-The Next Morning-
Rusty awoke to a rough prodding. His eyes bleary, and his mind foggy, his surroundings confused him. As he looked up at the one that had roused him from his sleep, he remembered the events from last night. His green eyes met with the heated amber eyes of the large gray and white tom from the night before.
"Get up, kittypet," he growled, his obvious dislike of Rusty shone in his eyes. "Wake your friend and come out to the clearing. The clan will hold witness to Bluefur's punishment," the tom grumbled, his tail lashing in annoyance. He then turned and left the den.
Rusty stood finally, and stretched his legs. He gently prodded Sasha with his nose. "Sasha, we need to get up and see what's gonna happen to Bluefur!" Rusty urged, his concern for the older she-cat clear in his voice. "Come on," he pressed.
Blue eyes opened sleepily as Rusty continued to urgently prod his friend. "Okay, okay, I got you the first time, geez," Sasha groaned annoyedly. The plump Siamese stretched her back as she woke herself.
The two then cleaned up the nests they had made. "Alright, let's go," Sasha mewed, beginning to pad towards the exit. Rusty quickly followed after her.
As the two friends entered the clearing, they were met with the wary stares of several wild cats, most were large and muscled cats, some were very obviously scarred, others had blemish-free pelts. Rusty noticed that there were a few she-cats off by a thick bramble bush. A beautiful white she-cat was trying to groom four rowdy kits, while a golden tabby she-cat watched a small black and white kit play with another white and ginger tabby kit. Rusty then looked over a small distance from where those she-cats were sitting and saw the sandy tom from the night before and a small white and gray she-cat, obviously heavy with kits.
As Rusty began to look around more, he heard a deep, harsh voice call from the large rock, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Rock for a clan meeting!" Rusty quickly whipped his head around to look up at the gray and white tabby tom. "It has come to my attention that one of our clan members has been teaching a pair of kittypets the ways of the clan," Thistlestar announced glaring down at Bluefur who simply rolled her eyes at the much bigger tom. Thistlestar continued, "And those kittypets are here in camp right now." All the clan cats began to stare at Rusty and Sasha, their gazes felt burning on Rusty's pelt. Rusty looked pleadingly to his friend, and Sasha held a dignified face.
"Thistlestar, if you're going to banish me from the clan, then get on with it," Bluefur called to the tom, beginning to lick her paws.
With a sharp glare, Thistlestar seemed to suddenly get an idea. "Bluefur, I'm not going to banish you. I'm going to thank you for preparing these two cats to be fully integrated into our clan," Thistlestar growled, a smug look in his eyes. Rusty looked to Bluefur and saw an almost terrified look on her face. "Today, we are welcoming two new apprentices into our clan," Thistlestar announced. "Kittypets, come before the High Rock," Thistlestar commanded, his tail lashing impatiently.
Sasha was the first to move, Rusty quickly following after her. Sasha sat before the rock and calmly met Thistlestar's intense gaze, while Rusty felt as though he might burn alive under the tom's heated gaze.
He looked expectantly down at the two. Sasha calmly mewed, "I'm Sasha, and this is Rusty." She emphasized the introduction by pointing to herself and the orange tom with her tail.
Thistlestar looked first to Rusty and began, "Rusty, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as…" Thistlestar paused for a moment to think of a name.
Bluefur looked to Rusty and spoke up with, "Firepaw."
Narrowing his eyes at the blue-gray she-cat, Thistlestar continued with, "You will be known as Firepaw. Your mentor will be Bluefur. I hope Bluefur will pass down all she knows on to you." Thistlestar looked smugly down at Bluefur, and she suddenly understood his intentions. "Bluefur, come here," Thistlestar commanded. "Bluefur, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Stonepelt, and you have shown yourself to be clever, and patient. You will be the mentor of Firepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Firepaw," Thistlestar finished.
Bluefur then approached Firepaw, her eyes showing a slight worry for what was to come. "Now we touch noses," Bluefur whispers. Firepaw then touches his nose to Bluefur's.
Thistlestar then turns to face Sasha. "Sasha, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as…" Thistlestar paused, and then added, "You will be known as Scorchpaw. Your mentor will be Tigerclaw." A large dark brown tabby tom that sat at the base of the rock looked up at the leader with surprise in his eyes. "I hope Tigerclaw will pass down all he knows on to you." Tigerclaw wordlessly approached the newly named Scorchpaw. "Tigerclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from myself, and you have shown yourself to be fierce, and loyal. You will be the mentor of Scorchpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Scorchpaw," Thistleclaw announced, watching as Scorchpaw and Tigerclaw touched noses to finish the ceremony.
