Chapter Text
Whitepaw opened her eyes crankily as Dad prodded her with his paw. She opened her eyes and hissed
"What do you want? I was sleeping!" He glared at her and said
"Quiet. I don't want to wake anyone up." Whitepaw glanced over the edge of the den and saw Snowpaw's white pelt. Her crippled paw was stuck out like she didn't care if anyone saw it. It was honestly really embarrassing how she would flaunt it around like it wasn't useless. Whitepaw hated the fact that they were even sisters. Whitepaw sighed and got up, Dad probably had a reason for waking her up so early and she didn't want him to get mad at her. He turned and left the den and she followed him with a heavy sigh. She had to step over Sunpaw on her way out, and she slightly kicked him. His head jolted up and his claws extended, she hissed
"Go back to sleep mouse-brain." He shook his head slightly and said
"Where are you going? Do you want me to come with? I can probably help with whatever it-" Whitepaw hissed again and said
"No! Just go back to sleep" She whirled around and exited the den, rolling his eyes at how annoying he was. At least he and his brother stuck by her, they were dumb, but they were loyal. And probably had a crush on her, but they weren't clanborn so could never be good enough for her. That's what Dad said when they came to the clan, that they weren't as good as Clanborn cats and could never be. As Whitepaw left the den she whined
"Why did you wake me up so early?" Dad glared at her and said
"I have my reasons. Besides, it shouldn't matter to you. I am your father and your leader and you are not supposed to question me, understand?" Whitepaw shrunk under his glare and said
"Yes, Father. Sorry" He sighed and said
"It's alright, my little perfection." Whitepaw smiled, she loved it when he called her that. She was perfect. He then said
"I'm doing your warrior assessment today." Whitepaw's eyes lit up as she spoke excitedly
"We are? I'm gonna be a warrior! And then I'll be leader!" He smiled and nodded. He turned to walk out of camp and Whitepaw followed him, holding her head high. She was going to be a warrior! What would her name be? It had to be something cool, she wouldn't settle for something basic like “Pelt” or “Fur” or “tail”. Even though she shouldn't have the name for long, she still wanted it to be cool.
Whitepaw's excitement over the assessment soon faded. They had been walking through the forest forever! She kept seeing bugs crawling on her! It was too cold, and wet, and awful! This was awful! She whined
"Ugh! We've been out here for forever, my fur is all dirty, I keep getting leaves stuck in it, and it's cold! Can we go back to camp yet?" Dad turned to her and she flinched at his glare. After a moment he said
"Not yet. Wait here, I'll be back in a moment." He walked away and Whitepaw huffed and sat. What was he doing?! Why was he just leaving her alone in the icky forest? How dare he! She sighed. Why couldn't she just be back in camp? Where the only annoying thing was stupid Snowpaw and her stupid friends. Snowpaw was always so hostile! She always glared at her! And she attacked her for absolutely no reason that one time! And it was right in front of all of Whitepaw's friends too! Was Snowpaw trying to embarrass her? Snowpaw was already embarrassing enough with her crippled paw. She was useless! That's what Father always said! When he did talk about her. He tended not to.
Ugh! Why couldn't he just hurry up? It was cold! Her head perked up when she heard noises. The Father came into the tiny clearing with a huge squirrel and a bird. He set them in front of Whitepaw and said
"You caught these, if any cat asks." Whitepaw smirked. Of course. He wasn’t actually going to make her hunt. She was too good for that. She was going to be a warrior! She opened her mouth and said
“Oh good! I can't wait to be a warrior! What will my name be?" She looked at him intently, but his face was blank. Dear Starclan, How dumb was he?! He opened his mouth and suggested a few dumb names.
"Um, Whitepelt? White…uh..fur? Whitefoot?" Seriously? No. Those were awful! Whitepaw narrowed her eyes and said
"Ew, no. Those are all super basic. I want something cool! Something unique!" His face went blank again.
