Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. Now on with the show~
Sandspirit blinked tiredly as she watched the entrance of the camp, her thoughts sluggish as she only thought of her warm nest. She gave her fur a light shake as a cool wind blew through camp, trying to will it to keep her warmer. Her pale ginger fur as still thin from youth, it would be a while before it was thick enough to keep out any kind of chill.
But even though she was tired, she couldn't help but think of the events that played out earlier, just that night. She and a patrol of her Clan's warriors had driven out the evil Brokenstar with the help of his own elders that he had tossed aside. The battle had been fierce but they managed to drive the tyrant off!
ShadowClan had been saved from a bloodthirsty monster and promised peace for a whole moon. Sandspirit and her fellow apprentice Ravenpaw had been made warriors, although now he was called Ravenflight. The pale molly looked over to her companion, the black furred tom sat still as a tree but she could see they his eyes shined with pride. She would have smiled and told him that his name was good one and that he earned it but she kept her jaws shut. Tradition demanded silence on this night.
But then, how much was that worth when traditionally the leader of the Clan wasn't the one to give them their names but the deputy? Sandspirit squirmed a little as she remembered how Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, refused to make them warriors. It was Darkstripe, the deputy, second in command of the Clan, that had done the deed. And though the Clan called them by their new names, would Bluestar and more importantly, StarClan, their warrior ancestors, accept them?
Sandspirit let a sigh as her thoughts grew muddled after that, either to due tiredness or the stress building because of worry, or maybe even both, she wasn't sure. She resolved to finish her vigil thinking of nothing from that point on, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again when she felt someone watching her.
For only a second, she turned her head to see a small dark shape coming from the group of sleeping cats near the back of the camp. It was Firepaw. Sandspirit felt a wave of warmth wash over her as she looked at the fiery orange molly, she was delighted to know that Firepaw had kept her promise and she would indeed be staying with them, with her.
Firepaw had sat down and was washing her face with a paw, seemingly unaffected by the numerous new and old wounds she had suffered. When she felt someone watching her, she looked up, scowling, but instantly relaxed when seeing Sandspirit. She got up and made a beeline for her, purring quietly and touching noses with the paler female.
Sandspirit felt some of her tiredness melt away as she breathed in Firepaw's scent, briefly twining her tail with hers before pulling away at Ravenflight's amused snort. Firepaw twitched her ears but said nothing, she didn't look to bothered.
"The Hour of Final Dancing is coming, soon you two will be able to relax." the flame colored molly muttered, earning a confused look from both cats. Firepaw smiled and nuzzled her head under Sandspirit's with a soft purr.
"We have only known each other through tense moments and times of anger or disagreement until recently. You didn't know much about me, I didn't want you too. But now, now, I am willing to show you who I am." she whispered to the paler female, earning a slight shiver and nod from Sandspirit, who wondered just what she would learn from Firepaw.
As Sandspirit was lost a little in her thoughts and fighting to resist a yawn, Lionheart got up from the pile, gave his fur a shake and walked over to the newly made warriors. He nodded to Firepaw and smiled at the pair. "Glad to see the dawn, you two?" he asked as slowly, birds began to sing and the pale fingers of dawn reached further into the sky,
Ravenflight and Sandspirit nodded, earning a wider smile from the the golden male. "It's okay, your vigil is over, you can speak now."
At this, Ravenflight let a sigh and stiffly stretched each of his legs in turn, Sandspirit soon following him as the pair then settled, their bodies sagging a little as tiredness washed over them. Lionheart gestured with his tail to the fresh kill pile before turning his back.
"Go and get something to eat, then rest. I'm sure Darkstripe will have something for you to do once you've rested."
"Thanks." the pair said together before going to do just that, Ravenflight selecting two mice and Sandspirit a large rabbit to share with Firepaw once they got to pile and settled down to eat.
"We did it! Warriors, we're finally warriors!" Ravenflight said around a mouthful of mouse, his purple eyes gleaming with the shard of blue in his left seeming to glow even brighter in his wonder and awe. Sandspirit took another bite of her rabbit before pushing the rodent to Firepaw for her share and tilted her head, her thoughts from earlier coming back.
"Bu...are we true warriors? Darkstripe was the one to perform the ceremony. What if StarClan still sees us as apprentices?"
"If that is the case, then your StarClan is a lowly as me'mre from a praere. What good is listening to them?" Firepaw spat, ignoring the look of confusion and building horror on her companions faces as she took a bite from the rabbit and passed it to Sandspirit. "Darkstripe seems like a decent hunter, I say you should have faith in him."
