Silver stars glimmered over a still forest.
A breeze kicked a few loose leaves up, swirling through a small hollow in the edge of the woods.
They skittered around the paws of a black she-cat, much like playing kits, and then blew off to some far corner of the forest. She flicked her tail and took a seat off to the side, closer to the cover of the undergrowth, and a fallen tree, branches rattling in the same breeze.
A long legged gray tom followed her a moment later, whiskers twitching as he shouldered through the ferns. He twisted to look around the clearing, blue eyes cool and clear.
"We're early, Hollypelt." he rumbled, and settled down beside the black she-cat.
"Of course we are, Morningstar." Hollypelt replied briskly. "I wanted to be here before everyone else."
Morningstar shook himself out, and shivered. "You'd think it would be warmer in StarClan," he mewed.
The undergrowth rustled, and a few more cats filed in, settling into small groups.
Before long, the hollow had filled, and Morningstar bounded onto the trunk of the fallen tree, tail flicking as he leveled a calm gaze over the restless crowd.
"ThunderClan has taken in a kit," he raised his voice, and the hollow quieted, the gathered giving him their attention.
Morningstar squared his paws and met Hollypelt's reassuring gaze. "Cloudberry has seen something." He stepped back to let the long haired white she-cat take his place.
The former medicine cat dug her claws into the dried wood. It splintered under her paws and she straightened up, lashing her plume of a tail. "That kit is bathed in blood." She raised her voice, eyes narrowing. "In a life not much different than this one, that kit went on to slaughter innocents, and bring strife to the Clans!"
The cats broke into worried mutters.
"What should we do?" One yowled, from the middle of the crowd.
"Send an omen!" Someone called.
Morningstar bounded to a higher branch, and lashed his tail. "Silence!"
"Yes, silence is wise." a new voice entered the fray.
Morningstar turned to see a broad-shouldered ginger tom with a torn ear padding toward them across the hollow. He cleared the tree trunk in one powerful leap, and landed beside Cloudberry.
"Thunderstar." Morningstar said respectfully, dipping his head.
"Morningstar." The first leader returned, before turning to the crowd. "This kit has done nothing." He meowed, tail lashing once.
A pure white she-cat stood, blue eyes wide. "Thunderstar, this… Cypresspaw… is getting close to my son. I'm concerned for his safety."
"Snowfur," Thunderstar gave a nod. "Your concerns are not unfounded. But you must remember that this kit is innocent at this point."
Cloudberry flattened her ears. "Thunderstar, this is a mistake! We should send a sign to Sunstar."
"How can we keep my daughter's kit safe if that monster is near to him?" A silver she-cat wailed.
The clearing erupted into a frenzy of voices, each calling for something different.
"Quiet!" Thunderstar roared, pulling himself up to his full height.
The gathered cats settled into an uneasy silence, staring up at the ginger tom.
"Cypresspaw must be guided," he rumbled, unsheathing his claws and sinking them into the fallen tree's bark. "We must keep him from being influenced by dark forces. If we do not, then that future will become reality."
Morningstar jumped on Thunderstar's reasoning. "We will need someone to lead the kit. Will someone volunteer?"
There was a hesitating second, and then Hollypelt stepped forward, eyes flashing green fire as she swung her around stare at the crowd behind her. "I will."
Morningstar's eyes showed relief, and he dipped his head, accepting her offer. "Thank you, Hollypelt."
"As for the idea of sending an omen," Thunderstar meowed. "As I said, Cypresspaw is innocent, for now. We will not take action until he's done something that justifies it."
Thunderstar leaped from the fallen tree, signaling the end of the meeting.
With more than a few discontent murmurs, the crowd broke off, leaving in small groups.
At last the only cats left in the hollow were Thunderstar, Morningstar, and Hollypelt.
"Have we done the right thing?" Morningstar meowed in question, glancing at Thunderstar.
The torn-eared tom gave him a bleak look, shifting his star swathed paws. "I certainly hope so."
[linebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreaklinebreak]
Sunlight streamed through the roof of the apprentice den, a robin singing merrily in a tree somewhere nearby.
"Cypresspaw!" Whitepaw's exasperated voice penetrated the black tom's dreams, and he rolled over, twitching his ears to rid them of a stray strand of moss. "What?"
Whitepaw rolled his eyes. "Patchpelt and Stormtail have been waiting for ages for you!"
Cypresspaw bolted to his paws. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?" He demanded, shaking himself and hurrying toward the entrance.
He slipped outside, blinking in the sunlight.
