Hey guys! This is chapter 3 of Rainfall. The suspense is on . . . will Cloudstar let Storm stay in ThunderClan? You already know. Allegiances next chapter.
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"Storm."
The dark gray tom swatted a paw and mumbled sleepily, "Let me sleep."
"Storm! Wake up, you lazy furball!" Something came down on his head.
"Ow!" Storm jolted and sat staright, cringing as he put weight on his injured paw. He glared at Harepaw, whose eyes were shining slyly. "What was that for?" he spat.
"Don't know. I just took pleasure of it." Harepaw raised one tan paw and thumped him again.
"Hey!"
"You two, stop it," meowed Reedtailhis voice muffled as he strolled into the medicine cat den with his mouth full of cobwebs. He set them down on the pile of herbs and mewed, "Harepaw, could you separate them all out?"
The tan apprentice muttered a "Yes," and got to work. Reedtail turned to Storm. "How's that paw?" he inquired.
"Better," Storm replied. "I can put some weight on it now." He demonstarted and tried to hide the pained look.
Reedtail's eyes sparkled with amusement. "It seems better. Let me see." The ThunderClan medicine cat knelt down and examined Storm's paw. "Less swelling . . . no sign of infection . . it's healing perfectly. You should be able to walk on it in a quarter moon."
"OK," Storm replied. He really liked the medicine cats. Reedtail was kind and wise for a cat his age. He liked to tell stories about his apprentice days and all the trouble he'd gotten into. Harepaw was fun, too, despite his constant practical jokes and smart remarks.
Reedtail had explained how the Clans worked, about StarClan and the warrior code. Storm found it all interesting, but at the same time familiar. He felt as though some cat had told him about this before, but he couldn't lay a paw on who it was. Would he ever know his past?
* * *
Storm padded out of the medicine cat den. He could finally walk around on his hurt paw, and his head was beginning to clear from being injured. Today, Harepaw was taking him to meet the other apprentices and warriors.
"This is the apprentices' den," Harepaw mewed, showing Storm a small den with brambles over the entrance. "Come on, you can meet everyone." The light ginger tom shoved through the brambles, leaving Storm to follow.
Inside, a dark gray tom and a gray shecat were sharing tongues. A brown tom was asleep on a moss bed. "Hey guys, this is Storm," Harepaw introduced the new cat.
The smoky gray tom looked up. "Hi," he mewed simply. Then he went back to sharing tongues with the shecat, who rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'm Longpaw," she mewed, extending her neck so she could touch noses with Storm. Storm recognized the gesture and did it back. "That's Shadepaw. He's grumpy today because he couldn't go hunting," Longpaw added the last part in a whisper as she motioned her tail towards the gray tom. Storm nodded and flicked his ears to show he'd heard her. Longpaw sat back down and licked Shadepaw roughly on the ear. "Don't be so grumpy, little brother," she laughed.
Shadepaw grumbled something then stood up. He shoved past Harepaw as he left the den. Longpaw rolled her eyes again. "Grumpy furball."
"This is Thrushpaw," Harepaw mewed quickly, motioning at the brown tom asleep. "Thrushpaw, wake up!" He poked him roughly in the flank.
The sleeping Thrushpaw snorted and opened his eyes, which were a bright green. "What?" he asked crossly. "Oh! Hey! You're that rogue that's been in Reedtail's den!" he stood up. "I'm Thrushpaw."
"So I've heard," Storm meowed. "I'm Storm."
Thrushpaw dipped his head politely. "Nice to meet you. I'm going to go get some fresh-kill. Wanna come?"
"Sure!" Storm brightened. He was pretty hungry and was tired of his diet of poppy seeds and scrawny mice. He turned to Harepaw and opened his mouth, but Harepaw replied, "No. I've got to go help Reedtail. Remember to come back and get your comfrey later."
"I will," Storm promised. Harepaw left the den. Storm felt an odd feeling rolling off him in waves, but he couldn't figure out what that feeling was.
"Hey, Storm, come on!" Thrushpaw's mock irritated mew brought Storm back into the real world.
"Coming!" he called, and he raced after the brown tom.
The fresh-kill pile was big that day. Thrushpaw took a vole and nudged a large squirrel towards Storm. Storm took it gratefully and they padded over by the elders' den to eat.
"So are there more apprentices besides you and the others?" Storm asked as Thrushpaw took an eager bite of vole.
"Yeah," Thrushpaw replied with a full mouth. "There's Grasspaw, Songpaw, Frozenpaw, and Jadepaw."
"Where are they?" Storm asked, nibbling the squirrel. It was tangy and delcious. The warm meat smelled exactly as Storm had imagined.
"Jadepaw and Frozenpaw are out hunting with their mentors, Tangleclaw and Thornfur," Thrushpaw mewed, swallowing his large bite of vole. "And Songpaw and Grasspaw are out on patrol with their mentors Redoak and Foxfoot."
"Oh." Storm took another bite of squirrel. "OK."
"They should be coming back right about-" Thrushpaw started.
"Hey, mousebrain." A white shecat nudged Thrushpaw's head and dropped a couple mice on the freshkill pile.
