Chapter 9: Gingerpaw

I had long since lost track of time. The day became the night, and days ceased to matter to me. I was locked up in the nursery for StarClan knows how long. Sky, Lake, Cricket, Mouse, and all the rest of the kits grew rapidly, becoming stronger each day. I knew it hadn't been five moons yet, since the twelve kits and their mothers had not yet abandoned the nursery to make room for three new queens.

I followed no routine. I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was tired. Blood and Snake seemed to pay no attention to me, especially after the successful battle with ThunderClan which had led to the death of Firestar. My heart ached for him, and for the rest of my family, and I longed to return home.

After a while, I became aware of my stomach becoming larger. I realized a while after that this was due to laziness, over-eating, and lack of exercise. I didn't bother asking to be let out. The dark, musty nursery was my home now, its mossy walls and floors an everlasting sign of comfort and protection.

Often I spent my nights dreaming of returning home, and how my clanmates would welcome me. I wondered if they would hold back my warrior ceremony due to my absence. Most of the time, it didn't worry me, but other times, I shuddered from imagining what they would do to me when I returned.

Relax, I would tell myself. There's nothing to worry about. It's BaneClan's fault you haven't been training, not yours!

I also thought that the queens in the nursery were finally beginning to accept me.

That's why I was surprised when, one night, Dove and Orchid awakened me.

"What?" I muttered drowsily, rolling onto my back to look up at the queens. "You know I'm supposed to be sleeping right now."

"We're getting you out of here," Orchid hissed. "Now come on. If we don't hurry, the sentries won't let us out."

I hopped to my paws and groomed myself quickly, following the queens' examples. Then, we approached the exit tunnel. The queens told me to act natural, so I stared forward uninterestedly as the queens informed the twelve sentries that they would be performing the Ceremony.

One of the sentries widened their eyes in shock when the word was mentioned, but they let us pass through. Dove and Orchid led me up the tunnel, their eyes blank with indifference. I tried to do the same.

Once we were outside, Dove and Orchid hurriedly explained to me that the Ceremony was when a cat was killed as punishment for being lazy or incompetent. That way, when they returned without me, no questions would be asked.

"But what about when they want to see my body?" I asked.

"We'll simply say we dumped your body in the river," Orchid replied, shrugging. "They may go looking for it, but they most likely will believe us. Being a queen makes you important to the rest of the Clan. Without us, the Clan would not thrive the way it does now."

"Now, which way to your camp?" Dove asked. "We need to get there and back as soon as possible."

"This way," I hissed, gesturing for them to follow me. It had been so long since I had been out of BaneClan's camp, but I was confident that I would be able to find my way back to ThunderClan before long.

We plodded through the forest for a while, keeping close to the undergrowth and hardly making a sound. Finally, we entered the ThunderClan border.

I was hoping to find a patrol, but it was too late, and so I assumed there would be none. We continued silently until we came to the ravine.

"Wow," Dove breathed as we gazed down into the camp. "It's…it's beautiful. How could you stand to be away from such a place for so long?"

"I didn't have much of a choice," I reminded the queen.

"Come on," Orchid hissed, starting down toward the entrance. "Let's get you and get lost as fast as we can."

"Be quiet," I warned the queens as I padded after them. "There'll be guards by the entrance."

Just as the words escaped my lips, a warning yowl split the air. Murmurs of shock and fear floated out of the gorse tunnel from within the camp.

"It's okay," I called. "It's just me, Gingerpaw! I brought some friends, though."

"Don't move any further," a familiar voice ordered. Dustpelt padded toward me, his eyes narrowed warily. He sniffed me thoroughly several times, then moved on to Dove and Orchid. "Why are you here?"

"I escaped," I replied. "And Dove and Orchid just came to drop me off."

"Well then," Dustpelt meowed after a moment, flicking his tail decidedly. "Follow me, please. I'm sure Graystar would like to see you."

I followed obediently, Dove and Orchid trailing. Ashfur and Whiteheart, who had been guarding the entrance, brought up the rear.

Curious stares bore into my back as the six of us headed toward Graystar's den. He sat in the entrance, as though he had been expecting our arrival.

