Circle of Life: Book 3: The Last Battle
A/N: Gah, late again. The only good thing I can say is that this chapter is longer than the last one. We get to meet the kittens this chapter, too! Hope you guys enjoy. :)
Chapter 3: Changes in NorthClan
"Acornkit, hold still!" Rosetail snapped, gently cuffing her squirming son around the ears.
"But Rosetail!" Acornkit whined. "Rainkit and Cloudkit won't leave me alone!"
From her nest on the other side of the nursery, Silvertail sighed. "Rainkit, Cloudkit, come back over here, and leave Acornkit alone."
A dark gray tabby tom kit turned around, defiance flashing in his blue eyes. "Why should I?"
Silvertail's tail flicked in annoyance. "Because I'm your mother, and I said so."
"Don't be mousebrained, Rainkit." The little she-cat who spoke was a small tabby with amber eyes, curled up next to Silvertail. "You'll only get in trouble, and then you won't even be able to see the ceremony."
Rainkit opened his mouth to protest, but the white she-kit standing next to him flicked him with her tail. "Leafkit's right," she said. "Don't you want to see the ceremony?"
"Of course I do!" Rainkit exclaimed indignantly. "But, Cloudkit, come on!"
Cloudkit fixed him with a steely, amber-eyed gaze. "Not happening, Rainkit." She walked back over to Silvertail and settled down next to Leafkit.
"Breezekit, help me out!" Rainkit begged, looking over to his black-furred brother, who lay with his two sisters.
Breezekit snorted. "No chance."
Rainkit's tail drooped, and he sulked back over to Silvertail, flopping down in the mossy nest.
"Don't be like that," Silvertail said briskly. "You know better."
Rainkit sighed, and curled up into a ball, drawing his tail over his nose.
"I wish we were gonna be apprentices," Cloudkit said wistfully.
"Just a few more moons," Silvertail reminded her encouragingly.
"That's like a lifetime!" the little she-kit wailed. "I don't wanna wait that long!"
"We don't have a choice," Leafkit said practically. "Those are the rules of the warrior code, and if we want to be warriors, we have to follow those rules."
Rainkit snorted in contempt. "Warrior code. LightningClan doesn't follow it, why should we?"
"Don't talk like that," Silvertail snapped. "You all should get some sleep."
"But we'll miss the ceremony!" exclaimed Cloudkit, eyes wide.
Sighing, Silvertail shook her head. "Fine. Stay awake if you want. We'll see how tired you are tonight."
Rainkit sprung up to his paws. "Let's play!" he demanded. "I'll be Stormstar, and Cloudkit can be Foxstar, and Leafkit and Breezekit can be LightningClan warriors, and I'll beat you all, because Stormstar never loses a battle!"
"You're always Stormstar!" Cloudkit protested. "I wanna be Stormstar!"
"You can't be Stormstar. You're a she-cat, and Stormstar's a tom," Breezekit pointed out. "If anyone's going to be Stormstar, it'll be me."
Rainkit's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so. I'm Stormstar."
"Nuh-uh! I am!"
"No you're not!"
"Yes I am!"
"I'll fight you for it!" declared Rainkit.
"You're on!" Breezekit challenged him. They began to circle each other, but then froze as a voice rang out over the Clan.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here by the Widestream for a Clan meeting!" It was Stormstar, calling the warriors together for the ceremony.
Cloudkit squealed in anticipation. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" She dashed out of the nursery. Rainkit and Breezekit were hard on her heels. Leafkit followed along behind them with Silvertail, sighing.
"They keep rushing around," she meowed, shaking her head. "One day they're going to step on a thorn, and then they'll be sorry."
Silvertail contemplated the philosophical meaning to that for a moment, but shook it away. She doubted that Leafkit had meant anything more than exactly what she had said; after all, she was just a kit. She couldn't possibly have come up with something as deep as that. "Don't you ever want to play with them?" she questioned her daughter.
