A/N: And here's the next chapter!
Q&A
Q: Are you going to Time-skip Harry's Kittenhood and just hit important parts of his life?
A: A little bit, yes, which will be evident in this chapter (sorry if it seems rushed and/or summary-like)
Q: Is he immortal, or is it like regeneration almost, where he dies, then his body heals, and then he wakes up?
A: Unfortunately, answering this question in a satisfactory way would be a major spoiler, so I'll have to go with Harry Will Find Out, Eventually, and tell you all that Harry wasn't Immortal BEFORE being transformed, so there you go with that.
Q: Can he still use magic, or has it become an ability, like Empathy or being a Seer?
A: A bit of both, actually. Again, this is one of those Spoiler questions. Harry Will Find Out, Eventually (And so will you, so there you go~)
Q: Is he going to be a Messenger from StarClan?
A: Well, he will be sometimes, but he believes discretion is the better part of Valor, and hiding exactly how different he is from the other cats is important to him.
OoOoO
Shadows & Secrets
By: WizardsGirl
Chapter Two
Harry's life became slightly monotonous after the excitement of his first day. His mornings and evenings tended to revolve around Willowfur, a black she-cat with gray speckles, and her three newborn kits (two toms and a she-cat, all black, though one of the toms had a white chest and paws), named Mousekit (the she-cat), Darkkit (the all black tom), and Woodkit (the white-pawed tom). Harry, whom the Queen had started calling Stormkit, found himself endeared by the three tiny, wriggling things, and watched them quietly when Willowfur napped. The Queen treated him like he was one of her litter, and Harry found himself feeling shy around the Queen.
Whenever he wasn't in the den with Willowfur, however, he was under the sharp eyes of Firebreeze and his twin brother, Flamesnow, the two Warriors stalking his shadow like he was going to attack or run off if they took a second to blink. It was slightly nerve-raking and so Harry spent a lot of time with Willowfur and the kits, or with the elders (spending quite a bit of time with a recently retired gray tom named Stonepelt, who had actually been Bluepaw's mentor before being badly wounded along his left shoulder in a battle, and forced into early retirement.
As he regained weight and his wounds healed, Harry grew rather accustomed to the ThunderClan, though the dreams where StarClan taught him things and spoke to him happened on and off again. It was a mixture of confusion and self-preservation that kept him from mentioning those dreams, because it was his experience that society treated those different with prejudice. So, he kept quiet, and focused on healing and learning and growing.
As his denmates grew, he ventured out amongst the Clan more often. He spoke often with Bluepaw and her sister, Snowpaw. He learned of Gatherings and listened to the Elders when they told of past battles. When they complained of ticks or fleas, he personally would go and tell Featherwhisker, though sometimes he would talk to Goosefeather (the blue-eyed, shaggy medicine-cat unnerved him, however, for he tended to be rather pessimistic and twisty with his words. And he always stared at Harry whenever he was near.
By the time the next Gathering was closing in, Harry was old enough to gain a new name. His ceremony wasn't much of a fanfare for him, but he celebrated it with newly named Lionpaw and Goldenpaw, two cats he hadn't had much interaction with before. Goldenpaw (a sleek, pale ginger tabby she-cat, with yellow eyes) had a tendency to complain, while Lionpaw, her brother (a large, broad shouldered, pale golden-brown tabby tom, named for his thick, mane-like neck fur, with kind green eyes) was a rather cheerful, kindhearted tom. Goldenpaw got a she-cat named Dappletail as her mentor; Lionpaw got she-cat named Swiftbreeze. Harry's (now Stormpaw) own mentor was Flamesnow, which was a curse and blessing for the calico cat. Flamesnow was not nearly as sharp with the newly-made Apprentice as his brother, Firebreeze had been when guarding him, but he was still a stern, observant tom.
He's surprised, however, when Flamesnow turns out to be a decent tutor.
"Come with me, Stormpaw," Flamesnow ordered early the morning after Harry was named his Apprentice, dragging the groggy calico from the Apprentice den without preamble (and Harry was bemused to learn that he was supposed to have spent time living in the Nursery with his fellow kits, but his being from ShadowClan made the other cats keep him separated. Now that he had moved into the Apprentice den, Mousekit, Darkkit, and Woodkit had all been moved into the Nursery with the others.). The orange-and-white tom led Harry through the entrance to the Clan camp (as Harry called it) and into the surrounding forest, pace unhurried and ears twitching with vigilance as Harry yawned sleepily and trotted obediently after his mentor. When they reached a fallen log a good ways away from the camp, Flamesnow leapt onto it and gestured with his tail for Harry to join him, which he did.
"What is the Warrior Code?" the tom meowed simply; Harry blinked.
"Er…" Flamesnow nodded, green eyes keen and intelligent.
"I thought as much," he stated, curling his fluffy tail around his paws, Harry attempting to mimic him with his own, much-less-fluffy, tail. "Since you're life began badly, and you switched Clans at such a young age, the likelihood of your learning or even remembering the Warrior Code was small. So, as your mentor, I will teach you what you've agreed to in becoming an Apprentice to ThunderClan. Understand?" Harry bobbed his head in agreement, green eyes locked onto his mentor without complaint, focused and listening, ears pricked.
"These are the Code," Flamesnow meowed steadily. "One: Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats in other Clans, but your loyalty must always remain with your Clan, for one day you may meet those friends in battle, and there you can afford no hesitance." Harry nodded quietly.
