The Legend of Silverflame (Completed) {Warrior Cats Fanfic}

Chapter 14

It had already past moonhigh, and Windclan still wasn't there. Silverpaw had never smelled Windclan, but she knew they were coming as a strange scent bathed her tongue. None of the leaders seemed in a rush, so Windclan spread out to mingle with the others at the gathering. Silverpaw had never seen so many cats at once.

Snowfoot padded up to Silverpaw, her anger from before starting to fade. "How about you get a scent for the other two clans today?" She suggested. "I think you should meet some apprentices, like yourself. You're allowed to have friendships with other clans, and if you don't want to make friends, then at least get a feel for them."

Silverpaw nodded, and whispered; "I guess I'll just go then."

Snowfoot sighed. "Do you really want to know why Thistlestar doesn't like me?"

"Does he really want you dead?" Silverpaw asked. "He can't hate you that much, can he? One border skirmish isn't enough for him to launch an attack."

"It goes far beyond one border skirmish." Snowfoot replied. She sighed, and looked at Silverpaw sadly. "Just after I was made a warrior, there was a fight between Thunderclan and Shadowclan. Both of us were recent warriors, me and him, eager to prove ourselves to our clan. I was winning against him, and he got angry. He tried to kill me, and I had to almost knock him out to save myself." Snowfoot's whiskers twitched, and Silverpaw wondered what other memories that brought up.

But still, Snowfoot continued. "Then, because the Shadowclan attack failed, they attacked again, one moon later. This time, Thistlefur, I mean, Thistlestar," She spat, "Went after me with his brother and his best friend Biteheart. His brother was only an apprentice, and he fled quickly. Thistlestar tried to cripple me while his friend tried to kill me, because I had so badly injured Thistlestar.

Biteheart was an advanced warrior, and had many seasons of experience. At that time, Shadowclan had been bigger than Thunderclan, and every Thunderclan cat was had their paws full. I might have beaten Thistlestar, and his brother, but Biteheart was just..."

Snowfoot paused. She blinked, worrying about the impact of her words. "I killed him."

"You...You killed him?" Silverpaw stammered. "But...but you're a good cat! You wouldn't kill another warrior." Silverpaw felt almost betrayed. "Could you?"

"I had to. No warrior is meant to kill, it was a complete accident, I was only defending myself, and Thistlestar has never forgiven me for that. He won't let me forget. Every battle, I'm the first he goes for. Because of that, I hate him too." Suddenly, she tensed, and stood back up, and Silverpaw could smell the new Shadowclan leader coming that way.

Across the clearing, Thistlestar was still glaring at Snowfoot. He looked like he wanted to shred her. Snowfoot hissed in his direction, and looked away from him to her apprentice.

No other cats beside Silverpaw and Snowfoot noticed. Suddenly, Silverpaw was filled with dread as realization dawned on her about the tension between her mentor and the angry leader.

Snowfoot shook herself, as if trying to shake water off her fur. "How about you go make some friends?" Snowfoot suggested, forcing happiness into her mew. "The gathering is supposed to start soon."

"Alright." Silverpaw murmured, and walked over to a group of apprentices. She didn't feel very well, no matter how happy she knew she should be because she could attend a gathering, and she could barely grasp the thoughts of what she had just discovered.

"I've already been training for four moons!" A black-furred Riverclan apprentice boasted. "I'll be a warrior soon."

"Yeah, right." Teased a snow-white Windclan she-cat. "You can fight, but you can't hunt."

"Says who?" The tom replied.

"Hi!" Silverpaw exclaimed. "Mind if I join you guys?"

"No problem." The Windclan she-cat said. "I'm Skypaw."

"I'm Badgerpaw." The Riverclan tom said.

At the mention of a badger, Silverpaw had to force down a shudder.

"Are you okay?" Asked Skypaw.

"Sorry." Silverpaw said. "My mother got killed by a Badger when I was little. I'm Silverpaw."

"In your own nursery?" Badger paw exclaimed. "Thunderclan must not have a very secure camp."

"No, the Thunderclan camp is very secure." Silverpaw said, ignoring the suspicious comment. "She wasn't in the camp."

"Then where was she?" Skypaw asked. "Is the badger still around?"

"She wasn't in clan territory." Silverpaw replied, wondering if she should tell them she was what they considered, a 'rouge.'

"Why wasn't she in the nursery, then?" Badgerpaw asked. "If you were little, she should've stayed with you."

Silverpaw felt pressured by all the sudden questions, and needed to sound convincing. "I was watched by another queen."

"Huh." Skypaw said. "My mother is still around. But I never met my Father." Silverpaw gave her a grateful blink for turning the subject away from her mother.

"Really?" Badgerpaw asked. "Is he not clanborn?"

"Nobody knows." Skypaw replied. "Might've been a rogue."

Badgerpaw looked at her in disgust, sniffed, and walked away with a 'humph.'

"What's his problem?" Silverpaw asked, baffled. Badgerpaw didn't look back as he settled with another apprentice group.

"Some cats don't like half-clans. I need to be more careful of who I tell that to." Skypaw sighed.

"Did you ever ask your mother?" Silverpaw asked.

"Yes." Skypaw replied. "She won't tell me." The Windclan apprentice was getting slightly agitated.

"So there really are clan cats who aren't pure-blooded?" Silverpaw said hopefully. Maybe she wasn't the only one.

"Why, are you going to walk away too?!" Skypaw spat, suddenly bristling and hissing. "Go on. Ignore me if you want to"

"No, it's not that." Silverpaw said. "I never met my father either."

Skypaw calmed back down. "Did you ask your mother?"

Silverpaw sighed. "I never even got the chance."