Flicker of hope | Discontinued:/ | A Warrior cats fanfiction | by Eikoowa

Chapter 4: Echo

The grass was covered in dew, reflecting the sky shimmering with many stars. Songbirds have not yet awakened, and the only sound was the breeze gently whispering to the leaves of a willow tree. The moon was at its half behind the silver clouds of a calm night, and in its shade the dark silhouettes of two cats were almost invisible next to a glistening pond of crystal clear water.
It was the Moonpool.

As the clouds finally uncovered the bright moon, Daisypaw's whiskers twitched at the light reflection of the pond.
„It is so... Beautiful." she gasped as she stared at the glittering water, hypnotised. Her mentor looked down at her, gently smoothing her fur on the tail.
„Yes. It is," he said. „The others will be here soon, too."
Daisypaw was excited, but also very nervous. She will meet Hawkshade again, for sure, but she was scared she will change her mind about being a medicine cat.
'What if I won't want to be a medicine cat anymore after some time? What if it gets exhausting? What if I took a mate?' She shook out her pelt.
'No. I will stay loyal to my duties. Even if Wolfpaw has feelings for me, it's not my fault and I will obey StarClan.' she decided, staring somewhere in the shadows, still confused about how she would deal with her friend's feelings for her.
Then, she saw them. The medicine cats finally arrived. A bright tortoiseshell she-cat stepped out of the shadows. It was Sparkflame, Daisypaw met her multiple times at the half-moon meetings. Behind her, a white tom walked out of the shade green ferns. His name was Icefoot, the medicine cat of RiverClan. Right after him, a golden tabby, Dawnlight of WindClan, and Hawkshade, with a young ThunderClan she-cat Daisypaw didn't recognize. Icefoot stood tall in the moonlight, staring at Rockslide. The brown tom spoke.
„Welcome. I am very glad you all turned up for the ceremony of Daisypaw." he looked at her, then at the black tom standing next to Dawnlight.
'They knew? Did he tell them at the last half-moon meeting? Perhaps at the Gathering.'
Rockslide's gaze shifted to the young ginger she-cat standing next to Hawkshade. He studied her for a few moments, then flicked his tail to bring her mentor's attention to himself.

„Hawkshade. I see you brought your new apprentice with you." the black tom nodded.
„Yes. This is Scorchpaw. She will be training to be a wonderful medicine cat to serve ThunderClan." Scorchpaw shyly gazed around at the cats, who started to yowl out her name.
„Scorchpaw! Scorchpaw!" Daisypaw wanted to give the young apprentice more confidence, so she joined. „Scorchpaw!" The dark ginger she-cat turned to her, a happy spark appearing in her blue eyes.
'I wish I was this happy when I became the medicine cat apprentice...' Daisypaw aggressively shook her head at the thought.
'No! It doesn't matter. I can't change it now. I will be a great medicine cat that SkyClan needs!' Rockslide noticed the sad look on her face.
„Is everything okay?" Daisypaw tried to fake an excited tone.
„Yes, I'm just kind of nervous about the ceremony," she lied, unsure and fidgeting. Rockslide gave her one last worried look and turned to the cats around the Moonpool.
„Alright then," her mentor mew, his voice becoming louder.

„I, Rockslide, call upon StarClan to look down on this apprentice." his gaze turned to the night sky. „She has trained hard for several moons to understand the ways of a medicine cat." He looked back at his apprentice. „Daisypaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan, and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?" Daisypaw shivered. She has waited for this moment her whole life.
'Or have I?'
„I- I do." she blurted out, trying to seem confident. Rockslide gazed at Daisypaw, his eyes glittering with pride.
„Then, your new name will be Daisycloud," he said. „StarClan values your determination and wisdom. You will be the blooming flower in a frost field." Daisycloud shifted. 'My... Father? He named me after Silvercloud. But he has something else on his mind,' she thought.
Suddenly, she felt her mentor's gaze prickling on her pelt. Rockslide walked closer to her and pressed his forehead against hers. „You, only you will be the flicker of hope in the darkness." he whispered in her ear, passing by her and sitting down.
„Daisycloud!" Rockslide yowled. „Daisycloud! Daisycloud!" the others joined. The ginger-and-white cat heard Scorchpaw's voice add to the others', and she relaxed.
„Maybe I'll even make a new friend while I'm at it." she murmured to herself, gazing at the lightening sky.

Turns out, Scorchpaw was a really outgoing she-cat under the shy cover. Unlike Daisycloud, she wanted to become a medicine cat at all costs.
„But then, Hawkshade said, that there can't be three medicine cats!" she said in a dramatic voice, shooting an angry gaze at her mentor in front of her.
"Such nonsense!" she added. Daisycloud laughed at her behavior. She enjoyed her friend's company more than she would admit.
After all, the dark ginger she-cat was really similar to Daisycloud. The fluffy she-cat giggled at Scorchpaw's comment once again, realising how big of a fit the tiny cat must have thrown to make Hawkshade accept her as his apprentice, even though she was half his size.
„You proved him wrong, didn't you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
„Of course!" the ginger she-cat scoffed, looking at the sunrise. „StarClan! It's dawn already! I guess we'll have to part ways soon," she said, gazing at Daisycloud with a sad look in her shiny blue eyes.
„I guess so," the she-cat replied. „It was nice getting to know you." Daisycloud added.
Scorchpaw nodded, looking excited for a little while.
„Yes! I'll see you at the half-moon meeting." The small she-cat was practically jumping with excitement.

Daisycloud was a little stunned. „Yes..." she replied. "I'll be happy to see you too," she said, her gaze shifting to Rockslide. Her mentor looked back at her, looking satisfied.
"Daisycloud. It's time." he said. The ginger-and-white she-cat licked her friend's ear. „I gotta go. Goodbye!" she mewed.
Schorchpaw nodded „Take care, Daisycloud." she purred.

With that, the young medicine cat hopped to her mentor, feeling excited to serve SkyClan as a full medicine cat.

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I hope it wasn't too rushed... I enjoyed writing this! Love you<3