Whitepaw brushed past him, flicking Cypresspaw with his tail. "Come on. They're waiting by the barrier."
Together they hurried toward the two irate looking warriors.
"You're late." Stormtail growled, pushing through the barrier.
Cypresspaw flattened his ears, padding after him.
Whitepaw and Patchpelt brought up the rear, and Stormtail led them up the face of the ravine.
It had been almost half a moon since he'd been apprenticed, and Cypresspaw had gotten better at climbing the rocky surface.
He improved, in spite, or perhaps because of, Stormtail pushing him so hard.
Those first few days, Cypresspaw had returned to camp and just dropped in his best, too tired to even eat.
Now, the scales had balanced themselves and Cypresspaw could make a trip to the ShadowClan border without feeling like his paws were going to drop off when he went back to the den.
"What are we doing today?" He hurried to catch up to Stormtail, the warrior's longer strides carrying him ahead.
"Battle practice." Stormtail replied curly, breaking through the trees into the Sandy Hollow.
Cypresspaw's pelt prickled, and he shook himself again, before padding after Stormtail. They had practiced several times before, and he hadn't done well, which resulted in an even more grumpy Stormtail.
Whitepaw and Patchpelt appeared from behind them, and Stormtail took up a position on the far side of the clearing.
"Patchpelt, what do you think of showing them the front paw strike, doubled with the belly rake?" Stormtail asked, waiting for Whitepaw's mentor to reach him.
"I'm fine with it." The tom meowed, dipping his head. "Watch carefully." He said to Whitepaw, before crouching down and flattening his ears.
Stormtail drew his lips back in a snarl, and bounded forward, rearing onto his hind legs to bring one of his front paws down on Patchpelt's head.
"They're fast," Whitepaw whispered, eyes wide.
Patchpelt dropped to the ground, rolling to the side. In the split second before Stormtail hit the ground, Patchpelt's paw flashed out, and he drug it across Stormtail's belly.
"That was the rake and roll." He informed the two apprentices sitting a few fox-lengths away. "You use it when you need to put space between you and an enemy, and do some damage at the same time."
Stormtail padded over, and fixed Cypresspaw with hard blue eyes. "Now you."
Whitepaw sprang up, tail lashing excitedly. "Alright! Are you ready, Cypresspaw?"
The black apprentice didn't reply, silently following Whitepaw to the middle of the Hollow.
"Whitepaw, you attack using the front paw strike. Cypresspaw, you defend yourself with the rake and roll." Patchpelt glanced over to make sure that it was okay with Stormtail, but the gray warrior didn't meet his gaze, instead intently watching the apprentices.
"Start!" Patchpelt called, bringing his paw down.
Cypresspaw narrowed his eyes, watching Whitepaw intently.
Whitepaw leaped forward, shifting his weight to his haunches and rearing up, already swiping at the black apprentice.
Cypresspaw hit the ground and rolled, but just a second too late.
Whitepaw came crashing down on him, and Cypresspaw felt the breath leave his body in a hard huff.
Whitepaw sprang up immediately. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
Cypresspaw got to his paws, shaking his fur out. "You've given me harder knocks when we play-fight." He meowed, with a purr.
"That was a good start to the move." Patchpelt meowed, padding over. "Cypresspaw, you hesitated. When Whitepaw goes to rear up, that's when you roll and rake." the black and white warrior watched Stormtail out of the corner of his eye, puzzled as to why he wasn't offering his apprentice any advice.
"Thank you, Patchpelt." Cypresspaw meowed gratefully.
Whitepaw nudged him. "You attack this time, I wanna see if I can do the duck and twist."
Cypresspaw nodded, and readied himself, tail lashing.
"Start!" Patchpelt meowed.
Cypresspaw ran forward, and reared up, waiting for Whitepaw to fall to the ground.
The snowy colored tom did, beginning to roll away.
Cypresspaw let himself fall to the ground, watching Whitepaw hop to his paws.
"Even better." Patchpelt purred, flicking his apprentice with his tail.
"Again." Stormtail rumbled, face impassive.
The two apprentices sparred for quite a while, stopping only when Whitepaw's paws were shaking and Cypress was panting hard.
"You can rest for a while." Patchpelt told them, padding off toward the far side of the clearing where Stormtail had seated himself in the shade.
Cypresspaw flopped down in the cover of some ferns, Whitepaw following suit a moment later.
"Stormtail is rough on you." Whitepaw meowed sympathetically.
Cypresspaw shrugged. "Isn't that how all mentors are?"
