The Death of the Stars

Chapter Two

It was a crisp and clear dawn. The sky was ablaze with reds and oranges. Quailstar stood upon Tallrock, silhouetted by the rising sun, having called WindClan to a meeting. Servalkit felt a tingle of excitement start at the tips of her toes. Her mother's tongue rasped against the top of her head in a last-minute cleaning. "Good luck, sweetheart." Her mother whispered, then pushed her forward.

"Servalkit, come forward." Quailstar boomed, his voice carrying through the camp clearly. She eagerly scampered forward, pelt quivering a little with excitement. "Servalkit," he continued once she reached the bottom of the rock. "You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Servalpaw!" He took a breath. "Your mentor will be Silentmist. I hope Silentmist will pass down all she knows on to you."

Barely able to walk like the dignified she-cat she was, Servalpaw nearly bounced over to Silentmist and touched noses with her. "Servalpaw! Servalpaw! Servalpaw!" The Clan chanted, then they all went over to congratulate Servalpaw on her achievement. All the warriors and other apprentices seemed to blur past her. She felt a stupidly big grin on her face. When the last well-wisher went to their duties, Servalpaw saw Silentmist standing there, an expectant look on her face.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because we're close, Servalpaw." Silentmist said, a little sternly. Servalpaw was a little taken aback.

"O-of course not! None of the warrior apprentices get easy training, I wasn't expecting any different being a medicine cat. We are the ones that have to listen to them whine about not being able to fight when they're injured, after all!"

Silentmist laughed. "That's the spirit! Now, come with me and I'll show you the territory. We'll go see the lake first."

Servalpaw bounded along as Silentmist pointed out fresh newleaf herbs, some Servalpaw had never seen before because she had been born in leafbare.

"That's burdock root. It's hard to find during the winter because the stem can sometimes die or get covered in snow. It grows closer to the border we share with ThunderClan."

Servalpaw nodded, and they continued. Then she saw the lake. Servalpaw gasped, staring at the wide expanse of blue water. The sun reflected off of it, and the last remnants of the sunrise painted the lake in beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows. Pink clouds that floated in the sky rippled in the lake too, seemingly riding the tiny waves. "It's so big!"

Silentmist laughed. "It is, isn't it? Sometimes it takes new eyes to appreciate what we take for granted."

Servalpaw was too absorbed in the sight to pay much attention to what Silentmist said, but she would later go through it and ponder those words.

They turned and headed back from the ThunderClan border, and headed to the RiverClan one. "ShadowClan cats used to share a border with us back in the old forest, they were our worst of rivals. They raided us and we raided them many a time. We were both always looking for an excuse to be at each other's throats. It was hard for the medicine cats of old to keep up with all the injuries." Silentmist commented. "Now RiverClan takes their place, although they are more peaceful. And for that, I am grateful."

Servalpaw nodded in silent agreement, and wondered briefly about what it would be like. Constantly running out of herbs, having to convince warriors that they were too injured to go out to battle even more often, the bodies of apprentices that weren't strong or skilled enough, that died on their first battle.... She shivered. I'm sure glad I didn't have to live in that time.

They saw the Horseplace, then headed back to camp. It was sunhigh by the time they returned. "Wow!" Servalpaw huffed. "Our territory is huge!"

Silentmist just smiled and led Servalpaw into the medicine cat den. "This is where you'll sleep from now on." She said, gesturing to the another nest farther away from the sick beds. "I suggest you go get a bit of fresh kill, and then we'll test your knowledge of herbs." Silentmist made a silencing gesture with her tail as Servalpaw opened her mouth to speak. "Yes, yes. You learned when you were a kit. But now you really need to know it. It can be the difference between life and death for a cat."

Servalpaw nodded, then went off to get fresh kill. As she ate, she thought over the events of the day. Life would certainly be more exciting, she decided, and munched on her fresh-kill.