Chapter 28
Heylo thar! Here's another chapter! Sorry it took some extra time, I had a book report. ;) Enjoy.
The forest had calmed down after a few days of mourning, repairing, and healing. And the RiverClan camp was patched up and functioning the way it was supposed to again. One could almost believe nothing tragic had stricken the poor cats of the forest.
Bubblestar scanned her camp with affection. Nothing was broken anymore, and cats were out hunting, or lazing around and sharing tongues.
She jumped up onto Stone Mound. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather around Stone Mound!" she yowled.
RiverClan trickled in around their leader excitedly. When the cats were all there and the yammer had died down, Bubblestar spoke again.
"Let Ribbonpaw, Featherpaw and Wreathpaw come forward," she meowed, loud and steady. The three apprentices stepped to the front, their big eyes shining. "Wreathpaw, do you promise to follow the warrior code?" she asked.
Wreathpaw nodded. "I do."
"Then from now on, you shall be known as Wreathberry." She laid her muzzle down on Wreathberry's head as the Clan chanted her name.
When Wreathberry had jumped down off of Stone Mound, Bubblestar called Featherpaw forward. "Featherpaw, do you promise to follow the warrior code?"
"I do," Featherpaw replied, dipping her head.
"Then you shall now be known as Feathersong."
When the Clan was done chanting her name, Feathersong clambered down off Stone Mound and went over to Nightfur, who swiped his tongue over her ear proudly.
"Next," Bubblestar meowed, "is Ribbonpaw."
Ribbonpaw was in front of his leader in a second, his eyes shining and his ears constantly twitching with excitement.
"Do you promise to follow the warrior code?" Bubblestar asked, looking proudly down on her apprentice.
"Yes!" Ribbonpaw near shouted back. "I mean, I do."
"Then from now on," Bubblestar announced, her heart swelling, "you shall be known as Ribbonflame."
She rested her muzzle on the new warriors head, hearing the chanting. "Ribbonflame! Ribbonflame! Ribbonflame!"
"Thank you," Ribbonflame whispered.
"No," she whispered back, "thank you."
She straightened up again. "Tonight our new warriors will keep a silent vigil." Her head swivelled over to Vixenfur. "Dogkit, Moosekit, Eclipsekit and Deerkit, please come to Stone Mound."
Vixenfur's four kits scrambled to be beside the leader and the ceremony commenced. Dogpaw's mentor was Mousepelt, Moosepaw's mentor was Squirreltail, Eclipsepaw's mentor was Skyfoot, and Deerpaw's mentor was Badgerface.
Just as Bubblestar was going to bring the ceremony to a close and send all of the cats back to their duties, Turtlestorm called out, "Who is your new deputy?"
She froze, her heart skipping a beat. She tried to speak but choked on the words until finally she managed, "Honestly, I haven't thought of that."
"You must choose a new deputy," another warrior urged.
Bubblestar swallowed hard, her mind reeling. She did have to pick a new deputy...but who? She lifted her head and scanned the crowd.
After a long moment , she took a deep breath. She couldn't keep her Clan waiting on this. She should have chosen her new deputy days ago.
"Nightfur," she announced at last. "Nightfur will be the new deputy of RiverClan."
A ripple of shock went through the black warrior. "You want...me?" he asked incredulously.
Bubblestar nodded with an amused look on her face. "You can get everyone motivated, and people will listen to you when you give orders. But when you get confused, please go to Mistyleaf for advice. And I'm sure you will get confused."
A mrrow of laughter went through the crowd, and Mistyleaf flicked her tail playfully at her brother. Nightfur raised his head again, his eyes shining and confident. "Right then," he meowed, determined. "I'll do it."
Bubblestar smiled. She knew she'd have fun with her brother beside her, and with their sister close behind, as well as run the Clan well.
The leader hopped down from Stone Mound. "Well...back to your duties, everyone! Nightfur will assign all the patrols." She winked at her new deputy, then padded off to her den.
