Me and wolfpaw shot through the forest, Exercising my healed but stiff hind leg.
My tail streamed behind me as I streaked through the trees behind wolfpaw, who was bounding easily through his territory.
We burst through the tunnel entrance to Rubyclan camp and he tripped, making me fall over on top of him, and together we wrestled around in the middle of camp, laughing as we pretended that we were warriors and battled each other.
I heard a yowl from somewhere, but I didn't pay any mind to it.
Suddenly I felt the wind get knocked out of me as a strong paw slammed directly into me, knocking me away from wolfpaw.
I sat dazed for a second before I recovered and looked up to see rosetail staring down at me in rage.
Her beautiful Blue-grey fur was fluffed up and her teeth were bared as she hissed,"You Onyxclan cats! You have nothing else on your mind other than mauling and stealing away the cats of other clans!" Her tail lashed from side to side and she crouched, claws unsheathed, preparing to pounce. ,"You may have taken my other kit, but you will not hurt This one!"
Rosetail pounced, hissing violently.
Panicking, I dodged to the side and ran blindly, Trying to escape rosetail.
As I neared the leader's den, I saw that the angry she-cat was gaining on me quickly.
Ahead of me, I saw one of the large oaks that made up the camp boundary looming in front of me.
I had an Idea.
Coming up to the tree, I bent my hind legs, pausing for a second to look back.
My eyes locked with the fuming elder's bright green eyes, and she pounced towards me. In the same heartbeat, I leapt up, My claws scrabbling on the wood for a good pawhold. Once I found it, I risked looking down again. Rosetail had crashed headlong into the tree at full speed and was now lying motionless at the bottom of it.
I gasped.
"Did I just kill a cat?" I thought to myself.
I slowly began to creep my way down the tree, but stopped when I realized that the whole of Rubyclan had their eyes trained on me. Most were hostile, some just shocked. Then I saw wolfpaw. He was standing perfectly still, his eyes trained on his mother.
When he looked at me, His expression was unreadable.
"What's happening?" A female voice asked.
The crowd of silent cats parted to reveal Wickerstar and the Reddish-brown tom I saw with her the first time I came into Rubyclan.
The Tom looked up at me, and I saw him slowly unsheathe his claws.
Paying no mind to who I assumed was her deputy, Wickerstar lightly padded up to the unmoving pile of fur and nosed at her.
Raising her head, she turned to her clan with a somber expression.
"Rosetail is dead." She meowed slowly.
Immediately, The group of cats around her exploded into furious yowls and hisses.
I heard multiple calls of "Mouse-brained Onyxclan cat!" and "You piece of foxdung!"
Suddenly I saw a Golden-brown blur shoot up the tree towards me.
Before I could move, I felt teeth sink into my scruff and pull me down off of the tree.
She sat me down in front of the dead body of Rosetail and sat in front of me, Fluffing up her fur threateningly.
"What are you all doing? Do you realize that this is a kit?" The she-cat growled threateningly.
"Yeah, but Emberpelt, This is an Onyxclan kit! She killed Rosetail!" Responded a pure white cat in the front.
I watched the circle of cats as Emberpelt launched into an argument about how it was an accident and how rosetail was just old.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shape separate itself from the clan and barrel towards me.
Yowling In fear, I leapt up and managed to land on top of the cat.
"Nights! Get off of me!" The cat yowled from below me. It was wolfpaw.
I leapt off of him, tripping accidentally and rolling into rosetail's body.
I looked around at all the cats around me, My gaze finally resting on wolfpaw.
He slowly padded closer to me and held out a paw.
Or a moment, I could not hear or see anything. I was trapped in a black bubble, the voices of many cats swirling around in my head.
All of those cats calling me names and calling me out on being Onyxclan born.
Suddenly I was back to the real world, and looking at wolfpaw offering his light grey paw to me.
Panicking, I raised my own paw and swiped at his, pushing it away, then darted away, Heading straight towards the camp entrance.
I heard a few cats break away and give chase, but they left me alone when I left the camp.
I sprinted through the forest, trying to find somewhere to go, my paws flying under me as I mindlessly sprinted through the trees.
