Chapter 5 The Rogue

A few moons had passed since the adventure off into the forest; we had gotten severely punished thanks to the sleeping cat on duty. But she also got into trouble. We were basically confined to the Nursery. How unfair was that? We couldn't even go get our own prey, while Icekit, Silverkit, and Longkit got to. Out of all three of us Honeykit got the most punished because her mother says a kit's misbehavior could lead a life to be a rogue, which frightened her seriously. Add that to the fact that her mother is now favoring Icekit over Honeykit, it was a bad punsishment.

Mintfur had three kits, but the only girl died, ScarletKit. But the other two boys are so annoying, especially Chestnutkit; compared to him, Birdkit seems fine but not in the Nursery. NO, NO, NO, DEFINITELY NOT. After that Echoleaf moved in and had her only kit. Finally, a sane kit that didn't wake me up in the middle of the night. She was a girl, but Redstripe her father was the least happy about it he had said "I want a fine warrior tom not a puny kit thats only purpose of living is to have kits."

But Autumnkit had something to say about it. "I'll show you I'll be the best warrior you've ever seen." I agreed, in my head. How could Redstripe say that? Redstripe's only reply was an annoyed huff.

The next moon was the day of the apprentice ceremony. I wished so bad that it was mine but it wasn't. It was for Icekit and Honeykit. Right before the ceremony I spied on a little conversation. "Since I'm going to be an apprentice, I want you to start treating me like one, do you hear?" Icekit spoke as if he was trying to prove that his life had meaning, but Applepaw and Mosspaw didn't seem to think much of his speech.

"Yeah, yeah, we heard it all before, once you truly do something great tell me about it." Applepaw mocked.

"It took us three moons before we got to go to our first gathering, I wonder how long it will take you. How many moons do you think it will take him, five or six?" Mosspaw asked.

"Neither, I think Sunstar will take pity on him let him go to his first Gathering sooner; but of course he'll probably mess that up too."

They both started laughing.

I saw and felt the pain and shame that showed in Icekit's eyes. I felt like I should step in and do something but I couldn't work up the nerve to just walk up from behind the bush I was eavesdropping through.

Just hiding behind bushes spying on a conversation; is this how I'm supposed live my life?

No, I won't.

As I was walking out behind the bush to step in, I heard Sunstar announce, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join me below the Highledge for a Clan meeting." When all the cats were in their rightful positions, Sunstar began to speak. "From this day forward ThunderClan shall have four new warriors, Brackenpaw, Orangepaw, Mousepaw and Lillypaw," Sunstar took a breath of air. "From this moment on you will be known as-"

"Im sincerely sorry for interrupting you, but I truly believe my apprentice, Lillypaw, is not ready to be a warrior. You told me to be a warrior you must pass the assessment and some other requirements. Yes she passed the exam but did not meet the other requirements." Leopordtail spoke out in indignation, stunning the crowd with cruel, harsh words. "Your words are as good as mine, but before I continue I have to ask Lillypaw, do you have anything to say."

All the eyes were on Lillypaw now. "Nothing, but I will prove to all of you I'm not helpless cat you say I am. One day,...one day I will be better than all of you, and you better believe it." She spoke words that no cat would ever repeat. This speech was one-of-a-kind; between a cat and a distant dream.

The whole Clan was shocked, since no one had ever spoken as ambitiously as Lillypaw was speaking, as far as I remembered; unless you count Autumnkit. But Autumnkit was just trying to prove herself to her father. Lillypaw was telling this to the entire Clan.

"I'll believe it when I see it." A cat, either brave or crazy, called out from the crowd.

At this, Sunstar seemed to regain his speech. "Settle down, let us continue. From this moment on, you will be known as Brackenstorm, Orangefur and Mousetooth." The crowd cheered the young warriors' names. "Now, moving on to the new apprentices, Icekit and Honeykit. From this day forward you will be known as Icepaw and Honeypaw." They walked up in front of Sunstar and turned to face the crowd. I figured this was the ritual. "Icepaw, I've decided to mentor you." Icepaw turned and faced Sunstar, touching his nose.

"Honeypaw, your mentor will be Dimfall." Honeypaw touched Dimfall's nose.

"Icepaw, Honeypaw, Icepaw, Honeypaw, Icepaw, Honeypaw!" (W: who calls a cat orangefur?)

After the warrior ceremony I felt so alone. I mean, it's incredibly boring without Honeypaw there is nothing to do...

I decided to take a nap.

"It is time." I knew Sandstorm had been warning me that it would soon be time to extract the power, but it hadn't really sunk in.

"Are you ready?" At my nod, Sandstorm placed a paw on my forehead and everything turned black.

I woke up on the meadow and I felt dizzy and nauseous. "Did, did you do it?" I whispered to the faint blur in front of me. Once my eyes came into focus, I saw Sandstorm. She seemed faint. "Yes, but I'm afraid my time is up; it's time I leave StarClan and disappear forever. I'm sorry to leave you like this." I stared in shock, speechless, unable to believe that Sandstorm was going to disappear, just like that. "Don't worry, you have Pebblelight to teach you." she spoke gently "Goodbye..."

She faded away, leaving no trace behind her. I woke up and, peeking out of the Nursery, I thought it must be almost dawn.

I felt worried. Did Sandstorm really leave forever? I suddenly felt guilty for running away at that first training session. I stared at the rising sun as I mourned. "I'm so sorry, Sandstorm..." I murmured.

"Bluekit, keep your voice down, some of us trying to sleep."

I sighed. Now was not the time to think about Sandstorm. I tried to act like myself. "Chestnutkit, you know you wake up before everyone else," I stated.