"Of course I do," Leafkit responded. "I just wish they would slow down a little. I like to take my time."
Silvertail thought back to when she and her siblings had been kits. Then, it had always been Tanglepath who had taken his time laboring through everything, thinking over his decisions. She and Smokefoot had been whirlwinds around the camp, always fighting and full of energy. Featherstorm had always been different from the rest of them—more calm and quiet. She hadn't liked their fighting games. Though when they'd been very young kits, she'd said she wanted to be a warrior, Silvertail had always known somewhere deep inside her that her snow white sister would become a medicine cat.
Silvertail sat down at the edge of the warriors who had gathered around the stream that ran through the center of the camp. Stormstar stood on the Stepstone, a small rock jutting up out of the Widestream from where he addressed the Clan.
At the front of the group sat Shadowleaf and Sunstripe, a golden tabby tom. Sunstripe was in an unusual situation. He had been chosen to take over the training of Ravenpaw, Silvertail's apprentice, when Silvertail had moved to the nursery, but he was also training Graypaw, the only daughter of Jewelfoot and Twilightsky.
Silvertail's heart filled with love when she saw Ravenpaw and his sister Poolpaw walk out of the apprentices' den. Ravenpaw was nearly as big as Shadowleaf, and Poolpaw was not far behind. Silvertail had spent a lot of time training Ravenpaw alongside Shadowleaf as he trained Poolpaw, and she was filled with pride knowing that today was the day that all of that training had gone into. The two apprentices had grown a lot since Silvertail and Shadowleaf had started training them—and not just in size, though they had both grown to the size of full-grown warriors. They had matured in heart, as well. They had learned the lessons of loyalty and bravery, courage and strength, compassion and kindness, that were all taught through the warrior code.
Finally, when all the cats had settled down, Stormstar began to speak. "Cats of NorthClan! There comes a day in every young cat's life when their mentor has nothing more to teach them about hunting, fighting, or the warrior code. Today, that day has come for two young apprentices of our Clan." He smiled fondly at Ravenpaw and Poolpaw, who were his kits. "Sunstripe and Shadowleaf, are you satisfied that your apprentices have learned everything that you can teach them?"
"Ravenpaw fights like a warrior, Stormstar," Sunstripe rumbled in his deep voice.
"And Poolpaw can hunt as well as any cat," Shadowleaf added.
"Then I will begin the ceremony," Stormstar declared. "I, Stormstar, leader of NorthClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have worked hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He looked over at his two kits, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "Ravenpaw, Poolpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"
"I do." Ravenpaw's voice rang with conviction.
"I do," echoed Poolpaw, her voice strong and determined.
"Then I hereby give you your warrior names," Stormstar went on. "Poolpaw, from this day forward, you will be known as Poolsong. SkyClan honors your compassion and your quick thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of NorthClan."
The newly named Poolsong stepped forward. Stormstar rested his head on top of his daughter's, and she respectfully licked his shoulder.
Once she had stepped back, Stormstar turned to the other of his kits. "Ravenpaw, from this day forward, you will be known as Ravenheart. SkyClan honors your strength and your courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of NorthClan."
After they had performed the last part of the ceremony and Ravenheart had joined his sister, the Clan raised all raised their voices as one, calling the two warriors' new names. "Poolsong! Ravenheart! Poolsong! Ravenheart!"
Stormstar signaled for silence with a single wave of his tail. Once everyone had quieted down, he said, "Before a young cat can become a warrior as these two have just done, they must become apprentices. There are three kits who have reached their sixth moon, and it is their turn to go through a ceremony that I love performing. Acornkit, Mintkit, and Pinekit."
Rosetail's three kits stepped forward. Acornkit was quivering from head to tail, but Mintkit and Pinekit seemed to be able to control themselves a little better.
