Here we are! Chapter fifteen! Hopeyou enjoy!
Ooh... some stuff happens in this chapter for sure!
"No, no, no!" Stoatpaw shrank back, his flaws scratching against the ground of Starclan. His fur fluffed out in fright; it wasn't the first time that Coppersnake had lashed out at him like that. "Your feet are always spread too wide apart! You'll never win battles like that!"
"I'm sorry, Coppersnake! I-I'm just not flexible enough!" Stoatpaw wailed, looking down at the ground of Starclan. Coppersnake breathed in, and locked his pale blue gaze with her amber one.
"Okay, Stoatpaw. I'm going to tell you a story. The premise might be a little questionable, but the moral is still there." she stood up, proceeding to speak as she adjusted Stoatpaw's form.
"A long, long time ago, there lived a she-cat. Now, she had a sister, and they were inseparable. But a great battle broke out, and their mother was slain by a ginger warrior with no mercy. As they grew up, our main character- the she-cat- found out that her sister was breaking the warrior code by falling in love with her mother's killer.
"Now, our main-character knew this was wrong. She took care of her sister and the tom, and was thanked by her leader. She became deputy and eventually the leader of her clan. But she was not happy. Cats out there were breaking the warrior code, and she believed it was her duty to correct their ways.
"She corrected the ways of many warriors, all who now reside in Starclan. Despite constant threats to the beliefs she preached, she never gave up." Coppersnake stepped away from Stoatpaw, her face pleased at his corrected form. "Stoatpaw... hmm. How does Stoatstar sound to you?"
His ears pricked. "I-I could probably be leader, but Tigerpaw wants it more than I do." Coppersnake blinked at his response, and shrugged. She leapt at him.
"Think of our main character! She never gave up what she believed. What do you believe, Stoatpaw!?" Coppersnake roared as she hit him on the shoulder, sending him tumbling.
Stoatpaw thought about it. "What do I believe in?" he whispered, just as Coppersnake began to advance. "I believe... that I am STRONG!" With a roar he leapt to his feet, turning just as Coppersnake reached him and kicking her square in the chest with his hind legs.
He chased after her, pouncing on her before she could get up. He began to go at her stomach, and leapt off once Coppersnake stood. He pounced on her back, but was soon defeated as she rolled over.
"That was better, Stoatpaw. Again!" with a groan, the apprentice in question stood up, going after Coppersnake once more.
Days passed since his last dream with Coppersnake. The she-cat had been right; he just needed to figure out what he believed in. And he believed that he was strong.
As he, Tigerpaw, and Mothpaw grew up, the hot, greenleaf sun soon turned cold. They continued their training with their mentors (and Stoatpaw with Coppersnake) despite the cold weather. It was Stoatpaw's first leaf-fall as an apprentice.
He found out that his thick white pelt was pretty useful this time of year. It protected him from the cold, which gave him somewhat of an advantage over Mothpaw and Tigerpaw. Those two would be concerned over their shivering bodies instead of fighting, allowing him to swoop in and finish them off easily.
Many things had changed within the clan. Sageberry and Sandfoot had finally come out as mates, and Mistyspots had her second litter of kits. There were three little furballs now: Dawnkit, a light ginger tabby just like her father; Stonekit, a silver kit with his mother's pelt color and father's tabby pattern; and Sweetkit, a light gray, almost white, she-kit with amber eyes.
It was a cold, leaf-fall day. Pineholly had just had her second litter of kits a couple days ago, and Sageberry was sitting in the nursery waiting patiently for hers. Stoatpaw decided that before Leafclaw grabbed him for training, he'd visit his younger siblings for the first time since they were born.
As he stood, he looked back at his body. Still thick and a little pudgy, but hey, three moons of training with Leafclaw and Coppersnake have done me well! I'm almost as big as Tigerpaw!
Almost was an understatement. To any other cat, Stoatpaw was arguably bigger than Tigerpaw. All of that training had helped him form muscles in his forelegs, and as he grew, it was obvious he was going to be as big as his father, Mossfang.
But Tigerpaw had a lot more muscle on him. Tigerpaw was a naturally good fighter, and his muscles grew like weeds. Stoatpaw knew that when he was a warrior, she-cats would probably swoon for him.
And then... Mothpaw. It was becoming obvious that she was half Hailclan, as though she had the endurance and muscle structure of a Steamclan cat, she was tiny and lean, like her father, Kestrelwind.