Soon enough I managed to come to a large clearing with four large, tall, flat topped boulders surrounding a small pool of water.
The clearing held the stale scent of many cats, and I realized that this must be Rockpool, The gathering place that stood directly in the center of the clan territories.
Slipping between the rocks, I sat at the edge of the tiny pool of water. Looking around, I saw a small gathering of leaves and padded towards it.
I pushed my way through and sat down in the middle of the tiny cave.
My mother and I had frequently come here to hide from Foxstar's patrols and from Blackfur's hunts.
My stomach rumbled. I was so caught up in things that had happened that I hadn't noticed that I hadn't eaten since earlier when Wolfpaw had shared a plump vole with me before we went to the the camp.
That vole seemed a long way away now.
I sighed. Pulling the discarded bracken back over the entrance, I laid down.
The next two nights I stayed in the den, Scavenging for crowfood because of the fact that I had no Idea how in starclan to hunt.
The third night, I scented a cat nearby, and backed up to the very back of the cave.
Suddenly, a familiar, Slightly flat face poked through the bush and peered into the cave with narrowed yellow eyes.
,"I know you're here nights. Come on out. Wolfpaw's been hassling me all day trying to find out where you'd gone." Greenmane grumbled, but there was a hint of humor in his gruff voice.
slowly I stood up and creeped toward Greenmane, comforted by his voice.
,"Wolfpaw?" I asked. ,"He wanted to find me?"
Greenmane nodded.
,"Little guy was worried about you. He seems to have gotten quite fond of you." He purred in amusement.
,"There was also another reason he wanted some cat to find you." Meowed a smooth voice behind me.
I whirled around and looked up to see wickerstar peering down at me with a smile on her muzzle.
,"Nights, Would you want to join Rubyclan? It is clear that you are not able to return to Onyxclan, and I doubt that, because of your lineage, you would be accepted into any other clan."
I Stood looking at her, completely dumbfounded.
,"J-Join Rubyclan? But what about-"
,"Oh, don't worry about those mousebrained cats." Purred another voice as the Golden-brown she cat who protected me earlier bounded up beside Wickerstar, Her tail flicking slightly.
As I looked up at the three cats, I suddenly felt a warmth in my heart. These cats cared for me. They only wanted to help me.
Slowly I nodded, And we made our way back to camp.
On the way, Wickerstar turned to me and asked ,"How old are you Nights?"
,"6 Moons." I replied quickly.
Wickerstar nodded, and stayed silent The rest of the way to the camp.
The second we got there and entered, I was bowled over by a small grey shape.
,"Why did you leave? Where did you go? Are you ok? Any scratches or anything that my medicine cat powers can help with?" He meowed quickly.
Greenmane twitched his whiskers in mock annoyance and picked up wolfpaw by the scruff and padded off to the medicine cat den, most likely to give wolfpaw a good talking to, with a flick of his tail.
Meanwhile, I was walking behind wickerstar and Emberpelt, who was hissing fiercely at any cat who even looked at me sideways.
Once we got to the leader's den and the large stone, whickerstar jumped up on top of it.
,"Will all cats who can catch their own prey Gather beneath the boulder for a clan meeting." She yowled, the summons echoing throughout the camp.
Slowly, more and more cats began to slip out of their dens and from the corners of the camp to gather around me and Emberpelt, who gently wrapped her tail around me as if I was her own kit.
Multiple cats gave me low hisses or growls as they passed, and I found myself grateful for the fierce golden furred cat beside me.
Once the clan had settled around us and the hostile muttering faded, Wickerstar began speaking once more.
,"As you know, there is an Onyxclan cat in our territory." Wickerstar was interrupted by yowls of anger from the surrounding group of cats. She waited until they had quieted down until speaking once more. ,"Cats of Rubyclan. After some thought, I realized that this cat is unable to return to her own clan, and most likely not be accepted by any other clan."
A cat somewhere in the back yowled ,"Well who said that we will accept it?" Which was accompanied by some mews of agreement. Emberpelt growled angrily, but said nothing as Wickerstar continued, paying no mind to the outcall.
,"This has led me to decide to accept this cat into our clan. And since she has agreed to this, there is a ceremony that must be performed."
