Four sunsets and sunrises past while Tiny stayed in ThunderClan's camp healing; he practically met everyone in the Clan by then. Ravenpaw and Graypaw, along with the other apprentices, spent most of their days training, so the black tom spent most of his days with the rest of the Clan, trying to avoid the medicine cat most of the time.
He spent much of his time with the elders, listening to stories of the four Clans, their warrior code and ancestors. He also entertains the kits, which the queens felt grateful to him for doing. He had been amazed meeting the kits the first time as he had never met any cat younger or smaller than him and all the kits were that.
He was sitting with the kits and elders as Halftail told the story of how a badger bit off half of his tail, when Bluestar approached. The kits were distracted first. Noticing that most of his audience's attention were gone, Halftail turned his head to see his leader. "Bluestar, is there anything I can help you with?"
"I was trying not to distract your listeners but it appears I wasn't so successful," the blue-gray she-cat meowed with calm bemusement.
"Nothing can keep their attention when ThunderClan's leader stops by," Halftail purred.
"I wish to speak with our guest in private," Bluestar meowed, looking the black kittypet in the eye and making a beckoning motion to follow with her tail.
Tiny nods and followed her to where she lead him into the leader's den. He already knew what this talk would be probably be about, if he's returning to twoleg place or not. He looked over his shoulder at ThunderClan's kits and elders, wishing he could of stay with them longer to finish the story. Pushing his way past the lichen curtain covering the entrance of the leader's den, he saw it was quite spacious inside.
"Tigerclaw has informed me that you are ready to make the return journey to your twolegs," Bluestar said as she sat down, gaze not wavering from his eyes. "On your first day in ThunderClan I extended an invitation to join ThunderClan, now is the time for your answer."
The small tom fidgeting under her gaze as he thought of his answer. He thought of living with his mother, the threat of being drowned in the river by the Twolegs seemed so much smaller now than it had been once; but he also thought about the time he spent with ThunderClan so far. His own gaze turned to his paws, one black and one white. "If I join ThunderClan, will you change my name?"
"Yes, most cats who join the Clans are given a name that fits in with the naming taditions of the the Clans,," Bluestar answered.
"I want to join," Tiny mewed quietly, before staring up and into the leader's eyes and saying louder, "I want to join ThunderClan and get rid of the name Tiny."
Bluestar gave a blink of understanding. "That is doable," she responded.
He let out a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to keep this name he has hated for so long. His thoughts however lingered on his mother and worry grew inside him. "Can I visit my mother first? Since I've been here she must have been very worried about me. I want to tell her that she won't have to worry about me anymore," he meowed his request.
"That is very thoughtful of you. I'll put together a patrol to help guide you back to twoleg place to say your farewells," she said as she got to her paws and walked out of her den.
Tiny followed her out and darted toward the medicine cat's den. He barely gave notice to the medicine cat inside of it as he dug through his nest to find where he put his ruined collar. "Is the little kittypet finally leaving? About time," Tigerclaw hissed.
The black tom turned to face the tabby. "I'm returning this," he meowed, "and then I am staying here."
Amber eyes blazed his hatred as he glared into Tiny, "You won't stand long, kittypet. Kittypets are weak and and you are the weakest kittypet I've ever seen. You will be crawling back to your twolegs soon enough."
"Then I'll prove you wrong," Tiny mewed before picking up the collar and slipping his way out of the den as quickly as he could, heart pounding. Why he do that? Even though the tabby was a medicine cat, Tiny felt that if Tigerclaw wanted to he could snap his spine in two and not bat an eye.
As he tried to calm his beating heart from that encounter, he looked up and saw that Bluestar was standing by the camp's entrance with Shadepelt and Longtail. Tiny stepped up to the three cats, feeling nervous around the two toms. In his stay with ThunderClan so far, he hadn't interacted with Shadepelt since the warrior gave him his ruined collar and he barely interacted with Longtail and even then it was usually when Stonefall was nearby.
"Shadepelt and Longtail will take you closest to where your twoleg den is and will guide you back to camp once you have said your goodbyes," Bluestar informed before padded back further into camp.
"Come on, little kittypet," Longtail grunted as started padding out the entrance in long strides with the other warrior.
Tiny bolted forward, nearly tripping over his own paws in an effort to keep up with the two long-legged warriors. The trek was done in silence, Shadepelt taking the lead through the forest toward the border of twoleg place. Longtail followed behind his fellow warrior, looking that he wanted to be elsewhere but kept an eye on Tiny to make sure he didn't get too far behind.
When they reached the line of fences, the group stopped. Tiny looked at the fences and noticed one with a small familiar hole in it that he had used to leave the yard. He placed the collar down to talk, "It's right over there. I don't think she'd take well to you two coming into the yard, could you please wait out here?"
Shadepelt nodded and sat, his expression blank as he prepared to wait. Longtail however let out of a huff and a low hiss, "Don't make us wait long, kittypet," before he too settled down.
Tiny picked the collar up and moved toward the hole, still easily slipping through the hole and into the yard. He placed the collar down and looked around the yard to see if his mother was out. "Mama?" he called out. "Are you there, mother?"
