Goldenrod yawned as she got up, tired. For a second she was untroubled, then she remembered. Today was the day she would leave, since she had been selected. "Goldenrod! You're up!" Poppyskip mewed as Goldenrod stretched. "Yeah, I'm up." She took a moment to think about what was happening today before continuing. "I'll really miss you." "I will, too." Poppyskip agreed. "Midnightstar is waiting for you in the clearing. I wish we could have longer, but..." She gave a sigh, not wanting to talk much more. "Ok," Goldenrod nodded. She got up and exited the den, the entryway brushing her back, and her early-bird sister had been right. Midnightstar was there waiting for her. "Goldenrod! You're finally up!" Midnightstar greeted the young she-cat. "I know today is a big day for you. I'll let you talk with your friends and family and then you leave." The first cat Goldenrod went to was a cream she-cat with golden spots. Dapplestripe, her mother. "Goldenrod!" Dapplestripe purred, looking delighted to see her daughter. "Hi, Dapplestripe." Goldenrod mewed tiredly, sitting beside her mother. "Leafwhisker's getting food for us. You're sure to need it!" Dapplestripe commented. Goldenrod turned her head towards the fresh-kill pile and saw her uncle grab a rabbit. "Get some food for my daughter too!" That was Dapplestripe. Classic Dapplestripe, inserting positivity whenever it was needed. Leafwhisker returned with a rabbit and a mouse, dropping the mouse at Dapplestripe's feet and sharing the rabbit with Goldenrod. He was Goldenrod's uncle and acted as a father figure to her. She had no clue who her father was or what had happened to him. Dapplestripe occasionally let slip that she missed him, but a name? Nope. "So, how's it going?" Leafwhisker asked. "I think I'm days away from fatherhood." "That's great!" Goldenrod exclaimed. "I'll have more kin soon! But I won't be in ThunderClan," she sighed. "Don't worry, you'll probably see them during gatherings in about 6 moons." Dapplestripe reassured her daughter. "Yeah, but that's like, at the very end of the story I'm in." Goldenrod groaned. "Oh, don't worry! There's going to be a sequel anyway." Leafwhisker comforted his niece. "Can I join you over here?" Poppyskip asked, a thrush in her jaws. "Of course you can, sweetie." Dapplestripe replied. Poppyskip sat down between Goldenrod and Dapplestripe. "So, I know today is all about Goldenrod, but I'd like to say this before she leaves." Poppyskip began. "What is it, Poppyskip?" Goldenrod asked, curious to hear what her sister had to say. "Well... I'm thinking of asking Flameflight to be my mate. I know I just became a warrior, but I like him and I think he likes me. What do you think?" "I think that you should go for it. You like him and he likes you." Leafwhisker advised. "When I first met Roseleap, I didn't really think I should ask to be her mate, even though we both liked each other. I wish I had asked sooner, we probably wouldn't have even gotten in a relationship if she hadn't asked me to become mates. So go for it!" "I remember how I met your father," Dapplestripe added. "It was- nevermind." The she-cat turned away. "Thanks for the advice!" Poppyskip exclaimed. "I'm probably going to ask him to be mates in about a moon or two." The she-cat swallowed the last of her thrush. Goldenrod also finished the last of her prey. Midnightstar looked over at her, expecting the golden she-cat to be ready to leave, but Goldenrod wasn't quite ready yet. She still had things to do. She got up, stretched, and headed to the elders' den. "Wassup kiddo?" A silver tom greeted her. His name was Silverwind, and he had recently retired. "Are you here to get rid of our ticks?" Mousewing purred hopefully. "Because I sure would love somebody to remove them." "No," Goldenrod told the brown she-cat. "I've come here to see my grandmother." "Your grandmother?" Mousewing's mate Gingerstripe smiled. "Sure, come in!" Goldenrod wove her way through the cats to the back of the den, where Rabbittail was. Goldenrod sat right nest to Rabbittail. "Hello, Rabbittail," she said. "It's your granddaughter, Goldenrod." "Hello, Goldenrod!" Rabbittail purred. "I heard you were selected. While you say good-bye... can you clean my ticks?" "Of course." Goldenrod replied, sitting down. "So, how's it going?" "Oh, I'm doing usual elder things, you know- telling kits stories, being old. I don't usually tell the stories, but I've got some good ones if you're bored." "Silverwind!" Goldenrod heard a kit shout. She saw four gray and white kits race into the nursery, one being smaller than the rest, only about a moon old, while the others were 5 moons or so. "Can you tell us a story, please?" Icekit asked Silverwind. "Actually, I think I would like to tell a story." Rabbittail said. "YES! TELL US A STORY!" Lightkit exclaimed, her pink eyes shining. "Of course. Come over here, kits." Continued in Notes and Credits
"What will you tell us about?" Frostkit asked. "Hmmm... I think I'll tell you about my mate. His name was Icehail, and he was a great cat." "When did you meet him?" Snowkit asked. "When I was an apprentice, I always knew he existed, but I never cared about him until he saved my sister from drowning. Then, I got a small crush on him." "When did you become mates with him?" Goldenrod asked. "I asked him to be my boyfriend, and he accepted! We became mates later." Rabbittail added. "He was the kindest cat ever. Very sweet and compassionate. He didn't judge cats for not being clan born or being half-clan." "This is boring!" Icekit groaned. "Tell me how he died!" "He died from greencough not long after Goldenrod was born." "That's SO boring! Don't you have ANYTHING interesting to tell me, like when Silverwind scarred his eye in a battle?" Icekit complained. "Oh! I remember that!" Rabbittail said. "That mange-pelt Soilstep scratched him!" "Soilstep.." Mousewing looked away. "That terrible cat," Rabbittail growled. "What did he do?" Lightkit asked. "None of your business, kid." Rabbittail hissed. Lightkit shrank back in fear. "I finished picking off your ticks, Rabbittail." Goldenrod said. "I'm going to talk to my friends." "Ok, bye! I remember when my friends were alive and we were young." Rabbittail waved goodbye, then turned back to the kits. After saying a quick goodbye to her friends, Goldenrod was finally ready to go. "You ready?" Midnightstar asked. "Yup." Goldenrod answered, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready." @Chirpsong Things I changed: -Made things maybe a little less blunt -Added more cat-like reactions to phrases. -Cats don't use 'mom' and 'dad', it's more like they would say to others 'my mother Dapplestripe' and refer to the cat as Dapplestripe. -to/too/two
