her inquisitively.
"You believe in Starclan? But this is just a game," Whispered Lily. Leafear shook her brown head.
"Right. Just a game." For some reason, she seemed unsure of her words. Silverstar muttered, then spoke up.
"So I'll be Silver….Silver…Silverpelt. For now, at any rate." The rest of the group nodded. Eavan looked up thoughtfully.
"Greetings, Thunderclan." she said. "My name is Sunfur, in honor of my brilliant red pelt." Silverpelt grinned at her.
"Greetings Sunfur, welcome to Thunderclan. My den mate, here is Whiteclaw, and this is our Medicine cat and her apprentice, Leafear and Grasspaw." Each bowed their head in turn. Sunfur looked at Brandon. He turned his head and Sunfur could swear that she heard him snicker.
"Hello, I'm….um…Fierceclaw." he said nodding emphatically, happy with his name. He never had too much upstairs. Brandon looked around at the rest, and inclined his head, as if daring them to make fun of him. Only two of the group covered their mouths to hide their sarcastic grins.
"Hey, I'm Duststripe, because of my brown pelt." Brian said softly. They acknowledged his name.
"Greetings Duststripe. Welcome to Thunderclan." Leafear said. He laughed, ridiculing her stiff words. She sent a murderous glare his way.
"Hi, I'm Tigerstripe," Zack said cooly. The assembled warriors all drew breath, remembering Tigerstar. For a moment, they could imagine Zack as a Tigerstar, one who would kill his own kind for his own power. Silverpelt and Leafear looked at him oddly. The younger ones talked among themselves, ignoring their superiors' anxiety. Tigerstripe looked on, unbothered by the awkward silence.
Vaon stood up, trying to smooth over the tension that had sprung from Tigerstripe's name.
"Hello Tigerstripe. I'm Mouseclaw, warrior of Thunderclan." Silverpelt grinned at her, but Whiteclaw murmered,
"Common name..." Mouseclaw's eyes burned.
"Common? You come over here and I'll show you who's common!" she spat. Fierceclaw pulled Mouseclaw down, quietly murmering in her ear. Mouseclaw cracked a smile. Kristin stood last.
"Hello, I'm Ravenpelt, because of my pitch black pelt." They nodded. Ravenpelt grinned shyly. She didn't know most of them, but loved the Warriors. The temporary leader, Silverpelt, turned to Lily, Josh, Brian, and Nathan.
"Lily! Brian! Josh! Nathan! Pay attention!" A few people started to talk, anticipating what she was about to do.
"Silverpelt you can't name these-" Leafear started, but Silverpelt raised one hand.
"Do you know the apprentice naming ceremony by heart?" The others reluctantly shook their heads.
"I didn't think so," she said sweetly, turning back to the younger ones.
"By naming apprentices, we show that Thunderclan will survive and remain strong. We are blessed to have so many Kits, ready to become an apprentice."
She turned to Lily. "Lily, from this moment on you will be known as Skypaw. Whiteclaw, you are ready for an apprentice. You will be Skypaw's mentor." Skypaw's eyes shone, and she promptly stood up, to shake hands with Whiteclaw. They sat down, Whiteclaw flanking Skypaw's right side. Skypaw hesitantly scooted closer to him. She obviously had a crush on him. Kinda unnerving, thought Silverpelt a seven year old with a crush on a thirteen year old...
"Josh!" She said, and Josh stood. "From this moment on you shall be known as Thornpaw, in honor of your brown pelt. Sunfur, you are ready for an apprentice. You shall be mentor to Thornpaw." Thornpaw looked at his mentor with clouded eyes.
"A girl?!" he whispered incredulously. Sunfur forcefully took his hand, binding them as mentor and apprentice. He shot her an evil glare.
"Why do I have to be Thornpaw? Why can't I be...Lionpaw or Tigerpaw or Leopardpaw? Why does it have to be THORNpaw? I hate my name!" Sunfur curled her lip.
"Deal with it," she hissed.
"Brian," Silverpelt said. "From this moment on, you shall be known as Whitepaw." Whitepaw's chest puffed out.
"Tigerstripe," she continued, "You are ready for your first apprentice. You will be mentor to Whitepaw." They shook hands, and sat next to each other. Tigerstripe began a quiet game of rock, paper, scisors. They were stopped by a look from Whiteclaw.
"Nathan," Silverpelt said, "From now on, you shall be known as Bluepaw."
She looked around at the surrounding group of notfullytrainedwarriors.
"Mouseclaw," she called, "You are ready for your first apprentice. You shall be mentor to Bluepaw." The Thunderclan members shook hands. Bluepaw looked a bit let down about name, but then his face cleared when Mouseclaw told him,
"Don't worry. I shall make you the best warrior in your den."
"Sarah." Silverpelt called. Sarah started.
"I thought I was Grasspaw." Silverpelt smiled kindly.
"But you need a ceremony." She explained.
"Sarah, from this moment on, you shall be known as Grasspaw. You have chosen to become a medicine cat apprentice. I now put you in the hands...paws... of Leafear."
Leafear began to chant the new apprentice names. The rest of the Clan joined in the wild call.
"Grasspaw! Thornpaw! Bluepaw! Skypaw! Whitepaw!" Everybody was radiantly happy, and the apprentices were about to burst with pride. The one thing they didn't know, however, was that if any outsider had looked into the clearing, they would have seen a group of cats, yowling their joy to the sky.
No, they haven't turned into cats. The cat images was just an illusion. You'll see in the next chapter. And, would you mind leaving a review as well? I would really appreciate it, so I can become a better writer. Who knows, if you leave an idea or a preferance or a correction, you might just see it fixed and/or added. Wouldn't that give you a warm-fuzzy feeling? :) Thanks a billion for reading!! o.0
Owly!
