Whiteriver's Truth

Chapter 14

Bravepelt was walking into the den proudly straight towards Whiteriver.
"How's Robinpaw?" She asked.
"Ready to be a warrior, that's for sure." He responded. "I was just about to go talk to Goldenstar. He should be back soon with lots of prey."
"That's good. It's definitely needed with leaf-bare so close." She purred.
Bravepelt nodded. He then turned away and made his way to the leader's den.
Whiteriver watched him with awe, remembering the words he had said to her only a few sunrises pryer. She was quickly taken out of her thoughts when she felt something batting at her tail.
"Take that stupid RiverClan cat." Whiteriver turned around to see Patchkit attacking her tail as if it was an enemy warrior.
Whiteriver decided not to say anything and kept flicking her tail back and forth for him to keep attacking. After a while, Brightwhisker came out of the nursery to get him.
"Patchkit, stop attacking the warriors. That's not respectful." She called out.
The kit looked up with disappointment on his face. "Oh." He whined.
"It's okay, Brightwhisker. He's just practicing hunting." She meowed.
Brightwhisker rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Patchkit, Get back to the nursery." She hollered again.
Defiantly, the young kit got up and walked back to his mother with his head and tail drooping. She didn't have to be so mean. She thought. He wasn't doing any harm.
Suddenly she saw Robinpaw come into the camp from the corner of her eye holding a lot of prey in his jaw with Bramblefoot helping him carry the rest of it. Each step he took was filled with pride and satisfaction and Bramblefoot looked just as proud of his son.
"That could feed the whole clan for moon." She heard one of the elders say.
"He's a really good hunter that one." Another elder agreed with her.
Bravepelt then came out of Goldenstar's den with the ginger leader following him as Robinpaw and Bramblefoot placed the apprentices catch on the fresh-kill pile. With excited bounces, the young cat ran over to his mentor.
"Look how much prey I caught and I chased away a kittypet. He was so scared." He boasted, puffing up his chest.
"You did amazing, Robinpaw. I'm proud to call you my apprentice." He purred.
Robinpaw got shy and licked his chest, but the smile in his face meant he was thankful for the compliment.
Goldenstar jumped up onto the high rock. "Can all cats old enough to catch their own prey please gather around." He called out. Robinpaw quickly left Bravepelt's side and ran to the front of where the cats started to gather. It was an exciting moment in any cat's life to finally earn their warrior name. Once the clan had gathered, Goldenstar started speaking once again. "It has been brought to my attention that Robinpaw is ready to become a full warrior. He had a great mentor." He turned to look at Bravepelt. "I couldn't have chosen a better cat." He purred.
Bravepelt looked proud, but licked his paw and rubbed it over his face trying to hide the embarrassment he felt.
Goldenstar looked up to the sky. "I, Goldenstar, leader of ThunderClan call upon StarClan to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as warrior in his turn." He turned his attention back on Robinpaw, impatiently and eagerly shifting his paws beneath him. "Robinpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend your clan even at the cost of your life?"
"I do." Robinpaw responded, squeaking with excitement.
"Then from this moment on you will be known as Robinflight. StarClan honours your courage and spirit and we welcome you as full warrior of ThunderClan." The leader jumped down from the rock and rested his head on the new warrior and Robinflight lick his shoulder in response.
The crowd then erupted into cheers excepting the new warrior into the clan. "Robinflight! Robinflight."
His mom and dad were shouting his name the loudest showing the pride they felt for their son. Once the crowd calmed down and started to go back to what they were doing, Robinflight ran over to his parents and they all nuzzled up to each other.
"He's gonna be one of the best warriors." Bravepelt said looking over at the family of three as he made his way towards Whiteriver.
"Yeah." She responded. "I would be proud of him too if he was my kit."
"You mean ours." He teased giving her a lick on the ear.
"Yeah." She whispered with a small chuckle enjoying the affection he was giving her.

***

Bravepelt woke her up the next morning, a cold draft blew into the den. "Wanna go on a hunting patrol with me?" He asked.
She stood up and stretched her stiff legs and then shook herself of the rest of her sleep and any moss that stuck to her.
"Sure." She yawned bringing a paw over her head.
"The clouds promise snow later today so we should go now." He said turning around to leave.
She followed close behind as they made their way to the fresh-kill pile. As they found a spot to sit, Whiteriver saw Swiftfeather make her way to Goldenstar's den. Once they had finished eating, they got up and started to make their way towards to exit of the camp. The wind outside was stronger and sent a chill down her back.
"It's so cold out." She remarked.
"Then let's get moving." Bravepelt smiled and gave her a lick on the ear.
She followed him enjoying the presence of him and it just being the two of them. They quickly made their way over to sunning rocks and found a place to rest.
   Whiteriver shivered. "The rock feels so cold on my paws." She whined as Bravepelt sat down.
   He waved his tail signalling for her to sit beside him with a smile that she couldn't resist.
   "I now feel like there is a reason you brought me here. You didn't actually want to go hunting, did you?" She asked.
   "No I do." He responded. "But I did want to talk to you and I needed somewhere private."
   "About what?"
   "Well.." He looked down at his paws shyly. "Whiteriver. You are my bestfriend." He started. "But I've had something to tell you... for a while now."
   "What is it? You can tell me anything." She pushed.
   He sighed. "I love you, Whiteriver."
   The words scent a flash of heat all through her body and the cold that surrounded her and grabbed at her paws seemed to disappear. She didn't need to think of a response, it was easy to find the words because they were the same ones she's been wanting to say for a while as well. "I love you too, Bravepelt."