CHAPTER 6

Blackfrost heaved a sigh as he marched down the sloped side of the ravine after the rest of the patrol. The pale grey she-cat Raincloud and her apprentice Grasspaw were already way ahead of him, and he fought hard not to slip on the uneven ground as he watched Raincloud's dark tail disappear into the gorse tunnel, picking up his pace a little to follow her into the camp.

After having to visit the kittypet in the medicine cat den earlier that day, Hawktalon had sent Blackfrost off to join the sunhigh patrol before he even had a chance to sit down and eat properly, and then he had been patrolling the forest along the WindClan and RiverClan borders for what must have been hours without so much as a whiff of mouse.

At least Raincloud had been somewhat sympathetic toward him, considering the mess he had caused the day before, though he felt her wide hazel eyes watching him while his back was turned more than once. It seemed that all the cats in ThunderClan were staring at him a lot more than usual, much to his annoyance.

The sun had already begun to set below the treetops by the Blackfrost stumbled through the tunnel into the clearing, and dark shadows were steadily lengthening over the ThunderClan camp. Soon the nights would grow colder, and fresh-kill would be much more difficult to find once the first snow fell.

Ignoring any glances his Clanmates might or might not be shooting him, Blackfrost padded straight toward the fresh-kill pile, his stomach feeling uncomfortably hollow. Raincloud, meanwhile, merely looked at him somewhat disapprovingly, and headed for Foreststar's den beneath the Highrock to give their leader the full report.

Not that there was anything to report - the patrol had been pathetically uneventful.

Blackfrost was only a tail-length or two away from the temptingly well-stocked fresh-kill pile when he caught a blur of white out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he spotted the fluffy kittypet she-cat seated awkwardly outside the fern tunnel to the medicine cat den, half hidden in the shady fronds, her tail curled around her dainty grey paws and her startlingly blue eyes wide and anxious. She nervously glanced around the clearing as though she expected a horde of badgers to come bursting through the camp wall in a heartbeat. It was pitiful to look at, really.

The black warrior narrowed his eyes as he watched the she-cat, though she paid no notice to him. Her pale pelt was matted down a bit by the cobwebs stuck to her fur, coating the dog's claw marks, but at least she was looking a bit better than she was earlier.

Just then, Blackfrost caught sight of Foreststar squeezing out from his den in the crevice beneath the Highrock, and he decided unenthusiastically that he should probably take care of the kittypet before he did anything else for himself, now that the ThunderClan leader was watching.

"So… You're awake."

The pale kittypet nodded as she turned toward the sound of Blackfrost's voice, her eyes narrowing warily as the young warrior approached her, most likely remembering their previous argument. "Rosethorn - the medicine cat? – she told me she was going off to collect herbs by a stream outside the camp, and said that I should… come out and get some sunlight for a bit, before night fell."

"Okay…" Honestly, Blackfrost couldn't see the harm in that, though he noticed quite a few cats shooting glances her way, and most of them weren't so friendly. "You want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," the she-cat mewed quietly. Her stomach released a loud grumble right on cue, and Blackfrost stifled the strong urge to roll his eyes.

"Your stomach says otherwise." He gestured with his tail toward the inviting fresh-kill pile only a few fox-lengths away, fighting to put on a friendly front. "Come on, go pick out something to eat so Foreststar and Rosethorn don't have my tail. I'm already in enough trouble as it is; it would look bad for me if you died of starvation after all I went through."

The kittypet narrowed her frosty blue eyes at him again, most likely wondering whether they really could let her starve, and then took a wide-eyed look over his shoulder at the heaping pile of fresh-kill behind him. Two hunting patrols had just returned with their exceptionally large hauls, and so the pile had nearly any type of prey a cat could possibly have a craving for – mouse, bird, vole, squirrel, even rabbit.

Well, except maybe fish. But those were for RiverClan cats; Blackfrost found their slippery scales and pungent taste somewhat disturbing, anyway.

But to his surprise, the she-cat shrunk back in disgust. "I told you already, and I'll tell you again. I'm not hungry."

Blackfrost sighed. He knew she-cats could be stubborn, but this one really took the kill. It seemed that not even Foxtail was this difficult to deal with. And that was certainly saying something.

"You quite obviously are," he growled, growing more and more annoyed despite his attempts to reign in his emotions this time. Before she could manage a retort, he stalked off toward the fresh-kill pile on his own, the kittypet staring after him.

When he returned to her, he held two plump mice in his jaws, one of which he dropped at her feet. "Here, I'm telling you to eat this and I'll tell you again if I have to. You have to keep your strength up."

The kittypet prodded the mouse with one paw unenthusiastically, then quickly pulled it back again, her expression cautious. "But-"

"Just eat it," Blackfrost cut her off with an exasperated growl, settling down beside her to start on his own mouse, but still she just stared. "Quit being so difficult already."

