Firetalon's Destiny

Chapter 11

I awoke from training to the sound of excited chatter outside of my den, blinking away my tiredness, I stood and stretched. Poking my head out of the den I watched as the dawn patrol returned with a group of at least five cats. All of them looked too young to be adults, with the oldest being maybe ten moons. My eyes narrowed in confusion and my tail curled as the stench of rogues filled my nose. What were a bunch of rogues doing in our camp? My attention was soon averted by a flash of orange fur as my father streaked out of his den and leapt up onto the Water Rock. My ears perked up as he gazed down at the new arrivals before letting out a loud mrow in order to summon the Clan for a meeting.

            Begrudgingly the warriors started to creep out of their den, grumbling darkly about how it was way too early for a meeting. Quickly I joined them, my ears perked from curiosity as my gaze wondered back to the strangers. “Warriors of FlameClan, I call you here due to the fact that six rogues wish to join us and learn the ways of our Clan.”

            Murmurs rose among the assembled cats and many eyes turned to focus on the small group of rogues standing separate from us. “Why should we accept a bunch of rogues into FlameClan?” a yowl came from one of the cats, I recognized him to be Jaggedstripes. A brown warrior with stunning orange stripes and green eyes that gleamed with pride. “Our Clan has always done well enough without accepting outsiders!”

            “We’re low on warriors and this nursery isn’t as full as it could be… we should accept them as StarClan’s gift,” the black cat next to me, Whitefoot, reasoned and the older she-cat stared pointedly at the younger tom until her gaze made him wriggle.

            “We can barely feed ourselves during leaf-bare,” Shadowstep growled and he glared at the nearest rogue, a spotted gray tom probably around my age, until he squirmed with discomfort. “We should worry about keeping ourselves feed instead of allowing a bunch of outsiders to steal what little food we have.”

            Cries of agreement rose among our ranks and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Flamestar knew what he was doing, the others should shut up and accept whatever he decides. “Silence!” my father yowled and slowly they grew quiet until only the rattling of branches overhead from the cold wind could be heard. “I have made my decision, these rogues shall live among us and, like the rest of us, shall work to earn their share. If they prove incapable of following Clan rules, than they shall be exiled.”

            “We gave Nix a chance and he’s proven himself many times over,” Doveflight pointed out, and she focused her warm blue gaze at the former golden-pelted kittypet. He had been Sweetbriar’s mate and after her death, shivers rippled down my spine as the unwelcome image of her bloody body popped into my mind, he seemed to have engulfed himself into the work of a warrior. “I think we should give these rogues a chance.”

            When no more arguments arose Flamestar gestured with his tail for the rogues to approach the Water Rock. The group shifted hesitantly until a dark ginger tom with a darker underbelly and defiant sky blue eyes boldly started forward. Soon after the others jerked into action, nervously joining their companion who now stood up front.

            “Looks like you’ll finally have denmates,” Goldensong whispered into my ear and I smiled at my pale yellow sister. “Now that you’re not the only apprentice, I’m sure you’ll have much more fun.”

            “Plus you’ll have so many friends to play pranks on,” Doveflight added and my other sister’s whiskers twitched in amusement as she grew lost in thought.

            I was wrenched out of our conversation when Flamestar declared the gathering over and my Clanmates began to jostle pass me to begin their morning duties. “Firepaw,” Tailfur waved for me to join him and, after giving my sister’s a good bye nod, I quickly joined my mentor. “Today we will be working on your battle training. While it’s clear that you know plenty of offensive techniques,” his eyes slightly narrowed as he brought this up and I glanced away guiltily. Tailfur didn’t know about Moon and he probably found it very suspicious that I knew how to fight when he hadn’t taught me many battle techniques. “You don’t seem to have much of a handle on defensive maneuvers, which is what we’ll be focusing on today.”