Smallpaw's Life in a Kind World

[Ki]

I got bored, and I wanted to show what Smallpaw's life would be like if his father had never died. As a result, his mother took care of herself during her pregnancy. Crowkit wasn't born blind, Snowkit was alive when she was born, and all kits were strong and healthy. As a result Smallpaw was not born incredibly small, and was given the name 'Dappledkit' when he was born.

Yeah...not checked for grammar/spelling mistakes, so be warned.

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"Dapplepaw! Dappledpaw, wake up!"

As per usual, Dappledpaw was awakened by his sister, Snowpaw. The morning ritual stated that she would try three times to 'nicely' wake him up. When that didn't work, she head-butted him. This morning she'd awakened him via head-butt. So there was a soreness on his side. Dappledpaw opened one green eye and groaned, "I'm up, I'm up."

"You'd better be!" Snowpaw sniffed. She began to lick the gray-white fur on her chest. "Today is our warrior ceremony, remember?" Her amber eyes flashed briefly. Snowpaw was extremely excited. So excited that she could hardly keep from running out of the apprentices' den and yowling with delight. Of course, she'd never show it. Snowpaw was simply too 'grown up' to show silly little emotions like that!

Dappledpaw, on the other hand, wasn't. He jumped to his paws. Yes! How could he have forgotten? Every part of his body tingled with excitement. Dappledpaw jumped playfully at his sister, who hissed and dodged. "Why're you already grooming yourself, Snowpaw? Our ceremony isn't until dusk!" His sister's only response was a roll of the eyes. She padded outside, stretching in the newleaf morning sun. Dappledpaw bounded after her. He wasn't even two kitsteps away from the den, however, when someone kncoked him over. Dappledpaw hissed and swatted at whoever it was, but then relaxed when he heard familiar laughter.

"Good morning, Crowpaw!" Dappledpaw mewed. Chuckling lightly, he pushed his brother off of him and rose to his paws. "Excited?"

Crowpaw nodded eagerly. The two apprentices looked alike for the most part. The only difference was that the black splotches on Crowpaw's pelt were much more prominent,making his pelt look almost entirely black. He batted playfully at Dappledpaw. "I heard Paleface talking to Lionstripe the other day. Lionstripe said that he was thinking about making Lilypaw a warrior soon as well. You seem to have 'straightened her out!'" Crowpaw hopped from left to right. It wasn't excitement that made him so jumpy. Crowpaw never could sit still.

"There you are!" Dappledpaw's mentor, Ravenfeather, hurried over. She nudged her apprentice kindly. "Feel up to one more patrol with your mentor? Paleface, Lionstripe, and Cinderclaw, and their apprentices are coming too!"

"Of course he does!" Crowpaw mewed swiftly. "We'll come find you soon."

Giggling, Ravenfeather dipped her head to them and padded off to go talk to a few other warriors.

Dappledpaw shook his head and smiled wearily. "I'm going to go visit Creamfoot before we head out." With that the apprentice padded up towards the elders' den. Dappledpaw hadn't really known much about Creamfoot until he was seven moons old. Until then she was just any other batty old elder that hobbled through camp and complained about her joints. But he'd gotten in trouble when he turned seven moons for running off without telling Ravenfeather. As a result, he was sentenced to tend to the elders. He'd expected the task to be dull and unspeakably degrading. But one of the elders, Creamfoot, made it almost fun. She was very witty, as well as full of interesting stories. They'd been best friends ever since.

Creamfoot was stretched out in front of the elders' den, her front paws crossed over each other daintily. Her eyes lit up when Dappledpaw approached. "Ah! There's my favorite apprentice! Or...should I say...warrior?"

"Not yet." Dappledpaw mewed. He nudged Creamfoot and sat down beside her. "Not until later today."

Creamfoot smiled and shook her head slowly. She was the oldest cat in all of SkyClan. All of her movements were slow. "Where have the moons gone? I remember when Finchwing kitted you! I also remember when you were forced to take care of boring ol' me!" Both of them chuckled. That had been some moons ago. Now Dappledpaw was old enough to be a warrior. And not a moment too soon! "You'll make a fine warrior, Dappledpaw."

Dappledpaw beamed. "Thanks, Creamfoot. That means a lot coming from you."

"Dappledpaw! Hurry up, or we're leaving you!" Snowpaw yowled from down below.

