Well, here's chapter two.... after this chapter, the cats change again, so I'll have to put up the Cats of StoneClan again... I hope you enjoy it!!! I'll have Chapter Three up soon!!!
Chapter Two
Tinderkit followed her siblings up to the base of the ShiningStone, quivering with eagerness. She was ready to become an apprentice, to learn to fight to protect her clan, just as Bright-thunder had. She wanted to hunt for the elders and help them, to run errands for the older Hunters and Huntresses, to help the medicine cat gather herbs. She wanted everything, the bad and the good, the exciting and the boring. As she took her place beside her brother and sister and looked up at Sharpstar, she felt as if she would have to either yowl her joy or die.
Sharpstar looked each of them in the eyes, "Today is a joyous day," he began, "These three kits have been taught by their mother to hunt, and how to behave like a cat worthy to be called an apprentice of StoneClan. They stand here now, ready to take on the duties that come with that title." He jumped down and stood in front of Dustkit, "From today on, until he completes the tasks given to him by his mentor and the clan, this cat shall be known as Dustpaw." He signaled with his tail to a large red-brown tom named Hawkwing, "In the sight of StarClan, I, Sharpstar of StoneClan, have chosen Hawkwing to be your mentor. He is brave, strong, loyal--everything we want this future Hunter to be. He will guide you on the path to becoming a Hunter."
When he finished speaking, Hawkwing leaned down to touch noses with Dustpaw. They pulled back to the edge of the crowd of cats, murmuring in low voices. Sharpstar moved to stand in front of Amberkit.
"From today on, until she completes the tasks given to her by her mentor and the clan, this cat shall be known as Amberpaw," he signaled again, this time to the lovely Snowfall. Snowfall seemed to float over the ground as she padded over. Sharpstar continued, "In the sight of StarClan, I, Sharpstar of StoneClan, have chosen Snowfall to be your mentor. She is canny, thoughtful, and swift--all traits we want this future Huntress to have. She will guide you on your path to becoming a Huntress." After they had touched noses and moved off, he turned at last to Tinderkit. There was affection in his voice as he spoke, for Tinderkit was loved by everyone, "From today on, until she completes the tasks given to her by her mentor and the clan, this cat shall be known as Tinderpaw." He beckoned to Brownleaf, a white tom with a brown, leaf-shaped mark on his chest. The tall, powerful Hunter strode over, his pale green eyes gentle. He murmured a quiet greeting to Tinderpaw before nodding to Sharpstar.
Sharpstar nodded back, and continued. Tinderpaw wondered what had passed between them as Sharpstar finished the ceremony, "In the sight of StarClan, I, Sharpstar of StoneClan, have chosen Brownleaf to be your mentor. He is large, powerful, and yet one of the kindest Hunters I have ever known. We see similar signs in Tinderpaw, so instead of a Huntress for a mentor, I have chosen Brownleaf, and he has agreed to mentor her. He will guide you on your path to becoming a Huntress the clan will be proud of."
Brownleaf bowed his mighty head to touch noses with Tinderpaw. Her fur was fluffed up with excitement, but she tried to stay calm as he led her to the back of the crowd as Sharpstar called the meeting to a close. His eyes smiled down at her, "Welcome to your apprenticeship, young Tinderpaw," he rumbled, "Are you ready to head out?"
Tinderpaw, too excited to speak, merely nodded. He purred with amusement, a common thing around Tinderpaw, "Would you prefer to go out with your siblings and their mentors, or to go out alone?" he asked, already padding towards the cave mouth.
Tinderpaw frowned, thinking, "They'll probably go together. They're very close."
Brownleaf studied her, his eyes missing nothing, "And you are close to the older apprentices," he said, not asking, but stating what he had noticed. "We will ask if we can join a border patrol."
As they reached the cave mouth, a white she-cat with a gray face named Ashface was gathering a patrol. She called Nightshine, a black she-cat with a frosting of silver fur on her back, and a young gray Hunter named Rockfall. Nightshine brought her apprentice, a gray she-cat with one black paw whose name was Heatherpaw. Ashface turned to Brownleaf as he and Tinderpaw padded up.
