Lost In The Stars (Book Two)

Chapter Eight- Cloudpool

For a while, it felt that everything was as it should be. Rosepaw was getting the proper training that she needed from GreenClan's medicine cat, Frostytail. Ashpaw was also growing stronger, now somewhat able to hunt and fight. The apprentices were still young, but Cloudpool knew that in time, they would serve MudClan well.
Dawntail, Firestorm's sister, had given birth to three healthy kits. Two were girls, named Birdkit and Stormkit. The third was a tom named Foxkit. Hawkstar said that all three cats held the future of GreenClan in their paws, but Cloudpool couldn't imagine the tiny fumbling kits ever being warriors.

"Just give them time." Dawntail had assured her. Cloudpool still felt uneasy around them, as if something just wasn't right.

Then there were Coldwind's siblings. They were yet to receive their apprentice names, but they stayed in the mooncave with the others. No cat seemed to fully trust them yet, not even the few that had heard Rainstorm telling Stripedstar about the... Reincarnations.

But they proved themselves to be good for the clan. They had ways of hunting that Cloudpool had never seen before. Frost happily taught her how, and eventually Cloudpool felt like the two were becoming good friends. It was a bit strange at first, knowing that Frost was both Coldwind's daughter and sister.

Coldwind didn't like them at all. He refused to even go near them, for reasons that Cloudpool couldn't understand. It didn't seem to bother them at all, but it bothered Cloudpool.
"Do you think we'll ever be apprenticed?" Frost asked sadly one morning. "I was hoping that it would happen sooner than this."

"The clan has a right to be careful around you. You were ShadeClan born, after all." Cloudpool pointed out.

"So was Coldwind!" Frost growled. "Why should they trust him and not us?"

"He earned their trust, Frost. You will too, once they realise that you mean no harm." Cloudpool sighed. "And hey, when you become an apprentice, maybe I can be your mentor!"

Frost purred at the idea, but her eyes still held uncertainty. "That would be nice.."

The two stopped at the river's edge, peering into the rushing water. Just as Cloudpool was about to hook a fish on her claws, someone calling her name stopped her. She turned to see Spidereye trotting down the slope towards her.

"Hey, Spidereye." Frost greeted her, dipping her head.

"Hey Frost." Spidereye replied. She settled herself down beside Cloudpool, looking into the river. "Any luck?" She asked.

"I would have caught something if you hadn't interrupted." Cloudpool grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Stripedstar asked you to return." The excitement was clear in Spidereye's voice. "She's going to make Frost and her siblings apprentices!"

"Really?!" Frost jumped up, forgetting about fishing. Cloudpool raced by her side as they dashed towards the mooncave, their pelts brushing. Spidereye followed more slowly, keeping an eye out for any ShadeClan cats. So far, they had made GreenClan territory their home, but Cloudpool knew it wasn't long before they came for MudClan territory too.

The naming ceremony was good, at first. Frost was the first to receive the name Frostpaw. To Cloudpool's delight, Stripedstar made Frostpaw her apprentice. My first apprentice. She kneaded the ground happily, eager to begin training. Leopardpaw was apprenticed to Coldwind, which came to no surprise, as Stripedstar wanted him to teach the ShadeClan cat what the warrior code really meant. It would be easier for him because he knew what it was like in ShadeClan.

Feather, to everyone's surprise, suddenly refused to join MudClan. "At first, I thought I would fit in here." She explained. "They never liked me much, back in ShadeClan. I was too nice. But now I've met MudClan and it made me realise.. This isn't the place for me, either. I'm better off alone than with other cats."

She murmured her goodbyes to her siblings, then dipped her head in farewell. "Thank you, Stripedstar, for what you have done for my siblings. I think that they will serve your clan well."

Stripedstar stared at her, her emotions unclear. "Goodbye, Feather. Good hunting."

"Good hunting." Feather replied. With that, she was gone, disappearing into the tunnel and out of the mooncave.