Where Do We Go From Here? }{ All ThunderClan cats

[Amber]

It was that time once again, a joyful time, time to be happy and to continue striving. All that needed to be done was to pull through the hard times, better moons had to be coming in the future sometime. StarClan had been silent, and that was never a good thing. What trials and tribulations would ThunderClan have to go through now? They had already suffered enough, losing half of their Clan the previous leafbare to greencough. They couldn’t afford to lose anyone else, not with so few kits and apprentices. These awful times would wear themselves down on the Clan; try to overwhelm the smallest Clan in the forest. But no, Ashstar would not allow that. The Clan needed to survive. The last warrior apprentice made was moons ago, when Patchpaw became an apprentice. It was time for fresh meat in the apprentices den, finally.

It was a sad sight to see, ThunderClan that is. There were the fewest amounts of kits in the nursery that Ashstar had ever seen. One would be made an apprentice today, the other two in the next moon. The nursery would soon be completely empty. That was not good for ThunderClan, they needed to continue on. Yes, it was nice to have two loners, apprentice age to join the Clan, but they were just that, apprentices. Would ThunderClan just have to allow kittypets and loners join the Clan? No, not even deep down would Ashstar want the entire Clan to be kittypets and loners. Yes they prove to be helpful, but if she allowed that, the dynamic of the Clan would change far too drastically. Nothing would be the same again. They didn’t have time to train any of the loners or kittypets into Clan life. They would have to start at the beginning, and there wasn’t time for them to waste.

Shaking her head, the young leader decided those were thoughts for another time. Spottedkit and Stonekit were still in the nursery, and they still had a moon before they would be apprentices. Releasing a deep breath, the leader made her way out of her den and climbed the Highrock. Taking a seat on the top, she winced for a moment. The thrush she had eaten the previous night was not in a happy mood, it seemed. The prey must have not settled well with her stomach, and the more she thought about it, the more it did taste a little stringier. She would just have to ignore the pain for now, she had things to do, a Clan to address. Speaking of addressing the Clan…

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting.” Ashstar began the meeting. Today was not meant to wallow in, right now there were two apprentices who needed their warrior name, a kit to become an apprentice, and a loner to welcome to the Clan.

[spike]

Great. Another day, another shot of misery down his spine. The burly lion-like tom lumbered around camp, thinking over patrols, training, apprentices, chores. It was all on his mind. Anything to distract him from the still lingering scent of them. Lilypaw and Rookpaw. The deputy paused, glancing down at his own paws with deep consideration. Perhaps he was overly bitter over this. Who knew. All he knew was that it had been putting him in an extremely bad attitude since they had walked into the camp. No, he wouldn’t have them ruin his life. Right?

So they were his kits. Big deal. Everybody had kits. Motherless kits. Kits from a loner.

Right?

No. Very wrong. Jaywhisker shook his big head, hoping he could find a better way to unwind this pent up tension. Until he heard Ashstar’s voice. The tom paused, glancing in the direction of Highrock, thinking of why she might be holding a meeting. Then it struck him that Ravenkit was to become an apprentice. He was old enough as it was already. Plus with the return of Mudpaw, it was about time that old apprentice got his warrior name! And not to mention a certain other. Jaywhisker puffed up some, a rooster in furry disguise, at the thought of Duskpaw being a warrior. He had trained an apprentice before. It didn’t escape him, the joy of being a successful teacher. But this definitely struck him because this was his first apprentice as deputy to be made into a proper warrior. Yes, this would do well to cheer him up. And he could ignore Lilypaw and Rookpaw this way as well.

The giant cat turned his hefty body for the rock, deciding to take his rightful place before her. It was odd, looking at Ashstar now and thinking back to when she was young, her father’s pride and joy. He wasn’t very old when she had become an apprentice, then a warrior. But it was great to think about it now, seeing her so proud as a leader. Shadestar would’ve been so proud in her. Though perhaps upbraided her for her gain in weight, a leader should’ve controlled gluttony. But that was a personal thought he hid well. Smoky gray tom sat down on his haunches, breathing in tightly at the reminder of his thoughts. He’d get to see apprentices become warriors today and see ThunderClan grow. This surely would light up his day.

