Rise of the Titan Warriors

Chapter 4: Acceptance

Silverpaw was sitting across from Oakstar, retelling her dream from previous moons ago. Her old and wary leader listened intently, and when she was done, spoke immediately. "Why didn't you say anything before?" he hissed, amber eyes narrowed.

Silverpaw blinked her blue eyes and murmured, "Something told me I should keep quiet until they came, but I truly believe these are the five. Who else could it be?"

Oakstar sighed and lowered his head, "They did say they didn't know what they're here for… Fine, I'll assess them and offer to let them stay for a few nights. If something bad is to happen, it must be soon. We have to be fully prepared and we'll need all the cats we can get." He paused then continued, "Go get some rest, but first, please send Robin to me. He seems to be their leader." Silverpaw nodded, seeing as she was dismissed, and headed towards the exit of the den.

The sun was halfway across the sky by now, although the teen titans decided to get some more rest. None of them really fell asleep, but took the time to rest their tired minds. Cyborg was sitting up, taking his shift, and watched as different shadows came to take the place of their previous guards.

Soon, though, a third shadow appeared and stopped in front of the den. He recognized the cat as the medicine cat apprentice from earlier when she popped her head inside. "Hello! My name is Silverpaw… I need Robin to come with me; he is your leader, correct?"

Cyborg nodded, his senses now alert. He wished he himself could go with Silverpaw, but knew this was Robin's responsibility. Cyborg turned to his team leader and prodded the black tom cat. Cyborg thought Robin was a bit funny looking as a cat, for he was all black with a reddish chest and darker patches of fur around his flint blue eyes.

Robin blinked open those eyes and looked up warily. Cyborg could tell he actually fell asleep, but only for a second because Robin stood up quickly. "What's going on, Cyborg?" he asked warily.

The blue tom rolled his eyes and said, "Silverpaw here wants to take you somewhere.." he dropped into a whisper and added, "I think it's to see Oakstar."

Robin nodded and padded towards the exit, where a silver tabby kitten was waiting outside. "You're Silverpaw?" he asked, looking the kitten up and down.

Silverpaw purred and said, "Of course, mousebrain! Come on, let's go." And with that, she scampered towards the highrock. Robin shook his head, rather confused, and followed more slowly after her. They soon reached the big mound of rocks and crawled inside. The brown tabby leader was sitting on his nest, hunched over slightly. Robin noticed that Oakstar looked much sturdier when he had stood over his clan. When the old leader let out a little cough, Robin felt an instinctive spike of worry for the cat.

Silverpaw sensed this and laid her tail gently on Robin's shoulder. "Don't worry… Oakstar is a strong cat, but that doesn't mean he doesn't age," she whispered.

Oakstar's ears twitched, and he looked up to see the two enter his den. He sat up and watched Robin with wary eyes. Robin shifted uncomfortably under his gaze but sat beside Silverpaw. The old cat finally spoke, "You are from a faraway place."

Robin wasn't sure whether this was a statement or a question, but he nodded his head anyways.

"Now, tell me the truth. Why are you here?" Oakstar growled slightly.

Robin could see that Oakstar was very protective over his clan, so he answered, "Like I said before, none of us are sure. We were almost… placed here, but by who, I'm not sure."

Silverpaw's eyes sparkled, "He must have been sent by Starclan... don't you see, Oakstar?"

Oakstar looked between Silverpaw and Robin, an exasperated look on his face. "Do you have a plan on where you're going?" When Robin shook his head no, he continued, "Then it will be alright for you to stay here, if you choose, of course. If you accept, you will train as an apprentice seeing as you are still young, until we find what Starclan has in store for you. Also, if you are to train as an apprentice, your names must be changed. It is a code of our clan, and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves and five newcomers more than we already will." Oakstar took a breath and coughed a bit.

Silverpaw immediately bounded over to the old cat and tried to hold him as he shook. When it was over, Oakstar looked up at Robin. Robin's face was scrunched together as he thought. They really had no other ideas on where to go, and it seemed as if these cats knew more about their arrival than the Titans did themselves. He didn't like the fact that they'd have to change names, but he respected the clans' customs and knew the others would have to deal with it. "Okay, we'll join. Thank you, for everything, Oakstar."

Oakstar nodded and with a sweep of his tail to dismiss Robin, he finished, "Go, tell your friends. You shall receive new names tonight and will start your training tomorrow."

Robin suddenly had an instinct to dip his head to the leader before exiting the den. Silverpaw didn't bother following him, instead caring for Oakstar's cough. It was a good thing Robin was very observant, for he found his way back to the den rather quickly. By the time he entered, four pairs of gleaming eyes looked up at him with curiosity.

Beast Boy was the one to break the silence, "Well?"

Robin sat down in front of his friends and looked up at the roof of their den. He finally took a deep breath and said, "Oakstar offered for us to stay and train as apprentices… so that means we'll be joining Thunderclan. Um, also, as a law of the clan, we'll have to change our names."

It took a moment of silent consideration before the Titans nodded in agreement. Robin was relieved that none of them seemed to be defiant of receiving new names; it would certainly make this much easier. Robin nodded and picked himself up, "Right. Well, we have the rest of the day to get settled in, so I'm going to get to know some of the others. I recommend you all do the same, but don't give any information away about where we were before becoming cats… I don't know how they'll react to a story like that."

