"Raggedear, Thistleprick! You're here." Moonfur meowed. She hadn't seen either of the toms the day before, but she was glad they were visiting her kits now; they must have been busy with their warrior duties.
Thistleprick grinned as he and Raggedear padded towards her. "Yup, we couldn't miss anything now could we?"
Moonfur smiled softly at both the toms and looked down at the kits nestled up beside her. "This is Warkit, Branchkit, Wetkit, Goldenkit, and Amberkit." She leaned down to lick the top of a small brown tabby's head and purred softly.
"They're great." Thistleprick meowed genuinely. Moonfur was about to reply, but stopped when the sound of mewling broke through the air and she could felt a great movement at her side. Moonfur blinked down at the kits and shook her head. In one swift move, she gently grabbed hold of a small black and gray kit and pulled it off the others.
"Warkit is always bothering his sisters." Moonfur chuckled lightly. "But I guess that's what little brothers do."
Thistleprick and Raggedear both nodded wordlessly, and a new silence began to make it's way over the three warriors. Thistleprick glanced at his brother from the corner of his eye, noticing the anxiety in his form. While Moonfur leaned down to bathe one of her kits, Thistleprick leaned over to Raggedear. "Calm down." he whispered. "Everything's fine. You should say something."
Raggedear gave his brother a doubtful glance, and he was about to ask what he should say when Moonfur suddenly looked up again. "Did you say something?" she meowed.
Raggedear stood frozen for a moment before blinking and looking down at the kits. He bent his head down a bit and gestured at a dark tabby. "Er-What's this one's name?"
As soon as he spoke, the kit began mewling, raising it's head as if searching for the sound of the voice. Moonfur looked at the she-kit in question with a smile, "Amberkit. I think she's looking for you."
Raggedear shifted to one side awkwardly, his torn ear twitching once; Thistleprick grinned and nudged his brother's shoulder with his own. "See, kits do like you."
Raggedear shot his brother a look of slight annoyance, but Moonfur could see the ghost of a smile on his face. It made her glad; she hoped that Raggedear was beginning to feel happy living in the Clan.
Five moons. Five moons and still Willowstar had yet to make a move. Lostheart didn't understand, what was he waiting for? Over the course of five moons, nothing had happened. Nothing at all. Gatherings were calm, and despite the tension that all the clans knew was there, they carried on as if everything was normal. Were they trying to act as if nothing had happened? Whatever the case, DarkClan refused to let their guard down.
Patrols were run at a constant rate, and now that newleaf was here, they could begin to increase their number of hunting parties as well; not that it would guarantee them any more prey than usual. Things were beginning to grow tense within the camp, and the cold feeling of fear was beginning to set in amongst all the warriors.
Lostheart's eyes fell as she looked up through the trees and at the small patch of dull, gray sky that was visible beyond the leaves. Her ear twitched suddenly at the sound of laughter and rapidly approaching pawsteps. She had only a second to step out of the way as Amberkit and Branchkit flew past her, leaving her to stare after them with an unchanged expression.
"Sorry, Lostheart!" they mewed in unison, laughing as one wound around the dens trying to avoid the other. Lostheart said nothing, remembering when she and Roseclaw used to run around camp like that; they were so carefree, having no idea about what lay beyond the walls of the camp's thick trees and thorny barrier.
At least they were growing up healthy, and newleaf was to thank for that. She didn't know what they would have done had the kits been born in leafbare.
Greysight suddenly burst out of a nearby bush, scaring the two kits half to death. Branchkit and Amberkit let out a shriek before falling over, while Greysight let out a mrrow of laughter and moved to pull the kits back onto their paws. "Greysight!" Amberkit exclaimed, looking up at the blind warrior with large amber eyes that glowed with admiration; Branchkit only laughed. "You got us!" he meowed.
"Yeah, I did! Watch where you guys are running from now on, okay?" Greysight replied.
"Okay!" Amberkit meowed, pawing at her brother. "We need to go find Warkit anyway." With their final words, the two kits scampered off; presumably to find their brother in question.
Greysight smiled and moved to join Lostheart. The red-eyed she-cat had watched the exchange silently from afar. Greysight was always good with kits, and she seemed to like them quite a bit. It wouldn't be long until the kits would need mentors, a thought that once again reminded Lostheart of Willowstar's threat.
"Already five moons old.." Greysight meowed, "Do you think Sunstar knows?"
"I'm sure he does. I've actually seen him around camp lately, yesterday he led a hunting patrol." Lostheart answered. Maybe Sunstar had actually thought of some way to deter TreeClan, that or having apprentices motivated him toward the idea that they could do something.
