Warriors: Into The Wild - Book One (Completed)

Chapter Three

Lily scoffed at his remark. She turned her gaze from Oakheart, to a pretty blue-gray she-cat. He pricked his ears and looked at Bluestar. Bluestar spoke first, "Oakheart." She meowed, "What brings you here to Sunningrocks?" She asked softly.

Lily could sense Oakheart not wanting to speak, so Lily meowed first, "He's here to take me to you." She softly meowed. "You're Bluestar, aren't you? I'm Lily."

Bluestar nodded. Warriors behind her just stood in wonder. One of the warriors, was a huge golden tom. Lily didn't recognize him. He was quite intimidating. "I am." Bluestar meowed. "What is it you wish to see me for?"

Lily looked at Oakheart, then back at Bluestar. "I.." She stuttered for a quick moment, then continued, "I want to speak with you, in private."

Bluestar flicked her ears. She looked as if she was going to say no, but instead she dipped her head swiftly and looked back at Oakheart. "Thank you, Oakheart." She meowed. "You may return. I can handle young Lily here."

Oakheart nodded and padded away towards the river. Lily looked back at Oakheart as he left. He seemed saddened by something, but she didn't dwell much on it.

"Come." Meowed Bluestar as she and her warriors padded towards ThunderClan camp. Lily followed after them. She paced herself closely behind them. She could hear the large golden tom whispering to Bluestar. Lily's ears slightly flattened and she looked upon the ground, knowing he must have been talking about her. 

When they finally reached camp, Lily's ears stood up. It was much bigger and better than she imagined. She looked around, eyes open wide with amazement. Then suddenly, she was aware of other cats emerging from their dens and staring at her. Lily still padded proudly behind Bluestar even though she could hear some of the disgust in the cats.

"A kittypet?" Hissed a pale tabby. "This Clan is turning too soft!"

"Why does Bluestar keep letting these kittypets in?" Hissed another.

"If we keep accepting them, we won't be Clan blood anymore!"

Bluestar silenced them all with just a wave of her tail, still padding deeper into Camp. She turned to her warriors. "You may go and do the rest of your duties." She meowed. Lily stood, watching Bluestar. Her eyes were a pale blue. They sparkled in the sunlight, while her fur shined almost blue. Lily then followed Bluestar into her den. It was quite large inside. There was moss, bundled up together at the corner of the den and a pile of bones from a mouse.

"Bluestar," Meowed Lily. "There are some things about your Clan that you must know." She mimicked Bluestar's sitting position by crossing her tail over her front paws.

Bluestar stood in silence. She showed no emotions. "Such as?" She finally meowed.

"Tigerclaw." She replied softly. "He is not who you think he is."

"Tigerclaw is big and can be intimidating, but he is no threat to ThunderClan. He is respected by all warriors."

"There will be a time when you see his treacheries." Retorted Lily. Then she began to walk away, knowing that Bluestar was too headstrong to listen.

"Wait!"

Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to Bluestar.

"Join us." Bluestar's voice was suddenly soft. "We are in need of more warriors. I can find someone to train you. You can be an apprentice until you're ready."

Lily looked down and remembered Featherwhisker's words, You should join them instead. She sighed, then turned the rest of her body. "Yes, I'll join." She finally meowed.

Bluestar's ears pricked with excitement. "I shall appoint you one immediately." She then got up and quickly padded towards the middle of camp. She hopped up onto the highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the highrock for a Clan meeting."

Lily padded towards a small gray tom. "You look familiar. Hello, Graypaw." She softly meowed.

"Lily!" Shouted Graypaw. "This is Firepaw. He recently joined too. I found him while  hunting one day, just like I did with you." He paused for a quick breath, "I must be good at finding kittypets!"

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but Bluestar cut her off and began to speak. "It is true, we have another kittypet joining us." Bluestar meowed, glancing around the crowd of cats below her. "We are in need of warriors, and I have asked Lily to join us. Lily, please come forward."

Lily padded slowly toward the highrock. She stood and ignored all of the hateful glares looking her way. Bluestar jumped down from the highrock and touched noses with Lily. "Lily, from this moment on until you have received your warrior name, you will be known as," Bluestar paused for a moment, "Waterpaw." She finished with a purr.

Waterpaw's eyes gleamed as she received her new name. She felt like she was apart of the Clan already. When she heard her new fellow clanmates shout out her name, she could feel restraint in their voices. Then at that point, the feeling had changed.

"Runningwind." Meowed Bluestar. "You are ready for your first apprentice. I believe that you will train Waterpaw to be a fine warrior."

Runningwind looked blankly at Waterpaw, then at Bluestar. Waterpaw guessed that he was going to decline, but to her surprise he padded forward toward Waterpaw and looked down at her with kindness in his eyes. "I will raise you to be a great warrior. Everyone else won't know what hit them." He whispered to her. Waterpaw felt relaxed and knew that from now on everything is going to be alright. "Put your head on my shoulder." He softly whispered. Waterpaw put her head on his shoulder just as he said and ignored all the glares that she got as she accepted her new mentor.

Bluestar's gaze went back to the rest of the Clan. "Thank you. Meeting is adjourned." She meowed and then padded away back into her den. The rest of the Clan seemed to ignore Waterpaw and went back to their normal duties. Perhaps that's how she liked it. She did enjoy the quietness. 

Runningwind nudged her shoulder and stood beside her. "Come on," He meowed, "I'll show you where we can find some food and a comfy nest for you to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of the territory." Runningwind paused, "And maybe Bluestar will even let you come to the Gathering tomorrow night." He added, softly.

Waterpaw had heard about the Gatherings at Fourtrees. Featherwhisker made them out to be something wonderful. She just hopes that he was right and that the Clan will accept her a bit more tomorrow.