Spark (Warrior cat Fan Fiction)

Chapter 9

Every ThunderClan cat was in stunned silence, their eyes flicked to Strike's group with nervousness and curiosity. Frostpaw's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Joining...permanently?

Cottonstar's eyes widened, but dipped his head in approval. "You may join our Clan," Cottonstar meowed softly. "If every one of your cats, promise to be loyal and defend the Clan even with the cost of their life."

"They would," Strike sniffed, lifting his head. "We have spoken to each of them privately and all of them agreed."

As Cottonstar hesitated, glancing at Poppysong, Frostpaw's anger bubbled up from within her. "Strays joining our Clan?" Frostpaw demanded from above the now mutterings. "ThunderClan may as well invite loners, rogues or even kittypets!"

Cottonstar glanced at Frostpaw warningly as Strike turned to face Frostpaw, murmurs of surprise coming from around them. His eyes were dark with anger, but kept calm.

"We will prove ourselves to be as great as Clanborn warriors," Strike growled, his tail lashing side to side. "Maybe even better." Strike emphasized the last word loudly and Sunset gasped, but ducked her head in embarrassment.

Yowls of anger came from the warriors of ThunderClan, their eyes blazing with fury at the thought of strays being better than Clanborn warriors.

"Nobody can beat Clanborn warriors!"

"You're going over the line now!"

"Let StarClan decide this and you'll see that you're wrong."

"I know the St...whatever Clan will side with you," Strike snarled, turning to face every cat with frustration flashing in his eyes. "Of course they will...as they are your ancestors after all...but are they even real?"

Only silence follow the last few words of Strike and Cottonstar stepped forward, his eyes glowing briefly with rage.

"Enough!" Cottonstar yowled, narrowing his eyes. "Strike...StarClan is real. I've met them and so has Mistleaf. They give us prophecies and warnings. If you want to join us, you must believe in them."

Strike snorted then glanced at Sunset, the former leader. "What do you think, Sunset?"

Sunset shrugged and then lifted her head to stare into Cottonstar's eyes. "You cannot force our cats to believe in something," she growled softly. "We haven't seen what StarClan is or what they can do...so for now, we can't believe in them."

Cottonstar bowed his head slightly in respect. "Fine," he meowed in reluctant agreement. "But you need to believe in StarClan one day if you want to stay in this Clan."

Frostpaw let out a low growl as Strike muttered to Sunset and Ferret. This is so complicated, Frostpaw thought frustratedly. Why can't they just leave and live by themselves? Besides, the other Clans would make fun of them and us.

Frostpaw stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something, but she felt warm fur brush against her. She whipped her head around and came face to face with a pale gray tom, his muzzle flecked with white from old age. It was Feathertuft, an elder in ThunderClan. He had became an elder a couple moons after Frostpaw was born.

"Come with me, Frostpaw," Feathertuft murmured gently as Strike began to speak again about agreeing. "You need a walk to cool down."

Frostpaw blinked at him in surprise. She had never paid much attention to the elders when she was a kit, as she thought their stories were fake and only used for making kits believe in things that aren't real. I never spoke to Feathertuft before...

Feathertuft's tail flicked impatiently. "Let's go," he growled, nudging her forcefully. "You'll hear about what you missed later...from your friends."

Frostpaw reluctantly followed the elder across the camp and toward the camp entrance, but when they were about to exit, Birdstripe stopped them, his eyes narrowed with confusion and suspicion.