Time to dish out some more Seedpaw for you :3


A few sunrises came and went,but according to Seedpaw's paws, a moon had passed since she began her personal journey.

Stabbing her delicate pink pads with an unseen pointy boulder wasn't exactly enjoyable. Seedpaw was actually having second thoughts about even doing this.

Seedpaw had managed to hunt down a mouse or two, but other than that she had been inserting her claw into a grub and swallowing it whole without giving her tongue a chance to taste it. When Seedpaw did this she nearly gagged.

She hadn't come across a barely trickling stream for a while, and Seedpaw was hardly surviving without water. Her throat pleaded to be moist again.

Then, it happened.

Tail lashing excitedly, Seedpaw, enthused from the tips of her ears to the tip of her tail, scented another cat. No, three or four other cats! Blood was mended into their scents, but Seedpaw figured it was just them catching fresh-kill.

The ginger apprentice padded after the scent, easily tracking down an abandoned Twoleg nest where the scent trail concluded. Seedpaw snatched a deep breath of cool, refreshing mountain air before proceeding into the rotting, slumping nest.

It was rare to see any sign of Twolegs, ancient or fresh, in the mountains, so Seedpaw was pretty excited to find something that reminded her of her home at the lake. She crept around, paws landing on ground that reminded Seedpaw of marshy ShadowClan territory. I may have finally found hope in this wretched place, the she-cat thought in relief.

"Hello?" Seedpaw called out, and following that was a coughing fit. Great StarClan, this scent was fresh! Where could these cats be?

"Who goes there?" a raspy voice returned, and Seedpaw bounced on her paws in excitement, landing in a stumble thanks to her legs, which were worn thin to the bone.

"My name is Seedpaw, and I come from ThunderClan searching for a new life," she called out confidently. "I come in peace," Seedpaw added, now nervous that these cats might not be friendly.

"Who said you were welcome here?" a new cat piped up. Seedpaw started, realizing that the voice came from a shadowy corner in the stinky clearing she was in. Sprouts poked through the slats of carved tree on the ground, tickling Seedpaw's paws as she walked over to the dark area.

"It is nothing but a Clan cat. Don't be fearful, Flick," the first voice replied, and the owner of it stepped out of another dim corner. Seedpaw spun to face the cat, a dappled she-cat.

"Hi." Seedpaw gulped and met the she-cat's gaze as steadily as she could muster.

The unfamiliar cat narrowed her eyes. Then she cackled and mewed, "I'm Flora."

"Nice to meet you, Flora," Seedpaw responded, pacing two more steps toward the brown-and-white she-cat.

Flora narrowed her eyes and lashed her tail once. Seedpaw's stomach muscles clenched, but the only other cats that came out were three- a brown tom, a silver tabby tom, and a tortoiseshell she-cat.

The silver tabby curled his lip at Seedpaw. "Well, it's not nice to meet you, Seedpaw."

The brown tom unsheathed his claws. "Yeah, what type of name is that?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat just trembled, looking afraid. She appeared to be the youngest of the group along with the brown tom.

Flora spat and ran her claws down the other she-cat's flank since she was the closest to her. "Can it, flea-brains. Let her go or you'll suffer."

The brown tom looked at her with a protesting gaze. "But, Mother, she's just a weak Clan cat…"

"Flick, your sister is already wounded. Do you want to be like Twist?" Flora snapped, raising a clawed paw to prove she wasn't afraid.

I can feel it. I like this, Seedpaw thought. Nobody gets along here. I think I can fit in. "Are you challenging me?" Seedpaw growled, facing the tom named Flick.

Twist winced and turned away, stumbling to lie on the ground, her wound exposed and gushing blood. "No… more…" she rasped before settling her head down on the rotting floor.

Flick licked his lips. "I can taste your blood already!" he exclaimed before lashing out at Seedpaw. The ginger tabby apprentice inserted her claws into Flick's shoulder and pulled.

He reeled back, and Seedpaw licked her claws, the salty scarlet flooding into her mouth from her paws as she lapped it up. "I can taste your blood now!" Seedpaw responded, chortling softly.

The silver tabby's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "This is a Clan cat?" he queried. "Are you sure, Flora, because this one is younger and…"

"Shush, Stripes. Let me watch and see if she can beat our son," Flora answered, her mottled and patched pelt bristling, gaze thrilled.