"White…. Flower? White… Leaf?" Whitepaw rolled her eyes. She needed to save her name. Blaze was the first cool suffix that popped into her mind she said,
"Ugh! Those suck. How about… Whiteblaze?" Finally, he looked like he agreed so Whitepaw continued
"I'll only be Whiteblaze for a little bit. I'll be Whitestar soon enough! Then I won’t have to hunt, some other cat will do that for me!” He nodded and confidence flooded through Whitepaw. All she needed was for Dad to give her an apprentice and then make her deputy! He should give her one of Amberfern's kits. Pigeonkit didn't seem like too much trouble, and she could push his training onto Brownbriar or Birchtail. Those two would do anything for her. A small, high whistling sound penetrated Whitepaw's brain, but she ignored it. But when Father's ears perked up and he grew worried, Whitepaw listened again. The whistling was gone but she could hear something else. Heavy paw steps, too heavy for a cat. Father opened his mouth and began to say
"Ru-" but 3 foxes barged into the clearing. Terror shot through Whitepaw and she screamed. Father turned towards the foxes but she turned and ran, almost into a tree. She noticed a small empty space under the roots and ducked onto it. She looked out, Father was facing the three foxes. She shut her eyes tight and looked away as one of them leapt at him, she couldn't watch. When she looked back, Father's leg was bleeding heavily, a sight that made Whitepaw queasy, and a fox was going for his neck. Suddenly, a fox threw its paw at his neck and he collapsed. A sob of fear came over her and she tried to swallow it. But she must have been too loud. One of the foxes' heads whipped towards her with a hungry look in its eyes. Whitepaw tried to back away but ran into the back of the small enclosed space. She was trapped. Terror rushed through her, was she going to die? Then, a small, high-pitched, whistle made its way into Whitepaw's ears. The foxes' heads jolted up, and they ran away. As soon as they were out of sight, Whitepaw rushed out to her father. She looked him over. His eyes were open but empty. Was that blood? Oh, dear Starclan, it was. A sob came over Whitepaw. Was he dead? Was her father, her only parent, dead? As this possibly sunk in, he suddenly took in a huge gasp of air. Whitepaw nearly collapsed with relief as he stood. His leg was still bleeding, but he wasn't dead. He looked towards Whitepaw, it took her a second to recognize the anger in his eyes. Then he yelled
"What was that?! Hiding away like a mouse-heart?" Whitepaw stepped back, cowering. Why was he so angry? He told her to run, right? He seemed to get bigger as he yelled
"I thought I raised you better than that! I raised you to be a brave warrior! Not the weak coward that you so clearly are!" Whitepaw's thoughts collapsed into themselves. Did he really think that? Snowpaw had said the same things, but she was well, Snowpaw. She was just the jealous weakling, right? But Father was always right, that's what he always said. So was he right about this? He had always said that weaklings were useless, so was she useless? Useless? Was she really worth anything? Did she matter at all? Wasn't she supposed to be perfect? What did it mean if she wasn't perfect? Could she be… imperfect? She felt tears brimming in her eyes but Father glared at her and said
"Stop that. I can't have the clan thinking both my daughters are weaklings." Whitepaw blinked away the tears and Father sighed. His sudden anger seemed to turn to disappointment and exhaustion all at once. He said
"Let's get back to camp. As far as the clan gets to know, you fought off those foxes bravely." Whitepaw nodded and put a fake smile on her face, but fear of the foxes and self-doubt hid underneath her features. As they walked, she kept looking at the forest, scared of what hid in those trees. What if the foxes came back? They walked back to camp, as they came to the entrance, Whitepaw quickly fixed her face into an expression she thought that a cat that had just defeated foxes would have. Before they walked in, Ashstar looked at her and said
"Don't be a disappointment." Whitepaw flinched and then they walked in. Immediately, attention turned to them. Whitepaw's smile grew as eyes turned to her, and she soaked up the attention. Her eyes caught on Snowpaw and Stormcloud, and their friend Flowerpaw rushed towards Whitepaw and Father. Whitepaw glared at Snowpaw with a smile as Flowerpaw spoke. She and Stormcloud were standing close together. Very close. Whitepaw looked away as Father spoke
"Whitepaw and I were attacked by foxes while we were hunting. I was wounded, as you can see, but we fought bravely and were able to chase off the foxes." Whitepaw smiled more and nodded, Father was lying. Made sense, the clan didn't need to know about that incident. He was walking towards the highrock when Iceleaf stepped in front of him. Whitepaw's smile weakened slightly. Iceleaf was the only cat Whitepaw had ever seen Ashstar back down to.
