Froststar's Destiny

Chapter Two

"Stormpaw! Ashpaw! Brightpaw!"

Barely any days had passed but the older kits were already becoming apprenticed. Frostkit knew she should be happy, but the more time Stormpaw spent training, the less time she had for Frostkit, and she was literally Frostkit's only friend. She was even orphaned now.

On that patrol that Shadowflight and Hopeheart had left on, they had all met a fox, which had cruelly slaughtered the entire patrol. Not a single cat had survived the fox attack, and now every cat in the Clan feared foxes more than anything. It had been one huge fox, with yellow fangs and a menacing expression. Frostkit knew it well. She'd had cats describe it to her over and over again. One day, foxy, one day when I'm strong enough, I'm coming to find you, and it won't be a quick death. Frostkit went forward to congratulate Stormpaw and her mentor, Twilightmoon. Ashpaw had been given to Duskcloud as an apprentice and Brightpaw to Dawnfire, all with fairly similar color schemes. But Stormpaw wasn't paying attention to Frostkit - she was yammering away with Twilightmoon. Frostkit let out a huff and left. She knew Stormpaw wasn't intentionally ignoring her, but she seemed to already be replacing her with her new mentor. Despite knowing it was all unintentional, Frostkit couldn't help but feel hurt by Stormpaw's actions. But she knew her sworn sister would apologize later. That was her way, anyway, and she'd never, ever hurt Frostkit in a way that could never be repaired before.

A few days back, both Silverlight and Sunshine had returned. One had been turned away by StarClan, renounced for refusing duty. That cat was Silverlight, Stormpaw's mother. Since she had renounced her duty to the Clan by having kits literally right after becoming deputy, StarClan refused to give her nine lives, and instead, the Clan was now lead by level-headed, kind, caring and wise Sunstar. She had lived many moons before Silverlight and was much more experienced anyway, so every cat in the Clan was happier with the decision made. Not many cats liked Silverlight, basically only her family. Even Frostkit always winced whenever Silverlight crossed her path. She was a creepy cat, especially now that she was no longer deputy, always prowling around camp. When they'd returned with the poor news, Silverlight had stared up at Sunstar expectantly, as if expecting the yellow she-cat to name her deputy. It hadn't happened. Sunstar had named strangely named Stoneclaw had deputy. Stoneclaw was the son of Silverlight's sister, Lightpelt, a cat even more inexperienced than Silverlight. But every cat could see he was meant to be deputy, his voice strong and commanding, and he never faltered like he didn't know what to do, not like Silverlight. He was younger but more strong-willed, and more open to every cat's opinion. Every cat liked him, not like the way they'd despised Silverlight. Most cats now didn't even look at Silverlight. But most cats also remembered one thing: Sunstar had been Silverlight's mentor, and somehow Silverlight had still turned out horrible. Perhaps some cats couldn't be changed.

Stormpaw did come round. Right after Twilightmoon released her for bed, she immediately bounded over to Frostkit and apologized for ignoring her, but she said that Twilightmoon had been talking about really interesting stuff (Yes, only stuff. She didn't even SPECIFY), and she'd been so hooked into their conversation that she'd barely even heard anyone else except her mentor.

"I'm going to explore the territory tomorrow. Wanna come with me?" Stormpaw asked.

Frostkit cocked her head. "You're kidding, right? We'll get in trouble."

"And maybe we won't. Remember that time we got a real badger ride? Well, nobody scolded us then, did they?" Stormpaw asked, a sly smile on her face. She actually wanted Frostkit to join her on her territory tour, and she thought it could actually work. Wow. Honestly, Frostkit wanted to go too. Didn't all kits? They always wanted to start their apprenticeship earlier, oblivious to the consequences. And... yes. Frostkit did want that. To be an apprentice earlier, or maybe experience some things an apprentice did earlier.