Shining of the Four

Chapter 42

            The clan was bursting with excitement as Lemonpaw made her way through camp. In a short period of time, there would be six new warriors of NightClan. Just the thought of it made her paws tingle with excitement.
            She tried to ignore the meeting with Silverstar and Ambershine, but for some reason, it kept fogging up her mind.
            "Why couldn't they have told me after the ceremony?" she groaned, her excitement being replaced with worry and thoughts of what this strange prophecy meant.
            "Lemonpaw! Lemonpaw!" Raspberrypaw called.
            Lemonpaw turned, spotting her dark ginger-furred friend.
            "What did Silverstar want?" Raspberrypaw asked. Thymepaw trotted along behind her, tilting his head as if he were wondering as well.
            Lemonpaw shuffled her paws. She knew she could not tell her friends the strange prophecy as much as she wanted to.
            "She...was just wondering how Firelight did in mentoring me," Lemonpaw decided. She had to admit, it was a pretty good excuse.
            "Ah, so she finally caught up to his bad teaching methods?" Raspberrypaw asked.
            "Not quite," Lemonpaw spoke, distracted by the prophecy ringing in her ears.
            "ALL CATS OLD ENOUGH TO CATCH THEIR OWN PREY JOIN BENEATH THE ROCK FOR A CLAN MEETING!" Silverstar yowled, her strong voice echoing throughout the camp.
            "Well, that's us. Good luck," Raspberrypaw called to Lemonpaw.
            Lemonpaw glanced around, then followed after Raspberrypaw and Thymepaw, coming up to the large rock that stood in camp. Koipaw, Windpaw, and Mangopaw were already racing up the rock to stand beside Silverstar.
            Lemonpaw padded up the rock last behind Thymepaw, glancing at the crowd. Cats stood excitedly to welcome them as new apprentices. From afar, Lemonpaw could see Frostflight and Hailfrost smiling proudly at her, their four kits beside them. Firelight stood closer to the rock with Snowdrop, grinning at Lemonpaw. Lemonpaw grinned back nervously, turning her attention towards Silverstar.
            "Cats of NightClan," she began, the crowd quieting down. "Today we are gathered here to welcome six new warriors into our clan." She turned towards the apprentices, speaking slowly, "I call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon these six cats. They have trained hard to follow your noble code, and I grant them to you as warriors in return. Windpaw," she began.
            And Lemonpaw stood nervously, watching as each of the apprentices began to receive their warrior names and received acknowledgement from their mentors.
            She stood, suddenly nervous, watching as Windpaw became Windpelt, Koipaw became Koilight, Mangopaw became Mangosong. Coming to her friends now, Lemonpaw stood proudly as Raspberrypaw was given the name of Raspberryblaze. Lemonpaw smiled at her friend, noticing Raspberryblaze's look of excitement as she received her warrior name.
            "Thymepaw," Silverstar spoke now, nearly coming to Lemonpaw. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code with all your life, even if it means giving up your life for the clan?"
            Once again, Thymepaw opened his mouth, as if he were to speak. Realizing he could not, he closed it and nodded. Lemonpaw had assumed he'd made no effort to speak since his muteness. She wondered why he suddenly felt he could speak again.
            "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your new name of Thymewhisker," she spoke softly.
            Thymewhisker grinned, turning to Lemonpaw in excitement. She smiled at the tom she loved, glancing at the crowd to see Daisyfeather and Possumeye smiling proudly at their five kits.
            Silverstar turned to Lemonpaw now, her amber eyes fixed on Lemonpaw. For some reason, looking at Silverstar reminded Lemonpaw of the prophecy, and she wondered if Silverstar was staring at her this way to remind Lemonpaw not to forget it.
            "Lemonpaw," Silverstar spoke. "You have trained hard and long, and I know you surely will be a good warrior. Firelight," Silverstar called, glancing below. Lemonpaw watched as her mentor made his way forward, his green eyes gazing at the NightClan leader.
            "Yes, Silverstar?" he asked.
            "Do you believe Lemonpaw is capable of being a warrior of NightClan?"
            "With all my heart," Firelight agreed, gazing at Lemonpaw and winking. She smiled, turning back to Silverstar.
            "Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior name of Lemonfur," she proclaimed.
            "WINDPELT! KOILIGHT! MANGOSONG! RASPBERRYBLAZE! THYMEWHISKER! LEMONFUR!" the clan shouted, their cheers echoing throughout the camp.
            Lemonfur glanced down, watching Frostflight and Hailfrost chant. The four apprentices chanted near them, jumping up and down for their sister's new warrior name.
            Once the crowd died down and began to disperse, Lemonfur padded down the rock beside Raspberryblaze and Thymewhisker, grinning to herself.
            "You look happy," Raspberryblaze purred.
            "I am!" Lemonfur exclaimed. "We're warriors now!"
            "I know," Raspberryblaze said. "It's weird to think we won't be going to lessons every day with our mentors."
            Thymewhisker nodded beside her.
            "I see Possumeye and Daisyfeather, Thymewhisker!" Raspberryblaze told her brother. "I'll catch up with you later, Lemonfur! We've still got vigil together!"