Wickerstar looked down at me. ,"Nights, will you please step forward."
Looking around self-consciously at the many hostile eyes of the cats around me, I padded forward and sat down in front of the Boulder, looking up at wickerstar.
,"If you Intend on becoming a full Rubyclan cat, you must be given a clan name. Nights, You have reached the age of six moons, and though you come from a different clan, It is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Nightpaw." Many cats reacted to this with hisses and jeers both to me and her, but she still ignored them. The only sign that she'd heard them was an irritated twitch of her whiskers.
,"Your mentor will be Emberpelt. I hope Emberpelt will pass down all she knows to you."
Emberpelt's ears pricked up in pride.
,"Emberpelt" Wickerstar continued after a second ,"you are ready to take on an apprentice. You've received excellent training from Greyfang."
The large grey tom behind me leaned forward slightly to whisper to emberpelt.
,"Don't tell me that My apprentice took on an apprentice from another clan. Onyxclan no less." He hissed in her ear.
Emberpelt turned her head to look at him and hissed for him to shut up and looked back at wickerstar, who had been waiting for the bickering to stop.
,"As I was saying, You have received excellent training from Greyfang and have shown time and time again that you are loyal and strong. You will be Nightpaw's mentor. I know that you will pass all of your training down to this cat."
At these words, Emberpelt stood and touched her nose to mine, purring slightly, a flicker of happiness and pride swimming in her green eyes.
When she stepped back, All of the other cats were standing there staring at me in silence, but that silence was quickly broken by two chanting meows of ,"Nightpaw! Nightpaw!" coming from the back of the group.
The sea of cats parted to reveal that those meows were coming from Wolfpaw and Greenmane.
I immediately padded over to them, Emberpelt following, and playfully rammed into Wolfpaw's side.
,"See? I told you that you would be able to join!" Wolfpaw mewed excitedly.
,"Yeah." I purred. ,"Hey, you wanna fight?"
I put up a paw and gently swiped at his snout. He jumped back and then pounced on me, Sending us into a writhing mass of fur and paws. Soon enough, Emberpelt separated us and looked at me.
,"Come on Nightpaw. Let's get you familiar with the camp and our territory."
I nodded and began to follow her, but wolfpaw ran over to us before we could go anywhere.
,"Wait, Emberpelt! Can I come? Please?"
Emberpelt looked at greenmane who just flicked his tail dismissively.
,"Why not?" He meowed gruffly ,"He needs time to stretch his paws."
Wolfpaw gave a yowl of excitement and ran up to join us.
,"Alright, come on. Center of camp. I need to show you where everything is." She purred gently.
She padded to the center of the camp and sat down with me and wolfpaw next to her.
,"So, have you figured out where everything is already?" She asked as she looked at me.
I nodded.
,"Well then? Where's the warriors den?"
I pointed to the den next to the entrance.
Emberpelt nodded and then looked back as she heard a friendly meow.
,"Hello Emberpelt." Said a lean white cat.
,"Hello Wispclaw." She said with a flick of her tail.
,"Training your new apprentice?" He asked as he looked down at me. ,"Nightpaw, wasn't it?"
,"Thats me." I meowed. ,"What's it to you?" I fluffed my fur up threateningly in an attempt to deter this cat from possibly attacking me.
Wispclaw purred and playfully jabbed at me with a paw.
,"Feisty one, Just like you." He chuckled. His black tipped tail flicked in amusement.
,"Hey, I'm not that bad!" She huffed indignantly.
,"Hey, aren't we supposed to be training?" Wolfpaw interrupted.
The two older warriors looked at me and wolfpaw.
,"You should learn to respect your elders wolfpaw. But yes, I guess you're right." She growled angrily.
Wolfpaw leaned over to me. ,"Good luck dealing with her, She's one of the most sharp-tongued, and sharp clawed, cats in this clan." He meowed lightheartedly.
Unluckily for him, Emberpelt heard him and he was given a nice swat on the head for his muttered comment.
,"So, where is the apprentice den?" She said, turning to me after threatening wolfpaw with having to get the elders ticks out.
I looked around. ,"Ummm, There." I meowed, gesturing towards the den on the opposite side of the Camp entrance.