"Hello, Brownleaf, Tinderpaw," she purred, blinking kindly at Tinderpaw, "What can we do for you?"
Brownleaf spoke softly, "Would it be all right if we joined you on your patrol?" he asked, nodding to all the other cats.
Ashface flicked her tail happily, "That sounds fine with me. What about the rest of you?" she asked the cats she had gathered.
Heatherpaw purred, "I'd love to have Tinderpaw along." She twitched her whiskers in embarrassment as she looked up at Brownleaf, "Oh! And Brownleaf too!"
He gave a soft mrrow of amusement, "That's all right, Heatherpaw."
Ashface signaled them to follow her, "Daylight is wasting; we need to get a move on." She bounded off into the softly falling snow. The others leaped after her, Brownleaf with Nightshine at his side, Rockfall just behind, and Heatherpaw falling back to run with Tinderpaw. They followed the steep path downhill, heading to their southern border. As they got closer and closer to the foot of the mountain, Tinderpaw stated seeing more and more trees. She gaped at them.
"They're huge!!!" she exclaimed to Heatherpaw.
The gray she-cat laughed, "Yes, I was shocked too when I first saw them too." She stopped next to a tree, since the rest of the patrol had stopped to renew the scent markings, "Have you ever climbed a tree before?" she asked.
Tinderpaw shook her head, staring up into the branches of the tree with wide eyes, "How do you climb it?" She was startled when she heard Brownleaf's voice behind her.
"That is one of the things I will be teaching you," he rumbled, "You will need to learn to climb more than just rocks and cliffs. There are many trees near the base of the mountain, and when you make your trip with Dreamwhisker to gather herbs in the lands below the mountains, you will need to know how to how to survive in the flatlands."
"Flatlands?" she murmured, sounding out the word, "I have never seen land that's flat. Is there a lot of it?" she asked, peering up at him.
He nodded, "We have never explored all of it. The only cats to go farther than the RockHills are Bright-thunder and Rosethorn."
Tinderpaw perked up at the mention of her famous ancestors, "Where did they go?" she asked curiously.
He shrugged, "No one knows. They said they would go exploring, and they haven't been seen since." He turned when Ashface and Rockfall started to follow the border, Nightshine following a moment later, "Come along now, Tinderpaw. Today your training consists of only looking over the territory. We'll get to the fighting part tomorrow."
"Yes, Brownleaf!" she mewed, falling in beside him. She couldn't wait to learn more about her home. She had never imagined that a tree could be that big, and she hoped she could see more before the day was over.
Tinderpaw got back to the caves after Dustpaw and Amberpaw had already returned. She dragged in her catch, two pikas and a crow. All the other members of the patrol had caught things as well, and there had been no sign of mountain lions or wolves. They had returned, all of them tired, and had been greeted warmly by the rest of the clan for the food they carried. Tinderpaw set her catch on the pile in the center of the caves and kept one of the pikas for herself. She padded off to the Half-Rock, where the apprentices ate their fresh-kill. When she spotted Amberpaw and Dustpaw sharing tongues beside the rock, she walked over, her paws dragging with tiredness.
Dustpaw looked up from his washing, "How was your patrol, Tinderpaw?" he asked, his eyes half-open in sleepy comfort.
"It was amazing!" she mewed, her voice quiet and awestruck.
"Yeah, but I can't wait to go to training tomorrow!" Amberpaw said, pausing in her licking. "I'd rather learn to fight than tromp around looking at trees and shrubs." Dustpaw mewed agreement.
Tinderpaw sighed and moved a little bit away to eat her fresh-kill. Heatherpaw came over and joined her, her brother Fogpaw following a minute later. Fogpaw was a white tom with pale gray on his paws and he had bright hazel eyes. He dropped his crow next to Tinderpaw and settled down to eat it. Heatherpaw settled in on Tinderpaw's other side and started washing her back with long strokes of her pink tongue. Tinderpaw started purring loud enough to be heard as far as Sharpstar's den, swiping her tongue around her muzzle to clean the last traces of her meal from her fur. She began to wash Heatherpaw in turn.