"I bet you were talking to yourself, and you didn't want to be interrupted."

"I wasnt talking to myself!"

"Yeah, right, all you think about is yourself."

"Yeah, whatever, I'm going out of the Nursery for some fresh air. Wait, where is Frozenleaf and Willowflight?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but I think they went out to see the rogue that came with her two kits, half starved to death or something."

As I walked out of the Nursery, I heard voices. "You know, there is really little room in the Nursery." I heard Frozenleaf whispered. "On top of that we don't have a lot of fresh kill." snowtail added. I saw there were six cats and two kits that were really skinny. Out of the five cats there was Ambertail, Frozenleaf, Willowflight, Snowtail, Sunstar and a another cat I've never seen before. "Stop thinking of only yourself; besides, I've already thought of that. Haven't you realized how Newleaf has come a bit early, and there have been more freshkill since the warmer weather has arrived? Also, We need the extra cats. Meeting dismissed!" Ambertail nearly barked out. "What is your name?" Sunstar asked.

"My name is Midnight and my two kits are Cherry and Mist."

Ambertail walked up to her, and asked, "May i ask what happened to your mate?"

I could see fear in her eyes. "The reason I would like to join the Clan is because my mate died, protecting us from a badger. His last words were to go to the lake and join the Clans, you will be safe there. On my journey, my other kits died because of a terrible illness. I seek protection and in return I'll sacrifice my life for this Clan."

Ambertail nodded. "Well spoken,...ah, Bluekit you're up early, how are you doing? These kits are about your age. That reminds me, your name is fine Midnight, but it is Clan custom to have a kit's name with 'kit' at the end. Cherry and Mist will become Cherrykit and Mistkit."

Ambertail acted innocent as if what happened a few months ago never happened.

"The nursery will be even more crowded, great..." Frozenleaf, who had been lingering and obviously wanting to know the outcome, muttered spitefully.

Ambertail heaved a great sigh. "Bluekit, show Midnight and her kits to the freshkill pile."

I nodded, trying to act nice, and walked toward the pile. It had four small scrawny mice, a fat water mole and a normal sized robin. I picked one of the mice, because I knew the others were too big for my sisters and I to eat. Cherrykit and Mistkit looked uncertain, so I dragged another one and told them to share it between them.

After a little while, in which Cherrykit and Mistkit nearly gobbled up their mouse as I sat with my freshkill, waiting for one of my sisters to show up, Cherrykit spoke. "So the names, Bluekit." she started carefully. "Why do our names have 'kit' at the end?" I explained all the Clan customs, rituals, and ceremonies I could remember at that moment to the small, curious kits.

"I feel full,...I've never felt full before, its a good feeling." Mistkit quietly spoke, for the first time since I had met him.

I nodded. "When you're in the Clan, the kits and elders get freshkill first, because we are, according to Clan customs, more important because we cannot feed ourselves. When you become an apprentice, and then a warrior, you can catch your own freshkill, and so you get it last. It's like repayment for getting fed as a kit, and a repayment in advance for when you spend time as an elder, where you're also given food without having to hunt freshkill yourselves." Mistkit and Cherrykit looked up at me in wonder.

Soon after that, Longkit came up to talk to me. "Bluekit, I heard the news. Poppytail says that the kits shouldn't overeat because it's bad for their health. He said to start slowly."

They nodded obediently.

"Longkit, are you going to be a medicine cat apprentice? Isn't Poppytail kind of creepy to you?"

Longkit shook her head. "He's not creepy! He's so knowledgeable and so kind, he even agreed to be my mentor!"

After a pause, I exclaimed, "Great! That's wonderful, Longkit!"

Cherrykit and Mistkit were confused. "What's a medicine cat?" Cherrykit asked.

Longkit must have felt that it was her cue and had prepared a whole speech.

"A medicine cat is a cat that takes care of a Clan and helps cure illnesses that affect cats. They can also speak with starClan, the Clan filled with all the Clans' ancestors."

"Oh." The kits spoke in looked so exhausted, I wasn't surprised they didn't question us about StarClan. "How about you two go and take a nap in the Nursery, to rest and all?" Longkit gestured towards the Nursery, directing the kits.

They left, and we began to eat the scrawny mouse I had picked out of the freshkill pile, Silverkit soon joining us.

Very soon, the dawn patrol came into the camp, exhausted and sporting more than a few injuries. "The fox we killed a few moons ago must have been the mother of the cubs that attacked us."

They definitely looked as if they had fought more than one fox. "This is horrible!" I exclaimed, horrified, to my sisters.

Honeypaw separated from the patrol and walked up to us.

"Hey, Bluekit, what's wrong?" I looked at my feet. I knew I was jealous of her, most of all, but looking at her wounds, I saw they were pretty serious. "You and your patrol should go to Poppytail, your injuries look really bad." I said, concerned.

"No, they barely even hurt, don't worry I'll be fine." Honeypaw replied.

Now you're trying to play the hero, Honeypaw.

"You know, she is right you should go visit Poppytail."

Moment of silence...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Chestnutkit, you scared us!" Honeypaw nearly screeched.

Chestnutkit put on an I-don't-care expression.

"Go with your frightened little pelts to Poppytail so he can put the proper herbs on them." Longkit joked, but she sounded serious at the same time. "Longkit, you're being really bossy." I replied.

If Longkit was going to be a medicine cat...oh, this is horrible.

Longkit might find out about the prophecy and be mad that she's not in it!

When she goes out to the Moonpool with Poppytail to become a medicine cat apprentice, we might cross paths in our sleep. This is horrible!

My last thoughts before I fell asleep were the hopes that Longkit doesn't find out about the prophecy