A moon later and Rusty was all healed up. He was taking careful paces around the medicine den with Cloud Spots watching. The black tom nodded in approval and meowed, "you're good to go."
"Finally!" Rusty sighed dramatically. Cloud Spots shook his head, smiling. Rusty padded outside, excited to tell Jagged Peak the good news. He caught the three moon old kit, crouching alone near the fresh-kill pile, looking downcast and Rusty's heart clenched.
The kit was still grieving his sister after her burial. He remembered the cats forming two respective lines as the three brothers carried her out of camp to bury her and sit vigil. It had been Jagged Peak's first time outside of camp but he had been too sad to care.
"It's good to see you're all better." Rusty turned at the voice and stared at Skystar nervously. Would he take him back to Twolegplace? Would he have to go through ThunderClan again all alone?
Skystar seemed to have read his mind and meowed, "I wonder how you would perform as a clan cat. That was an amazing feat you did a moon ago, escaping three trained warriors." Rusty perked up at the praise.
"Would you like to join SkyClan? If so, you would train as an apprentice alongside the others and you can never go back to your home. You can't live with a paw in each world, you understand?"
Rusty nodded. "Y-yes. And…I accept your offer to join up." Skystar nodded and leaped onto a flat rock that was held up with other rocks underneath.
"Let all cats old enough to hunt, gather for a Clan meeting!" He yowled and Rusty watched amazed as cats poured out of their dens and crowded under the rock, looking up expectantly at the leader. Someone nudged Rusty from behind and he turned to see Gray Wing looking at him with kind eyes.
Rusty followed him and they settled at the foot of the flat boulder. Skystar began to speak. "Gray Wing and myself have come to a decision and we have decided to give the kittypet a chance to train as an apprentice. Gray Wing will see to his trai–"
"As if we need another mouth to feed!" Shattered Ice, Rusty recalled Jagged Peak introduced him as, yowled. The gray-and-white tom glared at Rusty.
Skystar gave him a stern glare before continuing. "If he makes progress in training he can stay. If not he will be escorted back to his twolegs."
"For StarClan's sake! How can he be a warrior? Especially with that collar that will just jingle every time he tries to hunt! That is if the prey doesn't hear him stomping along first!" Shattered Ice yowled.
Rusty narrowed his eyes and pinpointed the gray-and-white tom's position. I'll show you! And with that thought in mind the ginger tom leaped and crashed into Shattered Ice. The warrior was unprepared and was sent skidding across the rocky clearing.
Rusty dashed over to the warrior and swatted the side of his head. Shattered Ice shook his head and tackled the flame-colored tom. The two were a whirl of ginger, gray and white as they rolled around the clearing, screeching insults at each other. The other cats scrambled out of the way, cheering.
Suddenly, Shattered Ice slashed out with his claws and his collar came off. He swatted out again and Rusty hissed at the sting of the cut above his eye. He slashed out in retaliation and left deep claw marks on the tom's neck that would scar for sure. He kicked out and sent the gray-and-white tom tumbling away from him before he launched at him again and pinned him down.
"Ha! Take that! Not such a lazy kittypet now, am I?" Rusty crowed in victory. The crowd was staring with wide eyes as Skystar padded over and picked up his shredded collar.
"The newcomer has lost his collar in a battle for his honor which means he can now join the Clan." He studied Rusty for a moment before meowing, "I name you Fire Heart in honor of your flame-colored coat. Gray Wing will mentor you in the ways of a warrior and may he make you a valuable warrior to SkyClan."
Gray Wing padded over and touched his nose to Rusty's–now Fire Heart–smiling in encouragement at him. The other cats crowded around to congratulate him while Shattered Ice spat in embarrassment and stalked to the medicine den.
"Fire Heart!"
"Hey, Fire Heart!
"Welcome young Fire Heart!"
Fire Heart let the voices wash over him as he cleaned the cut above his eye.
"Great name too! It really does match!" A she-cat's voice meowed and he opened his eyes to see the orange tabby, Hawk Swoop with Jackdaw's Cry.
"Yeah, and congrats on ruining Shattered Ice's good looks. Those claw marks you left will stay for sure." Jackdaw's Cry twitched his whiskers at him, amused, despite his mentor getting beaten by a kittypet.
"Thanks," Fire Heart purred.
