Hopepaw + Sunpaw

    The rest of the day went fairly quickly. Hopepaw, as expected, caught around three more mice and a vole. Rainpaw, with great luck, managed to come out with two squirrels. Sunpaw only caught one more mouse.

    As the day slowly faded into the great colors of sundown, Rainpaw's paws started to ache. In fact, her whole body was exhausted from a long day of chasing prey.

    She wasn't quite sure how far out they really were. It didn't seem like too much of a walk there, but it sure was going back. Maybe it was just because she was tired. Tree after tree passed, until finally the familiar small cliff came into view. Rainpaw breathed in a sigh of relief as the cave opening seemed to welcomingly greet her.

    "You three are dismissed for the night." Blackfrost meowed. The setting sun cast a dark shadow on his face, making him almost look like Red. Minus the ruffled fur and blue eyes of course. The tom's fur was sleek, not matted and stained. And his eyes were a bright emerald green. Rainpaw quickly shook her head. What was she thinking, comparing the two?

    Rainpaw nodded towards Blackfrost, not being able to talk with the prey in her mouth. She and the other two sisters padded into the cave.

    She could smell before she could see. The strong herb scent hit her like a wave every time she entered. Why did they have to put it so close to the entrance?

    As her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, Rainpaw dodged through warriors and apprentices to reach the fresh-kill pile, where she set down her prey. Hopepaw and Sunpaw did the same.

    "Hey, Sunpa..." Hopepaw started, but trailed off. The orange apprentice was already gone, heading towards the apprentices den. A skinny squirrel hung from her jaws as she left without a word.

    Hopepaw sighed and turned to her remaining sister. "Well... do you want to sit with us?" She flicked her tail in the direction of Hawkpaw and his sister Poppypaw.

    Rainpaw nodded, grateful to not have to sit alone. "I'd be happy to."

    The two picked up mice and padded over to the other apprentices. Hawkpaw must have heard their paw steps because his ears perked and he turned his head, high in alert. Upon seeing the two, his eyes softened and he purred.

    "Hello, Hopepaw!" He meowed happily. "And Rainpaw."

    Hopepaw had a large smile on her face as she laid down next to him. Rainpaw rolled her eyes but nodded in a greeting. As rude as it sounded, she knew that Hawkpaw wasn't trying to be exclusive of her. Hopepaw and the tom were so in love that it made her sick.

    Rainpaw set her mouse down and settled next to Poppypaw, who gave her a small yet knowing smile.

    "So what did you guys do today?" Hawkpaw asked, taking a bite from his vole.

    "Just a lot of hunting. And a competition in which Hopepaw won." Might as well help her out. Rainpaw smirked towards her sister, who only gave her a glare.

   "Really?" Hawkpaw asked, looking at Hopepaw. His eyes were bright with interest.

     "It was nothing, really..." Hopepaw said quietly.

    "No, that's really something! Did-"

    "Let all cats old enough to catch prey gather beneath the high rock for a clan meeting!" Redstar's voice cut through the cave and stopped the apprentice's conversation.

    "What's happening?" Rainpaw said, standing up.

    "Snowpaw and Lightningpaw's warrior ceremony. I completely forgot about it!" Poppypaw's soft voice meowed, standing next to her.

    "I didn't even know about it." Rainpaw chuckled. Sure, she knew everyone, but she never really talked with the two. They trained together only a few times but never talked outside of that.

    The four walked forward and sat down under the ledge.

    "Today we are here to welcome some new warriors." Redstar meowed proudly. He looked down at the two eager apprentices. "Snowpaw and Lightningpaw, please step forward!"

    Both stepped forward at the exact same second, as if perfectly in sync. Their eyes showed such excitement for their warrior names.

    "I, Redstar, leader of DuskClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." He said.

    "Snowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

    "I do." Snowpaw said, puffing her chest out.

    Redstar smiled and continued. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Snowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Snowcloud. StarClan honors your bravery and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of DuskClan!"

    "Snowcloud! Snowcloud!" The clan cheered happily. She stepped back down and let her brother have his turn.

    "Lightningpaw." The orange leader said, looking down at the apprentice. Lightningpaw was almost shaking from excitement now. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

    "I do." He meowed.

    "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Lightningpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Lightningstrike. StarClan honors your kindness and hard-working personality, and we welcome you as a full warrior of DuskClan!"

    "Lightningstrike! Lightningstrike!"

    He also stepped down as the clan cheered. Their mother and father, Dawnbreaker and Cloudsmoke, looked almost on the brink of tears as their children were welcomed by the clan. They rushed forward to congratulate them theirselves.

    Rainpaw sat back and watched as Snowcloud talked with her father. She looked like a clone of him, with the same fluffy white fur and gray speckles. The only difference was the eyes, with Cloudsmoke having a dark amber and Snowcloud with a stone blue.

    Rainpaw wondered what it was like to have a father. She wasn't able to ponder on it because her mother had settled down beside her.

    "That will be you soon." She said, watching them.

    "Right." Rainpaw responded. But not once did she take her eyes off of the father and his daughter.

•

•

•

    Things had calmed down fairly quickly. Rainpaw had finished off her mouse and was now laying in her nest, waiting for sleep to take her.

    And it did, with her exhaustion.

    When she woke, she wasn't surprised to see the familiar foggy forest instead of the den wall. Red had taken her again.

    "Welcome back Rainpaw."

    The voice send shivers up her spine and made her fur stand on end.

     "Hello, Red." She forced out. Rainpaw stood up and looked around, searching for the fluffy cat. The apprentice spotted her sitting at the edge of the clearing, a smirk on her face.

    "Ready to begin training?" Red asked. New wounds showed on her pure white pelt, but there was no blood. There was never any blood.

    "Of course."