Hi there! It's Isabelle here and I know that this update is fairly close to the previous one, and that is because Kay and I have been working on it at the same time. Again, we're terribly sorry for the long period of time where we didn't update, I had a writer's block as well as a ton of homework, and the same applies for Kay. We didn't have much time to come back to this story. There's no guarantee if something like this would happen again, and if there is, we apologise in advance.

Answer to reviews:

Gayatri: Yes, Nightwhisper did die at the end of the chapter. Sorry for not clarifying beforehand.

SlyviaHunterOfArtemis: Yea, Icepaw's destiny is certainly not the best. Anyway, thanks for the review! :) We're glad you liked it!

Now, onto the story! (Btw, sorry if Creekkit might come off to you as a Mary-sue character, but she has a split personality, which will be revealed in later chapters with some consequences, so rest assured!)

Creekkit scrambled across the clearing, haring after her sister Rosekit. "Slow squirrel!" The rosy ginger kit teased, yet again slipping out of reach as smoothly as a fish out of water. Grumbling in annoyance, she decided that this silly chase was over and with one leap that would've made LeafClan proud, she landed squarely on Rosekit, easily keeping her down with her bigger structure.

"Hey!" Rosekit huffed, "No fair!" She struggled for a while, trying to squirm out of her sister's firm grip before giving up entirely and slumping on the ground in defeat. Creekkit grinned, knowing exactly what to do.

Rosekit surged up with all her strength, attempting to use the element of surprise, and failed epically. Creekkit had kept her pinned, "You do that every time, you know?" Rosekit glared at her sister, "Well it worked sometimes!" she pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

Bursting out in laughter at her sister's attempt of a pouty face, Creekkit rolled off Rosekit, allowing the smaller ginger she-kit to bounce up and shake out her pelt.

"Rosekit! Creekkit!" the sharp but motherly voice of Ashflame floated over to the two rambicious kits, they turned around to see the gray she-cat rushing towards them. Ashflame had been their foster mother since birth, with their real mother, Nightwhisper dying just moments after they had been named.

Thornmask, their birth father, acted like they barely existed at all, blaming them for the death of his beloved mate. However, he had the decency to keep his distance and resorted to hating them from afar, not really interfering with them. For the first three moons of their lives, they had done everything to try and impress their father, but only resulted in him shouting at them to leave him alone, and they had done exactly that.

"Yes?" Creekkit and Rosekit asked simultaneously, looking up at their foster mother with identical expressions that were so adorable that Ashflame couldn't help but chuckle warmly. "It's your apprentice ceremony today, remember?"

"It is?" Rosekit mewed, looking at Creekkit in confusion, which was returned. "But no one told us." Ashflame frowned for a moment, "Well, it must have slipped my mind, then. But no worries, let's get you two cleaned up."

Creekkit and Rosekit sat down obediently, whilst Ashflame busied herself with cleaning them with expert rasps of her tongue. After no more than a few moments, the kits' patience started to run out and they started fidgeting, "Are you done yet?" Creekkit whined, trying to dodge Ashflame's tongue.

"No!" she snapped, "Hold still!" She drew Creekkit closer to her with a sweep of her paw and held her there firmly. Grumbling, Creekkit scrunched up her face, resulting an already clean Rosekit to giggle at her.

When Creekkit was finally clean, she immediately wriggled out of Ashflame's grip, mewling in protest as she drew her in again. "Lemme go!"

Chuckling softly to herself, Ashflame released the little gray kitten and she raced off, pouncing squarely on Rosekit. I remember when I was this young, carefree and joyful. Ashflame thought, gazing at the two squirming bundles of fur wistfully, I hope that one day, they can choose their own destinies, to be able to have a choice, unlike me.

