Sparks of a Fire

Chapter 11

Ripplepaw's eyes narrowed in concentration as she watched her prey from the cover of trees. Dovestar had put Ripplepaw on the dawn patrol along with Sealpaw, Cinderblossom, Nettlesting, Frostglimmer, and Thunderpaw.

Ripplepaw knew she had to be careful, she didn't want the other cats on the patrol knowing that she had powers. Not even her two best friends knew she had powers, and she was really trying to keep it on the down-low until she met up with Kestrelpaw, Bluepaw, and Starlingpaw later that night at the BirchTree.

The white-furred she-cat sighed softly and narrowed her icy blue eyes. She could think about the gathering later, but right now, she had a patrol to compleat and a peace of prey to catch.

After a few more seconds of waiting, the white-furred apprentice leapt forward with her claws unsheathed. She sailed through the fresh greenleaf air for mere moments before diving into the frigid water. The look in the feisty feline's eyes were that of a predator's as she reached the seal and Ripplepaw very easily out-swam the poor see-creature.

She lashed out with unsheathed claws, causing the animal to let out a cry of pain. Ripplepaw quickly and swiftly bit down on its neck and the seal fell limp, it's pained cries were silenced as the life was taken away and with that knowledge in mind, the white-furred apprentice resurfaced and shook the droplets of water from her pelt.

Once the white-furred apprentice managed to drag the big gray seal out of the water and onto the packed ice, Ripplepaw looked up to see the stunned face of Frostglimmer, the awed look on Thunderpaw's face, and the impressed looks from her mentor and Sealpaw.

"Oh my StarClan! Ripplepaw, that was so amazing!" Sealpaw gushed, beaming with pride as she stared at her friend. Cinderblossom nodded her head in agreement.

"I agree with Sealpaw!" the dark gray she-cat meowed, her blue eyes gleaming and her tail flicking from left to right in excitement.

"Hey, Ripplepaw! Sealpaw!" the two she-cats spun around to see Polarpaw running toward them, Yarrowleaf not far behind her with a mouthful of herbs in her jaws. "What are you guys doing?" the medicine cat apprentice asked once she reached the small group of cats.

"Nothing much," Sealpaw told her sister with a wink directed at Ripplepaw, who blushed and lowered her head. "Ripplepaw caught a seal!" she continued, motioning with her tail to the large gray seal behind Cinderblossom.

Polarpaw's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock as she stared at her friend. "Wow! That's seriously impressive, Rip!" Ripplepaw lowered her head and licked her chest fur self-consciously.

•••

It was nearly sunhigh when the dawn patrol finally returned to camp. "We were staring to wonder where you all went off to, what in StarClan's name were you all doing?" came the angry meow of Hailclw, IceClan's deputy.

"Go easy on them, Hailclaw. They must have been having a good hunting trip and that's perfectly fine." Ripplepaw glanced up from grooming her paws to see Dovestar, IceClan's leader. The dark gray she-cat was glaring at Hailclaw, who looked a little intimidated at his leader's harsh stare. His ears flattened and he dropped his gaze and stared down at his paws.

"Sorry, Dovestar," Hailclaw meowed, blushing and giving his chest fur a few nervous licks.

"Ripplepaw caught a seal!" Cinderblossom informed her leader once Hailclaw had left. At her statement, Dovestar's eyes gleamed and she turned her attention to Ripplepaw.

"Nice job!" the dark gray she-cat congratulated her. "Now, you four eat something and get some well-earned rest. We'll be having Snowkit and Blizzardkit's apprentice ceremonies tonight at moonhigh," Ripplepaw nodded and she and the three other apprentice's headed to the fresh-kill pile to grab a peace of prey.

•••

"Let all cats old enough to swim join beneath the Highrock for an IceClan meeting!" Dovestar yowled.

Ripplepaw, Sealpaw, and the other apprentices all patted out of the apprentice's den to join the rest of their clanmates at the base of the Highrock.

"Noble cats of IceClan! We gather here today for one of our most important announcements. The making of new apprentices!" Dovestar yowled. Snowkit squealed excitedly from beside her, and Blizzardkit bumped her flank playfully. Dovestar looked down at the two bouncing kits.

"Snowkit, Blizzardkit, please step up to Highrock." She mewed. Snowkit dashed up to the top, trying to be in the front, but Blizzardkit was faster than her and beat her to the top. Dovestar glanced down at the impatient Blizzardkit. She smiled at her large sky-blue eyes, which were widened in both nervousness and excitement.

"Blizzardkit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she asked her, her voice steady and calm.

"Yes," she mewed, her fur fluffed up in anticipation. Dovestar smiled.

"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Blizzardpaw. Frostglimmer," she meowed, pointing to the white-furred she-cat, "will be your mentor." Frostglimmer happily padded up to Blizzardpaw and touched her nose.

"I promise to train Blizzardpaw to my best abilities," she meowed seriously.

Suddenly, a wave of nervousness shivered over Snowkit. She was next in line! Please don't let me mess up! she thought, both praying and pleading to StarClan. As she looked up at Dovestar's fluffy gray face, she thought she saw a flicker of something in Dovestar's bright blue eyes, but it flickered away far too quickly for her to judge.

"Snowkit, do you promise to listen to your mentor and uphold the warrior code?" she repeated. Snowkit nodded.

"Yes." Dovestar then spoke the words, just as Snowkit had dreamed of.

"Then, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Snowpaw. Whalestripe will be your mentor." Dovestar mewed proudly.

Snowpaw expected to see hostility in the black cat's eyes, but she just saw kindness in their blue depths. She tapped her little soft kitten-petal-pink nose lightly with her rough pink-gray one. She looked up and nodded to Dovestar.

"I promise to teach Snowpaw everything I know," she mewed.

"Snowpaw! Blizzardpaw! Snowpaw! Blizzardpaw!" the two young cats lifted their heads in pride, the amber sun behind them making the two young cats look like brands of flame in the new morning light.