Post by *Spanglestar on Aug 24, 2008 15:42:37 GMT -5
Hawkpaw was in a clearing. Suddenly she saw a kit-it was Wildkit! Hawkpaw rolled her eyes. Not him again! Why did she have to be bothered by a stupid kit when she was almost a warrior? Suddenly a paw stepped in front of her. Hawkpaw looked up. It was a silver tortoiseshell cat-just like herself. “Greetings, Hawkpaw. You may think that I’m crazy, but there will come a time when Wildkit means the world to you.” Then the cat faded.
Hawkpaw shuddered. Surely that couldn’t mean she would like the stupid kit. She thought of her memories of Wildkit-he had clawed her paws when she was eight moons old and he a newborn, he had been terribly annoying all the time…Hawkpaw shook her head. No. It was a dream. It wouldn’t happen. She didn’t even know the cat who had told that to her-so how did she know that the cat was telling the truth? How did the cat even know?
Hawkpaw stretched. Light was seeping into the apprentices’ den. It must be near sunhigh. She had slept in!
“Hey, Hawkpaw!”
Hawkpaw whirled around to see a brown tortoiseshell with black stripes standing behind her. It was Brownpaw.
“Hawkpaw? Jadeclaw just told me that Mistystar has decided that we’re to have our warrior ceremonies today!”
Hawkpaw grinned. “Really? I’ve been waiting and waiting for so long!” she did a little dance with Brownpaw.
Suddenly the two friends heard a yowl. “Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Stream Rock for a Clan meeting!” Hawkpaw and Brownpaw raced each other and skidded to a stop directly below the large rock, which had a waterfall tumbling down the back into a small pond, which continued as a river and flowed into both rivers that made the RiverClan camp an island.
Mistystar looked down at the two apprentices proudly. Hawkpaw had been her own apprentice. “I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these young cats. They have trained hard to understand and respect the ways of your noble code, and to you I commend them, with the name of warrior. Brownpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Brownwhisker. Hawkpaw, from this moment on you will be known as…”
“Cheesehead!” a yowl rose from the nursery. Hawkpaw groaned. Wildkit again. That little gold and brown tabby never gave up, did he? Furious, Hawkpaw turned her hazel eyes on him. They locked onto his innocent laughing green ones. She snarled, then turned her attention back to Mistystar, who was also giving the disobedient kit a glare.
“Hawkpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Hawkpath. Serve your Clan well you two!” Mistystar yowled.
Cheers could be heard from the assembled cats. “Brownwhisker! Hawkpath! Brownwhisker! Hawkpath!”
Hawkpath was filled with joy. She smiled at the gathered cats, frowning at Wildkit. Suddenly a voice rang in the two warriors’ ears.
“Con-grat-ula-tions!” the snotty voice belonged to Mousetail, who thought Wildkit was adorable.
“Maybe Cheesehead wants something to eat. Want some cheese, mousey?” it was Orangepelt, another Wildkit fan, and Mousetail’s best friend. “Or, I should say, want some mousey, cheese?”
Hawkpath snarled. That was Wildkit’s nickname! Mouse. “Don’t call me that!” she hissed.
“Oh, so you’re perfect, now that you’re a warrior?” Orangepelt laughed haughtily. “Pardon me, majesty.”
Brownwhisker nudged Hawkpath. “It’s probably time to be heading towards the entrance. We don’t want to be late to start our vigil.”
Hawkpath nodded, remembering that it was forbidden to speak during the silent vigil, which lasted for one day, unless the Clan was attacked.
The two cats headed towards the entrance and sat down so they could keep watch on the camp and listen for intruders.
Hawkpath yawned. It’s going to be hard not to fall asleep tonight, she thought, her mind reeling. She took a look at the nursery and saw Wildkit watching her. She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned her attention back to the clearing.
Hawkpath’s eyes started to close after the moon climbed down from the sky. She shook herself and looked at the lightening sky. The warriors of StarClan were already fading away. Hawkpath wondered how long it would be before cats awoke in the Clan.
Suddenly Hawkpath heard noise. She snapped her head around. It was Wildkit, dancing around wildly. She rolled her eyes. Stupid kit! Hawkpath took a deep breath of fresh morning air. It was so clean and crisp. She looked at Brownwhisker, who was lying down but still awake. Hawkpath sighed, then looked back at the nursery.
Wildkit smiled in a strange way. Hawkpath stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly she heard paw-steps. A deep voice spoke.
“It’s all right. Your vigil is over now.” It was Glacierpelt.
Hawkpath looked at the marvelous white warrior, embarrassed. Had he seen her? She tucked her tail between her legs and hung her head slightly. “Yes, Glacierpelt.” She replied politely.
