Horrors of Self (A Soarclan Story)

So I decided to write a story, again... and then did. Inspiration 101. The story involves Soarclan, a clan that I made up (seen in the Create a Clan! topic Sleepy made). Please make any comments in the comments topic I will be linking here ( https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t13318-horrors-of-self-comments-stuffs#221036 ). Anyway, enough with words. Now time for... more words... *cough* I'm gonna go now.



 

The hill was coming into view, a rolling wind pressing the long blades of grass against the earth. As the half-moon shone brightly in the night sky, six cats ascended up the hill, heading for what was lying atop the grassy knoll. On that hill was the Midnight Pond, the light from the moon shining beautifully across its surface. It was here that these cats would receive signs from their ancestors.

“Hurry along there, Ryepaw. We older cats don’t have all night, you know.” Robinflight turned her head to catch the good-natured teasing from Stonewhisker, the kind medicine cat from Meadowclan. Stonewhisker caught Robinflight’s eye and gave her a soft smile, waiting near the top of the hill until his slightly embarrassed apprentice came running towards them.

“Sorry Stonewhisker,” Ryepaw mewed softly, scuffling his forepaws. “I got distracted.”

Stonewhisker just chuckled softly, walking forward and motioning with his tail for the rest of the cats to follow. “Don’t worry about it, Ryepaw. Let’s get going; we’re wasting moonlight over here.” The rest of the cats followed the aging medicine cat, walking forward until they all surrounded the clear pool in a small semi-circle. As the moon’s light reflected off the pool and bathed the surrounding cats in white light, each cat laid down and touched their noses to the water’s surface, closing their eyes to await the visions given to them by the Guardians. For Robinflight, the dreams that appeared in her sleep were usually very welcome, as she had a particular affinity for the visions her ancestors whispered into her ears. However, ‘usually’ was the key word.

When Robinflight opened her eyes, she was standing on a clearing, not unlike the stretch of land between Soarclan and Meadowclan territory. The Midnight Pond was gone, as well as all the other cats. Instead, the Soarclan medicine cat was treated to a feeling of total loneliness, the night sky above almost suffocating the area. Suddenly, a harsh whisper cut through the silent air, nearly making Robinflight jump in surprise. “In Greenleaf, deception shall be born anew. A great darkness will cover the sky and choke the flight of the brave. In the shadows, death shall bloom. Always be aware.” Paralyzed by shock and more than a tinge of fear, Robinflight cast her gaze wildly around the clearing, looking for whoever was telling her this awful prophecy, but it was as if the night was blinding her. She was slipping away into the darkness, and no matter how loud she tried to call out to the whisper, her words were silenced by the shadows.

Suppressing a gasp of shock, Robinflight’s eyes flew wide open as she awoke besides the Midnight Pond. Looking around, she was relieved to be able to see again. The other medicine cats were just waking up, standing and stretching their legs. Trying to shake off the fear that now felt like it was weighing down upon her shoulders, the she-cat barely heard Ryepaw ask her if everything was alright. “Everything’s fine,” she mewed softly, although she couldn’t hide the sudden tiredness that had infiltrated her speech. “Everything’s fine.” But as the cats all left the hill to return to their clans, Robinflight couldn’t shake the fact that there was a great danger coming… and Greenleaf wasn’t that far off.



A sliver of light broke through the tight canopy of trees that tightly shaded the forest floor, shining a small cone of brightness across the usually dark earth. Suddenly, the light was broken as a small paw crossed it, experimentally moving back and forth through the shaft of sun. Eventually the paw was returned back to its owner as another set of paws appeared next to the light. “What are you doing, Eaglekit?” mewed the newcomer, a look of exasperated confusion on his face.

“It’s so bright,” Eaglekit answered, placing his paw back into the light. “What if we covered all the light? Would it just… disappear?” As if to answer his own question, the curious kit moved forward and stood over the light, looking around as if the forest would become cast in darkness. Next to him, his brother just sighed and shook his head.

