(Thank you all who reviewed and now for Ch. 3!)
Riverkit blinked her eyes open sleepily. She yawned widely and then stood to stretch. It was her fifth day in ThunderClan, and today was the day Firestar had said she would be made an apprentice. In StormClan, being made an apprentice was a big deal because you knew you were one step closer to being a warrior. In StormClan, she would have been called Trainee Riverkit, not Riverpaw. But now it was a big deal because she was one step farther from her old life. Although it had only been two weeks since she'd left StormClan, the pain she felt at being separated from her mother was dimming as she adjusted to ThunderClan. A small feeling of hate was rising towards StormClan instead. But it was only a very, very, very small part.
Outside, the sun had only begun to rise. Next to Riverkit, Silverkit, Moonpelt's pure white kit and almost as beautiful already as her mother, was waking up too. The absence of Riverkit's warmth had done it and now she too was sleepily blinking.
"Morning, Silverkit," Riverkit said sweetly. She'd grown close to the three kits in her five days. She was even somewhat sad to leave the nursery, but her friends that were her age lived in the apprentice den.
"Not a good morning," Silverkit grumbled. "It's too early for me." Riverkit purred then padded out of the nursery. Snowpaw and Spottedpaw were already up. Riverkit smiled at both. Snowpaw mewed a greeting and Spottedpaw raced over. Snowpaw tried, but his mentor, Spiderfoot, called from the thorn tunnel and he went over to join him.
"Hey, Riverkit!" Spottedpaw said as she reached her. Spottedpaw had been an apprentice for only two weeks and as a result of her smallness, her underbelly was soaking. She was a slim, though lithe, tortoiseshell amber eyes. Riverkit was jealous since she had only a silver pelt with a white bib and paws and blue eyes. Clearly she couldn't tell that she, too, was a pretty she-cat.
"I can't wait until I'm bigger and stronger! Then I won't always get wet." Spottedpaw meowed. Riverkit purred in amusement. Spottedpaw and Snowpaw- an all white cat, also with blue eyes- were the only two cats who had tried to be friends at first because she had refused to tell ThunderClan her past. Many of the cats had found it strange and accused her for misdeeds that she regretted. But not Spottedpaw and because of her, the other cats had warmed up to her.
"Yeah, me too," Riverkit said. "But that's normal. I can barely wait until I'm an apprentice and that's today!" Both cats purred and walked towards the fresh kill pile. Riverkit chose a rather small vole and settled down to eat.
"Why do you always choose the smallest piece of prey, Riverkit?" Spottedpaw asked for the ninth time. Riverkit just shrugged. She didn't really want to tell her that it was because she wanted everyone to think she was generous. It was just another secret to keep to herself.
Luckily, before Spottedpaw could demand why, Firestar appeared at Riverkit's side. "In about five minutes I'm going to do this, okay?" Riverkit nodded. She knew what he meant.
Firestar left and Riverkit looked over at her friend, anticipation gleaming in her eyes.
"Calm down!" Spottedpaw quipped. Riverkit batted her friend's nose playfully. She quickly gulped down her stringy vole and groomed herself. Spottedpaw sat beside her and groomed herself as well; making the excuse she hadn't done for awhile. The two joked until they heard Firestar's call.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Cats came out of every den and Snowpaw and Spiderfoot raced back into camp. They all gathered beneath
Highrock and Firestar who sat on top of the entangled branches. Firestar glanced around at all the cats seemingly counting them until his eyes settled on Riverkit.
"Five days ago, a young and courageous kit came into our midst." Riverkit shifted her paws around. She could feel many pairs of eyes on her now.
"She has traveled a long way under the will of StarClan, and has endured hardships that are so hard she does not wish to speak of." Firestar motioned Riverkit to start coming up. Riverkit got to her paws and Spottedpaw nudged her forward.
"I wish to honor this kit especially for these hardships and I know that she will make a good, brave warrior. From this day forward, Riverkit will be known as Riverpaw." Riverpaw stood on Highrock next to Firestar. He smiled at her and called out once more.
"Her mentor will be Dustpelt." A dark brown tom made his way through the cats and leaped upon to tree. She and Dustpelt touched noses while the rest of ThunderClan chanted her name three times. All three cats, leader, warrior, and apprentice jumped down from the tree. At once, Dustpelt and Riverpaw were surrounded by a swarm of cats congratulating both of them.