"Two: Do not hunt or trespass in another Clan's territory," Flamesnow continued. "Three: Elders, Queens, and Kits must be fed before Apprentices and Warriors. Unless they have permission, Apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the Elders. If a Warrior or Apprentice is sick or injured, then they may eat with the Elders, Queens, and Kits." Harry nodded yet again, memorizing and agreeing with the Codes thus far.
"Four: Prey must be killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to StarClan for its life. Five: A kit must be at least six moons old to become an Apprentice." Harry frowned, tilting his head slightly.
"Am I that old, then?" He asked, confused. "I never knew…" Flamesnow frowned darkly and growled something unpleasant about ShadowClan under his whiskers, but nodded at Harry's question.
"Six," the tom moved on, and Harry refocused. "Newly appointed Warriors will keep vigil for one night after receiving their Warrior Name. Seven: A cat cannot be named Deputy unless they have mentored at least one Apprentice. Eight: The Deputy will become Clan Leader when the Leader dies, retires, or is exiled. Nine: After the death or retirement of the Deputy, a new Deputy must be chosen before Moonhigh." Harry realized that these last few Codes were for older cats, but memorized them anyway, so that he wouldn't be as confused later on.
"Ten: A Gathering of all four Clans will be held at the full moon during a truce that will last for the night. No fighting is permitted amongst Clans at this time. Eleven: Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassers. Twelve: No Warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if that kit is from another Clan." Here, Flamesnow gave Harry a meaningful look, and the calico Apprentice bobbed his head with a respectful gratitude in his eyes. The mentor continued as if nothing had happened. "Thirteen: The word of the Clan Leader is Law. Fourteen: An Honorable Warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his/her battles, unless they are outside the Warrior Code or if it is necessary for self-defense. These are what make up the Warrior Code, though you will learn, Stormpaw, that there are many unwritten Laws as well." Harry winced slightly; Flamesnow lifted his whiskers in amusement.
"Medicine-cats may not have a mate or kits. Kits must stay in the camp until they become Apprentices, and are not permitted to hunt. The Safety of the Clan is more important than the safety of any one cat. Clans are not to unite in order to drive out another Clan. Clans must not force another Clan to share territory. Enemy patrols must not attack cats if they are on a mission all Clans agree on. There will be others as the moons pass, no doubt, but those are the important ones now." He leapt from the log, and Stormpaw leapt quickly after him, padding up to walk beside the much-larger tom as the started to slowly make their way through the forest.
"While we Warriors swear to always uphold the Code, it still gets broken often, by every Clan. ThunderClan, believe it or not, is the Clan where the Code is questioned and debated the most." Whiskers up in amusement, Flamesnow led Stormpaw around a bush of Deathberries with a brief warning not to eat them, before continuing with his lesson. "The Leader of the Clan decides punishment for breaking the Code, which can be anything from a simple scolding, giving a Warrior Apprentice duties, or giving an Apprentice and unpleasant task, to Exile from the Clan. When you murder or cause pain for no good reason, instead of joining StarClan when you die, your spirit is sent to The Place of No Stars, to travel in the Dark until the end of all ends." Harry listened and learned, and so, when Flamesnow started telling him about the many different Prey ThunderClan cats had access to, and the best way to catch them, he was already in the proper mindset to take in and store all the information.
An hour or two were spent hunting with Snowpaw and Goldenpaw, and though Harry only caught two Vole compared to Snowpaw's squirrel and Goldenpaw's crow, he still felt accomplished, especially when Flamesnow congratulated him and encouraged him to take his kills straight to Willowfur and one of the elders. His days continued like this, learning to fight, and hunt, and patrol with his fellow Apprentices and Mentor.
However, when Goosefeather predicted an attack from WindClan from the way the wind flattened the fur on a vole… Dread settled into Harry's stomach, and he watched as Pinestar and Sunfall conversed seriously, soon joined by other Warriors. To keep busy and keep from eavesdropping (though he felt he already knew what they were discussing, in the way his claws caught the grass, the wind threw the steadily browning leaves, and the call of birds in the forest), Harry took it upon himself to assist Featherwhisker with tending to the needs of the Elders, though his gaze would anxiously edge to the "War Council" at the foot of the High Rock.
"I think you're going to need to inventory your supplies, Featherwhisker," he meowed to the silver medicine-cat softly. "Battle darkens the horizon." The other tom just nodded, face set in stern, thin lines and his usual teasing cut down dramatically.
"We need to hit their medicine supplies," Goosefeather meowed clearly, and Harry stilled, pinning his ears back unhappily even as he continued to carefully dab the mouse-bile soaked moss onto the ticks that dotted Pinethistle's back, the tabby she-cat purring happily as he did so. "It is the only way we can destroy them; I have Seen this." The battle plans continue, until, over the din of many cats, Pinestar finally announces the plan.
"We will attack at sunup," he meowed; the Warriors yowled their agreement, and Harry hunched down even more, eyes distressed and ears pinned back.
"This does not bode well," he meowed darkly, and returned to applying the mouse bile when the near-deaf Elder meowed questioningly at him.
They ran to war the next morning, and his dreams were red with the blood of the fallen, and the cries of cats as they rose to join StarClan before their time.
A/N: I know this one seems pretty rushed, but I needed to write it and I decided that everyone needed to hear the Warrior Codes (because, seriously, when do they actually come up in most Warrior fics, and are explained?).
And yes, I know there are fifteen, but the fifteenth wasn't implemented until after Pinestar did what he did, so it doesn't really count yet.
R&R!