"Gingerpaw," he meowed in surprise. "We thought you were gone forever. Who are these cats you have brought with you?"

I turned my head in both directions, eyeing Dove and Orchid. I noticed that Dove was blushing a bit under her fur.

"This is Dove and Orchid," I replied. "They live in BaneClan, and helped me escape."

"Well," Graystar meowed, dipping his head to the queens. "It's great to meet you. Thank you for bringing us back one of our apprentices."

"It was our pleasure," Dove replied quickly, her voice slightly shaky.

"We should probably be going now, if we are no longer needed," Orchid meowed.

"I will escort you to the edge of our territory," Graystar offered. "Gingerpaw, why don't you return to your den? I'm sure your siblings are very eager to see you again."

I nodded and darted off toward the apprentices' den, eager to see my brothers and sister.

They were waiting for me in the entrance to the den.

"Gingerpaw!" Snowpaw mewed, darting toward me and licking my nose happily. "Where have you been? We thought you were dead!"

"They kept me locked up in a nursery with twelve kits for StarClan knows how long," I replied, shrugging. "I hardly ever left except for when I had to make dirt."

"Eew," Larchpaw mewed, shuddering. "How did you manage living with so many cats?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "But I managed. And Dove and Orchid were kind enough to rescue me from that monotonous life and bring me back here. I would have eventually been killed anyway."

"Well, we saved you a nest," Talonpaw meowed. "And look who came to join us!"

Freekit, now Freepaw, padded forward then, and her eyes lit up joyously. "Gingerpaw!" she cried, bounding forward and nuzzling my leg affectionately. "I missed you so much! Did BaneClan take you away? Were they nice to you?"

"They certainly fed her," Birchpaw muttered, eyeing my disdainfully.

"So I put on a bit of weight," I snapped. "Big deal. Can we just get some sleep? I'm exhausted!"

"Good idea," Snowpaw meowed.

"Come on, Gingerpaw!" Freepaw begged. "Come sleep next to me! Your nest is already there anyway. Did you hear Mousefur had kits? She named them Ravenkit and Fawnkit."

"I'll have to meet them tomorrow, won't I?" I meowed, padding toward the back of the den with my youngest sister. Together, we settled into our nests and began discussing what we had been doing since I had been taken by BaneClan as ransom. Eventually, Freepaw went off on a tangent about how excited she was to be mentored by Shrewtail, and how she knew it was going to be so much fun training side by side with me and the rest of her older siblings. This eventually put me to sleep, but I don't think she noticed.

-----X-----

The next morning, I awoke early and went with Freepaw to meet Ravenkit and Fawnkit, as I had promised.

I had suspected that Mousefur and her kits would be the only ones in there, but I was shocked to find Dove lying in a nest near the back, chattering in a low voice with Mousefur.

"Dove?" I squeaked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to BaneClan with Orchid."

"So did I," Dove replied. "But Graystar asked me to stay. He stopped me right before I crossed the border and told me that he loved me and thought I was beautiful, and then he asked me to join ThunderClan. He's giving me my full name at sunset."

"Oh," I murmured, puzzled by the whole situation. How could he be in love with her? They barely knew each other! Sure, Dove was beautiful and kind, but Graystar had always seemed to be a level-headed tom, even for his young age. "Well, I came to meet Ravenkit and Fawnkit. Freepaw was begging me all night long."

"Don't you hurt them," Mousefur growled, bud obligingly moved her tail to the side so that I could see the tiny kits. The two she-kits squirmed, seeking the comfort of their mother's warm, slender tail once again. I watched in awe as they mewled and battered the air with their paws. How could such sweet, innocent kits come from the headstrong, spirited Mousefur?

"They're lovely, Mousefur," I whispered.

"I know," the queen sighed. Then, she became more serious. "Don't you two have some training to get to? There's no use for lazy cats in ThunderClan."

"Wait," I mewed. "Who's going to train me now that you're in the nursery?"

"You'll go back to Cloudtail, of course," Mousefur replied. "Wasn't he your substitute mentor before you were kidnapped?"