Spottedpaw emerged from the crowd and pulled Riverpaw away. The rest of the apprentices came to congratulate her, too. Only Oakpaw, Spottedpaw's brother, stood away from the group. Riverpaw had found that Oakpaw hadn't warmed up to her as the rest of the Clan did, but she didn't really mind.
Once the Clan had completely dispersed, Dustpelt padded over to Riverpaw. "I asked Brambleclaw if we could go on the border patrol in a while with Birchfall, Duskear, and Spottedpaw. Until then, go look around in your new den." He smiled at Riverpaw's happy yowl and then turned and walked into the nursery.
Riverpaw raced towards the apprentice den where Spottedpaw, Snowpaw, and Fawnpaw were waiting. All three were sharing tongues as it was that time of day.
"Hey, Spottedpaw," Riverpaw said as she lay down next to the other three. "We're going on a border patrol together!"
"Yeah!" Riverpaw purred at her friend's enthusiasm which they both shared.
"I'm sorry I couldn't say hi and wish you luck this morning," Snowpaw said apologetically. "I wanted to but Spiderfoot wanted to review a move he taught me yesterday."
"Cool," Riverpaw and Spottedpaw mewed together. They looked at each other and smiled.
"What did he teach you?" Riverpaw was curious. Snowpaw brightened, happy to be forgiven and a chance to show off.
"Well, it's a pretty basic move," he said, trying to cover up his showing off. "Spiderfoot said it was called a weave. Here, Riverpaw you stand up and pretend like your waiting for my move." Riverpaw stood and did as she was told, crouching down. Snowpaw purred in amusement but Riverpaw decided not to ask why. Snowpaw backed up to the other side of the den.
"Then I come at you, but not straight. I just zigzag back and forth so you don't know which side I'm coming at." While Snowpaw spoke, he had charged forward, doing just like he had said, weaving in and out, until he came near Riverpaw. She readied herself for an attack on the right side, seeing him look like he was going to attack that way. But instead he came from the right and bowled her over.
"Wow that was so cool!" Spottedpaw exclaimed. Riverpaw nodded as she stood back up, but it was slight for she felt embarrassed. Not only was it because she'd been knocked over, but she'd also realized that she had begun in a hunting crouch. Now she understood why Snowpaw had laughed. But she was determined to learn to both do the move and counter it.
"Can I try?" Riverpaw asked. When Snowpaw nodded, she asked another question. "Did Spiderfoot teach you how to counter it yet?" Snowpaw nodded once more.
"I'll teach you that after you try it on me." So Riverpaw watched get into a normal waiting position and then hurtled toward him, imitating his zigzags. As she did so, she watched him carefully, hoping to see the counter. Riverpaw was confused though. He hadn't moved at all.
But then it hit her. That was the counter! To be ready from either side, and not favor one when it could be the other. Right when she was supposed to hit him on one side, Riverpaw stepped one way and smiled when she saw him ready himself for the attack on that side. Then she quickly pushed off on that leg and hit his other side.
"Ouch!" Snowpaw yowled as Riverpaw tumbled into him. Pleased with herself, Riverpaw sat down licked a paw in satisfaction
"Gotcha," Riverpaw mewed. Snowpaw glared and licked his chest, annoyed. Spottedpaw had rolled over onto her stomach, purring and wriggling in laughter.
"Oh, that… was so… awesome," Spottedpaw said between gasps of breath. Snowpaw, even more annoyed, pounced on her waving tail. Spottedpaw let out a screech of fury, and the two began battling. Riverpaw viewed the playful war until both cats lay on the ground, exhausted.
After a while, Dustpelt and Birchfall could be heard from outside, calling for their two apprentices. Saying farewell to Snowpaw, they ran out to find their mentors waiting. Duskear stood, his tail swishing back and forth, waiting with an air of anticipation to be sure the other Clans weren't in their territory.