"Let's show you where us apprentices sleep?" Hawk Swoop suggested and the she-cat led the way to a den. Falling Feather was just exiting it. She took one look at Fire Heart and then left.
"That's my sister, Falling Feather, I dunno what's up with her." Jackdaw's Cry rolled his eyes in an amused manner.
"How many apprentices are there?" Fire Heart asked.
"Well, you've seen us all now so four, obviously," Jackdaw's Cry laughed a bit but not in a rude way.
"Hey, Fire Heart." The ginger tom turned to see Gray Wing padding over to the three. "Tomorrow I'm taking you on a tour of the territory, alright?" Fire Heart nodded excitedly.
"Well," Jackdaw's Cry looked up at the sun. The day had passed rather quickly and the sun was already starting to go down. Jackdaw's Cry turned to Hawk Swoop. "We might as well hunt for the Clan before we go to sleep." He looked to Fire Heart and mewed, "and you can sleep early. You'll need it. Training is always tiring."
Fire Heart dipped his head gratefully to the older apprentices and watched them leave. He was glad he at least had some friends in the Clan already along with a nice mentor. It seemed only Shattered Ice and maybe Falling Feather didn't really like him much.
He entered the den and found some moss he could use for a nest. He scraped it together to make a nest and curled up to sleep.
This was home now.
"Gray Wing, take Quick Water and Falling Feather and patrol the RiverClan border." Gray Wing was crowded near Shaded Moss like the rest of the cats, waiting to be assigned to sunset patrols. "Bring back as much prey as you can while yo–" he cut off as Bright Stream ambled over to them in a panicked state.
"Gray Wing! Jagged Peak is missing!"
"What?" Gray Wing breathed, heart beating fast. Images of Thistlestar came to his mind. If his little brother was anywhere near ThunderClan he would be crowfood.
"I only closed my eyes for a little and when I awoke he was gone and he's nowhere in camp!"
"I'll find him," Gray Wing murmured. He turned to his patrol and meowed, "you guys will have to go without me." He quickly high-tailed it out of there, wanting to find Jagged Peak as soon as possible.
"Jagged Peak!" he yowled. "Jagged Peak!"
Silence answered him.
Don't tell me he's dead! Not after Fluttering Bird! He could remember staying the whole night in the nursery curled around his dead sister, too numb to comfort Jagged Peak, who cried all night. Too numb to his Clanmates' comforts. I won't let him die! He thought fiercely. He'll be okay!
By the time he made it to the riverside on their territory, the sun had gone and was replaced with an inky black sky and twinkling stars. Where the hell is he?
Gray Wing suddenly saw some fluttering above him and jumped up and snatched the bat. He had never tried a bat before but his stomach was rumbling and aching with hunger. He needed to eat or he'd collapse.
After he gulped down his prey he started to track his brother again. His scent led to Sunningrocks. Oh StarClan! He is on ThunderClan territory! But then he remembered that RiverClan had won it. Right?
Maybe River Ripple found him. He thought hopefully. Or a ThunderClan cat. He shook his head of that negative thought and plodded on towards the pile of rocks.
I will never understand why ThunderClan and RiverClan are killing each other over a pile of dang rocks. He thought. And they call us weird.
Suddenly, an owl screeched and Gray Wing jumped before he ducked under some ferns. He watched the shadowy shape of the owl swoop down towards a rock and start to reach into a crevice with its talons.
"No! Leave me alone! Help!"
Gray Wing's Heart stuttered. Jagged Peak! Without a thought he dashed towards the owl and swiped at it. "Back off!" He hissed and swiped again, catching the owl by the wing. It screeched and flew off.
Gray Wing watched it go until the darkness swallowed it up. Gray Wing peeked into the crevice to see Jagged Peak staring up at him with sad blue eyes. The kit crept out and Gray Wing wrapped his tail around him.
"What were you thinking? Are you flea-brained!"
Jagged Peak shuffled his paws and sniffed, mewing, "I wanted to visit Fluttering Bird again, but…I got lost and I was scared of the dark and I hid here."
Gray Wing felt grief build up at the kit's misery. He pulled him close and licked his pelt soothingly. He sighed and said three phrases he wished he could say to Fluttering Bird.
"It's okay. I'm here. You're safe now."