Scourge stood atop the dumpster, Briarrose next to him. He was naming five new cats; Heather, Twist, Desert, Louise and Montgomery.
"Heather, since you are four moons old, you cannot be aprenticed yet. But I will give you the name Heatherkit." He said. The kitten swelled with pride at her 'warrior' name. "Desert, I give you the name Desertpaw,"he turned to Brickpelt . "And Brickpelt will be your mentor. Pass on your skills to this eager young cat, and help her overcome her grave injury." The one-eyed apprentice beamed and touched noses with the Rust-colored tom.
"Twist, I give you the name Twistypaw," he turned to Dovewing. "I understand you have not had an apprentice yet, Dovewing, therefore you will mentor Twistypaw." Twistypaw's jaw dropped as he set eyes on the calico she-cat. She smiled at him and he quickly turned away so no-one would see him blushing. Dovewing giggled.
"Louise, I give you the name Fallenpaw, your mentor will be Harkfire." Scourge turned to his nephew. "I trust you will teach her all she needs to know, and you might also learn some valuable skills." The orange tom nodded. Bloodlilly Smiled at her son, her chest swelled with pride. Montgomery sat next to her, he was tingling with exitmemt. He was going to be Bloodlilly's apprentice and become a medicine cat.
"Montgomery," Scourge said. "I have talked to my sister and she has told me what your apprentice name will be. After the ceremony, you two will travel to the moonstone and you will have a proper ceremony. Your name will be Nightpaw, and you shall be our clans next medicine cat!"
"Heatherkit! Desertpaw! Twistypaw! Fallenpaw! Nightpaw!"
Briarrose looked at all the new warriors in training, and she felt mixed emotions. She was happy that her friend, Dovewing, had an apprentice. But she was sad she hadn't gotten one.
But she wasn't too sad, as she knew she would only have been able to train them for one moon before having to go to the nursery. She wanted to tell him as soon as possible that the night they shared after the battle had resulted in her having kits. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Scourge, I need to talk to you.". He nodded and led the way into his den.
They groomed for a while, then she smiled.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, shrugging. "I was just remembering that you are going to be a father."
Then he smiled. But not a normal smile. He smiled a smile that was so bright and happy , that the sun at midday refused to come out from behind the cloud.
Because it knew it could not shine half as bright.
END OF PART ONE