"Get off me!" Rosekit whined as she struggled under her sister, unable to move her paws. "I don't understand why you have to be so good at fighting when you're going to be a medicine cat!" Frowning slightly, Creekkit leaped off of her sister, "But I don't want to be a medicine cat! I want to be a warrior who serves her Clan and brings back prey! Not some old hag being surrounded by stinky leaves all her life."

There was a small pause as Rosekit slowly processed what her sister said before Rosekit gasping, her green eyes - identical to her sister's - wide with horror. "Hush! Don't say such things! Destiny is the way of life, and life is Destiny!" Creekkit snorted, rolling her green orbs, "Do you not believe in things beyond even Destiny? Or do you simply believe everything that's been told you?"

Glaring at her littermate, the small dark ginger kit huffed, "There is nothing beyond Destiny, it is everything!" With that, she stomped off in anger, muttering darkly under her breath. Creekkit watched her sister go with crestfallen eyes. They had always been the best of friends, and now they let something as petty as Destiny rip them apart.

Although she had to admit, her sister did have a point, everything happens for a reason, and all those reasons lead down a path to your Destiny. Creekkit suddenly shook her head frantically, getting rid of all the thoughts clouding her mind.

What was she thinking? Was she as foolish as all the other cats to believe that their Destiny was decided for them? Did she believe that there really wasn't hope that she could someday choose her own Destiny?

Padding determinedly across the camp, until she was standing under the giant river oak tree, the Great Oak. She looked at the looming giant above her, taking in the massive branches and the fine textured green leaves that showered gracefully over her.

A sense of calmness swept through Creekkit as she sat down beside it, settling down until she was comfortable. This is a good place for thinking, she thought to herself absentmindedly, I should come here more often. At least here, I can think whatever I want without someone judging me. she thought miserably.

Suddenly, a shadow was cast over her and once her looked up, her small forest green eyes widened in surprise, "Fadingwhisper!" she mewed in surprise, indeed, the medicine cat was standing in front of her, eyes narrowed in concentration. Once she realised the kit was staring at her expectantly with a tint of fear showing in her eyes, presumably because of the unnerving stare she was receiving, Fadingwhisper blinked a few time, shaking her head and opening her eyes into a kinder look.

"Sorry, Creekkit, I was just observing my future apprentice!" Fadingwhisper's eyes gleamed with excitement, grinning widely. Creekkit cringed at the enthusiasm in her voice, she honestly did not like the medicine cat a lot. Fadingwhisper was too sentimental and soft for her liking, and even though Creekkit would never dare to say it out loud, she dreaded becoming the emotionally unstable medicine cat's apprentice, not wanting to constantly deal with her mood swings.

However, she was too surprised from this unexpected visit, and for the first time was unable to find the words to express her thoughts. Usually, she said the first thing that comes to her mind, which was why Rosekit often described her as 'brutally honest'.

"I-I'm looking forward to being your apprentice, Fadingmist." She was lying straight through her fangs, and combined with stuttering and avoiding the medicine cat's searching amber gaze, it was so obvious that she was lying that only a blind hare would be stupid not to catch it.

"What's the matter, Creekkit?" Fadingwhisper inquired curiously, "Even I'm smart enough to know that something's bothering you and you're not telling the complete truth." "N-nothing, Fadingwhisper, nothing at all." Creekkit insisted.
Fadingwhisper merely narrowed her eyes and gave the little kit a stern glare, her gaze clearly stating 'Don't lie to me.' Creekkit shook her head again, her heartbeat speeding up as the medicine cat's stern gaze continued to hold.

"Well, even I know when to give up, and if that's the case, then I'll assume it's nothing. But I hope that this won't become a habit of yours. I think that I preferred the honest Creekkit." Fadingwhisper walked a few steps back towards her den before turning her head around and stopping, "You know that if there's anything that's bothering you, anything at all, you can confide in me, right?"

Creekkit nodded quickly, wanting nothing more than to be left alone. "Good," the medicine cat added, "I'd like an open apprenticeship and I simply do not want you to be keeping something from me, something so important that you would lie for it."