The clan looked around uncomfortably. A few small voices called, "Firepaw! Scorchpaw!" Firepaw looked and saw that it was the group of kits that he had seen before.
Slowly the voices of the other clan cats joined in to cheer for the new apprentices. "Firepaw! Scorchpaw! Firepaw! Scorchpaw!" cheered the clan.
After Thistlestar put the clan meeting to an end, the clan then went about its business, most cats leaving the camp, and some staying behind to converse.
Firepaw could feel the fact that even though they had cheered for him, they didn't want him in the clan. "Bluefur, is it bad that I'm in the clan now?" Firepaw mewed softly, his voice shaking slightly from his discomfort.
A sigh rose in Bluefur's throat. "I don't know, Firepaw, I don't know," she answered worriedly. Moving calmly she then began, "Well, if we're going to make the clan accept you as a true member of ThunderClan, then we're going to have to get you familiar with it's members." The blue-gray she-cat began to pad towards the bramble bush in the clearing. Hesitantly, Firepaw followed her.
Upon reaching the den, Firepaw saw Longtail helping Mossflower back over to the den. "Longtail, I'm okay. I'm just going to be having kits, I'm not helpless," Mossflower purred, nuzzling Longtail as she sat down by the other she-cats.
With a very concerned look, Longtail licked his mate affectionately between the ears. "I know, I know, I just want to make sure that your okay," Longtail purred, pressing his muzzle to Mossflower's. "I'm going to go out hunting, if you need me for anything while I'm gone, just ask one of the warriors or apprentices to come and get me," Longtail mewed, rising to leave camp.
As he passed Firepaw, he glared sharply at the small ginger tom.
Bluefur gave Longtail a sharp look before looking to the she-cats. Bluefur laid down with the other she-cats. "Firepaw, these she-cats here are the queens of the clan, or the she-cats that are raising or expecting kits," Bluefur stated. "That is Goldenflower," Bluefur pointed a golden-brown tabby she-cat with her tail, "Frostfur," she gestured to a pretty white she-cat, "Brindleface," then a silver tabby she-cat, "Speckletail," then to an older light brown tabby she-cat, "and my daughter Mossflower," and she finally pointed to a pretty white she-cat with gray splotches.
"It's nice to meet you," Firepaw said, his paws shifting nervously.
Mossflower looked kindly to the ginger tom. "It's nice to have you in the clan, Firepaw," she greeted sweetly, her fluffy tail swaying calmly behind her. "As my mother said, my name is Mossflower," she introduced sweetly. "My mate is Longtail, and he can be very sweet, though he is a bit abrasive at times, he's just passionate is all," Mossflower said calmly. "You've just got to get to know him," she purred softly, thinking of her mate.
"Here we go again," Speckletail joked, rolling her eyes at Mossflower. "I haven't seen two cats so affectionately in love in a long time, now I get to watch it everyday," Speckletail mewed, poking fun at the much younger queen. "Once you get to be my age, dear, you probably won't be quite as affectionate," Speckletail meowed.
The other queens began to purr quietly in amusement. Mossflower began to look down and shuffle her paws embarrassedly. "I'm just really happy that we're having kits," Mossflower mewed weakly. A gentle purr rose in Bluefur's throat as she saw how embarrassed her daughter was.
Firepaw stared at Mossflower's heavy belly. Mossflower noticed the young tom's stare and asked, "Would you like to feel?"
Firepaw's pelt burned in embarrassment. "No, miss," he said uncomfortably, staring at the ground.
With a relaxed stretch, Bluefur rose to her paws. "Alright, I'm going to introduce you to a couple of the other warriors in the clan, and then I'll show you around the territory," Bluefur said.
Firepaw quickly followed after the older blue-gray she-cat. "Good bye," he called back to the group of queens.
In the center of the clearing, a pair of silver gray cats laid side-by-side sharing a thrush. Bluefur confidently approached the two cats, a proud purr rising in her throat. "Hello," greeted Bluefur.
The two cats looked up, fondly greeting the blue-gray she-cat. "Hello, Bluefur," the silver she-cat purred. She then turned her bright blue eyes on to Firepaw. "Oh, hi," she mewed in an even tone. "Welcome to the clan, Firepaw," the she-cat greeted the ginger tom.