Whitepaw blinked in surprise. "No, Patchpelt's way less strict-"
He was cut off by a cat streaking into the Hollow.
Cypresspaw leaped up, recognizing Dappletail a moment later
"RiverClan is attacking!" She yowled, tearing out of the clearing toward camp.
Instantly the warriors were following, bursting through the undergrowth, Cypresspaw and Whitepaw following on their heels, exhaustion forgotten in the thrill of adrenaline.
They clattered down into the ravine and into camp.
Sunstar was standing on top of the Highrock, issuing orders. "Adderfang, Thistleclaw,Thrushpelt, Rosetail, Bluefur-" his eyes lit up as Stormtail pushed his way through the crowd. "Stormtail, Lionheart, and Leopardfoot. Patchpelt, Goldenflower, White-eye, keep Tigerpaw, Whitepaw, Cypresspaw in camp, in case of an attack."
Tigerpaw shouldered to the front of the crowd,
The ginger tom leaped down, and dipped his head to the panting tortoiseshell. "Dappletail, lead us."
Cypresspaw watched as the battle patrol pounded out of camp, leaving a cloud of dust hanging in the air.
"Mouse-dung." Whitepaw said resignedly from beside him. "Left behind."
"It's the first time, but it certainly won't be the last." Patchpelt said, flicking Whitepaw's ear with his tail.
"What should we do?" Cypresspaw asked, glancing between the two of them.
White-eye padded over in time to hear the question. "We wait." She answered.
Patchpelt nodded. "Only thing we can do."
"Can we practice those moves you showed us earlier?" Whitepaw asked, hopeful.
"Not right now." The black and white tom answered. "I want you fresh if something happens."
Cypresspaw caught sight of Featherwhisker, who was just slipping into his den.
The warriors paced, and the queens quieted the kits in the nursery.
An uneasy silence settled in the camp.
At last, Patchpelt sent Goldenflower to sit watch at the top of the ravine.
Merely seconds after she'd left, she returned, this time crashing through the barrier locked in a battle embrace with another warrior.
"They're attacking!" She howled, swiping at the dappled gray tom facing her.
Three more blundered through the barrier, and Tigerpaw immediately sprang on one, grappling with the heavy set brown and white tom.
Cypresspaw didn't think, flinging himself on a white and ginger queen, swiping at her frantically, claws unsheathed.
"They're making kits into apprentices now?" she hissed, raising a paw.
Cypresspaw's eyes widened as he recognized the same move that he'd been practicing. He dropped to the ground, rolling a few paces away.
"Get away from him!" Cypresspaw heard Whitepaw snarl, and then saw the white tom spring on the she-cat, clinging to her with thorn sharp claws.
Cypresspaw scrambled to his feet and rejoined Whitepaw, darting in to give the she-cat a nip.
Finally she dropped to the ground, crushing Whitepaw under her.
Cypresspaw felt the world pause for a moment, and he gave into the instincts that had been gnawing at his stomach for quite some time.
He pounced on the queen's belly, raking his claws.
She yelled pain and threw herself on her paws, charging away from them.
Whitepaw picked himself up, and heaved a breath. "Whew, she smelled bad."
Cypresspaw gave him a shocked look, unsure whether to laugh or box his ears, and then scanned the battle. "Let's go help White-eye," he meowed, scrambling into the fray again.
Whitepaw bounded after, dodging rolling bodies.
Patchpelt sent a warrior running, and snagged Whitepaw as he ran by. "Go for the RiverClan border, find Sunstar! We need backup!" He panted, blood trickling into his eye from a cut on his forehead.
Whitepaw nodded, and pelted toward the barrier.
Cypresspaw watched him go, and then resigned himself to death, before throwing himself on the back of the gray she-cat that White-eye was fighting.
She screeched and broke away from the fighting, running for the barrier.
"Good job," White-eye panted, whirling around to slash at a tortoiseshell she-cat.
Fighting together, they sent her flying from the camp, blood streaming from several claw marks.
What seemed like eternities later, Cypresspaw was grappling with a large tom, White-eye attacking from the other side, when a yowl sounded from outside the camp.
With a wave of relief, Cypresspaw recognized Sunstar's voice.
ThunderClan warriors streamed into the camp, sending the last RiverClanners fleeing toward the barrier.
Cypresspaw sat down with a thump, panting hard, blood matting his fur.
"Rosetail, Lionheart, Thrushpelt," Sunstar called. "Chase them and make sure they leave the territory."
The three cats hared off.
Featherwhisker hurried into the clearing, holding a leaf wrap in his mouth. He dropped it at his paws. "I want the worse injuries first," he called.
