Beyond Tradition: A Warriors Fanfic

I: Origins

Fade sprinted away from Little and Bone on the edge of the Clan territory's stream. "Weakling!" Bone shouted as the small victim jumped onto a slippery stone. "I-I promise, I can still provide for Gigachad-" Fade slipped and almost toppled off the rock, causing the rouges to sneer. "Get out of here, loser. And don't come back, or else Gigachad will tear you to shreds!" Little spat, then Bone hissed at Fade causing the rattled tom to fall into the crisp newleaf water. The rogues laughed and trotted away, leaving Fade to scramble out of the stream himself. Fade climbed out of the water, pelt dripping. As he tried thinking of a way to get out of this pickle, a sharp "TRESPASSER!" shot through his ears. An angry orange molly was hissing at Fade, with a curious but scared small white cat at her side. "Get out of RiverClan territory, you rotten flea-bag!" the larger cat shouted, making Fade jump. "Please, I have nowhere to stay and i'm wet and cold and homeless!" the soaked-furred tom pleaded. The little white cat stepped in, with yellow eyes and a wheat-colored ear. "Tigerblaze, can't we take him in? He seems like 11 moons old, that's enough to become an apprentice!" I'm saved! Fade thought. But the larger cat did not seem convinced. "Lemonpaw, you know what the warrior code says. Plus, you'll get in trouble from Duckstar too. You know how he feels about rouges." "But please! He looks so hurt!" the small cat, Lemonpaw, pleaded. Fade got the memo and started fake-coughing and made his eyes as cute and large as possible. Tigerblaze groaned and flicked her large tail to the shivering Fade. "Alright, but consider yourself a captive for now. You have no name and cannot partake in any Clan business until Duckstar approves. Okay, rogue?" Fade nodded and followed the cats into a small peninsula on dry ground from the river. As Fade walked into the camp, there were mixed reactions. Kits stopped playing to stare. Apprentices whispered among friend groups. Warriors stared and a few hissed. Fade drooped his tail and followed meekly behind Tigerblaze, who had confronted a shorthair tan and black-striped tom. "Duckstar, we found a rouge near the Fourtrees border. It looked desperate and Lemonpaw could hear bickering from three fox-lengths away. It seems that this cat was abandoned by the rouge band we had picked up earlier. I let it live on a few conditions, that it has no name and no status until you accept, and that you must approve, or kill it." Whoah, Fade shuddered. Nobody said anything about killing! "please Duckstar, can we let him in? he looks young, he could be an apprentice!" Lemonpaw chirped, still there. The RiverClan leader scowled, then turned to Fade. "You must stay one moon as a nameless cat before we can say if you are worthy. We cannot have another Firestar..." the leader stared away into the distance. "Lemonpaw, prepare a nest in the bushes for our... guest." Tigerblaze ordered the small cat who was more than happy to show the newcomer around. "psst,  just between us, i'm gonna call you Newpaw. OK?" the now-nameless Fade nodded and fixed up the next to a reasonable condition. The sun was starting to set, and soon a new day would come for Newpaw.