Chapter 2
Acceptance
I exhaled slowly, taking my first step out of the medicine den. I stared nervously while my paws sank into deep snow and cold jabbed my pads. I pulled it out lightning fast and turned sharply as laughter filled the cold morning air. I glared at the blue tortie behind me.
Blueflame didn't flinch as I bared my teeth at him, amusement gleamed in his eyes.
"It's not going to hurt you," he meowed, "see? It's fun!" I opened my mouth slightly as the warrior jumped into the fluffy white substance and threw a pawful of snow at me. It landed squarely on my nose and I shrieked in surprise, pawing the stuff away.
I gagged as Blueflame licked away the snow and dirt mixed in my white pelt. I heard a chuckle behind me. Probably one of my elder friends. I scooped up a pawful of snow and hurled it at the blue tortie warrior. It landed on his face and he yowled in surprise, and we both fell into the snow, laughing. I stopped. I felt happiness at this foreign place. A slight sneer startled me and I swirled around and saw a small brown tabby standing behind me, licking snow off his messy pelt. My eyes brightened.
"You!" I meowed excitedly. "You saved me! Th-thank you. Tha-that was nice of you." I felt my voice trailed off and I stared into his odd eyes. One brown and one green. That's interesting. I braced myself and meowed loudly.
"My name is Twilight, and it was a pleasure to meet you." Blueflame almost choked on snow as the small brown tabby's mouth fell open.
"You remembered?!" He questioned, taking a menaceing step towards me. I backed up, bristling and found Blueflame flanking me.
"Hey, don't scare her like that, Saberpaw!" He meowed. So his name is Saberpaw. An apprentice. I thought and matched his suffix with the rank 'apprentice'. Thank Starclan Moonpaw taught me all about clan cats. I let out a relieved sigh before realizing I just used a clan cat word. Great.
"TELL ME!" I jumped as Saberpaw hissed in my face.
"IdreamedofthiscatwithstarsinherfurandshekeptcallingmeTwilightandshesaidsheismymothersoIthoughtmynameisTwilightandyeah." I blurted out, gulping for breath afterwards. The small brown tabby sat down thoughtfully, wrapping his tail around his white toes.
"Okay. that was quite useful information," he snorted, "so your mother is a clan cat since she's in Starclan. And she gave you the name of Twilight. Is that correct?" I nodded and listened intensely. Saberpaw raised his head as a spotted tabby warrior shouted his name.
"Gotta go," he mumbled before padding towards his mentor and left the camp. I slumped back down and let Blueflame carry me back into the medicine den.
"Enough exercise for today, Twilight." I heard him mumble.
"You're warming up to that rogue?" Leopardfang snarled the last word out. I flinched,
"You think?" I shot back quietly while Leopardfang dug at the snow furiously. Astralflight must have ticked her off quite a bit.
"I don't know, okay?!" I sat down, staring up at the grey, snowing sky. My mentor glared at me before going to the huge outcropping of stone the clan called 'Viper's rock'. It just looked like a snake, not that it had snakes living under it. Probably.
"Crazy she-cat…" I muttered before shouting erupted from the fresh kill pile. The normal nonsense with Smalldust screaming about food problems, Foxscar's ongoing rant about his battle with the fox (this one is number five hundred and ten) and Tawnyclaw hitting on young she-cats. Tawnyclaw never gets anywhere without them.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Smalldust screamed as bits of chewed meat flew out of his mouth.
"Dude, it's a fricken' chipmunk. Chill."
"CHIPMUNKS DON'T BELONG IN THE FRESH-KILL PILL!"
"Well, it's still meat…"
"THIS ONE IS ALIVE, AND CRAPPING ALL OVER~"
"Shut it, pipsqueak." Cedarbreeze said with uncharacteristic ice in his voice, his face dark. Smalldust shut up though still angry.
"Ah, Saberpaw." Cedarbreeze said, the kindness returning to his voice, "I was looking for you." I wander closer to the medicine cat.
"Me? What for?" I asked, eyeing the three other cats around the fresh-kill pile nervously. Foxscar had snapped the chipmunk's neck, much Smalldust's delight.
"It's the new moon tonight." I cocked my head, slightly confused. Cedarbreeze continued, "The elusive 'Night Flower' blooms tonight."
I stared and Cederbreeze, who was chuckling, with a bewildered look on my face.
"Ummm, are you sure about that? After you know what?" I shifted around on my paws.
"Yes." Cedarbreeze said, "Meet me by the cave before sundown." with those last words, he turned and headed elsewhere.
And the medicine cat left me with the pile of food, two cats arguing, one flirting and the cold snow on the ground.
I flinched under pairs of eyes staring at me.
