3rd POv
Bluestar nodded towards Greypaw telling him to head back to camp before examining the two infront of her. Rusty a flame-colored tom, green eyes, young 6 maybe 7 moons old had a blue color collar with a bell. Shadow a plain black she-cat, green eyes, 13 maybe 14 moons old had no collar but did have a strange red rock that was connected to a black collar like band around her right paw.
Lionheart turned towards her giving her nod showing that he will support her decision. Bluestar in return nodded towards the two, "Then we shall head back now lionheart was right tigerclaw would be expecting us." Shadow Rusty nodded as the thunderclan cats raced off deeper into the forest soon followed by the other two cats.
Bluestar and Lionheart lead the way nimbly down the boulders to the bottom of the ravine, and pushed their way through a thick patch of gorse. Rusty followed, and Shadow took up the rear. As his sides scraped against the prickly gorse, Rusty looked down and noticed that the grass beneath his paws was flattened into a broad, strong-smelling track. This must be the main entrance into the camp, he thought. Beyond the gorse, a clearing opened up.
The ground at the center was bare, hard earth, shaped by many generations of pawsteps. This camp had been here a long time. The clearing was dappled by sunshine, and the air felt warm and still. Rusty looked around, his eyes wide. There were cats everywhere, sitting alone or in groups, sharing food or purring quietly as they groomed one another. "Just after sunhigh, when the day is hottest, is a time for sharing tongues," Lionheart explained.
"Sharing tongues?" Rusty echoed. "Clan cats always spend time grooming each other and sharing the news of the day," Shadow told him bunting in with her own knowledge of the clans. "We call it sharing tongues. It is a custom that binds the members of the Clan together." Bluestar continued giving Shadow a side glance. The cats had obviously smelled Shadow's and Rusty's foreign scent, for heads began to turn and stare curiously in their direction.
Suddenly shy of meeting any cat's gaze directly, Rusty and Shadow looked around the clearing. It was edged with thick grass, dotted with treestumps and a fallen tree. A thick curtain of ferns and gorse shielded the camp from the rest of the woods. "Over there," meowed Lionheart, flicking his tail toward an impenetrable-looking tangle of brambles, "is the nursery, where the kits are cared for."
Rusty swiveled his ears toward the bushes as Shadow gave the area a short glance before letting her gaze fall on a group of cats who were near a pile of dead prey. There was a pale tabby with black stripes and green eyes. The next one was a grey tabby with amber eyes. The last one was a muscular brown tabby and Amber eyes he also had a clear scar across his muzzle.
Shadow turned her attention back to the nursery as a ginger she-cat squirmed out through a small gap in the front. Most likely being one of the queens. A tabby queen with distinctive black markings appeared around the bramble bush. The two she-cats exchanged a friendly lick between the ears before the tabby slipped inside the nursery, murmuring to the squealing kits.
"The care of our kits is shared by all of the queens," meowed Lionheart. "All cats serve the Clan. Loyalty to the Clan is the first law in our warrior code, a lesson you two must learn quickly if you wish to stay with us." Rusty and Shadow nodded as a white tom with amber eyes walked towards the four cats.
"This is Whitestorm" Lionheart introduced, "One one thunderclan's senior warriors" Whitestorm nodded towards Rusty and Shadow before turning his attention to his fellow thunderclan members. "Who are these two?" Whitestorm asked his leader and friend..Instead of answering Bluestar leaped up onto the boulder and yowled, "Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting." Her clear call brought all the cats trotting toward her, emerging like liquid shadows from the edges of the clearing.
Rusty and Shadow stayed where they were, flanked by Lionheart. The other cats settled themselves below the Highrock and looked expectantly up at their leader. Rusty and Shadow could recognize Graypaw's thick gray fur among the cats. Beside him sat a young tortoiseshell queen, her black-tipped tail tucked neatly over small white paws. The large dark gray tabby from before stood with the other two near them. When the cats were still, Bluestar spoke. "ThunderClan needs more warriors," she began. "Never before have we had so few apprentices in training. It has been decided that ThunderClan will take in an outsider to train as a warrior…."
They heard indignant mutterings erupt among the Clan cats, but Bluestar silenced them with a firm yowl. "I have found Cats who are willing to become apprentices of ThunderClan." "Lucky to become an apprentice," caterwauled a loud voice above the ripple of shock that spread through the cats. Rusty craned his neck to see the who it was as shadow let out low growl glaring at the pale tome that was standing up and glaring defiantly at the leader.
Bluestar ignored the tabby and addressed all of her Clan. "Lionheart have met these cats, and agree with me that we should train them with the other apprentices." Rusty looked up at Lionheart, then back at the Clan, to find all eyes were on him and his sister now. His fur prickled and he swallowed nervously. Shadow puffed her chest out slightly to show that she is confident in her abilities. There was silence for a moment.
Now a deafening crescendo of caterwauling rose from the crowd.
"Where does he come from?"
"Which Clan does he belong to?"
"What a strange scent he carries! That's not the scent of any Clan I know!"
Then one yowl in particular sounded out above the rest. "Look at the toms collar! He's a kittypet!" It was the pale tabby again. "Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. This Clan needs wildborn warriors to defend it, not another soft mouth to feed."