"Now," Thrushpaw finished. "That was Frozenpaw."
"Who's this?" Frozenpaw asked, swishing her bushy tail.
"This is-" Thrushpaw began.
"Storm," Storm finished, standing up. For some reason he felt he should stand up to this cat.
"Where'd you come from? You don't smell like ThunderClan," Frozenpaw meowed slyly. She took in his scent and her face hardened. "You're a rogue!"
Storm paused, then retorted, "No I'm not!"
But Frozenpaw knew she'd hit a pressure point. "See you later, rogue," she drawled, then she strode back to the apprentices den, her tail swishing arrogantly.
"She's such a jerk," Thrushpaw muttered.
"Yeah," Storm mewed, sitting back down to finish his squirrel. Frozenpaw had really annoyed him now.
"Hey Thrushpaw. Hi . . . who are you?" A new voice spoke up.
Storm looked back up. A pretty ginger shecat was staring at him with big green eyes.
"I'm Storm," Storm mewed. He was getting tired of introducing himself.
"Jadepaw," the shecat replied. "You new here?"
"Yeah." Storm polished off the squirrel and looked up at her.
"Nice to meet you, then." Jadepaw gave him a look, then she padded off. Storm stared after her. A feeling had risen in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't explain.
"So, you wanna go meet everyone else?" Thrushpaw asked, nudging the remains of his vole aside.
"Yeah, sure," Storm answered absentmindedly. As Thrushpaw led him around the warriors den to meet everyone, Storm remained absentminded. That feeling wouldn't go away. It still lingered when he went back to Reedtail's den at sundown.
* * *
"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge!"
Storm's ears pricked at Cloudstar's yowl. As he left the medicine cat den with Reedtail and Harepaw, his heart began to thud. Reedtail had mentioned that Cloudstar ws thinking about letting him join ThunderClan. Now Storm knew it was true.
"The time has come to decide whether Storm may join our Clan," Cloudstar continued once every cat was present. "And I have decided."
No cat dared to speak.
"I have decided that Storm may join ThunderClan to train as an apprentice," Cloudstar yowled.
Yowls of protest rang out throughout ThunderClan. A couple cats cheered, but mostly shouts of disagreement could be heard. Storm pressed his ears down and tried to look as if he wasn't there.
"Storm, come up here on the Highledge with me," Cloudstar mewed.
So much for that plan, Storm thought as he climbed up onto the ledge with ThunderClan's leader. Once he was beside her, Cloudstar meowed, "My choice is made. Storm, from this moment on you will be known as Stormpaw, and Amberdapple will mentor you."
Amberdapple, a young ginger shecat, leaped up to the Highledge and touched noses with newly-named Stormpaw. Stormpaw knew she could see the worry in his eyes as they stood side-by-side, but the feeling of two warm pelts on either side of him calmed the new apprentice.
The yowls of protest started up again. "He's a rogue!" Frozenpaw shrieked. "He can't be in our Clan!"
Cloudstar silenced them with a cold look. "My choice has been made," she mewed sharply. Then she turned and stalked into her den. As she passed Stormpaw, she hissed in his ear, "Come see me."
Stormpaw dipped his head quickly to let her know he understood. Slowly, the ThunderClan cats drained out of the clearing and into their dens. Frozenpaw shot Stormpaw and icy glare as she vanished into the apprentices den. Stormpaw sighed.
Amberdapple flicked her tail across his back. "Something wrong?" she asked.
Stormpaw looked at his new mentor. Her amber eyes seemed genuinely concerned. "Do you think Cloudstar made the right choice?"
Amberdapple's tail twitched. "It doesn't matter if you were once a rogue," she mewed after a while. "It matters if you're loyal at heart." With that, she leaped down from the Highledge and into the warriors' den.
Stormpaw turned, took a deep breath, and entered Cloudstar's den.
Cloudstar was sitting in there alone. Her eyes shone when Stormpaw entered the den. "Stormpaw," she welcomed him. "Sit down here."
Stormpaw obeyed and looked at her expectantly.
"I know you were once a rogue, and maybe something else before that," Cloudstar began hesitantly. "But you have the makings of a great warrior. You look just like my old friend Jayfeather . . . he mentored Reedtail to become the great medicine cat he is now."
Jayfeather. Another familiar name, another memory Stormpaw couldn't find. He didn't answer.
"Stormpaw, it will take time to earn the trust of your Clanmates," Cloudstar meowed. "It will take time to adjust to our way of life. But I'm sure you can make it through to becoming a great warrior. You may go."
Stormpaw dipped his head and stood. He turned to exit the den, but stopped when Cloudstar called, "And Stormpaw."
The young gray tom turned. "Yes, Cloudstar?" he asked.
"I believe I made the right choice," Cloudstar whispered, her eyes gleaming. "Don't let me down."
"Don't worry," Stormpaw assured her. "I won't."
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Sooooooooooooo? I think that was a good chapter! Don't you? Anyway, just review and tell me what you thought. The next chapter is the allegiances, and the allegiances only. So enjoy! Swiftpaw :D