Love Story~3

Instructions

Kestrelstar, the leader of WindClan, decided that Darksong would not be exiled, but only because she was pregnant, and the leader believed that the death of her mate was punishment enough. So Darksong stayed, but no one treated her the same, whether it was because they now knew that she was a code breaker, or because she simply *wasn’t* the same. At first, she didn’t talk, speak, to anyone at all. In later years, some would whisper that she didn’t even make a sound during her kitting, though whether or not this is true I do not know. As her kits got older she began to talk, but the cat she once was was gone. She was quiet, cold, manipulative, calculating. Cats found themselves feeling uneasy around her and avoiding her. Even Badgerkit, though his sister was much more loyal to her mother. And so, her kits still grew, and grew, and grew, until they were apprentices. Badgerpaw was kind, quiet, and outstandingly handsome, with more than a few she-cats taking interest in him. He and Whisperpaw were close, though his sister seemed to quickly be taking on traits of her mother. Quiet, observant, calculating. Her only soft spot was her little brother. Now you’ve seen where our characters are at this point, and whether or not you forgive Darksong for her actions, you at least know the backstory of what caused her to become the cat she is at this point in our story. So now we can continue. >>><<< Whisperpaw padded alongside Badgerpaw, head raised high and eyes taking in every little thing she saw. Beside him, her brother was talking to Glistenpaw and Mosspaw, both of which seemed to be trying to win his attention. Whisperpaw paid them no heed. Opening her mouth she tasted the air, scenting what she guessed to be RiverClan and ShadowClan. Was ThunderClan late, maybe? She’d die before she let anyone know, but she was nervous. It was her first gathering as a brand new apprentice, and she didn’t know what to expect. Really, it was all of their first gathering: her, Badgerpaw, Mosspaw, Glistenpaw, and Shrewpaw. Were they nervous, too? She glanced at her brother and his two admirers. They didn’t seem to be, too caught up in friendly conversation. She looked over her shoulder at Shrewpaw, the quiet tom padding along quietly, his face bitter as ever. He had become a Medicine Cat apprentice-and he was already growing into the grumpy Medicine Cat stereotype. When she turned back around, her breath caught in her throat. Four Trees was just ahead. She picked up her pace, and it wasn’t long before she was beneath the giant boughs. >>><<< Badgerpaw wasn’t far behind his sister, and before long he too was in the expansive clearing. For a moment he could only stare, a grin on his face as his eyes wandered around the clearing. It was all so.. Big. “Wow..” Glancing to his side, he saw Mosspaw staring around in awe and chuckled, nudging her. “C’mon.” The tom purred, leading his friend into the clearing with her sister, Glistenpaw, close on their heels. “Everything’s so.. Glamorous.” Glistenpaw piped up, her blue eyes shining as she looked around. Badgerpaw nodded cheerfully, just as a loud yowl whipped across the clearing. He jumped in surprise as two partly white she-cats came barreling through, chasing after a skinny tom. They all seemed to be around his age, but that was all he could process before he saw that the tom they were chasing was headed straight for their group. He tried to skid to a stop, but was too late. He crashed into the group, and his chasers weren’t far behind. In a second, all the apprentices were tangled together, head over heels and noses under paws. “Ugh, what were you *doing*!?” Glistenpaw hissed, pushing the skinny white and light brown tom off of her. The white and golden she-cat stood up also, and Badgerpaw guessed by their matching green eyes that they were siblings. Eventually, the apprentices detangled themselves from one another until they all stood in a circle, sizing each other up. The last cat that Badgerpaw hadn’t paid much attention to was the smallest of the three. She too had green eyes-there were a lot of green eyed cats here, he noted-but they were more rounded with awe and bubbly excitement than the others. And, she too had light brown on her pelt, but instead of an overcoat like the tom, she had it in patches and splotches, and while his light brown had a golden tint and tabby marks criss crossing over it, she carried neither. Her fur was short but soft, and messy in places. He didn’t study her for more than a moment before he spoke.