Hesitating, she raised her paw again. "So you… you wild cats really do eat this stuff?"

"Yes," Blackfrost responded irritably, his mouth already full of mouse and his tail twitching as he eyed the second mouse at her feet, "What in the world did you expect us to eat? The bark from trees, perhaps? Rocks?"

The kittypet rolled her eyes with a huffy mew. "Don't be so utterly ridiculous."

"Well, then what?" He snorted. "You would never catch a warrior eating those stale crunchy nibbles and wet slop that the Twolegs feed kittypets like yourself."

"Hey," the she-cat's ears flattened against her head as she turned to glare at him, "the food my housefolk gave me wasn't that bad at all. In fact, it was downright lovely."

Blackfrost hid a condescending smirk at how defensive the fragile little kittypet became when anyone so much as scoffed at the Twolegs she admired and her life with them. All the more reason for her to return to them, he supposed – after all, she could never be a proper warrior. What kind of warrior cat so clearly defended Twolegs like that?

Regardless, he nudged the other piece of fresh-kill nearer to the stubborn she-cat. "Just try it, at least. You haven't eaten since I found you in the forest. And like I said before, we can't let you starve – we aren't as cruel-hearted as ShadowClan warriors, after all."

He watched as she took a tentative sniff at the dead mouse, and added, "Trust me, after you take a bite of real fresh-kill, you won't want to eat any of that Twoleg dung ever again."

Her ears twitched in annoyance at the mention of Twoleg dung, but she still bent down and took a hesitant first bite of the plump piece of prey as her stomach let out another loud grumble.

"It-It's not that bad…" she admitted tentatively after a few heartbeats, as though she couldn't believe she was actually saying that. "I-I suppose I could handle these… Just for now, you know."

Blackfrost couldn't help but smirk knowingly as she tucked into her meal; no cat, not even a kittypet, could resist a fresh mouse. And especially not when the kittypet in question hadn't eaten in a sunrise.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

The pale she-cat whipped her head around to search the clearing frantically at the sudden announcement, her dark ears flattened against her head. "What's going on?"

Blackfrost shot her an irritated glance as more of his Clanmates began to pile into the clearing, though he didn't really mean it. She didn't know the first thing about living in a Clan, after all, he reminded himself.

The tortoiseshell she-cat Robinsong picked her way out of the warrior's den and padded over to sit beside them, nodding in greeting to the pair as she settled down on Blackfrost's other side; she was never impolite to anyone, not even an ignorant kittypet.

The rest of the Clan, however, seemed to intentionally sit as far away from the kittypet as possible, as though they thought that if they just ignored her, she would disappear. If only that were really true.

Woodfern trotted out of the nursery at the other end of the clearing with her mate, Rowanfur, taking a seat near the bottom of the Highrock where the deputy Hawktalon was stationed, the brown tabby leader Foreststar perched at the top commandingly.

Blackfrost noticed that two kits had followed her out, their brown fur, still kitten soft, fluffed up in excitement.

"Calm down," he finally mewed to the restless kittypet, who still looked freaked out by the swift proceedings. "Foreststar is just calling the Clan to gather around the Highrock – that's that big boulder right there in the middle – for an apprentice ceremony, it looks like… Not that a kittypet like yourself would know a thing about that."

The she-cat stared right back at him with eyes of icy fire. "My name is not kittypet, it's Luna. It's about time you got that right."

With a twinge of guilt, Blackfrost realized that he hadn't even asked for her name yet; they never even properly introduced themselves, not that he especially wanted to. And he had been so quick to blame her for all his problems, to let his anger out on her in the medicine cat den.

He shook his head quickly, nudging those thoughts out of his mind, as Robinsong shot him a concerned look on his other side. This was her fault. And he didn't need anything like that in his life; he had enough troubles on his own as it was.

"Fine, Luna then," Blackfrost sighed, not wishing to get into another argument right when all of ThunderClan was gathered around them, shooting them condescending glares and questioning looks every once in a while. It made his pelt prickle. "And I'm Blackfrost. Lucky for me, Foreststar put me in charge of you until you can go home."

"So I've heard… And I already know your name," Luna announced haughtily. "Rosethorn told me."

Despite her confident – and infuriatingly impudent – tone, Luna still looked a bit nervous around him, as though she the memory of their argument earlier that day was still prominent in her mind. Or maybe she was just uneasy from being around all these wild and unfamiliar cats. Blackfrost supposed he couldn't exactly blame her for that.

"So what's happening?"

"Shhh!" Blackfrost shushed her with a glare. "Just listen."

He didn't much feel like explaining these things to her, anyway. It wasn't his job to teach her Clan ways, StarClan forbid; she would never fit into ThunderClan.

