Hi everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter, please remember, no flames, or you shall be thrown in the dungeon! Bwa ha ha ha!
DISCLAIMER
If I owned warriors, Feathertail would've survived the fall, the three would belong to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, and Spottedleaf and Firestar would never have loved each other.
Chapter Two
It had been two moons since Lighteningpaw was made an apprentice, and he pushed his way through the undergrowth, following his mentor, Berrynose. He grumbled as twigs scraped against his vulnerable nose, and the sturdy bracken caught clumps of his ginger fur.
"I've been talking to Brambleclaw about your hunting. He thinks you're ready for me to assess you." Berrynose mewed, crouching beneath an oak tree. Lighteningpaw scrambled after him and looked up, amber eyes aglow with his mentor's and fathers praise.
"Really? When?"
"Tomorrow. So tonight, just take it easy. First thing tomorrow you're going towards the old twoleg nest for your assessment. You won't see me, but I'll see you." Berrynose got up and stretched his legs as Lighteningpaw purred agreement. On their way back to camp, they caught a robin and two sparrows. Lighteningpaw picked a juicy looking vole and took it to Jayfeather.
"Here you go, Jayfeather." As Lighteningpaw entered, Jayfeather's nose twitched at the new-comers scent.
"It smells like you've dropped it in some water!" He grumbled, but ate it nevertheless. Lighteningpaw murmured good-bye as he backed out of the medicine den. Once he had gulped down a delicious-smelling mouse, he went into the apprentice den. He blinked sleepily, feeling warm and well-fed. Before sleep washed over him, he heard agonized screams and guessed that Hazeltail was kitting.
"I hope she's alright." He mumbled before sleep took over.
At dawn the next day, Lighteningpaw waited beside the warriors den for Berrynose. He heard rustling and turned to greet his mentor, but instead, his father stepped out.
"Hello Brambleclaw." Lighteningpaw mewed cheerfully.
"Hi Lighteningpaw. Today you're having your assessment, aren't you?" Lighteningpaw nodded eagerly.
"Well, Berrynose is helping his sister with her kits today." Brambleclaw muttered to Lighteningpaw.
"Does that mean my assessment will be put off?" He asked, crest-fallen.
"No, Firestar has decided to assess you himself. I would do it myself, but I have to take Toadpaw battle-training, and Firestar thinks I'll be too soft on you." Lighteningpaw gasped and blinked at his father. Firestar was assessing him!
"I'm sure you'll make me proud." Brambleclaw mewed.
"As proud as you are of Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf?" Lighteningpaw asked. Brambleclaw paused.
"Prouder." He purred after a short moment. Encouraged, Lighteningpaw padded out of the stone hollow, ready to begin his assessment. Almost immediately, the scent of mouse hit the roof of his mouth, and he quickly pinpointed it. Slowly, pawstep after pawstep, Lighteningpaw pounced and caught the mouse with a quick blow of his paw. Purring with satisfaction, Lighteningpaw caught a flash of orange, as red as his own and realised that Firestar was already watching. Eager to impress his leader, he scented the air again and caught the heathery scent of rabbit. He soon saw its white tail bobbing up and down as it jumped through the undergrowth. With a quick chase, he caught it and took its life. He buried it under the same tree as his mouse.
Lighteningpaw knew he had done well. He'd been hunting since dawn, and had only returned because the sun was slowly sinking over the treetops. He had caught two mice, two shrews, one water vole and a rabbit. Dropping his prey on the pile, he carried the rabbit and shrews over to the nursery.
"Is this for us?" His mother, Squirrelflight, greeted him. Lighteningpaw nodded.
"Thank you." Poppyfrost purred weakly. The young queen eagerly tore at the rabbit, and Lighteningpaw couldn't blame her. Four kits were quite the pawful. Daisy shared a shrew with Squirrelflight, allowing Hazeltail a full shrew to ensure she had enough milk.
"What are their names?" Lighteningpaw asked, resting his gaze on the squirming bundle of fur.
"This one," Hazeltail mewed swishing her tail over a black-and-white she-cat that looked exactly like herself, "Is called Amberkit. The light brown tabby is called Rustlekit, and the white and orange one is called Flamekit."
"You must be very proud." Lighteningpaw meowed. Hazeltail purred agreement. He backed out of the nursery, and Lionblaze went in. Lighteningpaw picked a squirrel for himself and settled down beside his sisters. Toadpaw was telling them a story of how he had picked up the scent of badger on his way back from battle training. It had turned out it was an old scent, nothing to be worried about.
