username: TheSongOfTheStars
name: Lilypaw, soon to be Lilyflame
age: 5 moons
gender: Female
rank: apprentice
clan thread:
Songclanprompt:
(Darkclan, Gladeclan, Darkstar, and Hawkclaw were all made up for the story)
1000/1000 words
Young cats, bursting with pride, melting with nerves, sat with straight backs while their leader prowled around them.
He stopped in front of a young female, her pelt like flame and smoke, her eyes smouldering red gems, her smile infectious.
"Lilykit, no longer shall you be known by this name, now you are Lilypaw, apprenticed to Hawkclaw."
She wiggled excitedly, glancing towards the old black-and-brown tabby warrior, who smiled faintly back at her.
Soon as the leader stepped back and declared the ceremony over, the bunch of newly-made apprentices scattered to their mentors.
Hawkclaw waited, the faint smile lingering as Lilypaw bounded over to him.
"So, where do we start?" She chirped, the tip of her tail betraying her excitement.
"The borders," he replied, his voice a deep gentle rumble "You must learn them so you do not wander past them accidentally."
"Okay," she trotted at his side as he turned and began making his way towards the woods "What about after that? Can we go hunting?"
He laughed softly "You are going to spend the next four days learning the borders, Lilypaw, after that, I will decide what to teach you."
"Okay," there was a noticeable lapse in her excitement and for a moment there was silence as they slipped further away from the camp than Lilypaw had ever been.
But keeping Lilypaw quiet was like trying to stuff up a stream with dry grass and soon conversation come bubbling out again, filling the air until they came to the forest's edge.
Then she stopped short as she saw the great empty expanse of sky and grass thst extended to the horizon.
Hawkclaw waited patiently for her to overcome her awe. He'd seen many apprentices, born beneath the trees, stop and stare as the full empty sky rwached down to touch them for the first time.
"It's beautiful," She breathed, her ears pinned back and her eyes wide.
"It's also dangerous. Hawks hunt out here, snakes live in the grass and..." his voice trailed away as he squinted into the distance.
"And what?"
Lilypaw turned to follow her mentor's gaze and her eyes widened.
"Rouges," he said darkly, as the distant figures came slinking through the grass towards them.
As soon as Hawkclaw reported the incoming strangers, all kits and queens were restricted to the nursery dens, all apprentices were ordered to stay within camp, and all warriors were on high alert, patrolling the borders ceaslessly in order to drive off the rouges.
Lilypaw remebered the horror stories told by the elders of rouges snatching kits and young apprentices and forcing them to be slaves, hunt for them, groom them, bury their waste. She felt no inclination to wander from camp.
Three days after the initial sighting, the panic began to wear off, and it was decided that training would resume the next day.
Lilypaw slept away from the other apprentices that night, at the camp's edge, staring up at the stars, trying to recapture that sense of wonder she'd felt standing beneath the open sky.
But she didn't dream of stars or the sky, instead she imagined a great stone ripping through the trees to land on her head, then thorns hooked into her leg and began dragging her through empty fields.
When she began to wake she realized that the pain in her head and the scratches from the thorns still hurt.
"Hey, it's coming around," a rough unfamiliar voice said from beyond the haze
"You're luckyDarkstar would be displeased if all we came back with was a dead apprentice," another voice said "Now get it up, they'll be coming after us soon."
Lilypaw felt a rough nose shove against her shoulder.
"On your feet rat."
Dizzy, confused, she staggered to her feet, moaning with pain.
Blearily she stared at the two strange toms, who had hard eyes and many scars.
She'd been kidnapped.
Whimpering fearfully she tucked herself into a ball, digging her feet into the ground.
"Oh shut up," growled the first "That's no way for a future warrior of Darkclan to behave."
"I'm part of Gladeclan, she squeaked.
"Not anymore, you've been adopted into Darkclan where you will serve our leader, Darkstar," the second one droned, as if he'd said it many times before and didn't believe any of it.
Lilypaw felt her chest tighten with terror and before she realized what was happening, her own legs were carrying her away, throwing her headlong through the tall grass.
There was no sound from behind and she thought she'd escaped. Then a massive weight pinned her down and agony ripped through her ankle.
"That'll teach you to run rat," the tom growled, holding her down as she sobbed "now come on."
Twice he forced her to stand, but she collapsed, the injured paw unable to support her.
Finally he took her by the nape of her neck and began dragging her.
She could recall little of what happened next.
Hours (days?) of being dragged, a stop to eat, then more dragging, pain, in her head, her foot.
She wanted to go home, she wanted her mother, her siblings, but they weren't there, only the cruel warriors.
It was dark.
She blinked, her head and foot didn't hurt as much.
looking around, she realized the toms were asleep on either side of her.
"Lilypawwake up!" A voice breathed, "Come here!"
Hawkclaw!
Gingerly she extracted herself and slipped away.
"Come, quickly," he whispered and she followed him, despite her aching foot.
Days later,drenched from a sudden rain, an unfamiliar line of trees sprang up before them.
UnquestioninglyLilypaw followed Hawkclaw into the forest.
Only a few minutes and they were confronted by a lage white cat.
Lilypaw flinched, but didnt have enough energy to be afraid.
The stranger and Hawkclaw spoke together, then he nodded and followed her.
Lilypaw didn't ask where they were going, but she found herself somewhere dry and she curled up.
"Welcome to Songclan," was the last thing she heard before falling asleep.
(Scars visible on back foot)