"What did you do today, Fogpaw?" Heatherpaw asked him, pausing in her licking.
Fogpaw grinned at her, "We went to the Silent Stones to find moss for the dens. Fun, huh?"
Heatherpaw widened her eyes innocently, "Thank you very much for fetching my bedding, Fogpaw. I'll be sure to pay you in mouse tails later."
Fogpaw growled in mock outrage, "Mouse tails?! I only accept wolf tails!!!" With a playful snarl, he lunged at her, jumping over Tinderpaw's back. Tinderpaw rolled away, so she wouldn't get caught up in their play fighting. Brother and sister scuffled on the ground, wrestling with their paws on each other's shoulders, trying to pin each other down. Tinderpaw cheered for each of them, unable to decide which one to root for. When Fogpaw finally held his sister down, Tinderpaw leaped.
"I'll save you, Heatherpaw!" she yowled, hitting Fogpaw in the side. The air left his lungs in a muffled oof, and they rolled together on the ground. Fogpaw was surprised at the strength and speed of her. She was like a whirlwind, batting at his head with sheathed paws here, nipping at his foreleg there. Her hind paws held his hindquarters pinned to the dusty floor. Fogpaw realized that he couldn't win, and his entire body went limp with surrender. Tinderpaw scooted back, every hair on her pelt quivering with energy.
"You win, you win," Fogpaw purred, getting to his paws and shaking to get the dust from his fur. He gazed at Tinderpaw with admiration, "Where did you learn that?" he asked, "Surely you haven't had any fighting training yet?"
She shook her head, "That's tomorrow. I don't know where I learned to do that. When I thought 'fight,' I just... well, fought." She shrugged, "I don't really know what I did..."
He grinned at her, "I've seen Skyfeather fight like that, where he just throws himself at his attacker, and lands so many hits at once that his attacker can't fight back. He mainly uses it on cats, but I've seen him attack a wolf like that, once."
They heard a meow from behind them, "Mistheart used to fight like that." The apprentices turned around to see Mapleflower. She blinked warmly at her kit, "When I first became an apprentice, Mistheart was my mentor. It runs in the family, I suppose. You should ask Mistheart about it." She leaned down to lick Tinderpaw between her ears, "How was your first day as an apprentice?"
Tinderpaw purred and pressed her muzzle into her mother's soft, familiar fur, "I saw humongous trees, Mother! And I saw grass that stretched for endless tail-lengths, and flowers! Your name is Mapleflower, Mother, but I never knew what a flower was..." she continued to tell about her day, about the different animals she had seen, and what she had learned.
Mapleflower blinked warmly at her daughter, "That's wonderful, Tinderpaw!" She nudged her with her muzzle, "I have to go out with the day's end patrol, but I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you. You listen to Brownleaf, now," licking her daughter one more time, she padded off to where a white she-cat named Whitefrost and a dark brown tabby tom named Bramblethorn waited with their apprentices.
"Aw, are you sad to see your mother go, kit?" came a snide voice from the entrance of the apprentice's den. Tinderpaw turned to see an orange and black she-cat called Foxpaw, named for her uncanny resemblance to an actual fox. Tinderpaw secretly thought she had also been named for her personality, which was also uncannily like a fox's.
Fogpaw snorted, "Oh, stuff some moss in it, Foxpaw," he growled, annoyed.
Heatherpaw nodded, "You're not funny, Foxpaw. You're just rude and annoying."
Foxpaw spat at them, "I wasn't talking to you, fuzzballs!" She glared at Tinderpaw, "Everyone's making such a big fuss over you, kit, but I don't see why. You'll never be a Huntress. You're so small the badgers will eat you, never mind wolves or mountain lions."
