The half-moon glowed in in the dark sky as Hazelcloud peeked her head out of the warriors den. Her blue eyes glowed as they detected movement by the entrance and saw Cloudpool on guard. Hazelcloud skirted along the edges of the clearing, her pelt making her clearly visible. She stopped at the apprentices den, knowing there was a secret tunnel in the back carved out by the stream. She picked her way among the sleeping apprentices, Jetpaw stirring as she stepped on a stray dead leaf. She froze as he murmured something in his sleep, then rolled over deeper into his nest. She let out her breath and made her way to the back of the den, gentle snores echoing in her ears that were pricked for any pawsteps or sudden movements. She had to go meet Tux, no matter how strangely the Clan was looking at her!
She pushed out of the tunnel, it scraping her pelt; she had barely just fit in some spots. She looked once more over her shoulder at her home that she was betraying, and plunged into the bracken towards Clearwater Spring, a new found piece of interest in LightningClan territory. Clouds drifted across the sky, blocking out the moons rays and casting a dark blanket of darkness over the sleeping forest as Hazelcloud came to Clearwater Spring. She shivered, hunching her shoulders as a chilling wind whistled through the leaves in the trees above her head. She saw the spring ahead of her, a thin haze hanging above the water, showing leaf-fall was on its way as the nights got colder. Hazelcloud trotted silently to the edge and settle herself on a flat mossy rock and starred up at the stars. They twinkled in the skies of Silverpelt, the sky a beautiful navy blue.
Hazelcloud sighed and looked at the mist above the spring.She longed to be loyal to her Clan, but also to her heart, and she didn't know how she could do both!
"StarClan....give me an answer....what do I do?" she whispered. She looked up at the sky again, at Silverpelt and her ancestors, and saw a single star fall, leaving a tail, a sign it had been there a moment before it blazed onward in the sky. Hazelcloud gasped softly as it disappeared......what could it mean....had StarClan sent a sign.....the answer she had just asked for? She shook her head to clear it and whipped around as she heard the soft pawsteps on the dry leaves. She flattened her ears and unsheathed her claws, scanning the darkness until they picked up bright yellow eyes starring at her, shadowed with amusement. She relaxed, her fur lying flat.
"Tux..." she breathed as he padded up to her. "You came...." She put her cheek to to his and rubbed against him, her body vibrating with her purr. He pulled back and Hazelcloud looked up, confused. He studied her and then glanced at her, then looked at into the distance.
"I can't believe you came...." his voice trailed off, as if he couldn't believe she was there in front of him. She twitched her whiskers and leaned against his broad shoulders, looking up at StarClan
with the handsome loner. Why did he make her feel this way......? Just enjoy the moment, you mousebrain!!! she chided herself, and focused on their breathing.......making it as one. She twined her gray fluffy tail with his, purring, feeling as if she could stay like that forever....by the cat she loved with all her heart.
~♥~
Hazelcloud had woken up at Clearwater Spring at dawn, Tux sleeping next to her, curled into a ball. She had woken him up, hastily explained that she had to go, and started back to camp. She caught a mouse and a fluffy squirrel to say she had been out early hunting for the Clan. As she neared the camp, she heard Tornadostar's familiar yowl to announe a Clan meeting. Hazelcloud bounded down the slope and pushed her way through the gorse tunnel, dropping her catch on the fresh kill pile that had a mouse and a squirrel. Stargaze should send out more hunting patrols, noticed Hazelcloud as she settled herself down to Swiftwing and Leopardshadow. She noticed the rouges that had been staying in their camp, Abyss, Ratchet, and Sun.
Hazelcloud saw Sun glance a at Ratchet, who was twining his tail with Abyss fluffy gray and white one. He didn't seem to notice Sun's sad amber gaze. Tornadostar's mewing brought her attention back to the Overhang Rock and her leader.
"....from this moment until you are warriors, you shall be known as Shortpaw, Wildpaw, Lilypaw, and Sunpaw." Tornadostar was mewing as Hazelcloud twitched her ears towards her leader. The kits stood by Tornadostar, their pelts gleaming from Woddfur's thorough grooming. The dark brown queen looked ready to burst with pride. Tornadostar beckoned the new apprentices forward.
"Windrunner, though you are a young warrior, it is time you had an apprentice. Shortpaw will be you apprentice," Tornadostar said, looking down at the black and white tom. He nodded and touched noses with Shortpaw.
"Cloudpool, you are ready for an apprentice. Your apprentice will be Lilypaw," continued Tornadostar as the newly named apprentice and mentor touched noses. Wildpaw and Sunpaw looked up at the jet black she-cat eagerly as she turned back to them.
"Dazzleshine, you are ready for an apprentice. Your apprentice will be Sunpaw." The cream colored she-cat blue-eyes lit up with astonishment and excitement at a chance to prove her loyalty to LightningClan. She and the golde apprentice touched noses and went to sit next to the other new mentors and apprentices, Wildpaw looked utterly let down that she was the last mentorless apprentice, but Tornadosky beckoned her with her tail. Wildpaw's amber eyes lit up and she bounced forward eagerly as her littermates and Shortpaw cheered her on.
"Moonleaf, you are without an apprentice. Wildpaw will be your apprentice," meowed Tornadostar as the apprentice was already bundling forward to greet her mentor. Hazelcloud purred in amusement and cheered along with her Clan. New apprentices meant more warriors and that was good. Tornadostar declared the meeting to an end and leaped down from Overhang Rock, the Clan still yowling the new apprentices' names.
~♥~
