Chapter 3
A long time passed before I woke up again.
I wasn't entirely sure how I knew, but my mind seemed to think sometimes, even though my body didn't.
They were always distorted thoughts. I did a lot of thinking about Burrowpaw, wondering if he was with me. As I pondered over his words to me, the less they made sense, and yet the more important they felt to me. I heard voices too, whispers which hissed in my ears like snakes. Venom... SnakeClan...Prophecy...Destruction...
There came a day, and I wasn't entirely sure what day it was, when I finally felt a pull to wake up. There was a gentle paw, running across my spine. I pictured that it was Burrowpaw's, and that was what gave me the strength to open my eyes.
"She's awake? You're awake!"
Not Burrowpaw then, I thought, the dull ache in my body also reaching my head. Guess he had to recover from that snake bite too. I hope his wasn't as bad...
Something felt wrong, though, even when I turned to see the bright green-blue eyes of Emeraldpaw, the cheerful medicine apprentice. She was sniffing at my forepaw, which was wrapped in a thick gauze of poultices.
"Yeahh," I mumbled, voice slurred. "Immawake."
"StarClan, she really is..." I tilted my head slightly in my nest to see a black and white tom gazing down at me. "Thought the snake bite would've killed her," he whispered, so quiet perhaps he didn't think I heard him. "Maybe it helps that she's Stormang's..."
The name which I had heard Burrowpaw utter moments before he passed out suddenly struck me. I winced. Until that moment, part of me had hoped that it had all been some sort of weird dream, like Burrowpaw had mistakenly fed me a dream-cursing mouse.
Nahh... He would so do that just for fun...
I felt like laughing, and jumping up and down. Evidently something was very off. I turned to Emeraldpaw as she licked the ruffled fur along my spine.
"You're okay," she assured. "And awake! I'll have to tell your kin! You know, Nightsight wasn't sure if he should let your kin see you this past half moon, something about venom and contamination. But you look...fine!"
She smiled at me, and hopped out of the den, likely to find Foxshadow and Flamekit. I glanced at Nightsight. Now that I'd been awake for a little bit, the smoke was beginning to clear from my mind. In spite of that, my body still throbbed, and felt weird and wrong.
"Where is Burrowpaw?" I asked quietly.
Nightsight didn't look at me from his position across the den from me. He buried his nose in his herbs, and when he finally spoke, his voice seemed quite flat.
"We lost him."
"You...what?"
I was dimly aware of how high-pitched my voice sounded. I struggled to get to my paws, to face the senior medicine cat. My muscles were weak, and sharp pricks of pain flashed across my forepaw, but I still managed to struggle into a standing position.
"He just... wasn't found," Nightsight responded vaguely, sticking his nose further into his herbs. "You know, lost."
"Did you search for him?" I found my voice rising. "The snake hurt him too! He needs herbs." I claws feebly at the ones on my foreleg. "Take these off of me, and give them to him. He needs help, please." Nightsight had grown very still. "What sort of medicine cat doesn't help a wounded clanmate?!"
"I saved your life," Nightshade whispered, so soft I could hardly hear him. "And yet you rebuke me, Rustkit. Do you think me irrational? Or did no cat ever tell you the tragic story of how your SnakeClan father murdered my mentor!?"
"She was too young to ever hear of what that cat did."
A shadow blocked the entrance to the den. Foxshadow stood, chin raised, eyes flashing defiantly. Flamekit, his smoky grey pelt fluffed up, stood behind her. Emeraldpaw glanced between us, then scampered over to me.
"Are you okay?" she nosed my half-fallen-off poultice.
Foxshadow glanced over at me. "Glad you're okay, Pyth-Rustkit-" she said. "I'm sorry about Burrowpaw. He will be missed." Foxshadow coughed, and turned to Emeraldpaw. "Think she'll be ready for the ceremony tonight?"
"It's Rustkit's choice," Emeraldpaw replied.
What ceremony? I thought. But then I remembered. An apprentice... If I've been asleep for nearly a half moon... I'm soon going to become an apprentice... I lifted my chin. Then I'll find Burrowpaw! If he's 'missing,' then that means he needs to be found... Right?
I imagined the moment I reunited with my brother. Perhaps I would be as tall and strong as him now. We might even get out warrior names together. I might get mine early for being such a brave, DuneClan cat.
Rustheart. Rustember. Ruststar.
The sudden throbbing as I shifted my forepaw brought me back into reality.
Foxshadow stood awkwardly in front of the medicine den for several more moments, before striding back into the maze of tunnels that made up DuneClan camp. Flamekit hesitated for several heartbeats, then my brother padded over to me.
