Chapter 9
It had been half a moon since the encounter with Rarady in the barn. She had seen the strange cat around the barn and the Twoleg nests, but had not spoken to her. Hawkpaw got up and stretched out of her nest, and padded outside. Last night, she had seen it was almost a full moon. There will be another Gathering soon. She thought as she went into the main clearing. Most of the camp was still asleep, but some were already up, gossiping with other cats or basking in the New-leaf sun. Outside the nursery, Sunwhisker was gently grooming her three kits.
Their apprentice ceremony must be today.
She realized as she padded over to the energetic kits. When she reached the nursery, she could sense Goldenkit's gaze as his mother groomed his gold pelt. Blossomkit was tusseling with Emberkit, while their mother scolded them. "You shouldn't be rolling in the dirt acting like kits!" She chided, but Hawkpaw could hear the fondness in her sweet voice.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join her for a Clan meeting!" Hawkpaw heard the familiar words of her father as she padded outside of the den alongside Swiftfur. Hawkpaw could see Sunwhisker's 3 kits sitting up front and well groomed. "We have 3 new apprentices to announce." Robinstar said from ontop his den. He beckoned to Blossomkit. "Blossomkit, from now on you will be Blossompaw. Stripeheart, you will be mentor to Blossompaw."
Blossompaw went to go touch noses with the Tortoiseshell warrior. Robinstar next beckoned to Emberkit. "Emberkit, from now on, you will be known as Emberpaw. Snowpelt, you will be mentor to Emberpaw." Emberpaw went to go touch noses with his new mentor. Lastly, he beckoned to Goldenpaw. "Goldenkit, from now on, you will known as Goldenpaw. Thistlehead, you will be mentor to Goldenpaw." Goldenpaw went to touch noses with the Riverclan deputy. The whole clan cheered the new apprentice names. "Blossompaw! Emberpaw! Goldenpaw!" After the naming ceremony, Hawkpaw went to go talk to the three new apprentices. They were tussling around in the dirt when she came over. "Hawkpaw!" Blossomkit exclaimed. "Look at my hunter's crouch!" Blossompaw showed Hawkpaw her crouch, with her tail standing straight up. "Hi, Hawkpaw." Goldenpaw mewed.
Later that day, Swiftfur sent Hawkpaw to gather herbs. Hawkpaw went to the apprentice den to see if her sister, Mosspaw would like to join her. When she poked her head into the den, Mosspaw wasn't there. "Has anyone seen Mosspaw? I wanted to know if she would like to gather herbs with me." Nobody had seen her, but Goldenpaw offered to go.
Hawkpaw and Goldenpaw padded through the forest, looking for herbs. As they got closer to the Twoleg road, they heard a low moaning. Hawkpaw and Goldenpaw padded to the road to see a black shape crippled on the road. MOSSPAW!
Hawkpaw pelted forward, not caring to look for monsters. She flung herself next to her sister's limp body and listened to her breathing. She could vaguely hear the rising and falling of her chest as she fought for breath. "Goldenpaw, help me take her back to camp!" The two cats carried Mosspaw back to camp.
When they got to camp, everyone had heard that Mosspaw had been missing. Hawkpaw and Goldenpaw carried the limp black body into the medicine cat den. Seconds later, Leaffeather, Skycloud, and Robinstar were in the medicine den, for they had heard about the accident. Swiftfur gave her poppy seeds, and laid her down in a nest of bracken. "Will she be all right?" Leaffeather whispered to Swiftfur. "It is in the paws of Starclan now." She replied, looking sadly at the limp body.
"We should give her a warrior name before she joins Starclan." Robinstar mewed. "Starclan, we ask you to look down on this injured apprentice. She has trained hard to learn your noble code, and if she dies, we commend her as a warrior of Starclan. Mosspaw, from this day on, you will be known as Mossfern. Riverclan appreciates your courage and we welcome you as a warrior in return." He touched his nose to her smoky fur. "Stay safe." He whispered as he left the den.
Midnight had fallen. Hawkpaw was curled up next to Mossfern in her nest. She hadn't woken, but Hawkpaw could still hear her faint breathing and refused to believe she had died. Tomorrow will be the Gathering. She thought as she closed her eyes.