"Yeah, I know." Greysight's voice had become serious as she thought of the tom that she had previously believed to be her father. He needed to do something; the plan with OceanClan didn't work out, but they couldn't give up. If it was up to her, Greysight would launch an inside attack on TreeClan, there had to be LightClan cats who didn't agree with the merge. All they had to do was find and take down Willowstar before they got overpowered.
Their conversation was interrupted as an unexpected yowl sounded from the center of camp. Both she-cats turned in surprise to see that Sunstar had leapt on top of the leader's den and was preparing to hold a clan meeting. There hadn't been an official clan meeting in moons, what could he possibly be planning?
Greysight exchanged a glance with Lostheart before both she-cats moved toward the center of camp where their clanmates were gathered. Moonfur padded to join them, and together the three she-cats took their places, staring up at the rock curiously.
"Did he tell either of you about this?" Moonfur asked.
"No." Lostheart meowed, "I don't think anyone knew."
Moonfur nodded and stretched her forelegs, tired from the recent round of patrols. Moonfur had refused to sit around all day, and instead chose to keep up her warrior duties along with caring for her kits. Mintpaw had been helpful enough to watch them while Moonfur was out, and in the process, the medicine cat apprentice was able to branch out her studies.
Despite Moonfur's schedule, the she-cat made a wonderful mother; and each of her kits was strong and happy. Speaking of the kits, they were now playing in the space in front of the toms while the warriors waited for Sunstar to speak.
Sunstar stepped forward, eyeing the crowd before him impassively, revealing nothing of what the he was thinking. "Cats of DarkClan, as you know, Willowstar has taken a vow to destroy this clan. Because of this, we must do everything we can to stop him. Our own lives depend on each other." He paused to look down at the cats, his eyes falling on Moonfur's kits still playing in the dirt.
"I have made the decision to begin apprentice training at the age of five moons in order to better prepare our cats for the future." At this, the kits perked up, suddenly finding interest in the clan meeting.
"Apprentices? We get to be apprentices early?!" Warkit meowed in surprise and excitement. No outward protests rang out from the crowd, and the warriors merely continued to watch with doubtful gazes.
"Sunstar, aren't they a bit young?" Roseclaw meowed, looking up at her leader. "DarkClan's training methods have always been more...rigorous than the other clans', I don't think they're ready for that."
Beside her, Lostheart could see the slight worry in Moonfur's eyes, but she was a bit surprised that the she-cat hadn't spoken out.
"You may lighten up on training exercises, but my decision remains. Today, these kits are apprentices, they must be prepared for what is to come. Darkpelt, you will mentor Branchpaw, Raggedear will mentor Amberpaw, Browneyes will mentor Goldenpaw, and Greysight will train Warpaw."
'What about Wetkit?' Lostheart questioned inwardly.
It was almost as if Sunstar heard her question as his eyes landed on the kits once more. "Wetpaw will train as a medicine cat apprentice. I expect training to begin immediately." Dark green eyes met the eyes of his warriors, expression showing his full seriousness. "You are now free to plan your schedules. That is all."
Lostheart was a bit glad the kits had been born into the clan as it was now, she would've hated for them to be disappointed to not receive an official apprentice ceremony. However, the only thing the newly dubbed apprentices seemed to be showing was excitement. Their tails twitched in excitement as the cats gathered around them, congratulating them on their new apprenticeship.
Lostheart was just happy to stay back and watch with Moonfur. The pale she-cat wore a soft smile on her face as she watched her kits interacting with their new mentors. Thistleprick padded up beside them, a pout on his face.
"Why didn't I get chosen to be a mentor?" he asked dejectedly.
Moonfur laughed and flicked him with the tip of her tail. "Its not really a big secret that Sunstar isn't fond of you."
Thistleprick snorted but said nothing more as he watched both his brother and Darkpelt speaking with their apprentices. Lostheart wasn't too surprised either, both for her and Thistleprick. She didn't expect to get an apprentice, and honestly she didn't expect Sunstar to give Thistleprick one either.
It wasn't like she wanted one... 'I could never deal with an apprentice. I wouldn't know what to do or say...' And besides, Lostheart didn't want to harm any of Moonfur's kits. They probably wouldn't have wanted her for a mentor anyway.
Her eyes drifted over to Wetpaw where the white apprentice was now speaking with both Mintpaw and Roseclaw near the medicine cat den. She felt bad for the apprentice, Sunstar never even gave him a say in whether or not he actually wanted to be a medicine cat.
