Chapter 2
Snowpaw peered through the opening in the gorse den. A mound of dark blue tabby fur was curled in a corner, sound asleep. "Stormpaw?" Snowpaw mewed into the silence.
"Ack!" the tabby yowled and rolled over and began meowing loudly. "Did Rubyheart send you? Typical- just typical! I can barely get a wink of sleep in this place, and I was up half the night because Amberfang had ticks and I had to pull them out, and now he comes ordering me around to do this and that-"
"I AM A NEW APPRENTICE!!" Bellowed Snowpaw.
"Oh." The tabby tom looked abashed. "Sorry." He mewed. "I heard about that, but I never expected you to be so-" he broke off, blushing.
"According to Rubyheart, you're supposed to show me the camp." Snowpaw mewed, not noticing.
"All right!" the dark blue tabby sprang to his feet, full of an excitement that most certainly not been there previously.
"Okay then." Snowpaw meowed, a little startled.
"Well, this is the apprentice's den, obviously, where all the cats who are six moons old, but not yet warriors sleep." Stormpaw meowed, nosing his way out of the den.
"This way!" he mewed as they stepped into the main camp.
"What's wrong?" the tabby tom asked, looking at her when she remained silent.
"I know your name, but you don't know mine." she mewed.
"Oh!" Stormpaw looked amused. "It's Snowpaw, isn't it?" he asked.
"How did you-"
"I can hear what's going on in the camp, even when I'm half asleep." He grinned. "And I figured it had to be something like that, considering the color of your pelt."
"At least I won't have to introduce myself- I really hate introductions." Snowpaw meowed cheerfully. The two young cats had reached the center of the clearing, and the only cats in sight were two young cats licking each other by the tree stump surrounded by ferns.
"Hello Stormpaw!" mewed the golden brown she-cat. Snowpaw almost mistook her for Sorrelheart (They were identical in every aspect except for size). The dark tabby tom was a replica of Bramblepelt. His amber eyes surveyed the white apprentice with a calculating look before turning back to face the tree stump.
"Oakpaw! Thistlepaw!" Stormpaw meowed happily, padding towards them. Snowpaw followed, looking curious. "Back from hunting?" he asked the golden brown she-cat.
"Oh yes. I caught a couple of mice, but nothing really interesting." she mewed. "Would you mind telling us who this kittypet is?"
Snowpaw bristled and bared her teeth in a snarl. The golden brown she-cat looked unimpressed. "I would have thought," she meowed, apparently unconcerned by Snowpaw's aggressive stance. "That Flamestar would tell us that he was going to bring a lazy kittypet into ThunderClan."
"Oakpaw." It was the dark tabby that spoke next. "Did you see Rainpaw in there?" He jerked his head in the direction of the stump.
"And what if I did?" Oakpaw meowed indignantly.
"Do you know why our brother had to cover most of his body in cobwebs and herbs and who knows what else?"
"He got in a fight with a badger or something." Oakpaw mewed dismissively. "Not a badger." the dark tabby removed his gaze from his sister and looked at Snowpaw. "This cat here. The one you called a kittypet. She did that to Rainpaw because he dared to say that she was a useless kittypet. So I would be careful if I were you." Thistlepaw got up, stretched, and padded away. Oakpaw looked a little taken aback, but she soon scoffed and strutted away to the apprentice's den.
"Don't mind her." Stormpaw meowed to Snowpaw, padding over to a gap in the ferns. "This-" He mewed over his shoulder to Snowpaw. "Is the medicine cat's den. Hi Barkpaw!" Snowpaw pushed her way into the den to discover a hollow in the tree stump, surrounded by various plants and herbs. A tortoiseshell she-cat was pressing cobwebs onto a wound on Rainpaw's shoulder. A smaller brown tabby was limping around, a few herbs and leaves in his mouth.
"Stompah!" Barkpaw mewed through his mouthful of herbs.
"Hello, you two." meowed the tortoiseshell. She was a rather beautiful cat, with knowing green eyes.
"This is Tawnyflower. She's Thunderclan's medicine cat." Stormpaw meowed to Snowpaw.
"I hope I haven't caused you a lot of trouble, Tawnyflower." Snowpaw mewed to her, flicking her tail towards Rainpaw.
"It's nothing. It was bound to happen someday, sooner, if he wasn't the deputy's son."
