Chapter Three: Forgotten

Chapter Three: Forgotten

Bushykit's death was an…Accident. He and Whistlekit had been play fighting and things got out of hand. After all, Whistlekit was such a skilled fighter, but he didn't yet know how to control his strength since he hadn't had proper training. Instead of being punished, Whistlekit was praised. Winterkit receded into the shadows, and the Clan seemed to forget about him. The next three moons were uneventful and passed quickly as Winterkit tried hard not to draw attention to himself.

It was only after all the commotion of Bushykit's death died down that Winterkit remembered he'd forgotten to ask Foxpaw about the Gathering.

--

Fury lanced through Winterkit's heart like a bolt of lightning. He sat back in the shadow of the nursery, while Whistlekit stepped forward with his head raised proudly. Gingerheart stood next to her dark ginger son, quickly smoothing out his fur and purring too loud to speak. Copperstar had just called a Clan meeting to promote Foxpaw to be a warrior and to make Whistlekit an apprentice. Seedkit and Kernelkit had been made apprentices a moon earlier. They were staring at Whistlekit from across the camp with malice in their eyes.

"Foxpaw, come forward." Copperstar ordered, jumping down from the Highbranch. Foxpaw looked up at Birdcall, who gave a nod. The little ginger apprentice approached her leader, her bright orange pelt glowing in the setting sun. Copperstar looked up at the sky and began the warrior ceremony. "I, Copperstar, leader of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her as a warrior in her turn. Foxpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Foxpaw met Copperstar's yellow eyes with a steady, determined gaze. Her voice was strong and sure as she replied, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Foxpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Foxmask." Copperstar announced. "ShadowClan honors your compassion and quick thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan." She stepped forward and rested her muzzle on the newly named warrior's head. Foxmask gave her leader's shoulder a respectful lick and stepped back.

"And now…" Copperstar continued. "We have another ceremony as well. By naming apprentices, we show that ShadowClan will survive and remain strong. Whistlekit, from now until you earn your warrior name you will be known as Whistlepaw. Lightfoot, you are ready for your first apprentice. Pass on all your knowledge and energy to this apprentice."

"I will, Copperstar." Lightfoot stepped forward and touched noses with Winterkit's brother. The young cream warrior's eye gleamed with pride as she looked upon her new apprentice.

"Whistlepaw! Foxmask!" The Clan raised their voices to greet the new apprentice and warrior. Winterkit yowled his approval as well, though still enraged that his ceremony had been put off. This morning Sunstreak had come to tell Whistlepaw about his apprenticeship, but that Copperstar had said nothing about Winterkit. He was sure that the leader had simply forgotten about Winterkit. Winterkit sighed. Perhaps that was best. He got into much less trouble when everyone forgot about their demon kit. Even if he had to stay in the nursery forever, it would be better than getting driven from the Clan.

As the Clan began to break up, Gingerheart slipped past Winterkit into the nursery, completely ignoring her second son. She'd barely spared him a glance since the day Bushykit died. She was followed by Foxmask, who bounded over to Winterkit. "Winterkit, isn't this wonderful? I'm finally a warrior!" She was looking full to burst with happiness. Winterkit couldn't help be cheered up by how happy she was. But then a shadow flickered across her face. "But why weren't you made an apprentice with your brother? Surely you're old enough."

Winterkit looked away sheepishly. "I guess Copperstar just doesn't think I'm ready yet." He murmured, not meeting her eyes. Of course the real reason was that the Clan had simply pushed Winterkit out of their thoughts, but he wouldn't dampen Foxmask's spirits with his problems. Not today, at least. Not on the day of her warrior ceremony.

Foxmask gave the white cat a sympathetic lick. "You'll be an apprentice soon, I know it." She purred. Winterkit leaned against her, letting their fur brush. It was good to have a warrior friend who could help him against the anger of the rest of the Clan. When Foxmask pulled away, her eyes gleamed as if she'd just remembered something. "Winterkit, there's a Gathering tomorrow. and Copperstar's already told me I'm going. Do you want me to tell you about it afterward?"

