Having only been a medicine cat for several days up to a week, Frostheart was starting to wonder whether she'd acted rashly. Skyfeather was annoyed that she'd become a medicine cat only for a few days and caused him much grief, only to swap back a few days later. He seemed to think she was going out of her way to annoy him, no matter how much she yammered on about Honeyleaf's faked so-called destiny. But she hadn't entirely forgotten what the golden medicine cat had said. Being a medicine cat was the blue-eyed white cat's destiny. Not hers, but, who was the blue-eyed white cat? Her brother might be the only cat in the Clan matching that description. Should she tell him? But he was way too busy either tailing Windecho to follow his every command or mooning over Twilightmoon. Was there anything she could do to warn him before Honeyleaf pounced on him like she'd done with her?
Frostheart didn't have a clue what to do, but she just left it there. She didn't need to warn anybody. Even if it came as a nasty shock, it wasn't super bad (Well, yes, it was, but she didn't want to admit it). Besides, Honeyleaf liked her tone of surprise. If she pounced on Cloudbeam and dramatically told him about destiny, only to find he already knew, she was going to be the most annoyed cat on the planet. Currently, she was sulking outside her den, muttering about how Frostheart had had potential and all that nonsense. Sure, maybe she'd had potential, but being a medicine cat wasn't her calling.
Still, as Amberfrost didn't seem to be aware of the change, she was quite happy to lounge in camp all day. She did go out to hunt occasionally, and join the occasional apprentice training session (well, no, they didn't have any apprentices). When she tried to join an apprentice training session, she suddenly realized how long they'd been going without apprentices and new warriors. She and her brothers might well be the only batch in moons.
She came back only to find an interesting conversation going on in the medicine den, so of course she had to eavesdrop. Twilightmoon was talking in a rapid, excited tone, words spilling out of her mouth so fast that Frostheart could barely understand her. Finally, all her questions asked, Twilightmoon looked at Honeyleaf with round eyes.
"Yes, you're expecting kits," Honeyleaf agreed shortly, then attempted to return to sorting her herbs, but Twilightmoon just kept on going.
"You're sure?" the silver she-cat asked nervously. Frostheart was sure she was testing Honeyleaf's tolerance. The cranky old medicine cat normally didn't take so many questions at a time.
"Yes I'm sure!" Honeyleaf snapped back. "What do you think you've got, belly expanding and hungry all the time cancer?"
Twilightmoon flushed under Honeyleaf's critical stare. "But, I mean, there's no chance I'll lose them, right?"
"Of course there's a chance. If you keep yelling at me, the chance is higher!" Honeyleaf fired back. "Now will you leave me alone to sort my herbs! And why are you lurking there, Frostheart? I thought you gave up."
"Gave up? No, I decided being a medicine cat wasn't my calling. And I wanted you to know that because you keep moping around muttering about all my wasted potential and whatnot!" Frostheart growled. Technically a lie, but she couldn't exactly go on about how 'the conversation had sounded interesting' and 'she'd decided to eavesdrop'. She might get in serious trouble for that. She'd already eavesdropped on the medicine cats once, to learn of the prophecy-
- the prophecy! Why hadn't she gotten a message through their magical telepathic conversation board thing? Not a message in weeks, moons even. She knew that Turtleleaf had been the most frequent correspondent, but she normally talked to Flamewing a lot, they were good friends. But if nobody was messaging, were they planning something in person, that they didn't want Frostheart and Streamlight to know? Quickly, Frostheart sent a telepathic message - Hi guys. Nothing spectacular, but if Turtleleaf and Flamewing didn't even respond to that, she would know that something was up. She got a reply from Streamlight almost immediately - Hi Frostheart. Hey, Turtleleaf and Flamewing, have you been around recently?
Frostheart's heart jumped. So, Streamlight had noticed it too? That they had been rather absent recently? Technically, so had she, but she'd never been a big conversation starter.