"Ashstar, you are injured and need treatment. You and Whitepaw need to come to my den so I can treat your wounds." Whitepaw looked to Father, he sighed and turned towards the medicine den. Whitepaw huffed and followed them. They walked into the med den and Whitepaw grew even more tense. The den felt so small, and she was hardly ever in here. Plus that annoyance that was Flowerpaw was in here and she kept shooting Whitepaw slightly dirty looks. Flowerpaw suddenly started talking
"Alright! Do either of you-" Iceleaf moved something and Whitepaw jumped, the sound scaring her. Eyes turned to her and she shrunk slightly under them. Flowerpaw said
"Alright. So, some poppy seeds for nerves." Iceleaf smiled and said
"Go ahead and grab those for Whitepaw. I'll look over Ashstar for any more injuries. Make sure she doesn't have any as well." Flowerpaw nodded and looked back to Whitepaw. She stepped forward and asked
"Did you get injured in the battle?" Whitepaw shook her head, still embarrassed from her reaction earlier. She looked to the ground as Flowerpaw looked her over. Then Flowerpaw stepped back and walked towards the shelf with herbs on it. She grabbed some black seeds and glanced at a stack of leaves before shaking her head and turning to Whitepaw and saying
"So, It doesn't look like you have any injuries, but you're frazzled so here's some poppy seeds to help you sleep. Take a nap." Whitepaw nodded slightly and Flowerpaw put the seeds on the ground for her to eat. While she was eating the seeds, Flowerpaw walked to the exit of then, she stuck her head out, seemed to see something, then ducked back inside, looking slightly sad. Flowerpaw noticed Whitepaw looking at her and faked perking up as she said
“Alright then! You can go ahead and go to the apprentice den. As the medicine cat, I order you to take a good long nap! Calm down from that fight.” Whitepaw rolled her eyes but nodded. Even though Flowerpaw was one of the most annoying cats she knew, she was still a medicine cat and Father always said she should listen to them about herbs and stuff. Plus, she was getting tired. Whitepaw pushed past Flowerpaw and out into the main camp area. Then she noticed Snowpaw and Stromcloud sitting together near the fresh-kill pile, they looked happy. Whitepaw glared at them, how dare Snowpaw be happy! Father was hurt and she was happy! Snowpaw was the cripple! She wasn’t supposed to be happy! Whitepaw looked away and walked into the apprentice den. She curled up in her nest near the center of the den and closed her eyes. As she started to slip into sleep, she heard a voice in the clearing say
“Aww, you two are so cute!" Whitepaw recognized it as Snowpaw’s mentor and Stormcloud's mother, Brightspot. Who was she talking to? Oh. She was talking to Snowpaw and Stromcloud. So they were a couple. Envy rushed through Whitepaw, how had Snowpaw gotten a tom before her!? Whitepaw slipped into sleep as she imagined what Father would say about that.