"Hey," he mumbled, not meeting my eyes.
"Hey," I echoed. "It's been a while. Are we actually half-SnakeClan?"
Flamekit shrugged, glancing at Nightsight. "I don't believe anything a medicine cat says!" he announced in his still high-pitched kit voice. "Besides, I'm gonna be a full DuneClan warrior, and nothing's gonna stand in my way, then!"
"I believe it," I purred, as Emeraldpaw helped me sink back into my nest.
It felt good to talk to Flamekit. I kept trying to convince myself that this was but a little blip in my path to becoming a strong DuneClan warrior. It helped the fear of where Burrowpaw was, and the pain of my forepaw dull a bit.
"We're gonna be the strongest warriors in the clan one day," I meowed, gazing into my brother's blood-red eyes, the same striking colour as my own.
Flamekit looked away. He mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath.
"What?" I asked.
Flamekit's gaze darkened as he stood above me. I was aware of how his coal grey pelt cast a shadow over my wounded body. His eyes looked almost as cold as Foxshadow's, when he growled.
"Burrowpaw is dead and it's all your fault. He was the only one who understood me!" I saw a flash of guilt creep across his face, but he quickly let out a snarl. "It's almost a good thing, really, what Pricklestar decided to do with you."
His eyes were trained on my wounded paw. The poultice was quickly slipping off, revealing a raw wound, a mark that would forever be there. I stared at the puncture marks, the fang marks, of where the snake's venom had struck me.
"What is going on?" my horrified voice was scarcely a whisper.
Flamekit's ears were laid back against his skull as he stared at me. He had the same powerful build as Burrowpaw had yet he somehow looked far more menacing. The cavern surrounding me felt suddenly cold and stuffy as I stared up at Flamekit. Why wasn't the air coming to my lungs?
"You're not going to be a warrior, Rustkit," Flamekit whispered. "You're going to be a Scout."
For a moment I just stared at him. He continued to glare down at my wounded foreleg, as though scowling ferociously enough would make it disappear. My heart pounded in my chest, and my ears rang.
"No," I whispered. A Scout... But I'm a warrior cat... It's my destiny, who I'm meant to be.
Flamekit's scowl at my snake bite had deepened so much, it looked almost comical.
"NO!" I snarled, rising towards him. "NO, YOU'RE LYING!"
My brother squeaked, and leapt away from me. I stumbled towards him, but when I landed on my forepaw, it gave way with a sharp jab of pain. I collapsed onto my side. Flamekit threw me a half-scared, half-disgusted look, as he turned tail, and ran into the tunnel.
I glanced down at my forepaw, pangs of anger coursing through me. The dusty cobwebs and poultice had entirely fallen off, leaving two crimson gashes behind. I couldn't help but feel shaken, and furious, at what was going on.
"I knew the venom was going to mess her up," Nightsight whispered. "Might be safer just to exile her now... Rather than when her instability causes an...accident."
Emeraldpaw seemed a bit hesitant to help me as I slumped back into my nest. I glowered at her and Nightsight for what felt like moons, as the two of them continued to sort dusty, useless weeds.
None of that is going to bring Burrowpaw back, I thought darkly as they shredded a sunset-coloured flower. The falling petals fell to the ground, now completely divided. I felt like the smallest scrap of the shredded flower, completely isolated from everything that had ever mattered to me.
My leg kept throbbing, and my anger kept rising, but at least it distracted me from the fear which lurked beneath. Eventually, the dusty cavern walls began to flicker out of view, and I fell into an uneasy sleep.
My dreams were filled with Burrowpaw collapsing to the ground, small brown paws sinking below the sand. Flamekit and Foxshadow cackled from the shadows as my foreleg contorted and spasmed, turning into the crimson bellied snake.
The rest of DuneClan watched, separated from one another, like the broken petals of the flower. They all glared at me, but when they hissed, they had forked tongues. Suddenly, a large black tom padded towards me, and spoke in a strangely high-pitched voice.
"Rustkit? Are you ready to go?"
I blinked dazedly. Three Emeraldpaws floated around me. My breathing was rapid and thin, with a raspy tinge to it. Gradually, the flying Emeraldpaws converged into the one medicine cat apprentice once more.
I tried to calm my pounding heart as I took in my surroundings. Scraps of grey-green moss clung to my brown and cream pelt. I scrambled to my paws, remembering this time to keep the weight off my forepaw.
"Yeah," I said, as Emeraldpaw stared at me. "Of course I am. The ceremony, right?"
