A/N Hey guys! Sorry it's so late! But as promised, here's Friday's upload! It's a little shorter than I'd normally like but what needed to happen happened :) Also, thanks to Pandean and Dappledleafthebootiful for their WONDERFUL OCs! Keep an eye out for the eventual appearance of Coldkit, Russetkit, and Amberkit of ThunderClan!
***Page break***
"You can do it Icepounce! Just think of your beautiful kits!" Ebonytooth nuzzled hit mate as Badgerfang stood by her belly counting contractions and looking puzzled. The silvery white she cat had been laboring since sunrise and made no progress but the medicine cat could not figure out why. The kits were positioned right, there was no excessive bleeding, but the kits just would not be born.
"Icepounce, when I count to three, I need you to push as hard as you can, ok? Ignore the pain as best as you can and just push." Badgerfang mewed, trying to hide his uncertainty, "One, two, three!" And the she cat began pushing, Badgerfang placed his paw on her flank and pressed, trying to feel what was happening, then moved his paw back a couple whisker-lengths, and leaned into her side while sliding his paw back toward her tail. He was rewarded by a pitiful wail and Ebonytooth jumping over him to grab the kit up. Letting the experienced father care for that kit, Badgerfang studied his clanmate again, while encouraging her to keep breathing.
Shortly thereafter, the second and third kit were born and Badgerfang was relieved to announce that there were no more. It was nearly moonhigh now and the mother desperately needed to rest. Satisfied that Icepounce would be ok after some rest, the reddish brown tom turned to sniff at the kits. Three little she-cats that looked quite healthy but unfortunately large for the small mother. No wonder she had such a hard time! Those kits are nearly as big as her! Badgerbreeze thought to himself. Icepounce had never grown much more than the size of a nine moon old apprentice and it was a wonder she managed to carry these kits at all.
Badgerbreeze slunk out of the nursery as Ebonytooth began rambling off ideas for names. The tom didn't seem to realize that his new mate had litters before and would probably not want to spend the night discussing names when she'd rather be sleeping. The exhausted tom wanted to crawl into his nest and sleep, but knew that his leader would want an update on his daughter first. Probably for the best, Acornstar has a tendency to fret when left to himself… Badgerbreeze thought as he picked his way across the camp and stuck his nose through the ivy that draped across the entrance.
"Icepounce gave birth to three she-cats; a black and white mottle, a white with gray tabby stipes, and a silver tabby. It was hard but she seems fine. I will have to check on her in the morning though to make certain," The medicine cat murmured, "Ebonytooth is with her right now." He heard a whispered "thank you" and he backed away and trotted back across the camp to his own nest.
***Page Break- Five Moons Later***
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Rockpile for a Clan meeting!" Acornstar's yowl woke young Splashkit out of a lovely butterfly-chasing dream. Why does he have to be so loud… She thought to herself, tempted to roll over and ignore the summons. I can't catch prey anyways so I don't have to go. She reasoned, she was currently almost five moons old and has been weaned for two moons as her mother left the nursery. Icepounce's health had steadily declined since the difficult birth and been long, she began to have fits regularly and stopped producing milk. Luckily the three kits were old enough to begin eating prey, and Badgerbreeze insisted that they would be fine to look after themselves while Icepounce moved permanently to the Medicine Cat's Den.
Murmurs from outside the den peaked Splashkit's curiosity, so with a sigh, the mottled she-kit clambered out of her nest and stuck her nose out of the den. Acornstar was not seated on top of the mound like he normally was during meetings, but was instead huddled with Berryseed, a patient but snappy warrior; Badgerbreeze, the medicine cat; and Amberwing, a cat who was given her warrior name just after the kits had been weaned. The two warriors seemed to be listening very intently to what Badgerbreeze and Acornstar were saying when suddenly all four cats turned in unison to the nursery.
Surprised, and honestly a little worried she'd broken a rule, Splashkit pulled back inside and clambered back in her nest. More than a little moss getting tossed around and landing on her two sisters. Ivykit hissed in annoyance when Splashkit laid on top of her tail, and Lightkit just rolled away.