Whitepaw woke up hours later. When she looked up at the sky, it seemed to be a few hours after high sun. As she exited the den, she saw Snowpaw and her stupid friends talking and laughing. Whitepaw looked over to her group, who were sitting on the other side of camp. Brownbriar saw her first and motioned for her to come over and sit with them. Whitepaw smiled and made her way over. She glanced back at Snowpaw, who was sitting super close to Stormcloud, and envy rushed through her again. She looked back to her group. Not Sunpaw or Stickpaw. Her eyes left to Birchtail. Perfect, he was Stormcloud and Flowerpaw's brother, that would annoy them, he was also willing to do anything Whitepaw said. She walked around Brownbriar and sat right next to Birchtail and leaned into him. She looked back at Snowpaw with a glare. Whitepaw looked back to her friends and said
"Ugh, look at Snowpaw. I can't believe she can just stand out in the middle of camp with that crippled paw. It's embarrassing, am I right?" They all nodded and Brownbriar looked back at Snowpaw. Except for Skypaw and Purepaw. Whitepaw's eyes narrowed at them and she said
"Purepaw? Don't you agree with me?" Purepaw glanced away and started to say
"Um, sure, but-" Whitepaw smiled, of course she agreed with her! Whitepaw said
"Just as I thought! Plus Snowpaw's so rude! She's been glaring at me all day! As if I'm the one who did something wrong." Brownbriar immediately spoke up
"Yeah, I bet she's just jealous of you. Some cats don't know how to deal with others that are so much better than them." Whitepaw nodded some more. Brownbriar was right. Whitepaw was so much better than Snowpaw! She was going to be an amazing warrior! And an amazing leader! Suddenly Stickpaw spoke up.
"I think she had her warrior assessment this morning." Whitepaw bolted up. No. No way! Snowpaw was going to be a warrior at the same time as Whitepaw? She glared at Stickpaw
"Are you sure?" He nodded frantically and said
"Yeah, I heard her wake up and talk to Brightspot. Brightspot seemed upset because you were getting your assessment." Whitepaw glanced back at Snowpaw who was talking with her stupid friends. Whitepaw put a cold smile on her face and stood. She spoke, her voice almost as cold as the snow around them
"Well. I suppose we should go talk to her." Whitepaw started walking towards them as Snowpaw began to laugh, anger sitting in the bottom of her stomach like a rock. How could Snowpaw be happy? Snowpaw was the cripple, she wasn't supposed to be happy. As Whitepaw and her friends approached, Snowpaw turned to glare at them. She spoke, her voice cold
"What do you want?" Birchtail scurried up next to Whitepaw and Brownbriar fell in line on her other side. Whitepaw smirked and said
"I just wanted to apologize." The split-second confusion on Snowpaw's face felt good. Snowpaw narrowed her eyes and said
"Oh, really?" Whitepaw's smirk and confidence grew as she said
"Yes. I heard you had your warrior assessment today, and I assume you failed. So, I came to offer my condolences." Snowpaw laughed suddenly, catching Whitepaw off guard. Why was she laughing? Whitepaw practically just called her weak! Snowpaw looked at her and said
"If anyone failed, it'd be you. I've seen you fight. You're incompetent." Anger rushed through Whitepaw like lightning. How could she say that! Father's words flashed through Whitepaw's mind quickly but she pushed them away. Whitepaw snarled
"I am not! You're the, the, incompetent one. You can barely even hunt! Besides, I fought off foxes!" Whitepaw knew the foxes bit was a lie. And Snowpaw seemed to see right through it as she laughed again and said
"Sure, you did. I bet you hid while Ashstar did all of the fighting." Whitepaw flinched. How did she know? Did cats really think she was cowardly? No. Snowpaw was just jealous. It had to just be jealousy. Whitepaw struggled to find a good retort,
"No! I didn't! I think that's what you'd do, but not me!" Snowpaw rolled her eyes, sparking more of Whitepaw's anger
"I bet I could beat you in a fight easily." Whitepaw struggled for a moment, she had seen Snowpaw fight once. She was scary. Then Stormcloud spoke in a warning tone
“Snowpaw…" Whitepaw’s eyes lit up. He wasn't confident in her! She leaped on that possibility
