Warriors: Outsiders (DISCONTINUED)

Part 2

     I went down the tunnel with the ginger tom, Twilight and Petal at my heels. Come to think about it, I hadn't asked him his name yet. Twilight caught up with me. "Do you think we should make a run for it?" she whispered anxiously. "No," I replied. "If we did, that wild cat would stop us and we would be in even bigger trouble." 

     "And I've already heard what you were saying. By the way, my name is Lionpaw." the ginger cat meowed. Twilight gulped and padded on a little slower. If you ask me, she was being jumpy, like a mouse realising it was being stalked. Meanwhile, Petal glared at Lionpaw but still followed him.

    Finally, I saw light ahead and Lionpaw lead us into a stone hollow filled with wild cats. I lifted my head and sniffed the air. I scented lots of cats all having the same scent as Lionpaw. Two kits ran out of a den and pounced on my tail. I felt one of them sink its teeth into it. "Intruder!" a kit yowled and jumped onto my back, growling. I made no effort to shake them off. They were just kits, they wouldn't do any harm. A silver she-cat, probably their mother, padded up to the kits. "Silverkit! Woodkit! Come back!" she meowed.  The kits made mewls of protest as their mother grabbed Woodkit by the scruff of his neck and nudged his sister forward. 

    "It's okay. I don't mind," I called after them. The silver queen glared at me and disappeared into the den.

    Lots of other cats had gathered around us. I felt a ripple of unease spread through them. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a white cat go into a den in a high ledge. A striped ginger tom with broad shoulders and her came out and the tom headed towards me, Lionpaw and my sisters.  "Duskstar, these cats say they want to, uh, join our clan," Lionpaw stuttered. 

   Duskstar hissed, "I told you not to welcome kittypets without my permission!" Great, I thought. He's going to kick us out. "However," he continued, "we cannot let you go home. You have to pass AlderClan territory if you want to go to Twolegplace, and we aren't cruel enough to let innocent cats suffer. You will have to join our clan."

    "But they're kittypets!" a cat protested.

    "They'll never learn to hunt!"

    "Other clans will think we are mousebrains!"

    "Can't we just kick them out?"

     "No," he meowed firmly. "They shall have their apprentice ceremony right now." 

     "You three. Come forward." Twilight, Petal and I ran forwards and sat right beneath the ledge. I could feel Twilight twitching nervously beside me. I rolled my eyes. What had gotten into her? She was brave and fast before we came here. Or maybe she's still thinking the other cats will never trust us, I thought.  Maybe she would calm down after she got used to clan life. 

     "Twilight, Petal and Dew. You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. Twilight. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Twilightpaw. Your mentor will be Rabbitfur." 

    A silky white she- cat padded to Twilightpaw's side and they touched noses. "Twilightpaw! Twilightpaw!" Lionpaw chanted, and other cats chanted her name with him.  

     "Petal. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Petalpaw. Your mentor will be Ashpool." Petal touched noses with her mentor. Her eyes shone excitedly as cats chanted her name.

     "Dew." Finally! I bounded forwards. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dewpaw, and your mentor will be Fernclaw." The white cat who had informed Duskstar of our arrival padded to me and we touched noses. As I looked into her deep blue eyes, I saw nothing but kindness. Comforted, I let out a quiet purr. "Dewpaw! Dewpaw!" a few cats chanted. Some just gave me a hard stare. I ignored them. 

   "Can we explore the territory now?" Petalpaw asked. "Why not?" Ashpool replied. I watched as they disappeared into the fern tunnel. 

   "Can we follow them?" I asked. Fernclaw nodded. Twilight and Rabbitfur were already heading towards the fern tunnel. I was aching to join them. We went up it together.

    We joined Petalpaw and her mentor when we came up into the open.  Fernclaw told us we would be exploring the Thunderclan borders and along the way, our mentors would be telling us about the clans. Fernclaw showed us around the camp first. The medicine cat's den was filled with the foul scent of herbs and dry moss. The apprentices' den was nice, and still had some more room for us. After that, she led us away from the camp and into it's hunting grounds. First she showed us a wide stream. I scented fish, and another clan. "That is Bubbleclan," she told us. "One day, you might face them in battle."

      By the time we had mesmorised the scent of Bubbleclan, Batclan and Alderclan, the sun was already setting. Our mentors herded us back to the camp. Duskstar called for a clan meeting, which I avoided. Then Lionpaw came up to me, a mouse in his jaws. He nudged another one to Twilight and Petal. "Try it," he told me. "Okay." I swallowed it in famished gulps. I was already used to freshkill before I came to live here, so I wasn't surprised when I tasted it. 

    Then I crept into the apprentices den. There was two clumps of fresh moss. One small, one large. I divided the larger one with Twilight, and Petal slept on the smaller one. The other apprentices were already asleep. Only Lionpaw was still awake, grooming himself. I curled up beside him and Twilight, Petal behind me and everything turned dark.