A gray she-cat's head popped out through the cat-sized entrance of the twoleg den and once she spotted the small black tom she bolted out and toward. "Tiny! I've been so worried," she meowed, leaning down and giving him relieved licks until she found his healing wounds. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry to have worry you, mama," Tiny said, feeling terrible that he had been away from her for so long with no word. "I met some cats in the forest and they helped me. I'm going to go live with them, mama. I came to say goodbye and return this." He nudged the ruined collar toward her. "I'm sorry it got ruined."
Quince stepped back with a horrified expression crossing her face. "Forest cats? Were they the ones that hurt you? Don't go, Tiny. The twolegs are planning to let you stay here, you don't have to go."
The black tom shook his head, "no, they weren't the ones that hurt me; they saved me from a fox that attacked me. They were really nice, mama; not at all like those stories you used to tell. I want to live them, I just wanted to apologises for worrying you all this time."
The gray queen gave a soft huff as she recognized that she wouldn't win this argument. "I don't approve, but if you truly believe that's where you want to live, then I cannot stop you. Goodbye, Tiny. If you ever want to return, you will always be welcomed here." She leaned down and gave his head an affectionate lick.
"Thank you, mama," Tiny meowed as she moved back toward the hole in the fence. "Goodbye."
He pushed his way back through the hole to find the two toms still waiting for him. "Done already, kittypet?" Longtail asked as he drew a licked paw over his whiskers.
Tiny nodded and mewed, "yes, I've said my goodbyes."
Shadepelt nodded his head and stood up, starting the trek back to camp in silence, not waiting for the other two. Longtail and Tiny followed and the three wove their way back through the forest to ThunderClan's camp.
Back at camp, almost the whole Clan was out mulling around talking or sharing tongues. Bluestar sat with her deputy and senior warriors by the Highrock, her gaze sweeping over her Clan only to stop on them. Shadepelt gave a nod toward her before padding off toward his family. Bluestar leapt on top of the rock and called for a Clan meeting.
Startled at the thought that Bluestar could be making him apart of ThunderClan that moment, he scanned the crowd that now gathered around the rock. He saw Longtail had already slipped away and joined Stonefall and Stonefall's sister, Silverheart. He spotted Ravenpaw and Graypaw and decided it was best to sit with them again, not knowing what to do.
"As you all know ThunderClan has been short on warriors and apprentices after the harshest leaf-bare the Clans have seen in a long time," Bluestar began. "A quarter moon ago ThunderClan took in our guest Tiny, but today he will be a guest no longer; he will become a member of ThunderClan."
The Clan turned to stare at Tiny and he fidgeted under their gazes. He had no idea Bluestar was going to do this right away and that everyone would be staring at him. What was he supposed to do?
"Tiny, come forth," the leader of ThunderClan commanded.
The small black tom weaved his way through the crowd until he was in front of the boulder the leader was speaking from and stared up at her.
"From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Icepaw."
"Icepaw! Icepaw!" some of the Clan cheered his new named. It felt strange to be called something else, but it sounded like a strong name and he wanted to live up to it.
"Longtail, step forward," Bluestar commanded, not done with the ceremony yet.
The pale tabby's eyes widen in shock and he looked at his friend, Stonefall, who nodded in encouragement to him. Longtail stepped forward, looking up at his leader.
"This will be your first apprentice Longtail, but I am confident you will pass down all you have learned from your mentor to your new apprentice, Icepaw."
Tiny, now, Icepaw, stared up at the tabby tom unsure what to do now. "Now's the part we touch noses," Longtail whispered. Icepaw nodded to show he heard and padded up to the older tom and stretched up to touch noses with him.
The Clan cheered again before starting to disperse as Bluestar leapt down from the rock, moving back to speak with her senior warriors again.
"It's too late for a territory tour, we'll have to do that tomorrow. For now see if the elders need anything," Longtail told him.
Icepaw looked back up to his tall mentor, feeling a bit like this could all be a strange dream. "And after that?" he asked.
"Do whatever you want," Longtail meowed, already headinging back to Stonefall and Silverheart.
Icepaw could see a mixture of emotions in the tabby by the way his pelt prickled along his spine and his tail tip lashed back and forth. He hoped they were good emotions, he didn't want his mentor to hate him or be unwilling to teach him.
He turned to make his way to the elders when Graypaw and Ravenpaw approached him. "Hey Icepaw!" Graypaw called. "Great name! I thought for sure Bluestar would have called you Tinypaw."
"Th-thanks," Icepaw stuttered out, still taken aback at how energetic the gray apprentice could be.
"I'm glad you decided to join ThunderClan, Icepaw," Ravenpaw meowed.
The two apprentices soon left him to deal with the elders as they prepared a new nest in the apprentices' den for him. It turned out all the elders needed were an evening meal which Icepaw happily supplied them. Once finished he grabbed an evening meal of mouse to eat with Graypaw and Ravenpaw, enjoying his first evening as an official member of ThunderClan.
Sorry this took so long to get finished, but at least I finished this chapter finally. Not sure how long the next one will take.