The five cats traveled slowly because they caught as many prey as they could find. It was nearing winter the harshest parts of winter, Dustpelt said, and they needed the most food as possible. No boundary existed on the north and east of ThunderClan territory because there were no Twolegs. Dustpelt told Riverpaw about when they'd had limited territory because of the Twolegs, who, as Riverpaw remembered Squirreltail had told her, had also completely destroyed all the Clans old territories to build a Thunderpath.
On the east side however, there were no boundaries because of the sun-drown place. Riverpaw looked up in her mentor in confusion.
"You'll see it after we see the boundaries, it'll look best then." Riverpaw looked at her friend, but she just smiled.
"It's really big, but I'm not going to say anymore." Riverpaw's next few steps were harder than normal, but the rest of the cats ignored her.
After a while, Dustpelt asked them to stop. When they did he turned to Riverpaw. "Can you smell that?" he asked. Riverpaw lifted her head and tasted the air, then revolted.
"That stinks!" she mewed in disgust. Glancing at Spottedpaw, she too had her nose wrinkled. It smelled sour and rotten; like crowfood.
"That's ShadowClan's scent," Spottedpaw whispered. "It stinks, doesn't it? Birchfall says they live in a forest like us, but they used to live in a swamp so they stink anyway." Riverpaw wrinkled her nose like a rabbit, and then saw Birchfall looking at her apprentice with pride.
"Well, shall we go on then, Dustpelt," Birchfall asked. Dustpelt frowned and Riverpaw purred with amusement. Birchfall smiled at the two apprentices, knowing they knew just what she was doing. Dustpelt saw the exchange and impatiently flicked his tail. Duskear was all ready to go and accidentally tripped over his own paws.
All five cats laughed and continued. Every now and then, Riverpaw lifted her nose and smelled two new cat scents growing closer. Riverpaw mentioned it to Spottedpaw. They were currently standing on top of a hill, gazing out at Silver Lake. It didn't look silver at all; just blue and green. But it was still an amazing sight all the same. Beyond the lake were more hills until Riverpaw could see no more.
"Yeah, that's ," Spottedpaw mewed quietly. "Can you see that island out there?." When Riverpaw nodded, Spottedpaw went on. "That's where we have Gatherings."
At once, thousands of questions popped into Riverpaw's mind. But she only asked the first one. "What's a Gathering?"
Spottedpaw looked surprised for a moment but quickly recovered. "Sorry, I forgot you weren't born in ThunderClan."
Riverpaw flicked her tail. "It's okay, I forgive you."
"Well, anyway, a Gathering is when almost all the cats from the four Clans come and don't fight. We discuss issues and tell news of our Clans." Spottedpaw looked dreamy as she added, "You get to meet cats from other Clans, too." Riverpaw glanced at her friend. Why was she acting like that?
"Okay, why's this Silver Lake so important?"
"Because it was the signal that this is where we should stay. In honor of finding our new home, we found places around it for each Clan, and because it reflected Silverpelt where StarClan resides, Squirreltail came up with the name Silver Lake." Dustpelt had entered the conversation. Riverpaw gazed at her mentor's smiling face. It must have been good to find a place at last after Twolegs had destroyed their homes.
But all she said was, "I see." Dustpelt frowned down at his apprentice but said no more. I wonder what he was thinking, Riverpaw thought.
Again, Dustpelt ordered them to stop. "Scent the air again, Riverpaw." Sniffing the air again, she smelled only a stronger scent of what she'd been smelling for a while.
"I smell two other cat Clans," Riverpaw said nervously, hoping it was two Clans that she smelled. Dustpelt gazed in surprise at Riverpaw.
"Well, your apprentice sure is smart, Dustpelt," Duskear said, just as equally shocked.
Spottedpaw rolled her eyes, and Riverpaw did the same. Wasn't it kind of obvious after the first time?
"Right, but that one that smells more like fish- you know what fish smell like, right?" Riverpaw nodded. "That's RiverClan, but you we won't be able to go over and scent them properly since they're on the other side of the lake. We'll be on WindClan's border in a few minutes."
Soon, they were. WindClan smelled a bit muskier. Spottedpaw told her it was because they were on a lot of moorland and ate rabbits.
At last, Dustpelt said they would go see the sun-drown place. Spottedpaw and Riverpaw yowled in happiness and began pushing their mentors forward. Riverpaw fleetingly glanced at Spottedpaw and all of a sudden, the world seemed brighter. She was happy she had friends and she could forget everything in her past.