"Firepaw, these two are Stonefur, and Mistyheart, they are my other two kits," Bluefur purred, her pride obvious in her voice. "They are both mentoring two of your den mates. Mistyheart is the mentor of Ravenpaw who is out on his first solo hunt. And Stonefur is the mentor of Sandpaw, who is out training with Dustpaw and his mentor Redtail," Bluefur explained.
Stonefur blatantly stared at the collar that was still situated around Firepaw's neck. "Why do you still have that?" Stonefur asked bluntly, nodding his head to Firepaw's collar.
With a quick look down, Firepaw became very suddenly aware of the collar. "Oh, I haven't gotten to try and take it off. I'm not sure if I can take it off," Firepaw said quietly.
Standing, Stonefur approached the ginger tom. "I can help you get it off," Stonefur stated, now at his full height.
"Please do," Firepaw said, his eyes brightening at the large gray tom's offer.
Stonefur tightly held the collar in his jaws and pulled. The collar began to slowly loosen, until suddenly, the collar slipped off and over Firepaw's head. Dangling from Stonefur's jaws was Firepaw's collar. "I'm going to go and bury this," Stonefur said, padding out of the camp.
And everything fully hit Firepaw. He wasn't Rusty anymore, his life with his housefolk was behind him, and there was no going back. Rusty turned to look at Bluefur and Mistyheart.
With a proud look from Bluefur, Mistyheart said, "I think you look like a proper warrior now, Firepaw." The older she-cat's comment made Firepaw swell with a sudden surge of confidence. "Well, I'm going to go and check on Ravenpaw," Mistyheart mewed softly rising off the ground.
Firepaw watched the beautiful silver she-cat leave the camp.
"Well, I think it's time for you and I to go out and see the territory of ThunderClan," Bluefur began, starting to rise, when a dusky brown she-cat bolted into camp, a huge gash in her shoulder.
Frostfur rushed to she-cat's side and yelled for Spottedleaf. "Mousefur, what happened?" Frostfur asked worriedly, keeping Mousefur from collapsing.
Gasping the she-cat, Mousefur, tried to answer. "I was at the Sunningrocks, and there was a RiverClan attack headed by Oakheart," Mousefur wheezed out, exhaustion clear in her amber eyes. "Runningwind, Darkstripe, Whitestorm, and Willowpelt came to fight back. I tried to help, but a pair of RiverClan warriors ganged up on me. As I fled, I saw Redtail, Dustpaw, and Sandpaw running to join the fight," Mousefur explained as Spottedleaf came out to help Mousefur to the Medicine Cat's Den.
"Take it easy, Mousefur," Spottedleaf meowed softly, trying to calm Mousefur. "Frostfur, would you mind helping me tend to her wounds?" Spottedleaf requested.
"Not at all," Frostfur replied, her blue eyes looking sympathetically to the wounded Mousefur.
"Bluefur, should we go and help?" Firepaw asked looking to the blue-gray she-cat. As he looked at her, she had a foggy and somewhat distant look in her eyes. "Bluefur? Are you okay?" asked Firepaw, worry filling his chest.
With a shake of her head, Bluefur simply said, "I'll be fine."
After sitting there in silence for a few moments, a tortoise-shell tom with a distinctly red tail burst in through the camp entrance and announced, "ThunderClan has kept it's claim on the Sunningrocks! But not without loss. The warrior Darkstripe was killed in a rock fall that also took the life of the RiverClan deputy Oakheart."
A large golden brown tom padded into camp, carrying the bloodied and dusty body of a dark gray tabby tom that Firepaw assumed was Darkstripe. "Bluefur, who's Oakheart?" asked Firepaw. As he looked to Bluefur, he saw a broken look in her eyes. "Bluefur?"
Bluefur's ears were pressed back against her head in what appeared to be sadness. "Can we really call this a victory when we've lost another warrior?" Bluefur muttered, her eyes darkening.
With a confused look to Bluefur, Firepaw realized how much this loss had effected the older she-cat. After a few moments of thought, he decided that he should leave her alone, and so he went off to find where the apprentices were supposed to sleep. And he spent the rest of the night making a nest for himself and for Scorchpaw in the Apprentice's Den, after being told where it was by Mossflower. He wasn't sure as to why Bluefur was hit so hard by this death, but he didn't question it.
As he finished making the nests, Scorchpaw came in and flopped down onto the nest, covered in scratches, her collar now missing. "Are you okay?" Firepaw asked, filled with concern for his friend.
"Don't even ask," she muttered tiredly, her slight frustration obvious.
"Oh, okay," Firepaw said, letting the conversation drop, and the two went to sleep for the night. Firepaw's mind raced with the possibilities of what happened to Scorchpaw.