It took a while, but finally, a reply from Flamewing came in. Sorry, I was recovering from battle injuries, I was sleeping a lot. Turtleleaf's reply came after a moment. I am deputy now and I have more important things to do than converse with unworthy other Clanners.
Rude, Frostheart thought, shaking her head, but before she could answer with a neat comeback, Stonestar called a Clan meeting. Telepathic communication required attention and focus, so she couldn't just do it in the middle of a Clan meeting. Sighing in annoyance, she hurried below the High Rock, wondering what it could possibly be about. Something stupid, probably. 'My bodyguard isn't doing her job.' Now that she thought about it, she might be back on bodyguard duty. She wasn't a medicine cat anymore. That had been one of the perks of the role - no more Clan leader on your doorstep.
"Frostheart, come forward. You shall officially become my bodyguard, and I think that ought to be declared with a fiercer name. Your heart isn't frosted, so I see why my old name isn't quite fitting for you." The Clan leader's narrowed eyes pierced hers with an unwavering stare - at least she thought it was until he broke away a moment later. Her unwavering eyes followed him as he spoke. "You are like the fiercest, harshest wind, and for that, I name you Frostwind."
"Frostwind! Frostwind!"
Half of them never even speak to me, and now they're chanting my name? What for? Frostwind thought with a sigh. She didn't really see the point, plus some of them were annoying brats. Windecho had chanted her name, and that was surprising enough in itself. He of all cats? Her annoying, bratty brother? Still, she wasn't complaining. Maybe they were even coming close to making up for all the bad things that had happened. She certainly hoped so. It was getting annoying, the way she had to glare at him EVERY TIME THEY PASSED.
"Yes, Frostwind! And you shall now officially be my bodyguard!" Stonestar added ecstatically. The real reason he had been excited about her ceremony, obviously. He valued his own protection even though he didn't care about what happened to his Clanmates, the cats he was supposed to care for. He had been a nice enough lad while he was a warrior, and she was speaking that even though she was younger than him, but the moment he ascended to leader, he had become a dimwit with trashy decisions. What had ruined him, a prophecy? Seriously? It seemed awfully odd, she was the one in the prophecy and she wasn't the one moping in the den wailing about it! Life moved on, you moved with the times, you didn't stand behind with them. He was really a sentimental fella. The old days were over, but he didn't accept that. He basically declared war on AutumnClan. They were in big trouble now, and then he and Mousestar had acted like total pals at the gathering!
"Frostwind! Don't zone out on me! Not after all I did for you!" Stonestar whined. Such a whiner! Who would ever like him? Was Sunstar out of her mind when she picked him for deputy? Well, she was probably traumatized after what happened with Silverlight, so maybe it was forgivable. But seriously, to pick someone that trashy? Frostwind rolled her eyes.
"Zone out on you? But you're so incredibly interesting! How could I do that, O Great Leader?" she crooned.
He scowled. Wasn't enjoying being coddled? Well, too bad for him, because all she had was coddling and flattery! What else was she supposed to do, tell him the truth? That she thought he was an idiot and the worst leader in the history of the Clans? Well, of course not, he'd be so incredibly offended and she'd lose her job! (Actually, was that bad? Maybe not, she didn't mind losing her job! It was a waste of time protecting their slob of a leader.)
She hurried away. She hoped she wasn't expected to stand another vigil. The nights were freezing during winter and it was only days away. Autumn wasn't any better, anyway. Prey was getting scarce, but as she'd been the Clan's sole hunter until a few days ago, the forest wasn't exactly hunted dry, and she had always eaten well. She did notice some other Clan members were getting scrawnier, though. As the days went by, she noticed Skyfeather especially was one of the scrawniest cats around. How many times had he eaten since she'd ditched him? Their situation was awkward now, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Old feelings remained and they definitely weren't gone, especially now that it was possible again, but because of words that had been said, they weren't entirely sure how they should make up. Frostwind had barely exchanged a few glances with the cat she had once poured her heart out to in the last few days. He had been hanging out a lot with his brother Blackfoot, but Blackfoot was more interested in flirting with Twilightmoon. Typical toms, what else did they do with life? Cloudbeam was busy trying to impress Twilightmoon too, even though she was EONS OLDER THAN HIM and Frostwind TOTALLY DIDN'T APPROVE, but of course Cloudbeam didn't listen, he was choosing for himself! Well, what a nutter! Perhaps she wasn't on such good terms with him after all, he was a crazy chap, trying to think she would ever like him! But he was having better luck than Blackfoot at least, Blackfoot seemed to be annoying Twilightmoon more than anything, and she had to suppress giggles every time she thought of them as a pair.
