𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 | 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

-Chapter Twenty-Four-

TW: This chapter contains blood gore and death.

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I didn't mean to do it
Please I swear
I didn't want to do it
Please I'm scared

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     "What?! That's great!!!" Lion paw yowled, squashing the small feelings of anger and jealousy that were arising deep down so they couldn't float back up into her mind. Appleleaf and Skyfire deserved to have this happy ceremony, it was not Lion paw's place to complain about it or sour the union with her jealousy.

     "It gets better!" Appleleaf's eyes were gleaming with excitement and joy, "I want you to be my un-bonded!"

     Lion paw was shocked, of course she felt honoured that Appleleaf chose her but was she really ready for something this big?

     In the clans- or at least in Sunclan- when two cats wanted to make their union official they talked to the leader and the medicine cat and organised a mating ceremony. Mating ceremonies were usually quite over the top and involved many different things. First the mates-to-be would have to select their 'unbondeds', each mate would select one of their unmated friends to represent their youthful unmated selves, the unbondeds help the mates-to-be plan the occasion and at the start of the wedding the unbondeds complete a ritual called 'Vita Ligatum' that involved the two unbondeds mirroring each others movements which they'd of course have choreograph before hand. The unbondeds would sit beside the mates-to-be as they completed their vows and became recognized as one soul in star clan. Once the unbondeds were selected they helped the mates-to-be pick out what herbs to wear and what rituals to include, and finally on the day of the mating ceremony the unbondeds will help groom their friends so they could look their best.

     "Of course I'll be your unbonded," Lion paw meowed, dipping her head in a show of acceptance "Just be prepared for your mating ceremony to somehow go horribly wrong!" Although she meowed the words with light heartedness, anxiety pooled at Lion paw's belly.

     You're going to ruin the ceremony just like you ruin everything, The voice in her head hissed at her, and once you do, Appleleaf and Skyfire will never talk to you again and you'll be back to the mouse-brained apprentice nobody likes.

     "I'm counting on it!" Her friend meowed, winking playfully. She did not notice Lion paw's apprehension, how could she when Lion paw hid it so well?

     Together the two friends watched as the sun went down the horizon and the moon started to crawl into the sky. For once Appleleaf was quiet and still, seemingly silenced by the size of what was waiting ahead of them. Lion paw hoped with all her heart that tomorrow she and her friends would be back home and possibly talking to Fallen Lark and Gentlestar about the mating ceremony. As she looked up to the stars she could have sworn she saw a constellation like Bark paw's face looking down at her reassuringly if only just for a moment.

     "It's ok," Bark paw's voice seemed to whisper in her ear "As long as you hold faith in me and your ancestors, all will turn out well..." Her voice faded like a gentle breeze and when Lion paw searched for her again, Bark paw was nowhere to be seen with not even a whisper of her left.

     "Look," Appleleaf eventually meowed. Her tail was gesturing to the last rogues retreating back into their den, none of them had noticed the slumped, sleeping bodies of their fellow rogues out the front of Ashstar's den. Ashstar himself was already inside of his den and presumably fast asleep.