Moonfur followed Lostheart's gaze and her own eyes dulled slightly. "I think Wetpaw will be okay, he's a very kind, accepting tom." Moonfur smiled lightly, "I think he'll like it." Moonfur knew that Wetpaw was often pushed around by his brothers and sisters, and had an overall quiet nature, being a medicine cat just might be the right path for him.
Lostheart blinked, eyes focusing on the small, brown spotted tom. She never had a desire to become an apprentice, but then she got to know Ivyfoot...
"Yeah, I think he'll be fine. Roseclaw and Mintpaw are good teachers."
The three warriors watched as Roseclaw led the two apprentices away, Mintpaw chatting away at Wetpaw who continued to nod hesitantly at her excited words. It was good that the medicine cat apprentice didn't feel angry about having to share a mentor, but then again, in a way it meant that she was a sort of mentor as well.
Branchpaw felt uncomfortable as Darkpelt loomed over him, eyes examining the apprentice with little interest. The warrior didn't look impressed. Darkpelt's deep azure eyes narrowed slightly, "We will begin training at sunhigh, battle training is our first and foremost priority. Make sure that you are prepared."
Branchpaw's tabby pelt twitched under Darkpelt's intense gaze. "Yes, sir." he stuttered, nodding a little too quickly. Darkpelt made a slight sound of acknowledgement and stalked away, the muscles within his pelt moving with every step.
The kit would need to build up muscle if he ever wanted to make it in the warrior world, and for his sake, Darkpelt hoped he was a natural born fighter. It was bad enough that these cats were not Clan born, even if there was hope for the future of the clan, it would never truly be DarkClan. Not ever again.
Greysight had felt when Darkpelt moved away, and her attention was quickly drawn to the apprentice now sitting dejectedly alone in the clearing. "Come on, Warpaw." she meowed. Together, Greysight and Warpaw padded over to Branchpaw, causing the tabby to look up suddenly.
"Training in the morning right? That's the plan for Warpaw and I too." Greysight meowed, flicking her quiet apprentice with the tip of her tail. "You two should both go check out the apprentice's den," she leaned down so that she could whisper in both the apprentices' ears. "Better take the good spots before your sisters get them."
Branchpaw's face broke out into a grin at her words and he and Warpaw quickly ran off to follow Greysight's suggestion. Greysight smiled as they did so; the kits- no, apprentices were so excited. Sure they were young, but that didn't mean they couldn't be just as good as the other clans' apprentices. If she could make it as a blind cat, then they could easily begin training at five moons.
Hopefully Darkpelt wouldn't go pushing Branchpaw too far, it was her only worry. If anything like that happened, she would be forced to intervene. Greysight sat down, discreetly 'watching' the other two warriors.
Browneyes seemed to light up with Goldenpaw, and she could hear the soft sound of the silver tom's encouragement. Raggedear and Amberpaw sat further away on the other side of camp, but she was sure they were fine as well.
Raggedear smiled awkwardly at the dark tabby she-cat now staring up at him through wide, curious, amber eyes. "I guess I'm your mentor now." he meowed. Amberpaw smiled and nodded her head, "Mhm."
Raggedear twitched slightly and returned the smile. "I'll show you the territory tomorrow, and we might even be able to get some hunting in if that goes by quickly enough." Raggedear wasn't exactly sure if they were supposed to do something specific, after all, he had never been a mentor before.
He and Thistleprick hadn't even been around other cats since they left their home, and that seemed like a lifetime ago. Raggedear began to feel tense, his tail twitching slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow then, sunhigh."
Amberpaw didn't seem bothered by Raggedear's lack of conversation and nodded again. "Okay. We'll have a lot of fun, I know we will!" The young she-cat quickly scampered away, tackling her sister as the two ran toward the apprentice's den.
'Young cats shouldn't have to begin fighting this early...' Raggedear shook his head. Why did they have to pick him to be a mentor?! He couldn't do this! Being alone with another cat all day, Moonfur's daughter... He couldn't let Amberpaw get hurt.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Sorry this took so long, it was kind of difficult to write too, being as slow as it was. Yes, I had to do a timeskip but only because it was necessary and nothing really happens during that time. ALSO, I am in the process of making a video. It will be a small scene from SoTH, im not sure how long it will take because Im really not a good animator. The reason im making it is because my parents know i love animations and drawing and stuff like tht so they bought me this expensive video editing software, and id feel bad if i didnt at least try to put it to use... Hmm what else, ah yes, because of this chapter updates may be slower and also because I have another SAT I.E crazy test of death that will determine my life coming up again. Its my last one so I really have to make it count, and then I have schoolwork in general.
Lost
- if i had to guess number of chaps left id say less than twenty