Chapter Twelve
They met Deerleap at the mouth of the cave. The snow had begun to fall faster now, a thick blanket beginning to form.
"So, what's your new name?" Deerleap asked enthusiastically. Her bright yellow eyes shining with excitement for the new medicine cat. Despite the horrific vision she had just had, Fawnpaw also felt an overwhelming happiness for her friend.
"Well..." The grey she-cat began," Its Ripplewind!" The three cats bounced around happily for a moment.
"Ripplewind! Ripplewind!" Fawnpaw took a step forward with a curious gaze.
"Did you see her? Fadingwhisper?"
"I did. She is very proud of me." Ripplewind replied. Deerleap swished her tail and shook the snow from her back.
"Alright you two. We should head back before it gets dark." The trip back to camp was a cold one as the sun began to set. Snow now fell in heavy fleets and packed against the forest floor. As they approached the camp entrance, the fur on the back of Fawnpaw's neck stood. Whipping her head around, she couldn't help but feel as if she was being watched. Inside camp, everything was calm. Iris and Darkpaw were sharing tongues over a thrush near the Leaders Ledge. Oceanflight and Stormflash sat near the back, deep in conversation. But Smoke...Snoke was nowhere to be seen.
"Ripplepaw! What's your new name?" Sagepaw asked, trotting up to them. Behind him, Shadowpaw, Antpaw, and Lightningpaw came trotting up with excited smiles. They sat in a circle and began to chat happily amongst each other.
"Come on now. What's your new name?" Antpaw asked.
"Well...it's Ripplewind!" Filled with joy, they all began to cheer.
"Ripplewind! Ripplewind!" They chanted. As the sun finally slipped down into the sky, everyone made there way into their dens. Tallsky and Stormflash made theirselves comfortable by the entrance to keep guard. Ripplewind creeped into the medicine den, leaving the apprentices to their den. Smoke had not returned yet and this troubled Fawnpaw. Her belly tingled with worry. What if he did something to harm the Clan? They had only known him for a few days, so there was no telling what he was capable of. A tail touched her shoulder.
"Oh! Sagepaw, you scared me." She huffed. She turned to see his gentle green eyes fixed on her.
"Is something worrying you? You seem a bit tense." She twisted her paw in the hard dirt of the den floor. She was worried. She was worried about Smoke. But she did not want anyone to know.
"Yeah, I'm alright." Something in his eyes told her that he wasn't buying it.
"Why don't you take the nest next to mine. It's warmer back there so you'll sleep better." That did sound nice. A cozy nest of moss...Nodding, she found the nest and layed down. Across the den, she could hear Shadowpaw grumbling to himself. Fawnpaw figures he was jealous of her conversation with Sagepaw. He can deal with it for one night. The air grew warm and the darkness took over as she drifted into a deep sleep.