“At last!” Brownwhisker exclaimed triumphantly, stretching. “I feel like I’ve been sitting here a moon.” She complained.
Hawkpath laughed. “Well, I guess it is kind of hard not to be able to sleep all night.” She told Glacierpelt, who chuckled.
“Even though I was never a true apprentice here, I’ve watched many an apprentice fall asleep during their vigil. I suspect it is pretty hard.” He meowed. “Well, anyway, would you two be interested on going on patrol with me and Brambleheart?”
“Are you kidding?!” Hawkpath exclaimed. “We’d love to!” Hawkpath glowed at the thought of going on a patrol with her father and the one of the most respected toms in the Clan. And Brownwhisker too. It also proved as a chance to get away from Wildkit.
“Fabulous!” Brownwhisker meowed. “Right now?”
“It’s dawn, isn’t it?” Glacierpelt replied. “You can’t go on a dawn patrol at sunhigh.” He laughed. “I’ll go get Brambleheart. You two can wait for me at the entrance. I’ll be right along.”
Hawkpath walked with pride as she padded over to sit by the entrance with Brownwhisker. “What a way to start your first day as a warrior!” she mewed to Brownwhisker. “Going on the dawn patrol with my father and the RiverClan deputy.”
“Yeah!” Brownwhisker agreed excitedly. “I wonder which Clan we’ll patrol the border of.”
“ThunderClan, silly! You know the dawn patrol takes ThunderClan and the moonhigh patrol takes ShadowClan, while the sunhigh and evening patrols take both!” Hawkpath told her friend.
“Oh. Right. I’ve only been on the evening patrol. I guess I forgot. I’m so tired, my paws feel like stone.”
“Mine too.” Hawkpath agreed, scanning the camp for Glacierpelt or her father. Then she caught sight of Brambleheart-a jet black tom with a few streaks of gray in his muzzle. Padding along beside him was Glacierpelt. Hawkpath grinned excitedly. The two toms started to run and stopped when they reached Hawkpath and Brownwhisker.
“Hi, you two,” Brambleheart meowed. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.” Hawkpath nodded.
“Let’s go!” Glacierpelt yowled as he raced out the entrance, Brambleheart at his tail. Hawkpath tore after them, and Brownwhisker yelped as she stumbled, then ran after them, side by side with Hawkpath.
When they reached the border, all was quiet. ThunderClan hadn’t marked their borders yet today.
Brambleheart turned to Hawkpath. “Would you like to mark the border?”
“Would I?” Hawkpath gasped. “Really?”
“Of course,” Glacierpelt meowed, then nodded.
Hawkpath stepped forward and carefully marked the border exactly where it was supposed to be.
“That should teach ThunderClan a lesson!” Brownwhisker meowed, a tiny bit jealous but happy for her friend.
Suddenly they heard a cat meowing. Three ThunderClan warriors came into view. Hawkpath recognized them as Midnightstream, Lionclaw, and the apprentice Sagepaw.
Lionclaw stepped forward. “Well, if it isn’t Hawkpaw. The troublemaker. What are you doing to close to our border?”
Hawkpath stepped forward. “I—“
Glacierpelt cut her off. “She is nowhere near the border.”
Lionclaw snorted. “I’d say little Hawkpaw is over the border, wouldn’t you, Sagepaw?”
Hawkpath saw her chance. “No I’m not. And I’m not Hawkpaw. I’m Hawkpath,” she snarled.
“Well, congratulations.” Midnightstream said kindly. She had been a warrior two moons before Hawkpath.
“Thank you.” Hawkpath smiled.
“Well, we’d best be going.” Lionclaw said. “Bye.”
Glacierpelt narrowed his eyes. “Come on you two. We should get back to camp.”
As Hawkpath padded along, she relayed what had just happened in her mind. Midnightstream seemed nice enough, but Lionclaw was just plain obnoxious. And Sagepaw might take after his mentor…it was hard to tell.
But Hawkpath hoped that there wouldn’t be too many problems with ThunderClan. There would be more now that WindClan had been driven out, but still…
Soon they arrived at camp. A little golden shape greeted them. “Did you catch any intruders?” Wildkit yowled excitedly.
Glacierpelt glanced at Hawkpath, giving her the signal to speak.
Hawkpath sighed, but replied, “We had a bit of trouble with Lionclaw and Sagepaw of ThunderClan. But we got through it. RiverClan always gets through things.”
“Great!” Wildkit danced around and chased his tail, then wandered back over to Fluffypelt, who was shaking her long-furred golden head.