"Oh! It looks like he doesn't have as much faith in you as you do! And-" She was cut off by Stormcloud
“I have no doubt that she would win. I just don't want her blamed for hurting you." Snowpaw flashed a smile at him and Whitepaw realized something. Snowpaw relied on her friends for support. They were the only reason she was happy. She needed to be convinced that they were behind her. Whitepaw smirked as an idea struck her, an idea to try to tear down Snowpaw’s confidence. She looked to Stormcloud with a silky voice
“Oh Stormcloud, we all know you and Flowerpaw are only her friend out of pity. You don't have to pretend anymore." She glanced back at Snowpaw. The look on her face was amazing like she had just shattered. Whitepaw’s confidence grew. Snowpaw was nothing without her friends. Snowpaw looked back at them and Whitepaw did as well. They looked furious. Of course they did, those two annoying cats would stand by Snowpaw. Another idea struck her, she couldn't separate them, but she could tear them down. She spoke
"Well, I could be wrong. Maybe you're friends with her because annoying cats like you stick together!” Whitepaw heard the gasps behind her but didn’t care. She heard a laugh from Browbriar, of course. Brownbriar was her best friend, she would always stand beside her. She was always there to build her up. She was the only one who knew about the kind of things Father would say when no cat was watching. She always covered for Whitepaw. In turn, Whitepaw convinced Father to make her a warrior. She had been slightly worried she’d leave her when she got that, but she didn’t. Whitepaw spoke again
"I mean, Stormcloud is a weak mouse-hearted coward who is super clingy-" She almost stepped back when she saw Snowpaw ready to pounce, but Stormcloud, being the coward he was, stopped her. He looked angry but was trying to calm himself down. Whitepaw decided to switch her target. Stormcloud was too secure and level. Flowerpaw however, she must be insecure under that sunny talkative outside. Whitepaw laughed and said
"And then there's the most annoying cat in the clan! Flowerpaw! I'm sure you all agree with me that she talks much too much and-" Whitepaw froze when a voice from behind her spoke.
Skypaw.
“That's it. I'm done." Whitepaw glared at the traitor as she walked out in front of her and faced her.
"I'm done watching this. You, Whitepaw, are the most selfish-" Skypaw then said a word Whitepaw didn’t understand. Skypaw continued,
"- I've ever met! And I've met a lot of them. So you can go ahead and" She said another word she didn't know and then said
"Now if you'd kindly stop being a Fox-heart to cats who never deserved it, maybe you'd learn a bit of compassion. Leave Snowpaw, Stormcloud, and Flowerpaw alone before someone gets hurt." She raised a paw and extended her claws. Whitepaw stared at the perfectly circular scar on her pad. She had seen that circle before. On Sunpaw’s and Stickpaw’s pad pads. They had different things in the middle though. Stickpaw had a line straight down the center and Sunpaw had two lines that made an X. She had asked about it before, they had both been pretty secretive about it. But Sunpaw had said something about “The mark of the strong”. Whitepaw looked at Skypaw’s blue eyes, so different from her brothers’ green. They blazed with fury, and Whitepaw balked. She looked away, anywhere but those blue eyes, and said
“Fine” She turned away and started to walk, then the said over her shoulder
"You've made a big mistake, Skypaw. You'll regret this." Skypaw laughed a cold laugh and Whitepaw walked away. Immediately Brownbriar came to her side and started reassuring her that Skypaw was just being stupid and that she didn’t deserve Whitepaw’s friendship. Whitepaw soaked in her reassurance and praise. Whitepaw tried not to think about it too hard, but soon after Snowpaw left camp, Whitepaw made up her mind. She had to confront her. She was the source of her problems. Whitepaw excused herself and left camp. She walked through the quiet forest until she saw the white pelt through the trees. Snowpaw was crouching in a hunting stance. Whitepaw stepped into the small clearing and she pounced. She waited till Snowpaw turned around to say
