Two small she-cats pushed their way through the gathered crowd of astonished cats.
"Red!" A silver she-cat gasped, staring at her wide-eyed.
"It's Redpaw now." Redpaw announced proudly, feeling relieved to have her rogue name gone.
"Redpaw? Goldenstar, she's a rogue!" The black she-cat shouldered her way past Redpaw to face the golden tom.
"You let a rogue into the Clan?" The small black cat's gaze shifted from Redpaw to Goldenstar.
"She's not a rogue anymore!" Stormheart shouldered past a few cats to stand face to face with the smaller black she-cat.
"She's an apprentice. And your Clanmate." He added, flicking his tail to Redpaw.
"She's not my Clanmate! She's a rogue." The black she-cat snarled, shifting her icy gaze from Stormheart to Redpaw.
"Nightpaw, calm down." A white she-cat meowed gently.
Nightpaw padded over to Redpaw, her lips drawn back in a furious snarl. "You're nothing but a rogue."
Rage flooded through Redpaw. Thinking quickly, she slammed her body into Nightpaw, sending her spiraling near the pond.
While the black she-cat was scrambling to her paws, Redpaw raced over to take a quick blow at her ear.
More aware now, Nightpaw leapt for Redpaw's back, sinking her fangs into her shoulder in the process.
Redpaw let out a yowl of pain before shaking Nightpaw off.
The black apprentice stood up, her fur fluffing up. She began to circle Redpaw, hissing.
"Rogue!" She she-cat snarled once again, hurling herself at Redpaw.
Redpaw stepped-sided just in time for Nightpaw to just fling herself at the dusty ground.
Redpaw bolted over to scratch her flank, her shoulder bleeding and seeping with pain.
Taking the opportunity while Nightpaw was still recovering, Redpaw leapt for the she-cat, grasping her head in her paws. She thrust her to the ground once again, biting into her shoulder to make sure she couldn't get up.
Panting, Nightpaw managed to throw Redpaw off, and she landed with a hard thud.
The she-cat quickly darted over to her, holding one paw on Redpaw's chest, and one on her shoulder.
Redpaw remained pinned beside the pool.
"And now, I'll kill this rogue." Nightpaw sneered, her blue eyes glowing with hatred.
Redpaw instinctively went limp.
"Giving up so easily?" Nightpaw hissed.
Nightpaw thinks she has won. Redpaw thought.
With Nightpaw's hold loosened, Redpaw scrambled out of her grip, and got to her paws within a few moments.
Snarling with anger, Nightpaw hurled herself at Redpaw who was standing in front of the pool.
Before the she-cat's impact could hit her and throw Redpaw into the pool, she darted away, just in time.
There was a loud splash, and Redpaw peered closer to see where Nightpaw was.
The black she-cat was scrambling in the pool, soaking wet, and humiliated.
"Redpaw beat Nightpaw!" Excited murmurs echoed through camp like ripples in water.
Cats flooded forward, including Goldenstar.
Redpaw was suddenly aware of the pain of her wounds that Nightpaw had given her.
"Oh, my kit!" A white she-cat gasped, before trotting down to the pond and hauling the soaked cat to her paws.
"She can take care of herself, Honeybush." Goldenstar meowed icily.
"Goldenstar, she's always going to be our kit." Honeybush meowed, licking Nightpaw's ragged pelt and wounds.
Goldenstar ignored his mate and kit, and instead padded over to face Redpaw, who was breathing heavily and watching Nightpaw with round eyes as if she expected the black apprentice to leap at her any moment.
"You fought well," Goldenstar praised, flicking his tail over to fuming Nightpaw.
"I'm not in trouble?" Redpaw's eyes widened. Goldenstar shook his head.
"You did what any cat would do in this situation. It's Nightpaw's fault for jeering you like that." He added with a low growl of disapproval of his daughter.
Redpaw didn't say anything more, the pain in her shoulder was too much.
"Oh, look at you." Goldenstar murmured pitifully, then flicked his tail over to a crack in the hollow's stone walls, over beside the jutting smooth rock. "Follow me."
Redpaw followed Goldenstar through the lingering crowd, trying to blur out all of the murmurs. He led over beside the smooth jutting rock where her apprentice ceremony was held.
She hopped up onto a small ledge, peering inside the dark crack, just big enough for a cat to squeeze in.
"Hello?" She peered inside the narrow crack with Goldenstar behind her.
"Who's there?" A dappled golden she-cat squeezed the crack, and Redpaw stepped back slightly so that there was room for her on the tiny ledge.
The small golden she-cat's gaze wasn't focused on her, more on the distance, her eyes unreadable.
The she-cat padded forward and sniffed Redpaw's fur, then jumping back in alarm, her fur brushing against the rocks.
"Rogue!" She hissed, her gaze still not fixed on Redpaw.
"No, Thornpaw. We found her on our territory earlier. We decided to invite her into our Clan. She's Redpaw now." Goldenstar added.
Thornpaw's whiskers twitched, then she padded closer again. She took a sniff at her wounds, her nose wrinkling in disgust.
"What happened to you?" Thornpaw asked, taking a step back.
"I got into a fight with Nightpaw." She muttered, twisting her head over to lick the wound on her shoulder.
"Can she see me?" Redpaw whispered to Goldenstar.
"No, I can't. But I can hear better than most." Thornpaw added sharply, her sightless eyes narrowed.
"Sorry." Redpaw muttered, hot with embarrassment.
A deep purr rumbled in Thornpaw's throat. "It's okay, it's a common mistake," The blind she-cat nodded to the crack. "Come inside, I'll see to those wounds."
She followed Thornpaw into the crack, for once being thankful for her scrawniness because she slipped right through. Past the narrow crack was a cavern with a tiny trickle of water running down a hole in the walls, creating a small pool at the center of the cave. Many edges lined the stone walls where herbs were kept, and two nests lay beside the pool.
"Who's nest it that?" Redpaw padded down to the small pool, flinching as pain stabbed her shoulder.
"Jaytalon's. He's my mentor." Thornpaw's voice echoed off the walls.
"What about everyone else? Shouldn't they have nests here too? You know—warriors." Redpaw felt slightly confused.
Thornpaw was trotting down from a ledge with some sort of herb held in her jaws.
"I'm not training to be a warrior," The blind she-cat meowed. "I'm training to be a medicine cat. I heal, not fight. And I share dreams with our warrior ancestors." She added, sitting down beside Redpaw.
Thornpaw chewed up the flower and spit it out of her paw, and began to dab it on the wound. Redpaw flinched.
"What do you mean by warrior ancestors?"
"When a cat dies, they go to SoulClan, and live in peace and harmony with other Clans." She replied, padding back over to an herb-ledge and grabbing a swab of cobweb.
"That's amazing." Redpaw admitted as Thornpaw sat back down beside Redpaw.
Thornpaw nodded, already padding cobweb on her wound.
"Thornpaw, I need some herbs." An exhausted voice echoed against the walls. Redpaw turned her head to see Nightpaw limping over.
"You," The black she-cat hissed, her eyes full of hatred.
"Nightpaw, there's no time for a fight now," Thornpaw meowed impatiently, flicking her tail to hit the black apprentice's nose.
"Redpaw, go over to a honeysuckle—The apprentices den in behind there."
(To be continued)