Warriors: A Divided Blood - Kinship

Chapter 3

After Adderpaw has served her time in the nursery, she resumed her apprentice duties and was even invited to go to the gathering. "You just can't bear to see me unhappy, can you?" she had teased Birdstar, earning herself a warning—but affectionate—look.
"This is my first gathering as a warrior!" Ashface exclaimed proudly, her eyes shining with delight. "I can't believe it!"
That night, the chosen cats—Adderpaw, Ashface, Sootfoot, Owlshine, Aldertooth, Spidereye, Bumbleflight, Turtlepaw, and of course Birdstar, Brambleleaf, Yellowfoot, and Palepaw—set off towards the island. They crossed WindClan territory, and made their way to RiverClan's hunting grounds. The whole way there, Ashface could not stop spontaneously shivering with excitement. "You've been to a gathering before, haven't you?" Adderpaw asked after the sixth time.
Ashface glared at her. "Of course I have," she replied hotly. "But tonight, Birdstar will announce Sootfoot and me as warriors!" Adderpaw felt a slight pang of envy at that. She couldn't wait for her warrior ceremony.
Ashface's brother made his way up to the two she-cats, surprising them as he squeezed his way between their flanks. "I was summoned?" he joked, grinning cheekily at his sister and Adderpaw. "You were mentioned, Sootfoot." Ashface corrected, lightly shoving him into Adderpaw, who shoved him back. "I could have been talking bad about you. That is not summoning you." Ashface teased. "Oh, we were definitely talking bad about you," Adderpaw added mischievously.
The gray tom intentionally let his ears drop, and put on his best sad face. "My sister and her friend are such fox-hearts!" he whined, licking both their muzzles and falling back to chat with Bumbleflight.
    Ashface chuckled quietly to herself, shaking her head with closed eyes.
The group of cats finally made it to the log that acted as a bridge for the island. Adderpaw smelled only the scent of WindClan on the breeze, and figured they were the only other ones there.
She slipped past Birdstar like a nimble little squirrel, bounding onto the log before anyone else. "Adderpaw!" Birdstar muttered, following more slowly. The tortoiseshell apprentice scrambled over the log's slippery bark, nearly falling into the water below. She leapt down on the other side, her curly fur spiked up in excitement.
    The tortoiseshell waited for Ashface to jump down to her side, and the pair set off. Mingled scents hit Adderpaw like a blow to the face. She'd been to three other gatherings, but the thrill of going to one never went away.
As she gazed around, wide-eyed, Adderpaw spotted a very peculiar young cat to the far edge of the island. She was small, and her whole body shook with fear. Her eyes were two different colors: blue and yellow. But the strangest thing about her was that she had no fur. She was a pink, furless, strange-eyed mess, but Adderpaw felt drawn to her.
    "Oh! Breezepaw, Hazelpaw, and Goldenpaw are here tonight! Let's go talk to them!" Ashface exclaimed, butting into Adderpaw's thoughts. The gray she-cat gestured to a three skinny tabbies talking amongst themselves.
    "You go on," Adderpaw told her, not taking her eyes off the strange cat. "I'll catch up." With a shrug and a friendly tail-flick on the shoulder, Ashface padded off towards the WindClan cats, and Adderpaw started towards the hairless she-cat.
    The tortoiseshell stopped in front of her, and the cat's head whipped around to stare, wide-eyed, at the ThunderClan apprentice. The pink cat let out a squeak if fright, pressing her belly to the ground. Adderpaw looked down at her. This creature was pitiful.
    "Hello," Adderpaw newer softly, lowering her head and trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "H-hello . . ." pink cat replied. "I'm Adderpaw. Who're you?"
    The WindClan cat look e around anxiously, as if this was some great secret. Her ears flicked nervously, but she slowly rose to a sitting position. "Molepaw." she answered finally, her multicolored eyes flashing.
Molepaw? Adderpaw repeated silently in her head, shock coursing through her. That's a horrid name. Sympathy for this poor cat rippled up her spine.
    "I haven't seen you around before," Adderpaw meowed, trying to change the subject. Molepaw wrapped her tail around her paws. She seemed more confident now, but her eyes still darted around as if she expected invisible enemies to leap out at any moment.
    The hairless cat inhaled slowly. "I joined WindClan about a quarter moon ago," she confessed. "They aren't very nice to me . . ."
    "How come?"
    "Because I'm ugly." Bitterness laced Molepaw's voice now.
    "No, you're not."
    "You must be blind then. Just look at me!"
    "You're just different . . ."
    "That's not very welcome around here."
    "If everyone was the same, it be so boring." Adderpaw countered softly. "Just imagine if we were all brown tabbies with yellow eyes. What's so special? What separates one tabby from the other?"
    Molepaw bowed her bony head, ears flattened. "Why're you saying this stuff?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. Adderpaw shrugged, lost for words. "I guess, because you looked lonely over here," she said finally. "Maybe we can be friends?"
    Molepaw brightened as if this was the best thing she'd ever heard. "Really?" she squeaked excitedly. Adderpaw's tail lashed eagerly. "Yeah!"

Adderpaw and Molepaw had struck up a conversation. They spoke about training, their Clan, their past. Molepaw was part of a band of rogues, but they were attacked by dogs, and only she survived. Seeking shelter, she came across WindClan, and took the chance for sanctuary.
    But three apprentices, Pinkpaw, Silverpaw, and Nightpaw teased her for her odd looks, and she only really had Bluepaw, the medicine cat apprentice, for company. Though, she became very close with Snowflower's kits, especially Mothkit.
Eventually, the Clan leaders addressed the gathered Cats with a howl from Birdstar. She gestured for Kestrelstar to go first.
    The red tom sat on the lowest branch of the tree, tail curled around his paws proudly, amber eyes flashing. "Snowflower, one of our queens, recently gave birth to a litter of kits this moon. Their names are Mothkit, Whitekit, and Spotkit." he began. "Three of our apprentices became warriors two sunrises ago, and they are now known was Breezefeather, Hazelfur, and Goldenlight." He gestured politely to the three littermates, chests puffed out proudly.
The cats of the Clans began to chant their names, Ashface and Adderpaw loudest of all. "Breezefeather! Hazelfur! Goldenlight!"
Kestrelstar dipped his head to signal that he was done. Whitestar, ShadowClan's leader, rose to his paws, though it looked as if it pained him to do so. "Three of our apprentices trespassed on ThunderClan territory"—Angry mutters erupted from the ThunderClan cats, and Whitestar cast them a vicious glare—"but they are being dealt with." The old tom shook out his fur, embarrassed.
    "Lilystorm kitted just yesterday, and she is in the nursery at the moment. Leafheart, another one of our queens, is about to give birth to Gorsewing's kits." Multiple cheers sounded from the cat's below.
    "Well done, Leafheart!"
    "I knew you had it in you, Gorsewing!"
    "They'll be beautiful!"
    "Can't wait to meet them!"
    "Congratulations, you two!"
    When the yowling died down, Whitestar continued. "Prey is well, and new leaf has been kind to us. That is all."
    Greenstar of RiverClan stood as Whitestar sat down with a huff. Adderpaw tuned out the RiverClan cat, turning to Molepaw. "Hey, since we're friends now, you wanna meet up at the border?" she asked bluntly.
    Molepaw stared at her in shock. She hesitated, her jaws parted to speak. The hairless cat glanced at her paws, then back to Adderpaw's face. She stared deep into her eyes, as if trying to get inside her, to possess her. "Yes."