Cinder

Chapter 11

"Cinderpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cindercloud. StarClan honors your loyalty and enthusiasm and we welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan." The newly named Cindercloud walked over to Falconstar, who pressed his muzzle against her head. "I am proud of the warrior you have become Cindercloud." He purred, pride in his voice.
"Thank you." Cindercloud whispered before stepping back. Creekpelt instantly started showering Cindercloud with licks and purring so hard that she couldn't hear anything else.
    "I am so proud of you!" She crowed, licking Cindercloud's head. Cindercloud purred a reply. She turned her head and noticed with a sinking feeling that Patchfur and Hawkpaw were sitting together, staring at her with disdainful eyes. Cindercloud felt pain pierce her heart. Creekpelt followed her gaze.
    "Ignore him. You don't need to feel bad because of him. Know that I love you and I'm proud of you." She purred. Cindercloud nodded, though deep down she still wished her father would care about her. Patchfur turned away, and Cindercloud noticed that Falconstar was padding toward her.
    "I'm sorry about Patchfur." He meowed. "I know it's hard to not have the approval of your father. But you have my approval. I'm proud to call you one of my warriors." Cindercloud stared at him, humbled.
    "Yes. It's always good to have to clan leaders approval. But I feel like a fathers approval is more important." Creekpelt remarked. Cindercloud stared between the two cats. Tension crackled like lightening between the two warriors.
    "I would agree. But I was hoping to console Cindercloud and make her feel better." Falconstar replied.
    "That's what I'm here for." Creekpelt retorted. Faclonstar tensed his shoulders.
    "Of course" he replied stiffly. He dipped his head to the two she cats before he turned and padded over to Leafstrike.
    "What was that about?" Cindercloud asked.
    "Nothing dear." Creekpelt mewed distractedly before padding over to Patchfur and Hawkpaw. Cindercloud watched her go before she saw Splashtail and Talonpaw padding up to her. Talonpaw still moves stiffly, but his eyes were bright. He brushed his muzzle against Cindercloud's.
    "Congrats." He purred. "Soon I'll join you and Splashtail in the warriors den." Me mewed.
    "That'd be great." Cindercloud purred.
    "I'm happy that we get to be warriors together now." Splashtail mewed. "It gets boring just hanging with Graystep all the time." She added with a purr.
    "I heard that!" Graystep called from where he sat beside Heatherfall. "Congrats Cindercloud!" He called. She dipped her head in response. She watched Splashtail and Talonpaw pad off side by side before she noticed Hawkpaw had come up to her.
   "Don't expect me to approve you as warrior even though my father does." He snarled.
   "Why would I want the approval of a cheeky stupid apprentice?" Cindercloud asked savagely. Hawkpaw flared his nostrils.
    "Careful what you say around me. I am the clan leaders son!"
    "Big deal." Cindercloud muttered before turning away. As she walked away, she noticed Patchfur pad up to her.
   "Good job with being a warrior Cindercloud." He muttered. He didn't sound at all pleased, instead he sounded disgruntled. Then he padded passed her into the warriors den. She noticed Creekpelt staring after him with fury in her eyes, and Falconstar was looking at them with a knowing look. Suddenly, she wanted to know what was going on between Patchfur, Creekpelt and Falconstar.

Morningsun padded beside Cindercloud, sniffing the late leaf fall air.
"I am so proud of you Cindercloud." She purred.
"I'm proud to have had such a great and supportive mentor." Cindercloud purred back. Morningsun's eyes lit up, and she noticed that her former mentor seemed to be hiding something. "What is it?" She asked.
"I didn't just come here to hunt with you, I.... have something to tell you." Morningsun murmured, shuffling her paws.
"Just spill it!" Cindercloud exclaimed.
"I'm pregnant with Heronwing's kits!" She exclaimed. Cindercloud widened her eyes.
"Oh congrats!" She purred, wounding around Morningsun and purring loud.
"I'm so happy! Heronwing is a great cat! And it will be fun to be in the nursery with Nightsong and her kits." Morningsun mewed.
"That will be. I'm sure you'll keep Woodkit and Mosskit entertained." Cindercloud purred.
"I'd hope so. I'm sure our kits will be good friends." Morningsun purred.
"I'm sure they will." Cindercloud assured. They walked in silence for a while before they came upon a border patrol. Heronwing was leading it with Briarthorn, Graystep and Heatherfall beside him.
"All clear on the ThunderClan border." Heronwing meowed. Morningsun walked to his side and looked at him with shining eyes.
"That's great! Heronwing.... I need to talk to you." Morningsun mewed nervously. Heronwing's eyes darkened nervously. "It's nothing bad...." Morningsun said. Heronwing nodded.
"Briarthorn, lead the patrol to the RiverClan border. Cindercloud, you can join." Heronwing ordered. Briarthorn nodded, and Cindercloud fell into step beside Heatherfall and Graystep. She noticed their pelts were brushing, and for a moment Cindercloud felt a pang of jealousy. She wanted that to be her and Talonpaw. But she knew Talonpaw was into Splashtail. Even though she was a young warrior, she still envied Morningsun and Splashtail. She wanted to feel wanted. Maybe it came from the fact that Patchfur never really seemed to have wanted her. She let out a long sigh as they walked across the moor in silence.
    The sound of the river filled Cindercloud's head and soothed her from head to tail. She. The patrol reached the river, she noticed a small patrol of RiverClan warriors padding over to them. Briarthorn walked forward to greet them. On the patrol was Foxclaw, the deputy, Reedleaf, Stonesplash, and Snakefang.
"Greetings." Briarthorn called, padding up to the river. Foxclaw waved his tail in a friendly greeting, his eyes shining with warmth.
"It's good to see WindClan out and about. How are things running for you?" Foxclaw asked.
"Good! The prey is a little scarce due to leaf bare being near, but other than that we've been good!" Briarthorn replied. Cindercloud tuned out the conversation and went to stand at the border with Snakefang.
"His Cinderpaw!" He purred.
"That's Cindercloud now!" She purred purred proudly.
"Oh congrats! Now you can sneak out of camp and not get into trouble!" He purred.
"Oh shut it!" Cindercloud hissed playfully. Snakefang's eyes became serious.
"Cindercloud? Has ThunderClan been on your border often causing trouble?" He asked.
"No. All has been quiet. Almost too quiet." She mewed.
"Same here. Though we don't share a border with them, so they don't give us much trouble." Snakefang pointed out. "But... I saw Firefoot from ShadowClan the other day and he told me that Thibderclan have been silent. It got him really worried. I'm afraid Mudstar is teasing us. Attacking and then giving time of peace to catch you off guard. I don't even know why he is always attacking. It doesn't make sense to me." He mewed, eyes worried.
    "He's a sociopath that's what." Cindercloud mewed bitterly. "He has no pattern to his attacks. He just does because he can, and he has brainwashed half of his warriors to believe what he does, or he has scared them. Either one." She meowed.
   "You are probably right. It just scares me... the destruction he could bring to the lake." Snakefang mewed. Cindercloud shuddered.
    "Let's hope he found some sense. Let's hope he leaves all of us alone so all the clans can live in peace." Cindercloud meowed. She was thinking of Ravenpaw and Maplepaw. If she were to be good friends with them, the clans would have to be at peace. The fact that she meeted up with a ThunderClan cat could get them both in huge trouble, especially with how bad Mudstar was behaving.
    "I think peace is what we all need right now...."