"Right," I mewed, nodding. "I suppose I forgot."

"Forgetfulness can lead to life-threatening mistakes," Mousefur meowed sternly. "Now get out of here. My kits and I need to rest."

I nodded, and Freepaw and I padded out of the den together.

"I'm sure glad she's not my mentor!" Freepaw whispered to me as we headed toward the fresh-kill pile to eat. "How do you stand her being so strict?"

"I haven't been around her that much," I pointed out. "So it hasn't gotten too hard yet."

"You're so lucky you're nine moons old," Freepaw gushed. "In three moons, you'll all become warriors! And I'll be the only apprentice."

"Don't worry," I reassured my youngest sibling. "I'm sure more apprentices will come along soon."

"I sure hope so," Freepaw muttered.

Leaftail and Barleypaw were just leaving the camp as we exited the nursery, and we meowed greetings to them as they passed. At the fresh-kill pile was Brackenfur and Hollypaw, who were discussing something cheerily; I assumed it was training. Freepaw and I joined them, taking a piece of fresh-kill each and munching on them silently.

Hollypaw's discussion with her mentor ceased then, and she rose to her paws and stalked away. I wondered idly what had caused her to just get up and walk away. Was it me and Freepaw? Had we intruded on an important discussion? Brackenfur rose to his paws as well and followed the young she-cat.

Cloudtail appeared in the entrance to the warriors' den then, waving his tail in greeting toward me. I rose to my paws and padded toward him, bidding farewell to my younger sister.

"Hey, Gingerpaw!" Cloudtail meowed happily. "It's great to have you back. I was thinking you could show me what they taught you in BaneClan as far as hunting skills. Come on! Let's get started!"

"But I didn't…" I started, then decided that it wasn't important to Cloudtail and followed him out of camp.

Soon, we reached the training hollow, which was empty. A gentle breeze blew through the hollow, tugging at our fur. I spun around to face my mentor, immediately ready to begin battle training once again. Cloudtail narrowed his eyes playfully.

"Okay, Gingerpaw. Let's put those new battle moves to use! What did they show you? Maybe when we attack them again we can use some of their moves against them."

"Wait," I meowed. "We're fighting them again? I don't think that's such a good idea."

"That's up to Graystar, I guess," Cloudtail replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But I like the idea. Now come on! No more distractions. Just you and me, one on one."

"Okay," I meowed, nodding. I tried to remember some of the moves I had witnessed from within the BaneClan nursery during their battle with ThunderClan. Then, without warning, Cloudtail leapt at me, his fur standing on end, teeth bared in a snarl. An image of one particularly effective move I had witnessed popped into my head. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, giving me energy as I leapt up, spun around in mid-air, flying out of Cloudtail's attack range, then stopped spinning and lashed out with my hind legs, hammering the white tom in the side. We fell to the ground at the same moment, but I landed on all four paws. Cloudtail lay on his side, panting heavily.

"Wow," he meowed quietly when he had regained his breath. "That was amazing! Can you show me how to do that?"

"I-I don't know," I replied timidly. "I think that was more of a one-time thing, you know? Just, like, spur of the moment. See, I wasn't really thinking when you attacked me, and I just thought of that move and made it happen."

"Are you sure?" Cloudtail meowed, his tone making him sound desperate. "Just give it one more shot."

"O-Okay," I agreed nervously. "So first, you jump and spin while you're in the air so that your enemy can't reach you. Then, you stop mid-spin and lash out with your hind paws and try to kick your enemy in the flank. It should stun them for a moment, giving you time to try an ending move on them."

"That's brilliant!" Cloudtail cried in disbelief. "How on earth did BaneClan come up with such moves?"

"I'm not sure," I replied honestly. "Do you want to give it a try?"

"Sure!" Cloudtail mewed excitedly. "Let me know if I do anything wrong, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, nodding. I watched as the fluffly white tome leapt into the air and tried to mimic my move. He was less than successful, falling to the ground after the spin.

"It seems as though I've become the mentor," I meowed jokingly.

