Chapter 10: Meeting The Doyen
Blackbird at Pearl with a worried look in her eyes. "You be safe, ok?"
Pearl nodded. "But what do I do with the kit?"
"Return it if you need to."
"We'll take her to camp."
Blackbird and Raven spoke at the exact same time with their contradicting answers. They glared at each other. "Fine!" Blackbird spat. "Have it your way." Raven shot her a smug grin, grabbed Sweetkit, and started padding towards camp all in one motion. Blackbird took Shiningkit and padded up to his side.
"How far is camp?" she inquired.
"Much deeper."
"What's the news?"
"We have a new cat joining."
"Who?" Her ears pricked with alarm.
"You."
"Oh."
She gave up trying to start a conversation and padded along silently. As she began taking notice of her surroundings, she realized the forest was much darker than when they left Pearl. So dark she almost couldn't see. She began to understand why only black cats were allowed to join. White cats would stick out like a fox at a gathering.
"We're here," Raven announced and pulled ahead. Blackbird followed silently drinking in the sight of the camp. It was mostly flat except for a slope up on one side. There was one den at the highest point of the slope and one built in at the side. Two dens lined the other side of the camp. She guessed the highest den was the leader's, the one on the side was the medicine cat's, and the two dens were the kits' and warriors'. But where were the elders?
Raven flicked his tail and led the way up the slope. "This is the Doyen's den. Or the... leader's den." He spoke the word 'leader' as if it was foreign to him.
Blackbird nodded. She was right about the leader's- or Doyen's- den.
"So where are the elders?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant.
"Elders?" the tom echoed.
"Yeah, you know," she chuckled nervously,"The retired warriors?"
"Warriors?" he repeated in the same clueless voice.
"The ones who hunt and defend the clan? Or whatever the Abyss is."
"Oh!" Understanding filled Raven's eyes. "The feeders and fighters."
"Yeah! The elders are retired feeders and fighters."
"You mean the prophets?"
"It was Blackbird's turn to be confused. "What are prophets?"
Raven stopped walking and turned around to face her before answering. "I think an easier question to answer is 'How do you become a prophet?'"
There was a moment of silence as Raven gazed expectantly at the she cat. She mouther 'oh' silently then mewed. "Well, how do you become a prophet?"
Raven smiled then nodded. "There are always three prophets, no more, no less. When a prophet dies, the Abyssinian tells the two prophets who the third prophet will be."
"What do the prophets do?"
"They decide what kit to throw in, when to throw the kit in, that kind of stuff. They also interpret messages from the Abyssinian."
"Like a medicine cat!"
"No," Raven shook his head. "The healer master just takes care of sick cats and the wanderers."
"The wanderers?" she echoed.
"Yeah, like me," he explained. "I'll tell you more later after you talk with the Doyen."
"Oh, right! I forgot about that..." The two cats ran up to the top of the hill and stopped. There was a beam of light from the sky shining on the top of the den. "So I just go in?" she panted.
Raven, who wasn't out of breath at all, nodded. "Just walk in."
She obeyed. "Hello?"
A cat turned around to face her. "Blackbird is it?" He had a slight countryside accent.
She nodded as she squinted, trying to see through the darkness.
"Right," the cat muttered, sounding annoyed. "You don't have you shadow eyes yet."
Blackbird bit back a rude retort while the Doyen flicked his tail and ordered, "Remove the leaves!"
After several moments they heard the patter of paws and the rustling of leaves. A few rays of sunlight- or moonlight, she could not determine which - lit up the den. The Doyen hissed as light hit his pelt and he backed away. When all the leaves were cleared away, Blackbird could see the Doyen clearly. She stifled a purr. He looked like a kittypet, and not the kind that were fighters, the fluff, fat, pampered ones.
"What?" the Doyen snapped.
She coughed and looked away. "Nothing," she assured him quickly.
She shuffled her paws awkwardly. "So... What's your name?" She heard shocked hisses from above and saw the Doyen unsheathe his claws, take a deep breath, and sheathed them again.
"She is new. SHe would not know!" he yowled to the cats on the roof. "Leave!"
"Me?" Blackbird yelped. "No, them," the Doyen answered, flicking his tail up.
"Why were they shocked?" She asked worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Did you!" he huffed. "By asking my name you basically just threatened my life."
"What?" she gaped.
"You see, to become Doyen, you need to learn the current Doyen's name," he explained snottily. "Once you know the Doyen's name, the Doyen will have to give up his place. Only the prophets know my Doyen name so they will be able to confirm the next Doyen's place. Once the old Doyen gives up his or her place, they will have to sacrifice themselves to the Doyen by jumping into the Abyss. Get it?"
She nodded speechlessly. "Ok, good," he purred. "You are dismissed." As she walked out she heard a voice holler to the cats on the roof, "Put back the leaves!"
Blackbird looked up at the roof to see two black she-cats pushing leaves back onto the stick roofing.
"How'd it go?" It was Raven.
"Not very well," she sighed, turning towards Raven. "I asked him his name..." When he didn't react she gave him a questioning look.
"Every new cat does that," he muttered shortly.
"But the two cats on the roof gasped and Doyen almost clawed my pelt off!"
"The Doyen is a drama king and his two daughters take after him."
"A thought just occurred to me, Raven..."
"Hm?"
"Since everybody knows my name and you name, we can't become Doyen anymore?"
"We still can," he chuckled. "You make up your Doyen name."
"So my Doyen name could be Squirrel, Shadow, or even Fluff?"
"Well... Yeah."
They began walking down the hill as an apprentice-aged cat ran into camp panting. He had a panicked look in his eyes. "F-f-f-fox!"
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you like it... I know it has been three weeks since I updated. I would normally promise to update quicker, but with school approaching, I can't promise anything, but please keep a lookout for future chapters because no matter what, I'm not giving up on this. Well, anyways, thanks for reading and please review! I'm serious! Review!