Username;; TheSongOfTheStars
Cat Name;; Seaglass
Gender;; female
Age;; 14 moons
Clan;; https://toyhou.se/TheSongOfTheStars/cha ... er:1003472Rank;; warrior
Prompt;;The frost tipped claws of the wind drove clouds of snow along the frozen barren earth, determined to fill up every crack and nook with the cold dancing crystals.
The row of young cats, barely shed of their milk teeth, standing up to their bellies in the water that was beginning to freeze to the tips of their fur.
It was a test of endurance and one by one the cats began to fail it, slipping beneath the surface of the icy lake and never reemerging until there were but five left.
As the night drew to a close and the storm began to subside their leader stalked along the shore in front of them, eyeing the pathetic younglings with frost forming along their backs and ice tethering them to the lake.
"You've succeeded," his voice was lower than the sound of falling stones "You have proven yourselves worthy, tomorrow you will receive your assignments."
Gasping in relief and shaking from the effort of supporting their own bodies after such an ordeal the young cat drug themselves from the lake and onto the shore. For a moment none of them could carry themselves any further than dry ground and they all stared at each other listlessly.
"We made it," one of the toms whispered, triumph leaking into his voice "We made it."
----
None of them had names.
They were not yet worthy.
They would be soon, once they completed their training with their assigned mentors.
If they survived.
Don't think like that, she told herself. She was strong and deadly as a snake, she had fought her littermates for the best milk and warmest places to sleep, she had survived the trial of the lake, she would receive a name.
"Apprentice!"
Her head snapped up and she found herself staring into the faded yellow eyes of one of the oldest warriors in the clan, Graycoat.
"Have I been assigned to you?" She asked, a bubble of excitement rising as she realized she'd be mentoring under the most feared cat in the clan.
"Yes," he growled "Come, we start now."
----
Every mistake she made was corrected with a heavy paw, claws unsheathed and by the end of her first session she was breathless, beaten and aching.
But she did not say a word, she did not shake or tremble. She was strong, she was worthy, she would become a warrior and serve her clan.
"C'mon kid," he grunted as the last vestiges of light began to turn from gold to gray "We're done."
She whispered a sigh of relief. She ached everywhere from the ice of the lake biting into her skin and from Graycoat's corrections.
She stumbled into her nest, stomach empty, but too tired to hunt or even drag herself to the prey stock and she fell asleep to a night full of dreams of ice and names whispered on the edges of snowflakes.
The next day came too soon with Graycoat awaking her before the moon had even sank.
"Come," he whispered and she followed him out across the snow laden fields and down towards the lowlands. It was high noon with the sun pale and distant before they reached the destination the old warrior had in mind.
She stared down in awe at the sea which was greater than she could have imagined and more fearful than the sky when it was taken with a storm.
"I will train you here," he said, turning his back to the gray sad waves and staring her dead in the face "For the next three moons, if you survive then we will return in the spring and you will take your rightful place."
She had to suppress her smile and nodded solemnly.
"You will follow my every order without question until you are released from your apprenticeship, understood?"
She nodded again.
"Then we will begin."
----
It was grueling, harder than she imagined. Every day began before the sun and ended long after it.
Graycoat was cold, distant, as she had imagined, but only during their training sessions. When he gave her a break, the relationship of mentor and apprentice seemed to melt. He spoke to her about unimportant things, things that she might have chatted about with a friend or fellow apprentice.
They would walk along the shore, marvling together at the vastness of the sea.
It was on one such walk that she came across a stone that was not like the others.
"It is seaglass," Graycoat explained, then he got a strange glint in his eyes as he turned it over and touched the sharp edge "I am going to teach you to use this."
She did not understand at first, but when he showed her how to cradle it in her paw and use it like a devastatingly large claw to rip into the flesh of an enemy she was ecstatic.
----
"Apprentice," Graycoat began one day as the snow was melting and the sea was growing warmer "You have grown."
She stopped, eyes glowing bright with anticipation and eagerness.
"You have grown from a useless child to a warrior, capable. You have done as you where told and you will serve your clan in many ways. But as of yet, you are not released of your apprenticeship. You are still bound to obey me. You must be appraised before our leader. Today we will journey back home. So take your sea glass and come."
So she did as she was told and together they made their way back to the land they had come from. The sun began to sink, burning like blood spilling across the horizon, then turning to cold ashen grey.
It was dark when they returned. She recognized the familiar landscape nonetheless.
"Come," Graycoat growled "Bring the glass and remember, remember you are bound to my every word."
She nodded and followed him. What would her name be, she wondered, would it be a strong one? One that evoked both beauty and fear? One she could be proud to bear?
They moved towards the leaders den and she found them standing over the sleeping black cat.
For a moment she felt a jab of confusion, how would she prove herself to him when he was not awake.
"Take the glass shard," Graycoat growled nudging her forwards "And do as I have taught you."
For a moment she was uncertain, then slowly horror crept over her "I..."
"You are bound to me," he snarled softly "Bound to my every order. I order you to kill him. Kill him so that I can take his place, you know I will be a much better leader than he."
She cradled the shard in her paw and stared down at her leader. She rose it, preparing to drive it into his lungs.
"No!" She screamed and yanked away "I can't!"
The sound awoke their leader and in a half second the huge cat was on his feet, claws slashing and a howl tearing from his lips "Traitors!"
"No!" she screamed, but there was no defense, she had stood over him, prepared to kill.
"Run!" Graycoat roared and out of sheer habit she obeyed but they were not fast enough.
It was but a blur afterwards as she found herself tearing into her fellow apprentices, her clanmates as they tried to kill her for a crime she had not intended to commit. There was no choice though.
It was them or her and Graycoat's bellowing voice drove her in her confusion.
When the fog of terror lifted she was lost and Graycoat was staggering beside her, leaning his weight on her.
"What did you do?" she whispered, drawing away from him "What did you do!?" she screamed it, letting him fall "You've ruined me!"
He collapsed, wheezing for breath.
"Our leader...is a monster," he said, past the blood dribbling from his lips "One I could not defeat, but one you could have. If you had just...done...as you where told."
"They'll never forgive me," she sobbed "I can never go back, I can never serve."
Then it hit her, like a winter tipped ocean wave "I will never have a name!"
"Oh child," Graycoat coughed and his voice began to fade "I will give you a name."
"You are a traitor," she spat "I will not accept a name from you."
"I will give you one...anyway," Graycoat labored to speak "A parting gift."
She stared at him, uncertain but angry.
"Seaglass," he managed finally "You are Seaglass. Go out and forgot our clan, go out, Seaglass and become something that I could not have crafted you into."
Then a breath of air leaked from his lungs and Graycoat was dead.
She stared at him for much too long, before turning her face towards the dawning sun.
She had no home, no purpose, nothing but her newly gifted name.
"Seaglass," she whispered and looked down at the shard she still carried "I am...Seaglass."
It felt wrong and it felt right, but Graycoat had given it to her and it was all she had.
She was Seaglass.
