Rusty followed Bluestar and Redtail out. They'd told him that he needed a "ceremony". Adrenaline flowed through his veins, but he didn't know why. There were just so many cats…! He couldn't imagine every single one gathering to watch him be integrated into the Clan.
"Every cat old enough to catch their own prey, gather underneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Bluestar called as she jumped onto a large, dusky gray boulder.
Rusty noticed Redtail sitting right beneath her on the ground. He turned his head and looked at the ever-growing crowd. They were murmuring quietly amongst themselves. Every pair of eyes held either confusion, anger, or judgment - some had more than one. He whipped back around when the leader began speaking more.
"I, like all of you, never thought we'd take another outsider into ThunderClan," Bluestar announced. "Stormpaw was very lucky to join us, but I know how controversial letting him in was. However, I've decided to welcome young Rusty as well. They seem to be old friends, and so I have faith that Rusty will shape up to be a great warrior like Stormpaw is growing to be."
Loud outcries immediately broke out. Bluestar seemed in no rush to halt them. She simply looked from cat to cat, as if she were understanding the jumbled mess.
"I know you're all upset, but I assure you that this will hardly affect your personal lives," Bluestar meowed over them. "After all, Brokenstar has proven to be too large of a threat for our smaller Clan to deal with. We need apprentices that we can train into warriors. Please respect my decision." She averted her gaze to the kittypet as the crowd gradually quieted. "Rusty, please step forward."
Rusty didn't think that he'd be directly addressed, but he should've; how would he have a ceremony otherwise? Trembling with excitement and nervousness alike, he padded forward. He looked back up at who was now his leader.
"Rusty, from this moment forward you shall be known as Firepaw," Bluestar announced. "I'm unsure of your mentor, so you can train under Tigerclaw and Lionheart until I decide. They're good warriors that will teach you well for the time being. You two, please come up."
Lionheart stepped out from the crowd, approaching Firepaw. The newly-named apprentice felt comfortable around the kind giant, and even offered an excited grin. The golden tabby returned the smile before dipping his head and touching his pink nose to the former kittypet's own. The second cat, whom Firepaw assumed was Tigerclaw, joined them.
Firepaw tried not to show his surprise; after all, he didn't expect Tigerclaw to look as he did. He towered over him at the same height as Lionheart and had identical broad shoulders, but something about him was much more intimidating than the other. A scowl was seemingly permanently imbedded into his features, and he had cold amber eyes that dug into his skull.
Tigerclaw touched noses with Firepaw, but even a kit could tell that he detested it. However, it somehow remained uncommented on by Bluestar or Lionheart. Maybe Firepaw had just imagined it? He never thought that he was an insecure or anxious cat, though. It must've been all the attention messing with his head.
Bluestar remained silent, seemingly waiting for something. Firepaw realized what it was when Stormpaw began chanting his name, causing most of the crowd to unenthusiastically and hesitantly follow. The ginger apprentice listened on until the chants quickly died down, and he was honestly glad for it. He felt incredibly odd hearing it.
"Am I hallucinating, or are my Clanmates applauding an outsider?!" a pale golden tom in the crowd yowled as everyone turned to stare at him. "We already took in one. I say we send this kit back to the twolegplace with something he won't forget!"
"That tom is called Longtail," Lionheart informed Firepaw in a low voice. "He is young but loyal and fierce. Will you let him bad-mouth you, Firepaw? Will you let him finish what Graypaw started, or will you fight back?"
"Yeah, Firepaw," Longtail repeated, lashing the limb he was named after. "You just gonna stand there, or you gonna do something? Why don't you come prove you're worthy of your name?!" His frosty blue eyes blazed with a strange mixture of anger and excitement; it was hard to predict which would influence his actions more.
Firepaw felt his blood boil with fury. For the first time in his life, he felt truly angry. Never before had he been utterly humiliated in front of so many cats. To make it worse, he saw some holding in mocking laughter. He knew his fur was bristling, which likely made him look more ridiculous. A tiny kit of six moons about to stand up to a skilled warrior almost twice his size? He was sure that if he were originally from this Clan, he'd laugh.
"I-I will!" Firepaw yowled back, taking a few steps towards him. He noted that the crowd had cleared a small circle around Longtail, likely expecting a fight. "Yeah, I'll claw you so good!" he continued. "You won't-"
"Come get me then, kittypet!" Longtail smirked. "I can smell your fear-scent, you know. I'm not as mouse-brained as you think."
Firepaw looked at Stormpaw in the cluster of cats, as if he could help in any way. The apprentice only offered an encouraging nod. The ginger tabby looked back to the lean warrior. He didn't really know how to fight, but how hard could it be? It wasn't like there was a special way to use your claws. He took a deep breath and got in a crouch, then launched himself.
Longtail seemed to have seen this coming, because he used his shoulder to hit the flying Firepaw to the ground. His chest ached as he scrabbled back to his paws, but he was quickly eating dirt again. Longtail had pinned him and raked his sides, tearing off the fresh poultices on his wounds from earlier. He yowled, trying to get up.