The ruse didn't last long before Ebonytooth entered the den, eyes wide and tail fluffed with excitement. Splashkit blinked in confusion, Father wouldn't be excited if I were in trouble, she thought. Maybe something else happened? Curious once again, Splashkit jumped up, earning a swat from a squished Lightkit, and bounded up to the solid black tom. The mottled black and white she-kit peered up at her father, trying to decipher what might be happening. The elderly tom just purred and fluffed his chest while he nudged the other two out of the best.
"This is a meeting you will want to attend," He purred as he herded his litter out of the den. Once in the clearing, the cats already gathered shifted to give them a clear path to Acornstar. Splashkit looked up at Ebonytooth, somewhat confused. The dark tom gestured for them to approach their leader, and so they did. All three she-kits were slinking along close to the ground, uncertain of what would happen. We're only five moons old so I don't think it would be a ceremony, Splashkit thought, or could it be?
Now cowering in front of the light brown and white tom, Acornstar gestured for Lightpaw to approach him.
"I, Acornstar, call upon our Warrior Ancestors. This kit has reached five moons and it has been clear to us that you wish for her to begin training. I believe she is ready and I am willing to follow your instruction. From this day forward until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lightpaw. Your mentor will be Amberwing. I know she will pass down to you all that she knows." Lightpaw stood there in shock, frozen. The small silvery kit didn't move, much to everyone's amusement, until the named warrior came up and nudged her.
"Amberwing, you trained under Brownfleck and have proven yourself to be steadfast and courageous. I trust you to pass on all that you know to this apprentice and all that Brownfleck taught you." Acornstar continued, "For the task before us, assigned by StarClan, I know you are the right cat to help us reach our goals." What goals? Splashkit thought to herself, barely out of the shock herself, I thought StarClan didn't like talking to us except in weird omens and prophecies… The leader's voice broke her out of her thoughts.
"Splashkit, you, too, are only five moons old, but as StarClan requested; I, Acornstar, call upon my Warrior Ancestors to look down upon this kit. She is ready to begin her apprenticeship and from this day forward until she earns her Warrior Name, she will be known as Splashpaw," Acornstar recited the ancient ceremony as excitement and energy built up in the small she-kit's paws. Who is going to train me!? She pondered, quivering with energy. She focused on her leader's next words carefully.
"Berryseed, you trained under Ravenwing and learned much about patience and completing set goals quickly. For the sake of what StarClan showed us, I know you will do precisely that with passing on all that you know to this apprentice." Again, Splashpaw was curious as to what this message was they kept referring to. As long as it doesn't affect my training, I don't care! Splashpaw decided, as she scampered over to the black and white mottled tom and pushed her nose into the air to greet him.
Splashpaw struggles to sit still while Acornstar repeated his words with Ivypaw, assigning her to train as a Medicine Cat under Badgerbreeze. I never knew she was interested in that stuff! The mottled she-kit filled with shock, but otherwise was too excited to ponder it more.
Sparing a quick moment to look for their mother, Splashpaw glances over at the Medicine Cat's Den and saw Icepounce perched at the edge of the clearing. A scowl darkened her gaze, putting a slight damper on Splashpaw's mood. Icepounce had never been any fun. She never played tail-chase with her kits, had never played hide-the-beetle or even moss-chase. She had always been too frail and tired to do anything but eat the herbs Badgerbreeze brought her and let them nurse. Ebonytooth, who had retired due to failing eye-sight, had to make up for all the things his mate lacked in. It created a different bond than usual, but gave the kits a chance to have fun while they grew up.
Splashpaw turned her nose up at her mother, glaring pointedly away from her and stalked over to where Berryseed had padded to. Her new mentor was chatting with Acornstar and Amberwing. It seemed to be important so Splashpaw glanced around for her siblings. Ivypaw was mewing quietly with Badgerbreeze and Lightpaw was sitting a few tail-lengths away from their mentors. The mottled she-kit trotted over and sat beside her silvery littermate. Lightpaw seemed to have calmed down after her shock of an early ceremony, but was still sitting lightly, as if ready to jump up at any moment.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Splashpaw leaned over and whispered into Lightpaw's ear, "Could they be thinking about revoking our names already?" The thought turned the young apprentice's stomach harshly, but her initial energy returned again, "Or maybe they are talking about what to teach us first!" She exclaimed, earning herself a flick from Lightpaw's tail.