"Adderfang has a bad claw wound." Swiftbreeze had slipped from the nursery and was hovering over the mottled tom.
Cypresspaw noticed the pain gradually creeping in and realized he had a bite on his foreleg and a shallow scrape on his haunches.
The medicine cat hurried from cat to cat, patching them up.
Realizing that Featherwhisker wasn't going to see him until near the end, Cypresspaw got to his paws, intent on searching for Whitepaw.
He glanced around, but the other apprentice was nowhere to be seen.
Instead his eyes fell on Stormtail, who was laying by the fresh-kill pile, Dappletail on one side and White-eye on the other. The pale gray she-cat was bleeding from a shallow claw mark on her chest, and she was licking it gently.
Cypresspaw hurried over, limping slightly. "Stormtail, are you alright?" He meowed, slightly hesitant.
The gray warrior raised his head. "Cypresspaw," He rumbled.
Cypresspaw blinked in surprise. It was the first time that Stormtail had called him by name.
"White-eye told me that you fought hard." Stormtail paused. "Well done." He finally said, and turned away, lapping at a bite mark on his side.
Cypresspaw could hardly believe it. "T-thank you, Stormtail."
Goldenflower padded over just in time to hear Stormtail. "Yeah, the 'paw defended the camp well, for a kittypet."
Cypresspaw bristled slightly at first, but let his fur fall flat at the lack of hostility in her tone.
"What are you standing there for, kit?" White-eye meowed teasingly. "Go get in line to see Featherwhisker."
Cypresspaw padded away, feeling as if he was walking on clouds.
"Hey!" Whitepaw's voice came from behind him. Cypresspaw turned to see the white apprentice.
His chest was stained bright red, and Cypresspaw's eyes went wide. "Are you okay?"
Whitepaw gave a sheepish laugh. "I was too slow on the rake and roll."
Cypresspaw bristled. "How dare they-"
"Calm down." Whitepaw blinked at hi. fondly. "It's shallow." his gaze brightened as it fell on someone behind Cypresspaw. "Thistleclaw!"
Cypresspaw winced, edging away.
The white and gray warrior nosed Whitepaw, searching for any other wounds. "You fought like a warrior," he purred.
"Thank you." Whitepaw straightened up proudly.
Cypresspaw looked away, feeling like an intruder.
"Cypresspaw," Whitepaw meowed. "Let's go wait for Featherwhisker." He flicked the tom with his tail and padded off toward the stump.
Cypresspaw followed, feeling a bit incredulous.
"He's always fussing." Whitepaw complained.
"That's better than not caring." Cypresspaw said quietly.
"You're right." Whitepaw meowed, flopping down.
"Whitepaw, Cypresspaw." Bluefur stood over them, paws still matted with enemy warriors' fur. "I heard from Patchpelt that you both did well." She meowed warmly. "Good job."
Both let out purrs, and Featherwhisker appeared behind her. "Excuse me, Bluefur. Have you been treated?"
"I tore a claw." Bluefur said, offering a paw for inspection. "But you can treat these brave 'paws first." She sat down, whiskers twitching.
Featherwhisker gave a congratulatory purr. "The word is all over the camp now. You showed extraordinary bravery."
"I was terrified the whole time." Whitepaw confessed, tipping his head back so that Featherwhisker could treat him.
"Everyone is, their first battle." Bluefur meowed, flicking her tail.
"Clanmates!" Sunstar called, bounding onto the Highrock. "Listen here to celebrate a ceremony long in the coming!"
Whitepaw and Cypresspaw exchanged puzzled looks.
"Tigerpaw." Sunstar said, pricking his ears. "I, Sunstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend them to you in return."
It was absolutely silent in the clearing as Sunstar looked down at Tigerpaw, who was watching him with almost fever bright eyes, every muscle tense.
"Tigerpaw," Sunstar said gravely, "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Tigerpaw replied clearly and strongly. "I do!"
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Tigerpaw, from this moment onward, you will be known as Tigerclaw. StarClan honors your skill in battle and bravery in defending your Clan!" Sunstar leaped down to rest his muzzle on Tigerclaw's head.
The brown tabby gave Sunstar's shoulder a respectful lick, and then the Clan broke into cheers, calling out the new warrior's name.
"Tigerclaw!" Whitepaw called, on his paws.
Cypresspaw called it out a few times, before quieting.
Almost idly, he wondered if his name would be called out with such vigor.
Then, with an amused huff, he knew that it wouldn't.