"Oh, ha ha," Cloudtail muttered, rising to his paws and shaking himself. "Let's get back to training."

We continued fighting for a long time, until the sun sank to the mountains. Both Cloudtail and I were exhausted, and we decided to take a cool-down stroll. We headed toward Tallpines silently, only occasionally commenting on the long training session.

Both of us managed to catch some prey. We both ate our catches, then caught more to bring back to camp.

When we returned, Cloudtail had a squirrel and I had two finches and a mouse. Together, we laid our catches on the fresh-kill pile and bid each other farewell. Then, I returned to the apprentices' den, which was just starting to fill up. Freepaw was sitting in her nest grooming herself, and Birchpaw and Talonpaw were already snoring away beside Snowpaw, who looked disgusted by them. Larchpaw and Hollypaw were sharing tongues quietly near the back left corner of the den. I padded back to join them.

"Hey," I mewed happily.

"Hi, Gingerpaw," Larchpaw replied. "So, how was your first day back in ThunderClan?"

"It was good," I replied shrugging. Graystar's voice rang out across the camp then, summoning us all out into the clearing for yet another meeting. The seven of us heaved ourselves to our paws and padded out to join Nightpaw and Barleypaw, who were already seated close to the apprentices' den.

"Cats of ThunderClan," Graystar began. "It brings me great joy to introduce you all to my new mate, Dove of BaneClan."

As Dove padded forward, snarls of apprehension and disapproval rose from the crowd.

"BaneClan?" one cat cried.

"They killed Firestar, remember?" another put in.

"How many mates are you going to take that aren't from ThunderClan?" a third demanded. "Why don't you just settle down with someone from your own Clan already?"

"Enough!" Graystar snarled, lashing his tail furiously. His pelt stood on end, and fear filled my veins. I had never seen the young leader so upset before. "Dove is now a member of our Clan and I expect you all to treat her as such. Now, I call upon the spirits of StarClan to look down upon this young queen. She has cast aside her old ways and left her old Clan in the past, and wishes to join ThunderClan, looking to you for spiritual guidance. Therefore, I give this queen the name Dovewing."

Kite was the only one who chanted the new cat's name, and I felt sorrow toward her. Kite truly knew how it felt to be an outcast. I thought that Dovewing deserved much better than what my clanmates were giving her, and so I joined in the chanting.

"Dovewing! Dovewing! Dovewing!" I cried.

Eventually, Larchpaw and Hollypaw joined in, and a couple of warriors cheered half-heartedly, and I began to think that maybe they, too, were beginning to realize that Dovewing could be one of us.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Clan began to disperse from the crowd, returning to their appropriate dens. Larchpaw, Hollypaw, Kite, and I padded up to our new clanmate to congratulate her, along with the few other warriors that had welcomed her.

"It's great to have you with us, Dovewing," Kite mewed, licking the new queen's ear reassuringly. "Don't worry about the others. They take some getting used to. Trust me, I know. I joined the Clan when I was twelve moons old, and most cats didn't except me right away, either."

"Thank you," Dovewing mewed, dipping her head gratefully.

I padded up to her next. "I'm sorry about all the jeering," I began. "And thanks for rescuing me from BaneClan."

"Thank you for living in such a beautiful forest," Dovewing purred in reply. "If you hadn't led us back here, I would still be under the notion that BaneClan is the most beautiful place on this earth."

"It's no problem," I replied simply, then made way for the rest of the warriors.

Soon after, Larchpaw and Hollypaw joined me at the back of the apprentices' den. Freepaw was already fast asleep. "I can't believe no one wanted to welcome Dovewing!" Hollypaw mewed angrily. "I wish I could knock some sense through their thick, mouse-brained skulls."

"Me, too," Larchpaw agreed. "But I'm sure that everyone else will eventually accept her."

"Right," I agreed, nodding happily. "Now, we should all get some sleep. Isn't the Gathering tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Hollypaw confirmed, nodding. "I can't wait! I'm just so excited! Hopefully all three of us will get to go."

"We can only wait and see," I replied, shrugging. Then, the three of us settled down and promptly fell asleep.