Thundering Darkness

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Let all cats gather around the swift river to hear my words!"

Pebblepaw jumped out of the apprentice's den to avoid having to talk to her denmates before they woke up, and eagerly padded toward the edge of camp where Troutstar had called the clan meeting. It had been a half of a moon since the training incident, and Pebblepaw was now painfully aware of the way her denmates seemed to avoid her, and Darkpaw seemed to glower at her. Shimmerclaw had encouraged her to talk to her denmates, but Pebblepaw had refused. Were they always like this?

"Gather! I don't have all day!" Pebblepaw raced towards Troutstar as he called a second summons to all the cats of the clan. She wondered what he had to say at the clan meeting. Is he going to talk about how Thunderclan is still being aggressive? Or... maybe the fox? Please don't talk about my mess with the other apprentices, she silently begged as she sat down at the front of the crowd, noting that the other apprentices kept to the back.

"It has been a difficult few moons for Riverclan..." Troutstar began.

"Yeah! No kidding!" Pebblepaw heard a voice that was very quickly hushed.

"Thunderclan and the fox have driven unease and insecurity straight into the heart of Riverclan. We must be strong and stand up to these fox-hearted attacks from the outside. We must not start a civil war! We must be united! Riverclan is at its strongest when we work together." Troutstar's voice boomed.

"Our clan is not falling apart!" An elderly voice called out.

"Yeah, and what of those apprentices who keep squabbling with each other?" another cat shot back.

Troutstar swished his tail decisively. "I have come to a solution," he announced proudly. "The Flame Trials, a series of friendly competitions between our young, to lighten the spirit of the clan. Named after our famous liberator, Flamestar, these trials will take place at sun down. The apprentice who wins the most trials will earn the suffix "flame" in their name."

Flamestar? Pebblepaw had heard little of the clan's so-called hero. Apparently she had saved the clan from evil spirit cats, or something. Every cat called her a hero, but no-one shared exactly the same story about her. Flamestar and the spirit cats is probably a made up story, anyways, Pebblepaw thought. No one cat could surely attack spirit cats?

"Are you excited for the Flame Trials, Pebblepaw?" Shimmerclaw asked as the two of them made their long journey back to camp, laden with prey.

"No," Pebblepaw admitted. "It sounds awful. All the other apprentices are jealous of me, and are going to beat me up."

Shimmerclaw looked back at her, a playful expression turning to one of solemn reflectiveness. "There are tons of cats who are cheering for you to win, Pebblepaw. It would be an honour. Besides, the other apprentices... they'll come around." She draped her tail over Pebblepaw's shoulders, as the two of them walked into camp.

A tom by the name of Mousefang walked up to the returning pair. "You're nearly late," he said. "Troutstar's waiting for you two before he starts the first trial."

Pebblepaw raced away, all her apprehension turning to nervous, eager energy as she bounded towards the other apprentices. Some other warriors had sat down nearby, casually watching the other apprentices.

"Swimming contest." Troutstar turned to her and rapidly explained the rules. "All of you are going to swim in the river against the currant up to that orange marker over there. He pointed with his paw, "okay, Pebblepaw? This competition is yours to win. Time to prove what a great apprentice you are to those whiny 'paws."