Two: All is Not Lost
Swiftpaw shook his head fiercely and growled at me. His amber eyes were narrowed as he meowed, "It's not fair that Bluestar gave only Cloudtail his warrior name." He looked around at us, then nodded to my brother, Thornpaw, and me. "The three of us deserve to be warriors!"
I cringed at the snarl in his voice. But I knew he wasn't angry at me, he was angry at Bluestar, Fireheart, and Cloudtail. Swiftpaw had always been a friend of mine, and I'd come to admire him very much. Glancing over at my brother, I saw that he was nodding in agreement.
"We do deserve our warrior names," Thornpaw meowed evenly. "But what can we do? It's Bluestar's decision."
I flicked my tail over my brother's shoulder and nodded to show that I agreed with him. I was sure Bluestar would give us our warrior names soon.
"There is something we can do," Swiftpaw argued, his black and white fur bristling slightly. "We can prove that we're good enough to be warriors!"
Thornpaw narrowed his eyes and began to shook his head.
I, on the other hand, admired how dedicated Swiftpaw was, and blurted out, "How?"
Swiftpaw's light amber eyes gleamed, and he turned his attention to me. "If we find out what's stealing our prey at Snakerocks, then Bluestar will be sure to reward us with our warrior names!"
My eyes grew wide. "Snakerocks? B-but…"
"Don't be a coward," Swiftpaw hissed, his tail lashing in frustration. "We can go find out what's stealing ThunderClan's prey. Maybe we can even drive them off!" His eyes lit up, and his voice softened as he tried to persuade me. "Come on, Brightpaw. Bluestar will be so impressed, and we'll show Cloudtail! We'll be honored! Everyone in the Clan will respect us."
I hesitated and cast my eyes downward, remembering Cloudtail's warrior-naming ceremony. He'd been awarded for fighting bravely in the battle against RiverClan.
"Cloudtail! Cloudtail! Cloudtail!"
I called out along with the rest of ThunderClan, but I couldn't help but feel a bit left out. After all, Thornpaw and I had been training for quite a while. Besides, Swiftpaw had been present at the battle as well.
Finally, I mewed quietly, "I don't know, Swiftpaw. We can't leave camp alone. Besides, we could get hurt."
He repeated, "Don't be a coward, Brightpaw." With a sigh, he laid his tail on my shoulder, and I suppressed a purr. "Don't worry, I'll be with you."
I glanced up at Thornpaw. My brother, his eyes smoldering, shook his head at me. Softly, I replied, "No, Swiftpaw."
The white and black tom turned away from me. "Fine. I'll go by myself."
"No!" I said sharply, my eyes widening in alarm. "Swiftpaw, you'll get hurt."
"I won't," Swiftpaw growled stubbornly. "If you don't come with me, I'll go alone." Glancing at me, he added, "Don't you dare tell anyone."
I winced at his tone. "I won't," I promised.
Thornpaw let out a sigh, but he said nothing to me. Instead, he turned and headed toward the apprentices den.
***
Dogs! At first, Swiftpaw and I fought against one dog. Though it was difficult, we managed. But our confidence instantly diminished when six more dogs, four times the size of myself, appeared before us.
All I heard was, "Run!" from Swiftpaw. Not knowing what to do, I watched as Swiftpaw ran toward the nearest tree. The dogs barked ferociously and started after him, trampling over me in the process.
I let out a wail and struggled. I felt blood dripping down my face, and my eyesight was dimming. The last thing I saw was Swiftpaw being pulled down from a tree he'd successfully climbed. The last thing I heard were the baying of the dogs and a horrendous yowl of pain from Swiftpaw.
***
I blinked, glancing around my surroundings. Pain shot through me, and I could only see from one eye. I soon realized that I was in Cinderpelt's den. As soon as I left out a soft mew, my sister was at my side.
"Brightpaw," she meowed, setting her bad leg down beside her. Her voice sounded raw and pained. Though we weren't from the same litter, she and I were close sisters.
I struggled to get up, but she gently forced me back down. "Wh-what happened? Where's Swiftpaw?"
Cinderpelt blinked her eyes, then glanced away. "I'm sorry, Brightpaw. The dogs…"
***
Lostface.
That was my new name. Lostface.
Swiftpaw had been wrong. I wasn't honored for my bravery at all! Instead, I was punished.
"What? That's unfair!" Thornpaw snarled, his hackles raising as he stood up defiantly. "Brightpaw deserves a real warrior name! Lostface is a cruel name!"
His mentor, Mousefur, hissed for him to hush, but my brother didn't relent.
Bluestar glared down at him, her tail lashing.
***
At first, I blamed Cloudtail. If he hadn't received his warrior name first, then Swiftpaw wouldn't have felt the need to prove himself.
But I became closer to him. My young crush on Swiftpaw left me, and I began to see the white-furred tom with a new light.
Though I had only one eye, a torn ear, and a scar on my face, Cloudtail was always kind to me. Only when others were present did he call me by my given name, Lostface. When we were alone, he called me by the name, Brightheart.
"It's because, no matter what you look like outside, you have a beautiful, bright heart inside," he once told me.
Not only were we friends, but he was almost like a second mentor to me. Whitestorm had taught me all I needed to know to be a warrior, but Cloudtail taught me to cope with my one eye. In a short period of time, I'd learned to fight with my one good eye.
That was my story.
What did you think?
I hope you liked it! :) I made up a few things because the Erins didn't exactly let us see things from certain viewpoints. But I kept the factual information factual...