“You can be so birdbrained sometimes,” he mewed, padding over to shove his brother off the light. Eaglekit fell over, startled by his brother’s sudden use of force. “Come on, I want to see the warriors go hunting.” With that, the dark gray kit padded away towards the bramble bush that surrounded the camp where the kits lived, Eaglekit padding quickly after him.

“Wait Shadowkit!” the brown-furred kit called after him, racing over to catch up to his brother. “We can’t leave the camp until we’re apprentices!”

“And do you believe everything they tell you?” Shadowkit scoffed, crouching down to sneak under the bramble bush. “Just think for yourself for once-“ Anything more the kit had to say was cut off as a paw grasped Shadowkit’s tail and yanked him back into the clearing. Eaglekit let out a gasp, looking up into the narrowed eyes of Blackear, who was guarding the camp. A flash of fear went through Shadowkit’s eyes as he looked up at the much bigger warrior.

“You should listen to those rules, Shadowkit,” Blackear mewed crossly, releasing the dark-furred kit. “Maybe they’d teach you not to do birdbrained things like trying to leave camp when you’re too young to know what you’re doing.”

“We weren’t causing any harm,” Shadowkit mewed innocently, letting his tail rest gently on the ground. “Besides, we’re responsible enough to go out on our own.”

Blackear rolled his eyes, dismissing the kit’s arguments. “There are rules for a reason, Shadowkit. You can go try charming the other kits, but I’m not letting you leave this camp. Now back to the nursery with you. You too, Eaglekit,” he mewed, turning his head towards the brown-furred kit. “Just because your brother says it’s a good idea doesn’t mean it is. Now off with you,” he waved his tail back to the nursery, and the two scolded kits trudged off, their tails dragging on the ground. With Blackear watching their every movement, the two kits reached the nursery, a towering oak tree with a huge hole in the base. This was where the queens nursed their kits until they became apprentices. Once inside, Shadowkit struck the air angrily with a tiny paw.

“That birdbrained Blackear thinks he can boss us around just because he’s older!” he huffed, turning towards Eaglekit. “When we’re in charge, he’ll have to answer to us!”

Eaglekit sighed and just shook his head; he didn’t like it when his brother started talking about being in power. They were only kits! “You don’t know the future, Shadowkit,” he mewed, moving past him to walk back to their mother, Willowshine. He could feel Shadowkit’s angry glare against his back, but he chose to ignore it.

“What’d you two do this time?” Willowshine mewed playfully, giving Eaglekit a comforting lick on the head. Eaglekit sighed softly and pressed into his mother’s warm fur.

“Shadowkit tried to leave camp to watch the warriors,” Eaglekit responded, getting another nasty glare from his brother, but their mother just laughed, clearly used to her precocious kits’ activities.

“Oh you two, whatever will I do with you?” Willowshine beckoned over Shadowkit with her tail, and the kit reluctantly trotted over to be swept into his mother’s fur. “Now you two just rest, and later we’ll see if you can step outside without getting into trouble.”

More shafts of light were illuminating the ground when Eaglekit and Shadowkit left the nursery again to play in the clearing. Soon, Dawnkit and Rainkit, the other two kits in the camp, padded out from the elder’s den and, spotting the others, raced towards them. “Hey Eaglekit, Shadowkit!” Dawnkit mewed, coming to a screeching halt besides her sister. “The elders tell amazing stories! Did you know Gorsebush caught a fox one time?”

Shadowkit rolled his eyes. “There aren’t any foxes here, birdbrain!” he hissed, giving her a look as if he couldn’t believe she would even believe such a tale. “Where would Gorsebush find one anyway?”

“Why do you have to be so negative? You’re so mean!” Dawnkit cried out, lashing her tail angrily against the ground. Before the two kits pounced on each other, Rainkit stepped in and turned her attention to Eaglekit.

