A Twisted Fate (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 12

*Unedited

~~

Hey y'all~ :) I'm back!! Thanks for all of you who commented and showed your support for this story. I was really touched because of how many people shared their thoughts, and just....thank you so very much. I'm really grateful to every one of you. Okay, enough sappy things now. xD Without further ado, here's the chapter!

Oh~ one more thing. I'm extremely pleased to announce that the new name will be Falconclaw :) It seemed to be relatively popular among all of you.

Tonight was half-moon, the night where Birdpaw and Falconclaw were supposed to travel to the Gathering place in order to meet the other clan representatives. Birdpaw took a deep breath. It was almost time to go. She felt a rush of excitement ripple through her pelt, and couldn't resist letting out a small squeak of anticipation. Maybe she'd even see her friends! She was so busy wrapped up in her own thoughts that she tripped over her own paws and somehow collapsed in a heap right in front of another set of paws.

"Sorry!" she mewed hastily, scrambling to her paws. Looking up, she saw that it was Silverclaw, who was gazing down at her with a slight spark of amusement in his eyes.

"Hello Birdpaw," he broke into a purr. "I just thought to come over and say congratulations for being selected to go on the journey." as her green eyes met his ice blue gaze, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "However, I come with warnings also. You are still very young, and is relatively inexperienced compared to many of the warriors both in this clan and in others. When you go to meet the other two clans' representatives tonight, you must be careful not to show disrespect to them. Some cats are very hostile, and it may be hard to gain their trust. I think you'll need every bit of your wits in order to not raise up a fight between you and some other cat."

Birdpaw opened her mouth to object, but he flicked his tail to silence her. "Also," he continued, "Be careful not to attach yourself to any specific cat from any of the other two clans. I understand that you have friends from Iceclan, but you must realize that in the end we are still all rivals, and you are absolutely forbidden to walk too close to any one of them."

"But why?" she burst out. He stared at her in surprise. "Why must we all be rivals? Why can't we just all live together in peace and make all the friends we want? Starclan wouldn't want us to fight all time over territory, right?" she blurted all her questions out.

"No." his voice suddenly turned steely. Birdpaw flinched visibly, and took a step back in surprise. Seeing that she was unnerved, he softened his voice a bit. "No, because that's how the warrior code was created. We all are required to follow it for the rest of our lives, and pass it on to each new generation to come. These rules are meant to stay forever, and there is nothing else that can be said about it."

Birdpaw nodded slowly, comprehending all the information her father gave her. A shift in movement caused her to look up again, and she saw that her father had turned away.

"Farewell, Birdpaw. May Starclan light your path, and we all hope that you can come back safely." he called over his shoulder as he padded away.

Birdpaw said nothing. Staggering to her feet, she shook her head, trying to clear all her thoughts. As she did so, she was aware of another pelt brushing hers.

"Hey there. Blacktail wanted me to ask you if you've eaten yet, because we need to go soon." It was Falconclaw, who was blinking down at her.

"Umm...yes. I already ate." Birdpaw replied.

He nodded. "Okay. In that case, we should probably be off now. We can't be late for the impatient Fireclan cats and the prickly Iceclan brats!" there was a hint of humor in his voice.