"Twilight!" Kestrelstar yelled on his boulder. I felt a nose nudged me to the front. I turned and saw Blueflame's encouraging eyes.
"Hurry up! Kestrelstar is calling your name!" He urged as the blue tortie warrior pushed me to the front. Kestrelstar jumped off his boulder and put his tail on me. I gulped as the leader turned towards me, his face became serious.
"Twilight. You are not clan born, your background is still unknown, and you are doubted by a lot of clanmates." I gulped as more glares turned to me.
"But you have shown great loyalty and lots of positivities in Stoneclan, and proved to be a lot of help for elders and medicine cats." Squirreltail and Dawnlight flickered their tails encouragingly while Moonpaw let out a loud cheer. I felt my claws sheath and some of the courage returned.
"Today, under Starclan's approval, you, Twilight, is named Twilightpaw. Blueflame. You had been a courageous and loyal young warrior, also an extremely good hunter, and I hope that you will pass down your skills to your new apprentice well." Blueflame's golden eyes gleamed at the mention of his name.
"I will," he said as the young warrior walked up and rested his muzzle on me. I didn't know what to do so I just licked his pink nose, hoping I was doing the right thing. Cats were cheering and shouting my new name.
"Twilightpaw! Twilightpaw! Twilightpaw!" I let out a relieved sigh as others joined in, and the whole clan is shouting out my new name.
"Twilightpaw!"
My paws almost gave out under me as I stumbled down to the clearing, mumbling replies at cats that went up and congratulated me. Blueflame stopped in my way.
"I'm taking you out just before your new den mates show you where your den is," he meowed kindly, "also don't forget to eat something before we go." and the blue tortie was gone. I lost the sense of direction before bumping into soft fur, yowling in surprise. A cat caught me by my scruff and pulled me back onto my paws.
"Thanks." I mumbled and found myself staring into Saberpaw's odd coloured eyes. A small tuxedo tom with light green eyes sneered at the sight of this and disappeared inside the apprentice den.
"Don't mind him," a pale brown tabby she-cat meowed cheerfully as her gray eyes gleamed with excitement, "he's just having a bad day." Saberpaw snorted and started to pad away.
"Ravenpaw's always having a bad day." and the brown tabby tom trotted away. My ears flopped and my tail dropped. So much for having denmates. I almost jumped when I felt someone whisper in my ear.
"Doesn't he look so cool to you?" meowed the pale brown tabby apprentice with a dreamy scent in her voice. I took a step away from her tail tangled with her own leg. Definitely a fangirl. I noted.
"Um, what's your name?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence. The pale tabby's ear pricked and her tail flew back into the air.
"I'm Tansypaw! And the grumpy one, also my littermate, is Ravenpaw! My other brother, Sparrowpaw, is a shy one, so don't ever expect him to start a conversation." Tansypaw meowed and nudged me into the apprentice den. Its wall was made of brambles and thickets weaved together, it's ceiling was made of long twigs and leaves that blocked rain and snow from getting the moss floor wet. Ravenpaw was sleeping in his den while Saberpaw was grunting as he managed to stuff soft moss and feathers into a new den.
"Great, my den is beside yours!" Tansypaw meowed happily before belly-flopping into a den beside mine, sending feathers and moss everywhere.
"Hey, I just cleaned this place!" Saberpaw shrieked, and he pounced on her. I left quietly as the two fought with sheathed claws, really needing a quiet place to stay. I spotted Blueflame at the fresh-kill pile, so I padded towards him. The blue tortie tom turned and let out an amused purr.
"I bet the whole camp can hear you grunting on the far side of our territory," he mewed. "Speaking of territories, it's time to show you around our very own!" and the blue tortie warrior was outside camp, yelling at me to come. I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed a mice from the fresh-kill pile before padding out to join him.
My apprenticeship won't be boring with my kit-like mentor and weird denmates. And I was on my way.
I huffed, leaving the apprentice dens behind me. That little scuffle with Tansypaw unnerved and enraged me a little. Fangirls are scary… I shivered, thinking about the love-struck face of Tansypaw. Suddenly a cat mewed behind me, startling me.
"AH!" I jumped back in surprise just before Ravenpaw bounded in front of me.
"Hey, Saberpaw." He said cheerily, "Wanna spare?" I stared at him, jaw slightly agape.
"Ummm, no. I'm good." I said, trying to move past him. Ravenpaw just kept blocking my path, bouncing up and down while doing so.
"Come on, come on. Please?" He leaned in on the last word, forcing me to back up. I look up at the sun's position, finding it to be almost sundown.
"I have places to be, Ravenpaw." I said through gritted teeth, pushing past him.
