Sorry for not updating for such a long time.
I went back to school after Spring Break, and it's been a little hard adjusting, especially with doing my HW.
Review Replies:
Birdflame- okay, just checking. Yeah, looks can be deceiving. Ever read Ranger's Apprentice, book 6? Cause there's a great example in there where looks are deceiving.
TheMouseOfAwsomeness- I added some of Darkpaw and Shadepaw. But Blackpaw isn't in StrongClan...
Cheetahstar- They never stopped throwing kits of the gorge, but lots of cats are wary of going near it. Most prefer rivers. And who does like the idea?
LightskyxDarkfeather- well, Rivermist kinda has to come in. She's Blackpaw's mentor, after all. And yes, I plan on having more of Morningpaw.
Amberfoot7- Yeah, some do.
Guest (Guest) (Chapter 12)- good ideas.
Spirit of the Brook (Chapter 12)- wow, you're the third person to say that they could be used for slapping other cats. I didn't even think of that until the first person mentioned it.
Spirit of the Brook- sickness...? Just memories. Also, think you're going a little overboard with Morningpaw's punishment?
Lazy watermelon (Guest)- that depends on the person. I have big plans for her, but right now, yeah, she seems horrid.
Me Myself and I (Guest)- you didn't really give me anything to answer to...
Violetwhisper (Guest)- that's a good idea; I might do it from her POV. And maybe she will, maybe she won't. Depends on what I feel like doing.
Ginger Pup- I don't know completely yet. I have two choices right now, and I'm stuck deciding on what one I should do. Eh, it can wait.
Ginger Pup (Guest)- uh, you do know that Blackpaw is the main character...? And I agree, her actions are not excusable.
Geez, a lot of reviews. Onto the story.
Chapter 13:
A sting of pain shot up his tail as a paw pressed down on it. Blackpaw groaned loudly, and blearily opened his eyes to see Darkpaw's face looming above him. Shadepaw sat by her brother, her silvery-gray pelt swimming in his vision. She was still and unmoving at first, then nudged his muzzle with her paw.
"Get up," Darkpaw meowed roughly. Lightningstripe's training regimen had clearly hardened him. Blackpaw was glad that he wasn't the deputy's apprentice. Darkpaw always had to wake before the dawn patrol went out and hunt with his mentor. He also had to take at least two patrols, hunt for the elders and queens, and take care of the elders' bedding and search for ticks. Then he was required to train with his mentor for the rest of the day, with either battle-training or the warrior code, or detecting other cats. After that, he had night-hunting lessons, or how to detect an cat without sight. Each night, he staggered in well past moonhigh, exhausted. And the next morning, it would start all over again. He shuddered at the thought of the hard training. How does Lightningstripe stand it?
"Blackpaw, get up!" Darkpaw repeated.
The air in front of his eyes brightened, and he hissed in anger. He squeezed his eyes tight, trying to block out the light. The light increased. It was getting to be unbearable. Covering his eyes with his wings, the winged apprentice sat up, growling in anger.
"Are you trying to blind me?" He spat furiously, eyes still tightly shut.
"Darkpaw, lower it," Shadepaw mewed softly. The silvery-gray she-cat had been quiet ever since her apprentice ceremony one moon ago. Though quiet, her voice had a ring of authority to it. "Now."
The air dimmed, and Blackpaw risked cracking open one eye. Seeing that it was dark enough, he opened the other one, and rose to his paws. He folded his wings, and stretched.
"Rivermist wants you," she told him. He muttered that he heard, and went into the camp. Rivermist was resting outside the warriors' den. She nodded to him as he appeared.
Blackpaw saw Oakstorm sitting by the fresh-kill pile, eyes scanning his clan. He stares at the winged tom as he entered, then his gaze drifted away. Morningpaw, looking ruffled and nervous, quickly padded by the massive brown tabby. He noted with interest that Oakstorm stiffened when she passed by him.
Rivermist rose and moved to his side. "Time to practice more with your wings," she informed him.