What was that? Ashstar? The brown tom lifted his head from the nest, dull yellow eyes instantly growing bright with excitement. Would this be his opportunity? Finally, after all this time, he’d be- no, wait, best to not get the hopes up. Mudpaw glanced back into the medicine den then down at his healing paws. They were sore but they had finally scabbed over properly, he could make a small walk to go over and join his Clan together in a meeting. Definitely. And Sagepaw and Earthfoot couldn’t stop him. Well, they could, but he would definitely beg for this opportunity. He’d get to be back into the full swing of ThunderClan this way. Even if he was different, scarred up and looking like a mess of fur, he wanted to return to as normal as normal could get.

Mudpaw cautiously stood up, wincing at the ache his paws gave. He would’ve preferred to stay lying down, he had already done some walking around by aiding in cleaning up the dens a little. He didn’t’ want to be useless as it was. But the tom pushed through it, walking out at a slow hobble where others were surely following for Ashstar’s yowl. Yes, a meeting. Sitting before Highrock felt like it was where he belonged. Perfect. Mudpaw, back in action!

((Blame AP Bio, this was as much as I could do.))

[Kitty]

Ever since arriving in ThunderClan, Frostflower had kept mainly to the shadows, staying out of everyone's way and keeping to herself. She only talked to her kits, unless spoken to first. She didn't like the stares and mutterings triggered in the Clan cats at the sight of her white fur, so she was content to stay alone. Besides, after it just being her adoptive kits and herself for a the past few moons, and Frostflower on her own for many moons before that, being around so many cats at once was disconcerting.

A yowl drew her blue gaze from where she'd been sitting beside herself in a small corner of the camp. There was Ashstar, jumping up on what Frostflower was pretty sure the ThunderClan cats called the Highrock. The new leader was young, much less than half the white she-cat's age, and Frostflower had left RiverClan before she was out of the nursery. If she'd even been around then. Just because Ashstar had accepted her into the Clan somewhat willingly didn't mean that all cats did, and some of the older ones seemed to have faint recollections of her white pelt from moons before.

The fact that she had a warrior name kind of gave it away, too.

Nevertheless, Frostflower had heard murmurings around camp of a warrior ceremony and a couple apprentice ceremonies today. She wasn't sure if she was officially a member of the Clan yet, though, so she only crept a couple fox lengths nearer to the center of the clearing before sitting down by herself once again.

Being in a Clan again, especially one so different from RiverClan, was certainly strange.

[Yoko]

Rabbitheart slipped through the camp entrance. A squirrel dangling from his jaws was his silent excuse for being out. It wasn't as if the Clan needed it. Despite the weather growing chilly, the Clan was still small enough to barely see the prey decline. It ought to have made him happy that no one would go hungry this leaf-bare, but there was something unnatural about it too.

His ears perked at Ashstar's call. What? Is it time already?! He dropped the freshkill on the pile and dashed over into the nursery. Was Ravenkit even awake?

Rainstorm's head perked up when he saw Rabbitheart slip into camp. The father had been agitated by the fact that no one in camp had known where he was, but now he was sort of relieved. His son had been disappearing a lot lately and Rainstorm was ready to demand some answers, ceremony or not.

"Rabbit-" he started to call, but the golden tom was already sprinting off to the nursery.

He glared for a moment and shook his head. He spends far too much time with that kit. Then, something occurred to him. He counted back the moons since his mate had died...That would make Rabbitheart's brother six moons now...With a sudden rush of sorrow, Rainstorm turned and stalked to the edge of the gathering crowd, his earlier worries about Rabbitheart forgotten.

Ravenkit lay stretched out over his huge fluffy nest on his side of the nursery. The gloomy weather had cast a sort of sleepy haze over him. Not to mention that his last "outing" got him into quite a bit of trouble. Warriors were now keeping a close eye on the nursery, growing overprotective of ThunderClan's precious few kits and scorning their adventurous nature.

Reluctantly, the Ravenkit was stirred from slumber by the nudges and prodding of his older brother. "Whaaat?" the black and white kit yawned.

Suddenly, his sibling's tongue rasped over his forehead and he jolted up. He hated baths! "Rabbitheart knock it off!"