"Hey!… Oh alright, I'll just find someone else then!" then he sprinted away. Watching the tuxedo apprentice being dragged away from the fresh-kill pile by his mentor, a strange feeling twisted my stomach. It is so strange to see the bad-tempered and solely apprentice act so playful and welcoming. I narrowed my eyes. And… Suspiciously. I added silently.
I looked around while staying in a crutch, scanning for prey. My tail tingled with excitement as I caught movement beside the patch of ferns a few tail-lengths away from me. I resumed my hunting position. It was a blackbird, pecking at the ground restlessly. I unsheathed my claws and took a deep breath. Then, quick as lightning, I lunged at the bird, who took flight instinctively and landed safely on a branch nearby, watching me with a mocking look. Frustrated, I let out a loud sigh, which caused another frustrated yowl not far away. A small red tabby tom walked out of the bushes.
"Can you not, Twilightpaw?!" yelled Smalldust, who bristled and pawed at the ground furiously with his white sock paws about the same size as mine. I shrugged, letting out a tiny mew of apology. The pissed warrior took another step closer with his short legs, and I shrank away from him, instantly noticing the quite significant height difference. I'm half a head taller than him. I blinked, remembering how Saberpaw had described him. The angry pipsqueak. An amused purr emerged from my throat, and it was too late before I realized that Smalldust is glaring at me.
"You think it's funny?! Huh, mouse-brained apprentice?" he screamed furiously, "YOU THINK BEING SMALL IS FUNNY?!" His amber eyes narrowed into slits, and his claws unsheathed. I bristled, wondering if the warrior will attack me. Panicking, I turned and tried to run away from the small red tabby tom. I ran midway to camp, pausing after recognizing the mews from a patrol whom just came out of StoneClan camp. No, I can't let my new clanmates see me running away from an angry pipsqueak. It will ruin my whole reputation in camp! I swallowed and took a sharp turn towards the far end of StoneClan territory. It's only my second day of being an apprentice, I can't let Kestrelstar and Blueflame down! I jumped across a stream, ran through a small section of the pine forest, and dashed out of the territory before tripping on a network of vines. The ground beneath my paws disappeared. I held my breath and…
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shrieked in total horror before falling into an abyss of darkness.
I munched on my thrush slowly, enjoying every bite of tasty fresh meat and the last bit of sunshine for the day. Tansypaw lay beside me with her hind legs stretched behind her and her forepaws folded protectively around her meal, her ringed tail twitching behind her. I rolled my eyes. I can't believe I'm sharing fresh-kill with this mouse-brained cat.
"Stop acting like Rabbitleap!" I yelled, causing a bunch of curious glances landing on us two.
"Oops." I gulped. Great, now the whole clan is going to gossip about me and Tansypaw.
"I finished my thrush," I announced to Tansypaw while pretending to yawn, "I need some sleep now, really." The pale brown tabby was too busy wolfing down her mice to notice my absence, so I slipped away from the feeding area and headed out camp.
"Where' you going, Saberpaw?" Briardawn, standing guard tonight, asked playfully. Seriously, Briardawn is pretty much one of the few normal cats in this messed-up clan. All the others were either mouse-brained, perverted, or just simply weird. Then I thought about Twilightpaw. She's just in a totally different level. I rolled my eyes.
"Going out to get some fresh air," I meowed as I nodded towards Tansypaw's direction, "Really." The handsome calico tom let out an amused mrrow and gave me an I-understand look and let me out. I gagged as soon as the camp is out of sight. You better make me a best-actor-ever in warriors history, Starclan.
I huffed as I climbed out Moss Ridden Valley and headed towards the pine woods. As I entered the small section of pine trees, I slowed down to a halt and breathed in the fresh smell of pine, the dusk air, and something else. My muscles tensed, tail twitching nervously, I opened my mouth and sensed the air again. Squirrel. Nope. New leaf sprouted from twigs. No… Fox dung. Ew. No. Hedgehog flesh?! What the?! StoneClan! Yes! That's it! I followed the scent across and shallow stream, over the pine woods, and halted at the edge of StoneClan territory.
Something was wrong. StoneClan's smell was mixing in with another one. I stared down into the chasm, where the foreign smell was coming from.
"Anyone down there?!" I shouted down the raven.
"Uhh, Achooo!" the sound of someone sneezing rung out from below.
"Auh, I'll take that as a yes." I said, looking for a way down. I soon spotted several outcroppings large enough to climb down with.
"It's so dusty in here!" I mentally cringe after hearing that because I now know who it was. Slowly hopping down the ledges, the smell of dust and fur grew stronger. Suddenly I slipped and fell. I screamed a little. Maybe a little more. Annnd I actually screamed the whole time during free-fall until I landed with a splash and into deep water.
