Apprentice and Pregnant
Chapter 11: Enter Shadowclan
Cedarpaw selected a small thrush from the measly fresh kill pile, trying not to wince at the slight crow food smell that came with it. Prey is so scarce, soon crow food is all we'll have, she thought grimly to herself. Leaf fall is coming closer every day.
She shook her head to clear her dismal thoughts, not wanting to spoil her supper. She looked around, trying to pinpoint her friends. She glanced past Nightstar, who was eating what looked like much more than his fair share of the fresh kill pile. He ate with ravenous, greedy gulps, spit and mouse skins hanging from his jaw. Cedarpaw looked away with disgust.
After a good few moments of searching, Cedarpaw finally located the apprentices huddled beneath a large branch, just to the side of the elders den. They looked like they were whispering about something important; their heads were close together Cedarpaw couldn't hear a word they were saying.
"What's going on?" Cedarpaw asked the second she was in earshot. The apprentices looked startled, as if they didn't think anyone knew they were there. The group consisted of all the Shadowclan apprentices, Bramblepaw, Snakepaw, Whitepaw and Orangepaw. Shadowclan has plenty of apprentices, Cedarpaw thought to herself. And with Redkit and Cloudkit growing close to their sixth moon, the clan will only grow stronger.
"We were talking about the gathering that's coming up," Orangepaw said, his voice quiet. "There's a rumor going around that something strange is going to happen."
"What?" Cedarpaw said, confused. Orangepaw shrugged, his eyes weary as he looked at the others. Cedarpaw felt her heart drop. She knew that they didn't really want to let her in on what was going on, but they chose not to be rude. She stared impatiently at Orangepaw, waiting for him to stop stalling. He finally cleared his throat and turned back to look at her. Cedarpaw sat very still, waiting.
"Apparently, Longtail went to Nightstar with some big news," Orangepaw said at last.
"Snakepaw overheard them talking," Whitepaw added, her tinny voice borderline shrill. "Something about kits in-"
"Sh!" Bramblepaw shushed her loudly, glaring at her through hazel eyes. "Shut up, Whitepaw."
"Sorry," Whitepaw sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. Cedarpaw stared at the apprentices, wondering why they were acting so strange.
"What did my dad want with Nightstar?" Cedarpaw asked after no one volunteered the information. She thought of her father and deputy, Longtail. Cedarpaw looked nothing like him, her face was short and her eyes were too close together. Longtail had a very narrow face, with squarer features. Not to mention Longtails eyes were a filmy gray color.
Cedarpaws eyes were ice blue.
"I really think you should ask your dad what's up, Cedarpaw," Snakepaw said awkwardly, fidgeting with his paws and not meeting her eyes. "It's kind of… weird. I think you should go talk to him first and then come back to talk about it with us."
"Um… okay," Cedarpaw was starting to feel alarmed. What the heck is going on? What does Longtail have to do with something strange happening at the gathering?
She turned away from the others without saying goodbye, figuring they wouldn't care much if she said anything or not. They've never liked me.
Cedarpaw pinpointed her father right away, talking to Honeyfern. Cedarpaw noticed Honeyfern looked quite cheerful, her green eyes were sparkling and she was laughing. Longtail was laughing too, staring at the she cat with a weird look on his face. Cedarpaw wondered what was so funny.
"Oh, hello Cedarpaw," Honeyfern greeted her as she approached, the laughter still bright in her eyes. "How are you?"
"Fine," Cedarpaw said, narrowing her eyes at Honeyferns tone. She spoke like a senior warrior would to a newly made apprentice, or how a mother would speak to her kit.
She's been a warrior for barely a moon. I can still smell her scent in the apprentices den.
"What's going on, Cedarpaw?" Longtail asked, gray eyes burning into her. "I was in the middle of having a conversation here."
"Orangepaw said something about you, a rumor?" Cedarpaw started, deciding to ignore her father's nasty tone. "Apparently you're the cause of something strange happening at the gathering."
"Oh," Longtail huffed, clearly caught off guard. "I take it Snakepaw was listening in?"
"Yeah," Cedarpaw didn't know what else to say.
"I knew I saw that little runt in the bush," Longtail swore and clawed the ground. "And I thought he would respectfully mind his own business. I should have known he would be eavesdropping."
"What were you talking about with Nightstar?" Cedarpaw asked, an icky feeling crawling through her. She didn't like it when her father called Snakepaw a runt; it sent a pang of unease through her. Snakepaw was born very small, and it wasn't fair to make fun of him for it.
"I don't feel like discussing this with you right now," Longtail snapped, turning back to Honeyfern. "I was having a nice chat with Honeyfern here."
Cedarpaw was disgusted that her father was so blatantly ignoring her to talk to Honeyfern, whom was nearly the same age as her.
"Dad," Cedarpaw whined as he didn't respond to her. "DAD!"
"For Starclans sake, lower your damn voice," Longtail hissed in her face. Cedarpaw recoiled back at once; the smell of crow food lingered on his breath.
"I'll just talk to you later," Honeyfern said, smiling at Longtail. She gave Cedarpaw a brisk nod and then stalked away, tail held high in the air. Longtail turned to look at his daughter, seething.
"You always how up at the worst moments," Longtail snapped. "Why do you always barge in when I'm having a conversation with her?"
"Because I see the way you look at her," Cedarpaw shot back. "And I'm not ever going to amuse the thought of my dad being mates with a cat who trained next to me a month ago."
"Get over yourself," Longtail growled, looking around to make sure no one was listening in. "She's a warrior."
"It's still weird," Cedarpaw sighed.
"You're weird," Longtail sighed. Cedarpaw was getting frustrated, not wanting to talk to him anymore but too curious about the gathering not to. She looked at her fathers graying pelt for a fleeting second, not sure what to say.
"Well?" Longtail demanded at last.
"Well, what's going to happen?" Cedarpaw cried, getting very sick of Longtails stalling.
"If you must know," Longtail started rudely, "I've asked Nightstar to address Thunderclan regarding future kits."
"What?" Cedarpaw was taken completely off guard. What the heck does Longtail care about Thunderclan kits?
"There is a pregnant cat in Thunderclan," Longtail said. "And the cat she mated with was a Shadowclan tom. So since the kits will be half Shadowclan, Nightstars agreed to demand full custody of them. The mother is no good anyway. The kits will be much better off here."
"Which Shadowclan cat?" Cedarpaw demanded. "Who would do such a terrible thing? That goes against the warrior code!"
"The cat is me," Longtail said quickly. "And before you freak out at me, I'll have you know that she tricked me. I didn't know she was a Thunderclan cat until later on. She had told me she was a loner."
Cedarpaw looked Longtail in the eyes as he lied through his teeth, wondering how he could think such a stupid lie would work.
"I can't believe Nightstar believes this nonsense," Cedarpaw snapped. "Your story is complete garbage. And now congratulations, you've just created more kits and you're almost an elder and now Thunderclan will have an excuse to launch a war on us," she turned around and stomped away, turning her head to spit on last thing.
"The gathering is in three days. I hope you work some sense into that thick skull of yours by then, because you don't need more kits to neglect. You're prepared to launch a war for them, but for me you could have never been damn bothered."