Tinderpaw's ears flopped to the sides and her tail drooped, "Mistheart said--" she started, but Foxpaw cut her off with a snort of contempt.
"Mistheart? More like Mist-mind! She's crazy and everything she says is wolf dung. If she said anything about your size not being a factor in the final task, she was just saying that to make you feel better," she sneered, "Not much good that'll do you when you're dead."
Fogpaw sprang to his feet, "Foxpaw, that's enough!" he snarled, and flung himself at her. He pinned her down and clawed at her belly with his unsheathed claws. They were a yowling, screeching knot of fur and claws as they rolled across the cave floor. Despite the fact that Foxpaw was his sister, Fogpaw didn't hold back, biting at her shoulder until she howled with pain. Her howl attracted the attention of the warriors eating across the cave from them. One of the older Hunters, a dark gray tom named Stormcloud, who also happened to be Fogpaw's mentor, was the first to reach them. He pulled Fogpaw off his sister while a young, dark golden tom named Liontail shoved himself between them.
"Fogpaw!" Stormcloud exclaimed, staring at his apprentice with shock, "What were you thinking?!"
"Are you all right, Foxpaw?" Liontail asked. Foxpaw hissed at him and swiped at his nose before stalking off to the medicine cat's den. Liontail flattened his ears and looked at Tinderpaw, "What's the matter with her?" he asked quizzically.
Tinderpaw shrugged, "She's always been like that," she murmured, her head still ducked in sadness. She looked up at him, "Do you think I'll be able to become a Huntress?" she asked, her voice small.
His ears flicked in surprise, and he touched the tip of his long tail to her shoulder. He had been named for his tail, which was oddly tufted like a lion's tail. He had the heart of a lion, too--not the mountain lions, but real lions, with fiery manes and mighty roars. He purred softly, his eyes gentle as he looked at her, "You'll be the very best Huntress. I know you will, Tinderpaw."
Tinderpaw brightened and nodded, "Thanks, Liontail. I needed to hear that."
He purred louder, "I'm glad I could help."
Fogpaw was explaining to his mentor what had happened. Stormcloud's fur flattened, and he looked over at Tinderpaw with sympathy in his dark blue eyes, "I understand why you did it, Fogpaw. Just don't let me catch you fighting in the caves again. Their are better ways to stop Foxpaw from insulting Tinderpaw."
Fogpaw sighed and nodded reluctantly, "Yes, Stormcloud."
Stormcloud nodded, "Good. Now, I'm going to go back to my fresh-kill."
Liontail meowed a farewell and followed him. Tinderpaw seemed asleep on her paws as she dragged herself towards the den, meowing a good night over her shoulder. Fogpaw sighed and collapsed beside Heatherpaw, "I can't believe we're related to that piece of fox dung," he muttered, and Heatherpaw grumbled assent. Foxpaw and her lackey Wolfpaw were the only apprentices who were mean to Tinderpaw--probably the only cats who were ever mean to Tinderpaw. She was so sweet, and gentle, that no one had ever even thought of disliking her, much less actually insulted her. Wolfpaw was one of the older apprentices, and would be made a Huntress soon. Maybe then it would be a little more comfortable in the apprentices' den.
Fogpaw sure hoped so.
Did you like it? I'm trying hard, and just so you know, the cats in StoneClan do not have the warrior code! That was only created after the cats reached the forest. The cats of StoneClan are pretty lazy about their elders and the apprentice duties that would seem crucial in the other clans. They mainly focus on the apprentice tasks.
I love you guys, but hardly anyone has reviewed!!! *sobs* please review for me!!! I want to know how I did!!! and feel free to ask me anything about the cats of StoneClan!
R-E-V-I-E-W-?-?-?
Ha, that was fun!!! :D
And I'm also having a hard time deciding who should be Tinderpaw's mate when she becomes a Huntress.... I'm stuck between Fogpaw, Liontail, and Leafpaw.... If you have any suggestions, feel free to message me!!!!