"Acornkit, Mintkit, and Pinekit," Stormstar said, his voice loud and firm, "from this day until you earn your warrior names, you will be known as Acornpaw, Mintpaw, and Pinepaw. Acornpaw, your mentor will be Shadowleaf." He turned to the black warrior. "Shadowleaf, I know that you have just finished Poolsong's training, but I had hoped that you would be willing to take on Acornpaw, as well. If you do half as well as you did with Poolsong, then I know Acornpaw will be a splendid warrior."
Shadowleaf dipped his head. "I'll do my best, Stormstar." Then he stepped forward to touch his nose to Acornpaw's.
"Mintpaw," Stormstar went on. "Emberheart will mentor you. I know that your two personalities will be a perfect fit. Emberheart, I'm trusting you with the training of this apprentice."
Silently, Emberheart pressed her nose to Mintpaw's.
Finally, Stormstar addressed the last apprentice. "Duskflame, you will be mentor to Pinepaw. You mentored Tanglepath, and though he is no longer with us, he was a credit to this Clan."
Silvertail flinched at Stormstar's words. He made it sound as if Tanglepath was dead.
Duskflame was blushing. "I do my best, Stormstar," she murmured, embarrassed, before she stepped up to Pinepaw.
After mentor and apprentice had separated, the three other apprentices, Nightpaw, Graypaw, and Blackpaw, called out the names of their new denmates. "Acornpaw! Mintpaw! Pinepaw!"
Ravenheart and Poolsong joined in, welcoming the new apprentices. "You'll have to take our nests," Ravenheart said teasingly. "There isn't much room in there!"
"Enjoy your speaking privileges while you have them! Once the sun sets, you and Poolsong won't be able to say a word!" Moonshadow reminded him. The new warrior waved his tail dismissively.
Stormstar was looking thoughtfully over at the apprentices' den. "He's right," he mused. "Maybe we should give some thought to expanding the apprentices' den. Before Silvertail's kits are ready to be apprentices," he added.
Stripefur, Stormstar's deputy, tipped his head to one side. "I'll see what I can do."
Many of the cats started heading away from the Widestream. Silvertail's kits ran over to congratulate their former denmates. Silvertail herself watched them fondly. They could be a pain in the tail sometimes, and she might be worrying about them at every moment, but she loved them. More than anything else in the world. She would willingly sacrifice herself for them.
She finally understood why Mistypool had accepted Tanglepath as one of her own, even though he had been found out in the forest, and was thought to be the son of rogues by most of the Clan. She already knew the joy of having kits—why wouldn't she want the chance to raise one more?
"Silvertail?" a voice broke in to her thoughts, and Silvertail turned to see Ravenheart and Poolsong standing in front of her.
She smiled warmly at them. "I'm so proud of you two," she told them.
"We wanted to say thank you," Poolsong informed her. "I know you were only Ravenheart's mentor, but you still taught me a lot."
"And me too," Ravenheart added. "It's because of you that I'm a warrior."
Silvertail's heart filled with pride. What had happened to the innocent little apprentices who had stumbled after she and Shadowleaf around the territory?
"You two have grown up so much," she murmured, touching her nose first to Poolsong's, and then to Ravenheart's. "I'm proud to have been your mentor." She drew herself up. "Now, the two of you should go ask Stripefur if there's anything that two new warriors should be doing. We don't need you two to start getting lazy already."
Purring, Ravenheart dipped his head. "We'll do that." Then he and Poolsong turned and headed off in Stripefur's direction.
Silvertail watched them go, seeming to move in synchronized motion, and felt her heart fill with longing for her own brother. Not Smokefoot, who was headed back to the warriors' den, but Tanglepath, who was on the other side of the forest, pushed away from her by Clan borders.
She closed her eyes tightly, fighting down the emotions, and headed back for the nursery, calling her kits' names.
A/N: There you go. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to check out my profile for a sneak peak of the next chapter! And don't forget to review with what you thought, either! ;)
Off to take over the world,
Crazy Girl