The black-and-white apprentice winced. "I guess I better get going. I'll see you soon, Creamfoot!" Nodding to the elder, he hurried down to join the patrol. Both his siblings and their mentors were there, along with Lilypaw. Dappledpaw purred and nudged her. "Good morning!"

"Good morning!" she mewed in response. Lilypaw had, at one point, been 'together' with Hailwhisker. But he'd dumped her, leaving her distraught and angry. Dappledpaw had had a crush on her for quite some time, and tried to cheer her up by giving her a flower. Well, she'd only yelled at him. A few moons later, however, she confessed that she really did like him. The two had been inseparable ever since. She nuzzled into his neck, her tail swishing.

Dappledpaw rasped his tongue over her ear affectionately. "Good morning to you, too!"

"Alright, you two, cut it out before I puke." Crowpaw said, making a face.

Dappledpaw and Lilypaw both glared at him, while their mentors simply laughed. With that the group headed out.

xxxx

"I can't believe you won't be sleeping in the same den as me anymore!" Lilypaw mewed. Dappledpaw, Snowpaw, and Crowpaw were sharing tongues in the apprentices' den with Lilypaw. And while all three siblings were present, it was obvious she was only talking to one of them. Lilypaw didn't care much for Crowpaw and Snowpaw, but she tolerated them for Dappledpaw's sake. "I'm going to miss you."

Dappledpaw was grooming Lilypaw. One of his front paws was resting over hers, the newest flower that he gotten her pinned under her paw. The one he'd given her all those moons ago had long since wilted. So he got her a new one every time one of them died. "Don't worry," he mewed, "I'm pretty sure you won't be here for much longers anyways."

A shadow suddenly passed through the den, and all of the apprentices looked to the den entrance. Spottedsky was standing there, her amber eyes sparkling. "Come on, you three. It's time."

All of the apprentices followed her out eagerly. Adderstar jumped on to the Rockpile and yowled the familiar words that marked the beginning of a meeting. All of the cats hurried over. The apprentices quickly found their mentors. Each of their mentors touched noses with them and wished them luck. Then Adderstar motioned for the apprentices to join him on the Rockpile. Their mother and father were staring up at them proudly, their newest litter of kits seated close to them. Their aunt Spottedsky was watching close by with Creamfoot. Lilypaw was right near the front of the Clan, her eyes on Dappledpaw. He would have smiled at her, but he was simply too nervous to.

"I, Adderstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices." their leader mewed, his eyes upturned towards the sky. "They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He directed his gaze to the three apprentices, who drew in a collective breath. Snowpaw, Crowpaw, and Dappledpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

The three responded in unison, "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names." Adderstar said. Each of the apprentices tensed. He looked to Snowpaw first. "Snowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Snowclaw. StarClan honours your intelligence and your patience, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan." He rested his muzzle on her head, and Snowclaw licked his shoulder in return.

"Snowclaw! Snowclaw! Snowclaw!" the Clan chanted. Snowclaw beamed and smiled at the cats below.

Adderstar looked at Crowpaw. "Crowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Crowstep. StarClan honors your compassion and energy." There were a few chuckles at his words. Crowstep was always running this way and that. He never got tired. Their leader rested his muzzle on Crowstep's head. Crowstep licked his shoulder eagerly.

"Crowstep! Crowstep! Crowstep!"

Dappledpaw would have joined in, as he had done when Snowclaw had been given her name, but his chest tightened with nervousness. Adderstar looked to him. "Dappledpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dappledheart. StarClan honors your loyalty and kindness." Adderstar set his muzzle on top of the last apprentice's head, and Dappledheart licked his shoulder.

"Dappledheart! Dappledheart! Dappledheart!" Dappledheart looked to his siblings. Snowclaw and Crowstep were both chanting his new name. The new warriors descended from the Rockpile to be greeted by their Clanmates.

Lilypaw nuzzled against the newly named Dappledheart the second he was down. "Dappledheart. It suits you!"

The new warriors were showered in loving licks by their mother, as well as excited jumping baby brothers and sisters. Their father wouldn't stop singing their praises. Spottedsky was just as bad as their mother, and Creamfoot was even worse. Dappledheart stood there, Lilypaw and his littermates at his side. This was all he wanted. To be a warrior and have his family and she she-cat he loved at his side. Dappledpaw looked to the setting sun and thanked StarClan for everything they'd given him.