Despite the fact that his shoulder was nearly ripped apart, Flick didn't give up. Seedpaw showed her fangs. She wasn't finished yet either. He lunged at her again, totally uneducated battle move-wise. Remembering what Brightheart had taught her, Seedpaw reared up and slashed her claws over his face. Flick gasped in pain and staggered back, falling down beside his suffering littermate.

Chest heaving for breath, Seedpaw sat down, uninjured except a few scratches where Flick had tried to get her.

"You… win," Flick breathed, clenching his teeth as he bled.

Flora licked Seedpaw's shoulder, reminding her of what a new warrior did to the Clan leader at their ceremony. She wondered if this meant that she could be a warrior according to these rogues. Seedpaw certainly felt like she was one.

"Well done… for a kit," Flora snorted and looked Seedpaw over before turning to Stripes. "How come our kits are useless clumps of dirt while this Clan cat is… is a masterpiece?"

Stripes shrugged. "I promise I'll teach Flick and Twist more soon, if they survive," he added, gazing uncertainly down at the hurt young cats. Twist was laying ominously still, a puddle of blood pooling around her. Flick was shuddering as ripples of pain passed through him like a kitting queen. His thin, wiry pale brown fur was soaked in blood.

Seedpaw gulped. "So you're not… mad that I crippled your son?" she quizzed, preparing for Flora to leap at her neck.

Flora shook her head, and Seedpaw was shocked. "Of course I'm not angry. In fact, I'm very proud of you. If only you were my daughter…" she trailed off, ogling her kits. Twist was most certainly dead from blood loss, and Flick was fitfully tossing and turning, tearing open his gashes even more.

"So can I stay for a bit?" Seedpaw asked the question she had worried about ever since she arrived there. She dug her claws into the ground, attempting to rid them of Flick's brown blood-clotted fur.

"We might as well need new youngsters to train with our battle moves. The others never understood anyway," Flora decided with a twitch from her ear. Then she motioned with a nod over to one of the many dark shadows where no light seeped through the gaps in the roof. "You can help us with our next attack, but first you need a tour."

OoOoO

Once Flora and Seedpaw had settled on sleeping arrangements and places in their group, they returned to the main clearing, where Stripes was stroking his tail against Flick's flank. "He's barely alive," Stripes murmured, looking up at the two living she-cats, his amber eyes glittering with sadness.

"Have no sympathy for him, my mate," Flora dismissed her suffering son with a flick of her tail. "He will die. We have Seedpaw and there will be more kits in the future. It's not the end of the world. The mountains aren't going to crumple to rubble, and-"

Stripes interrupted, apparently not listening to his mate. "I gave him these soft leaves I found growing just outside, and I put cobwebs on his wounds. I think his pulse is getting stronger!" His tone reminded Seedpaw of Briarlight's when she cured Molefoot's whitecough, an eager medicine cat apprentice saving a cat's life for the first time.

Flora's hackles rose, and Seedpaw stumbled backwards, startled by her sudden wave of emotions. "Are you not a rogue? For us wild cats, we either live or die. Usually it's the second aforementioned thing, but-"

"You could at least thank me for trying to save our son!" Stripes cut in. He stood up from Flick, tail waving agitatedly. "Maybe you don't love him, but I do. I have a bond with Flick, and if I lost him, I'd never forgive myself. I can at least try, alright?

"I can at least try."

OoOoO

"Now, the next step in the process of living with us is to change your name," Flora mewed the next dawn. Sitting beside her was Stripes, and next to him was the miraculously, rapidly recovering Flick, who glowered at her constantly.

"What?" Seedpaw inquired. She was hunkering directly across from Flora, eyes wide in bewilderment. "No offense, but I think that my name is perfectly fine."

Flora's ears flattened. "It's either that, or you bury Twist. Which do you pick?" Her scruffy eyebrow rose. "I think it is obvious what you want."

Seedpaw swallowed, ashamed that she had confronted her new leader. She imagined doing that to Bramblestar back when she was a member of ThunderClan, and shivered. Seedpaw thought of what she and the three rogues would be like as a Clan. The leader would be Flora… Florastar? No, Flowerstar! Then Stripes would be the deputy, Stripespelt? No, just Stripepelt. Or medicine cat? No, we're a rogue Clan, we don't have a healer. Then Flick would be a young warrior, Flickclaw? I suppose so. Then me, still Seedpaw. Apprentice to Flora, I hope! Then Seedpaw stopped her train of thoughts. Stop thinking about Clan-related stuff!

