Rainclaw padded into the camp, carrying a large toad in his jaws. He set it down on the pile Petalbright had created, and looked up to see Petalbright and Sweet working silently to hollow out one of the bushes on the edge of the camp.
He leaped over the stream and brushed past a patch of wildflowers to reach the duo. Sweet, in the middle of tearing a few twigs out of the bush, didn't hesitate to turn to Rainclaw with a smile.
"Hello, Rainclaw. Guardian, Freida, and Tea have decided they want to change their names to Clan names, but they weren't sure you would approve." Sweet meowed.
"Change their names to Clan names?" Rainclaw echoed. He glanced over at the kits, who were all staring at him form behind some tall grass. Atlanta was in a nearby wild flower patch, chasing after a bee.
"Yes. Petalbright was kind enough to tell us about the Clan names and how they change with the ranks. It's rather interesting." Sweet's eyes were bright. "She also told us about how the leader makes the naming ceremonies, and you're the leader correct?"
"I guess I'm leader." Rainclaw mumbled. "I need to get eight extra lives form StarClan to officially be a leader, but I guess I'm leader for now."
A screech of triumph came form the kits. Guardian, Freida, and Tea came barreling form their hiding place, crashing into Rainclaw and making him fall backwards.
"I want to be named after a flower!" Tea shouted in Rainclaw's ear, causing him to flinch. Meanwhile, Freida was bouncing around him, saying how she wanted to be named after something pretty, while Guardian was quiet, but looking excited nonetheless.
Sweet gently piked her kits up off of Rainclaw allowing him to get back up. "Alright, I'll uh, I'll start a ceremony."
Rainclaw padded hesitantly to the Clanrock and put a paw on it, testing its stability. He was amazed by how well Petalbright had made the Clanrock, even if it was just made out of stones and moss.
Rainclaw leapt onto the Clanrock and looked down as Petalbright broke from her work and padded over, Sweet and her kits following her.
Rainclaw had honestly never felt this much power before, feeling as if he could fly up StarClan with a single leap. He looked down at the kits, and tried to remember the words to this kind of ceremony.
"Freida, step forward." Rainclaw beckoned the she-kit forward, and she bounded forward, her eyes bright. "You have decided you would like to take on a new name, and I am fulfilling your wish. From now until you become a 'paw, you will be known as Ivykit."
Ivykit let out a squeal of delight and ran over to her mother, who quietly congratulated her as Tea stepped forward, her head and little stubby tail held high.
"Tea, from now on until you become a 'paw, you will be known as…" Rainclaw paused for a moment, trying to come up with the right name. "You will be known as Lilykit."
Last came Guardian. Rainclaw took a while to come up with a name for Guardian, as he wanted to give Guardian a name that captured his personality in one word. After a moment of thinking, Rainclaw nodded to himself, and called for Guardian to step forward.
"Guardian, like your sisters, you have decided to change your name to fit in with the Clan lifestyle. From now on until you become a 'paw, you will be known as Bravekit." With those words, Bravekit puffed out his chest, proud to have gotten a name like his.
Rainclaw knew that Bravekit hadn't been exactly brave when they had first met him, but Rainclaw knew that one day Bravekit would grow up to be the bravest warrior of them all.
Rainclaw leapt down, suddenly feeling refreshed. Maybe being leader won't be so bad after all. He thought.
Atlanta wandered away from the wildflower patch and walked up to Rainclaw. "I heard you and mama talking about the rank and what not." She mewed. "And I heard about the medicine cats. Do they really use all sorts of magical herbs and talk to ghosts?"
"You're interested in becoming a medicine cat?" Rainclaw blinked. Atlanta shrugged. "I guess. I don't want to fight like warriors, and I think being bale to heal almost everything with a few seeds, leaves, or petals is cool."
"Well, yes, they do talk to StarClan, our ancestors, and sometimes they get messages form StarClan that can speak off impending doom or good seasons to come." Rainclaw looked up at the few stars that dotted the sky. "The stares up there are StarClan. Every star is a warrior, medicine cat, or even leader that died protecting their Clan. We call the group of stars Silverpelt."
"Silverpelt." Atlanta repeated, looking up at the stars in awe. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I want to become a medicine cat! But, didn't you say that medicine cats need mentors to train them?"
"I know a few simple herbs," Rainclaw said, "from when I got stuck in the medicine cats' den with a broken paw! But that's another story… Anyways, I can teach you the herbs I do know, I guess. When you're an apprentice, I mean."
"Yay!" Atlanta turned to leave, but Rainclaw rested his tail on her shoulder to stop her.
"Why didn't you change your name, like your brother and sisters?" He blinked down at her, and Atlanta just stared up into his eyes. "I like my name." She said. "Mama said she named me after the place she was born. It was a really big No-fur Place, with tons of really tall dens!"
"Interesting." Murmured Rainclaw. He nodded to Atlanta; a way of saying she could leave. Atlanta bounded to her newly-named siblings and meowed something to them.