"WHAT?!" Snowpaw yowled. Rainpaw rolled over, wincing visibly, to smirk at the stunned white apprentice. "You're the- the deputy's son?!" Snowpaw whispered, totally stunned.
"Oh yes, kittypet. My father will tear you apart when he gets back. You're finished!"
"As if!"
Snowpaw looked at Stormpaw, who was staring down at Rainpaw, a look of pure disgust upon his dark blue face. "Father doesn't have to stick up for you every time you get in a fix! I say it's good for you to get roughed up for once in your life!"
Without another word, Stormpaw turned and strode out of the den, leaving a shocked silence behind. Snowpaw then hurried after him, catching up to the dark blue tom halfway across the clearing. "Sorry." He mewed, turning to face her as she came up beside him. "You're probably wondering about that. Yes, Rainpaw is my brother, but I would much rather be related to any other cat than him." He gave her a long stare, then, with a pleading note in his voice, meowed. "Please don't judge me based on Rainpaw. Not all of my family is that horrible."
"I wouldn't judge you based on your brother." Snowpaw mewed softly. "I would never judge a cat based on one of their littermates. It's not in my character."
Stormpaw looked relived and mewed cheerfully. "The warriors den is over here-" he nodded in the direction of a large cluster of brambles and bushes. "The senior warriors sleep near the center, where it's warmer."
"Does the deputy have his own den?" Snowpaw asked, curious.
"Nah!" Stormpaw meowed. "The deputy sleeps with the senior warriors, in the middle." They padded over to the large bramble den Snowpaw had heard kits inside of earlier.
"This-" Stormpaw meowed, pushing himself through a narrow gap in the brambles. "-Is the nursery!" Snowpaw squeezed in after him, and caught the scent of milk. There were three queens inside, a blue and brown tabby, a pure white queen, and a dark blue-gray she-cat.
"Stormpaw!" The blue-gray queen moved forward and began to shower the young tom with licks.
"Mom- Stop it!" Stormpaw looked so embarrassed; Snowpaw thought he might melt into a puddle.
"Mom?" Snowpaw asked, looking at the motherly she-cat.
"Oh yes. I am Stormpaw's mother." She purred, nuzzling her son. Looking at Snowpaw, she mewed. "I'm Bluetip, and about what you did to Rainpaw…" Snowpaw felt her stomach clench.
"I forgive you." Bluetip meowed.
"Huh?" Snowpaw felt her stomach do a back flip.
"I forgive you. Stormpaw probably did worse to him when he was a kit, and I would never have stood for what he said to you either." Bluetip strolled into a corner, and lay on her side.
"C'mon." Stormpaw hissed to her. Once out in the main camp again, they padded towards a den near the Highledge. "This is the elders den." Stormpaw meowed, the tone in his voice making it perfectly obvious that he did not want to discuss what had transpired in the nursery.
"Elders?" Snowpaw asked.
"The former warriors and queens, but they no longer hunt or do patrols or other things like that." Stormpaw explained.
"Ah..." Snowpaw looked around. There were only a few cats in sight, including a pure white she-cat and a black tom with one white ear.
"Who are they?" she asked, flicking her tail at the two cats in the corner.
"Moonpaw and Darkpaw?" Stormpaw meowed, glancing at them. "You might as well meet them, c'mon."
Moonpaw jumped a tail-length in the air when they approached, and attempted to hide behind Darkpaw, a difficult feat, as she was much bigger than him.
"Hello Stormpaw, Hello Snowpaw." Darkpaw meowed cheerfully. "Please excuse my sister, she's a little jumpy."
"Your sister?" Snowpaw mewed, confused. The two cats looked so different, it was a shock to find out they were related.
"Yes. I trust Stormpaw has told you our names?" Darkpaw meowed.
"Yes." Snowpaw mewed, looking curiously at Moonpaw. She was pure white, and had soft blue eyes. While much larger than either Snowpaw or Darkpaw, she was attempting to hide behind the latter like a kitten behind its mother.
"H-h-hi, S-s-sn-now-p-paw. I-m-m M-m-moon-p-paw." She mewed, stammering.
"Is she deaf?" Snowpaw asked, looking concerned.
"No." Darkpaw rolled his eyes. "She was as black as me when she was born, but after two days- Foof!" He puffed out his fur to indicate change. "All this white came out. She hasn't changed since."
"A l-l-ot o-o-of c-cats t-think I-I'm d-deaf, b-b-be-because o-of m-my f-fur." Moonpaw stammered.