Brushing off these thoughts, he made his way to the nursery, where Darkseed was exiting. The grumpy black tom grumbled a greeting to Stoatpaw, and then left for his den.
Stoatpaw entered, mumbling a greeting to Sageberry, who was asleep. He made his way over to his mother, and was completely surprised to see four tiny bundles sitting there!
Pineholly smiled. "Hello, Stoatpaw. These are your little brothers and sisters." her tail swept away, and she revealed the four kits. "They don't have names yet; go get your brother. I'd like you two to name them."
Stoatpaw's eyes widened, and he nodded, rushing out of the nursery to find Tigerpaw. Luckily, he found him cleaning out the elder's den yet again. Stoatpaw shook his head in laughter at the sight as he called, "Tigerpaw! Mom wants to see you?"
Tigerpaw looked up, confusion on his face. "Didn't she just have her kits?"
"She did! And she wants us to help name them!"
That got Tigerpaw up. The young apprentice bolted upwards, racing towards the nursery alongside Stoatpaw (much to the elder's dismay).
The two rushed in, and Sageberry hissed at them. "Sorry, sorry," Stoatpaw murmured, heading straight to his mother. The two growing apprentices practically filled up the entire nursery, and Pineholly purred, revealing her kits.
They were beautiful. The first kit was pure white, just like Mossfang. When she opened her eyes to look at Stoatpaw and Tigerpaw, they were green. The second kit was mewling. She had a lighter version of Pineholly's pelt; it reminded Stoatpaw of Coppersnake. The third was big and had a dark brown tabby pelt. He looked like an all-brown version of Tigerpaw. The fourth had a tabby pattern just like her brother, but in some places, the brown was a lighter shade, making her look like a weird toroiseshell.
"Can I name the last one?" Tigerpaw breathed, and Pineholly nodded. He walked up and purred, "Hello there, Hawkkit. Welcome to the world!"
Hawkkit! One of his new little sister's was named Hawkkit. Stoatpaw loved it. Pineholly turned to him. "And you, dear? Which one would you like to name?"
Stoatpaw thought about names for each of them. He wanted to call the white kit Snowkit, and the dark brown kit Darkkit. But there was the second kit left. Looking at her one more time, and seeing a flash of amber in her eyes, he blurted, "I want to name that kit Copperkit." After Coppersnake, who's been so nice to me.
Pineholly purred. "Those names are wonderful! I think I'll name the white kit Whitekit, and the dark tabby Emberkit." Stoatpaw purred at those names before Pineholly sped them along. Tigerpaw bid him farewell to finish his job with the elders; Stoatpaw sat around, thinking about Coppersnake. She's been a great mentor, but kinda weird. Well, she is a Starclan cat. Starclan cats are weird.
"Stoatpaw! Stoatpaw!" he knew that voice anywhere. It was Larkkit! he turned around to see her and her siblings speeding towards him. They were getting big; almost too big for the nursery! They all had Leafclaw's broad shoulders and Brambleoak's long legs.
Larkkit and Hollykit began to scuffle, but Cloudkit kept going. "Stoatpaw! Is it hard being an apprentice?"
Stoatpaw thought about it. "Uh, no! It's not too hard at all!" Cloudkit nodded and then went to play with his siblings. Stoatpaw shook his head. Kits. What short attention spans!
"All cats old enough to wade in the pools, gather beneath the Hot Spring's Paw for a clan meeting!" Wheatstar yowled, and all of the cats gathered beneath for her clan meeting. Tigerpaw came up to sit next to his brother. Wheatstar continued, "The following cats will be going to the gathering two nights from now!"
The cats began to murmur and whisper between themselves. I hope I get picked! Only Mothpaw got to go last time!
"Vixenleg, Rowanleap, Mossfang, Darkseed, Leafclaw, Heatherfur, Sandfoot, Fuzzytail, Mothpaw, Stoatpaw, Deerheart, Kestrelwind, and Tigerpaw!" Stoatpaw yowled with triumph; he was going! Tigerpaw was practically jumping out of his fur. Shiningeyes, who wouldn't be going, touched noses with Rowanleap. It was obvious to the whole clan: they were mates!
"Okay, cats! Now let's get back to work!" Wheatstar yowled, and the cats of Steamclan cheered.
Stoatpaw looked at Tigerpaw, who was red in the face with happiness.
They were going to another gathering!
In the beginning we hear some plot important stuff, and in the middle we meet their little siblings after a timeskip! Hooray!
Thanks so much for the reviews, I appreciate it so much! 3
This chapter was beta'd by SilverMidnightMoon!