"Great!" Tigerpaw purred but her purr faltered knowing that she would never have a proper name. Just Tigerpaw, forever.
"What's wrong?" Tigerpelt asked as they padded to camp. Before she could open her mouth, Ghostface replied.
"Your sister is the bravest cat I've ever known," he purred. "She's incredibly honorable and she's the opposite of self centered." Tigerpaw glowed inside. Ghostface explained everything that happened.
"You called him stupid?" Tigerpelt interrupted. Tigerpaw nodded. "You are my sister! What happened then? TELL ME!" Ghostface explained the rest and Tigerpelt's face fell.
"That's just great," he muttered. "MOUSEDUNG!" Tigerpaw looked at the ground. "Tigerpaw, you deserve your name more than I deserve mine. Maybe I can switch it around and I'll be an apprentice again. You sacrificed a lot. Is that her?"
"Yeah," Tigerpaw mewed, holding up the kit.
"What's she called? Maybe Windytail can nurse her but you name her." Tigerpelt examined the kit.
"Uh…" Tigerpaw hesitated. "Reedkit because I found her in the reeds. What are your kits like?"
"Most are gray like Windytail," he mewed. "One is a tortoiseshell and one is orange like me but the orange one… he has twisted back paws."
-----------------------
Sure enough, the orange kit had twisted back paws. Tigerpaw felt bad for him.
"This is Pumpkinkit," Windytail said, putting her tail on the orange kit's head then she put her tail on the tortoiseshell. "This is Cinderkit." She continued to introduce the kittens. The gray she-cat kitten with a white blaze going up her nose was Streamkit, the light gray she-kit was Silverkit, the pure gray one was Ashkit, the dark gray one was Smokekit, and the other pure gray one was Pouncekit.
"Nice names," commented Tigerpaw. "So, can you take care of Reedkit?"
"Sure," Windytail replied. "Set her down." Tigerpaw nudged Reedkit to Windytail.
"Thanks," Tigerpaw whispered. Lionheart entered the nursery.
"Can I talk to you, Tigerpaw?" he asked. Tigerpaw nodded and followed him out of the den.
"I'm proud of you," he said. "You did the thing I would have done. You did the right thing." They started walking towards the river.
"Thanks," Tigerpaw mewed. "I just imagined Blaziepaw or Patchypaw abandoned like that and then the what I had to do was clear."
"Everyone's proud of you," Lionheart meowed.
"Yeah," Tigerpaw responded. "Reedkit will grow big and strong! I hope she has a good mentor. I'm sorry that you have to train me until one of us retires."
"I'm proud of you," Lionheart replied, shaking his head. "I don't mind. I'm honored to be your mentor."
"Thanks." Tigerpaw looked at her paws.
"Ghostface is proud of you too," Lionheart meowed. Tigerpaw blushed.
"So?" She tried to sound casual.
"He didn't like you talking to that ThunderClan apprentice," Lionheart continued.
"He doesn't like Sunpaw, that's all," Tigerpaw insisted.
"If you say so," Lionheart meowed. They had reached the river so Tigerpaw looked at the water. "Is it supposed to be that high?"
Lionheart looked too. "The level's rising!" Lionheart gasped. "Why… how…"
"Twolegs," spat Tigerpaw.
"What do you mean?" Lionheart demanded.
"Springpaw and I were walking along the river side and saw that, at the source of the river, twolegs were dumping loads of junk in the source! So, that couldn't have helped and also, it's been raining!" Tigerpaw yowled. As she spoke, the light sprinkle turned into a shower of sparkling, drops of water.
"We have to tell Snowstar," Lionheart mewed.
"He won't do anything!" Tigerpaw mewed. "All we can do is move camp away from the river for a bit and he won't do it."
"I'll make him," Lionheart meowed. "Tigerpaw, I promise, I won't let the clan drown. Let's go." They ran back to camp. Lionheart lead Tigerpaw into Snowstar's den.
"What is it, Lionheart?" Snowstar asked, lazily flicking his tail.
"The river is rising," Lionheart replied.
"So?" Snowstar asked. "It's raining, what do you expect?"
"It's rising too much!" Lionheart hissed. "Snowstar, the Clan could be dead by next moon."
"Enough!" Snowstar yowled. "One more claw out of line, Lionheart, and I will chase you out of this Clan. You and that apprentice of yours." Tigerpaw opened her mouth to yowl but Lionheart swept his tail over her mouth.
"Come on, Tigerpaw," Lionheart meowed. "Let's leave Snowstar alone." He led his apprentice out of the den.
"What in StarClan is wrong with him?" Tigerpaw was so distressed that she was near tears.
"I won't let him drown any of us," he mewed. "Don't worry. I'll keep the Clan safe."
"The water level is still rising!" Tigerpaw cried.
"Don't worry," Lionheart comforted. "ThunderClan will help us. I'll have Darkstream ask Ferntooth if we can go there."
"She can't make that decision," Tigerpaw mewed.
"No," Lionheart agreed. "But she can make it sound like she saw him on patrol and he asked."
"You're right." Tigerpaw grinned at him. "You're the best mentor ever! Bye Lionstar!" She bounded away, towards the other apprentices to tell them about the river. Lionheart blinked in shock. He was just acting like a normal warrior would. He wasn't anything special, although her words made him proud.
I hoep you liked it! So, please review to let me know. Sorry for the wait.