“What do you think, Eaglekit? Do you think Gorsebush really caught a fox?” The others turned their heads towards the brown kit, whose eyes were as wide as if they had asked him to eat a deathberry.

“I… I don’t know, maybe,” he mewed uncertainly, his voice so low the other kits had to strain to hear him.

“Speak up Eaglekit, no one can hear you,” Shadowkit mewed right back, shaking his head at his brother’s social ineptitude. “Oh never mind, it doesn’t matter. Dawnkit, you’re a real wonder, you know that? Come on Eaglekit, let’s go.” With that, Shadowkit walked pointedly away from the other two kits, leaving Eaglekit to give Rainkit a shy glance before running after his brother. Once they were on the other side of camp, Shadowkit turned to Eaglekit and shook his head again. “Why won’t you speak to them?” he asked, for once giving his brother a concerned look. “I know they aren’t great, but you should at least speak to them.”

“I-I can’t,” Eaglekit admitted, looking down at his paws. “I’m not good at talking to them…” Looking out beyond the camp, the kit started as a leaf fell off a tree and landed in front of his paws. Wanting anything to distract Shadowkit from his embarrassing inability to speak to his clanmates, he pounced on the leaf and turned to his brother. “Look, it’s a Mudclan warrior! Let’s teach him a lesson!” Despite it all, Shadowkit gave his brother a playful smirk: no matter what, the two brothers loved to play fight. Joining in, Shadowkit pounced on the leaf after Eaglekit jumped off, knocking it into the air for his brother to smack around.

“Yeah, get out of here, you filthy sludge-pelt!” Shadowkit growled, baring his still-growing teeth as Eaglekit tore the leaf in half. “Good job!” he mewed, patting his brother on the back with his tail. “We sure showed that Mudclan cat who’s boss!”

“Yeah!” Eaglekit laughed, pawing the torn pieces into the air and watching them fall meaninglessly to the ground. It was when they were fighting a pretend enemy that the two were at peace with each other. Eaglekit enjoyed being around Shadowkit, but he always felt that at any moment the bigger kit would snap at him, and those thoughts scared him. Now, however, Eaglekit could only smile, turning his attention back to Shadowkit as a mischievous glint went through the dark-furred kit’s eyes.

“Race you back to the nursery!” he shouted, running back as fast as his little paws would let him, Eaglekit quickly following behind him.

“Hey, get back here!” At least now, everything was peaceful.

“All cats old enough to scale the trees gather for a clan meeting!” Eaglekit poked his head out of the nursery and saw his clanmates clustering together around a stout oak tree, their eyes cast towards a low-hanging branch where the leader of Soarclan, Falconstar, held clan meetings. Curious about what the meeting was about, Eaglekit turned to find Shadowkit already begging Willowshine if they could go listen in on the meeting.

“Please, Willowshine? We’ll be good, I promise!” Shadowkit begged, giving their mother the cutest stare he could muster. Eaglekit could only shake his head in wonder. His brother could be so rude sometimes! How was it possible that he could also be so charming?

“If you two promise to be good,” Willowshine agreed, smiling at her two kits as she ushered them out of the nursery and to the edge of the meeting, where the excited kits tried as hard as possible to not make any noise.

“Soarclan is as prosperous as ever,” Falconstar began, casting his gaze over his clan. “So it brings me great joy to bring two new apprentices into the clan. Dawnkit, Rainkit, will you please step forward?” A surprised but happy smile appeared on Eaglekit’s face: he was glad that Dawnkit and Rainkit were going to become apprentices, although the nursery would be emptier with them gone. The brown-furred kit stood up and tried to peer over the taller warriors’ heads so he could see the soon-to-be apprentices walk up towards the Great Oak. He couldn’t see much, but he did see the excited expression on Rainkit’s face as she stood in front of the Great Oak. Falconstar jumped down from his perch and landed perfectly in front of the two kits, looking down with warmth in his eyes. “Until you both are ready to become warriors, you shall be known as Dawnpaw and Rainpaw. Dawnpaw, your mentor will be Dovetail. I know she will do an excellent job of using your exuberance to make you a great warrior.” Dawnpaw happily moved forward and touched noses with her new mentor, who looked just as excited as her new apprentice. Now the attention was on Rainpaw.