"Hello, crazy cat?" A tail whooshed against Seedpaw's nose, making her sneeze. The tail was solid brown. Flick. It will be hard to live with him.

"Sorry, I'm here," Seedpaw sat up straight as a tree, which she hadn't seen in a while and kind of missed. "I drifted off into my own world for a heartbeat. Sorry," she apologized again.

"I'll see that it doesn't happen again," Flora snarled, looking disgusted. Seedpaw shrunk back in pure horror of being beaten up by the larger, older she-cat, but Flora didn't make a move. "Anyway," the tortoiseshell went on. "Stripes and I have many seasons of experience in hunting, more so fighting. Kind of like your Clan- I've heard many stories about the Clans, trust me. They once came through here, and we met them…

"Anyway, we have had many litters of kits, none of whom survived. Our blood didn't run through their veins. Flick is a true survivor, and so are you. But you cannot keep your Clan name if you want to learn from us. You must be a rogue to live with us and understand our ways and customs. Do you accept, or do you want to flee back to your Clan now?"

Do I? Seedpaw closed her eyes tightly and thought. I'll never go back to ThunderClan again. This will be my life now. Do I want it?

"Get on with it," Flick demanded impatiently.

Yes, I want it. I can kill Flick if I want. "Yes," Seedpaw declared. "I will change my name and beliefs to fit yours."

Flora dipped her head. "Alright then. –paw is removed from your name. You are now just Seed, and you are a rogue. Not a Clan kitty. A rogue," she mewed. There was an ambitious gleam in Flora's eye that Seedpaw- or Seed- enjoyed seeing. She liked it.

"I am Seed," she whispered, astounded. She had her own life now.

OoOoO

"So, if you don't mind my asking, when is this attack you're planning?" Seed questioned blandly as she and Flora patrolled around the mountains.

A sunrise had passed since her new naming. Seed's pads were hardening, getting used to the sharp stones and pebbles that pierced her paws. The sun was present in the sky, shining brightly, but the chilly mountain air still made Seed fluff up her pelt to keep herself warm. Seed turned and examined Flora. She admired the way the fierce brown-and-white-furred cat walked with swag, her broad head swinging side to side slowly as she moved. Flora was Seed's leader now.

"Soon. If we see our enemy again, we will attack immediately," Flora informed her. "You seem talented enough to be prepared for anything. But I'm actually not surprised you took down Flick. He's just like all of our other kits, including Twist… she was strong once, but when we trained her harder she backed down. What a weakling."

Behind them, where Stripes and Flick had taken up the rear, the brown tom's throat rumbled. "I can fight well!" Flick protested, but Flora either didn't hear or didn't care.

Suddenly Seed felt a quick, sharp pain engulf her tail, and she yelped in abruptness. She whipped around and shot Flick a death glare. He ran his tongue over his shiny canines, simpering innocently.

Flick had bitten the tip of Seed's tail.

Right away Seed unleashed her thorn-sharp claws and tensed, preparing to scrape them down Flick's flank.

Flora and Stripes stopped walking when they noticed that they'd left the two apprentices behind. "Hey, not when he just-" Stripes started, but the blood was already roaring in Seed's ears, and she lunged herself at the mere brown tom, who screeched in surprise.

"I only bit her tail!" Flick protested before he and Seed launched into yet another flurry of nipping, clawing ginger and brown fur.

Stripes lurched forward, but Flora lashed her tail out and pulled him gently back in with her strength. "Let them fight," Flora soothed her mate. "It's just another brother-sister training session."

"But Flick's wounds will be opened again!" Stripes cried and buried his face into Flora's dappled fur. Flora only shook her head and looked upon the miniature battle with an unwavering dull green gaze.

After Seed raked her claws over Flick's upper chest at the nape of his neck, he was stunned for a bit, so she took the advantage to gnaw on his other scrawny shoulder while he was vulnerable.

Quickly Flick sprung back up again and managed to get his claws into the delicate skin of Seed's ear, and he ripped it harshly. Seed choked as blood streamed down her cheek, moistening it as it trickled down her body until it dripped onto the dusty stone beneath her shaking paws.