"Fine, kitty," Longtail taunted, getting off. "I'll let you stand." While he was getting back up, he whacked him with enough force to put him back. "What's this about clawing me? You haven't done that at all!"
Firepaw lay completely still, contemplating his next move. He was glad that Longtail wasn't attacking for these few safe seconds; it gave him time to think. However, he decided to remain this way. He heard the black-striped warrior pad closer silently, confused by his stillness. He seemed to be deciding whether or not this was a trick. While he was thinking, the former kittypet launched up and attached himself to his front.
Both toms exploded into yowls as Firepaw clung to his fur and hit anywhere he could get at with his claws. He managed to inflict a lot of scratches before being thrown off. He twisted to land on all fours, proud that he'd managed to do even a little bit regarding damage. He realized that he'd even hit the other tom's ear and had cut a little slice out of it.
The cats were joined again, scrabbling across the ground. Longtail seemed to have abandoned any tactics and was just attacking blindly. Even younger Graypaw seemed to be following some sort of coordination before. Longtail had let his fury that a kittypet had harmed him overwhelm him. Firepaw found that ignoring size, they were almost equal. He would look back at this moment whenever he thought that training did nothing.
It wasn't long before Longtail had snatched Firepaw's collar. The ginger tom gasped for air as he pulled away. He knew that his resistance was only making it worse, but what else could he do? His mind was filled with panic. All he could think about was getting away. Within a single blink of an eye, he fell face-first into the ground. He looked up. His collar was clenched in Longtail's teeth, who quickly threw it down out of disgust.
"Firepaw has lost his collar in a battle for his honor," Bluestar announced, looking down at him with what he thought might be pride. "Therefore, I can easily confirm that this young tom has StarClan's blessing to begin his training." She leaped down as Longtail went skulking off, embarrassed, to Spottedleaf's den.
Cats instantly crowded him. "Welcome to ThunderClan!" he heard a few say. However, it wasn't long before Redtail dispersed them.
"Welcome, Firepaw," Redtail meowed kindly. Unlike Lionheart, he didn't have a deep voice; his mew was lighter and younger sounding. "You need to get your wounds retreated. My sister probably won't mind."
"Thanks, I'll go see her," Firepaw told him, feeling more at ease. The slightly higher pitch of his voice and his short height made him much less intimidating than others. "Are you a leader too?" he asked. "You seem really important. Bluestar had to ask you about letting me join."
"I'm her deputy," Redtail explained. "I'll take her place after she leaves us for StarClan. Think of me as like… a second leader. I organize patrols to mark borders and hunt."
Firepaw almost asked him something else, but the tortoiseshell went on, "Speaking of patrols, I need to sort the sunhigh ones. They'll be going out soon. Good to meet you, Firepaw."
When Redtail left his side, Firepaw limped back to the den he knew Spottedleaf to be. His bird was pushed to the side, he noticed. Longtail was getting a poultice put on his wounds. He was yapping on to the medicine cat how "that kittypet just got lucky" and "he'd better not cross me next time".
"You're done, Longtail," Spottedleaf told him politely, but surely there was no way she actually agreed. "Firepaw's waiting his turn at the entrance."
Firepaw quickly moved out of the way before Longtail could shoulder him or whatever he might want to do. Luckily, the young warrior just grumbled to himself as he left without saying anything aloud. The smaller cat ran up to the friendly she-cat and sat, prepared to face the same stinging from earlier.
While he was getting treated, Stormpaw and a tall tom with a scrawny body and lanky limbs entered. "Firepaw, let me introduce you to Ravenpaw," Stormpaw meowed cheerfully. "He's Tigerclaw's apprentice."
Ravenpaw's tail tip and forepaws were dipped in white, which stood out among his pitch black coat. He smiled a little. "Hello," he mewed hesitantly, as if he had something to be afraid of.
"Don't mind him," Stormpaw added. "He's just a little jumpy. Probably because of how strict Tigerclaw is."
"That's okay," Firepaw meowed. "He's pretty scary."
"He's not all bad," Ravenpaw insisted. "He isn't a rubbish mentor. He's taught me a lot."
"Ravenpaw and his brother have trained for a full three moons!" Stormpaw told his friend. "Sandpaw has too, but she isn't from their litter. They'll probably be made warriors soon."
"Have you fought in a battle yet?" Firepaw inquired curiously.
"No," Ravenpaw replied, flicking an ear. "And as far as I've heard, I hope I don't for a long time. It sounds too awful…"
"Spottedleaf mentioned a cat named Thistleclaw dying in a battle last leaf-fall," Firepaw commented. "Was that the last one that happened?"
Spottedleaf seemed caught off guard at the mention of Thistleclaw. "Of course it wasn't," she interrupted, her formerly kind voice now stern. "There are border skirmishes with ShadowClan at least once a moon! Now quiet about battle."