“Rainpaw, your mentor will be Bramblefrost. I’m sure he will pass down his many moons of knowledge unto you.” Rainpaw strode confidently forward, although her own excitement was shown in her movements. The senior warrior was calmer as he touched noses with Rainpaw and gave her a smile. After that, the whole clan began chanting their new names.

“Dawnpaw! Rainpaw! Dawnpaw! Rainpaw!” Eaglekit tried to shout as loud as he could to be heard over all the other warriors, but he noticed that Shadowkit wasn’t cheering; he looked sullen and disinterested.

“Come on Shadowkit, what’s wrong?” he asked, sitting down and giving his brother a curious stare.

“We should be there becoming apprentices, not them,” Shadowkit huffed, turning tail and walking back towards the nursery. Eaglekit moved to go after him, but he was stopped by his mother’s tail.

“Let him go, Eaglekit,” Willowshine mewed. “He’ll be okay. I’ll go talk to him. Why don’t you go see the elders? I hear they have lots of great stories.” That thought perked the young kit up, and he nodded eagerly before bounding past the dispersing warriors and towards the elder’s den. “Eaglekit!” Willowshine called after him. “Make sure to congratulate Dawnpaw and Rainpaw first!” Stopping hard, Eaglekit changed course and headed for the two new apprentices, who were just about to head out with their mentors.

“Congratulations Dawnpaw, Rainpaw,” he mewed softly, giving them a shy smile before looking around at the trees.

“Thanks Eaglekit!” Rainpaw smiled and gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder with her tail. “I’m sure you’ll be hunting with us any moon now.”

“Come along now, Rainpaw,” Bramblefrost mewed, cutting off the conversation. “You can talk to your friend after we explore the territory.”

“Sorry! See you later, Eaglekit,” Rainpaw called before bounding after her mentor. Eaglekit waved shyly after her before turning around and heading for the elders’ den.

Just like the nursery, the elder’s den was stationed inside a giant oak tree situated right across from the nursery. Inside was plenty of the room for the elders of Soarclan, who were just lounging around when Eaglekit walked in. “Well hello Eaglekit,” Misteye mewed, her good eye trained on the young kit and a smile on her face. She was the oldest cat in the clan, but that didn’t stop her from taking walks through the forest every once in a while. “What can we do for you?”

“I wanted to hear a story,” Eaglekit mewed, hoping he wasn’t being too intrusive. Misteye and the other elder still awake, Gorsebush, turned their attention to him, and they didn’t seem unhappy with his appearance.

“Well, what kind of story did you want to hear?” Gorsebush asked, pushing himself up to move next to Misteye.

Eaglekit thought about it for a moment, sitting down on the ground in front of the elders. “Do you have any stories about Falconstar?”

Misteye smiled and nodded. “I’ll take this one,” she mewed to Gorsebush. “I was still a senior warrior when Falconstar became an apprentice. Wasn’t much of a hunter, but what a great fighter he was. He could pin down even our strongest warriors. If only he could’ve caught birds as well as he defeated Gorsebush,” she laughed, getting a glare from her fellow elder.

“As far as you know, I let him win,” he huffed, his tail twitching crossly.

“Did you let him win all five time, Gorsebush?” Misteye mewed sarcastically, smiling at the reaction she got out of him. “Anyway, Falconstar was a good warrior, but it was still a shock when he was chosen as the new deputy. Everybody thought that Hawkflight was going to be chosen, but Birchstar wanted to go younger, I believe.”

“Maybe Birchstar was impressed by his ability to defeat the best warrior in the clan,” Gorsebush chimed in.