The Titans' guards had already left their post, most likely since Silverpaw had relieved them of their duties, so the Titans left the den. Almost immediately, Robin headed towards Rubywing and a mean-looking white she-cat.

Starfire was about to follow Robin until she noticed three pairs of curious eyes looking at her from one of the so called dens. She padded over on light feet and mewed, "Hello, my name is Starfire… what are your names cats of the clans?"

A little blue head poked out and mewed in a high voice, "You sure speak funny!"

Another kitten, a little white one, nudged the bigger of the two, "Don't be rude! You wouldn't like it if someone called you strange!"

The third kit finally emerged, with a brown coat that looked familiar to Starfire.

Starfire purred at the adorable kittens and said, "That's fine. It is understandable that I sound strange, for I don't come from here."

The brown tabby tom, the only tom, said with a squeak, "How far did you come from your home?"

Before Starfire could answer, she heard a voice behind her. "Now, what have I told you? It's rude to ask questions before you introduce yourselves." Starfire turned to see a slender pale blue tabby looking at the kits with affectionate dark blue eyes.

Starfire smiled, "These kittens are yours, I assume?"

The she-cat nodded and came to sit besides Starfire, "You assume correctly. My name is Ripplemist, and these here troublemakers are Mistkit, Toadkit, and Littlekit." Her tail swept over the biggest blue she-kit, then the brown tabby tom, and finally the little white she-kit.

Starfire purred loudly and mewed, "My name is Starfire, and how adorable!" She looked at the kits with gleaming eyes.

Ripplemist purred in response, "My mate, Cedarflight, the cat you met earlier, told me about strange cats coming to the clan. He seemed to trust you five, and you don't look like rouges… maybe you really are here to help us."

Starfire took a deeper meaning to her words and almost whispered, "What is there we could help with, though?"

Ripplemist ignored her for a moment and leaned down to say to her kits, "Why don't you three run along and get fresh-kill for our new friend, here? I'm sure she'll appreciate it." They immediately shot up and tumbled towards the fresh-kill pile, intent on getting the best prey for the newcomer.

With them gone, Ripplemist whispered to Starfire, "Before you came here, there were other strange cats. They were big and brutal towards their followers. Recently, however, one of Shadowclan's cats were found dead… you must be wary of other cats, for some believe that your group is the one to have done it, and the other clans may believe the same. Once a lot of cats believe in something, they'll stop at nothing to avenge their fallen clanmates."

Starfire's eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Raven found herself sitting near the Titan's makeshift den. She was thinking about everything that was happening, and how they'd get home, when she looked up to hear squeaking and mewling. She watched as three small kittens were practically wrestling to get to Thunderclan's food supply. She noticed that behind the kits sat Starfire, talking to another she-cat. The she-cat was whispering to Starfire, and Raven could see her fur bristling.

She narrowed her violet eyes at this action, but it soon turned to a look of slight amusement as the three kits tumbled towards the two with a bird that all three had to carry to manage. Raven chuckled slightly after realizing the she-cat must be their mother. Of course, Starfire would take a liking to the kits, Raven thought amusedly.

"Now, why would a pretty she-cat like you be sitting around instead of talking to your new clanmates?"

Raven swiveled her head around to see a pale tabby cat looking at her with mischievous amber eyes, and standing way to close for comfort. She immediately sensed this tom's cockiness, and turned her head away briskly.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I had to socialize with cats like you," she said curtly, closing her eyes for a moment.

The tabby tom laughed, "Touchy, touchy… by the way, my name's Beechpaw."

Raven looked at Beechpaw again with an icy expression, "If you want to know my name, it's Raven. Now please, stop with your insistent chatter, and please leave me to my peace… wait, how did you know we were joining the clan?"

Beechpaw shrugged, and smirked, before replying, "My ears are little too big for my own good, and sorry, I wasn't aware I couldn't talk to cats like you." His purr seemed to hold a deeper meaning and Raven felt her ears turn warm at his… flirting. Gee, some things just don't change, do they?

She showed her teeth a little when she said, "You shouldn't be messing with someone like me."

Beechpaw cocked his head, "And why not?"

Before Raven could reply, another cat came to stand beside her.

"Hey Raven, is he messing with you?" Beast Boy said, glaring at Beechpaw.

Beechpaw saw that Beast Boy looked about ready to pounce on him and said, "Of course not! Well, I best be going. I'm sure my mentor is looking for me." He began to walk away before looking back at the black she-cat and purred, "I'll see you around, Raven!"

Raven turned to Beast Boy, "I could've handled him, you know."

Beast Boy shrugged, "I know, but I still wanted to help."

Raven growled and turned away, "Well, since it seems fate wants me to socialize, I may as well talk to cats with actual intellect." She smirked at Beast Boy's confused face and padded away. Though secretly, she was grateful for his help, but she would never say that aloud, of course.

The day went slowly for the Titans, seeing as they couldn't leave the camp. They all did manage to learn things about the clans, and it helped them appreciate the clan cats more. It was finally unwinding to the end of the day, and the Titans regrouped when the sun set. Now, they were waiting for Oakstar while sharing what they had learned. Starfire was about to begin her story with Ripplemist when they heard a familiar voice.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!"