The warrior briskly groomed his sibling's fur, picked him up (which Ravenkit harshly protested) and plopped him outside of the nursery. Apparently Ravenkit, in his sleepy haze, had forgotten that he was now six moons old. Rabbitheart was excited to see how surprised the kit would be,

Patchpaw slipped out of the elder's den. She hadn't been on tick duty (Thank StarClan!) but had to fix up the nests because Ashstar kept getting complaints about them. She wasn't quite done, but it didn't matter, seeing as the elders were all stepping out for the ceremony as well.

The calico she-cat glanced around for familiar faces, one in particular, but instead her gaze landed on Frostflower. The apprentice was not quite sure of what to think of her. Like the other loners Ashstar let flock in, she figured if they caused no trouble then no harm was done. Looking away, the she-cat saw Mudpaw emerge from the Medicine Cat den. She shivered, he must have been through a lot. At least he was alive and despite her blaming him for Lilypaw and Rookpaw's arrival, she was glad her clanmate was okay.

[:c a i:]

[felt like trying out Roseclaw x3]

It came as no surprise to Roseclaw when Ashstar gave the call for a meeting. In her usual quietly sharp way, she had already noted that there were several administrative matters that needed to be handled, such as the little Ravenkit becoming an apprentice at last, or disaster-prone Mudpaw finally progressing to warriorhood, moons after his cohort had settled into their full duties. And then, of course, there was the glaringly obvious new addition to ThunderClan's ranks: Frostflower the not-quite-loner.

But where most of ThunderClan's older warriors had eyed the newcomer with barely-disguised distrust and muttered amongst themselves, Roseclaw's sole response had been to glance at her and wryly note the uncanny resemblance the older cat had to herself. Never one to judge, or at least to make her judgement explicit, Roseclaw had accepted that Ashstar trusted Frostflower enough to let her in, and after that she simply shrugged whenever anyone asked what she thought about the former loner - though really, it was former warrior's - arrival. She couldn't personally recall ever having met the white she-cat before, but it was easy enough to put two and two together. The she-cat had come to them with the name 'Frostflower', and Roseclaw's powers of deduction had led her to the conclusion that she had to have roots in one of the Clans.

Although she had also overheard one of the elders griping about RiverClan cast-offs, so that made it fairly easy to come to the right conclusion too.

But still. RiverClan-born or not, Roseclaw genuinely didn't believe she was out to make trouble. And that was enough for her to be able to treat her with equal respect as she did any of her clanmates. When she passed by Frostflower, she nodded briefly, which, for her, was really quite an open sign of tolerance, if not proffered friendship. She didn't stop, though, and went on steadily to sit near the front of the gathered Clan, sliding her green gaze up to inspect the Highrock, upon which Ashstar stood ready to speak.

Roseclaw chose a spot a short distance behind and slightly to the right of Ashstar's deputy, Jaywhisker, who was at his normal place just beside the Highrock, so she could easily see him but he probably wouldn't notice her. Roseclaw hid a smile to see him looking slightly puffed up with pride, knowing him well enough to pinpoint the general direction of his thoughts - namely the successful training of his apprentice. The old furball had been looking distinctly grim lately, so it was probably a good thing that he had a few positive ceremonies to give him a lift. Losing interest, Roseclaw stretched her back, yawning as she waited for Ashstar to start speaking. Looking around her, she decided, everyone could probably do with a bit of a lift.

[Amber]

His sister would be so proud of him, he just knew it. He had gone out of his way to actually make an effort in the Clan and had done it before taking a nap. Who would have ever thought that he would be excited as a kit to seek approval and praise from his sister, his younger sister at that. Lately he had been even more of a useless Clan member than normal. Frostwind had decided to take a new approach to life, or well he had promised his sister. And a promise with Ashstar was one he would never break. Any promise ever made to her had been kept, and he wasn't about to change that now.

Frostwind had been out patrolling the border, and as he made his way back into camp, he saw his sister was calling a Clan meeting. Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced to her and was that an actual smirk of happiness he detected? His sister was proud of him! The white tom grinned from ear to ear as his pawsteps soon became lighter and he made his way closer. Looking over to Rabbitheart and Ravenkit he couldn't help but laugh a little. The kit looked more confused than excited. Remembering his own apprentice ceremony, Frostwind looked back to Ashstar. She had been hurt, and that was the day he promised to never let her get hurt again. He hadn't expected his father to die, and though he knew it wasn't his fault, the guilt was still there.