"Stop; you can stop now," Flora suddenly ordered in a low hiss. "Our adversary is approaching swiftly. I said stop!" she added when Flick tried a second swipe at Seed's other ear, and it connected briefly, but luckily it hardly tore the skin. The two young cats were left with damaged shoulders and ears.

Seed braced herself as in the distance, she spotted a small group of cats wrapping around the bend. She opened her mouth and caught their scent in the air. It was exactly what she smelled mixed with the rogues' scents at the border. Collecting blood with her tongue as she ran it over her teeth, Seed crouched down, anticipating digging her claws into those cats' fur.

Flora stepped in front of Stripes, Flick, and Seed, sheltering them from any sudden attacks. The other patrol stopped in front of Flora, and Seed peeked out from behind the brown-and-white she-cat to see a small patrol of three cats, so they were outnumbered. Good, Seed thought hungrily.

At the head of the opposing patrol was a small dark brown tabby tom, who narrowed his eyes unhappily. Behind him were a white she-cat and a gray she-cat. All had a bulky frame, and thick, strong muscles rippled under their sleek pelts, despite it being leaf-bare. They must be well-fed.

"Flora," the dark tabby began. He cleared his throat then marked the border before her face defensively. "Have you come to challenge the Tribe of Rushing Water?"

Seed thought he looked tired even though he had a muscly build. Then she realized something: The Tribe of Rushing Water? That's the Tribe! So this is Flora's opponent? Oh, no…

OoOoO

"Which one are you?" Flora asked with a snort. "Sheer, right?" she went on without letting the tom answer the question.

The tom dipped his head politely. "Sheer Path beside Water-"

Flora interrupted him. "Oh, I just remembered: I don't care. Sorry." She flicked her tail once, and apparently that was a signal because Stripes and Flick leaped out from behind her. Seed did too, and pulled back her lips in a snarl. This Tribe had helped the Clans- the Clans she was no longer a part of.

The white she-cat and gray she-cat filed out until they stood in an even battle line. "The Tribe doesn't want any of your flea-brained stuff," she growled. "We try to be peaceful cats, and you can go stay in your territory. We'll stay in ours."

"Sorry, but it doesn't work that way," Stripes argued, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Flora. Seed and Flick stayed back, ready to shred Tribe pelts if they needed to. "We rogues don't really care about this so-called 'border' idea- we just use them for fun."

Flora placed a firm paw over the invisible line, eyes widening in mock shock. "Oops, I do apologize. Did I just cross the precious border?"

The younger gray she-cat unsheathed her claws. "Don't you taunt us like that!" she spat. "Or you'll meet our claws, and they're sharpened on stone often!"

The tom whisked his tail back and forth in front of the she-cats' faces. "Snow, Rain, let me handle them. This is simply a border skirmish, and-" He was cut off by a triumphant battle cry, and suddenly Stripes bolted over to him and ran his claws over his face. Sheer shrieked, and Snow and Rain burst forward to help him, but were taken down by Flora and Flick without trouble.

Blood spurted into the air and rained back down onto the cats as the assault raged on, worsening. Seed was a spare since her fellow rogues had already claimed a cat to fight. She watched, dying to scrape her teeth along Sheer, Snow, or Rain's necks- or better yet, all of them. Flora would be so proud of her if Seed could accomplish that, that she would appreciate her much more than Flick for sure.

Flick broke away from Rain for a moment when he landed a hard blow on her head, knocking her out a few heartbeats. He turned away from the bloody, limp gray body for a moment to shoot a glance at her. In that moment, Flora and Snow's ball of screeches and scratches rolled over to smack Flick in the side. He was crushed under them, and Seed literally laughed out loud, raising her tail in pure amusement.

While Flick recovered and was left gasping for breath on the ground, Seed charged at Rain, who had gotten back up and was about to attack Flick again, who had his soft belly exposed.

While Seed and Rain were tussling, Rain laughed weakly as Seed flipped her over onto her back and grazed her claws over the she-cat's stomach. "You're younger than me and more experienced in fighting. Plus, I'm a cave-guard too… ha."

"Rogues always win," Seed replied without much interest yet still ruthlessly.

Eventually she let Rain go with a few more scratches, and the speckled gray she-cat stumbled over her own paws to hide behind a boulder. Panting laboriously, Seed scanned the area to see if any of her fellow rogues needed any assistance. She doubted that they would, and sure enough none of them needed it.