"Oh yes please!" Winterkit nodded enthusiastically. He'd been so busy keeping a low profile the last three moons that he'd never gotten the chance to ask her about any previous Gatherings. This was finally his chance. Foxmask gave him another friendly lick and raced off to sit vigil by the camp entrance.

Winterkit looked around and saw Lightfoot and Whistlepaw leaving the camp. ShadowClan hunted better at night, and no doubt Lightfoot was taking her new apprentice out to explore the territory. Jealousy flared in Winterkit's belly for a moment, but he swallowed it grudgingly and forced himself to be happy for his brother. Whistlepaw should have as much fun today as possible, because once Winterkit got to talk to him Whistlepaw would go into a rage and force Copperstar to make Winterkit an apprentice. Foxmask was right: he'd be an apprentice very soon.

--

"Winterkit! Winterkit!" Foxmask bounded across the clearing to meet him. Winterkit lifted his head from when he was grooming himself outside of the nursery. He had stayed up all night, waiting for her to come home from the Gathering. The rest of the Clan filed in behind Foxmask, casting disapproving glares over at the young warrior and the white kit. Sunstreak padded after her, followed closely by Whistlepaw.

"How was the Gathering?" Winterkit asked, feeling another pang of jealousy as he wished he could have gone.

"It was fantastic!" Whistlepaw exclaimed. "Copperstar announced that I was made an apprentice in front of all the Clans!" He puffed out his chest importantly.

Sunstreak gave the ginger tom a light cuff over the ear. "Don't forget Foxmask's warrior name was announced at the Gathering too." He reminded Whistlepaw sternly, though his eyes glimmered with laughter. Foxmask licked her chest fur self-consciously, as though she was embarrassed to be singled out in front of the whole forest.

"Besides, more than that happened." Sunstreak's eyes narrowed. "RiverClan has a new leader."

Winterkit's eyes widened in surprise. He'd heard that RiverClan's former leader Stripedstar had been looking weary, as if he were on his last life. It was sad that the oldest leader should die, but he was curious to hear who had taken over. "So that means…" The white tom tried to remember the name of the RiverClan deputy. "…Shimmerpool is leader now?"

"Yes." Sunstreak looked impressed that Winterkit knew so much about forest life even though he'd never left the camp. "Shimmerstar is the new leader."

Foxmask wrinkled her nose as if she'd just smelled something foul. "Yes, and what a fine leader she'll make!" The ginger she-cat growled. "She's a complete airhead if you ask me. I spoke to her once at a Gathering and she didn't know what she was talking about at all! She asked me how the rabbits were running in WindClan and said we were mouse-brained for living up on the moors." She looked challengingly at the small group of cats. "Do I look anything like one of those skinny WindClan cats?!"

Winterkit let out a purr of amusement. "Of course not, Foxmask. You look like a beautiful ShadowClan cat." He didn't even realize what he'd said until the words were already out of his mouth. Looking away sheepishly, he flicked his tail at Sunstreak, willing him to change the subject.

And the deputy did just that. "She's quite a flirt, too." Sunstreak mused. "Just this Gathering Shimmerstar was talking to me and getting very close. She kept coming closer and I kept moving away, and she was batting her eyes and everything. Flashfire was watching from across the clearing and she did not look happy."

Whistlepaw nudged his uncle playfully. "Yeah, and you were looking really uncomfortable too, Sunstreak. I could see you politely telling her to back off."

A disdainful snort came from Foxmask. "Shimmerstar has flirted with about ever tom in all the Clans! She thinks she's pretty enough to get away with anything. If you ask me, Stripedstar only made her deputy because she seduced him." She lashed her tail angrily, glaring at her paws. "That's no way for a deputy to be chosen."

Sunstreak nodded sadly. "She's even younger than Cometstar, and everyone worried he was too young for the job when Dimplestar chose him."

"Dimplestar is dead?" Winterkit's head shot up in surprise. Dimplestar had been leader of ThunderClan since before he was born, longer than Copperstar had been leader of ShadowClan. He'd never heard that ThunderClan's deputy Cometfire had taken over. "When did that happen?"

Foxmask looked embarrassed. "Three moons ago on the night…The night Bushykit died." She mewed, not meeting Winterkit's eyes. "Cometstar told us that night that Dimplestar died not long after the Gathering before. He was old…"

"So that's two leaders dead in the past three moons…" Sunstreak sighed, casting a glance over at Copperstar. "I'm glad that Copperstar is still young and well. I don't want to be leader just yet!"