If I'm strong and confident, they'll surely give me a good mentor. I tried not to think of Flamekit's ominous words as I shook out my pelt, and Emeraldpaw dislodged some of the hard-to-reach scraps of moss. He was mad. He was just trying to scare me.
I leaned against Emeraldpaw's black and white pelt as she led me towards the exit to the den. It felt good to have hard earth under my paws again, though with each step forward, my legs threatened to give out.
As I peeked my muzzle out of the exit to the medicine den, I saw a dark, sprawling mass of caverns and tunnels. My eyes widened. This had been one of my dreams as a kit, to finally explore DuneClan camp without Foxshadow scrutinising my every move.
But with Burrowpaw gone, the massive sandy tunnels felt...hollow.
"Alrighty, Emeraldpaw, Owlpaw here, reporting for duty. What's the mission?!"
I leapt back, fur spiking in alarm as a brown-red she-cat suddenly leapt out in front of me from one of the small tunnels. She had large electric green eyes, and a spike of fur right on top of her head. Her grin faded slightly when she saw me.
"Oh," her ears, one of which was nicked, flattened. "I didn't realise you were talking about this cat..."
I had my teeth gritted in pain from landing on my wounded foreleg. I stared at her, wondering just how many clanmates I had that I had never seen before. After my apprentice ceremony, this she-cat was going to be my denmate.
"Owlpaw's another DuneClan apprentice," Emeraldpaw meowed, whisking her tail. "She's going to be supporting some of your weight while we get you to the ceremony. "She's also Pricklestar's daughter."
"If you're going to tell this cat everything about me," Owlpaw muttered as she positioned herself on my right. "Maybe you should add that Burr was my best friend."
Burr? As we made our slow progress down the tunnel, Emeraldpaw and Owlpaw on either side of me, I tried to figure out why Owlpaw seemed so agitated. Her fur was ruffled, and her muscles seemed tense as I leaned against her. I could have sworn she began shaking as the tunnel narrowed, and the three of us were crammed in like sardines.
Then it hit me.
Burr... She means Burrowpaw.
I glanced at Owlpaw. These cats had already mourned Burrowpaw. I realised that many of them must blame me. Suddenly I wasn't so certain whether Flamekit had been lying about me not becoming a warrior.
"So you're an apprentice?" I asked, when the silence got too stuffy.
Owlpaw nodded. "Yeppers. I'm about halfway through my training, in fact." she grinned. "Adderlight, he's my mentor and clan deputy, thinks that I'm shaping up to be one of the best DuneClan warriors ever."
"How come I never saw you as a kit?" I asked.
Owlpaw blinked in faint surprise, then shrugged. "They tend to keep the lesser kits away from the strongest clan kits, y'know? My mother made sure I had a special burrow all to myself."
My entire body shuddered at the sound of the word lesser. Owlpaw seemed to be warming up a little bit, though, eyes gleaming with pride. I could hear the sound of voices, but I had one final question that was burning on the back of my tongue.
"Did you ever look for Burrowpaw?"
Owlpaw winced as though she had been struck by a venomous snake herself. "I did," she whispered, voice barely audible above the echoing noise of cats. "I snuck out night after night. But it was no use. He's gone. We all heard you thrashing and screeching about Burr. The snake bit him. He's as good as gone."
Owlpaw stared ahead for a heartbeat, then, whirled around, and bolted in the direction we had just come. I turned my head just in time to see her dark brown paws disappear around the bend and out of view.
Before I had time to yowl back at her, the ceiling suddenly opened up. I had plunged into a massive, shadowed burrow. The buzzing sound of chatter abruptly died. I could hear my paw crunch down on the rough sandstone floor.
I glanced up, and found myself face-to-face with a swarm of cats.
All of them looked down at me. I was suddenly conscious of how ruffled my pelt was, how I must reek of herbs, and how much stronger and taller all of them were.
The cats lined the massive, hollowed out sandstone cavern. Bright lime-green lichen illuminated their twitching ears and tails. The way the light was cast on my clanmates made me squirm with sudden fear. Or perhaps it was their stares, all focussed on my forepaw.
"We have been awaiting you."
At the centre of the burrow stood a massive pillar of stone. The ring of warriors all stood around it. And on top of the stone, was the most imposing, and regal she-cat I had ever seen. I knew at once that she was our clan leader.
Pricklestar.
"I'm here now." I said as the silence drew on uncomfortably long.
A ripple passed across all the cats at my words. Several of them exchanged disconcerted stares. I heard several of them pass the words poisoned and contaminated around. A brown tabby, sitting in the far corner of the den with several other cats, I recognised all as Scouts, whispered.
"You're supposed to bow."
