Chapter 15
As the cats arrived at Moonpool, Honeywhisker meowed, “Before we meet with StarClan, I have a special ceremony to perform.”
Finally, it’s about time! Redwhisker has been a warrior for over a moon!
“You don’t deserve it,” she whispered almost inaudibly. “But I guess I had to give it to you sometime.”
Whitepaw straightened proudly, ignoring Honeywhisker’s comment. Thornwhisker would’ve given me my full name moons ago.
“I, Honeywhisker, medicine cat of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice,” the golden she-cat started the ceremony. “He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help he will serve his Clan for many moons.”
“Congratulations, Whitepaw!” the apprentice heard Longsplash call out quietly, and Leafwhisker said something similar.
“Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?” Honeywhisker asked.
He wouldn’t. He would fight for SplashClan and SplashClan only but he didn’t care. He wanted his name and no one would know it was a lie until it was way too late. “I do,” he responded, meeting Honeywhisker’s amber gaze without flinching.
“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Whitepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Whitefur,” she named him. “StarClan honors your intelligence and courage and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of ThunderClan.”
The small crowd of medicine cats chanted his name, and Whitefur couldn’t help but notice how pathetic it was compared to Redwhisker’s ceremony. He closed his eyes and touched his nose to the Moonpool.
Unlike the other medicine cats, he woke up in the Dark Forest, not the boring sunny fields of StarClan.
Thornwhisker was there. “Hey, Whitefur, Splashheart is training someone else tonight again but we’re going to go meet them and train as a team. This cat still believes in the warrior code but try not to shred her fur off since Splashheart thinks we can still convince her of the truth,” the brown tom meowed.
“You know about the naming ceremony?” Whitefur asked.
Thornwhisker nodded. “C’mon, let’s get going, Splashheart is already waiting,” he meowed.
The brown tom took him to the same sandy stretch of land where Salmonstar had trained before the dumb StarClan cats had stolen her from the Place of No Stars. Splashheart was attacking the same undersized she-cat that Whitefur had glimpsed on that night.
The she-cat stopped when she saw him. “You didn’t mention I’d be training with him!” she spat crossly. “He’s the one who insulted…”
“Well, I’m not too pleased to see you either. Thornwhisker didn’t mention I’d be training with miniature kits,” Whitepaw growled. “So I incorrectly assumed I’d be training with decent-sized warriors.”
“I am a warrior!” she snarled, fur bristling.
“Now, now, let’s be nice to each other,” Splashheart interrupted the conversation. “Introduce yourselves.”
“Whitefur, currently belonging to ThunderClan, wishing I lived in SplashClan,” he muttered, still glaring at her.
“Tawnyflame, warrior of RiverClan,” she snapped.
“Nice to meet you, Tawnykit,” Whitefur meowed with fake pleasantness.
“Whitefur, stop it!” Splashheart shouted fiercely. “This is not a way to treat a newcomer! Now you’re going to attack each other. I know we usually train with claws unsheathed, but since Whitefur can be particularly vicious, today it’ll be claws sheathed only.”
“What?” Whitefur was outraged, and he couldn’t stop the words from flying out of his mouth. “Is she too scared and wimpy to fight like a real warrior?”
“Whitefur, it’s just for one night and it’s still practice,” Splashheart sighed. “Now attack!”
The medicine cat leapt at her and she sidestepped. Beginner’s move.
He twisted and lashed out with sheathed claws, hitting her in the face. She tried to retaliate, but he dodged the blow with ease. He positioned himself in front of her as she charged and spun around, kicking her in the face with his hind legs. Before she recovered, he had turned back around and ran his claws across her throat. “And then you’d be dead,” the young tom stated.
“Very good, Whitefur! Now show Tawnyflame how you did it,” Splashheart ordered.
Whitefur demonstrated the move in slow motion. He stopped and glanced at the gray-and-white tom, who gave him an approving nod. “A perfect move for killing your leader when the time comes. They’d never expect it!” he meowed with satisfaction.
“Why in StarClan’s name would I kill Salmonstar?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Don’t use the word StarClan here,” Whitefur growled. “The warrior code is flawed. We need to take over the Clans and unite them under Splashheart’s leadership. Weaknesses like the elders and journeys to the Moonpool? Gone. And…”
“The Clans may have made a few small mistakes, but the warrior code does not need to be changed!” Tawnyflame protested. “It has worked for seasons and now you want to…”
Quick as lightning, Whitefur gave a strong push and knocked her over. He unsheathed his claws and raked them repeatedly down her stomach. She tried to escape his grasp but her attempts were fruitless.
Whitefur heard rushing pawsteps behind them and was soon being dragged away from the flame-colored RiverClan she-cat by Thornwhisker. “Whitefur, clawing her to death is not how you get a cat to realize the truth!” Splashheart hissed angrily.
“Not only do you look like a kit, but you fight like one too,” he taunted.
“Whitefur, I said that’s enough!” Splashheart screeched. “Thornwhisker, I guess this wasn’t such a good idea. Take Whitefur and train in the Decaying Hollow.”
The white-furred tom shot one last look of animosity at Tawnyflame before following Thornwhisker.
A/N: Bubblybluebananas is writing a story called Tawnystar's Secret, which takes place at the same time as this book. Both books will be based on Splashheart leading the Dark Forest to attack the Clans. The only differences are that Tawnyflame is a RiverClan cat while I focus on ThunderClan and that our RiverClan characters(except for Tawnyflame) are different :)
Hope you enjoyed, and if you're looking for a book to read while waiting for me to finally come out with the next chapter, Tawnystar's Secret is a good choice :D
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