He groaned, remembering the burning tiredness in his wings the day before. His wings were still sore from that exercise. He hurried over to the pile and chose a small mouse, and gulped it down, trying to be as slow as he could to prolong training. But eventually, the mouse was gone, and he had to train.
Slightly reluctantly, he followed his mentor out into PowerClan territory.
Blackpaw did a little better, but not by much.
His wings were as exhausted as they were before, and eventually, Rivermist decided she would teach him how to hunt without wings. So she taught him how to stalk. By the end of the day, he had managed to catch a squirrel plump from nuts, and slow because of it.
When they went back, her mentor told him to get some rest, so he snagged a bird, ate it, and stumbled to his nest. But before he could fall asleep, Spiderstar's call rang out.
"Let all cats with powers gather around to hear my words! All Powerless cats, join us at the back!"
With a loud groan, he dragged himself out of the den. He noticed Lightningstripe wasn't in his normal spot underneath Sky Circle, which must have meant that he was out training Darkpaw. He felt a flash of pity for the dark-furred tom. He spotted Morningpaw and Winterpaw near the front. Dewsplash and Cinderfoot, their parents, were covering them with licks while they tried to extract themselves from their parents' grips. Quietpaw was attempting to separate her parents and littermates, and failing. The licks continued.
Their warrior ceremony! He felt a streak of jealousy.
"Morningpaw. Winterpaw. Come forward please," the leader of PowerClan meowed. A purr of amusement broke out as he saw the two apprentices. "Dewsplash, Cinderfoot, if you could please step away from your kits, we could get going with this ceremony." His voice was light-hearted and warm.
Looking embarrassed, the two cats stepped away and allowed their kits to move forward. Spiderstar's beckoned forward Morningpaw first.
"Lilyspring, has Morningpaw completed her warrior training?" He asked.
The ginger tabby dipped her head. "She has."
"And is Morningpaw worthy of her warrior name?"
Again the she-cat's head bobbed. "She is."
Spiderstar looked at Snoweye.
"Snoweye, has Winterpaw completed her warrior training?" Spiderstar repeated.
Blackpaw saw Quietpaw close her eyes, and he guessed that she was relaying the question to him. A moment later, Snoweye nodded.
"She has." Despite his deafness, his voice rang out clear, no louder, nor no softer than it needed to be. Blackpaw was impressed.
"And is Winterpaw worthy of her warrior name?" The dusky-brown tom meowed again. There was a pause. Probably while Quietpaw tells him the message.
"She is." Once more, the perfect volume came from his mouth.
"Well, the mentors seem to think that they are ready," Spiderstar commented. He scanned the clan, raising his voice. "What do you think? Are they ready?"
"Yes!" and "They are ready!" rang out at the same time. The loudest voices, Blackpaw noticed, was Quietpaw, Dewsplash, and Cinderfoot.
"You think they're ready as well?" He cried. "Well, then, let's give them their warrior names! Morningpaw, Winterpaw, from this moment in, you shall be known as Morningstream and Winterfern!"
"Morningstream! Winterfern! Morningstream! Winterfern!" This time, Blackpaw joined in.
When the cheering quieted down, Spiderstar went on. "Tonight, you two will sit vigil and keep the clan safe while we sleep. Clan dismissed."
Cats swarmed around the two new warriors, but Blackpaw hung back. Tallpaw, Softpaw, Juniperpaw, Quietpaw, Darkpaw, and Shadepaw did not follow his lead, but instead went with the flow. He looked away.
"Blackpaw," a voice in front of him meowed. There was a hint of a tease in the tone, but something else as well. He shifted his gaze up, and found Winterfern before him. But she doesn't speak... He thought confusedly, then he realized that she hadn't spoken, and he merely thought she had.
"Oh, uh, congratulation, Winterfern," he hastily mewed.
I'll miss sleeping with you, she answered in response, which confused him. What does sleeping have to do with being congratulated...?
"Uh, I will too," he told her awkwardly. "If you don't mind, I think I'll be getting to my nest. I'm really tired."
He was. Exhaustion held onto him like ticks clung onto an elder. He thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in her crystal-blue eyes, then it disappeared.
I understand. Well, see you later!