"What are you doing?" Snowpaw spit out her prey, gave an annoyed smile, and said
"Hunting. To make up for the prey you never brought back." Fury shot through Whitepaw. How dare she! They didn't bring back prey because of the foxes! Whitepaw snapped
"I got attacked by foxes! I-" Snowpaw gave her a sarcastic smile and said
"Excuses, excuses. You didn't even fight!" Whitepaw nearly flinched at the comment. She fell back on her lie,
"I did too! I am an amazing fighter!" Snowpaw started laughing then paused as a thoughtful look came over her face. She then said
"I have an idea." Whitepaw narrowed her eyes and snapped
"What?" A small smile came across Snowpaw's face
"If you fought off foxes, you wouldn't balk from a friendly challenge against me. I mean, I must be an easier fight than foxes." Whitepaw froze in fear. Fighting Snowpaw? No way. Not happening. Snowpaw then said
"Or are you too scared. If you don't want to face me, I get it. You must've been too scared to fight those foxes if you're too scared to fight me." No. She couldn't let everyone think she was a coward! Whitepaw snapped
"Fine! I'll fight you. But no claws or teeth." The smile on Snowpaw's face was chilling as she said
"Alright. No claws or teeth. Just a friendly battle between two sisters." Snowpaw took a step back and dropped into a crouch. Whitepaw moved to do the same, but her heart was beating fast. They stood there for a moment until Snowpaw spoke with a smug smile
"Go ahead. Attack." Whitepaw took a small breath. She was brave. She had to be. She decided to do a simple front paw attack. Snowpaw moved like lightning. One moment Whitepaw was standing and the next, she was on the ground and Snowpaw was on her back, pressing on her neck. Whitepaw struggled to rise and roll over but Snowpaw somehow moved with her and ended up on Whitepaw’s stomach. Fear lurched through Whitepaw as Snowpaw put her paw to Whitepaw’s neck, laughed coldly, and said
“Down in a few heartbeats! Hah!" Whitepaw looked fearfully up at Snowpaw who glared down at her. Her blue eyes were almost as cold as ice. Then, slowly, her claws emerged from her paw. Whitepaw glanced down at them and gasped. She looked back up to Snowpaw and said desperately
“I said no claws!" Snowpaw’s eyes grew colder as she nodded and said
“Yes. You did." Fear and a thought shot through Whitepaw. Was Snowpaw going to hurt her? Her own sister? Whitepaw’s voice trembled
“You're not going to hurt me… are you?" Snowpaw’s stance shifted slightly, she seemed to get bigger, sleeker, more confident, and more dangerous. She spoke, but her voice was strange. It was like two similar voices spoke at once, one was Snowpaw’s, but the other… the other seemed older, deeper,
“I could, couldn't I? With a single swift movement, you'd be a goner. I could easily frame it as an accident, or maybe those foxes would come back and I could blame it on them!" Fear racked Whitepaw again. What was wrong with Snowpaw? Sure, Snowpaw could be scary, but not like this! Snowpaw changed again. She fully slipped into a confident stance, and her eyes were ice. Other than the pelt and face, she looked nothing like herself. When she spoke, her voice was gone and only the other one was there like another cat was speaking
“It would be so easy, wouldn't it?" Fear shot through Whitepaw as Snowpaw’s claws began to dig into her fur. Suddenly, Snowpaw’s pelt changed. It flashed to a deep black and her formally black twisted paw became white. And those eyes bored into Whitepaw with a chilling smile. That wasn’t Snowpaw. Then the cat's tail twitched and Snowpaw came back. Her pelt turned back to snowy white and her paw back to solid black. The smile fell and her eyes unfroze. Most importantly, her claws withdrew from Whitepaw’s neck. Snowpaw gasped for air and then sighed. Whitepaw was frozen. What had just happened? Snowpaw glared down at her and said
“But I won’t. But don't you dare insult my friends again or I may next time. Understand?” Whitepaw nodded frantically, she needed to get this insane cat off her! Snowpaw got off and Whitepaw leaped to her feet and ran towards the trees. She stopped when she couldn't see Snowpaw anymore. She let out a breath. She froze when she heard Snowpaw’s voice.
