Warriors: Bloodshed (REWRITE)

Chapter Five: Apprentice

Silk wasn't allowed to leave the den for at least a day, then when she was ready, Cinderpelt gave Silk a tour of ThunderClan camp. "This den that you've been in for the past day or so, is the medicine cats' den where the injured cats go to for treatment of many things, whether deep wounds like your's, to sore throats. If you ever need anything, feel free to ask me. Follow me!" Cinderpelt said as she flicked her tail tip, a gesture for Silk to follow in which she did, however, she noticed Cinderpelt's limping and when she looked for the source, she saw Cinderpelt's crippled, left hind leg. Silk wondered how she got that but decided not to ask, she followed. Cinderpelt now led them outside. "This is ThunderClan camp, where cats who aren't working for the Clan currently like hunting or border patrolling, can rest and interact with one another. Over there is the fresh-kill pile where the hunting patrols drop off their prey. It's for all of the Clan to share." Cinderpelt explained, Silk nodded, intrigued by the complex yet simple life of these wild cats. "The den underneath the Highrock is the leader's den, Bluestar is our leader. She's the blue-gray she-cat that you saw the other day, and her deputy is Tigerclaw. The moment you see him, you'll easily recognize him from others. The Highrock is the place where the leader announces important events, news, or ceremonies. The leader will call for mostly the older cats who can hunt, but if Bluestar calls for a Clan meeting, you can sit next to me." She said, Silk smiled more and understood, trying to take in all the information as Cinderpelt limped on and continued. "Next to the leader's den is the nursery where queens, or pregnant and mother cats, stay in so they can have their own space and time away from being warriors. Sometimes, when there are orphan kits, we have other mother's take care of them and foster them so that we can all benefit to having even one more cat to help feed the Clan in the future." Cinderpelt explained as she looked to the nursery which was under a thick bramble bush with a large hole that Silk could guess was the entrance to. "Next to the nursery is the warriors' den. All of the warriors of ThunderClan sleep in this den, including the deputy. Though, the senior warriors sleep in the middle so they can keep warm while the younger warriors sleep on the outside layers of the den." Silk looked to the den next to the nursery. This den, like the nursery, is under a bush. I usually identify the difference by looking to that nettle patch, other than the fact that the warriors always hang out around their den." She continued on to the next den. "Then there is the apprentices' den where all the apprentices of ThunderClan sleep. The apprentices are responsible for training under their mentors so that when they reach their twelveth moon or when they're ready, they can become warriors. However, if there's a medicine cat apprentice, like me, then we stay with the medicine cat or in the medicine cat den since we don't do warrior training like most other apprentices." The apprentices' den was a clump of ferns that sat beside a tree stump, another landmark. "The elders' den is where all the elders of the Clan rest. The elders are retired cats, whether from age or certain wounds that prevent them from doing certain things, or by request to the leader. These cats have done their job and they are able to live their last moons stress-free as they don't need to hunt for their Clan or patrol." The medicine cat apprentice told the small kit who nodded, looking to the fallen tree where a branch was shooting out, the entrance of the den was beneath it. "Finally, the medicine cat's den is behind us, beside the elders' den. Oh! And the entrance is in between the apprentices' and elders' dens, through that gorse tunnel." Cinderpelt finished, Silk was amazed as she looked on. She couldn't help but imagine herself as leader of a Clan, looking down at the cats that she led and them looking up proudly and in respect.

After the tour around camp, Cinderpelt had to leave to help Yellowfang tend to some small wounds as a hunting patrol had just returned. Silk decided to look around, she was interested by everything and everyone. She approached the nursery first, however. When she enters, four queens look to her, they must've been talking with one another. "H-hi! M-my name is S-Silk. Do you m-mind m-me being in h-here?" She asked nervously. The white she-cat's ear twitched somewhat irritably and a pale golden tabby she-cat looked away. Silk lowered her ears against her head. "We don't mind." Said the more golden tabby she-cat, she smiled to the ginger kit as did a pale gray tabby cat. "T-thank you." Silk mewed quietly as she went over to the golden she-cat, smelling a familiar scent and feeling most comfortable around her. "Goldenflower, you shouldn't let this kit near your kits. She might injured them." Said the white she-cat as the pale golden tabby nodded in agreement. "Oh, hush now, Frostfur. She is a kit. When have you ever seen a kit do harm to anyone?" Goldenflower asked Frostfur with a hint of amusement and in a teasing manner, her tail tip flicked. The white cat snorted and turned away before getting up and leaving the den with the fur along her spine slightly up. "Don't mind Frostfur. She's going through a lot of emotions now that her own kits have become apprentices and don't need her to feed them all the time." Meowed the pale gray tabby who smiled as well. "Still, Brindleface, she is a kittypet-" The pale golden tabby hissed but Brindleface rolled her green eyes. "And have you forgotten that not all kittypets are the same, Speckletail? Have you seen how Fireheart is now? Maybe this little kit can be the same." Brindleface interrupted Speckletail who lashed her tail. "I have, but this also means that this kit could possibly be the complete opposite." Speckletail argued back, Goldenflower grumbled. "Oh, look at what you've done, Speckletail. My kits are awake now." She said to Speckletail who groaned in irritation but didn't say anything else. Silk was listening to everything and she was rather confused and overwhelmed, but when Goldenflower mentioned her kits, her ears perked up and she went over to see. "What are their names?" She asked Goldenflower who smiled, nudging her kits. One was bigger than the other. It was a dark brown tabby tom while his sister was a tortoiseshell she-kit. Silk smiled at them. "They're so cute and beautiful!" She mewed happily, her green eyes sparkling, Goldenflower was going to speak when Bluestar's voice came through. "Kit, are you in there? I need to speak to you." The ThunderClan leader called, Silk perked her ears when she heard Bluestar, she gave a final smile to Goldenflower, Brindleface, and Speckletail before she left their side and went to the nursery entrance, poking her head out. "About what?" Silk asked curiously, tilting her head. There beside Bluestar was the ThunderClan deputy, Tigerclaw, and a big white tom. Silk lowers her ears at the sight of them, feeling intimidated. "Come. We will speak about this in my den." Bluestar meowed before getting up, flicking her tail in a gesture for Silk and the other cats to follow as she headed towards her den in Highrock.