Lionheart bent down and hissed into Rusty's ear, "That tabby is Longtail. He smells your fear. They all do. You must prove to him and the other cats that your fear won't hold you back." But Rusty didn't move Shadow seeing this placed her tail on rusty's should and nodded towards him.. The tabby continued to jeer at him. "Your collar is a mark of the Twolegs, and that noisy jingling will make you a poor hunter at best. At worst, it will bring the Twolegs into our territory, looking for the poor lost kittypet who fills the woods with his pitiful tinkling." All the cats howled in agreement.
Longtail went on, well aware that he had the support of his audience. "The noise of your treacherous bell will alert our enemies, even if your Twoleg stench doesn't!" Lionheart hissed into Rusty's ear once more: "Do you back down from a challenge?" Rusty looked towards his sister and got a supportive nod. Rusty still did not move. But this time he was trying to pinpoint Longtail's position. As he looked around before spotting him near Darkstripe and Tigerclaw (I got tired of using descriptions sorry)
Rusty flattened his ears, narrowed his eyes and, hissing, leaped through the startled cats to fling himself onto his tormentor. Longtail was completely unprepared for Rusty's attack. He staggered sideways, losing his footing on the hard-baked earth. Rusty dug his claws deep into the tabby cat's fur and sank in his teeth. No subtle rituals of swiping and boxing preceded this fight. The two cats were locked in a screaming, writhing tussle that flipped and somersaulted around the clearing at the heart of the camp. The other cats had to spring out of the way to avoid the screeching whirlwind of fur.
As Rusty scratched and struggled, he was suddenly aware that he felt no fear, only exhilaration. Through the roaring of the blood in his ears, he could hear the cats around them wailing with excitement. Then Rusty felt his collar tighten around his neck. Longtail had gripped it between his teeth and was tugging, and tugging hard. Shadow crouched lowley ready to aid her brother but before she could do so a tail was placed on her shoulder. She looked back to find that it was the brown tabby she was looking at before. Tigerclaw shook his head telling her to not interfere. Shadow nodded slightly before sitting down gently to watch the rest of the little fight. Rusty felt a terrible pressure at his throat. Unable to breathe, he started to panic. He writhed and twisted, but each movement only made the pressure worse.
Retching and gulping for air, he summoned up all his strength and tried to pull away from Longtail's grip. And suddenly, with a loud snap, he was free. Longtail tumbled away from him. Rusty scrambled to his paws and looked around. Longtail was crouching three tail-lengths away. And, dangling from Longtail's mouth, Rusty saw his collar, mangled and broken. Shadow sighed in relief for more than one reason. One being the fact that he was free and the other being that he got rid of that coller.
At once, Bluestar leaped down from the Highrock and silenced the noisy crowd with a thunderous caterwaul. Rusty and Longtail remained fixed to the spot, gasping for breath. Clumps of fur hung from their ruffled coats. Rusty could feel a cut stinging above his eye. Longtail's left ear was badly torn, and blood dripped down his lean shoulders onto the dusty ground. They stared at each other, their hostility not yet spent.
Bluestar stepped forward and took the collar from Longtail. She placed it on the ground in front of her and meowed, "The newcomer has lost his Twoleg collar in a battle for his honor. StarClan has spoken its approval—this cat has been released from the hold of his Twoleg owners, and is free to join ThunderClan as an apprentice. As is his friend" Rusty looked at Bluestar and solemnly nodded his acceptance Shadow nodded her own acceptance though there was a little hesitation. Tigerclaw who was still next to her noticed this but kept that to himself. Rusty stood up and stepped forward into a shaft of sunshine, welcoming the warmth on his sore muscles. Shadow followed him yet the shadows of the dens blocked her warmth of the sun but she did not mind berfairing the cold.
The pool of light blazed bright on his orange pelt, making his fur glow. As the Shadows allowed her pelt to blend slightly. They lifted his head proudly as Rusty looked at the cats that surrounded them. This time no cat argued or jeered. He had shown himself to be a worthy opponent in battle and accepted having a lonar who was experienced in battle and hunting for herself. Bluestar approached Rusty and placed the shredded collar on the ground in front of him. She touched his ear gently with her nose.
"You look like a brand of fire in this sunlight," she murmured. Her eyes flashed briefly, as if her words had more meaning for her than Rusty knew. "You have fought well." Then she turned to the Clan and announced, "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Firepaw, in honor of his flame-colored coat." She stepped back before turning her attention to Shadow.
"You blend in the shadows well.." Bluestar trailed of looking slightly frightened before hiding it with proud look. "From this day forward until she has received her warrior name this apprentice will be called Shadowpaw," Bluestar scand the crowd before her eyes rested on tigerclaw, "Tigerclaw you are without a apprentice since Ravenpaw became a medicine cat apprentice and you were a fine apprentice to Darkstripe and I hope you teach all you can to Shadowpaw" Shadowpaw walked up to tigerpaw and touched noses with him well aware of the tradition. Though surprised that not only did he get a lonar as an apprentice but the lonar knew the tradition.