"So what did you catch today?" Blossompaw asked.
"I caught two mice, two shrews, one water vole and a rabbit." It was Greenleaf, and he had been hunting all day.
"Wow!" Blossompaw looked at him with admiring eyes. "You must've worked really hard!" She mewed.
"They were all half-asleep." He mumbled, embarrassed.
"Still…!" She purred happily.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the high rock for a clan meeting!" Firestar's yowl brought cats trotting out of their dens, and Daisy emerged from the nursery, grooming Rosepaw and Toadpaw's furs vigorously. Warriors already? Wow. Lighteningpaw thought. He settled down next to Blossompaw as the ceremony began.
"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Toadpaw, Rosepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?" He looked down at the two apprentices. Even Spiderleg, who never really got along with his kits, looked ready to burst with pride.
"I do." Rosepaw mewed promisingly.
"I do." Toadpaw looked at his leader, his eyes brimming with happiness.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Toadpaw, from this moment you will be known as Toadstep. StarClan honors your courage and your skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Firestar rested his muzzle on Toadstep's head, who licked his shoulder in reply.
"Rosepaw, from this moment you will be known as Rosepetal. StarClan honors your enthusiasm and forethought, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
"Rosepetal! Toadstep! Rosepetal! Toadstep!" Lighteningpaw felt a flash of pride as his former denmates padded to the camp entrance to keep vigil. He padded to his nest and sleep washed over him. Lighteningpaw dreamed that he was hunting a big fat juicy rabbit, and pounced on it. Suddenly, the limp body of the rabbit turned into a twitching orange tail, which belonged to his mother. Lighteningpaw was small again, as if he was a kit, and he padded to the nursery behind his mother. She suddenly whipped around and snarled, her friendly face and green eyes melting. Her face dripped eerily, and blood splattered from her direction, though there were no visible wounds. The familiar green eyes turned an icy blue, the ginger turning dark brown. Startled, Lighteningpaw whipped around and saw his father. At least somebody was normal.
"Turn around." A voice that sent shivers down his spine whispered. He dared not turn around, afraid of what he would see. But what he was watching was far worse. Brambleclaw grew bigger and bigger, the soft gleam in his eyes replaced with hunger, and such ambition Lighteningpaw couldn't even imagine somebody having. He started to melt, until his features were unrecognizable, and his teeth and claws were even sharper than a lion's. He turned around, and saw tortoiseshell-and-silver.
"Silverpaw!"
"Silverpaw's not here." The sky blue gaze turned a deathly white, and her pupils were dilated until they looked unnatural. They looked more like a poppy seed then her eyes! Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw and Silverpaw were surrounding him – there was nowhere to run. He felt fur press against him and recognized terror in Clearpaw's eyes.
"Clearpaw! Save me." But no, as his mother had, Clearpaw slowly started to melt, leaving behind a ghostly figure.
"We shall rule once more." Her sweet voice had been replaced with a harsh, deep, male voice. Lighteningpaw woke up, panting. Week moonlight filtered into the den, and all was sound. If he looked around, he would've realised that his denmates were very still. He sighed and settled back into sleep.
"Take that!" Lighteningpaw's eyes snapped open and saw the ghostly figure of the fake-Clearpaw and deathly white eyes of the fake-Silverpaw. He felt sudden pain in his shoulder, though neither figure had moved. He was slowly lifted up, and immense pain shot through his shoulder once more.
"Ahh!" He woke up, realising that it had all been a dream.
"Lighteningpaw? Are you awake?" Silverpaw's eyes were once more sky blue. Her eyes were glazed with confusion as she watched Lighteningpaw stretch his tired limbs.
"Lighteningpaw! Look at you, you're all scratched." Clearpaw padded up to him and attempted to groom his unkempt fur.
"There must've been a thorn in my bedding." He mumbled. His sister's glanced at each other, and he knew they didn't believe him. Still shaken by his dream, he lay down again and fell asleep under the steady rasps of his sisters. This time, he did not dream.
OhmyStarClan! I SCARED MYSELF WHEN I WROTE THAT DREAM! To be fair though, it was like, midnight when I wrote it. If you have any questions about the glowing in Chapter one, or the dream Lighteningpaw had, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to explain without giving away the plot. Flamers will be thrown in the dungeon!
Awesome! This chapter was six pages, size 12 Arial font.