As I pointed, a young reddish-brown tom padded out and stretched.
,"That's Halfpaw. You wanna know why he's called that?" Wolfpaw asked.
I nodded, and he called over to Halfpaw, Who looked up at us.
I gasped. This cat was completely split in half. The side that was facing me and Wolfpaw was the color of a sunset, while the other side was completely black. He looked at wolfpaw and gave a friendly wave with his tail, Then his eyes, which was green on the Reddish side and blue on the black one, slid to me.
He looked at me with curiosity for a moment before padding over.
,"You're the new cat, right?" He asked in a oddly deep meow.
I nodded. ,"I-Im Nightpaw."
He smiled at me.
,"Well, I'm glad to see a new face around here. I'm getting tired of seeing Lightpaw's muzzle." He meowed playfully.
,"Ehem" Emberpelt growled ,"Weren't we supposed to be doing something, or am I interrupting?"
,"Oh! Sorry Emberpelt." I meowed quickly.
Purring in amusement, Halfpaw turned away and padded off towards the fresh-kill pile, which happened to be next to the elders den.
Emberpelt showed me where everything else was before telling me to go get something to eat. She thought that I looked a bit too thin. She also said that I would need my energy for real training the next day. Wolfpaw agreed and offered to eat with me.
We shared a vole and just talked a little bit before i padded off to the apprentices den, where halfpaw was waiting for me.
"You can sleep over here next to me. It was Underfur's old nest." He said, gesturing with his tail towards the nest next to him.
,"Thanks." I mewed, padding over and curling up in the slightly flattened nest.
He twitched his whiskers in response.
After a moment of laying there, I spoke.
,"Hey, Halfpaw?"
,"Hmm?"
,"How come-"
Suddenly I was interrupted by an angered hiss from somewhere in the dark den.
,"Shut up mousebrain! I don't know how they do it in your clan, but here, we sleep at night. Got it you piece of Foxdung?"
Startled, I fell silent, not daring to speak again just in case I provoked an attack.
After a minute, well after the angry apprentice had seemed to fall asleep along with the others, I heard a gentle whisper from Halfpaw,"What were you saying?"
I looked at him, His eyes glinting curiously in the darkness.
,"Well, I wanted to know why you're being so nice to me." I mewed gently, dropping my voice to a whisper.
,"Well, I guess it's because I'm sort of an outcast in this clan as well. I am a half-clan cat. My father is the deputy, Heatclaw. He's that bit tom that stays close to wickerstar all the time. He has the color of the fur on my right side." He flicked his tail over his right side. ,"My mother was a beautiful fluffy black cat with a big white circle on her back. Her name was-"
"Moonrise." I said absently, accidentally cutting him off.
He looked at me, startled.
,"Yeah actually. You know her?"
I nodded," Yeah, She was a good friend to my mother. She sometimes brought us fresh-kill during leaf-bare when there was any to spare."
"Really? I never knew that." He mused, looking towards the dark and empty clearing in the center of camp.
,"So, why did you leave Quartzclan?" I asked.
He looked at me for a moment, his eyes unreadable, before he smirked slightly and laid his head down on his paws.
,"That story can wait. Let's get some sleep. If your training with Emberpelt, you're going to need it. Trust me."
I nodded and yawned. A cold leaf-fall breeze blew in from outside and made me shiver, forcing me to move closer to Halfpaw for warmth.
As I did, I felt him tense slightly, but eventually he relaxed.
Laying my head on my paws and tucking my nose under my tail, I allowed my eyes to close and fell asleep.
Just before I did, however, I smelled the strong scent of blood and felt the sticky substance in my fur and on my paws.
Darkness is coming, and a shadowed claw will strike it down.
XXXXXXXXX
Omfg guys, I'm so sorry! I just realized how many mistakes I have throughout this story from accidentally calling the Ancient clans the names of the current clans to Inconsistent descriptions of the cats over the chapters. I am incredibly sorry about this, and I am working on fixing these problems. Hopefully next weekend I will have all inconsistencies and problems fixed and i will be able to continue with this story.
Thanks for bearing with my scatter-brained-ness. Love you all 3
C-ya L8tr err-kitteh. :3