"What do you think they'll teach us first?" Splashpaw tried again excitedly, having lowered her voice again, "Maybe they'll teach us how to fight badgers and foxes! Or..or maybe they'll teach us how to fight three cats at once!" Silverpaw simply shook her head. She had always been a bit quiet, but when she did speak, it was always something to really listen to.
"I think whatever it is they decide will have to do with why they apprenticed us so early," She mewed quietly, "The Warrior Code tells us to wait until our sixth moon, but Acornstar said that StarClan themselves wanted this to happen." Splashpaw pondered that for a moment. Lightpaw sighed and continued, "Whatever it means, Splashpaw, it means that all of our training will be hard and fast. I think something big is coming." Lightpaw gave a little shiver and glanced back over at their mentors. What could be so important that even StarClan is breaking the code? Splashpaw wondered, then brushed off the concern when Badgerbreeze turned to them.
Berryseed gestured for the two to come over as Acornstar walked away, "We're going to be taking the training a little differently." He began, "We will be finding exercises that will teach you skills important for both hunting and fighting. And so to begin, we will go to the training hollow." Splashpaw was curious as to what he meant, but noticed that Amberwing seemed exasperated by the tom.
I wonder what happened between them. Just a moon or two ago I thought they were mates… Splashpaw wondered while she padded after the two mentors and her sister. Then she thought about how close Amberwing had become to Cedarstem, a ginger tom that was a little closer to her age. Amberwing and Lightpaw were chatting quietly while Berryseed every so often paused, as if to see if Splashpaw would catch up, but the young she-kit was content trailing behind and pouncing on leaves as they drifted down from the trees.
Once they reached the training hollow, Amberwing padded under a branch that was suspended about two tail lengths over Splashpaw's head and pounced straight up into the air, claws outstretched, and snagged them onto a single leaf and plucked it from its clump before landing carefully on three legs.
"There. That's what you need to do," Amberwing stated blandly showing them an unscathed leaf, "You need to pluck twenty leaves from this branch without pulling the entire clump down, shredding it, or tearing it more than a couple of claw holes." The pale ginger she-cat stalked over a fox-length or two before settling down and watching through half-closed eyes. Lightpaw began right away. Her first attempt didn't reach the leaves at all, but did succeed in knocking her nose against the trunk of the old oak they were vandalizing. Her second attempt she managed to snag a claw on a dry, brown leaf that crumbled as she fell back to the ground. Splashpaw watched for a moment before turning to her own clump and studying it.
So some of them will fail completely because they are dead, she focused, And I have to be careful not to shred them, so maybe I'll go for this one… The mottled she-kit pounced upwards with as much force as she could muster in her SkyClan legs and snagged a pale green leaf that was hanging slightly away from the rest of the clump. As she began descending, Splashpaw panicked as she realized that the fresh leaf was not going to give in to her attempt. She whimpered slightly as she claws slid through the veins of the leaf, catching underneath her claws and starting a small green stain on her toes.
Splashpaw landing awkwardly and crouched, staring intently at the leaves. Old will crumble before I have a chance to try for it, and new leaves will not give away very easily. So maybe the darker leaves? Splashpaw strategized carefully, wanting to impress her new mentor. Judging the distance carefully, Splashpaw pounced and stretched out her claws. She snagged the edge of the leaf and to her amazement, plucked it clean from the branch and fell back to where she stood.
Landing would be the next challenge for Splashpaw to master, and upon realizing this, began taking practice pounces on only three paws. Once she could hop around with the different balance, the black and white she-kit tried for the leaves again.
Splashpaw peered at the clump of leaves closely. Many of them were either brown or pale green, which would make precision very important. But a few of the perfect color were scattered amongst them and one was sitting at the edge of the clump. Splashpaw pressed her chest to the ground, braced her back legs for the pounce, and pushed up. She snagged her claw on the leaf, plucked it cleanly, and landed a bit wobbly, but didn't ruin the leaf. The young apprentice fluffed up with pride and turned to Berryseed, and purred loudly as the tom dipped his head in congratulations.
Purring happily, Splashpaw turned back to her tedious task and continued. Aiming to be faster than her sister, who seemed to have worked out a strategy of her own.