I crouched low, but as soon as I put weight on my injured forepaw, I drew back up with a hiss of pain. Pricklestar inclined her head slowly.
I tried to keep my head high as I limped into the clearing. My head throbbed faintly, alongside the tenderness of the puncture wound on my foreleg. The entirety of DuneClan seemed to be gathered around a large central rock, where the clan leader was seated. They're all looking at me."You can't seriously be doing this to her!" A growl sounded from the back of the crowd. "She's just a kit!"
"She's cursed," Pricklestar said flatly. "We all know how deadly snakes are, and now she has the venom of one running through her veins. How could a cat like her ever be a warrior? Now, come forward."
I did as I was told, but I couldn't help but glower at the passing cats. I especially narrowed my eyes at the two who had been whispering the loudest. Darkember was sitting near the front, and I tried to lift my chin high, and wipe away my scowl. He had always inspired me with his strength.
As soon as I found Flamekit and Foxshadow, I sat down. I made sure to give them a little bit of space, just to be safe.
"It is time," yowled Pricklestar from atop the Meeting Stone, "to name two new DuneClan apprentices. While each of them will travel very different paths, I hope that GalaxyClan will watch over them, and guide their paws."
I lifted my chin, pride swelling over me. It didn't matter what my clanmates thought right now. They didn't know me yet. They would soon see what a good, resourceful warrior apprentice I was going to be.
"Flamekit!" Pricklestar yowled. "Come forward."
I saw my brother's red eyes flash with a hint of fear as he gazed up at Pricklestar. He tried to use the footholds which were found in the massive grey boulder. When he reached the top, he balanced precariously on the edge, nearly falling over. Then, he steadied his paws, and lifted his chin.
"Flamekit, you have surpassed the age of six moons, and will now be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Flamepaw. Your mentor..." I glanced around, wondering who it would be.
"...Will be Darkember. I hope that he will pass on his bravery and intelligence on to you."
Flamepaw got the best mentor of all... I yowled my brother's name alongside the rest of my clanmates. Pricklestar pressed her paw on Flamepaw's head, to represent him becoming an apprentice. I noted she quickly drew her paw back. Then, my littermate leapt down, and touched noses with Darkember.
"You'll be a good apprentice, Flamepaw," Darkember rumbled, his black tabby markings scarcely visible in the dim light. "I've been watching your progress. It will be a pleasure to train you."
I purred as my brother's eyes gleamed. He had always worried about this ceremony. I vaguely wondered how Darkember had managed to watch my brother without either of us really seeing him.
"Rustkit," Pricklestar drawled. "Come here."
The instant I dug the claws of my wounded forepaw into the stone, agony rippled across me. I let out a hiss, drawing back my lips to reveal small fangs. I kept clamboring up, trying not to recoil at the agony and exhaustion of working my limbs. When I reached Pricklestar, she quickly averted her gaze.
"Rustkit, you have surpassed the age of six moons."
The crowd stared at me. I felt as though hundreds of eyes were boring me. I looked at each one, trying to pick out who I thought would be my new mentor. Dustshade would be good. Spidercloud's young, but-
"From this day on..."
There was a noticeable pause. I glanced up at Pricklestar. She had one paw raised, evidently ready to do the DuneClan tradition of finalising the ceremony with touching it to my head. It was supposed to be some sort of ritual of the leader passing knowledge to the new 'paw, but right now, it felt like she wanted to shove me off the mousedunged rock.
"From this day on," Pricklestar continued again. She glanced down at me, and I saw a million emotions warring in her eyes, the greatest of which I thought I saw were dislike and fear, "you shall be known as Pythonpaw."
She thrust her paw so hard into my head that I nearly tumbled right off the rock. I managed to slow my descent by hooking my claws into the stone. I clung there, like a... honestly I have no words for it.
All I was thinking about at that moment was one word.
Pythonpaw. Pythonpaw! Pythonpaw?
But I'm Rustkit. But as I gazed up at Pricklestar, a horrible sinking understanding twisted in my belly. Pricklestar had decided to name me after a snake, after the sort of creature that DuneClan saw as a ruthless murderer.
"Your mentor," Pricklestar said, almost relishing the words. "Will be Dingofoot."
That was enough of a shock for my claws to suddenly release from the Meeting Stone. I tumbled down, and was caught by a sandy brown tom.
It was the same Scout I had mocked when I'd first left with Burrowpaw. That felt like ages ago now. I stared up into his stormy dark eyes. He brought his muzzle down, and touched boats with me.
A tentative cheer broke out amidst the crowd of cats.
I'm an apprentice now, I thought. But I'm not Rustkit anymore.
I'm... Pythonpaw.