Hawkpath looked up at the sky. It was near sun-high, or so it seemed. Dark gray clouds covered the sky. She shivered. It was getting cold. She knew she probably wouldn’t be needed for a while in camp, so she padded over to the warriors’ den and lay down, curling up in her cozy nest.
Hawkpaw shuddered. Surely that couldn’t mean she would like the stupid kit. She thought of her memories of Wildkit-he had clawed her paws when she was eight moons old and he a newborn, he had been terribly annoying all the time…Hawkpaw shook her head. No. It was a dream. It wouldn’t happen. She didn’t even know the cat who had told that to her-so how did she know that the cat was telling the truth? How did the cat even know?
Hawkpaw stretched. Light was seeping into the apprentices’ den. It must be near sunhigh. She had slept in!
“Hey, Hawkpaw!”
Hawkpaw whirled around to see a brown tortoiseshell with black stripes standing behind her. It was Brownpaw.
“Hawkpaw? Jadeclaw just told me that Mistystar has decided that we’re to have our warrior ceremonies today!”
Hawkpaw grinned. “Really? I’ve been waiting and waiting for so long!” she did a little dance with Brownpaw.
Suddenly the two friends heard a yowl. “Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Stream Rock for a Clan meeting!” Hawkpaw and Brownpaw raced each other and skidded to a stop directly below the large rock, which had a waterfall tumbling down the back into a small pond, which continued as a river and flowed into both rivers that made the RiverClan camp an island.
Mistystar looked down at the two apprentices proudly. Hawkpaw had been her own apprentice. “I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these young cats. They have trained hard to understand and respect the ways of your noble code, and to you I commend them, with the name of warrior. Brownpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Brownwhisker. Hawkpaw, from this moment on you will be known as…”
“Cheesehead!” a yowl rose from the nursery. Hawkpaw groaned. Wildkit again. That little gold and brown tabby never gave up, did he? Furious, Hawkpaw turned her hazel eyes on him. They locked onto his innocent laughing green ones. She snarled, then turned her attention back to Mistystar, who was also giving the disobedient kit a glare.
“Hawkpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Hawkpath. Serve your Clan well you two!” Mistystar yowled.
Cheers could be heard from the assembled cats. “Brownwhisker! Hawkpath! Brownwhisker! Hawkpath!”
Hawkpath was filled with joy. She smiled at the gathered cats, frowning at Wildkit. Suddenly a voice rang in the two warriors’ ears.
“Con-grat-ula-tions!” the snotty voice belonged to Mousetail, who thought Wildkit was adorable.
“Maybe Cheesehead wants something to eat. Want some cheese, mousey?” it was Orangepelt, another Wildkit fan, and Mousetail’s best friend. “Or, I should say, want some mousey, cheese?”
Hawkpath snarled. That was Wildkit’s nickname! Mouse. “Don’t call me that!” she hissed.
“Oh, so you’re perfect, now that you’re a warrior?” Orangepelt laughed haughtily. “Pardon me, majesty.”
Brownwhisker nudged Hawkpath. “It’s probably time to be heading towards the entrance. We don’t want to be late to start our vigil.”
Hawkpath nodded, remembering that it was forbidden to speak during the silent vigil, which lasted for one day, unless the Clan was attacked.
The two cats headed towards the entrance and sat down so they could keep watch on the camp and listen for intruders.
Hawkpath yawned. It’s going to be hard not to fall asleep tonight, she thought, her mind reeling. She took a look at the nursery and saw Wildkit watching her. She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned her attention back to the clearing.
Hawkpath’s eyes started to close after the moon climbed down from the sky. She shook herself and looked at the lightening sky. The warriors of StarClan were already fading away. Hawkpath wondered how long it would be before cats awoke in the Clan.
Suddenly Hawkpath heard noise. She snapped her head around. It was Wildkit, dancing around wildly. She rolled her eyes. Stupid kit! Hawkpath took a deep breath of fresh morning air. It was so clean and crisp. She looked at Brownwhisker, who was lying down but still awake. Hawkpath sighed, then looked back at the nursery.
Wildkit smiled in a strange way. Hawkpath stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly she heard paw-steps. A deep voice spoke.
“It’s all right. Your vigil is over now.” It was Glacierpelt.
Hawkpath looked at the marvelous white warrior, embarrassed. Had he seen her? She tucked her tail between her legs and hung her head slightly. “Yes, Glacierpelt.” She replied politely.
“At last!” Brownwhisker exclaimed triumphantly, stretching. “I feel like I’ve been sitting here a moon.” She complained.