"It's okay." Darkpaw meowed, seeing Snowpaw about to apologize.
"Snowpaw, we need to see Flamestar, he'll give us our new assignments. You still haven't got a mentor." Stormpaw meowed, turning toward the Highledge.
"Okay, bye!" Snowpaw mewed to the two cats.
"Bye!" Darkpaw meowed.
"Poor Moonpaw, is she always like that?" Snowpaw asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Unfortunately, yes." Stormpaw sighed. "No one really knows what happened, except her father took her out for a tour around the borders, and she came back half alive, almost ripped to shreds."
"What?"
"That was my reaction, too. She survived, but she's never been the same since. She's afraid of her own shadow, and avoids her father as much as possible."
Stormpaw grimaced, and continued. "Her father said it was a badger, but I for one, don't believe him. Those wounds came from cat claws, and at the time I put it down to an enemy warrior patrol, even though the Warrior code forbids the harm of kits."
"So what do you think happened?" Snowpaw asked, but Flamestar was padding towards them from across the clearing.
"Ah, Stormpaw, showing the new apprentice the camp, how generous of you." he meowed.
"It was a pleasure!" Stormpaw meowed happily.
"Now, Snowpaw, are you ever going to get rid of your collar?" Flamestar asked, eyeing the blue strap.
"It's a symbol of my past, and if we forget the past, we have no future." Snowpaw replied calmly.
The ginger tom gazed at her appraisingly. "Very wise, young one. If that is your decision, I will say no more, but about your mentor..." Flamestar looked a little wary, but it was soon replaced by determination as the ginger tom leaped up to the Highledge and yowled. "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!"
Snowpaw watched, as again the cats of ThunderClan poured out into the clearing. "What's a mentor?" she mewed softly to Stormpaw, who was sitting next to her.
"Mentors are warriors who take on the task of training apprentices, how to hunt, how to fight, everything. My mentor's Flamestar." he meowed back.
"Cats of ThunderClan!" Yowled Flamestar. "This new apprentice has no mentor, as of now. I, by the powers of Starclan, give Snowpaw a mentor." He gazed into the crowd of cats. "Snowpaw's mentor will be... Rubyheart."
There were several shocked mews, especially from Sorrelheart and Bramblepelt, who knew how much the scarlet warrior disliked the white she-cat. Rubyheart looked, for some reason best known to himself, looked like he was about to explode with happiness as he padded up to the base of the Highledge.
"Rubyheart, you were Squirrelfur's apprentice, and I expect you to pass on her bravery and generosity to this young apprentice." Flamestar meowed, and Rubyheart padded up to Snowpaw, and bowed his head to touch noses with the white she-cat.
Snowpaw looked up at the scarlet tabby, and felt shock as she realized that the great warrior was smiling down at her, full of a respect that had never been there before.
Cats began to circle around them, mewing congratulations to both of them. Rubyheart looked down at Snowpaw and mewed quietly. "You can go get something to eat, and then get some rest. You're going to need it, as tomorrow is going to be a busy day."
"Alright." Snowpaw meowed, and padded through the crowd of cats to find Stormpaw. He wasn't far.
"Your mentor is Rubyheart?" he hissed, looking horrified.
"I'm just as shocked as you are!" Snowpaw snapped.
"Hey, don't get like that with me, I'm sorry!" Stormpaw meowed, looking even more horrified.
"Sorry." Snowpaw mewed, and her belly gave a huge rumble. Both of the young cats looked down at her stomach. There was another rumble, and Stormpaw's stomach growled as well.
"Ha! I guess we're both hungry!" Stormpaw chuckled. He beckoned to Snowpaw with his tail. "I'll show you the food, c'mon."
Stormpaw showed her a pile of prey, all recently killed, that he called the "fresh-kill pile". Snowpaw selected a mouse for herself, and Stormpaw took a chaffinch. They padded over to the apprentice den, and sank their teeth into the still warm fresh-kill.
Snowpaw, too tired to talk, did as her mentor suggested, and selected a place to curl up and sleep. It had been a trying day, but the rewards, as Bramblepelt had said, had been great. She had a home. She had a friend. Tomorrow she would wake as an apprentice of ThunderClan. This, she thought, is my new life. I had better get used to it...
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Mist swirling around a stone circle... Two shadowy figures of cats... Mysterious words... From the ashes a fire shall be woken... A light from the shadows shall spring... Renewed shall be heart that was broken...The crownless again shall be king.......
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