Flick had limped over to the sidelines to weakly watch as he breathed heavily through his mouth, and uncertainly Seed slumped down beside him, but Flick didn't complain.

The white Tribe she-cat named Snow's pelt was drenched in scarlet, and Sheer's tabby fur was darkened with blood. They still kept on battling side by side with easily-dodged batting with unsheathed paws, and Flora and Stripes avoided them in a breeze by ducking or twisting out of the way.

Flick and Seed watched, amused. What a kit-like way to fight, she thought. No, a kittypet-like way!

It went on for a bit until finally a dark gray tom with a broad build and a thick frame padded up with narrowed amber eyes. "What is going on here?" he demanded in a deep, dreamy voice as his dark gaze slashed across the rogues. If his eyes were claws or teeth, they would be terribly injured. "I suspect there is a problem," the tom droned on, sarcastic.

Sheer looked relieved to see him. "Oh, Stormfur, thank Endless Hunting you're here- we were having a 'border skirmish' with these cats!"

Exasperatedly, Snow lashed her red stained tail. "These cats think we're weak fighters!" she growled, looking ready to fight again.

"Calm down, you two," Stormfur soothed. "Didn't I assign Rain onto this patrol too?" He was completely ignoring the rogues.

"She went to hide," Sheer informed him with a shrug.

Flora chortled and whisked her tail in Stormfur's face. "Wow, the big bossy one. You think you're going to be the next… what is it, Healer right?" She snorted. "Fat chance, buddy."

Stormfur puffed out his chest indignantly, and suddenly Seed realized something: his name sounded like a Clan name. "Stormfur? Are you from a Clan?" she questioned, at first not aware she said it out loud.

The muscly gray tom turned toward her, his look burning deep into Seed's, making her uncomfortable, yet she still maintained his gaze. "Not anymore I'm not," Stormfur answered proudly. "I used to be of RiverClan, but I joined the Tribe of Rushing Water to be with my true-"

"Yeah, yeah, your true love, Brook. I've heard it countless times," Stripes yapped, yawning exaggeratedly.

A snarl forcefully escaped Stormfur's lips, surprising Seed due to his somewhat calm nature so far. "You think the Tribe's so weak and ridiculous? Then how about we take this curious kit here and turn her into a cave-guard? In a few moons you can fight her and see how well we trained her," Stormfur challenged.

"Not what I expected from you," Flora sounded taken aback. "But I will take this deal. We win- which I'm sure is what will happen- we get her back and stroll in your 'territory' as we please. If you win- once again, fat chance- you get her and Flick," she meowed, flicking her tail at the brown tom.

Seed's stomach twisted. I've never fought Flora before… and now she's just traded me in to the Tribe!

OoOoO

"Here is the Cave of Rushing Water," Stormfur announced as they padded into sight of a huge waterfall, its roaring water sounds engulfing Seed's ears so that she could hardly hear herself speak. There was no cave in sight.

"Where is the cave?" she yelled, puzzled, as they got closer and closer to the waterfall.

"It's behind the waterfall," Sheer told her, rolling his shoulders as he adjusted Rain's position on his and Snow's backs. The gray she-cat had fallen unconscious from blood loss. Guilt washed over Seed when she thought of it.

The cats ducked under the waterfall, and a harsh spray of water soaked Seed's fur, and she shook it out as soon as she entered the icy cave. "It's freezing in here!" she whined, fluffing up her wet pelt to warm her, which did nothing whatsoever.

"You'll get used to it," Stormfur mumbled, nodded in approval to a patrol of cats that had arrived just behind them with a huge bird torn to chunks, dangling from different sets of jaws. Then the gray tom blinked at Sheer, Snow, and the limp Rain. "You three go to Stoneteller and get healed. I'll then tell him to summon a Tribe meeting to announce this she-cat's arrival."

Seed gulped and stared around the cave once the cats who had escorted her went to their own places. The original patrol of three slipped into a dark smaller cave in the back of the main cave, while Stormfur joined a pretty brown tabby she-cat. They watched two young apprentice-age cats play like kits, amusement and pride glittering in their eyes.

I guess this is my home for now.


So, what is the best for Seed- Clan, rogues, or Tribe?