Hawkpath laughed. “Well, I guess it is kind of hard not to be able to sleep all night.” She told Glacierpelt, who chuckled.
“Even though I was never a true apprentice here, I’ve watched many an apprentice fall asleep during their vigil. I suspect it is pretty hard.” He meowed. “Well, anyway, would you two be interested on going on patrol with me and Brambleheart?”
“Are you kidding?!” Hawkpath exclaimed. “We’d love to!” Hawkpath glowed at the thought of going on a patrol with her father and the one of the most respected toms in the Clan. And Brownwhisker too. It also proved as a chance to get away from Wildkit.
“Fabulous!” Brownwhisker meowed. “Right now?”
“It’s dawn, isn’t it?” Glacierpelt replied. “You can’t go on a dawn patrol at sunhigh.” He laughed. “I’ll go get Brambleheart. You two can wait for me at the entrance. I’ll be right along.”
Hawkpath walked with pride as she padded over to sit by the entrance with Brownwhisker. “What a way to start your first day as a warrior!” she mewed to Brownwhisker. “Going on the dawn patrol with my father and the RiverClan deputy.”
“Yeah!” Brownwhisker agreed excitedly. “I wonder which Clan we’ll patrol the border of.”
“ThunderClan, silly! You know the dawn patrol takes ThunderClan and the moonhigh patrol takes ShadowClan, while the sunhigh and evening patrols take both!” Hawkpath told her friend.
“Oh. Right. I’ve only been on the evening patrol. I guess I forgot. I’m so tired, my paws feel like stone.”
“Mine too.” Hawkpath agreed, scanning the camp for Glacierpelt or her father. Then she caught sight of Brambleheart-a jet black tom with a few streaks of gray in his muzzle. Padding along beside him was Glacierpelt. Hawkpath grinned excitedly. The two toms started to run and stopped when they reached Hawkpath and Brownwhisker.
“Hi, you two,” Brambleheart meowed. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.” Hawkpath nodded.
“Let’s go!” Glacierpelt yowled as he raced out the entrance, Brambleheart at his tail. Hawkpath tore after them, and Brownwhisker yelped as she stumbled, then ran after them, side by side with Hawkpath.
When they reached the border, all was quiet. ThunderClan hadn’t marked their borders yet today.
Brambleheart turned to Hawkpath. “Would you like to mark the border?”
“Would I?” Hawkpath gasped. “Really?”
“Of course,” Glacierpelt meowed, then nodded.
Hawkpath stepped forward and carefully marked the border exactly where it was supposed to be.
“That should teach ThunderClan a lesson!” Brownwhisker meowed, a tiny bit jealous but happy for her friend.
Suddenly they heard a cat meowing. Three ThunderClan warriors came into view. Hawkpath recognized them as Midnightstream, Lionclaw, and the apprentice Sagepaw.
Lionclaw stepped forward. “Well, if it isn’t Hawkpaw. The troublemaker. What are you doing to close to our border?”
Hawkpath stepped forward. “I—“
Glacierpelt cut her off. “She is nowhere near the border.”
Lionclaw snorted. “I’d say little Hawkpaw is over the border, wouldn’t you, Sagepaw?”
Hawkpath saw her chance. “No I’m not. And I’m not Hawkpaw. I’m Hawkpath,” she snarled.
“Well, congratulations.” Midnightstream said kindly. She had been a warrior two moons before Hawkpath.
“Thank you.” Hawkpath smiled.
“Well, we’d best be going.” Lionclaw said. “Bye.”
Glacierpelt narrowed his eyes. “Come on you two. We should get back to camp.”
As Hawkpath padded along, she relayed what had just happened in her mind. Midnightstream seemed nice enough, but Lionclaw was just plain obnoxious. And Sagepaw might take after his mentor…it was hard to tell.
But Hawkpath hoped that there wouldn’t be too many problems with ThunderClan. There would be more now that WindClan had been driven out, but still…
Soon they arrived at camp. A little golden shape greeted them. “Did you catch any intruders?” Wildkit yowled excitedly.
Glacierpelt glanced at Hawkpath, giving her the signal to speak.
Hawkpath sighed, but replied, “We had a bit of trouble with Lionclaw and Sagepaw of ThunderClan. But we got through it. RiverClan always gets through things.”
“Great!” Wildkit danced around and chased his tail, then wandered back over to Fluffypelt, who was shaking her long-furred golden head.
Hawkpath looked up at the sky. It was near sun-high, or so it seemed. Dark gray clouds covered the sky. She shivered. It was getting cold. She knew she probably wouldn’t be needed for a while in camp, so she padded over to the warriors’ den and lay down, curling up in her cozy nest.