            Lemonfur nodded, watching as Raspberryblaze ran off, Thymewhisker following behind her slowly.
            "There's my young kit!" she heard.
            Lemonfur turned, watching Frostflight make her way to her. Oddly now, Lemonfur was the same size as Frostflight, and she embraced her adoptive mother, grinning.
            "I knew you could do it," Hailfrost purred, gazing at her proudly.
            "Thank you. I could not have made it this far without you both," Lemonfur admitted. "Even though you're not my biological parents, I still love you all the same."
            Frostflight grinned, tears in her eyes. "Oh, I remember nursing you as a kit!" She sighed, gazing back up at Lemonfur. "I suppose those days are over now. Soon, you'll be having your own kits!"
            "Frostflight!" Lemonfur gasped.
            "I'm just teasing," Frostflight responded, laughing.
            "Lemonfur! Lemonfur!" Pearpaw called, her three siblings following behind.
            "You were amazing up there!" Troutpaw exclaimed.
            "Congratulations!" Spotpaw squeaked.
            Lemonfur smiled warmly. "Soon, you'll all be going on patrols with me. Just a few moons of training for each of you."
            "I want to become a warrior now!" Desertpaw complained.
            "Oh, hush," Frostflight snapped. "You'll be a warrior soon enough. It takes a lot of work."
            Lemonfur nodded. "Put your best effort into training, and you'll be a warrior soon," she advised them.
            "Will we still see you, Lemonfur?" Troutpaw asked sadly.
            "Of course," Lemonfur purred. "I'll most likely be on patrols with you, and I'll still see you around. Soon, you'll be warriors with me. We'll all sleep in the same den, go on the same patrols...It'll be fun!"
            "Your mentors are waiting," Hailfrost observed, speaking to his kits.
            "Aw, we want to talk to Lemonfur some more!" Spotpaw complained.
            Lemonfur rolled her eyes. "If you want to become a warrior, you better start training now," she told them.
            Pearpaw nodded, waving good-bye. Her three siblings ran off behind her, and Lemonfur smiled warmly, waving good-bye to her siblings and parents.
            As she made her way further into camp, she bumped into Firelight.
            "Hey, good job," Firelight congratulated her.
            "I couldn't have done it without your help," she admitted, gazing down and blushing.
            "I'm proud of you," he purred. "I'll see you around."
            "See you!" Lemonfur called, waving good-bye to her mentor. Though in a way, he wasn't her mentor anymore. Firelight was a friend, a father-figure, someone who would remain in her life. She smiled warmly, jumping as a tail tapped her shoulder.
            She spun around, noticing Thymewhisker.
            "Thymewhisker!" she gasped, catching her breath. "You scared me!"
            Thymewhisker locked eyes with Lemonfur, opening his mouth. Out of it came a quiet, almost a whisper. "Lemonfur," he said.
            Lemonfur froze. "T-Thymewhisker? You're speaking!" she exclaimed, knowing she had heard his words correctly.
            Thymewhisker cleared his throat and nodded. "I am," he confirmed. This time, his voice was stronger.
            His voice sounded odd to Lemonfur. The only time she had heard him speak was when he was a kit. Now, his voice was much deeper and stronger, but it still contained the fragile warmth and softness that it had before.
            "I-I can't believe this!" Lemonfur exclaimed. "I thought you'd be mute forever! How?!"
            "My voice returned a moon ago," he explained, his voice now normal.
            "A moon ago?! Why did you keep it from me?"
            "I always tried out my voice, whether Bluefur told me to or not. About a moon ago, I realized I could whisper again. I told Bluefur, and we began voice exercises while we also signed. After awhile, we stopped signing all together and worked on my voice," he explained. "I wanted to speak immediately to you, to Raspberryblaze, to everyone, but Bluefur told me I had to wait until my voice got stronger."
            Lemonfur nodded, amazed.
            "Yesterday, Bluefur told me my voice was strong enough that I could use it regularly again. I could've spoken today, but I didn't."
            "Thymewhisker, you could've spoken at the warrior ceremony! Why did you wait?! The whole clan could've heard you speak again!" Lemonfur exclaimed.
            "I wanted you to be the first to know," he explained. "We've grown so close these past couple of moons. I wanted you to hear my voice first, not my siblings, not my parents, but you, Lemonfur. I love you."
            It was even more beautiful hearing him say than signing it.
            "I love you too," she purred, nuzzling him. "I can't believe this though. StarClan has granted a miracle!"
            Thymewhisker smiled warmly. "I also came to ask you...to ask you if you would be my mate."
            Lemonfur froze. She always knew this moment was coming, but she did not expect it to come so soon. For a second or two, she doubted herself, wondering if Thymewhisker really was the right choice. But then she remembered them as kits, she remembered the river, she remembered how devastated she had been. All that was gone now...All of it was resolved.
            "Yes," she agreed. "Yes, I'll be your mate," she purred.
            "Great," Thymewhisker replied. "Come on! It's time to share my voice with the others!"
            Lemonfur laughed, following after him. Her mind drifted away from the prophecy, only focused now on the beautiful life ahead of her.