The forest smelled wonderful after her six days of not seeing it. Moonpelt, being as protective of Riverpaw as her own kits, had not let her leave the camp. The two medicine cats, she'd noticed, had also made many trips to the nursery. Once or twice, she'd heard Moonpelt ask Leafpaw and Cinderpelt why they came in so often.
"Checking on the kits and almost mother's," Leafpaw had promptly replied. Cinderpelt had cast Leafpaw an odd look and then glanced at Riverpaw. Firestar, Sandstorm- Firestar's mate and Squirreltail's and Leafpaw's mother-, and Brambleclaw had all given her the same strange looks. But Riverpaw had simply assumed it was because she was new.
Thinking all these thoughts, Riverpaw didn't notice they'd stopped on a big hill until she'd really looked. What'd she'd thought was simply the sky was actually moving. Then she realized she was looking at what the other four had called the sun-drown place.
Riverpaw's tail drooped; she no longer cared about anything else, just this great expanse of gray-blue. In stretched on and on until it met the sky- much bigger than the lake- and Riverpaw felt her breath, her thoughts, and everything else leave her. She had eyes only for the sun-drown place.
"We'll wait for a few minutes since it is almost dark," Dustpelt mewed in the distance. Riverpaw was brought back down to earth hard.
"Sorry, why?" Riverpaw asked. She looked at Spottedpaw. Spottedpaw didn't look back, thought; she was just as mystified by the sun-drown place as Riverpaw was.
"Why do you think it's called the sun-drown place?" Duskear asked, smiling a bit.
Riverpaw shrugged. "I don't know."
They waited a few minutes and Riverpaw watched the sun rapidly sink. Behind her the sky was turning dark, but in front it was a beautiful shade of orange and pink. Suddenly, the sun was in the sun-drown place. Riverpaw nearly let out a yowl as the sun sank further into the water. The water was lit up in one blinding flash and in that same instance, was gone. Orange and yellow sparkled on the sun-drown place brilliantly, making the scene too good for any cat not in StarClan.
It seemed hours they stood, watching the sun drown like the name suggested. Finally, Dustpelt, tearing his eyes away, turned and padded away. The rest of the cats followed suit, but Riverpaw couldn't look anywhere else. Only when the sun was completely gone and a few moments longer did she run to catch up with the others. No one spoke on the way home.
When they were back in camp, Riverpaw came out of her trance. "That was amazing," she gasped. Spottedpaw just shook her head.
"That was the second time I've seen it, and it's just as wonderful every time." Riverpaw saw a shiver run down her friend's spine, making her fur shudder like she was shaking off water.
How smoothly the sun had let itself slip away. Riverpaw knew it would reborn again tomorrow; she envied its carelessness. Both cats grabbed fresh kill from the pile and plopped down to eat. Fawnpaw and her sister, Amberpaw, came and sat down with fresh kill next to them. All four cats talked about their days events. Fawnpaw and Amberpaw had been trained in hunting that day, and Riverpaw remembered she would be taught hunting the next day, too.
"I caught a lot, but I'm not really a good fighter," Fawnpaw said sadly. Her sister was just the opposite.
"Yeah, I'm not really good at hunting, but I'm really skilled at fighting." Amberpaw smiled at them. "Mousefur says I stalk like a lopsided badger." Riverpaw, Spottedpaw, and Fawnpaw all purred in amusement.
They finished off their prey quickly and headed to their den. "I'm going right to sleep," Spottedpaw announced.
"Yeah, me too, I'm practically dead." Riverpaw let out a large yawn to prove. She lay down and curled up, her fur brushing Spottedpaw's. Thoughts of the day threatened to crash down on her, but her mind said sleep, and so she gave in.
Okay, this time, it only took me a day to finish a chapter; that is a record! Right, so this is a really long chapter, and I disagree with you, Little Miss Sparrow, this is a very slow, boring beginning! I swear on everything I hold dear that the next chapter will be SO, SO, SO, SOOOO much more exciting. I should have warned you that the first three would be a bit boring, but the fourth is more exciting, so forgive me, O' Great Reviewers. Okay, R&R!