“And I suppose that would be you, then?” Misteye laughed, cocking her head towards the elder. “In that case, maybe I should be leader.” That shut him up. “Nobody really can dispute that choice now, though. Falconstar is a great leader, and Soarclan is as prosperous as ever.”

“At least I can tell a better story than you,” Gorsebush huffed, although there was a hint of teasing in his voice.

“If we kept letting you tell stories, there wouldn’t be any foxes left in the entire world!” Misteye replied, flicking him across the ears playfully with her tail.

“That was a great story, Misteye,” Eaglekit finally chimed in, smiling up at the elder. “I can’t wait until I can become an apprentice!”

“And I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful apprentice,” Misteye mewed, running her tail over his brown fur. “Just like your father.”

A gentle pitter-patter of rain fell against the forest floor, drops of precipitation slipping past the tight copse of trees and onto the Soarclan camp. Shadowkit peeked his head out from the nursery and saw Thrushpelt, who was on guard duty, eating a squirrel, his attention more towards his meal than the camp. The timing was perfect. Poking Eaglekit with his paw, Shadowkit hissed, “Eaglekit, wake up!” Two blue eyes peered from the relative darkness of the nursery as the brown-furred kit was roused from his slumber.

“What is it, Shadowkit?” Eaglekit mewed, slowly standing up, albeit a bit awkwardly as he attempted to shake off the sleep from his limbs.

“Thrushpelt isn’t paying attention. We should get out of here and see the territory,” Shadowkit responded excitedly, already moving quietly towards the entrance.

“We can’t leave the camp! You know that,” Eaglekit mewed exasperatedly, although he followed his brother out of the nursery and towards the bramble bush that protected the camp from intruders. “Come on Shadowkit, you’re going to get us in more trouble!” The dark-furred kit wasn’t listening, however. With one last look at Thrushpelt, Shadowkit slipped under the bramble bush and disappeared. After a moment of indecision, Eaglekit reluctantly dived under the follow his brother.

Outside the camp, the forest looked magnificent. The trees seemed to go on forever, their sturdy frames acting as silent guards for a serene forest. Eaglekit could distinctly hear the birdsong echoing from the tallest branches, and the young kit was surprised by how peaceful it all seemed… but he knew they shouldn’t be out here. Turning to Shadowkit, he mewed worriedly, “Shadowkit, we shouldn’t be out here. You know the rules don’t allow kits to be outside of camp.”

“Oh will you shut up about the rules?” Shadowkit hissed, giving his brother a stern glare. “Does it look like we’re in danger? Does it look like we’re hurting anyone? No! Why can’t you just trust me?”

“I do trust you!” Eaglekit gave Shadowkit a dismayed stare. Of course he trusted his brother! There was no one in the clan he was closer to than him. “I’ve never doubted you.”

“Then trust me here.” He gave Eaglekit a charming smile, the same smile he used to get what he wanted from their mother. Eaglekit could only glance down, unable to argue with what he was saying. The two were silent, a smug smile appearing on Shadowkit’s face as he knew that he had won the argument. “Now come on, let’s go see if we can watch any warriors.” With that, the two kits walked through the dense forest, attempting to dodge the occasional raindrop along the way. Eaglekit still felt at odds with what they were doing, but even he had to admit it was pretty exhilarating to be out of camp like this. Eventually, the sound of something rustling in the trees hit Eaglekit’s ears, and he looked up to see a single leaf fall from a high-up branch, Squirrelleap perched there like she was frozen. Quickly, the kit pointed her out with his paw, getting the attention of his brother. Shadowkit quickly ushered the two of them into a bush and then peeked out, watching the warrior stalk a blackbird. The bird was hopping around a few branches away, oblivious to its imminent doom. Quick as a flash, Squirrelleap nearly flew from tree to tree, and right before the two kits’ eyes she nabbed the bird in one fell swoop, halting on the next branch with the bird clamped firmly in her jaws.

