CotS #1: The Dark Path (currently being rewritten)

Chapter Twenty-three

I became Silverdusk, as I'd been told. Twilightpaw had become Twilightgleam. I liked her name. It was pretty. Hiveclaw had been named ... Hiveclaw, because thought Minkfur had promised him a rivery name, she hadn't managed to think of one herself that sounded quite so good. She'd asked him if he wanted to be named Hivegleam, and he was like, 'that's a girl's name!'.

Apparently he thought gleam was a girl's ending.

Twilightgleam wished I'd been named Silvergleam, but I'd known my name a long time ago.

"Sorry, couldn't you have been Twilightdusk?" I asked.

Twilightgleam shook her head. "Those are two different times of the day! It would sound okay, but mean weird stuff."

I grinned at her. 'Weird stuff'. Only my best friend Twilightgleam could ever say that. Most people were more mature, and would say, 'strange matters', myself included.

I watched Swanflutter and Fluffypaw. Fluffypaw was staring at me enviously, but Swanflutter's gaze was one full of love and sorrow and ... was that worry? Was my former apprentice literally staring at me with worry clouding her gaze? I had to go speak to that cat! She needed to have more faith in me.

Swanflutter blinked as I approached.

"Stormsilver!" She gasped, then frowned. "Wait, that was wrong. My mind was elsewhere. Sorry. You look just like her." That was a cover up, because Fluffypaw was looking confused and suspicious now. "Silverdusk. Congratulations."

"You're still a kit!" Fluffypaw sneered.

"I can swim," I jeered.

Swanflutter flinched, but I ignored her for once. I loved Swanflutter, really loved her, but she was too jumpy. Fluffypaw looked undeterred.

"I too can swim," she announced boldly.

"Who failed her swimming test?" I asked idly. "I believe it was you."

Again, Swanflutter flinched. Oh, come on. She was that jittery? She had promised to be my mother, and I had promised to be hers, but I was definitely the mother around here. Swanflutter ... no. Not a mother.

Fluffypaw glared. "I was supposed to be named Fluffyfrost!"

"Frost is fluffy?" I asked with a snort.

"Dusk is silver?" Fluffypaw challenged, then realized.

"Well, grayish," I said. "That's practically silver."

Fluffypaw shrugged. "Well now! Whatevs. Anyway, Wheats don't have pelts, so a lot of names are jumbled. I know Eveningprimrose is a flower, but roses aren't tawny. As for my mentor..." She shook her head, almost disbelievingly. "Meadowstalker! What name is that?"

"The name of the cat standing in front of you?" Indeed, Meadowstalker, Fluffypaw's mentor, had been standing behind me, idly watching our conversation and taking in Fluffypaw's insults.

"We don't live on the meadow!" Fluffypaw demanded.

Meadowstalker smiled. "Would you by any chance know I am your aunt?"

"What?" asked Fluffypaw.

"Aunt," said Meadowstalker. "Wheatpelt and I are sisters. Oh, seriously. I was named Meadowkit because Flametail loves the meadow and so does Stargleam. Wheat grows there. Whitewhisker was just white. We got our names." She smiled slyly down at Fluffypaw. "Did you by any chance know you were named by the deputy?"