Ch. 24: Stingtail

Sagepaw flicked her ear as Larkpaw entered the medicine den, "Guess what?" she asked, and Sagepaw lifted her head from sorting the herbs.

"What?"

Larkpaw rolled her eyes, "My sister's out on her final assessment. We're expected to get our names tomorrow,"

Sagepaw looked at her, "Did you pass yours?"

Larkpaw shrugged, "We're not being allowed to know, actually. But I'm sure I did,"

Sagepaw nodded. She could care less about the black apprentice. The only feeling she saw for her was a slight uneasiness, which made sense, and a strange sense of loss that she could still not understand.

"How's your brother?" She asked instead.

Larkpaw padded up beside her, "Cocky about becoming a warrior. I think his mentor's told him he's passed, though he could just be guessing, I guess." She sighed and Sagepaw looked over at her with a smile.

"They'll be other toms, Larkpaw." She whispered. She had recently approached Stingtail, and had been greatly put down.

"Not around my age. I'll either be the kit in the nest or the cougar." She sighed, "I just don't understand…."

"Did he tell you why?"

She looked up at her, sorrow in her eyes, "No. None…"

Sagepaw smiled sadly, "Come on, you'll join me? I need to gather some herbs."

"Of course, Sagepaw. Anything to get my mind off of it…"

"He's my brother. I know he is a pain." She smiled warmly at her friend before getting to her paws and looking into Shadowblaze's nest, "I'm gonna go get some yarrow and nettle, alright? We're getting low."

He looked up at her and nodded. His eyes were filmy, and she frowned, "Are you feeling alright?"

He sighed, "I'm not feeling so well. Will need some chervil."

"Okay. I'll get some of that too alright?" When he nodded she frowned and padded away.

"What is it?" Larkpaw asked.

Sagepaw sighed, "He's ill."

Larkpaw frowned, "Should I stay with him?"

Sagepaw shook her head, flicking her tail as they exited camp and padded through the pines.

"Here's the chervil. We need some of this." Sagepaw said, picking it and handing it to Larkpaw, who held it obediently as they headed for the nettle.

Once they had the nettle they headed over to get the yarrow, but before they got there, Sagepaw heard a growl. She picked her tail up to signal Larkpaw to be quiet and stop, and she slowly slid onto her belly and into the underbrush, Larkpaw beside her.

When they peered out the other end, what they saw was not what they were expecting. Sagepaw's eyes widened, and Larkpaw's mouth dropped.

Shadepaw and Stingtail were facing each other, bristling, and obviously not training.

"What's going on?" Sagepaw whispered, and her friend shook her head.

"I don't know. They're best friends!"

"Doesn't look like it here…" She murmured, before turning back to the toms.

The little dark gray apprentice had his teeth bared, "She said no! Stop pestering her!"

Sagepaw and Larkpaw shared another look, Who?

"She doesn't know any better! Who else will be her mate? She can do no better than me! You're her brother, and I am the only other male nearly her age!"

"Larkpaw loves you, why can't you be okay with her?" Shadepaw snarled.

"Larkpaw is weak! Nightpaw's strong, and she'd bear me better kits than that gray wimp!"

Larkpaw gasped, and Sagepaw's eyes widened even further as she placed her tail along her friend's back, stroking her, hoping to calm her.

"How can he…?" Larkpaw was shivering, and Sagepaw knew she was trying to keep back the sobs.

"Come on, let's get back…"

Larkpaw shook her head, "No… I want to see this."

Sagepaw sighed, but nodded, curling closer to her side to comfort her, before turning back to watch their brothers.

"How dare you call my sister weak!" Shadepaw snarled, ears flattening, eyes flaring.

"She is! That one, at least. But Nightpaw could bring ShadowClan strong kits!"

"Nightpaw will not be giving any tom kits, least of all yours!" Shadepaw took a threatening step forward.

"She will! She will have my kits, I will make sure of it, and you can't stop me, Shadepaw! I will get her to love me, and she will."

"She can never love you!"

Stingtail's tail whipped back and forth, "How could you be so sure? She's a she-cat! She-cats are weak! They'll fall for any tom with muscles and strength!"

"Not Nightpaw."

"She will!"

"No. She won't. She can't."

"You don't know anything." Stingtail hissed.

Shadepaw growled, "She's my sister, I know her better than anyone!"

Stingtail rolled his eyes, "You don't know a she-cat's heart."

"I know this she-cat's heart. And it doesn't lie with you!"

"It will."

"No, Stingtail. It doesn't, and it never will!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes he does." Sagepaw's head whipped around as Nightpaw emerged from the brush, tail and head held high. She dropped the mouse she had been holding and padded up beside her brother.

"He can't. You're a she-cat! You are meant to be with toms!"

"Maybe that's how it is for most she-cats. But not me."

Stingtail glared at them, "What the Dark Forest do you think you are, then, cat?"

"I think I am a special cat. Chosen by StarClan to be as I am. And my heart could never be with you, or any other tom!"

"How would you know?" He hissed, looking more like an angry bee than ever before.

"Because my heart lies with your sister, and there is nothing you can do to change that." She growled, before flicking her tail, "Come on Shadepaw. Let's finish our hunt."

Shadepaw nodded and followed her, leaving Stingtail there in shock. He turned to their retreating tails as they picked up Nightpaw's mouse and headed out of the clearing, "You're an abomination, Nightpaw, and I'll be sure to make sure everyone knows it!" He switched his tail and bounded out of the clearing.

"Oh, god, Sagepaw! What are we going to do? We can't let him do that!"

"Why not? It serves her right for doing that." Sagepaw narrowed her eyes, but at Larkpaw's terrorized and depressed face, she sighed, "Well. Okay fine. We need to finish getting the herbs though…"

Larkpaw nodded.

By the time they returned to the camp, everyone else was there, and Darkstar was sitting on the branch above them. Larkpaw and Sagepaw hurried to put the herbs away and circle up with the rest of the Clan.

"Today we celebrate three apprentices. They have trained hard to learn StarClan's noble code, and today I commend them as warriors in their turn. Shadepaw, Nightpaw, Larkpaw. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Sagepaw settled down as they agreed, and their father nodded.

"Then from this moment on, you will be known as Shadestep, Larkdive and Nightfog. Tonight you will sit your vigil in silence."

The three new warriors nodded, and Sagepaw added her voice to the rest of the clan in calling their new names out.