Rainclaw sat down and began grooming himself, feeling as calm as ever, but thrilled at the same time. Soon enough, he would be training an apprentice to follow the medicine cats' path, and maybe even one to follow the path of a warrior.
There's a lot you can learn by staying in the medicine cats' den for a moon. Rainclaw closed his eyes, recalling the memories. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Heatherpoppy was trying to make me a medicine cat!
Rainclaw easily remembered the old medicine cat, who had been Aloewish's mentor, but had died of old age two moons before Sunnystep's murder. If Heatherpoppy had still been alive, she would have talked the Clan into some sense, and made sure I didn't get exiled on the spot.
Suddenly, a faint rustling noise came form the entrance of the camp, followed by pawsteps. Rainclaw's ears perked, and he easily found hat the pawsteps belonged to three separate cats. Bloodthirsty rogues? Friendly loners looking to join? Or maybe a few lost kittypets?
Rainclaw passed in his grooming and twisted his head around to look at the camp entrance. He saw a flash of blue-gray fur, and hastily glanced over at where Bravekit had been. Yep, he was still there. But that blue-gray fur had been the exact same shade Bravekit had.
Rainclaw opened his mouth to yowl out a warning, then three cats slunk through the entrance and into the camp. Rainclaw leapt to his paws, ready to attack if the trio showed any signs of aggression.
The leader was large tom that looked exactly like Bravekit, and behind him was another tom, younger than the larger tom, with the same blue-gray fur, but with Sweet's soft blue eyes. The third cat, a tom the exact same age as the second cat, looked identical to Sweet, and this confirmed Rainclaw's theory.
These cats were, in fact, Sweet's former mate, and her kits from an earlier litter.
Sweet stood in front of her kits, hissing defensively at her former mate. Petalbright leaped to her side, fluffing up her fur and staring coldly at the tom with narrowed her eyes. The tom didn't respond, he simply stared at Sweet with pure hatred burning in his eyes.
"I've come for the kits." The tom growled, looking behind Sweet and at the kits. Sweet shook her head furiously. "You're not taking them, Ragged." She snarled.
Ragged bared his teeth. "I need to have kits that are stringer than either of us ever was." He said. "Rainer and Aspen are too soft and weak to ever grow strong enough. I'm hoping that one of these four will be able to succeed me."
Rainclaw stalked forward, thrusting his muzzle into Ragged's face. "You will not be taking these kits." He snarled. Ragged turned his eyes to Rainclaw momentarily, then looked back at Sweet and said, "I see you've found yourself another tom."
Rainclaw had nothing to say to this and began backing away, but thankfully Petalbright stepped forward. "Rainclaw is not Sweet's mate. Sweet is older than him." She narrowed her eyes at Ragged. "And if you don't leave now, I'll personally tear your pelt off and stuff it down your throat."
Sweet glanced over at Rainclaw. "Is she always like this?" She asked. Rainclaw looked at his paws. "She's a bit too aggressive towards cats she doesn't like. I always thought the cause was her mood swings." He looked up at Petalbright.
Petalbright had taken another threatening step towards Ragged, her face a mouse-tail's length form his. Sure, sometimes her mood swings can be a little scary, but she'll protect anyone if they deserve it. Rainclaw thought. I must be lucky to have a friend like her…
Ragged stood completely still for a moment, then turned and leapt at Sweet. Sweet let out a yowl of surprise and Ragged knocked her over, leaving her face-down in the stream. Quick as a hare, Ragged grabbed ahold of Ivykit and bounded out of the camp. Petalbright yowled out in rage and barreled after Ragged, into the forest.
Rainclaw was rooted to the spot. That happened too quickly. He spun around to look at the kits and Sweet. Sweet had gotten to her paws, but now her face was covered in both water and tears.
Turning around to go after Ragged and Petalbright, Rainclaw accidentally slammed into the other toms, knocking the mover. Rainclaw fell backwards, and one of toms sprang to his paws, going forward to help Rainclaw up.
Rainclaw stood up by himself, and glared coldly at the toms. "Who's side are you on?" He hissed.
"What?" The blue-gray tom blinked.
"Who's side are you on?" Rainclaw repeated. The two toms looked at each other, then on answered, "Yours. We're sick of following our father's every step."
"Good." Was all Rainclaw said, then he sped off into the forest in search of Ragged and Ivykit.
Ivykit's frighted mews filled the forest, seeming to come form every single at the same time. Rainclaw sun in circles for a moment, then ran in a random direction, hoping it was the way Ragged had gone. He was too frantic to bother looking for a scent trail.
"Ivykit? Ivykit, where are you?" Rainclaw sun around again. 'Ivykit"!
Fur brushed Rainclaw, and Rainclaw turned to see Petalbright looking sadly at him. "I couldn't catch up to him." She meowed. "That piece of fox-dung got away."
Rainclaw stared back at Petalbright in pure disbelief.
Petalbright lowered her head and slowly turned around. "Come on, let's go." She meowed, and bounded not the forest without another word, leaving Rainclaw to run after her.
—
Shorter than the last chapter, but oh well.