Eaglekit could only stare and admire the grace with which the warrior had flown through those trees. Out of all the clans, Soarclan cats were known most for their speed and balance within the trees. They ran with seemingly reckless abandon from branch to branch, nabbing birds out of trees or out of the air without even a slip. The warriors and older apprentices even slept in the trees, not only showing off their impeccable balance, but allowing them to get the jump on any infiltrating enemies. A flame of ambition burned in the young kit’s chest now: he couldn’t wait until he was one of them, running through the trees so well he might as well have had wings. The clan would never have seen such a swift warrior! His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sharp poke in his side. Turning, he saw Shadowkit staring at him. “Hey, are you in there?” he asked, pushing himself out of the bushes. Squirrelleap was already gone. “Come on, let’s head back to camp.”

“What, that’s all?” Despite his earlier reluctance, Eaglekit now felt a bit of disappointment that they were heading back.

“I’m sure we’ll sneak out again,” he responded, giving his brother an affectionate flick across the ears with his tail. “Now come on, unless you want someone to catch us.” Letting his common sense take over, Eaglekit followed Shadowkit back to camp, letting the dark-furred kit go through the bramble bush first to check for the guard. Getting the signal that the coast was clear, Eaglekit quickly scampered under the bush, being careful to make sure no brambles got stuck in his fur. As soon as the two kits were back in camp, they scampered quickly back to the nursery, where Willowshine was waiting for them.

“And where have you two been all day?” she asked, giving them a warm smile as they padded back to their mother’s fur.

“Just wandering around camp,” Shadowkit mewed back, smiling up at Willowshine with such an innocent grin, even Eaglekit felt like he could’ve believed it. A slight shiver went down Eaglekit’s spine, and he pressed harder into his mother’s fur, although this strange feeling of dread wouldn’t leave. He glanced momentarily at Shadowkit, whose eyes were currently closed. Shaking his head to clear out these odd thoughts, Eaglekit closed his own eyes and let sleep overtake him. Even with a certain flaunting of the rules, he just couldn’t imagine anything truly wrong with his brother.

Another bright morning greeted Eaglekit as his sleepy eyes blinked open, long strips of daylight shining down on the usually shadowed ground. Slowly pulling himself away from the warmth of his mother’s fur, the brown-furred kit staggered out of the nursery and into the clearing, attempting to block out the earthly reflections of light with a paw, a paw that had been growing as he did. The knowledge that his apprentice ceremony could happen extremely soon was a pleasing thought to him, and for a moment he laid curled up in a warm patch of sunlight, letting the thought of himself as an apprentice wash over him. It wasn’t long though until another thought pierced his reverie: this was the first time that he could remember being alone in camp. It wasn’t that the camp was empty: the elders were actually outside attempting to lay in the meager patches of sunlight, and Oakstep was patrolling around the borders of the camp as if one of Gorsebush’s foxes was liable to jump out at any moment. No, it was the fact that Shadowkit was still in the nursery, curled up into Willowshine’s fur. Sure, the two brothers obviously couldn’t spend every waking moment by each other’s side, but it didn’t take away the fact that it felt odd, perhaps even a bit cold, that he wasn’t there. There was this connection between them that Eaglekit couldn’t completely explain, but it was like their lives were supposed to be entwined all the same.