And with that, she swept off, leaving him to think about her strange actions
Allegiances:
PowerClan:
Leader: Spiderstar- dusky brown tom with pale blue eyes, mate of Rivermist- can detach and grow limbs at will
Deputy: Lightningstripe- jet-black tom with jagged white stripes in a lightning pattern, and icy blue eyes- controls lightning
Apprentice, Darkpaw
Medicine cat: Mosslight- light hazel tom with splotches of dark gray and piercing blue eyes- can speed up healing
Apprentice, Quietpaw
Warriors: Stormcloud- pale gray tabby tom with dark amber eyes- can control wind and rain, can create storms
Smokeleap- dark gray she-cat with light gray stripes and an amber left eye and a blue right eye- can absorb energy and use it in another form of energy
Apprentice, Softpaw
Emberdust- ginger she-cat with amber eyes- can teleport herself and anything she's touching
Lilyspring- ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes- can manipulate plants around her
Mistfeather- dark gray, almost blue, she-cat with light amber eyes- superspeed
Flashpelt- golden tabby tom with amber eyes- can slow down time
Apprentice, Shadepaw
Snoweye- white tom with near-deaf ears and blue eyes, mate of Hazelfeather, father of Eveningkit and Lightkit- can see and smell far
Heatherflight- light brown and white tabby she-cat with blueish-lilac eyes- superstrength
Oakstorm- massive brown tabby- an empath
Apprentice, Juniperpaw
Cinderfoot- gray tom with blue eyes, mate of Dewsplash- can breathe underwater
Apprentice, Tallpaw
Frostwhisker- dark gray tom with light gray stripes and blue eyes- has regenerating, poisonous fangs
Thornfang- black tom with green eyes- can manipulate illnesses
Dewsplash- light gray she-cat with splotches of white fur, and light blue eyes, mate of Cinderfoot- can control water
Rivermist- slender, blue-gray she-cat with triangular ears, a delicate frame, a twisted paw in her natural form, and deep, gold-flecked blue eyes, mate of Spiderstar- can shape-shift
Apprentice, Blackpaw
Goldenbreeze- long-haired golden tabby she-cat with bright blue eyes, mate of Flashpelt- controls the wind
Morningstream- tortoiseshell and white she-cat with dark blue eyes- receives visions of the future and the past
Winterfern- pure white she-cat with deaf ears and crystal blue eyes- telepathic
Apprentices: Quietpaw- small, skinny, snow-white she-cat with unusually large, light blue eyes- telepathic- mentor, Mosslight
Juniperpaw- sandy-brown she-cat with dark brown patches and green eyes- can alter fur and eye color- mentor, Oakstorm
Shadepaw- silver-gray she-cat with white paws and blue eyes- is nigh impossible to detect when holding still- mentor, Flashpelt
Darkpaw- black tom with dark blue eyes- can suck all the darkness in his presence into him- mentor, Lightningstripe
Blackpaw- black tom with large black wings and amber eyes- mentor, Rivermist
Tallpaw- golden tabby she-cat with blue eyes- can grow in size- mentor, Cinderfoot
Softpaw- golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes- can move silently- mentor, Smokeleap
Queens: Hazelfeather- light brown tabby she-cat with a white muzzle and blue eyes, mate to Snoweye, mother of Eveningkit, and Lightkit- can talk to birds
Kits: Eveningkit- golden tabby she-cat with green eyes, daughter of Hazelfeather and Snoweye- no powers
Lightkit- cream-furred tom with blue eyes, son of Hazelfeather and Snoweye- has telekinesis
Elders: Sightheart- black and brown dappled tom with gray eyes- can see inside cat's souls
Beetleclaw- small black tom with slender legs, and dark amber eyes- can control insects
Cats Outside of PowerClan:
Ash- dark gray tom with a dusty-brown belly and blue eyes
Flower- dusky-brown she-cat with blue eyes
Feel like cheering for Morningstream? Or did the story told by Darklight keep your mouths closed?
QOTC: Do you like their names?
If you spot mistakes of any kind, please tell me.
Until next time!
—Foreststar