In the comfort of her own company, Bubblestar lay down to think. Now that the main problems of the Clan had been solved, the biggest one remained, the most important one that needed to be addressed as soon as possible—what was she going to do about Coyotefur? She obviously couldn't abandon her Clan, so that ruled out running away and converting to WindClan. But she couldn't ask him to come and live with RiverClan, to leave everything he had for her...
Accidentally, she fell asleep as she brooded.
Her eyes shot open and she leapt up, feeling embarrassed. She had only meant to rest and think for a little while, but how long had she been asleep?
Then she took in her surroundings. She was in the old RiverClan.
"Riverstar?" she called out.
The grey tom came out of his den with a glow in his eyes. The she-cat identical to Coyotefur followed, also looking pleased.
"You did it!" he cried in glee, pressing his muzzle against her flank with a purr. "You fulfilled the prophecy."
"Yeah," she murmured, embarrassed but happy at the original RiverClan leader's praise.
"Thank you so much," he purred, his sparkling eyes looking deeply into hers. "I knew I could count on you, Bubblestar. You did it perfectly."
Silvertail nodded behind him, a smile in her wise eyes. "You did it better than even he could have," she mewed, jerking her head towards her master.
He whipped around on her, looking hurt. "Hey!"
She smiled at him, and their tails twined together. The gesture brought a wave of despair crashing over Bubblestar.
"But I still have one more problem, Riverstar and Silvertail," she meowed, a hint of desperation in her voice. "I love Coyotefur so much. I want to be with him all the time. But I can't leave my Clan, and I can't ask him to leave his. What should I do?"
A knowing look passed over the deceased tom's face. "Don't worry. The bloodline will once again be pure soon enough."
Bubblestar blinked, her mouth opening slightly. "Wh—what does that mean!" she asked, feeling a lump form in her throat. She looked over to Silvertail. "Will you give me a straight answer?"
A chuckle came from the she-cat's throat. "Unfortunately, I cannot. It will all be clear soon enough. Things will again be set straight."
Just as Bubblestar was about to yowl for a better answer, the scene fell away into darkness and she found herself awake in her own den. With a sigh, she dropped her head heavily onto her paws.
It warmed Bubblestar's heart to see the new apprentices training so hard. She was watching on as Eclipsepaw and Moosepaw trained with their mentors together with Dreamfur and Vixenfur.
"Honestly, I was a little worried they wouldn't be able to focus," she meowed, "being Dreamfur's kits. But they seem to have taken on Vixenfur's concentration."
Dreamfur moaned in protest and cuffed her ear as Vixenfur laughed. "You two haven't changed since Bubblestar was an apprentice and Dreamfur was her mentor."
Dreamfur and Bubblestar exchanged a fond look. Dreamfur had been the best mentor ever, she thought. He had gotten over his depression about his failure as leader and was back to normal. He had made sure to let Bubblestar know he had no desire to be deputy again.
"They're going to be fabulous warriors," Bubblestar meowed.
Dreamfur's eyes shone proudly and he ran his tongue over Vixenfur's ear. "I know."
Feathersong came over to Bubblestar, looking strained and slightly confused, as if she weren't sure if she should be running or walking calmly. The leader said goodbye to her friends and followed the young warrior. "What is it?" she asked.
"Uhm..." Feathersong glanced over her should to look at Bubblestar. "I don't know whether to call him an intruder or not."
Before she could question that, they reached the camp entrance and she understood immediately.
Coyotefur stood, waiting, his silver pelt glistening in the sunlight. Two warriors were stationed cautiously by his sides to make sure he didn't try anything.
"Coyotefur," Bubblestar meowed, keeping her voice even. She swallowed hard as she flicked her tail toward the camp. "Please, come in..."
He took a tentative step forward. "Uhm, there's something I need to talk to you about, Bubblestar..."
Well, what is it you want to talk about, Coyotefur? We'll find out if you review! :) Tell me in that review what you think Coyotefur should do.