Despite all that, there was an underlying current of worry and suspicion when it came to Shadowkit. The dark-furred kit had a temper, sure, but everybody enjoyed having him around; even the older apprentices spent time speaking of their adventures outside the camp with him. If it wasn’t for Shadowkit, Eaglekit wouldn’t even be able to speak with the other cats, shy as he was. His brother would always drag him into the conversations, forcing the topic to include the shy kit. It wasn’t always a pleasant experience for his social inferiority, but it was still an appreciable gesture. Eaglekit sighed softly and shook his head: even when he wanted to express his concerns over his brother, they would get buried under appreciation for who he was and what he had done. Maybe that was the problem: he was too kind, too friendly. Sometimes Eaglekit could see how much of a façade it was. There was something underneath that friendly, bold exterior: a hint of anger, of power. The thought that he feared his own brother wasn’t a particularly nice one to have, but sometimes Eaglekit couldn’t overcome it. Ignorance of his faults, that’s what the troubled kit truly wanted. He didn’t want to think such ill thoughts of his own brother, and luckily he was distracted from them by Hawkflight hopping down into camp and padding towards the nursery. Swiftflower was still in there; he must be going to see her. Still a slight flutter of hope appeared in his chest. Maybe…

It wasn’t long before the deputy left the nursery, giving Eaglekit a friendly smile before rushing over to the Great Oak. Willowshine was out right after him with Shadowkit in tow, her steps purposeful as she strode towards Eaglekit and gave him a quick lick on the head. “It’s time, Eaglekit,” she mewed proudly, and that flutter of hope grew exponentially inside his chest. The two brothers stood side by side as their mother gave them a close inspection, occasionally smoothing down their fluffed-up fur with her tongue, to Shadowkit’s total discomfort. Standing there together, from a distance it might’ve been too difficult to tell that they were related. Eaglekit’s fur and eyes made him a startlingly similar copy of his father, while Shadowkit’s dark gray fur and bluish green eyes were more similar to their mother. With a closer look, however, the similarities between the two kits became more readily apparent, particularly in their build. Taking their fur color out of the equation, they could’ve been the exact same cat. Their grooming was just finishing up when Falconstar’s voice rang out over the clearing. “All cats old enough to scale the trees gather for a clan meeting!”

Excited wasn’t quite the word to describe Eaglekit’s emotions as Willowshine ushered him and Shadowkit towards the front of the Great Oak. As more cats began to descend from the trees and into the clearing, Eaglekit was noticeably aware of their stares, their curious eyes trained on him and his brother, yet the fact that he was finally about to become an apprentice overrode even his crippling shyness. When they reached the Great Oak, Eaglekit gazed upward and saw his same clear, blue eyes staring down at him, a pleasant warmth in them that gave him a sense of peace. “We have been truly blessed with warm weather and bountiful prey,” Falconstar began, capturing the attention of his clanmates as they all looked up at him. “And just as our fortunes grow with the forest, so too do our apprentices. Eaglekit, Shadowkit, will you please step forward?” Eaglekit almost burst with delight as he moved forward with his brother, a quick glance to his right revealing that Shadowkit looked as calm and collected like someone had told him they had brought him a piece of prey. He had no idea how his brother could be so calm when his emotions were threatening to boil over in a combination of pure joy and wracking nervousness. “Until you two are ready to become warriors, you will be known as Eaglepaw and Shadowpaw. Eaglepaw, your mentor will be Hawkflight. His courage and wisdom will be great assets to you as you become a warrior.” Eaglepaw couldn’t believe it: the deputy of Soarclan would be his mentor! What an honor! Moving forward on nervous paws, the new apprentice touched noses with his mentor, who gave him a warm, friendly smile before gently leading him a couple steps away to watch Shadowpaw get his mentor.

“Oakstep, I believe it is time for you to get an apprentice,” Falconstar continued, turning his gaze towards the quick-footed warrior. Oakstep nodded and stepped forward to meet Shadowpaw. “Shadowpaw, Oakstep will be your mentor. Listen well, and I know you will become one of our finest warriors.” There wasn’t any disappointment in Shadowpaw’s gaze now as he touched noses with his new mentor.

“Eaglepaw! Shadowpaw! Eaglepaw! Shadowpaw!” Eaglepaw could feel his fur growing hot with embarrassment and pride as his clanmates called his name, though he was especially overjoyed to see Rainpaw cheering for him. Giving her an embarrassed smile, he almost missed Hawkflight’s tail resting gently on his shoulder.