Sandspirit and Ravenflight looked at each other for a moment but decided to say nothing, Sandspirit was sure that Firepaw would explain everything. They ate in silence after that, each wrapped up in their own thoughts before one more joined their party.
Graypaw limped over to them, settling carefully while giving Ravenflight a playful nudge. "So, how does it feel to be warriors? Happy now that you don't have to clear the elder's den anymore?" she joked lightly, chuckling but wincing for a second and mumbling a curse under her breath.
Sandspirit licked her shoulder where a still healing cut was and gave her a gentle look. "Right now, all I want to do is sleep! I'll tell you what it's like after I wake up!"
Graypaw smiled at that and nudged her next, before taking a bit of mouse from Ravenflight as he was looking at the camp entrance and not paying attention to his meal. "Don't worry, you can tell me later. I'm sure that Lionheart will be training me extra hard so that I can catch up to you two. Soon it'll be my warrior name the Clan chants!" the gray molly declared lightly, her eyes flashing in determined expectation.
The foursome chatted and shared what little new they had before Sandspirit broke it off with a huge yawn and she then got to her paws. "I feel like I'm a hearbeat away from sleeping til leafbare! I think I'm gonna head in." Ravenflight nodded to that and soon joined the warriors that were still sleeping in their cluster, snuggling close together and both falling into a fast and deep sleep.
Firepaw watched Sandspirit for a moment before feeling like she was being watched herself and turned to see Bluestar glaring at her from her den. The flame colored molly huffed and held her ground, staring right back before Bluestar eventually looked away.
The demon molly knew that Bluestar would be a problem the Clan would not deal with so easily. She has proven already to be a mighty thorn in their side and could probably end up being a threat to them if things get even worse. As the young female finished the rabbit that Sandspirit shared between herself and Graypaw now, a whirl of thoughts crowded her mind and Firepaw shook her head to clear it with a snort.
"Everything okay?" Graypaw asked, giving herself a quick wash, though Firepaw could see that it was painful for her to twist her head around to reach certain spots. A wave of sympathy washed over Firepaw, as she knew just how difficult such a thing could be, and decide to help the fluffy gray apprentice.
"Just thinking of Bluestar and now that I'm here to stay, I'm worried about how she will affect this Clan in the long run." Graypaw tilted her head before thinking on what the ginger cat said before finding herself nodding.
"Yeah, I can understand that, it's definitely worrying. But... hopefully things will turn around. It can't stay like this forever."
Firepaw only snorted at that and only continued to help Graypaw wash. "Hope will not fill the bellies of hunters, so it is useless to out your stock into it." she only muttered back, picking her head up when she noticed Darkstripe removing himself from the huddle, stretch, then head over to them, nodding to the apprentices.
"Firepaw. It's good to see you today, I take it then that you will be staying with us. As that seems to be the case, I have some news for you. You have been taught by a group of our warriors and while that is not a problem per say, it does put a strain on things. So, I have decided to be your mentor, I hope that we will be able to get on well enough with each other."
Firepaw looked over at Darkstripe, thinking about what he said. The few times they interacted, it had been smooth and easy. The molly could even dare to say that she liked the tom to a certain extant, he was nothing like Bluestar and seemed to care for all of them. Firepaw could see nothing wrong in learning from him.
So she bowed her head to him, giving him her support and nodded. "Of course, thank you, Darkstripe. I will try to keep your teachings close to me."
The dark furred tom grinned and nodded his head before turning back around. "Good, but rest up for today, you and Graypaw. Everyone has been through so much, we all need time to recover. Enjoy your rest, you two."
Graypaw smiled as she was given the go ahead to rest, flattening herself out on the ground and sighing softy. "I don't think you could do any worse than Darkstripe. He's a good cat, while Longtail isn't much to talk about, Darkstripe has proven himself as you can see. I think he would be a good mentor for you."
"Yes, I think so too." Firepaw agreed, watching as Darkstripe spoke in low tones to Lionheart and then to the others in the huddle. Darkstripe's apprentice, huh? Firepaw idly wondered what her days would be like learning under the very interesting deputy of ThunderClan.
A/N: A bit of a short chapter, this but hopefully still an entertaining one. Setting up the pieces for the rest of the story and hey, Darkstripe will be Firepaw's mentor~ Can't wait to see how that would turn out for our young demon friend. She'll need all the guidance she can get to help her new Clanmates whether the coming storm. So, until then, as always, enjoy.