Not letting his thoughts stray him, and letting him become too distracted, Frostwind looked up at his sister. Something was wrong, he knew it, and she wasn't letting anyone know. Glaring at her hard, he would have to pull the brother card on her soon.

Life was good, or so Lilypaw was currently thinking. She had her best friend back, after losing him for so long, and she had her mother with her. It had felt so good to just run and bury her face into her mother's fur, and now that she knew it wasn't a dream and that Frostflower really was there, words could not describe how happy she felt. The hole she always felt had been missing in her life was finally closed. She belonged here, with her brother, mother, and best friend.

Maybe today would be the day Ashstar would allow her mother to formally be in ThunderClan. Or maybe today would be the day Mudpaw received his warrior name. Maybe it could be both. Either would make her even more excited, if that was possible. Her thoughts shifted to Mudpaw and how he really did deserve to be a warrior today. He had been through so much. Speaking of Mudpaw...seeing him exit the medicine cat's den, she glared. What was he doing up? He needed to rest!

"Please don't tell me you are out here and not resting." Lilypaw said as she padded toward her friend. Concern was written all over her face. She knew he was excited to see a Clan meeting, but surely he was pushing himself too much. He was being so stubborn, and was reminding her of her brother. Looking down to her paws she shifted them nervously. "If you need help, I'm here." she added, a bit nervous about offering her help. She had been trying to help him since his return, and was afraid to leave his side again. Last time she had, he came back like this. "I mean, not that you need my help or anything, you are fully capable of doing it on your own. I just..." Lilypaw trailed off. She must be catching the Mudpaw stuttering disease.

As soon as most of the cats had gathered, and it seemed like everything was in place she glanced to the nursery. Although it would be losing one of the precious few kits, Ravenkit was on to bigger and better things. Ashstar knew Ravenkit would be a great apprentice, and eventual warrior, just like his brother. As she summoned Ravenkit with her tail, and the kit was carried by his brother she smirked. Rabbitheart would at now get a little peace, Ravenkit would soon be able to catch his own food.

Speaking the formal words to the Clan, she was glad to be having an apprentice ceremony, it had been too long. "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Ravenpaw. " She smiled down at the new apprentice and scanned the crowd, looking for the tom that would be his mentor. "Sootpelt, you are ready for another apprentice, and will be Ravenpaw's mentor. Sootpelt you are patient and loyal and I'm sure you will pass this on to Ravenpaw." Looking at the two cats she gave them time to become acquainted with eachother. One ceremony down, one and half to go.

[Yoko]

Rainstorm couldn't deny that he was a bit worried about this. First of all, he didn't think that there should be a whole ceremony for one kit...It could have been put off a moon and all three could have been apprenticed at once. Then there was the matter of mentors. Warriors didn't have time to waste training an arrogant brat like Ravenkit...And lastly there was mentor selection...He could only pray to StarClan that Ashstar didn't think that kin training kin was the way to go here....

He was relieved to see that she didn't choose himself or his son. Rabbitheart had better things to do then waste anymore time with that kit. But as he smiled and glanced at his son, he couldn't help but be stung by the obvious hurt on his face.

Ravenkit was just as stricken as his golden sibling. His tiny jaw dropped and he even shook a little looking up at Ashstar. He couldn't quite process what she had said, but he knew that it wasn't Rabbitheart's name. It surprised him that he had not considered it before...After all these moons of playing with his big brother, and play hunting, and play fighting, he had just gotten used to the idea that his sibling would train him.

"There's gotta be some mistake!" Ravenkit wailed.

"Ravenkit no," Rabbitheart whispered, a hint of desperation in his voice. He didn't want his kit-brother to get in trouble on the first day.

When Ravenkit turned to look at him, Rabbitheart almost choked. The black and white kitten looked about to cry. Rabbitheart just shook his head and gestured with his tail to Sootpelt. He was pretty sad too, but he was sure Ashstar had done the right thing. I can't teach him everything he needs to know...
His pain quickly turned to anger as he whipped his stormy blue eyes on his so called "mentor". He didn't know the warrior very well, but he knew right away that they weren't going to be friends. He snarled a little as he stomped over to Sootpelt. He licked the black and white warrior's shoulder so quick no one saw the pink of his tongue, and he didn't say a word to the tom either.