All three apprentices were surprised at her outburst. They were quiet until she finished. "Take your bird and eat in the sun," she ordered, her voice still rushed. "Tell Tigerclaw and Lionheart that I've dismissed you from training for today."
Firepaw did as he was told, although her uncharacteristic behavior stuck with him. As the trio sat down outside, he asked, "Do you two know what that was about?"
Stormpaw shook his head, and Ravenpaw responded, "No. Whatever it is, it's either something private or a story that hasn't been told since I've been alive. Thistleclaw died the leaf-fall I was kitted."
Firepaw decided to ask Spottedleaf later. For now, though, he had to tend to his growling stomach. He was admittedly pretty nervous about eating the dead bird, but he could see Tigerclaw and a pale golden queen sharing one on the other side of the clearing. Two kits were nibbling at a small mouse. If they could do it, he could too.
"The first bite will open your eyes, Rus- Firepaw," Stormpaw told him. "Prepare yourself for a life changing experience."
Firepaw huffed, but in reality he agreed. Whether negatively or positively, this would change the way he viewed his kibble. He took a small bite, chewing through the feathers. The texture of meat instead of hard pellets was so much more pleasing, and the flavor tasted so much better than the generic one he was used to. He wondered how he'd lived without this for his entire life.
"This is amazing!" Firepaw exclaimed, taking another bite. He was silent until he finished, licking his whiskers clean.
"Ravenpaw here was the first one to actually be nice to me, other than Lionheart or Spottedleaf," Stormpaw spoke up, clearly wanting to fill the silence. "He came up and asked if I wanted to share a squirrel. Mind that I was scared of everything and everyone, but I hadn't eaten yet. So I accept, and after a while comes Tigerclaw. This beast of a cat starts telling Ravenpaw to go clean out the elders' nests. Probably didn't want me around him."
The story and the next few passed in hardly no time at all. Ravenpaw even told some of his own or added onto things Stormpaw said. Firepaw felt comfortable and happy already, listening to the older tom talk about his deceased mother or his longtime friend recount his first experiences in ThunderClan. The sun began to set before long, but the three cats kept on.
Firepaw caught Graypaw glancing over a few times from where he sat with a brown ticked tabby and a pale ginger she-cat. He almost seemed jealous of how carefree they were. Yet he was hardly older than Firepaw; what's there to envy? That's when the former kittypet continually saw Darkstripe watching his apprentice. Was he pressuring him to be a certain way? Stormpaw had said that Graypaw was fun at the beginning of his training.
In his thoughts, he hadn't noticed that the other two had fallen silent. "Graypaw isn't a bad cat," Ravenpaw told him. "Darkstripe was a bad choice of mentor for him. He's made Graypaw stuck up and angry. He's no fun. He was friends with me when he was still in the nursery. Now he's allowed to do nothing, say nothing. Darkstripe controls him. He definitely wasn't that strict with Longtail. Must not want his brother to be a failure."
"They're brothers?" Firepaw asked.
"Half," Ravenpaw nodded. "It can't be long before Graypaw cracks under the pressure." His olive eyes looked at his former friend sadly.
"I don't understand why Bluestar thought it a good idea," Stormpaw meowed. "Those two cats are a rotten pair. She needs to give him a different mentor."
Firepaw jumped when Graypaw turned to glare at them. They all looked away instantly. "We've been noticed," he whispered.
"Well, we were all staring at him and talking," Stormpaw mewed. "He isn't mouse-brained. He knows we were talking about him. Look, he's even sitting up straighter!"
"Stop looking at him!" Ravenpaw anxiously told him. "He'll tell Darkstripe, and Darkstripe will tell Tigerclaw, and I'll have to run from Sunningrocks to camp a dozen times again. I don't wanna do that; my legs hurt until morning last time."
"Just for talking about someone?" Stormpaw asked. "You ate before doing duties that time. That was justified. You speaking while looking at another apprentice? Not punishable."
Ravenpaw seemed uncertain, but he didn't get a chance to speak. The pale ginger apprentice had padded over to them. "Can you stop talking about us?" she growled. "It's really rude."
"Sorry, Sandpaw," Ravenpaw apologized. "It won't happen again."
Sandpaw huffed and padded back to Graypaw and the ticked tabby. Firepaw rose to his paws. "I guess you guys don't have litterboxes," he meowed. "Where do I go to make dirt then?"
"I'll take you," Stormpaw volunteered. "Ravenpaw, we'll be right back."
The two toms padded to a place right outside of camp. When they returned, Ravenpaw was gone. Firepaw tried conversating with Stormpaw, but his mind was too distracted by everything from the day. It was likely dark around the time he fell asleep. All he could remember from his dreams were glimpses of a spiky-furred tom and a bright meadow where he greeted Spottedleaf as if they hadn't seen each other for moons.
Everything else was a blur.
extra long chapter because you're welcome. also i feel bad for making them so short. I'm doing two books in this, i better start getting lengthy. pls give encouragement.