Despite insisting that her job as a bodyguard was super important, Stonestar was hinting that he was planning to give her one of Shimmerpelt's kits for her apprentice. Her kitting hadn't been too long ago yet Frostwind had never gone to see the newborns. She was going to be a complete stranger to the kitties by the time they reached six moons and were ready to be apprenticed. It was futile trying to tell that to Stonestar though. She had to give him credit, he was quite stubborn. When he had his heart and mind set on something, the decision did not get changed. One of the few things she could possibly like about him, the other thing being that he was quite quiet normally. When you hung around Skyfeather, you got used to noisy settings. He was definitely an extrovert, blabbering all day long and all night long, although he was playing the introvert now to fit in with Blackfoot. Feh, she could see right through him. He was trying to no avail, though. Blackfoot was such a flirter boy that he never noticed that his brother was tailing him around like a lover. Seriously, toms were blur sometimes! How did he not see Skyfeather? His pelt was literally white! Well, since the ground was often covered with snow, maybe he camouflaged? But that sounded stupid the moment the thought was out of her mind, what was he, a rabbit? Nobody cared about camouflage, he caught prey well enough during summer, spring and autumn anyway.
Shimmerpelt had three kits, whose names Frostwind couldn't remember. Was it Tinykit or Smallkit for the first one, whatever, he was named after some ancient deputy, another name she couldn't remember, was it Tinytail or Smalltail, both names sounded really dumb and she couldn't guess. The other two kits were something like Boguskit and Hickorykit. Okay, maybe not Boguskit, but she was pretty sure about Hickorykit, and she double confirmed it with Stonestar. He knew their names. He was their uncle, for StarClan's sake, if she didn't know their names, she wouldn't expect herself to! So, Smallkit, Hickorykit and Somethingkit.
"What's your last niece's name?" Frostwind asked.
"I only have one niece. Her name is Hickorykit. Why?" Stonestar asked.
Frostwind nearly vomited. "HICKORYKIT IS A GIRL?"
"Yes," Stonestar said testily. "I don't see why not. If you're talking about the nephew other than Smallkit, it's Hairykit, why?"
Frostwind nearly vomited again. Hairykit! A really great name to give to a kit! The poor kit probably had no fur at all, with a name like that! "Blargh, Shimmerpelt really thinks of the worst names, doesn't she?"
"Are you insulting my sister?"
"No, of course not, who's your sister?"
"Shimmerpelt!"
"Oh, then yeah, I am."
The other thing about Stonestar was that his feelings could be played with safely. He never held a grudge for more than a few hours and he seemed to forget all the times she'd insulted him. She'd called him a mouse-brained fox-heart at least three times, and he still called her his sincere and truthful bodyguard, who'd never spoken a word against him. He was either death or had a goldfish's memory. She'd rather it was the latter, because then at least she had gotten those insults in.
She was probably mad. No one knew why.
Word count: 2223
Okay, this chapter was kind of weird. I was speed-typing it at probably 90wpm or faster, I'm serious, I type really fast. I got out 1200+ words in about twenty minutes. Pretty impossible, but... I had ideas today and I type fast. Today's chapter was mostly nonsense and I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE for that. I didn't mean for it to be nonsense but I'm a pretty nonsensical person SOOOOO... yeah.
Signing out, Frosty
14/7 (for me, anyway)