[Kitty]

Sootpelt had made his to the center of camp along with the rest of the Clan upon Ashstar's call. Ashstar had pulled him aside and talked to him about the coming ceremony already; he knew exactly what was going to happen. Still, it made him feel relatively important when she announced that he was to be Ravenkit--no, Ravenpaw's--mentor.

He wasn't sure how good he would be at mentoring such an angry, hot-headed apprentice like Ravenpaw, but Ashstar was right; he was relatively patient with younger cats, and he hoped that maybe he could help the tom be more obedient.

Of course, as soon as he approached the newly-made apprentice, Sootpelt saw that that might be easier said than done. The tom was clearly disappointed with Ashstar's choice in his mentor. He looked to be near-tears and then turned on Sootpelt with a fiery anger in his eyes. Ravenpaw stalked over to Sootpelt and licked his shoulder very quickly. Sootpelt stifled a sigh. Wrong ceremony, he thought. How do you get a ceremony wrong? He bent to touch noses with Ravenpaw, though the black tom was probably unhappy about that.

Ashstar certainly hadn't given him an apprentice that would be easy to train, that was for sure.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

From the door of the nursery Spottedkit watched as Ashstar called together a ThunderClan meeting. It was strange to hear that, though some things about ThunderClan were unbelievably different, the call that she used to gather her Clan mirrored Ravenstar's very closely.Cats sprung up from all around camp, answering the summons, until the space around the large boulder on which ThunderClan's leader sat was crowded with feline bodies. Apart from the meeting, Spottedkit made sure not to make any noise. He knew that he should be inside the nursery, but he wanted to see what was going on.

Actually, he already knew what was going on. He just wanted to witness it. Today would be the day that Ravenkit, the annoying occupant of half of the nursery, would earn his apprentice name. The day that Spottedkit would become a ThunderClan apprentice was still a moon away, but he didn't begrudge the black tom his earlier start. It would be nice to have the spoiled brat living in a separate den for a while, he thought.

The spotted kit watched with interest as Ashstar called his former denmate forward, assigned him to one of the unfamiliar warriors who filled ThunderClan's scanty ranks. Spottedkit still wasn't very familiar with the tom called Sootpelt, although he did know him by sight and smell. But he was still shocked at Ravenkit's outburst upon hearing the name of his new mentor. The older kit wailed outright, sounding very much like a kit and not a whole lot like an apprentice. A hurried discussion between Ravenkit and his older brother Rabbitheart followed, ending with the kit's grudging acceptance of his mentor — a hasty lick to the shoulder.

Spottedkit was so amused that he couldn't hold it in any longer. He laughed out loud, hard, and didn't stop for several long moments, during which time he came close to falling over. All the adults were probably giving him dirty looks now — he knew Ravenkit would be, but he didn't care. How was this kit becoming an apprentice?

[Amber]

She figured that her decision would not be too well liked by the young kit, he had become attached to his brother and knew he would be upset. But he took it too far. If he didn't show respect for his mentor soon, she would intervene. Ravenpaw would not receive Rabbitheart as a mentor, he needed to be with someone else. She was glad Rabbitheart had a few words with his brother but the newly named apprentice was being far too disrespectful. Glaring at Rabbitheart, she hoped that he could straighten him out.

Ashstar took a deep breath and once again searched out the cat she was looking for. It was time Frostflower became a part of the Clan, the she-cat had earned her trust. Knowing some members of the Clan didn't like her decision, she figured they would get over it eventually. Besides, what were they suppose to do with their dwindling numbers?

"Frostflower, is it your wish to join ThunderClan?" Ashstar began her speech to the white she-cat. After waiting for a response she looked to see Lilypaw, eyes were full of happiness.

"There is not a ceremony for Frostflower to join the Clan, but I ask that StarClan accept her as ThunderClan's newest member. And that the cats of ThunderClan accept her also. She is now a full warrior of ThunderClan, and shall be treated as such." Ashstar said, eyes glaring at any cat thinking of denying this she-cat into the Clan.

The final ceremony of the night was for two certain apprentices who deserved their warrior name. They had worked very hard for it. "I now ask that Duskpaw and Mudpaw step forward."