"WHAT THE GREAT STARCLAN DID YOU DO?!" I screamed as soon as I reached the surface, gasping for air. Two glowing dots stared back at me from the darkness.
"DAMMIT, TWILIGHTPAW!" I shouted with water dripping down my pelt, seeing the dots bounce around on the spot. Suddenly the bottom of the raven was lit up by orbs of light, pairs of them flickering on, revealing Twilight's soaked white coat, a perfectly round puddle of water, the fur and dust on the ground, and all the carvings on the walls.
"Oh, good StarClan…"
I sighed as a brown tabby tom came into view, his odd coloured eyes shone as the orbs of light passed.
"What are you doing here?" I asked with a tired tone in my voice. The tabby tensed, then let out a furious hiss.
"WHAT IN STARCLAN ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" He hissed angrily with his ears laid flat and his claws unsheathed. I wasn't, and won't be, scared this time.
"This is my home." I meowed calmly, "I grew up here." Saberpaw's eyes grew big and he bristled, circling me. I ignored him and observed the ancient carvings on the stone walls of this deep cave.
"So you were pretending you lost your memory this whole time," his hiss was so low that it almost became a growl, "you lied to me, to Moonpaw, to Kestrelstar, to Blueflame… You lied to everyone!"
"I didn't!" I protested, "I really didn't lie! I just remembered my childhood when I accidentally drank this water… And everything just flew into my mind." The brown tabby sat down, considering this.
"BUT HOW DID YOU FALL IN HERE ANYWAYS?!" He questioned. After I told him about this whole mess, Saberpaw was so pissed that I can see the smoke on top of his head. Wait, smoke?!
"You have SMOKE on top of your head!" I screamed. Saberpaw immediately jumped up and swung his head back and forth until he caught a trace of faded smoke.
"IS MY HEAD ON FIRE?!" He screamed. I sat down again, trying to ignore the shock and figure everything out. So he is a Crystallic. I felt my ears twitch while Saberpaw continues to scream and curse. And he doesn't know how to use his crystal or even know about his Crystal's existence. That's quite interesting.
I looked down at the pool of calm, deep holy water, twinkling and shining under the orbs of light that swirled around this dark space. I stared and finally made out the outlines of my reflection. As I continued to look harder, my reflection stared back at me. I blinked and tried again, nurturing the power, forcing it to seep to the top.
Then it happened.
My white fur now shone with millions of tiny orbs of cold light in it, strange blood coloured frost started to creep in my left eye until my eyes glowed bloodthirsty red. Slowly, it formed into a beautiful shape of a blood coloured phoenix made of gems… Blood Zircon. My Crystal.
I looked up from the holy water and stared straight at Saberpaw who now stopped screaming and is busy getting water of out his pelt. I need to see his Crystal.
"Saberpaw." I meowed, tail twitching when I realized my voice became hollower. The brown tabby looked up and immediately bristled.
"WHAT THE HELL?! WHY IS YOUR LEFT EYE GLOWING RED BUT HOW'S YOUR EYE STILL BLUE BUT THERE'S LIKE A RED THINGY IN IT AND IT STILL GLOWS RED AND WHY IS IT GLOWING ANYWAYS?!" I couldn't bear it anymore. I flung myself at him and pinned him down, my flames flanked me, burning at least minus two hundred degrees cold. The brown tabby yowled in agony as his waving paws touched the tip of my flame. I immediately warmed up the temperature, but the poor apprentice still got a really bad frostbite.
A few seconds later Saberpaw managed to escape my grip, but I flung at him again, claws unsheathed. Icy red flames formed wherever my paws touched, I chased after Saberpaw. I need to see your Crystal.
First symptoms always appear when your life is threatened, I just need to force his Crystal out. Finally, I grabbed his throat and pretended I was going to slit it open.
A gigantic wave of heat knocked me over and send me flying across the holy water, smashing on the wall. I couldn't breathe and my head hurts. Through blurry vision, Saberpaw stood with jagged icicles surrounding him. In his green eye, something was moving.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to let them focus. The thingy in his eye finally got to its final position and formed into an icy blue… Leviathan.
Aquamarine. Saberpaw's Crystal is Aquamarine!
I, no, I should say my body, stared down at Twilightpaw. I was just a spirit floating beside whatever was possessing my body, unable to act or speak.
"Fool." he said, the word echoing throughout the cavern, "There are reasons the Gods did not speak of his power." Twilightpaw trembled on the spot, the fiery red falcon's form wavering.
"S-saberpaw?" She asked, almost pleading for an answer. 'I' smirked and took a step forward, luminant strips flaring.
"Young Crystallic, I am not your little friend." another step, "I am Sköll, Chaser of the Sun himself."
A/N: yeet, ~Storm