“Shadow!” Who was Snowpaw talking to? Whitepaw quietly crept through the trees until she could just barely see Snowpaw through the trees. No other cat was in the clearing with her. Was she talking to herself? Snowpaw hissed again
“What in the dark forest was that?!” Whitepaw’s eyes widened. Snowpaw was crazy! Whitepaw had to tell- No. She couldn’t. No cat would believe her! And then she’d have to tell them that she lost. Whitepaw listened some more as Snowpaw spoke again
“I said I wasn't going to kill her! What would Stormcloud think!?” Kill her? Was Snowpaw really going to kill her a moment ago? Whitepaw crept back, she had to get away from her. As soon as she was far enough away, she ran back to camp. She checked herself for injured quickly, nothing but a couple bruises, good. She quickly stuck on a confident face and walked into camp. She walked over to her friends and thrust herself into the conversation, it was something about apprentices and mentors. Whitepaw talked and talked with her friends, trying to push back her insecurities, thoughts, and fears back. She tried not to think about Father and Snowpaw, rather, she soaked in the subtle praise Brownbriar gave her whenever she spoke. Eventually, Father left the medicine den he started waking towards Highrock and Whitepaw stopped the conversion and said
“I think the ceremony is about to happen!” Eyes grew wide and they raced over to the highrock to get seats in front. Whitepaw looked back, it looked like Ashstar was now arguing with Brightspot as cats started to head toward highrock. Whitepaw glanced over to Stormcloud and Flowerpaw, they looked slightly worried and kept glancing between Ashstar and the camp entrance. Whitepaw looked back to Father. He was now walking away from Brightspot as she tried to talk to him. Looked like he wasn't going to wait for Snowpaw to get back. Perfect. Then Whitepaw saw movement from Stormcloud and Flowerpaw. They were rushing to the camp entrance, where a white cat was walking with prey in her mouth and twisted paw. They took the prey and Whitepaw heard Flowerpaw sa
“Oh thank Starclan!” They kept talking, but Whitepaw didn't care. Ashstar was walking past the group and right to the high rock. He reached the top and spoke to the already-gathered clan
“We have gathered here today to make two apprentices warriors. Whitepaw and Snowpaw, please come forward." Whitepaw smiled at her friends and then walked up the rock. Snowpaw came up from the back and stood next to her. Whitepaw glanced at her nervously, what if she did something here in camp? Ashstar nodded at Whitepaw and she stepped forward. She proudly spoke to her, the clan, and Starclan
"I, Ashstar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." He looked at Whitepaw, pride shining in his eyes, But was it really pride? Was he really proud of her? Or did he just look it so the clan thought he was? Whitepaw pushed her thoughts back, she was becoming a warrior! This was a time to be happy! She smiled as he continued
“Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your-" Whitepaw, impatient, interrupted,
"I do!" Ashstar chuckled and said
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Whitepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Whiteblaze. StarClan honors your bravery and charisma, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Happiness burst through Whiteblaze as the clan began to cheer her name.
“Whiteblaze! Whiteblaze! Whiteblaze!” Ashstar rested his muzzle on her head and she licked his shoulder, like normal. Whiteblaze then turned towards the clan with a wide smile. One day, that name would be Whitestar and she would stand up here for every meeting. First, she needed an apprentice so she could become deputy. She glanced at Rosebloom, the current deputy, who was sitting at the base of the rock. She would probably retire in time. She then looked at the kits peaking their heads out of the nursery. She would have to talk to Father about their mentors. She could probably get him to give one to Birchtail and Brownbriar each and then one to Whiteblaze herself. But what about the other two? Her eyes moved to Snowpaw and Stormcloud. The clan would most likely find it strange if three of the kits went to young warriors but the others went to older ones. She could probably push her least favorite kits on Snowpaw and Stormcloud. She needed to watch the kits then. Whiteblaze whipped her thoughts away from them. She could worry about that later! She was a warrior now! She glanced back at Ashstar who was smiling at her proudly. Father was proud of her, and the clan liked her, that was what mattered!
She was perfect. Just like everyone wanted and needed her to be.
She was the perfect one.