“Come along, Eaglepaw. I’m going to show you the territory.” With a happy skip in his step, Eaglepaw followed Hawkflight towards a sturdy tree that stood just on the edge of the bramble barrier for the camp: this was where most cats left camp from. Turning to find Shadowpaw, Eaglepaw was disappointed to see his brother heading off in the opposite direction.

“Where’s Shadowpaw going?” Eaglepaw asked, trying hard to keep the disappointment from his voice. Hawkflight looked over towards Oakstep as a light frown appeared on his face.

“They must be going to the hollow,” he mewed gently, although Eaglepaw could detect a hint of another emotion there. He couldn’t decipher it though, and Hawkflight was already preparing to leave, so he quickly ran to catch up. “Alright Eaglepaw, now that you’re an apprentice, you’ll be expected to leave camp through the trees. I’m not going to teach you how to properly scale them just yet, so we’ll spend today traversing the ground. However, I’ll still show you how to leave camp. Just watch what I do.” With that, the senior deputy hopped into the air, his claws unsheathed to grasp onto the bark. As quick as he grabbed on though, he was equally quick to let go, pushing off the thick bark and landing over the relatively tall bramble barrier. “I’ll be here to catch you if you fall!” he called over to Eaglepaw. It was now his turn. Tensing up his muscles, Eaglepaw rushed forth and grasped the tree with his developing claws, shoving off from the sturdy oak onto the ground below. He stumbled upon landing, but quickly regained his composure. “Very good,” Hawkflight enthused. “Now let’s see our home.”

Eaglepaw had seen part of the territory when he had snuck out as a kit with Shadowpaw, but being able to see it all in its entirety, it truly was breathtaking. The trees were numerous and expansive, mostly oak – although there were different types of trees that Eaglepaw didn’t yet know. It must’ve been a longer time, but it felt like time had flown as freely as the birds as Hawkflight and Eaglepaw reached the edge of their territory. For the first time in his life, the new apprentice cast his eyes upon the outside world. The border of Soarclan territory ended almost immediately as the trees did: with the trees protecting them from the coldest weather, Soarclan cats tended to have thinner pelts, so they felt less inclined to head out into the fields. Still, it was all new to Eaglepaw, so he drank in as much of the experience as he could. The two cats were standing between two towering oak trees, taller than any other tree Eaglepaw had ever seen in the forest. “These are the Vigil Trees,” Hawkflight mewed, motioning with his tail at them. “When an apprentice becomes a warrior, they will spend the night here, guarding the clan in silence.” It was an intimidating thought, but Eaglepaw couldn’t help but feel a bit excited as well: this was where he and Shadowpaw would be when they became warriors!

“Well Eaglepaw, it’s getting late. We should be getting back.” Eaglepaw looked up at the sky to see the sun starting to sink below the horizon. Had they really be walking that long? He certainly didn’t feel tired, but he didn’t argue as he followed Hawkflight back to camp. When they finally returned, exhaustion had set into Eaglepaw’s movements, as he could barely jump off the tree and back into camp. Once they were back in camp, Hawkflight steered Eaglepaw towards a third hollowed-out tree, although this one was clearly smaller than the others. “This is where the new apprentices sleep,” the deputy explained. “Eventually, you’ll be comfortable enough in the trees to where you can sleep there with the older apprentices, but for now, you’ll sleep in here.” Nodding his thanks to Hawkflight, Eaglepaw padded quietly into the den. Dawnpaw and Rainpaw weren’t back yet, but Shadowpaw was already asleep in a nest close to the entrance. There was a spot where Eaglepaw’s nest would be too, although it was clear that no one had started on it yet. Too tired to care about that, the brown-furred apprentice decided that Shadowpaw wouldn’t mind if he just slept beside him. Curling up close to his brother and closing his eyes, sleep came easily to him. Although, despite having the warm specter of rest closing over him, Eaglepaw felt like a pair of eyes were watching him.