Without another word, Fadingwhisper strode across the clearing and disappeared into her den, the lichen hanging in front of it barely stirring as she slipped past it. Sighing in relief, Creekkit slouched a little bit, 'What a relief!', she thought, she couldn't possibly tell anyone, the reaction from Rosekit was all she needed to know that if she were to tell anyone else in the Clan, she could immediately deemed 'Tainted'.

'Tainted' was a term for the cats who refused their Destiny, and once, in the Great Uprising, a massive group of cats who called themselves the 'Pure', came forth and rebelled against the almighty DestinyClan.

The Pure had almost beaten DestinyClan, surprisingly, but was overcome when DestinyClan released their deadliest weapon, their last resort, which today still remains unknown to the Clans. The Pure had been driven back and retreated into the forest named the 'Tainted Woods'. These days, they were known as the 'Tainted' instead, as were the cats who rebelled against their Destiny or even dared believe that there were other greater forces than Destiny.

"Let all cats gather around the Great Oak!" a mighty yowl came from above Creekkit, and once she glanced upwards, she saw Miststar, a startlingly beautiful she-cat but with a fierce and ice cold demeanor, matching her frosty piercing blue gaze.

"Cats of BrookClan!" Miststar began, her head raised proudly, "Today, we are gathered here for a wonderful event that has not happened since our last apprentice Amberpaw had left." Clearing her throat, she raised her eyes, "The Destiny Ceremony."

"Rosekit, Creekkit, will you please come forth to the Great Oak?" the silver tabby she-cat purred silkily, eyes scanning the crowd for the two little kittens.

Shakily, Creekkit padded forward, summoning all her remaining courage to raise her head as she walked towards Miststar. Beside her, she scented Rosekit, also gulping, frightened, as they approached the Great Oak.

Their gazes met, only for a split second, but to Creekkit, it was more like an eternity. In those deep pools of green, she save forgiveness, but also fear of what she might do to avoid her Destiny and make her own path.

"Now now, let's not dilly dally. We haven't got all day." Miststar flicked her tail impatiently, "Come on up." Creekkit waited for her sister to proceed first, but it appeared that Rosekit had done the same. "Now please." No one could miss the obvious threat in her voice, but at the same time no one was foolish enough to react to it.

The light brown tabby kit hurried forward hastily, almost tripping over her own paws with the tiny dark ginger she-cat following her, tiny but urgent steps.

"Rosekit here is to be a queen." Miststar grinned, flashing her fangs at the young kit, who trembled as all eyes turned on her. Creekkit felt a surge of anger and worry run through her as she caught a few toms throwing some suggestive looks towards her sister.

"And Creekkit here is to be a medicine cat." Creekkit snapped her head back up to face her leader quickly, having zoned out for a while. Miststar glared down at her, clearly frustrated at the lack of concentration the kit had.

"As Cloudymoon had advised me, Sagefern shall be Rosekit's mentor." A pale tabby she-cat in the crowd of Clan members beamed proudly and stood up, making her way deliberately slowly, soaking in all the murmured praise from her Clanmates all around her, and reached her newly assigned apprentice, her muzzle held high. Creekkit hated her already.

"And Fadingmist shall be Creekit's mentor." The silver tabby leader glanced down at the medicine cat expectantly, waiting for her to join them. Fadingmist took her time, delicately picking her way down the middle of the crowd, before hopping daintily towards them.

"Now I may deem you apprentices of the Clan, Rosepaw and Creekpaw." Miststar finished abruptly, "Clan meeting dismissed." That was it. No applause, no congratulations shared, no wishes of good luck. There never was in this Clan.

Creekpaw turned to her newly assigned mentor and was surprised to see a absolutely jolly Fadingmist. There was no trace of what had happened just now in their last conversation left on her face, which was currently filled with delight.

Sighing silently, Creekpaw bit back her annoyance and raised her head, "What do we do now?"