Silvershade and the Newcomer
-This story takes place about 6 moons after the formation of DesertClan-
"A newcomer?"
"Where is she? I can't see her!"
"Nobody has joined in a few moons!"
"Everyone calm down. She isn't here yet, Flamerock has just run ahead of the patrol to bring us the news."
Silvershade was happy that her leader, Moonstar, had quieted the clan. The clamor was starting to get annoying. They were right to be excited though, it was true that no cat had joined in a few moons. What was this mystery cat doing by herself? The last cats to join were siblings, Flamerock and Earthstrike.
She sat, watching the commotion and licked her paw. Goldenblaze walked up to her, "You don't seem as excited as the rest of the clan."
"I could say the same about you."
"Yeah, excitement isn't my thing. I wonder who this cat is?"
"Guess we will find out soon."
Silvershade continued her washing after Goldenblaze padded off. Hopefully whoever it is knows how to hunt and fight, so they don't have to be trained.
The noise from the excited cats grew louder. Intrigued, Silvershade walked over to the crowd just in time to see the pelts of Earthstrike and Flowerfern come over the rise.
Following them was a tall black cat. The newcomer was clearly confident, with her tail and head held high.
Hopefully she's not too proud or obnoxious. The clan doesn't need that. Silvershade knew the approaching cats would arrive soon, so she stayed where she was to wait.
The clan parted from the entrance as Flowerfern declared, "Move everyone! Let us through. You are going to scare our newest clan cat!"
The group came to a stop in the middle of the clan. Cats clustered around them only to be warded of by Flowerfern's amber glare.
Moonstar jumped to the top of the meeting tree, and called the clan together. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the highledge for a clan meeting. We have a cat who would like to join the clan."
Goldenblaze was beside her again. She whispered, "The clan is all here already and all of us can catch our own prey. What's the point?"
Stifling a giggle, Silvershade whispered back, "Pay attention. I want to see what this cat is like."
Moonstar's white pelt gleamed in the sunlight as she stared down at the black she-cat. "What is your name?"
"I am Raven, what is your name? I can tell you are the leader here."
"My name is Moonstar, and you are correct, I am leader of DesertClan. You wanted to join?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a reason? We only want dedicated cats here."
"I want security and I am tired of being alone. I can hunt pretty well so I think I can help you too."
Moonstar thought for a moment. "That's as good a reason as most of the cats here gave. I'll assess your hunting and fighting skills but for now you will have an apprentice name."
Raven looked confused, "Apprentice?"
Silvershade was confused too, this cat was at least a year old, likely same as herself. She was a bit old to be an apprentice.
Moonstar replied, "A warrior in training. It likely won't be for long, if you are as good a hunter as you say you are."
"I suppose that's fair. What's my name going to be then?"
"Raven, you have passed 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 Ravenpaw. I will be your mentor. I hope to pass down all I know and make you a fine warrior."
As customary, the clan began to cheer Ravenpaw's name. "Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw!"
Moonstar jumped down from the branches of the meeting tree, landing gracefully next to Ravenpaw. "You can get acquainted with the clan today. I'll start training and assessing you tomorrow."
Moonstar walked off towards her den and the clan swarmed towards Ravenpaw, who seemed delighted by the attention. Silvershade sat and listened to everyone question her.
"What is your favorite prey?"
"Umm... hares?"
"Why did you want to join?"
"I already answered that one I think."
"Why were you out alone?"
Silvershade perked her ears. Why was she alone?
"I was a kittypet and then I got kicked out. I wandered around for a while but I wanted to be around other cats. Saw you guys and thought that sounded cool."
A kittypet? She doesn't sounds like a kittypet. Silvershade wanted to ask her more but she was surrounded. Guess I'll wait then.
A few hours later the crowd had thinned and Silvershade approached Ravenpaw, who was lying in the shade and enjoying some prey. "So you used to be a kittypet?"
Ravenpaw looked up from the squirrel she was eating, "Oh yeah, why?"
"You don't seem stuck up or scared like the other former kittypets were when they first joined."
Ravenpaw beckoned with her tail, "Come share this squirrel, it's pretty big and you seem nice."
Silvershade sat down next to her. She seems nice too.
"You didn't seem as excited as all the other cats about my arrival."
"Yeah. I don't know. The last cats to join are great but we have some annoying clanmates."
"Do you consider Flowerfern annoying? She seemed pretty bossy," Ravenpaw said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah! She's so annoying!" Silvershade laughed. "So you have to train tomorrow?"
"I guess so. I can already hunt. And fight kinda. How much to you guys have to fight?"
"Oh not much. The only real threat to us here is the occasional raccoon. The bears and mountain lions couldn't care less about us."
The squirrel was gone by now and the sun was almost set. Silvershade thought about sleep.
"Oh! Have you been shown the apprentice den yet? It's been empty for a little while. That's where you will be sleeping until you are a warrior."
Ravenpaw replied, "No I haven't been yet. Will you show me where it is?"
"Of course!" Silvershade and Ravenpaw padded across the camp in the growing darkness to an overhang surrounded by bushes. "There should have some old nests in there."
"Thanks. See you in the morning then."
"Remember to wake up early for training with Moonstar."
"I'll try to! Being punctual was never my thing."
Both cats laughed before Silvershade padded off to the warriors den. I think this new cat and I will get along just fine.
Author's Note
I hope you like the first story in this book! You'll be seeing a lot more of Silvershade and Ravenpaw, or Ravenwing!
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