Once inside of Bluestar's den, she finally spoke. "You seem to enjoy Clan life, apart from the fact that you have only been here for a day. But we've decided that if you wish to, you may join ThunderClan and become an apprentice to train to become a warrior." Bluestar started, Silk's eyes lit up. "R-really?!" Like Bluestar said, even if she has only been here for a day, she actually seemed to enjoy Clan life, preferring to stay here than be with her bully siblings. Bluestar nodded as did the white tom, Tigerclaw, however, just looked off in a different direction, seeming irritated by this choice. "I would like to! It seems so much better than with my siblings!" The small flame-colored she-kit exclaimed, but Bluestar's blue gaze made her feel slightly doubtful. "Know that Clan life isn't always as luxurious as now. There will be dangerous conflicts ahead and your life may be in danger. Are you willing to leave the luxury of your twolegs for our Clan life?" Bluestar asked, her voice had a warning hint to it as her blue eyes locked with Silk's green eyes. She lowered her ears slightly and swallowed once before going into deep thought.

"Let all those old enough to stalk and hunt their own prey gather before Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Bluestar yowled as she leaped up to sit up on the Highrock with Tigerclaw sitting below her, facing the rest of the Clan, the white tom settled himself among the gathering warriors of ThunderClan. The cats of ThunderClan gathered as they were called, Silk was sitting beside Cinderpelt and Yellowfang. "I have called for a meeting to address the current situation within our Clan right now. For those who don't know, Dustpelt and his patrol found an injured kittypet within our territory and bravely chose to bring her back to camp to tend to her wounds. After a day of her getting used to the Clan, Silk, has decided that she would like to join ThunderClan as an apprentice." Bluestar announced, and this, unlike Fireheart's first joining, was met with small murmurs rather than shouting and outbursts. And this time, Longtail, the warrior who had first challenged Fireheart when he first joined, said nothing. "Silk, you are at the age of six moons which is the age when kits become apprentices. Please come up here." Bluestar said, looking down to the ginger she-kit who perked her ears but nodded and nervously went to the side of the Highrock and made the climb up to sit beside Bluestar. "Silk, from this point on until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Scorchpaw. I will entrust you to Darkstripe." Bluestar turned to Darkstripe. "Darkstripe, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Tigerclaw, and you have shown yourself to be strong and clever. You will be Scorchpaw's mentor and I hope that you pass on all you know to Scorchpaw." Then, the ThunderClan leader dipped her head down and touched noses with the newly named Scorchpaw, she seemed confused at this but she played along when Bluestar whispered what to do to her before they touched noses. "Scorchpaw! Scorchpaw! Scorchpaw!" The Clan chanted her name as it was tradition to chant the name of the new apprentices and warriors. Scorchpaw, once parting from Bluestar, went back down the side of the Highrock and looked where she stood for Darkstripe. "Your mentor is the dark gray-and-black tabby!" Scorchpaw turned to look at Cinderpelt as she was talking to her, she smiled and gave a nod before she went through the crowd of warriors in the center of the clearing, looking and eventually finding Darkstripe who she settled down next to. "Dismissed!" Bluestar announced as she flicked her tail, also a sign of dismissal before she leaped down from the Highrock. The cats started to move out and away to do their own things. Scorchpaw looked up at Darkstripe. "What are we going to do first?" Scorchpaw asked eagerly, yet nervously. Darkstripe looked down at his new apprentice. "We will start today with some hunting lessons." He said simply as he stood and started leading the way to the entrance of the camp. Scorchpaw smiled proudly and glanced back at Cinderpelt and Yellowfang who smiled in return, the flame-colored she-cat now bounded after her new mentor, ready to start a new life as a ThunderClan apprentice.

Scorchpaw couldn't help but feel a shiver run up her spine when she remembered being up on Highrock, looking down at the Clan cats with all of their attention on her. She liked that feeling. The she-cat wanted to experience that one day, and she was willing to do anything to gain that feeling of leadership and power again. But what she didn't know was that anything meant that she had to choose her own path wisely in order to rise into the ranks, without falling into the dark pit that constantly follows her wherever she goes as if her destiny is hanging over her and waiting for her to stumble so that it may corrupt her.