"I'm sure you'd make a great leader, Sunstreak." Whistlepaw meowed. "You'd be Sunstar, the great leader of ShadowClan!"

Sunstreak shook his head and chuckled. "Let's hope that day doesn't come for a very long time." He looked up at a yowl from across the clearing. Copperstar was beckoning with her tail from across the clearing. Sunstreak bid farewell to his friends and hurried across to his leader.

"Come on Winterpaw," Whistlepaw nudged him with his nose. "Let's go get some sleep." He started to lead the way across to the apprentice's den. Winterkit didn't follow. His brother looked back at him, puzzled. "Aren't you coming? Or are you going to hang around the nursery all night?"

Winterkit shook his head. "Whistlepaw, didn't you notice? I'm not an apprentice." He mewed. Whistlepaw must have been so busy with his own apprentice duties he didn't notice his brother hiding in the nursery all day. "I'm still Winterkit. Copperstar didn't promote me."

Whistlepaw looked confused at first, his puzzlement soon changing to anger. "This is about Bushykit, isn't it? Or because they thing you're a demon?" He snarled, unsheathing his claws. "I'm going to go tell Copperstar right now that she'd better make you an apprentice or else."

"Whistlepaw, no!" Winterkit pulled his brother back, his red eyes fearful. Would Whistlepaw really go as far as to threaten the Clan leader? Did he think he could murder Copperstar the way he'd killed Bushykit? "Look…Don't worry about it. Copperstar will apprentice me when she thinks I'm ready. I shouldn't draw attention to myself."

Whistlepaw didn't look convinced. "You're ready to be an apprentice now!" He insisted. "Come on Winterkit, you know you're twice the warrior I am. You're stronger, fasting and more cunning…"

"You're smarter." Winterkit pointed out lamely.

"You're bigger and tougher than I'll ever be!" Whistlepaw finished, rolling his eyes. "I'm definitely at least going to say something to Sunstreak. Copperstar has to listen to her deputy!" Before Winterkit could stop him, he dashed off towards Copperstar's den under the pile of rocks near the Highbranch. Winterkit sighed and slunk back into the shadows of the nursery, where he spent the night alone. Even Gingerheart had forgotten about him, returning to the warrior's den now that Whistlepaw was an apprentice, and their were no other queens in the nursery. Winterkit curled up in his nest and fell into a fitful sleep.

--

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highbranch for a Clan meeting!"

Copperstar's voice raised in the familiar summoning roused Winterkit from his slumber. He heaved himself to his feet and stumbled out into the bright morning light. It wasn't until after a few moments later that he noticed every cat in the Clan was staring at him. He looked around in confusion as Copperstar approached him, a resentful gleam in her yellow eyes.

"By naming new apprentices we show that ShadowClan will survive and remain strong." She announced clearly. Winterkit, realizing what was happening, bent quickly to lick his ruffled fur. Whistlepaw must have convinced Copperstar to make him an apprentice after all. "Winterkit, from now until you earn your warrior name you will be known as Winterpaw. Since I have no apprentice now that Wildpath is a warrior, I will mentor Winterpaw." Copperstar touched her nose briefly to Winterpaw's before pulling away with a flick of her tail.

"Winterpaw! Winterpaw!" Whistlepaw, Sunstreak and Foxmask cheered loudest, while the rest of the Clan joined in half-heartedly after a moment. Foxmask weaved around the new apprentice, purring loudly and chanting his new name. The other cats fell stopped cheering quickly and disappeared into their dens, muttering.

Winterpaw raised his head proudly. Finally, he was an apprentice of ShadowClan. Finally he could show the Clan that he wasn't a demon, but a valuable asset to the Clan. I'll prove what I can do. He thought. And someday, they'll all love and respect me.

--

Three more loooong months and Winterpaw's finally an apprentice. Hooray! Now we'll get to see what he can really do in battle, not just fighting with kits in the nursery. But his troubles are not over yet. StarClan has much more in store for our little hero.

…I have nothing else to say here.

Review please.