It had been many moons since the death of Scourge. Many things had happened. BloodClan had begun to fall apart without it's leader, dogs had begun to take over the streets, and a new kit had been born. Her name was Phoenix. She was the daughter of a she-cat named Sunset and Scourge himself.
She had no idea of her heritage, and her mother preferred to keep it that way. She didn't want Scourge to live on inside of her sweet little daughter. With every moon of her daughter's aging came great fear and worry.
Phoenix hated it when her mother got overprotective of her. She had no idea why her mother acted up, and she wanted to get away from it all. So one night, she did.
Phoenix ran into the forest, leaving everything she ever knew behind. She would miss her friends and her mother very much, but she knew that it was for the best.
She leapt over a tiny stream and pushed on, as far as her legs could carry her. She finally stopped to rest in an abandoned badger set. She figured that she could disguise her scent in the old set, so if any attackers came by, they wouldn't scent her.
She stayed there for a few days, thinking, mostly. She came up with a plan to stay with a group of cats for a while. Then she would return to her mother.
A sick feeling clenched her belly at the thought of being away from her mother for so long, but she knew that if she turned back now, she would get the same treatment for many moons. She took a deep breath, then padded out into the forest. She took in the scents and sights before she trekked on.
She had left at dawn, and the sun was starting to sink below the trees when she finally found a group of five cats.
"I'm Phoenix," she introduced herself, not noticing the hostile stares she was receiving.
"What are you doing on ThunderClan territory, rogue?" asked a gray tom with a somewhat calm tone.
"ThunderClan? Huh? What's ThunderClan?" questioned the young she-cat.
A tom with a fiery orange pelt much like Phoenix's rested his tail on the gray tom's shoulder and spoke with a sense of pride. "ThunderClan is our Clan. Though, I don't expect you to understand, young one," meowed the tom. "I am Firestar, the leader of the Clan. You may come with us if you would like. I'm sure it would be a great opportunity for the Clan."
A brown tom beside him piped up. "You better not hurt my Ferncloud if you do!"
"She's barely the size of an apprentice, Dustpelt. I doubt she'll do any harm," soothed a ginger tom.
Phoenix began to feel uncomfortable around these strange cats, but she took up the offer, nevertheless. "Okay," she mewed, her paws kneeding the ground.
She followed the cats reluctantly. As they made their way through the forest, the cat that had been staring at Phoenix with curiosity hung back with her. "I'm Sorrelpaw," she introduced herself. "And you're Phoenix... What's a phoenix?" prompted the she-cat with excitement.
Phoenix shrugged. "My mom says it's a bird made of fire," answered Phoenix.
"Wow!" exclaimed Sorrelpaw with great interest. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from the streets a long way from here. In a city full of two leg rubbish and dogs."
"That sounds like where Scourge and his little followers lived," mewed Sorrelpaw thoughtfully.
"Scourge? Who's that?" questioned Phoenix.
"Oh. He's the former BloodClan leader. Firestar killed him!" Sorrelpaw exclaimed with a hint of pride.
Before she could reply, Phoenix and the other cats had reached a tunnel with gorse around it. They trotted through the tunnel, and Phoenix's eyes widened. There we're tons of cats here! She was nervous, but also excited to meet the other cats. She knew that if she was going to stay here, she would be safe, and that was all that mattered to her.
~•~•~•~•~•Later That Day•~•~•~•~•~
Phoenix followed Firestar out of his den, an excited look on her face. She was elated that Firestar agreed to let her stay in ThunderClan.
Firestar leapt up onto the Highrock and howled, "all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the HighRock for a Clan meeting!"
At his call, the cats began to gather before their leader, some as young as Phoenix, and some very elderly. She tried not to stare at them as she sat, trembling with excitement.
"Today, a brave rogue has decided to join our Clan. Phoenix, step forward," Firestar prompted the young she-cat. Phoenix did as she was told and stepped forward. "Phoenix, do you promise to learn the ways of our code and listen to your mentor?"
Phoenix nodded briskly and stared up at the leader, beaming. "Then from now until you earn your warrior name, you shall be known as Flamepaw. Graystripe shall be your mentor. I trust that he will pass down all he knows to you."
The gray tom seemed utterly surprised, but came forward and touched noses with Phoenix - now Flamepaw.
The cats all cheered Phoenix's name, even though some of the cheers we're reluctant and hesitant. Phoenix couldn't wait to start her training with the deputy as her mentor.
~•~•~•~•Several Moons Later•~•~•~•~
Training had been difficult, and Flamepaw had finally passed her warrior assessment after a couple of failed attempts. Now she was padding back with Graystripe, a broad smile plastered across her face.
"You know, Flamepaw. I don't know much about you. How about you tell me about your family and your life before you came to ThunderClan?" meowed the deputy with a warm look at his apprentice.
"Okay. So, I was born and raised on the streets a long way from here. I had plenty of friends, but my mother was overprotective of me, and whenever one of the others would bring up the name Scourge, my mother would drag me away from them and tell me not to go near them. I had no idea why, and I finally got tired of it and ran away. That's how I came here," Flamepaw mewed, exexplaining her whole life story in those few sentences.
"Scourge...? Do you know who he is - er, was?" the gray tom looked at her with a slight bit of worry.
"Sorreltail told me that he was a murderer, the previous leader of BloodClan, and that Firestar killed him. My mother always told me not to go corrupt like him, as if he was my father or something. I doubt it though," replied Flamepaw with a slight purr.
Graystripe stopped dead in his tracks. "That makes so much more sense!" he mumbled, staring at Flamepaw.
"What does?" the fiery-pelted she-cat asked, tilting her head.
"Your size! Your paw! Those eyes!" the deputy exclaimed, his amber eyes wide. "You must be Scourge's daughter!"
Flamepaw froze, her sickly green eyes glued to her mentor. She was horrified. All of the stories the elders had told her about the bloodthirsty leader of BloodClan suddenly didn't feel so astonishing and amazing. They we're terrifying to Flamepaw. To think that her father had been a murderer froze her heart and turned her blood cold. She knew that she would never be accepted if the news got out that she was the daughter of Scourge. She understood everything now.
It was all a lie.
I know I missed the deadline, but this story was hard to write, and I got stuck without wifi all weekend. Sorry!