Up on the Highrock, the large brown tabby leader settled himself on the hard stone with his tail wrapped comfortably around his paws, and then opened his mouth to speak, his forest green eyes shining.

"Not long ago, our three eldest ThunderClan apprentices were made into full-fledged warriors," he began, glancing briefly toward where Blackfrost and Robinsong were seated at the very edge of the clearing, "And now, we gather together to name two new apprentices into the Clan, now that they have both reached six moons of age, so that we may continue our custom of training our own for the hardships to come."

He looked down from the Highrock again, warmth in the noble leader's eyes. "Wrenkit, Acornkit; please step forward, you two."

Blackfrost turned to watch as his foster mother, Woodfern, nudged the two kits forward with one last comforting lick on each of their heads, her mate Rowanfur sitting beside her proudly.

One kit was a small, light brown she-cat who looked just like her mother, but for white paws and solemn green eyes, who stepped forward slowly as she gazed up at the Highrock in awe. The other was a brown tabby tom with copper eyes that more resembled his father, and he struggled to keep himself contained like his sister and not bounce up and down in his eagerness.

Blackfrost's heart felt strangely heavy at the sight – not long ago, Woodfern had looked at him with that same loving proudness at his becoming a warrior, and had licked the top of his head in that same manner even before that at his own apprentice ceremony, even though he wasn't a cat of her own flesh and blood.

He had been a warrior for barely a quarter-moon, and he already felt as though he were letting her, and everyone else in the Clan, down.

"Acornkit, it is time you were apprenticed," Foreststar acknowledged, interrupting Blackfrost's thoughts. The great leader watched as the small brown tabby kit practically shook in his excitement. "From this day forward, until he receives his warrior name, this new apprentice will be called Acornpaw."

Foreststar then turned to address the group of warriors gathered at the edge of the crowd, his gaze searching for the right one.

"Flamepelt, I have decided that you are now ready to take on your first apprentice. You will begin Acornpaw's training."

The orange tabby tom stepped forward in surprise – the younger warrior obviously hadn't expected to be chosen as a mentor. Acornpaw, meanwhile, bounced on his toes in enthusiasm at the mention of his mentor, obviously pleased with his leader's choice for him.

"Flamepelt," Foreststar continued, "you had received excellent training from Stumptail, who now resides in the elders' den, and you have proved yourself to be a strong fighter and loyal warrior in battle. I expect you to pass on all you have learned to this young apprentice."

"I will," Flamepelt nodded, and though he acted calm, his blue-grey eyes betrayed a similar excitement to the one evident in his new apprentice. It seemed that he and Acornpaw were a good match. The two touched noses as was customary and then edged off to the side so the ceremony could continue.

"And as for this apprentice," Foreststar turned to the smaller she-kit, whose whiskers quivered in nervous anticipation, "Wrenkit, like your brother, you are also ready to be apprenticed. From this day on, until she receives her warrior name, she shall be known as Wrenpaw."

Foreststar looked up again, and his forest-green eyes met the golden eyes of Sparrowflight in the crowd; Woodfern's younger sister.

"Sparrowflight, you are also ready to take on an apprentice, as your last apprentice has been made a warrior; you shall train Wrenpaw. Ivywhisker was your mentor, now another highly respected elder, and you have shown yourself to be a quick and agile hunter for the Clan, as well. I expect you to pass on all you know to your new apprentice."

Blackfrost watched as the light brown warrior stepped forward to touch noses with little Wrenpaw, their pelts almost matching in the dying light. They would be another good match.

He glanced up again, and felt the smallest jolt of shock pass through him. Hawktalon was still standing at the side of the Highrock, but Blackfrost couldn't deny the hard, cold look in the deputy's amber eyes as he wanted the apprentice ceremony unfold, a much different look from the pride he had sported at his own kits' warrior ceremony. But what did the deputy have against these two kits?

"Acornpaw! Wrenpaw! Acornpaw! Wrenpaw!"

As the Clan chanted their names, Hawktalon shot a glare toward the two new apprentices, now being congratulated by their parents Woodfern and Rowanfur, and stalked off into the growing darkness through the gorse tunnel without another word.


A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update this story - I was away at marching band camp for a while, and we got much less free time than I expected (and by that, I mean just about none at all).

This chapter and the next were actually meant to be just one chapter, but it was getting a bit too long for my tastes, so I decided to cut it off here. It was kind of difficult deciding on a good place to end the chapter, but I'm a little picky and really wanted my chapters for this story to stay somewhere between 2,300 and 3,300 words. And now the next chapter is weirdly divided between two POVs instead of one point of view per chapter, but oh well.

What do you think of the story so far? Please let me know your thoughts in a review, and the next chapter should come soon!

-CCM