Stoking the Flames

Chapter 1

It had been nearly a moon since Kestrelpaw recovered from her sickness, and the white-and-orange medicine cat apprentice was more than ready to start helping Leafcrackle sort herbs.

Although Leafcrackle had been a bit hesitant at first, he eventually decided that he could use the extra help, as sorting herbs was somewhat of a tedious task for one cat to do on there own. And it wasn't as if Leafcrackle was getting any younger, I mean, yes, he was still quite young, but he won't always be.

It was in the middle of one of these slow-moving days when Rosestar called everyone together for an important announcement sometime later that evening.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Rosestar's yowl echoed across the camp. Kestrelpaw perked her ears up. After a busy day of hunting practice 'because even medicine cats need to learn how to hunt!' and gathering herbs for their leafbare stores, not to mention hearing every cat's thoughts, Kestrelpaw was ready to relax.

"The biggest honor a leader can do is to turn an apprentice, or two in this case, into warriors. Sunpaw, come forth." Sunpaw then went to the base of the Highrock to meet Rosestar. "I, Rosestar, leader of BreezeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked at Sunpaw, who raised her head. "Sunpaw," Rosestar continued, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Sunpaw replied. "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Sunpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Sunwhisper. StarClan honors your loyalty and quick-thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of BreezeClan." When she was done, Rosestar then rested her muzzle on Sunwhisper's head, who then licked the leader's shoulder. "Sunwhisper! Sunwhisper! Sunwhisper!" the whole Clan cheered. Moonpaw, Cloudpaw, and Mosspetal chanted the loudest.

After Sunwhisper stepped back it was Moonpaw's turn to step forward. "I, Rosestar, leader of BreezeClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." She then looked over at Moonpaw as she raised her head. "Moonpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?" Rosestar said. "I do." Moonpaw replied with determination. "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Moonpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Moonstorm. StarClan honors your kindness and spirit, and we welcome you as a full warrior of BreezeClan." She then put her muzzle on Moonstorm's head, who licked Rosestar's shoulder.

"Moonstorm! Moonstorm! Moonstorm!" the Clan chanted Moonstorm's new name. Moonstorm then went to sit beside her sister. "As of tradition, Sunwhisper and Moonstorm will sit in silent vigil all night and guard the camp while the rest of us sleep. You are all dismissed." When Rosestar was finished a few cats went to the prey pile to get something to eat before going to sleep for the night.

As cats were heading toward their dens to sleep for the night, Kestrelpaw saw Sunwhisper and Moonstorm being congratulated by their mentor's, Rainfur and Tulipcloud respectively.

•••

Kestrelpaw awoke the next morning to a tiny little face staring quizzically at her. Her eyes shot open in alarm and she quickly leaped to her paws.

"Starlingkit!" she hissed, careful to keep her voice low so as to not wake up her mentor. "What are you doing in the medicine cat's den? Does Rosedawn know you're in here?"

The small sable she-kit simply just stared up at Kestrelpaw with wide and curious yellow eyes. "I dunno, I think she knows where I am."

Kestrelpaw sighed and flattened her ears, her tail flicking from left to write as she contemplated keeping Starlingkit in the medicine den with her or if she should bring the sneaky little thing back to her mom.

"Tell you what," the white-and-orange apprentice meowed after a short while. "Let's go talk with Rosedawn and make sure that she knows where you are."

Starlingkit nodded and patted back to the nursery with the medicine cat apprentice, occasionally tripping over her paws as Kestrelpaw paused to pounce on the sunspots that danced around the clearing.

When they entered the den that the queens and kits stayed in, Kestrelpaw caught sight of Rosedawn and raced over to the white-and-orange-furred she-cat with Starlingkit right behind her.

"Starlingkit!" Rosedawn exclaimed, purring and rubbing her kit's cheek with her nose. "Where did you run off to?" the sable-furred kit smiled cheekily at her mother and pointed with her tail at Kestrelpaw.

"Um, hey, Rosedawn?" Kestrelpaw meowed nervously, shuffling her paws and staring down at the moss-covered floor. "Could I talk to you outside for a moment?" the older she-cat nodded and turned to Jay, who smiled and nodded her head, knowing exactly what Rosedawn was going to ask.

"Go on, go speak with the medicine cat," she meowed warmly.

Kestrelpaw smiled and ducked her head. "Well I-I'm not a medicine cat yet, but thanks for helping Rosedawn out."

Once the two cats were out of earshot, Kestrelpaw turned to face Rosedawn with a saddened look on her face. "Have you noticed any issues with Starlingkit's balance In the last few days?" Rosedawn looked thoughtful as she thought of the medicine cat apprentice's question.

It was silent for quite sometime before Rosedawn finally spoke up in a shaky and quiet voice. "Now that you mention it... she does seem a bit shaky when she walks, and she also seems to tire more quickly than her littermates."

Kestrelpaw frowned and twitched her tail, her yellow eyes narrowing in thought and her paws shifting uneasily in the dirt beneath her as she continued to think. After a few more moments of tense silence, the medicine cat apprentice's face took on a worried frown and she patted back toward the entrance of the nursery, poked her head into the den, and softly called for Starlingkit to come outside with her for a moment.

"I wonder if there's something else, too, that is causing a problem..." the white-and-orange she-cat sat for a moment, lost in thought, before ordering, "Walk around the den for me, please."

Starlingkit obeyed, circling the room as she normally would, confused at the odd order.

Kestrelpaw watched her closely, then mewed, "You have a rather clumsy gait, wouldn't you say? Is that normal for you?"

Since Starlingkit was still you know, a kit, she asked Starlingkit's mother this question. When Rosedawn nodded her head that yes, this was indeed normal for Starlingkit, Kestrelpaw's heart dropped to her stomach and she watched the sable-furred she-kit try to pounce on a leaf that was flying in the breeze.

"Then that's it," Kestrelpaw announced. "You have something I've never seen before in a cat. You walk almost like a young kit might," Rosedawn opened her mouth to respond, thinking it was an insult, but Kestrelpaw added quickly, "It's not your fault. Something must be wrong inside you that makes you walk like that. Very curious."

"I have an idea of what might be going on with Starlingkit, but we need to ask Leafcrackle before I tell you the wrong thing."

"Kestrelpaw is correct, Rosedawn," Leafcrackle told the white-and-orange-furred queen. They had entered the den and quickly enough, Leafcrackle set to inspecting the kit and asked a myriad of questions.

After having Starlingkit try a few more simple tasks (as well as a five-moon-old kit can do) Leafcrackle sat for a moment, curling his tail under his paws, lost in thought as he continued to watch the sable-furred she-kit.

"So what do you think, Leafcrackle? Is there something else that might be hindering Starlingkit's movements?" Kestrelpaw questioned her mentor as she watched Starlingkit once again try to pounce on a nearby leaf.

Rosedawn and Kestrelpaw watched Leafcrackle, waiting for an answer, until he finally stated, " Starlingkit is afflicted with a rare disease of the likes I've never seen. She has a kit-gait. She is suffering from a loss of coordination, and likely perception of depth as well," Leafcrackle looked directly into Starlingkit's wide and terrified eyes as he meowed, "Her training will be extremely difficult. It's likely that she may never become a warrior."